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what software should a young Civil/Structural Engineer learn? by einsteino(m): 9:43pm On Jul 19, 2017
I have been getting lots of pm asking, what software should a young Civil/Structural Engineer learn?
That would depend on a number of factors. if you work in an organised firm, the firm would narrow down your options as it would already have purchased multi-user license for a software, it is either you have proficiency in that software or you learn fast. Also you would likely have a designation that narrows your duties to a specific subject area.

On the other hand if you work for smaller firms or freelance, you would likely be allowed to choose what suits you and wouldnt get the luxury of specialising in a subject area. Nonetheless, your considerations should cover support, ease of use, intuitiveness of User interface, functions/features, learning curve, cost of software and most importantly the nature of the project at hand.

Civil engineering softwares can be grouped into the following;

Building design software: these usually are only able to handle buildings and are easier to use and comes with rudimentary detailing features. In this category you have Orion, protastructures, tekla structural designer, Etabs etc.

General Analysis/Design software: These are versatile software, they are flexible and leaves you to conceptualize whatever you fancy, while it handles the computation. You would have to be well grounded in analysis and design concepts to correctly use these. E.g STAAD PRO, Robot Structural Analysis, Midas, SAP 2000, SAFE, STAAD FOUNDATION.

Detailing suites: Most Engrs hate detailing, it is time demanding and sucks! even worse, an average joe wouldnt appreciate the effort/technicality it takes. You may be saying "but orion automatically generates details, tekla structural designer does too"..the tuth is you wouldnt dare submit their detail drawings without painstaking revising and editing it, except you dont know what you are doing or work in an environment where anything goes. atimes you would find certain details from it are just not usable and doesn't meet the standards of either your employer or client. This is where detailing suites come in, they are bespoke softwares that lets you detail in 2D whatever you wish, however you wish with the aid of intelligent codefied macros. example of these are Allplan, Cads RC, Autocad stŕuctural detailing.

Building information modelling software: These are 3D modelling suites that contains parametric data of elements of the project you have modelled, but have no capability of analysis/design. Its mainly for exporting/integrating with analysis software. they also have detailing features and are mainly used for steel projects e.g Tekla, Revit Structure, Advance steel etc.

other civil/Bespoke software: These are special need software, you may never need them depending on your career path. E.g
SACS, EPASWMM, Civil 3D, Water Gem, EPA NET, PLAXIS, ANSYS, Mstower, Tstower, All pile, CSI Bridge, PHA-PRO etc.


if you are a neophyte to CAD, start with the Building design softwares, a popular but unwise choice is Orion, you would be better off with Etabs or Tekla structural designer. when you have come up, get your teeth into Robot/Staad pro/Sap 2000 and pick either Cads Rc or ASD for your detailing needs.

to try most of the softwares out for free as a student, simply visit their website and register with your university email, you would be granted an educational license, at least for most of them.

Would learning a software make you a great engr? The answer is No! softwares only help you automate repetitive and redudant process, you need a very good grasp of the theories and principles of engineering, marrying that with proficiency in a powerful software and insights from seasoned engineers would make you a better and more productive engineer. A very good book to start with is "Three Dimensional Static and Dynamic Analysis of Structures"

17 Likes 4 Shares

Re: what software should a young Civil/Structural Engineer learn? by austyne22ex(m): 5:15pm On May 01, 2018
Thank you sir! God bless U richly for this...but one quick question, Y did u refer to Orion as an "unwise" choice?
einsteino:
I have been getting lots of pm asking, what software should a young Civil/Structural Engineer learn?
That would depend on a number of factors. if you work in an organised firm, the firm would narrow down your options as it would already have purchased multi-user license for a software, it is either you have proficiency in that software or you learn fast. Also you would likely have a designation that narrows your duties to a specific subject area.

On the other hand if you work for smaller firms or freelance, you would likely be allowed to choose what suits you and wouldnt get the luxury of specialising in a subject area. Nonetheless, your considerations should cover support, ease of use, intuitiveness of User interface, functions/features, learning curve, cost of software and most importantly the nature of the project at hand.

Civil engineering softwares can be grouped into the following;

Building design software: these usually are only able to handle buildings and are easier to use and comes with rudimentary detailing features. In this category you have Orion, protastructures, tekla structural designer, Etabs etc.

General Analysis/Design software: These are versatile software, they are flexible and leaves you to conceptualize whatever you fancy, while it handles the computation. You would have to be well grounded in analysis and design concepts to correctly use these. E.g STAAD PRO, Robot Structural Analysis, Midas, SAP 2000, SAFE, STAAD FOUNDATION.

