'The computer has come to stay, we must live with it and this book teaches us how to do so whilst remaining masters of the proceedings' Sir Ove Arup. (Understanding Structural Analysis. Introduction to the first edition)
'Brohn's magnificent text presents a radical departure...Such an approach has much to recommend it' Times Higher Education Supplement (Understanding Structural Analysis. First Edition)
I believe that you can halve the engineering time spent on projects just thinking clearly first.
In the Response column of the Guardian (14th November 2007), Chris Wise, ex-Arup now founder / director of Expedition Engineering commented on the type of engineers we need to solve the crisis of global warming. The observations are so apposite to the philosophy behind the Structural Modelling courses that they are worth quoting at length.
'We have more than enough engineers. We need magical conjurors'
'....We helped the world get into this mess and we are going to make it our mission to get it out again. This need is poorly served by specialised research universities and corporate engineering practice, rooted as it is in the postwar era and a scientific tendency to avoid responsibility. Nowadays sums are so easy that many engineers try to analyse their way to an answer, diligently solving the wrong problem rather than think their way to a solution. That is the root of the shortage of engineering expertise. I believe that you can halve the engineering time spent on projects just thinking clearly first.'
Welcome
The world of the structural engineering design office has undergone a complete revolution in the last 20 years. From a time when nearly all calculations for analysis and design were carried out by hand we now see an office where virtually all of the final stages of the design process are completed in seconds at the click of a mouse button.
This places a particular emphasis on the modelling procedures prior to the computer analysis and this requires a new approach to the training of young engineers.
With over 20 years experience in the development of this approach, we believe that we have an effective and reliable system combining texts and short training courses.
David Brohn PhD CEng FIStructE
