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Twelve-week structural design course roadmap from steel members through reinforced concrete to the final assessment

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Welcome to Introduction to Structural Design

Fall 2026 · August 31 – December 11, 2026 · 12 instructional weeks · Monday • Wednesday • Friday, 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM.

Midterm examination

Fri, October 23 · 68 days out

Final examination / FE readiness assessment

Fri, December 11 · 117 days out

Capstone design project — upload deadline

Fri, December 4 · 110 days out

AISC Steel Construction Manual, 16th Edition — gold hardcover

Required code & standard textbook

Steel Construction Manual, 16th Edition

American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC)

Every student must purchase and possess a copy by the end of the first week of the semester.

The 16th Edition Manual is the recommended code and standard textbook for this course. It carries AISC 360-22 (Specification for Structural Steel Buildings), the design tables used in every worked example, and the shape properties you will need for quizzes, the midterm, the final and the capstone. Reinforced concrete work follows ACI 318-19.

The 12-week roadmap

A chapter is released each week with its quiz on Friday 7:00 PM. Chapter quiz reminders are generated automatically every week — released Friday at 7:00 PM with the chapter and due the following Sunday at 11:59 PM, so students can work them as a take-home over the weekend. Every reminder is emailed to the student with the live grading rubric.

  1. 1

    Introduction to Structural Steel Design

    Quiz opens Friday, Sep 4 at Friday 7:00 PM

  2. 2

    LRFD Design Philosophy and Load Combinations

    Quiz opens Friday, Sep 11 at Friday 7:00 PM

  3. 3

    Steel Material Properties and Shapes

    Quiz opens Friday, Sep 18 at Friday 7:00 PM

  4. 4

    Tension Members

    Quiz opens Friday, Sep 25 at Friday 7:00 PM

  5. 5

    Compression Members and Column Buckling

    Quiz opens Friday, Oct 2 at Friday 7:00 PM

  6. 6

    Flexural Members / Beams

    Quiz opens Friday, Oct 9 at Friday 7:00 PM

  7. 7

    Beam Shear Design

    Quiz opens Friday, Oct 16 at Friday 7:00 PM

  8. 8

    Combined Axial Load and Bending

    Quiz opens Friday, Oct 23 at Friday 7:00 PM

  9. 9

    RC — Introduction & Material Properties

    Quiz opens Friday, Oct 30 at Friday 7:00 PM

  10. 10

    RC — Flexural Design of Beams

    Quiz opens Friday, Nov 6 at Friday 7:00 PM

  11. 11

    RC — Shear Design of Beams

    Quiz opens Friday, Nov 13 at Friday 7:00 PM

  12. 12

    RC — Compression Members (Columns)

    Quiz opens Friday, Nov 20 at Friday 7:00 PM

Introduction to Structural Design builds the judgment to size, check and detail real steel and reinforced concrete members against AISC 360-22 and ACI 318-19.

Every chapter follows the same rhythm: an engineering story, lecture notes with stacked derivations, worked examples, guided practice, a design challenge, FE-style preparation and a graded chapter quiz.

By the end of the term you will have carried a complete structural system from load path to member sizing to a documented capstone submission.

Your course team

SE

Dr. Steve Efe

Course Instructor

steve.efe@morgan.edu

Office hours by appointment · Monday & Wednesday before class

TF

Teka Farquharson

Teaching Assistant (T.A.)

Tefar2@morgan.edu

Grading, guided practice support and weekly help sessions

How you are graded

Chapter quizzes25%

Released Friday 7:00 PM with each chapter

Homework & practice15%

Guided practice, practice problems, design challenges

Midterm examination20%

Mid-semester, Week 7

Capstone design project20%

Uploaded one week before semester close

Final examination / FE readiness20%

Semester close, Week 12

Where to go next