Detailing suites: Most Engrs hate detailing, it is time demanding and sucks! even worse, an average joe wouldnt appreciate the effort/technicality it takes. You may be saying "but orion automatically generates details, tekla structural designer does too"..the tuth is you wouldnt dare submit their detail drawings without painstaking revising and editing it, except you dont know what you are doing or work in an environment where anything goes. atimes you would find certain details from it are just not usable and doesn't meet the standards of either your employer or client. This is where detailing suites come in, they are bespoke softwares that lets you detail in 2D whatever you wish, however you wish with the aid of intelligent codefied macros. example of these are Allplan, Cads RC, Autocad stŕuctural detailing.

Building information modelling software: These are 3D modelling suites that contains parametric data of elements of the project you have modelled, but have no capability of analysis/design. Its mainly for exporting/integrating with analysis software. they also have detailing features and are mainly used for steel projects e.g Tekla, Revit Structure, Advance steel etc.

other civil/Bespoke software: These are special need software, you may never need them depending on your career path. E.g
SACS, EPASWMM, Civil 3D, Water Gem, EPA NET, PLAXIS, ANSYS, Mstower, Tstower, All pile, CSI Bridge, PHA-PRO etc.


if you are a neophyte to CAD, start with the Building design softwares, a popular but unwise choice is Orion, you would be better off with Etabs or Tekla structural designer. when you have come up, get your teeth into Robot/Staad pro/Sap 2000 and pick either Cads Rc or ASD for your detailing needs.

to try most of the softwares out for free as a student, simply visit their website and register with your university email, you would be granted an educational license, at least for most of them.

Would learning a software make you a great engr? The answer is No! softwares only help you automate repetitive and redudant process, you need a very good grasp of the theories and principles of engineering, marrying that with proficiency in a powerful software and insights from seasoned engineers would make you a better and more productive engineer. A very good book to start with is "Three Dimensional Static and Dynamic Analysis of Structures"

2 Likes

Re: what software should a young Civil/Structural Engineer learn? by einsteino(m): 5:37pm On May 08, 2018
austyne22ex:
Thank you sir! God bless U richly for this...but one quick question, Y did u refer to Orion as an "unwise" choice?
Ehm I am no sir, just some dude.. To answer your question, let me put it this way, Orion is what you learn as a beginner; it is a pretty decent software for basic RCD. but you dont want to be a beginner, you wouldnt also be employed to design basic structures only, and you likely would be doing STEEL too. so yeah, you would need to get your teeth into ROBOT, SAP2000, STAAD PRO etc. By the way Orion takes no effort to learn,requires very little structural and modelling knowledge to even use it when you compare it to the world that stuffs like ROBOT would throw you into. I figure when you need to switch, you would find it daunting cos you would be so used to simplistic Orion.

My biggest problem with Orion is that it shoves you from the actual structural concepts that your competence depends on and doesn't do much either. When you move to an analysis software, be it robot, sap2000 etc. like you would have to, you would find yourself asking do i apply a release here? what directions should this be released in? what load combination? do i consider out of plane buckling for this? you know all the structural concepts and criteria that you'd have to deal with on a project, would stare you in the face and Orion cant help you out.

Also when it comes to features, Orion is a very poor choice. ROBOT has a CFD based wind simulator that allows you get a more accurate wind load than conventional method would, you also have FEA, interoperability etc. I would rather ask one to learn tekla structural designer than orion. oops by the way CSC the developer of Orion, sold out to Tekla, so orion is dead now, what you have now is Tekla Structural Designer.

9 Likes 2 Shares

Re: what software should a young Civil/Structural Engineer learn? by micxwell(m): 10:39pm On Jun 24, 2018
einsteino:

Ehm I am no sir, just some dude.. To answer your question, let me put it this way, Orion is what you learn as a beginner; it is a pretty decent software for basic RCD. but you dont want to be a beginner, you wouldnt also be employed to design basic structures only, and you likely would be doing STEEL too. so yeah, you would need to get your teeth into ROBOT, SAP2000, STAAD PRO etc. By the way Orion takes no effort to learn,requires very little structural and modelling knowledge to even use it when you compare it to the world that stuffs like ROBOT would throw you into. I figure when you need to switch, you would find it daunting cos you would be so used to simplistic Orion.

