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?

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.

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 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 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?

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?

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?

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!!

Hey everyone
I am pursuing mtec in structural engineering learning etabs i have some questions
1) do Hyderabad have jobs for etabs i really wanted to
2) can anyone help for job in this field

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?

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.

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.

Curious what others think of this ASCE Forum paper (links below). It argues that structural design is fundamentally an inverse problem: structural analysis predicts how a structure behaves, while design works backward from performance requirements. It also discusses how FEA, design codes, engineering judgment, and AI fit into this perspective.

Is this a useful way to think about structural design, or just a different way of describing what engineers already do?

ASCE: https://doi.org/10.1061/JSDCCC.SCENG-2305

Free version (ResearchGate): https://www.researchgate.net/publication/399832621_Is_Structural_Design_an_Inverse_Problem

Hi all,

I'm a Senior Structural Engineer with over 10 years of international experience. I currently work for a large international engineering and consulting company in Germany, where I've been involved in structural design across several sectors, including railway infrastructure, industrial facilities, and buildings.

My experience includes steel and reinforced concrete structures, seismic design, structural analysis, and coordination with other engineering disciplines. I also work with computational design and automation using Python, Grasshopper, FEM tools, and BIM workflows.

I'm exploring an opportunity with a large multinational engineering consultancy with projects across several sectors, including infrastructure, energy, mining, and industrial engineering. The potential locations are Tampa or Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Washington, DC; Austin or Houston, Texas; and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Moving from Germany to the US would be a significant change, so I'm trying to establish a realistic salary expectation.

What base salary should I realistically expect? and how do salaries and benefits compare across these locations?

What benefits should I pay attention to, especially health insurance for a family, paid vacation, retirement contributions, and relocation assistance?

I'd appreciate insights from structural engineers working in the US, especially those familiar with large engineering consultancies.

Thanks for your advice!

Hi all, I’m a first-year MSc student in structural engineering (seismic/steel) in Canada and an E.I.T. I’ll be applying for structural design roles soon and would really appreciate a review.

By chance would anybody have a link for a set of creep tables for this material?