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Courses that show their working

Learning is organised by engineering discipline. Each course explains the fundamentals properly and then makes the judgement visible — the part that usually only comes with experience. Every number quoted in a course is recomputed by its tests, so the prose and the arithmetic cannot drift apart.

8 courses are finished and open to read. 3 more are planned; those are named below, and nothing else.

Discipline

Structural Engineering

How built structures carry load: equilibrium and internal actions, the behaviour of members and frames, and design to the Eurocodes in concrete and steel.

Foundational

Structural Analysis Fundamentals

Load paths and equilibrium, shear and bending moment diagrams, trusses, stress and strain, deflection and buckling — with interactive diagrams and worked examples throughout.

Before this: Algebra and basic mechanics

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Foundational

Structural Behaviour

Work out how a structure will move, where the load goes and what the diagrams look like before you calculate anything. Every module asks you to predict first, then checks your answer against the working.

Before this: Basic statics and equilibrium

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Intermediate

Structural Dynamics

Understanding vibration, earthquake response and dynamic structural behaviour: why structures vibrate, what changes when a load arrives quickly, and how to decide whether a dynamic analysis is needed at all.

Before this: Structural Analysis Fundamentals · Basic matrices from Module 9 onwards

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Intermediate

Computational Engineering

Using computation to design, analyse and improve structures responsibly: what to model and what to leave out, which method fits the question, how to check the output, and where automation should stop.

Before this: Structural Behaviour · Structural Analysis Fundamentals · Basic programming is helpful, not required

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Intermediate

Reinforced Concrete Design

How concrete and reinforcement work together, then beams, slabs, columns and foundations to Eurocode 2 — finishing with one design carried the whole way through.

Before this: Structural Analysis Fundamentals

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Intermediate

Structural Steel Design

How a steel structure behaves, how to model it, how members are checked against instability, and how the design reaches the fabricator.

Before this: Structural Analysis Fundamentals

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Structural Engineering →Discuss structural engineering →
Discipline

Geotechnical Engineering

How the ground behaves as an engineering material — natural, variable, and governed by drainage and time. The ground can control a structure that is otherwise perfectly adequate.

Foundational

Soil Mechanics

How soil, water and loading interact: description and classification, phase relationships, water flow, effective stress, consolidation, shear strength and an introduction to critical state.

Before this: Basic statics

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Advanced

Foundation Engineering

Bearing capacity and settlement of shallow foundations, and the behaviour of piles: load transfer, capacity in clay and sand, groups, downdrag and lateral load.

Before this: Soil Mechanics

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Planned

Not written yet. These are named so you can see where the discipline is going, not offered as something to start.

  • Ground Investigation and Ground CharacterisationIntermediate
  • Retaining Structures and ExcavationsAdvanced
  • Slope StabilityAdvanced
Geotechnical Engineering →Discuss geotechnical engineering →

Common questions

Before you start