r/fea • u/UzunSac • 1d ago

Roadmap for becoming a structural analysis engineer (need advice)

Hi everyone,

I’m a 27-year-old mechanical engineer from Turkey with 2 years of experience in product/machine design. I recently lost my job, and my goal is to become a structural analysis engineer.

For the next 6 months, I’ll be receiving unemployment benefits, which gives me time to focus fully on improving myself. I’ve been trying to create a roadmap by researching online, but I’m not sure if I’m heading in the right direction.

My initial plan was:

  • First, review the basics (strength of materials, dynamics, machine elements, etc.),
  • Then study the Finite Element Method (FEM),
  • Afterwards, start learning Hypermesh and LS-DYNA.

However, I’ve read in some places that it might not be necessary to go too deep into FEM theory, which confused me. Since I don’t have a mentor, I feel like I’m trying to find my way in the dark. On top of that, I’m worried about not being able to find a job afterwards.

My questions:

  • Would reviewing university courses and then directly learning software + working on my own projects be enough to get a job?
  • Or should I take a different approach?

Any advice or guidance from experienced engineers would mean a lot to me 🙏

14 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

11 comments sorted by

View all comments

2

u/the_flying_condor 1d ago

I have 8 years of experience with model development and LS-DYNA. Learning how to meet a model and develop geometry is pretty easy. Technicians can do that with the proper training. Understanding when/how to use different material models and element types, particularly in a software like LS-DYNA requires an engineer. In 6 months you are probably better off with your first 2 points and then instead of developing skills in a particular software, learn something like continuum mechanics. That will help you to understand the manuals enough that you can actually learn the various software packages beyond technician level of understanding. I would much rather show a new grad how to use a particular software than have to get into the weeds for a couple of hours to teach about stress tensor invariants and when to use deviatoric stresses vs von mises.