The Forge · engineering, computing & technology
Civil, Structural & Architectural
Bridges, buildings, and the quiet systems under the street — engineering at civic scale.
Tension, compression, and the shapes that carry load — read any skyline like a diagram.
Syllabus · 3 units · ~16 hours
Unit I — Load Paths
Dead loads and live loads · Tension and compression · Following a force to the ground
Unit II — The Shapes
Beams and columns · Arches and domes · Trusses · Cables and suspension
Unit III — Failure and Safety
Buckling · Resonance and wind · Famous failures and what they taught
Determinate structures solved by hand — reactions, internal forces, and deflections you can defend.
Syllabus · 3 units · ~36 hours
Unit I — Supports and Reactions
Support types and idealization · Determinacy and stability · Reactions by equilibrium
Unit II — Internal Forces
Axial, shear, and moment · Shear and moment diagrams · Influence lines
Unit III — Deflection
Elastic curves · The virtual work method · Serviceability limits
How the two workhorse materials behave, fail, and get designed into beams, slabs, and frames.
Syllabus · 3 units · ~32 hours
Unit I — The Materials
Cement, aggregate, and curing · Steel grades and behavior · Reinforcement: why concrete needs steel
Unit II — Design in Concrete
Beams in bending · Shear and stirrups · Columns and slabs
Unit III — Design in Steel
Tension members and connections · Beams and lateral buckling · Bolts and welds
Where drinking water comes from and where the drain goes — hydraulics, treatment, and public health.
Syllabus · 3 units · ~24 hours
Unit I — Sourcing
Watersheds, wells, and reservoirs · Water demand · Pumps and pipes
Unit II — Treatment
Coagulation, filtration, disinfection · Wastewater treatment stages · Sludge and byproducts
Unit III — The Network
Distribution systems and pressure · Stormwater and combined sewers · Failures: leaks, contamination, and floods
Geometry, capacity, and signal timing — why traffic behaves the way it does and what fixes it.
Syllabus · 3 units · ~24 hours
Unit I — The Road
Geometric design: curves and grades · Pavement basics · Sight distance
Unit II — The Flow
Traffic flow theory · Capacity and level of service · Signal timing
Unit III — The System
Transit modes and networks · Induced demand · Safety engineering and street design