SYNOPSIS   

This 2-day preparatory course for the Chartered Membership Examination (CME) of the IStructE is aimed at aspiring senior and young engineers who wish to refresh and enhance their skills in the structural, analytical and conceptual design of structures. The format is devised as an examination-preparation workshop for the world-renowned 7-hour CME of the Institution of Structural Engineers, United Kingdom, and is conducted in line with the new CME format introduced in January 2024. A prime objective of the examination is to test the technical competency and skilfulness of candidates in executing their daily work with respect to the art and science of structural engineering.

In this respect, the course illustrates the required structural design skills, the ability to conceptualise distinct and viable structural schemes, and the production of annotated sketches and drawings for a given task — based on past CME questions, which are normally derived from real projects around the world.


WHO SHOULD ATTEND

The course is organised not only for those intending to take the CME, but also for those who wish to improve, inter alia, their skills in the conceptual design of structures in general. It is therefore well suited to:

•   Practising civil and structural engineers
•   Academic staff teaching conceptual design
•   Young engineers in their formative years

Participants are advised to bring calculators, as design exercises will be carried out during the workshop.


SPEAKER’S BIODATA

Rajavel Inbarajan studied Civil Engineering at the Vellore Institute of Technology (formerly Vellore Engineering College) and obtained his BE - First Class with Distinction - from the University of Madras, India, in 1988. He subsequently obtained his MSc and DIC in Concrete Structures from the University of London and Imperial College London, UK, in 1997. He became a Corporate Member of the Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE), UK, after passing the Chartered Membership Examination (CME) held in April 2004 at his first attempt. The IStructE appointed him as an Examiner for the CME in 2008, and he served as one of the Chief Examiners for the CME held in January 2019, January 2020, March 2022, February 2023 and January 2024.

He has more than 35 years of quality and varied experience in the conceptual design, detailed design and project management of very large structural and civil engineering projects in international and crosscultural settings. He has worked with reputable international consultants and contractors on very large engineering projects - with increasing responsibilities - in Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Singapore, Sri Lanka and India since 1988. His experience broadly covers the design and construction of low- and high-rise buildings, airports, bridges, underground and above-ground metro stations and mega water-retaining structures / reservoirs, as well as the investigation and rectification of very large marine structures.

He conducts capacity-development courses on Advanced Structural Engineering, Water Retaining Structures, and the Investigation and Strengthening of Concrete Structures at the invitation of professional bodies and private institutions. He has been conducting CME preparation courses since 2009 in Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Qatar and the UK, and has provided possible solutions to past CME questions for publication on the IStructE examination-preparation CD and website. This workshop will, inter alia, cover one such possible solution produced by Inban for a past CME question.