Hrvatski

History of the Chair for Metal Structures

Today, the Chair for metal structures is organizationally one of the four chairs within the Department of Structures. The fields of teaching, scientific research and professional activities refer to steel and aluminium structures, composite structures of steel and concrete, structural reliability as well as all other related segments regarding this area such as structural stability, tall buildings and similar.
Throughout history, the Chair for metal structures has not had continuity in this form but has often been part of other organizations that were characteristic for a particular development period of this institution, from the time of the Royal Technical College (high school) to today's independent Faculty of Civil Engineering. Similarly, the basic field of teaching, scientific research and professional work had been partially changing, depending on the organizational structure.

The era of Technical college 1919-1926

At the very beginning of the work of the Royal Technical College in 1919, one of the eight sections was the Civil Engineering Section as one of the most important within the higher education institution of that time. Organizationally, each section had positions and departments, where the positions would most closely correspond to today's chairs.
At the very beginning of the work of this school as the current study year finished new one opened. So, from AY. 1921-1922 teaching about, as it was then called, iron structures began. At first, it was taught as part of the Civil Engineering Structures course, and later independently under the name of Iron Structures. As noted in the Memorial book issued on the 10th anniversary of work of the Technical College, the course on Iron Structures can be considered as a continuation of and supplement to the course on Civil Engineering Structures. It was considered that the attendants after completing this course had basic knowledge about the design and calculation of iron columns, floor structures, and ordinary roof structures. It was interesting that the Iron Structures course existed from the very beginning of the school's work as an independent course at the Architectural Department, and only later did it become independent at the Civil Engineering Department.
Lectures from the Civil Engineering Structures course were led by the architect prof. Karlo Gentzkov. The first coordinator of the Iron Structures course was the part-time assistant professor Alexander Kaiser, who graduated in 1903 from the Technical College in Budapest, and specialized in Dresden. Simultaneously with his work at the college, he also ran his own construction company. Bridges were then taught by full professor Milan Čalogović, and within that course, iron bridges matter was also taught.
Interestingly, the Iron Structures and Iron-Concrete Structures courses at that time did not have their own section unlike, for example, Bridge Construction Section, since the teacher was only a part-time rather than a full-time employee.

The era of Technical faculty 1926-1956

Assistant professor Alexander Kaiser thanked for his position in 1928 and from the beginning of the AY. 1928-1929 the course Iron Structures continued to be taught by assistant professor Rajko Kušević, who was the second promoted doctor of science at the Technical College in Zagreb in 1923. This marked the beginning of his long career as a prominent university teacher, scientist and expert with a strong personality.
From the organisational aspect, the Department of Metal Structures was formally first founded in 1936. Interestingly, at that time a separate Department of Wooden and Massive Bridges already existed, so it was clear that metal bridges remained within the operational area of the Department of Metal Structures. The Memorial book from 1942 states that at that time, organisationally, Chair for Statics and Steel Structures existed. Namely, at that time, the departments were organizational units related to scientific work, while chairs were related to teaching work. As the course coordinator of statics and iron structures was the same lecturer, prof. Rajko Kušević, PhD, that is how the name of this chair came about.
From AY. 1935-1936 for the first time, independent courses are being introduced in the 4th year of study at the Civil Engineering Department of the Technical Faculty Iron Structures of Buildings (2+0 and 1+2) and Iron Bridges (0+0 and 4+2), and both courses were taught by prof. Rajko Kušević, PhD. With the beginning of the Second World War, the curriculum did not change, but the names of the courses changed. Thus, Iron Structures of Buildings became Steel Structures of Buildings, and Iron Bridges became Steel Bridges. The timetable remained unchanged as did the course coordinator.
Since 1948, the exceptional university career of prof. Marijan Ivančić, PhD started, who then, as a university assistant professor, began teaching of courses Steel Engineering Structures (3+3) and Massive Engineering Structures II (3+3) in the 4th study year of the structural design group, and since 1949 for Steel Engineering Structures (3+1) at 3rd study year.
In 1952 after the dictated strike of students prof. Rajko Kušević, PhD was retired, and since then the subject of civil engineering structural design courses has significantly changed. Professor Marijan Ivančić is the coordinator of the courses Steel Structures I and II (2+3 and 2+3) and Steel Bridges (3+2). At the transport and hydraulic engineering programmes, these courses are taught with a reduced scope.
During 1953, prof. J. Erega came to the university, and the changes within the curriculum occurred. Prof. J. Erega takes over the Steel Bridges course and teaches a new course Selected Chapters of Steel Bridges. A new course, Theory of Elastic Stability, is also introduced and is taught by prof. Marijan Ivančić, PhD.

