With public, private and foreign investment pouring into infrastructure projects, there’s sustained demand for professionally qualified structural engineers

The rapid urbanisation of India — building accommodative and enabling infrastructure for the 140 million rural Indians who will flow into the country’s cities by 2020, which will have to accommodate and employ 700 million citizens in existing and new townships by the year 2050 — requires massive investment in highways, roads, power, construction, and infrastructure industries. Inevitably, demand for professionally qualified structural engineers needed to build the required infrastructure is set to skyrocket.

Structural engineering is a specialised field within civil engineering. It’s the science and art of constructing huge, capital-intensive projects capable of withstanding the forces of nature and discharging their functions with safety, durability and economy. The field encompasses the completion of residential, commercial, educational and recreational buildings, besides bridges, stadia, ports, dams and aquaducts — just about every type of ‘structure’. A structural engineer manages technicians and workers on a project site and discharges the duties of planning  and overseeing construction and/or maintenance of buildings, bridges and other structures, within budgeted periods and expenditure.

The minimum eligibility for admission into a BE/B.Tech in civil engineering study programme with specialisation in structural engineering is Plus Two science (physics, chemistry and maths). Entry into engineering colleges is usually on the basis of performance in entrance tests such as IIT-JEE, AIEEE (All India Engineering Entrance Exam) or competitive state-level CETs (common entrance tests). For admission into the National Institutes of Technology (NITs) formerly known as Regional Colleges of Engineering, success in AIEEE is a prerequisite. After graduation, students often continue their studies by signing up for the ME/M.Tech programme offered by most engineering colleges/universities including IITs and NITs.

The aggregate number of approved institutions offering undergraduate and postgrad engineering education in India is estimated at 1,500. Of them, 340 offer degree programmes in civil engineering (of whom about 100 offer specialisation in structural engineering). Together these institutions graduate nearly 18,000 structural engineers annually — a number far short of the demand for 100,000 civil/structural engineers.

Among the most respected engineering colleges offering certification in civil engineering with specialisation in structural engineering are the 15 Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs); BITS, Pilani; VJTI, Mumbai; Sardar Patel College of Engineering, Pune; Delhi College of Engineering, and University of Roorkee.

With public, private and foreign investment pouring into infrastructure projects, there is sustained demand for professionally qualified structural engineers within the economy, resulting in a quantum leap of over 40 percent in average remuneration during the past two years. Indian structural engineers are also in high demand in Asian, African and Middle East countries. Currently, professionally qualified structural engineers command starting salaries ranging between Rs.2.5-15 lakh per annum, depending on their qualifications and work sites.

“There are excellent job opportunities for qualified structural engineers in the public and private sectors. Of late, several large multinational engineering corporates are mopping up available talent by offering huge pay packages which Indian companies can’t match. It’s an enviable profession to be in at the moment,” says Uday Chande, the promoter-proprietor of U.D. Chande Consulting Engineers, Surveyors & Valuers, a Mumbai-based firm promoted in 1979 which has 20 employees and an annual sales revenue estimated at Rs.3 crore.

A civil engineering graduate of the Maharaja Sayajirao (MS) University, Baroda with a Masters in structural engineering from the University of Florida, Chande acquired valuable work experience in the US where he worked for two years, before returning to India in 1972 to work with his father, also a civil engineer. Seven years later, he struck out on his own and promoted U.D. Chande Consulting Engineers.

Today, the firm provides blueprints and detailed plans for all types of projects including residential, commercial, public structures, bridges, highways, etc. “I have also proofchecked public structures and have been recently appointed project management consultant for several redevelopment projects. Apart from this, I am also registered as valuer of immovable properties since 1978,” says Chande.

According to him, during the next decade civil construction projects will become bigger and more complex. “Clients will demand faster project completion and there will be greater awareness of the vital importance of high-quality structural design. Designers will get greater recognition accompanied by the more onerous burden of greater responsibility. For engineering visionaries, this is a  challenging and inviting career. Moreover with the use of advanced computer technologies and invention of new materials, future developments will be very exciting,” predicts Chande.

Indra Gidwani (Mumbai)