OpenSees Project Implementation

OpenSees Project Implementation The primary goal for most enthusiasts learning OpenSees is to undertake a project using this software. In this article, we guide you step-by-step through the process, helping you become thoroughly familiar with the necessary stages. Additionally, we assist you in selecting a suitable expert for your needs. Finally, we provide detailed information about the time and cost involved in OpenSees projects. If you wish, you can also explore the OpenSees Mentorship section to learn more about the terms and methods for obtaining assistance from us.

Note: The monetary figures mentioned in this article are based on the costs as of October 2024.

1. Steps for Completing a Thesis with OpenSees

To conduct a typical research project using OpenSees, you can refer to the steps outlined in Table 1. Depending on the research topic, additional steps might need to be added or some omitted. The duration and cost of each step, detailed in the subsequent columns of the table, are discussed in later sections.

Implementing a project with OpenSees is a highly specialized task. To ensure that your academic advisor is satisfied with the methodology and outcomes, maintaining high-quality standards throughout all stages is crucial. Proficiency in the technical language specific to the topic is a key requirement for the first stage. Familiarity with performance evaluation guidelines for structures constitutes another essential area of knowledge. For the second stage, understanding structural design code methods will be necessary. The third stage, being the most complex, demands a deep understanding of OpenSees training.

In general, completing all stages of research requires the application of creative solutions. Academic advisors, who are the primary stakeholders in these projects, often aim to publish articles using OpenSees. This drives the need for innovative and novel topics, making the process of completing a thesis with OpenSees significantly challenging.

2. Competency for Completing a Thesis with OpenSees

As explained above, performing a student project with OpenSees is not exactly a typical student task! It is, in fact, quite a research-oriented endeavor. The person required for this task is naturally a smart and creative student or researcher who has previously navigated this path multiple times. Having such an individual, who is also willing to assist in the project’s progress, is extremely valuable and essential. OpenSees House itself is actively looking for these kinds of individuals and invites them through the “Contact Us” section of the OpenSees House.

In general, individuals capable of completing a research project with OpenSees can be categorized into four levels: “Intermediate,” “Good,” “Very Good,” and “Excellent.” To determine the level of proficiency of a researcher, the number of research projects they have completed is an important criterion. Table 2 shows the number of projects based on Master’s level work. The hourly wage and total project cost will be discussed in later sections. Alongside this table, it is important to consider a few points when assessing the researcher’s level:

• The scope of a PhD project is typically considered to be approximately twice the scope of a similar project at the Master’s level.
• Simply having the name of a researcher listed as an author on a paper is not what counts; what truly matters is the key role they played — potentially even independently — in completing the seven stages outlined in Table 1.

Researchers with an “Excellent” level of proficiency are rare because most researchers, after gaining experience in several research projects and publishing a few papers, join academic faculties. The role of most faculty members is typically limited to overseeing the progress of projects rather than directly engaging in them. As a result, the proficiency level of researchers tends to stagnate once they join academic staff, and the likelihood of further growth diminishes. It is almost impossible for a researcher with an “Excellent” proficiency level to be available for student projects.

Next, we will examine the time duration and costs associated with completing a project using OpenSees at each of the three proficiency levels mentioned.

3. Duration of the OpenSees project

It is best to first assess how much time it will take for you to complete the project. In your first experience, completing a master’s project with OpenSees will take between 6 to 12 months. For a doctoral thesis, this will extend to 15 to 24 months. Keep in mind that some projects might take up to twice this amount of time. Likewise, there are projects that can be completed in half of this estimated time. The time estimation provided here refers to a project with acceptable outputs and moderate complexity. This is the kind of project that would allow you to publish one article at the master’s level and two articles at the doctoral level in ISI journals. Additionally, this time estimate only covers the main stages outlined in Table 1 and does not include the final thesis or article writing stages.

As you repeat experiences, this time will gradually decrease. The times mentioned in Table 1 are for a researcher with a “good” level of proficiency. According to this table, the time required for the method review phase is estimated to be around 2.5 working days. In this phase, the researcher must conduct a thorough and comprehensive study of relevant research and resources. If you are familiar with reading articles and guidelines, you’ll understand that this time estimate is quite short for such a task. In fact, it is previous experience that allows a researcher to complete this task within this short period. Typically, the time needed to complete an OpenSees project for a researcher with a “good” proficiency level will be around 1 month of work.

If the researcher’s proficiency level increases to “very good,” Table 3 can be used for time and cost estimates. According to this table, the time required for a similar project would be roughly halved with increased proficiency. Along with this time reduction, one should expect an increase in the quality and level of innovation in the research stages. This increase in proficiency is sometimes necessary to meet the requirements of the thesis advisor or project supervisor.

A very important point to consider when estimating the time for a research project with OpenSees is the difficulty of accurately predicting the final timeline. As mentioned, a successful research project typically involves a completely innovative topic. Therefore, there is limited information about how to approach the work, the potential obstacles along the way, and the value of the findings. All of these factors make it challenging to predict the time required to complete the project. When it comes to using OpenSees, this difficulty is greater than with other software. The reason for this is the lack of a user interface and the absence of free, precise educational resources. Trial and error is a constant in research based on OpenSees.

