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The Engineering Mechanics Series
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Hi friends, The Engineering Mechanics series is out now! Engineering Mechanics is one of the first things you learn in uni. For good reason. It's the foundation of structural engineering. But there's a problem: University teachers often don't show students where in structural engineering these principles are used. For example, I was never shown in all these mechanics courses that a simply supported beam can be a pedestrian bridge or that a frame is used for many 10m span reinforced concrete bridges and warehouses. I first understood how important engineering mechanics principles are in my first design classes (reinforced concrete, timber and steel course) which was in my 5th semester. That's exactly what I show and teach in the Engineering Mechanics series. Below, you'll find a list of all 17 episodes. You can access all episodes of the Engineering Mechanics series and the Reinforced Concrete series through the Structural Basics membership (click here to open). Additionally, you'll get 30% off Loads on Residential Buildings and all future products.
Summary of the Engineering Mechanics SeriesBelow you can see which articles you can access for free and which once you can access when you join the Structural Basics members community (=paid):
And we also covered some more advanced fundamentals like:
If you are new to the newsletter and doubt the quality of the articles, here are what other's are saying about it. Structural Basics is an outstanding newsletter that makes structural engineering concepts accessible - even for people without an engineering background. What I appreciate most are the clear, step-by-step how-to guides. They’re incredibly practical and easy to follow.
I really enjoy the newsletter, which keeps me informed and inspired. Although the site is designed with non-engineers in mind, I find it just as valuable as an engineer who doesn’t specialize in structural design. It’s a perfect mix of depth and simplicity. Highly recommended! Leo, Engineer and Architect from Italy
I highly recommend Laurin's 'Structural Basics' newsletter for his concise practical insights and clear design methodology. Laurin offers coverage on a range of topics from timber detailing to steel connections and welding. A great resource for designers seeking innovative engineering solutions and ideas.
James O'Reilly, Civil Engineer and founder of Flocode
This is one of the best newsletters for those in structural design starting their careers with the help of structural design standards and national documents for Eurocode 1-8. Laurin manages to explain and highlight the fundamentals of structural design according to Eurocodes in a simple way along with other related structural design topics. Anyone who is teaching future structural designers should point their students to the website and newsletter. The content is also very good for experienced designers like me to review and help me doing my own structural designs.
Tómas Ellert Tómasson, Structural Engineer from Iceland
Final WordsLet’s design better structures together, Laurin. ↓ Follow me on Social Media. ↓ |
Structural Basics
Personal insights and calculation guides from the world of structural engineering directly in your inbox.
Hi friends, Today is the very last episode of the timber design series. It's crazy! We have now covered timber for the last 13+ months. It's so much knowledge. For this knowledge, people pay hundreds of dollars to learn this in university classes and seminars. Much of the knowledge you don't even learn in uni. Especially the real world examples that I learned and use in my job as a structural engineer. We started with episode #1 on the 18th of June 2025. I am currently thinking about the next...
Happy Saturday, Module #3 took me almost an entire year to write, fine-tune and publish. Now, I am very excited to finally share it with you in 4 days: Wednesday 29th of July: 3 pm CET In today's e-mail, I want to share with you what Module #3 includes and what it'll teach if you decide to get a copy. If you prefer video, I also created a short introduction video which you can watch here. So what is Module #3 about? In short: You'll learn how to design and verify reinforced concrete slabs,...
Hi friends, Today I wanted to share with you what I recently learnt about 2nd order effects of reinforced concrete cantilever columns. I was checking the structural design of another engineer and I didn't get the same results for days. My bending moments at the bottom of the column were just way bigger which meant that many columns didn't have enough reinforcement but also that the pad footings were way to small. So today, I'll tell you what I learnt from investigating cantilever columns for...