Structural Engineering Blog: Careers

3/16/2017

Top Alternative Careers for Civil and Structural Engineers

You might love your consulting job or your job at a contractor company and the many challenges that comes with it. OR you might want to explore other career paths. Whoever you might be, you might have thought about alternative careers for civil and structural engineering.

But you do not want to steer far away from civil and structural engineering, since it has become your passion. You accumulated a wealth of experience when you worked with structural designs, drawings, tender documentation, analysis and reporting, etc. You would not want to give that up just yet!

We have compiled a list of top alternative careers for civil and structural engineers who want to keep on applying their civil and structural engineering skills. These careers can help you develop additional skills that are different than what you get in a traditional consulting firm or contractor company. Ultimately, our goal in this post and in the Sturdy Structural blog is to help you maintain that drive and passion for civil and structural engineering... but with a twist!

Forensic Engineering/Expert Witness

Source: http://www.walzermelcher.com/

Expert witnesses have a wealth of experience, knowledge, and certification, so that they can provide their own technical perspective about certain areas of a case. You can use your structural engineering skills and serve as an expert witness in a legal proceeding, appraisal hearing, deposition, or trial by providing your input in a construction case. You will not be doing the traditional design work, but you will be inspecting site conditions, backtracking documents, and implementing structural forensic assessments on what has led to the structural failure of your case. Causes of these failures can include design errors, miscommunication with the project team, poor project management, issues in construction methods, construction defects and deterioration, etc. From these case studies, you will then learn from construction mistakes and failures, remedial methods, and construction prevention techniques that can prevent costly claims and construction accidents.

For this job, you will have the opportunity to improve communication skills by providing testimonies, cross examining, and presenting findings in court proceedings. You will also be required to know about construction law and legal implications to provide quality advice for your attorney clients. You also will need to know about dispute resolution methods.

Real Estate and Property Development

Real estate and property development is another great alternative career for civil and structural engineers. You can use your structural engineering skills to determine what types of construction projects are feasible, what sort of structural elements can be altered, why construction claims arise from structural designs, and what types of usage can be used in certain portions of the property. You can then use your structural engineering skills to manage the structural engineering consultants in the design teams.

Other than structural engineering skills, you will need to know about general real estate development techniques, such as land acquisition, real estate financing, liabilities, insurance, risk assessment, project management, project scheduling, budgeting, real estate valuation, contractual implications, sales or leases of property, etc.

Software

Source: tekraglobalconcepts.com/

There is currently a lot of demand for structural engineering software applications. Nowadays, many design and analysis procedures are automated and are in a fully integrated software package, such as software for finite element analysis, dynamic analysis etc. Users can effectively communicate their designs, produce accurate results, and improve workflow using computerized models. Other software, such as software for inspection and monitoring and software for construction management are also in great demand. Moreover, some structural engineering software can be used in the cloud. Having an alternative career in developing structural engineering software applications might be a smart move.

It is common to have software developers develop these software, so you do not need to know advanced I.T. skills. However, you should know some basics, such as basic programming language (i.e. C, C++, Java, Python), process in software development, testing and debugging codes, operation and maintenance, process improvement, etc.

Your structural engineering skills can be used in this lucrative industry, since you will be providing your knowledge of structural engineering principles into the software. Some examples of structural engineering software that we recommend include VCMaster, Pensolve, and CHECKPOLE.

Technical sales and marketing

Source: www.sreesaiagencies.com

You can also choose technical sales and marketing as your alternative career for structural engineering. Sales engineers are marketers who have a deep understanding about their technical products and their client’s needs. Sales engineers in the field of structural engineering can market construction materials, structural engineering software, green products, fireproofing, etc. You will need to apply your structural engineering knowledge in this profession as you will need to understand the technical features of your structural engineering product.

In addition to structural engineering skills, communication and presentation techniques will also needed as you will be pitching your products to customers in your sales visits, trade exhibitions, demonstrations, and product training sessions. Sales and interpersonal techniques will help you in the long run as you need to interpret your client’s requirements, answer product questions, develop customer satisfaction, develop new businesses, and maintaining long term relationships with existing clients. In order to optimize your sales, you will also need to know order management, terms negotiation, sales proposals, sales performance report preparations, etc.

Sustainability

More and more developers strive to use construction resources more effectively for increasing lifecycle value and for cost saving concerns. Since this is such an in demand industry, this is another great alternative career for structural engineering.

There are many positions for this industry. You can be an environmental advisor, assessor for environmental certification (LEED, BEAM PRO, BREEAM, etc), environmental specialist, etc. Inspecting and monitoring for sustainable construction practices, conducting lifecycle assessments, and practicing sustainability are often part of the job description. You will also need to have knowledge in identifying key environmental issues, determining renewable energy opportunities, managing demolition waste, managing noise and pollution, implementing waste water treatment, etc. Green materials are especially essential in this industry. You can read more about sustainable materials here.

