This seminar will discuss the need to educate structural engineering students and engineers with the proper understanding of the global structural behaviour. Following the catastrophic collapse of the WTC in the 9/11 it became more apparent that understanding progressive failure or collapse in structures is of paramount important. To prevent total structural collapse when part or parts of the structure are damaged or destroyed, the structure must be capable of re-distributing internal forces to provide alternative load-paths to prevent catastrophic collapse. For this to occur the structure must have adequate degree of redundancy and engineers will need to understand how the structure may progressively respond under different possible load conditions including in the extreme case of a terrorist attack.

A new approach for teaching structural analysis and design is through the use of instant structural analysis software that are capable of stimulating rapid experimental learning as well as being used as a creative design tool. We need to re-think and if necessary, revise our curriculum to phase out or reduce the use of old-fashion manual calculation techniques, and instead to emphasize the understanding of the physical/holistic structural behaviour. Manual techniques such as column analogy, conjugate beam theory, moment distribution for frames with side sway, etc are no longer needed.

An easy-to-use instant structural analysis software with full graphic interface has been developed for 2D structures. This software provides a handy tool for teachers and engineers alike, and learn about structural behaviour and design. It gives instant graphical results that accurately simulate structural response thus promoting self-learning and creativity.

Professor S. Kitipornchai is a Chair Professor and Head of the Department of Building and Construction at the City University of Hong Kong. Prior to joining City University of Hong Kong he had been working at the University of Queensland since 1976 and was conferred the title Emeritus Professor in 2004.

He is the Regional Editor (Asia-Pacific) of the Engineering Structures journal since 1993. He is also member of a number of Editorial Boards of other journals and serves as the member of a number of international working committees. His research is well known in the areas of structural stability, thin-walled structures, transmission towers, cold-formed structures and non-linear analysis of structures. Many of his work have been adopted by the industry through code rules, design handbooks, software and numerous consultancies.

Professor Kitipornchai is an author of 7 books, 7 book chapters, over 300 refereed international journal and conference papers. In 1992, he was awarded prestigious Munro Prize Award for the Best Paper in Engineering Structures journal for his pioneering work on the nonlinear modelling of transmission towers.

Dr. Heung-Fai Lam is currently assistant professor in the Department of Building & Construction at the City University of Hong Kong (CityU). He is currently the associate editor of the International Journal of Applied Mathematics and Mechanics (IJAMM) [http://ijamm.bc.cityu.edu.hk]. Furthermore, he is the committee member of the ASCE Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) Task group and is one of the main contributors in the IASC-ASCE SHM Benchmark Study.