Students get to know how to apply the AISC requirements for the design of steel beams in the first Steel Design course. This is usually done through straight forward and predefined problems and parameters, which is not always the case in the real world. The current paper describes a three-week-long project on addition of a balcony to the new engineering building at …. The purpose of the project is to help students get more familiar with the typical loading and framing plans of steel structures, the design process, and improve their entrepreneurial mindset by applying Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network (KEEN) learning objectives. It was found that the overall performance of students on beam design was improved. In addition, the student feedback indicated that they enjoyed the simplicity and open-ended, yet challenging nature of the project.
Dr. Ardakani is an Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering at Ohio Northern University. He has previously served as Project Engineer at Englekirk Structural Engineers and Lecturer at South Dakota State University. He obtained his Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from University of Nevada, Reno. His research interests include seismic performance and design of reinforced concrete structures, computational modeling of structures, and engineering education.
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