Here's how you can revolutionize your structural engineering design.

BIM offers great advantage in structural engineering. It helps you put into perspective what you have designed and gives realistic views of your design so that you can review, minimise error, avoid possible clashes thus great cost saving on project. Also, BIM has the capability of immediate extraction of 2D drawings and details from 3D model. Most importantly, BIM offers a collaborative work platform for engineers to make their input directly, such inputs reflects instantly and this helps all engineers to track changes and adjust accordingly thus less potential errors by omission. Embracing BIM gives you leverage as a structural engineer and helps revolutionize your design for great advantages in cost, time and customers' satisfaction.

Design optimization begins at the conceptual stage. Encouraging structural simplicity at the conceptual stage leads to great saving in cost from the outset. Design could further be optimized by ensuring good utilisation ratios for all members in the structure especially primary members. Many software have the feature to ensure optimization of design in structures but it is paramount for structural engineers to get familiar with the parameters in software that could help achieve optimized design. As this would lead to revolutionary designs.

It is important to explore new possibilities. Be creative with geometry. A blend of architecture, creative art and engineering would lead to an engineering filled with lot of marvels. Historians, Creative Artists, Architects' skills could be explored to create innovative designs. Biomimicry could be explored as well while structural engineers provide the engineering to bring the befitting structure to life.

Our industry relies on tradition because it works. Unlike other fields, our work is a civic service, balancing functionality, aesthetics, longevity, and cost. Our role is not just technical but tied to public trust and welfare. Yet, we still need innovation. Basic programming skills, specifically Python, offer exponential returns. You gain access to scientific computing, data science, machine learning, AI, and automation. Python is free, open-source, and transparent—no black boxes, no vendor lock-in. You can collaborate, improve, and modify as needed. While open-source development has risks, innovation accelerates when we build on the foundations laid by those before us. In engineering, the tools may change, but the principles don’t.