No career comes with a manual. There is truly no substitute for experience in any field, most especially structural engineering. As I near the end of my first decade as an engineer, I have learned a few things that I wish I knew before I began. I would still have chosen to do this – I consider structural engineering my vocation – but I would have been far more effective. I plan to share those things here, using the following broad categories:

• Practical Tips – how to ‘hack’ your work, leverage software, become more productive, and get more done.
• Letters to a Young Engineer – encouragement for those considering or just joining the profession.
• Musings – thoughts on how things are and how they could be better.

A note to the esteemed engineer with more experience: you’re welcome to read along with us. The more I learn, the smaller my knowledge seems and the more eager I am to listen to those older and wiser than me. Please, join the conversation. Tell us what you wish you had known when you began.

Together, with experience and fresh ideas, we can build the “missing manual” for our profession.