Good morning! This is Back of the Envelope – the place to learn structural engineering in tiny bites 🍪. In today’s article, I will talk about how to do a quick-n-dirty preliminary check to make sure your composite steel deck meets the fire rating requirement. This is something that confuses me almost all the time… […]
Webinar Recap: “Common Challenges in Wood Lateral System Layout”
In today’s post, I will quickly summarize what I learned from a recent webinar called “Common Challenges in Wood Lateral System Layout.” It was presented by Terry Malone, Senior Technical Director at WoodWorks, who has decades of experience designing structures. The webinar’s goal was to help us recognize things that we need to watch out […]
Skinniest Tower, Ever
This is a rehash of an article I wrote in my weekly newsletter, “Back of the Envelope” — where I teach you SE-related things in 5 minutes (or less), once a week. If you enjoyed reading it, consider subscribing at the end of the post to be one of the first to get new emails […]
Part of what it takes to “excel as an engineer” is to be able to control your emotions
Today, I am going to talk about “amiability” (aka being friendly). (Estimated read time: 2 minutes and 31 seconds) According to Bo Jaquess (current SEAOSD president), “amiability” is number two on the list of “what it takes to excel as an engineer.” (link) (Which by the way, I talked about #1 here). Bo says: “For […]
Another take on the good ol’ “embedded posts and poles”
In today’s post, I’ll talk about something I learned recently related to “embedded posts and poles.” Quick overview: “nonconstrained” & “constrained” What exactly is “rigid floor or pavement”? Another option for “chain-link fence” (Estimated reading time = 3 minutes and 10 seconds)
P-delta diverging error was literally crushing my soul
Good morning. Andy here from Back of the Envelope — the place to be for all your p-delta soul-crushing info. Just kidding. No but seriously. Over the weekend, as I was working on a RISA Floor/3d model for a looming deadline, I repeatedly ran into the dreaded “P-delta diverging” error. It drove me crazy. So today, I […]
What it takes to excel as an engineer (Part 1)
This is an excerpt from “Back of the Envelope” — where I teach you SE-related things in 5 minutes (or less), once a week. If you enjoyed it after reading it, subscribe at the end of the post to be one of the first to get new emails every Thursday. Today, I am going to […]
Recap: Town hall meetings for structural engineers
This is an excerpt from “Back of the Envelope” — where I share interesting, SE-related things I learned recently (in 5 minutes or less). If you enjoyed reading it, subscribe at the end of the post to be one of the first to get new emails (every Thursday). Today, I will talk about a webcast […]
Site Walls and Earthquake
This is the first article that I sent out on “Back of the Envelope” — where I teach you SE-related things in 5 minutes (or less), once a week. If after reading it and you kind of liked it, subscribe at the end of the post to be one of the first to get new […]
Geometric Growth of a Structural Engineering Firm
What Is This About? So I decided to change it up a little and write about some of my other passions: …business, sales, and marketing of engineering firms. Whether you are an owner/part-owner/employee of a firm, this is something that you’ll find applicable because knowing how to market and sell your engineering service is absolutely […]