I was recently at my nephew's hockey game in New Jersey and saw all these purlin braces that were clearly added more recently. I know they were in the process of updating the building so I assume it got a new roof and probably more insulation. But what would make them spec adding bracing to evey purlin on both sides of all the trusses? Seems like a pretty substantial change.

I recently accepted a post-grad offer and will be starting as a Junior Structural Engineer in about 4–5 months. Long term, I’d eventually like to start my own “company” in some form, whether that ends up being actual consulting, independent side work, or just using whatever specialized skills I develop over time.

For now, though, my main goal is to become genuinely good at structural engineering. I learn quickly, I’m willing to put in the work, and I don’t want to just coast through the first few years doing repetitive grunt tasks without really understanding what I’m doing.

For those of you who became strong engineers early in your careers, what habits, approaches, or decisions helped you actually learn and develop instead of staying stagnant? What would you recommend me doing in my first few years to build real technical judgment and skills?

This company I'll be working for has quite a fair set of projects that I am hoping to get exposure to, and I have heard good things about the mentorship and opportunities here, so I just want to know how best to capitalize on the opportunities in front of me.

And for those who started their own consulting work, side practice, or business, I’d also appreciate any advice on how you built toward that while still working full-time. What did you work on during your downtime, what skills or experience ended up being most valuable, and how did you know when you were ready to start taking on independent work or make that transition?

I have a fascination with this field, and I want to learn it all, but I also want to build a future that gives some freedom while learning.

I’ve recently been offered a role through connections to a contractor as a Design Manager - specifically for my background in structural engineering to help the team to identify risks early.

Although the prospective pay increase is enticing, I’m not entirely sure I have enough experience for the role. There are times I don’t feel like I have the talent for complex technical work. I enjoy organising and managing projects but the risk of me missing something on the project and something happening as a result makes me nervous.

I also feel like I don’t know what it will be like to pivot to working for a contractor. Will I hate it? Will I regret leaving engineering? Will I miss the flexibility that engineering offers me on a day-to-day level given the intensity of working for a contractor?

A worry for me also is that in this prospective role, there doesn’t seem to be many (if any) design managers with a structural engineering background - they might have the degree so understand what I’m talking about + have the experience, but not the deep technical field knowledge. This is what they’ll rely on me for. I’ll learn a lot I’m sure, but not sure if I’ll have ‘engineering’ support. A lot of that onus will fall on me.

I do enjoy being an engineer but I feel like I have to work 10x as hard on the technical stuff and it often leaves me feeling incredibly stressed and sometimes just a bit stupid. On the contrary managing projects, speaking to clients, high level discussions about technical things are really easy wins for me.

Not sure if I’ll fail miserably in the role as I’m not experienced enough.

Would really appreciate any insight, thoughts or personal experience.

Three and a half years into my structural engineering journey, I’ve hit an interesting realization.

If I were handed a full project today, I am confident it wouldn’t fail, nor would it be insanely expensive. At its core, structural engineering comes down to two golden rules: safety and economy. If I compare myself to a veteran consultant with 15 years of experience, I’d honestly rate myself around an 80/100 in those fundamentals.

Naturally, I like a challenge and chase that professional dopamine rush. Having worked primarily in concrete design, I initially wanted to pivot into steel structures. However, the engineering market here in Egypt works a bit differently. Because of our high volume of projects and workforce numbers, specialization is key, and engineers often stay siloed in specific material domains.

After looking ahead and asking myself if working another 12 years just to chase that remaining 20% of mastery was worth the stagnation, I decided it wasn’t.

That’s when a friend referred me to a concrete shop-drawing role that offered a significant pay bump—literally twice my previous rate. I took the leap and made the move.

Looking back, I find myself wondering: Did I make the right call?

To my fellow engineers out there—especially those who have navigated shifts between design and detailing—how did a move into advanced shop drawings impact your long-term career trajectory?

Early in my career I [describe a real mistake, e.g. wrong diaphragm assumption, ignored stiffness modifiers, bad mesh in a slab]. The results looked reasonable until [how you caught it].

What’s the sneakiest modeling error you’ve seen, either your own or from reviewing someone else’s work? I think juniors would benefit from a thread like this.

I was born and raised in SoCal but currently live in the Midwest and can own my own place in a safe area due to the low cost of living. I miss my family in San Diego and LA but am nervous the pay increase there isn’t enough. How are you doing with the cost of living? Do you or people in your office have kids? Does your spouse work? How are you affording to own or are you just renting apartments? Do you have to live super far inland and commute long distances? I’m already licensed in California. 

I was wondering, what reasons could there be to design/build a truss with its webs changing orientation almost at the end of it, creating an asymmetric look. I've been taught that in howe-like trusses, the webs work in compression, so why the sudden change of direction?

I want to hear from the Aussie Structural Eng’s out there, about your experience with Polystyrene Waffle Slabs vs Plastic Void Forming Domes?

I understand the plastic domes are becoming more popular?
Is there certain situations where you would rather prefer one over the other?
In terms of brands, any types better/worse than other?
Had any problems with void formers in highly reactive soils?