My biggest problem with Orion is that it shoves you from the actual structural concepts that your competence depends on and doesn't do much either. When you move to an analysis software, be it robot, sap2000 etc. like you would have to, you would find yourself asking do i apply a release here? what directions should this be released in? what load combination? do i consider out of plane buckling for this? you know all the structural concepts and criteria that you'd have to deal with on a project, would stare you in the face and Orion cant help you out.

Also when it comes to features, Orion is a very poor choice. ROBOT has a CFD based wind simulator that allows you get a more accurate wind load than conventional method would, you also have FEA, interoperability etc. I would rather ask one to learn tekla structural designer than orion. oops by the way CSC the developer of Orion, sold out to Tekla, so orion is dead now, what you have now is Tekla Structural Designer.
You are so on point bro. I use to be one who uses CSC ORION. First I discovered that you'll lack behind on so many things you need to know as a design Engineer. Orion is shallow. I fell in love with SAP 2000 and ETABS. Ever since I started learning them, I feel like using hand calculations on many occasions, but EXCEL helps there though. Orion makes one lazy and shallow.

Modified* The upgrade to CSC Orion, ProtaStructure is actually much better now.

1 Like

Re: what software should a young Civil/Structural Engineer learn? by Yinxies(f): 6:52am On Jun 25, 2018
Okay.
Re: what software should a young Civil/Structural Engineer learn? by DonFreshmoney(m): 6:53am On Jun 25, 2018
Hav u heard about a software called pussycat software? You only need a single tool to operate this software, and is very easy to learn.

1 Like 1 Share

Re: what software should a young Civil/Structural Engineer learn? by phatnpretty(f): 6:55am On Jun 25, 2018
just trying to be on front page. una good morning
Re: what software should a young Civil/Structural Engineer learn? by coolestchris(m): 6:57am On Jun 25, 2018
how can I learn all this software effectively

1 Like

Re: what software should a young Civil/Structural Engineer learn? by israelmao(m): 6:57am On Jun 25, 2018
To be quite honest with you Iove this profession.

2 Likes

Re: what software should a young Civil/Structural Engineer learn? by Gaspardd(m): 7:12am On Jun 25, 2018
Civil engr reporting but i súck in all of those things.

2 Likes 1 Share

Re: what software should a young Civil/Structural Engineer learn? by hakeem4(m): 7:13am On Jun 25, 2018
coolestchris:
how can I learn all this software effectively
you can learn prota structures, Orion staad pro and aucad via you tube videos. Or you can hit me up . I tutor people also
Re: what software should a young Civil/Structural Engineer learn? by hakeem4(m): 7:18am On Jun 25, 2018
micxwell:

You are so on point bro. I use to be one who uses CSC ORION. First I discovered that you'll lack behind on so many things you need to know as a design Engineer. Orion is shallow. I fell in love with SAP 2000 and ETABS. Ever since I started learning them, I feel like using hand calculations on many occasions, but EXCEL helps there though. Orion makes one lazy and shallow.
prota structures is an advanced version of Orion. It designs and details steel also
Re: what software should a young Civil/Structural Engineer learn? by Horlamidei(m): 7:19am On Jun 25, 2018
Gaspardd:
Civil engr reporting but i súck in all of those things.

Me too.......i only know how to use AutoCAD.......so sad of me!
Re: what software should a young Civil/Structural Engineer learn? by hakeem4(m): 7:21am On Jun 25, 2018
Horlamidei:


Me too.......i only know how to use AutoCAD.......so sad of me!
you could learn most of these softwares easily
Re: what software should a young Civil/Structural Engineer learn? by Horlamidei(m): 7:21am On Jun 25, 2018
Please help with a Construction firm where I can have my Industrial Training, plz!

1 Like

Re: what software should a young Civil/Structural Engineer learn? by mercenary: 7:21am On Jun 25, 2018
Orion, Revit, archicad
Re: what software should a young Civil/Structural Engineer learn? by Horlamidei(m): 7:21am On Jun 25, 2018
hakeem4:
you could learn most of these softwares easily

How?
Re: what software should a young Civil/Structural Engineer learn? by hakeem4(m): 7:22am On Jun 25, 2018
Horlamidei:


How?
you tube videos or one on one tutorials.

2 Likes

Re: what software should a young Civil/Structural Engineer learn? by hakeem4(m): 7:24am On Jun 25, 2018
einsteino:

Ehm I am no sir, just some dude.. To answer your question, let me put it this way, Orion is what you learn as a beginner; it is a pretty decent software for basic RCD. but you dont want to be a beginner, you wouldnt also be employed to design basic structures only, and you likely would be doing STEEL too. so yeah, you would need to get your teeth into ROBOT, SAP2000, STAAD PRO etc. By the way Orion takes no effort to learn,requires very little structural and modelling knowledge to even use it when you compare it to the world that stuffs like ROBOT would throw you into. I figure when you need to switch, you would find it daunting cos you would be so used to simplistic Orion.

