The role of computer-aided drafting, analysis, and design software in structural engineering practice

Perhaps the greatest innovation in engineering in the last fifty years, computer software has changed the way structural engineers conduct nearly every aspect of their daily business. Computer-aided drafting, analysis, and design software are invaluable tools for any structural engineering firm. Given the growth, extensive competition, and demands of the industry, a firm cannot survive if it does not take advantage of the powers and capabilities that modem computer software offer. Computers have drastically altered the way engineers communicate with co-workers, clients, architects, and construction managers, improving the efficiency of the design delivery system and facilitating the conveying of design changes, issues, and concerns between all entities involved in a project. This software has optimized the structural drafting, analysis, and design processes in ways engineers never could have imagined possible half a century ago. These innovations not only add up to major savings in construction costs and increased profits for all parties involved in a project, but also to more accurate designs, quicker design completions, improved organization and sharing of data, and higher productivity within the engineering office.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2006

Author dc:creator

• De los Reyes, Adrian

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Jerome J. Connor.

• Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/35080

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/35080