Structural Engineering: Timber Building Design—Graduate Certificate

Online Education for Working Professionals

Gain comprehensive knowledge of timber structures from experts.

Structural Engineering: Timber Building Design

Learn advanced design of timber structures.

The advent of mass timber and tall wood buildings has brought timber design back into the forefront of structural engineering and architecture. This comprehensive certificate allows you to consider how timber buildings are different from buildings constructed using other common civil structural materials. Study dimension lumber and mass timber. Design at the component and system levels. Analyze axially and flexurally loaded members, shear, bearing, and combined loading on members. Study connection design, shear walls and diaphragms, arches and tapered beams, modeling, and loading. Timber structural design is a historical strength of the department. Take advantage of this unique opportunity.

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How to Apply

3 courses in 3 semesters.

Department	Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering
Admissions requirement	Civil engineering, structural engineering, or related degree.
Contact	Angela Keranen

Length	3 courses in 2-3 semesters
Effort	3 hours per credit per week
Each course	3 credits
Total credits	9
Course type	Online or on-campus
Modality	Watch class recordings on demand
Cost	Based on credits and course type
Already enrolled?	Speak with your advisor

Curriculum

Progress quickly with a compact curriculum. Work with the program advisor to select courses that fit your interests and prerequisite skills.

Prerequisites

Check your preparation. Here are some of the pre-requisite courses for this certificate, depending on electives chosen. CEE 3710 or MA 3710 or equivalent may be required. Review the course descriptions for details.

CEE 3202 - Structural Analysis

Introduction to structural concepts and techniques for analyzing trusses, determinate and indeterminate beams, and frame structures. Apply concepts from statics and mechanics of materials to determine internal forces and deflections of structural members and systems, including loads and load paths.

Credits: 3.0
Lec-Rec-Lab: (3-0-0)
Semesters Offered: Fall, Spring
Pre-Requisite(s): (ENG 2120 or MEEM 2150) and (MA 2320(C) or MA 2321(C) or MA 2330(C))

CEE 3710 - Uncertainty Analysis in Engineering

Introduction to probability, statistics, and uncertainty analysis with examples from civil engineering (e.g. models of vehicle arrivals, structural reliability, flood distributions). Topics include: discrete probability theory, probability distributions, parameter estimation, confidence intervals, hypothesis tests, linear regression, and model selection.

Credits: 3.0
Lec-Rec-Lab: (3-0-0)
Semesters Offered: Fall
Pre-Requisite(s): MA 2160

MA 3710 - Engineering Statistics

Introduction to the design, conduct, and analysis of statistical studies aimed at solving engineering problems. Topics include methods of data collection, descriptive and graphical methods, probability and probability models, statistical inference, control charts, linear regression, design of experiments.

Credits: 3.0
Lec-Rec-Lab: (0-3-0)
Semesters Offered: Fall, Spring, Summer
Pre-Requisite(s): MA 2160 or MA 3160(C)

CEE 4201 - Matrix Structural Analysis

Analysis of trusses and frames by the direct stiffness method. Use of a typical commercial computer code is stressed as a tool for complex structures. Introduces three-dimensional structures.

Credits: 3.0
Lec-Rec-Lab: (0-2-2)
Semesters Offered: Fall, Spring
Pre-Requisite(s): CEE 3202

Required Courses

Take 6 credits of required courses.

CEE 4233 - Structural Timber Design

Introduction to the use of wood as a structural engineering material. Includes design of beams, columns, nailed and bolted connections, trusses, and panels. Overview of engineered timber systems including glulam, LVLs, I-joists, and cross-laminated timber.

Credits: 3.0
Lec-Rec-Lab: (0-3-0)
Semesters Offered: Spring
Pre-Requisite(s): CEE 3202 or CMG 3250

CEE 5233 - Advanced Structural Timber Design

Advanced design of timber structures, including glulam tapered and curved beams, arches, and traditional timber frames, advanced shear wall design, advanced connection design, including timber connectors and cross-laminated timber design.

Credits: 3.0
Lec-Rec-Lab: (0-3-0)
Semesters Offered: Fall, in odd years
Pre-Requisite(s): CEE 4233

Electives

Take a 3-credit elective course.

CEE 5202 - Finite Element Analysis

Introduction to the use of finite element methods in structural analysis. Covers the finite element formulation, 1- and 2-D elements, including isoparametric elements, axisymmetric analysis, plate and shell elements, dynamics, buckling, and nonlinear analysis.

Credits: 3.0
Lec-Rec-Lab: (0-3-0)
Semesters Offered: Spring
Pre-Requisite(s): CEE 4201

CEE 5241 - Structural Dynamics

Free and forced vibration of undamped and damped single degree of freedom systems. Seismic design using the equivalent lateral force method. Introduction to multi-degree of freedom systems and transmissibility.

Credits: 3.0
Lec-Rec-Lab: (0-3-0)
Semesters Offered: Fall, Summer
Pre-Requisite(s): CEE 4201(C)

CEE 5730 - Probabilistic Analysis and Reliability

Examines probabilistic analysis of engineering systems including first-order methods, Monte Carlo simulation, and time-to-failure analysis. Reliability analysis will include capacity/demand reliability and system reliability. Emphasis will be on civil and environmental engineering systems.

Credits: 3.0
Lec-Rec-Lab: (0-3-0)
Semesters Offered: Fall
Pre-Requisite(s): CEE 3502 or CEE 3710 or MA 3710

Typical Schedule

The minimum completion time is three semesters. Here is a typical schedule.

	Spring
	CEE 4233
Summer	Fall
CEE 5241	CEE 5233

Application Process and Admissions Requirements

Applications are reviewed on an individual basis using a holistic approach. Fill out our free graduate application online to apply to any of our programs. Official transcripts and scores are not required for the initial application, although you will need to upload them later.

Graduate School Admissions Process

Applying to the Graduate School is free (no application fees) and fast (no official transcripts, test scores, or letters needed to start). The application process involves three easy steps.

See Admissions Steps

Graduate School Requirements

To be considered for admission to the Graduate School as a degree- or certificate-seeking student, you need to:

have a bachelor's degree or its equivalent from an accredited institution, and
be prepared for advanced study in your chosen field, as demonstrated by your previous degree and your scholastic record.

See additional application requirements, including required materials:

Official Transcripts

Program Specific Requirements

Program Specific

Admitted applicants typically have an undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or better on a 4.0 scale
GMAT/GRE: Not required
Preferred major: Civil, environmental or related degree

International Students

TOEFL: Recommended Score of 79 iBT
IELTS: Recommended Overall Band Score of 6.5

Admissions Decisions

Made on a rolling basis.

Certificate Admissions

Prospective Students

Prospective students and non-degree seeking students interested in obtaining a graduate certificate must apply to the certificate program using the online application.
Accelerated certificate options exist for current Michigan Tech undergraduate students in good standing and have achieved at least junior-level standing or recent bachelor’s graduates of Michigan Tech (less than two years).
The number of credits earned prior to admission that can be counted are restricted.

Current Graduate Students

Current Michigan Tech graduate students who are in a degree program do not need to formally apply. Current students must still submit the appropriate degree schedule in order to complete the certificate.

International Student Requirements

International Students must apply and be accepted into a degree-granting program in order to earn a graduate certificate. A non-refundable $10 processing fee per application is required.

See International Applicants

Interested in taking a single, online course? Enroll as a non-degree seeking student.

Upon completion of the certificate, students will be able to:

Design a range of wood structures subjected to gravity and lateral loads, including glulam and light-frame wood structures.

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