By Mustafa Mashal
Dr. Mustafa Mashal, of Idaho State University writes in the Winter 2022 article of Aspire Magazine how his school has added Precast Concrete to its core engineering curriculum.
Precast concrete has traditionally been the final lecture topic of reinforced concrete design courses. Many universities do not require a course in precast concrete or prestressed concrete, including both pretensioned and post tensioned concrete designs, for an
undergraduate (bachelor’s) degree in civil engineering. However, bridge and
precast concrete firms expect college graduates to be familiar with designing precast, prestressed concrete products such as double tees, beams, wall panels,
culverts, and bridge girders.
Engineers who have not been adequately exposed to the design, production, and installation of precast concrete elements have four options to choose from: learn precast concrete design on their own, ask their employer to assign someone to teach them precast concrete at work, convince their employer to not use precast concrete, or abandon their plan to work as a structural/bridge engineer and find another area of civil engineering to pursue. None of these options is beneficial to either the engineer or the employer.
Read the full article by visiting Aspire Magazine on the PCI website.
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