Extend Activity #1 – Misunderstood

A response to the Misunderstood Activity
created by Cory M (@C)

Number of views: 100

A concept that is often misunderstood in my discipline is the process of creating an acceptable connection design for a structural steel beam to column as an example. The concept is important in order to maintain the safety of a steel structures and if someone were to not understand this concept there is a possibility of disaster and/or people getting hurt, etc. The factors that can contribute to students misunderstanding is not understanding who is actually responsible for this design, not having the same background knowledge or experience, being an international student with different industry rules and codes.

The analogy that I would use is the example of building a bridge above a very high canyon with rocks and sharp sticks below.
The concept is: Would you be comfortable crossing the bridge that you just built with no prior bridge design knowledge or experience. When talking about a specific connection on an entire construction project it may not seem as important in the over design but when we introduce a structure that you must cross safely the concept hits a bit closer to reality.