upgrade my structural engineering

huangyhg

upgrade my structural engineering
i did masters in structural eng in 1985 from usa. i did designing for concrete building structures for couple of years then i got involved with construction for quite some time. now i have moved to toroto in canada and want to go back to st. designing. at present i don't have any knowledge of new soft ware. i don't have designing reference books. being new to toronto i have no idea where to go for the upgradation. any place i can go and work voulanterely to update my self.      
check out our whitepaper library.
khan,
you’ve been out of the field for quite a while. hunting the first job as a structural engineer might be the same difficult as a new immigrant, particularly if you don’t have registration in canada or from the states. check the government institutes for suitable programs to help. once you find job, you can pick up very fast.
check with construction companies that do heavy steel or concrete work, for starters.  what you want is a job that requires some engineering analysis, but where your construction experience is also valuable.  preferably one where you are working with or for registered engineers.
secondly, check out the registration requirements there.  i have no idea what they are in canada.  but you should be able to find out what is involved in getting registered or licensed, and plan accordingly.  it might or might not require any additional education.
go to the library (or check online) and look up canada's two major engineering firms, (snc lavalin & dessau-soprin).  both do work internationally.
i believe in some countries they do this work as design-build; your construction experience may help there.
as for a design library, i suggest you look at e-bay for engineering texts.  i have purchased a number of books this way.
good luck
jjf
looks like you want to become structural engineer again due to some reason otherwise it is more likely for you to get project manager / planner or const manager position than a structural engineer in toronto. i was away from structural engineering for two years as i did my mba and wanted to go into financial world. i know when i came back to my field, how hard it was for me. you want to come back after eighteen years, take entry level position.can,t run your family in it. i had not started my engineering school in 1985. but all software i used were very basics; dos based. if u have been out of touch, structural designing has changed a lot from 1987 to 2005. i have seen office with 40 str engr now working with 3 or 4 engr and top of line software.so as i said, unless u have some of your reason to come back, i would say it is not a good idea.
thanks a lot for your valuable advice. i'll think on these lines.