Thank you for visiting my website! I hope these notes, examples, and algorithms will increase your understanding of how structures perform. I also hope they will increase your curiosity, because we still struggle to answer important questions about the performance of structures, such as buildings and bridges. Will the structure be repairable after an earthquake? How much will it cost, and how long will it take? Can we make construction more sustainable, consuming less energy, causing less harmful emissions? I focus on mechanics and reliability in the courses CIVL 332, CIVL 435, and CIVL 518, but some of the material posted here address new priorities in structural engineering. For instance, sustainability and repairability are important concerns for the modern structural engineer.

If you are interested in helping me advance the state-of-the-art in structural engineering I am always looking for bright and motivated MASc and PhD students to join my research group. I work closely with every student, with frequent meetings and research seminars. In addition to publications, one result of our work is the computer program Rt. We continue to extend it under the name Rts. Many of the algorithms in Rts are posted on this website as Python code. Computer simulations play an important role in modern structural engineering, so you will probably find programming skills useful. Also note that funded MASc/PhD positions are limited and highly competitive. Students who pursue and receive funding through outside scholarships greatly increase their chance of admission. If you would like to join my research team then I suggest you start by reviewing the departmental Graduate Admissions and Graduate Program guidelines. It may also be helpful to read my advice to current and prospective structures students at UBC. Thereafter, please send an email to terje@civil.ubc.ca with the subject “Prospective Student for the Research Group of Professor Haukaas” with your CV attached as a PDF document. Please include a brief paragraph about your research interests and the knowledge gaps you see, with ideas on how to address them.

Thanks again for visiting my website and have fun studying structures!

Vancouver, March 10, 2020
Professor Terje Haukaas