My biggest problem with Orion is that it shoves you from the actual structural concepts that your competence depends on and doesn't do much either. When you move to an analysis software, be it robot, sap2000 etc. like you would have to, you would find yourself asking do i apply a release here? what directions should this be released in? what load combination? do i consider out of plane buckling for this? you know all the structural concepts and criteria that you'd have to deal with on a project, would stare you in the face and Orion cant help you out.

Also when it comes to features, Orion is a very poor choice. ROBOT has a CFD based wind simulator that allows you get a more accurate wind load than conventional method would, you also have FEA, interoperability etc. I would rather ask one to learn tekla structural designer than orion. oops by the way CSC the developer of Orion, sold out to Tekla, so orion is dead now, what you have now is Tekla Structural Designer.
but staad isn’t economical
Re: what software should a young Civil/Structural Engineer learn? by chomchom1(f): 7:27am On Jun 25, 2018
I love these... God bless u.. I need to learn more of these softwares
Re: what software should a young Civil/Structural Engineer learn? by chomchom1(f): 7:37am On Jun 25, 2018
Please which software details slab without editing
Re: what software should a young Civil/Structural Engineer learn? by Nobody: 7:39am On Jun 25, 2018
einsteino:

Ehm I am no sir, just some dude.. To answer your question, let me put it this way, Orion is what you learn as a beginner; it is a pretty decent software for basic RCD. but you dont want to be a beginner, you wouldnt also be employed to design basic structures only, and you likely would be doing STEEL too. so yeah, you would need to get your teeth into ROBOT, SAP2000, STAAD PRO etc. By the way Orion takes no effort to learn,requires very little structural and modelling knowledge to even use it when you compare it to the world that stuffs like ROBOT would throw you into. I figure when you need to switch, you would find it daunting cos you would be so used to simplistic Orion.

My biggest problem with Orion is that it shoves you from the actual structural concepts that your competence depends on and doesn't do much either. When you move to an analysis software, be it robot, sap2000 etc. like you would have to, you would find yourself asking do i apply a release here? what directions should this be released in? what load combination? do i consider out of plane buckling for this? you know all the structural concepts and criteria that you'd have to deal with on a project, would stare you in the face and Orion cant help you out.

Also when it comes to features, Orion is a very poor choice. ROBOT has a CFD based wind simulator that allows you get a more accurate wind load than conventional method would, you also have FEA, interoperability etc. I would rather ask one to learn tekla structural designer than orion. oops by the way CSC the developer of Orion, sold out to Tekla, so orion is dead now, what you have now is Tekla Structural Designer.



You know where one can learn them in Portharcourt?
Re: what software should a young Civil/Structural Engineer learn? by kenny714433(m): 7:40am On Jun 25, 2018
Civil...........sand sand
Civil............reinforcement
Civil............Beam



Pls I find structural mechanics and structure design so difficult. How did u guys scale through?



And I'm kinda confused on the area of specialization I should choose in the field. Plz my fellow NICESANS, who have the experience help me out. Plz be conscious of employment opportunities and Nigerian factor.
Re: what software should a young Civil/Structural Engineer learn? by Nobody: 7:41am On Jun 25, 2018
Poor me, need to Start to learn all this, as am preparing to registered as a civil Engr, in water, but will love to learn structural detailing and design
Engr Hakeem help your brother, kindly drop your contact pls, 07038194394
Re: what software should a young Civil/Structural Engineer learn? by ThatCEO: 7:47am On Jun 25, 2018
Nice thread

@einsteino

I think it's nice to separate these softwares based on specialization. Some peeps up there are already getting low self esteem because they can't use the software. But in reality, they probably would never need them.

Civil is not all about structures. Na. Far from it, I find structures boring.

In any case, if you want to specialize in geotech. ABAQUS, PLAXIS, ANSYS, and learn AutoCAD or archicad. And Don't just start learning everything in ABAQUS, learn the parts that relate to geotech like railway n the likes.

