Abstract

For Cal Poly's Civil and Environmental Engineering curriculum a stand‐alone introductory course called Engineering Risk Analysis introduces concepts of reliability analysis. This course encompasses all the sub‐disciplines in civil and environmental engineering. After five years of teaching this course there are a number of lessons that may be useful to other instructors including; solving a simple example problem using multiple methods, focusing on the normal and lognormal distributions for a quick preliminary solution, using reliability spreadsheet solutions, and allowing the students to develop their own applications of probabilistic tools. A discussion of the course format, references and resources, pedagogy devices, and in‐ class examples are covered. The higher goal of this course is to educate students in probabilistic methods, familiarize them with risk analysis procedures, and to elevate the basic level of understanding of uncertainty in engineering and how to properly deal with it.

Disciplines

Civil and Environmental Engineering

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URL: https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/cenv_fac/277