The era of the Faculty of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Geodesy 1956-1962

With the reorganization of the Technical Faculty into four independent faculties, the curricula at the Faculty of Architecture, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geodesy (AGG Faculty) have also changed. The first three study years are common to all students, and in the last two study years, in addition to compulsory courses, many elective courses are introduced. The following compulsory courses are held within the courses held by the Department of Metal Structures: in the 4th study year Steel Structures (2+0 and 2+4, Ivančić), Steel Bridges (0+0 and 3+0, Erega), and in the 5th study year Steel Bridges (0+3 and 0+0, Erega). Elective courses were Steel Bridges (0+2, 2+0 and 0+6, Erega), Theory of Elastic Stability (0+0, 2+1 and 0+0, Ivančić), Steel Structures - Selected Chapters (2+0 and 0+4, Ivančić) and Steel Bridges - Selected Chapters (2+6, Erega).

The era of Faculty of Civil Engineering 1962-1977

At the time of the first independence of the Faculty of Civil Engineering, the faculty was organizationally divided into 3 sections and 10 departments. Thus, part of the Department of Structures was the Section of Metal Structures, whose head was prof. Marijan Ivančić, PhD. At that time, the activities of the Section still included metal structures and metal and composite bridges.
The first study year 1962-1963 continues according to the same curriculum as before. From the beginning of AY. 1963-1964 the curriculum has been reorganized. After three common years, instead of groups, majors are introduced in the last two study years.
Further minor changes in the curriculum are happening in AY. 1966-1967, which did not significantly affect the courses in the field of metal structures, and the courses are taught by the same lecturers.
In AY. 1970-1971 a big change in the curriculum has occurred. Prof. Marijan Ivančić, PhD continues to teach Metal Structures in the 3rd year of structural design, traffic and hydrotechnical majors (0+0 and 3+0), in the 4th year of structural design major (2+0 and 0+4), hydrotechnical and organizational-technological major (0+2 and 0+0). Prof. Erega together with prof. Dragutin Horvatić, PhD continues to teach the course Metal Bridges in the 4th year of the structural design major (3+0 and 2+0) and the traffic and organizational-technological majors (2+0 and 1+0), and in the 5th year of structural major (0+4) and traffic major (0+3). Prof. Ivančić, PhD teaches the course Stability Theory in the 4th year of structural design major (2+0 and 0+0).
With significant teaching reorganization in AY. 1973-1974, Metal Structures are, besides prof. Ivančić, PhD, also being taught by prof. Vuk Milčić, PhD, while Metal Bridges are taught independently by prof. Dragutin Horvatić, PhD. Prof. Dragutin Horvatić, PhD significantly changed the Metal Bridges course and has left a distinct mark in the construction of metal and composite bridges.