We really need to start specializing in Nigeria, this idea of learning everything is so wrong

6 Likes

Re: what software should a young Civil/Structural Engineer learn? by Nissybright(m): 7:51am On Jun 25, 2018
Good morning great engrs.. Am a civil engineering software tutor.. I teach AutoCAD, Orion, Staadpro, CivilCAD, Beamax, and SAP. you will also be taught on how to generate calculation sheets. for more enquires Contact me :Nissybright9@gmail.com.
Re: what software should a young Civil/Structural Engineer learn? by Nobody: 7:54am On Jun 25, 2018
Good job.
Re: what software should a young Civil/Structural Engineer learn? by chomchom1(f): 7:54am On Jun 25, 2018
Op pls create whatapp group for civil/ st please...

2 Likes

Re: what software should a young Civil/Structural Engineer learn? by Adebayor19(m): 8:12am On Jun 25, 2018
wasiy:
Poor me, need to Start to learn all this, as am preparing to registered as a civil Engr, in water, but will love to learn structural detailing and design
Engr Hakeem help your brother, kindly drop your contact pls, 07038194394


Start preparing yourself by going to YouTube and watch videos tutorials of any software you want. Then if you feel it's confusing, look for someone to explain. But if you are attentive and have a good background of hand calculations in structural desings, you will need little or no explanations.


Please where can someone download structural softwares. I need help

1 Like 1 Share

Re: what software should a young Civil/Structural Engineer learn? by engrajoo1(m): 8:15am On Jun 25, 2018
chomchom1:
Op pls create whatapp group for civil/ st please...

Seconded

1 Like

Re: what software should a young Civil/Structural Engineer learn? by Josipov: 8:22am On Jun 25, 2018
einsteino:
I have been getting lots of pm asking, what software should a young Civil/Structural Engineer learn?
That would depend on a number of factors. if you work in an organised firm, the firm would narrow down your options as it would already have purchased multi-user license for a software, it is either you have proficiency in that software or you learn fast. Also you would likely have a designation that narrows your duties to a specific subject area.

On the other hand if you work for smaller firms or freelance, you would likely be allowed to choose what suits you and wouldnt get the luxury of specialising in a subject area. Nonetheless, your considerations should cover support, ease of use, intuitiveness of User interface, functions/features, learning curve, cost of software and most importantly the nature of the project at hand.

Civil engineering softwares can be grouped into the following;

Building design software: these usually are only able to handle buildings and are easier to use and comes with rudimentary detailing features. In this category you have Orion, protastructures, tekla structural designer, Etabs etc.

General Analysis/Design software: These are versatile software, they are flexible and leaves you to conceptualize whatever you fancy, while it handles the computation. You would have to be well grounded in analysis and design concepts to correctly use these. E.g STAAD PRO, Robot Structural Analysis, Midas, SAP 2000, SAFE, STAAD FOUNDATION.

Detailing suites: Most Engrs hate detailing, it is time demanding and sucks! even worse, an average joe wouldnt appreciate the effort/technicality it takes. You may be saying "but orion automatically generates details, tekla structural designer does too"..the tuth is you wouldnt dare submit their detail drawings without painstaking revising and editing it, except you dont know what you are doing or work in an environment where anything goes. atimes you would find certain details from it are just not usable and doesn't meet the standards of either your employer or client. This is where detailing suites come in, they are bespoke softwares that lets you detail in 2D whatever you wish, however you wish with the aid of intelligent codefied macros. example of these are Allplan, Cads RC, Autocad stŕuctural detailing.

Building information modelling software: These are 3D modelling suites that contains parametric data of elements of the project you have modelled, but have no capability of analysis/design. Its mainly for exporting/integrating with analysis software. they also have detailing features and are mainly used for steel projects e.g Tekla, Revit Structure, Advance steel etc.

other civil/Bespoke software: These are special need software, you may never need them depending on your career path. E.g
SACS, EPASWMM, Civil 3D, Water Gem, EPA NET, PLAXIS, ANSYS, Mstower, Tstower, All pile, CSI Bridge, PHA-PRO etc.


if you are a neophyte to CAD, start with the Building design softwares, a popular but unwise choice is Orion, you would be better off with Etabs or Tekla structural designer. when you have come up, get your teeth into Robot/Staad pro/Sap 2000 and pick either Cads Rc or ASD for your detailing needs.

to try most of the softwares out for free as a student, simply visit their website and register with your university email, you would be granted an educational license, at least for most of them.

Would learning a software make you a great engr? The answer is No! softwares only help you automate repetitive and redudant process, you need a very good grasp of the theories and principles of engineering, marrying that with proficiency in a powerful software and insights from seasoned engineers would make you a better and more productive engineer. A very good book to start with is "Three Dimensional Static and Dynamic Analysis of Structures"

1 Like

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