4. Cost of running the OpenSees project

Unfortunately, many successful master’s and doctoral students have gone abroad for further studies or work. The remaining ones have mostly joined the industry or academic staff of universities. Most of those who continue with research-based work view it as a temporary job because doing projects for others comes with significant challenges, which we discussed in the section on income generation from OpenSees. Besides these challenges, this work does not count as a reputable job, as it lacks a recognized position within a country’s educational and industrial systems. The scarcity of qualified individuals for project execution raises the cost of such projects.

To evaluate the value of a researcher’s work, we first need to consider how their services benefit you. Let’s assume you find a simple job with a monthly income of only 12 million Toman, which is slightly above the minimum wage according to the country’s labor law. In this case, a project that will take 4 to 6 months of your full-time effort will cost you between 48 to 72 million Toman in lost income.

Moreover, if you utilize consultation, you will achieve higher quality in the outputs and results. To evaluate this qualitative increase, we should consider the additional time needed to elevate the research quality to the level of a reputable article. Typically, after spending six months, you will need at least another three months to revise the results for preparing a paper. This is a natural occurrence as you will have just gained experience in the field and received feedback from reviewers and your supervisor. This time can be saved if you use a consultant with a “good” level of expertise or higher.

Thus, a project that takes you six months to complete is undoubtedly worth more than 12×6, i.e., 72 million Toman.

Based on the overall value of the research work and the time spent by the researcher, an hourly wage can be determined. This metric forms the basis for the figures in Table 1. For a researcher with a “good” level of expertise in 1403, an hourly rate should be at least 500,000 Toman. For researchers with “very good” and “excellent” levels, the rates are 1,000,000 and 2,000,000 Toman, respectively.

Given the above explanation, the typical cost of conducting a project with OpenSees at the master’s level in 1403 will be approximately 80 million Toman. More broadly, this cost will range from 65 to 100 million Toman. This variation is due to differences in the complexity and the time required for conducting nonlinear analysis projects with OpenSees.

5. OpenSees Project Outsourcing

The complexity of working with OpenSees often leads many individuals to seek external assistance. However, the inherently research-oriented nature of this work makes a project-based approach highly challenging. We’ve outlined the specific details of these challenges in our write-up on earning income with OpenSees. Visitors to the OpenSees House often share their concerns and frustrations about these issues with us. OpenSees House itself is a platform that receives numerous project requests. However, we offer a specific and entirely logical recommendation to our audience, which you will find below.

1.5 An Important Question

Before providing our suggestion, we have an important question for you: What is your purpose for pursuing higher education and enrolling in a master’s or doctoral program? Most likely, like many of our audience, your answer would be to enhance your academic qualifications while gaining more knowledge. Based on extensive experience, we can confidently state that upgrading from a bachelor’s to a master’s or doctoral degree without increasing your knowledge is not beneficial at all.

Today’s professional world demands proof of your capabilities, not just a prestigious academic degree. Very few organizations value a degree in itself. It is you who must convincingly defend your degree during interviews or any opportunity. You must demonstrate that you truly deserved to earn that degree. In other words, without your active support, your degree cannot advocate for you—in fact, it might even work against you.

Work against you, how? By the significant silence or careful avoidance you adopt when discussing your thesis or dissertation. The better the outcomes of your thesis, the more obvious it becomes that you did not complete it yourself. This underscores the need to be cautious about how you present your research work, as it can be a double-edged sword.

2.5 Recommendation from OpenSees House

The administrators of OpenSees House have had the opportunity to interview graduates, both within and outside our organization. This experience reveals that individuals who outsourced their OpenSees projects rarely have the courage to confidently defend them. For an experienced manager, this is enough reason to immediately reject their job application. An experienced manager looks for a specialist who is bold and, most importantly, honest.

As stated earlier, possessing a degree alone does not contribute to your success. Moreover, the success and sustainable growth of you and our beloved country are of paramount importance to OpenSees House. Therefore, allow us to be your companion, not a replacement for your efforts. This approach ensures all your interests are met:

• Minimum cost: In a project, after resolving the complexities of each stage, the developed method often needs to be repeated several times. Naturally, these repetitions are less complicated and can be handled by you. Consequently, the payment you make to an experienced researcher is limited to resolving the intricate phases, not the entire project.
• Fastest time: Experienced researchers are often busy and may not dedicate continuous time to your project. As a result, you may have to wait for their availability. By taking charge of part of the work yourself, you can make better use of your time.
• Highest quality: Your supervision, collaboration, and effective assistance to the researcher will collectively contribute to improving the quality of the research.
• Mastery and confidence: Through this process, you acquire all the necessary knowledge and skills from an experienced researcher. Beyond project completion, you fully gain the expertise as well. With this knowledge, you practice under the researcher’s guidance, allowing you to gain proficiency. All of this enhances your confidence and instills the remarkable feeling of “I can do it.”

3.5 Conducting Projects with OpenSees House

If you have decided to take an active role in executing your project with OpenSees, we sincerely congratulate you. We are confident that this will be one of the best and most impactful decisions of your life. Should you wish to have our guidance and support alongside you, it would be our pleasure. To learn more about the process of this collaboration, please visit the OpenSees Consultation section.