The era of Faculty of Civil Engineering Sciences 1977-1991

After joining in the Civil Engineering Institute in 1977, the Faculty of Civil Engineering Sciences Zagreb was organized into 9 departments. A significant change took place as wooden structures are being introduced into the existing activity of the Department of Metal Structures, and thus it became the Department of Metal and Wooden Structures. The Head of Department was held as follows: prof. Marijan Ivančić, PhD (AY. 1977-1978 – AY. 1980-1981), prof. Vuk Milčić, PhD (AY. 1981-1982 – AY. 1984-1985) and prof. Dragutin Horvatić, PhD (AY. 1985-1986 – AY. 1990-1991). Since a significant part of the activities was related to professional work, an important role was played by the technical managers of the department, who were responsible for this part of the work as well as for the operation of the department in general. This position was, for the longest period, held by Edo Hemerich, MSc, who was succeeded in 1988 by Smiljan Jurić, MSc.
The Department is divided into two sections: the numerically dominant Section of Metal Structures and the Section of Wooden Structures. During the entire existence of such an organizational structure, the Department of Metal and Wooden Structures only then had its own laboratory in Rakušina Street, which was exclusively for metal structures. The head of the laboratory was Marijan Banovec, MSc. In addition to routine experiments, the laboratory also conducted more complex scientific research, and very often it was irreplaceable support for the complex tasks of design and supervision of a very wide range of civil engineering and mechanical engineering structures.
At that time, the department had more than 30 employees, and their composition enabled the high-quality execution of even the most complex projects. In addition to university teachers and graduate civil engineers, it also included graduate mechanical engineers, mechanical technicians, one metallurgist and one naval architect. It was a great human and professional potential, which was successfully used in the construction of the most complex buildings from bridges, nuclear power plants, hydro and thermal power plants, water towers, antenna towers, demanding industrial plants and similar. Many civil engineers participated in teaching practical course parts, which allowed students to learn from assistants directly related to professional and scientific work.
In AY. 1976-1977 course, Metal Structures is taken over by prof. Vuk Milčić, PhD, who significantly marked the faculty with his work, especially in the field of metal structures, but also with the introduction of a new discipline at the faculty - reliability engineering. He came to the faculty from the profession as the founder of the first design bureau specialized in the design of metal structures in the former Yugoslavia - Metal-projekt.
A new reorganization of the curriculum takes place in AY 1977-1978. The first three study years are common to all students, and the study is shortened to last 9 semesters. Majors are available only from the 4th study year which includes two structural design majors. In the 3rd study year prof. Vuk Milčić, PhD teaches Metal Structures (0+0 and 32+8) and prof. Stepan Sablić, PhD Wooden Structures (0+0 and 32+16). In the 4th year of Structural Design 1 major, which was more based on metal structures, the following courses are taught: Metal Structures (40+40 and 36+16, Milčić), Wooden Structures (32+32 and 0+0, Sablić) and Metal Bridges (32+0 and 28+64, Horvatić). At the Structural Design 2 major as well as at the Hydrotechnical major, the same courses are taught to a somewhat lesser extent and, accordingly, with a less number of hours. In those years, teachers also taught at the faculties of civil engineering in Split, Rijeka and Osijek. With the departure of prof. Marijan Ivančić, PhD into retirement the department lost the course Theory of Elastic Stability.
This was followed by several minor changes to the curricula with equally small changes in the course schedule, which were taught at that time. From the AY. 1987-1988 prof. Milčić, PhD and prof. Androić, PhD together teach Metal Structures I (0+0 and 45+30) and Metal Structures II on the Structural Design major (45+0 and 0+45).