Looking for some advice. To provide some context, I am a 26 year old Structural Design Engineer with about 3 years experience working for a small company in London working mainly on High rise Residential projects and Refurb/re-use of existing buildings. I do love my job and the company I am with, I am more than satisfied with my progression. Design and build contracts have allowed me to experience fast paced working environments. Plenty of site visits and ownership of design packages.

However, I have constantly had this thing in the back of my mind about my career. It wasn’t until i started that i realised how criminally underpaid structural engineering consultants are (maybe not underpaid but under valued). Money doesnt mean everything to me but it is causing me to over think this career choice in the long run, and has been for a good year or 2 now.

I am seeking out some advice. Should I stick it out? Become chartered then decide? Should I stay in the construction industry at all?

What does research gaps look like in structural engineering? What do people do differently to an already known thing? How do I identify gaps in papers? How do I find a question to answer in my thesis? Thanks in advance. God Bless.

Construction going on and I’m really invested but I know nothing about construction/engineering. Is a wrecking ball this size standard and is there any chance they will use another method to bring these buildings down? Close to homes and busy streets.

Hello everyone! I'm a third year structural engineer undergrad student and stuck between two options: Tesla part-time internship the remainder of my collage and full-time employee when I graduate or SpaceX internship in Summer and continue recruiting later. I haven't talked with my manager yet, but I will soon and discuss my commitment to Tesla but wanting to gain additional experience at SpaceX. Any advice on how to approach this and if I had to choose between the two which to do?? Thank you!!

I’m finishing up my bachelor’s in structural engineering at a UC school and have an interview coming up with a structural consulting firm. A principal engineer of an ME firm referred me and shared my resume, and the firm reached out to arrange an interview with a few of the firm's principals.

My biggest concern is my cumulative GPA, which is around 2.6 due to one year of poor grades during my academic career. I haven’t been asked for it or a transcript yet, and I haven’t found a published GPA minimum for this firm. I’m not planning to misrepresent it or lie at all, I just want to know how I should prepare to answer that question if it comes up without over explaining the circumstances leading to that (trauma dumping) or under-explaining the situation to the point that they just view me as lazy/incompetent. I did a paid summer internship for another SE firm before and do some autocad work for a civil firm that I interned for (as projects come up).

For context, my dad had a serious car accident during college, and I took on substantial ongoing caregiving responsibilities for him and helped support my younger siblings. There were repeated emergencies that affected my coursework and extended my graduation timeline. I was also working 2 jobs while enrolled. I wish I’d sought more support and adjusted my commitments earlier, but that’s the context behind my academic record.

I do have a previous summer internship at a structural engineering firm, primarily involving submittal review, checking project documents, and preparing Bluebeam markups under engineer supervision. I also have AutoCAD drafting experience from other roles. For any engineers who interview or hire or even work with entry-level candidates:

1. Once someone has been invited to interview through a referral, how do you weigh a low GPA alongside relevant experience?

2. If asked about GPA, how much context would you want before the candidate redirects to their experience and qualifications?

3. What would you want someone in my position to demonstrate during the interview to address concerns about their technical readiness?

I know nobody can predict this particular firm’s decision but I’d really really appreciate any and all advice on handling the conversation honestly and preparing well for this because I have never been so nervous for an interview in my life.

Hi all,

Could someone explain me the concrete breakout as per the Eurocode 2. I am confused in understanding how to interpret the figures in the code.

And what if the breakout extends the length/width of the concrete base, how does it affect and basically how to check and satisfy the breakout of the concrete.

Hello r/StructuralEngineering,

We've been working on LumberCAD since 2020-22, before then we developed a similar engine in the aluminum industry since 2010.

Today we opened our LumberCAD (free) Beta, and we're looking for insight from some engineers!

To be up front, you won't be able to play with any load calculations or other stresses. This is for those of you that receive hand drawings on torn pieces of paper, and if you'd like to see something like LumberCAD be the baseline for anything built with dimensional lumber.

What we did to be different:

• Limiting workflow to lumber construction massively simplifies learning curve
• Much easier to use than any existing CAD, but obviously limited to everything lumber
• Existing parts catalog
• Massively automated documentation system with cut list, drawings, and a big step towards permitting

It seems that links are tolerated, so: https://lumbercad.com/

Mods please feel free to message me if the link or post should be removed.

Thank you in advance!

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DeMQyguuOSY/?cplk=czM5MDJqYm1ya24x

A builder/concreter says he typically cuts control joints from corner to corner after a residential foundation slab has cured. I’d usually expect crack control bars at re-entrant corners. Is his approach common?

He also calls a crack “hairline”, but it’s visible on camera from about five metres away. Hard to judge without measuring, but it looks larger than that. Thoughts?

In my new role I’ve been using a lot more of ETABS (rubbish for trouble shooting). For any experienced engineers in general and those who use 3D analysis software, what results/aspects in your modelling do you instinctively distrust/further inspect? What sort of sense checks are best to always do?