Editing Structural engineering (section)

==Profession==
{{Main|Structural engineer}}

Structural engineers are responsible for engineering design and structural analysis. Entry-level structural engineers may design the individual structural elements of a structure, such as the beams and columns of a building. More experienced engineers may be responsible for the structural design and integrity of an entire system, such as a building.{{cn|date=February 2024}}

Structural engineers often specialize in particular types of structures, such as buildings, bridges, pipelines, industrial, tunnels, vehicles, ships, aircraft, and spacecraft.  Structural engineers who specialize in buildings may specialize in particular construction materials such as concrete, steel, wood, masonry, alloys and composites.{{cn|date=February 2024}}

Structural engineering has existed since humans first started to construct their structures. It became a more defined and formalized profession with the emergence of architecture as a distinct profession from engineering during the industrial revolution in the late 19th century. Until then, the architect and the structural engineer were usually one and the same thing – the master builder. Only with the development of specialized knowledge of structural theories that emerged during the 19th and early 20th centuries, did the professional structural engineers come into existence.{{cn|date=February 2024}}

The role of a structural engineer today involves a significant understanding of both static and dynamic loading and the structures that are available to resist them. The complexity of modern structures often requires a great deal of creativity from the engineer in order to ensure the structures support and resist the loads they are subjected to. A structural engineer will typically have a four or five-year undergraduate degree, followed by a minimum of three years of professional practice before being considered fully qualified.
Structural engineers are licensed or accredited by different learned societies and regulatory bodies around the world (for example, the Institution of Structural Engineers in the UK). Depending on the degree course they have studied and/or the jurisdiction they are seeking licensure in, they may be accredited (or licensed) as just structural engineers, or as civil engineers, or as both civil and structural engineers.
Another international organisation is IABSE(International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering).<ref>[http://www.iabse.org/association/organisation/index.php IABSE "Organisation", ''iabse website''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040806054537/http://www.iabse.org/association/organisation/index.php |date=2004-08-06 }}</ref> The aim of that association is to exchange knowledge and to advance the practice of structural engineering worldwide in the service of the profession and society.