The era of Faculty of Civil Engineering 1991-today

After the Faculty of Civil Engineering became an independent higher education institution, it was organizationally divided into nine sections. The activity related to metal structures is one of many in the then Section of Structures, whose head was prof. Jure Radić, PhD. The partitioning according to the statute at the beginning of independence did not include division of the Section of Structures into chairs, but informally as one of four chairs, the Chair for Metal Structures existed with significantly fewer members than at the time of the Civil Engineering Institute.
A new reorganization took place in 1997. The Faculty has been divided into 9 departments and in 2005 smaller organizational units were established within the departments - chairs and laboratories. From that time until today, the Chair for Metal Structures exists as part of the formal organisation of the Department of Structures. However, during this reorganization, all bridges were separated into a separate Chair for Bridges, so the Chair for Metal Structures was further impoverished.
The first head of the Chair for Metal Structures from AY. 2005-2006 to AY. 2008-2009.was prof. Boris Androić, PhD. He was succeeded by prof. Ivica Džeba, PhD from AY. 2009-2010 until AY. 2019-2020. Since then, the position of the head has been held by prof. Davor Skejić, PhD.
Until the end of AY. 1995-1996 curriculum has stayed same as before. In AY. 1996-1997, certain changes were introduced in the curriculum, which was evident within the courses held by the Chair for Metal Structures. In the 3rd study year of study, the course coordinators are prof. Boris Androić, PhD, asst. prof. Darko Dujmović, PhD and asst. prof. Ivica Džeba, PhD (0+0 and 3+2), and Metal Structures II course is taught as part of Structures major by prof. Boris Androić, PhD (3+2). From AY. 2002-2003 coordinators of the course Metal Structures I were asst. prof. Dujmović, PhD and asst. prof. Džeba, PhD. Interestingly, at the time being those were the only undergraduate and graduate courses held by the Chair for Metal Structures, and as can be seen, the number of teaching hours of these subjects was partially reduced compared to the previous curriculum. In the recent history of the Faculty, this period remains recorded as the one with the lowest number of teaching hours in the field of metal structures despite the fact that the construction using steel has being increased, but also the greater complexity of the calculation within the design of steel structures compared to structures using other materials.
At the study of VI/1 degree prof. Androić, PhD also taught Metal Structures (15+15) and Element Connections (15+15) in the 1st study year of Civil Engineering Installation major. At that time, the course Metal and Wooden Structures at the study of VI/1 degree of all other majors was held by prof. Zvonimir Žagar, PhD, who belonged to the, at that time, still informal Department for Wooden Structures. This study was separated from the Faculty of Civil Engineering in 1998, which concluded most of the activities of our lecturers at that study.
A major reform of teaching is associated with the introduction of the Bologna study system. Several new courses that were not previously taught at this level of education are introduced: Composite Structures and Structural Reliability as compulsory courses and Applied Metallurgy as an elective course, while the Theory of Stability was returned to the Chair for Metal Structures as an elective course. So, from AY. 2005-2006 a three-year undergraduate study begins, in which the course Metal Structures is taught by prof. Ivica Džeba, PhD (0+0 and 2+1). At the graduate study at Structures major, from AY. 2009-2010, in the 1st study year prof. Androić, PhD and prof. Dujmović, PhD together teach the following courses: Metal Structures II (2+2 and 0+0), Metal Structures III (0+0 and 2+2), Structural Reliability (2+0 and 0+0). From the elective courses in the 2nd study year, from AY. 2010-2011, prof. Darko Dujmović, PhD teaches Theory of Stability and Applied Metallurgy. Applied Metallurgy course is in AY. 2011-2012 taken over by asst. prof. Davor Skejić, PhD. From AY. 2014-2015 in the 2nd year of undergraduate study a new course was launched Introduction to Structural Engineering (0+0 and 2+0), which was taught together by prof. Ivica Džeba, PhD and prof. Vlatka Rajčić, PhD.
From the beginning AY. 2018-2019 asst. prof. Ivan Lukačević, PhD starts teaching the Tall Buildings course together with asst. prof. Anđelko Vlašić, PhD in the 2nd year of the graduate study (30+15 and 0+0).
With the retirement of prof. Dujmović, PhD in 2019, the courses Metal Structures II and III is continued to be taught by assoc. prof. Davor Skejić, PhD, course Structural Reliability together by assoc. prof. Davor Skejić, PhD and asst. prof. Ivan Lukačević, PhD, and course Structural Stability by asst. prof. Ivan Lukačević, PhD.
With the retirement of prof. Džeba, PhD in 2020, the course Metal Structures continues to be taught by assoc. prof. Davor Skejić, PhD and asst. prof. Ivan Lukačević, PhD, course Composite structures together by asst. prof. Ivan Ćurković, PhD and assist. prof. Ivan Lukačević, PhD and course Introduction to Structural Engineering by assist. prof. Ivan Ćurković, PhD together with prof. Vlatka Rajčić, PhD.
The beginning of the 2020s marked another period with a larger number of assistants together with the three existing teachers, which in this way strengthened the Chair for Metal Structures.
In conclusion, the 1990s and the beginning of this century were also marked by extremely large publishing activity. Teachers and associates of the Chair for Metal Structures have published about 20 university textbooks and manuals, several of which have been published by reputable world publishers in English, German and Greek language.