If you want to get started in this industry, you can actually practice sustainability in a consulting and contractor firm by assessing designs for structural optimization, improving lifecycle by using performance-based design, designing for future modifications and retrofitting, etc. OR you can steer away from consulting firms and contractor companies by going to a firm that specializes in sustainable practices.

Are there are other alternative careers for structural engineers that we missed? What are some innovative ways that structural engineers can contribute their skills?

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Structural Engineering Blog: Alternative Dispute Resolution

1/17/2017

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The Different Types of Dispute Resolution Methods in the Construction Industry and How to Appropriately Select Each One

The Construction Industry

The construction industry is a multi-billion dollar industry with various different construction projects, such as demolition, new building works, alterations, infrastructure construction, etc. Within a single project, many parties are involved, architects, quantity surveyors, project managers, MEP engineer, main contractors, sub-contractors, suppliers, and last but not least, the clients. Within a single project, there are different project activities, various responsibilities, tons of detailed plans and drawings, different trades, legal considerations, environmental considerations etc. Because of the many different aspects in a construction project, the finished structure might not be the same as the scheme design or the detailed design. Variation orders and design changes are inevitable due to changes in project factors listed below. This produces more contractual problems and risks, which induce possibilities of claims and disputes.

Changes in a project that can cause disputes:

Expected versus actual environmental and site conditions
Lack of ground investigations before design or construction work
Lack of information on site conditions from the employer
Risks and uncertainty due to the lack of information available and holes in design
Changes in agreement terms and specifications, especially nearing project completion
Complexity of the structure
Contingencies
Projects trying to finish faster than the original schedule, which will incur additional costs
Cost inflation of materials
Lack of risk assessment before design and construction
Not meeting the specifications and quality
Confusing information or errors in tender documents and drawings provided for the contractor
Errors in tender document review and cost evaluation by the contractor
Ineffective project management and coordination of trades and tasks
Responsibilities of parties due to delays and additional costs which can lead to disagreement of payment claims

To settle claims and disputes, a company can use litigation or court proceedings. This can be very expensive due to court expenses and expenses for solicitors and barristers. Also, litigation can take years. Claims and disputes cannot stand in the way of the productivity of a construction company, developer, or consultant. A company must maintain a healthy financial and productivity record by continuing on what it is established to do... constructing structures, consulting, or developing. Disputes must be dealt in a better fashion for the companies to continue on generating income and focusing on their company mission.

Image Source: http://www.michaelhayes.co.uk/

Using Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)

Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) is then used to settle these construction disputes and claims outside of traditional courts and in a timely and cost effective manner. Using this technique, companies can be productive and grow economically again with their normal operations.
Here are some advantages of ADR:

Cases can be resolved in months or even weeks
Parties are given flexibility and control over the process and the final settlement
Interest based and not based on legalities such as rights
Confidential
Business relationships can be retained

Image Source: https://www.pinterest.com/

How do you choose the right type of ADR?

You need to have a clause in your contract stating the type of ADR that will be implemented when disputes occur.
Other factors for choosing an ADR type include:

Settlement result
What type of representation for the parties
ADR procedures
Cost of ADR method
Nature of dispute
Amount of evidence and references
Business relationship

For example, you would choose mediation to preserve a business relationship. If you would like a quick settlement but might have a possibility of damaging a relationship, you should choose arbitration.

Types of ADR

Mediation
The mediator, who is a professional third-party, is chosen by the relevant parties to assist with discussion. By the guidance of the mediator, the parties explore the strengths and weaknesses of each perspective, overcome differences, and come to a settlement that is acceptable to both parties. The mediator must be impartial and not provide legal advice or decisions. He or she is merely the facilitator. Other factors of mediation include:

Any discussions within the mediation cannot be used in future legal proceedings.
The settlement after the mediation cannot be enforced by the mediator.
Parties have final control of settlement terms

Advantages
- Quick
- Confidential
- Interest-based
- Decisions are reached by consensual and voluntary agreements
- Less pricey than litigation
- Preserve business relationships
Disadvantages
- If the dispute is still unresolved, the case can go on for a long time and incur costs. Mediation is not appropriate for complex disputes.
- Should not be used if parties do not want to cooperate
- Settlement may not be resolved since mediators are not given the power to enforce settlement

Conciliation
The conciliator serves as an unbiased authority figure by discussing with each party individually to establish each parties’ goals. Conciliation is similar to mediation, but the conciliator has more intervention power as he or she can propose different settlement options. Conciliation is not organized like mediation, since mediation has a more structured program, such as “introduction, joint session, caucus, and agreement” .

Advantages
- Preserve business relationships
- Parties can shape procedures of conciliation
- Interest-based
- Time and cost effective
- Confidential
Disadvantages
- Like mediation, settlements in conciliation have no binding power.

Adjudication
The adjudicator is a neutral third party expert. He or she has the power to request expert witnesses, evidence, or references. The adjudicator decides on the settlement, once evidence is received and statements from the parties have been evaluated. This decision is binding for a certain period until court proceedings are due.

