Technical Minor in Structural Engineering

The Structural Engineering technical minor gives students outside civil engineering a rigorous, hands-on foundation in how buildings, bridges, and infrastructure systems are analyzed, designed, and built to safely carry the loads placed on them — from everyday gravity and wind to earthquakes, blasts, and a century of fatigue.

Students begin with the mechanics that underlie all structural work — statics, strength of materials, and structural analysis — then choose two electives from an advanced roster covering steel design, reinforced concrete design, structural dynamics, bridge systems, building systems, prestressed concrete, and the finite element method. The minor is designed for students majoring in Mechanical Engineering, Architecture, Computer Science, or other technical fields who want formal training in structural design without completing a full Civil Engineering degree.

Lehigh's structural engineering program is anchored by the ATLSS Engineering Research Center, home to the largest three-dimensional structural test bed in the United States, along with a five-million-pound universal testing machine and dynamic testing facilities in the historic Fritz Engineering Laboratory. Students in this minor have the opportunity to see — and in some electives, work directly with — the same labs used in Lehigh's nationally ranked graduate structural engineering research.

• Contact: Lehigh Civil and Environmental Engineering
• More Information: Technical Minor in Structural Engineering (Lehigh University Course Catalog)

Minor Requirements

A minimum of 16 credits is required: three required courses and two elective courses selected from the list below. This minor is not available to students majoring in Civil Engineering or Environmental Engineering.

The selection of elective courses should be made in consultation with the the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.