Postgraduate studies and scientific research work

Throughout the postgraduate studies from AY. 1963-1964 up to today, the Chair for Metal Structures has been represented with its courses, which reflected, on the one hand, the scientific-research interest of its teachers, and on the other hand contemporary tendencies in the world science.
From the very beginnings of these postgraduate studies until the mid-70s of the last century, the only represented teacher from the Chair was prof. Marijan Ivančić, PhD with the problem of structural stability. Then prof. Vuk Milčić, PhD, who introduced a new field of structural research - structural safety, which will mark his scientific research work and have a long-term influence on the research direction not only at the Chair for Metal Structures but also further, joins him. In the mid-80s prof. Dragutin Horvatić, PhD significantly expands the field of research and for the first time begins to teach the field of composite steel and concrete structures as well as light metal structures, box girders and the limit state analysis of metal structures. This period is significant because for the first time the field of metal structures occupies a significant space within the program of postgraduate studies at the Faculty of Civil Engineering. With the retirement of prof. Vuk Milčić, PhD, in the mid-90s the field of safety was taken over by prof. Boris Androić, PhD, who also introduces a new area of fatigue of structures. With the retiring of prof. Dragutin Horvatić, PhD, the field of composite structures continues to be taught by prof. Ivica Džeba, PhD, and after the retirement of prof. Boris Androić, PhD, the field of safety and reliability of structures continues to be taught first by professors Darko Dujmović and Ivica Džeba, and after them by assoc. prof. Davor Skejić, PhD and asst. prof. Ivan Lukačević, PhD.
The field of research is expanding and postgraduate studies increasingly reflect the diversity of new specialising areas taught by teachers of the Chair for Metal Structures: aluminium structures, structural modelling, reliability engineering, load-bearing systems of metal structures, etc.
Teachers and associates of the Chair for Metal Structures are leaders and associates on numerous scientific research projects in the country and the world, which has resulted in publication of a large number of scientific papers in journals and conferences. A large number of master's and doctoral as well as specialist theses were defended at the department, and teachers also held postgraduate classes at all civil engineering faculties in the country.

Professional work

From the very beginnings of the faculty, teachers came to the faculty mostly as established experts, behind which was respectable professional work. Therefore, the greatest civil engineering achievements, as well as the great variety of professional work, are mostly related to the period up to the 1990s. It should not be forgotten that the first teacher of the; at that time, Iron Structures at the Technical College, prof. Alexander Kaiser worked part-time because he, in parallel, ran his own construction company, and in this way, of course, he also worked on large projects. Teachers of the Chair for Metal Structures have been cooperating with the industry since its establishment, and have been engaged in the design, management and supervision of significant engineering structures. Prof. Ivančić, PhD remained famous for his numerous projects, of which his name is mostly associated with television towers and masts, which were constructed for the needs of Radio-Television and the Directorate of Yugoslav Railways. At that time, a project of an original prefabricated mast 150 meters high was made for Dacca in East Pakistan (built-in 1967). It was the first big foreign business. It is also known that prof. Vuk Milčić, PhD came to the faculty as the founder and head of the first design bureau specialized for metal structures Metal-projekt, where large and significant projects were realized. Among other things, the first composite building (extension) in Zagreb as well as the first composite railway bridge in the former Yugoslavia was designed by prof. Vuk Milčić, PhD. He is the author of many projects for industrial plants and other complex structures. During the Civil Engineering Institute, teachers and associates of the Chair for Metal Structures had the opportunity to work on the most complex and very diverse projects, mostly on quality assurance projects. Employees of the Chair for Metal Structures continue to be engaged in professional work and also cover a fairly wide and diverse area of metal structures.