Advantages
- Interest based
- Does not hinder actual productivity
Disadvantages
- Time consuming like arbitration
- Decision is temporary and can be challenged again in arbitration, court proceedings, or litigation.

Image Source: http://www.arbitrationflorida.com/construction-arbitration/

Arbitration
Arbitration is a legal procedure where an arbitrator makes a final and legally binding or nonbinding decision. If the decision is binding, it cannot be appealed. If the decision is non-binding, the parties can request an appeal and trial at court. The third party arbitrator is usually an expert, lawyer, or a panel of arbitrators. The decision of an arbitrator is equivalent to a decision in litigation. However, there is more power from the parties on the nature of the arbitration process.

Advantages
- Confidential
- Settlements are final for binding decisions
- Quick
- Avoid litigation costs
Disadvantages
- Arbitrator has little authority if one party does not settle the claim or payment
- Limited appeal rights after arbitration, even if the decision nonbinding, there might still be penalties for appealing

Expert determination
An independent third party expert in a particular industry is mutually appointed by the parties. He or she must be qualified under a professional institution. Expert determination is usually for valuation disputes. The process is informal and flexible. Decisions are binding and final.

Advantages
- Confidential
- Can resolve technical and complex engineering disputes
- Low cost
- Quick
- Informal procedures
Disadvantages
- There is no control over the expert determination process
- Process is not backed by regulations or legislations
- Decisions are hard to appeal
- Expert’s final decisions cannot be enforced

Early neutral evaluation
The evaluator, who is a neutral professional, is mutually appointed by the parties. The parties communicate directly with each other, with the evaluator, in an informal evaluation setting. The parties initially produce written statements of the case. These written statements include the nature of the dispute, their views on the dispute, their evidence, and their arguments and claims that support their case. They then submit their statements to the evaluator, who will evaluate each argument and produce a written evaluation that estimates the damages and liability. Then, there will be follow up sessions of settlement discussions, which will result in a non-binding decision.

Combinations of ADR
There are also other combinations of ADR that can be used. Parties can use the advantages of each ADR and combine these advantages together for maximum effect.
Med-arbitration is a combination of mediation and arbitration. The mediation process starts first. If no settlement is to be reached, the mediator then becomes the arbitrator to make settlements legally binding.
Med-adjudication is a combination of mediation and adjudication. The mediation process starts first. If no settlement is to be reached, the adjudicator gives his or her own view of settlement after the mediation and then makes the settlement decision.

Image Source: http://mgessnerlaw.com/mediation-services/

Mediation Case Studies

We found two interesting mediation cases. Cases like these are confidential, so the identities of the parties are unidentified.

The first case deals with contract law and construction. It deals with the two parties, the developer and the contractor, who are both in argument about the cost evaluation and the quality of works. Through mediation, both parties eventually settled, in which the contract will be extended for a certain period of time for the contractor to implement quality works. This case study shows that mediation can settle conflict, can keep dispute resolution costs low by reimbursing court taxes, keep business relationships, and reduce the amount of time for dispute resolution.

Source: http://collaborativejourneys.com/service/conflict-management/mediation-process/

Another case study found here is a dispute between the subcontractor (claimant) and the main contractor (defendant). The claimant claims that the main contractor refused to pay for the concrete flooring works and require a settlement claim of £40,000. The defendant defends that the works were defective and had cost them £90,000 to have another company to redo the works. Moreover, the works were late in completion. The claimant claims that they cannot rectify the works since most of their resources went to another work done simultaneously for the defendant. The dispute used mediation to settle the payment of £20,000. Mediation took 1 day only and cost only £950 for each party.

Sources:

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sturdy structural blog

Structural Engineering Blog: Careers

Top Alternative Careers for Civil and Structural Engineers

Forensic Engineering/Expert Witness

Real Estate and Property Development

Software

Technical sales and marketing

Sustainability

Structural Engineering Blog: Alternative Dispute Resolution

The Different Types of Dispute Resolution Methods in the Construction Industry and How to Appropriately Select Each One

The Construction Industry

Using Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)

How do you choose the right type of ADR?

Types of ADR

Mediation Case Studies

About

Featured in...

Categories

References

By using this website,
you agree to the
Terms and Conditions.

sturdy structural blog

Structural Engineering Blog: Careers

Top Alternative Careers for Civil and Structural Engineers

​Forensic Engineering/Expert Witness

​Real Estate and Property Development

​Software

Technical sales and marketing

Sustainability

Structural Engineering Blog: Alternative Dispute Resolution

The Different Types of Dispute Resolution Methods in the Construction Industry and How to Appropriately Select Each One

The Construction Industry

Using Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)

​How do you choose the right type of ADR?

Types of ADR

Mediation Case Studies

About​

Featured in...

Categories

References

By using this website,​you agree to theTerms and Conditions.

Forensic Engineering/Expert Witness

Real Estate and Property Development

Software

How do you choose the right type of ADR?

About

By using this website,
you agree to the
Terms and Conditions.