Engineering automation · STAAD workflows

Ship STAAD projects 2× faster, with fewer manual errors.

Structures Simplified builds focused desktop tools for steel design engineers — instant plate-wise MTOs, scaled CAD drawings from STAAD selections, and deep guides on the parts of structural design nobody else writes about clearly.

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Built by a practicing engineer · Used in real-project workflows
100+ Engineers using our STAAD add-on tools
75+ Engineers trained on programming, AI & OpenSTAAD
9,000+ Structural engineers following on LinkedIn
4.8★ Average rating from cohort engineers trained

01 · Section

Products

Three production-ready desktop tools used by 100+ steel design engineers — focused, one-time purchase, no subscriptions or telemetry.

Tool · 01 Ready to buy

MTO Generator

Generates detailed and summary weight lists for selected STAAD members and plates — including the plate-wise weights STAAD itself never prints.

  • Detailed & summary weight reports for any STAAD selection
  • Plate-wise extraction — the gap STAAD leaves you to fill manually
  • Supports a wide range of STAAD member and plate types

Replaces hours of manual MTO work for steel design engineers.

Buy now
Tool · 02 Ready to buy

STAAD-to-CAD

Converts selected STAAD sections into one-click scaled CAD drawings — ready for the drafter, with no hand-sketching and no transcription error.

  • One-click conversion of selected STAAD sections to scaled DWG/DXF
  • Cuts the designer ↔ drafter handoff to seconds, not afternoons
  • Eliminates an entire class of human-transcription errors

For teams where the design ↔ drafting handoff is bleeding hours.

Buy now
Tool · 03 Live · external

PEB Optimization

Drives member sizing of pre-engineered building frames toward minimum steel weight, under your code constraints — with iteration history and convergence diagnostics.

  • Member-by-member sizing toward minimum steel weight
  • Iteration history + convergence diagnostics for review
  • Code-constraint aware — drift, deflection, capacity

For PEB designers chasing steel-quote competitiveness on every bid.

Visit site

02 · Section

Training

A live cohort that teaches you to build the same kind of automation tools we sell — delivered through Coding for Civil Engineers.

OpenSTAAD Bootcamp Live cohort · enrolment open

Build four working STAAD
automation tools in five weeks.

Zero programming background required — if you know STAAD, you have everything you need. Ten live sessions, hands-on work, four working tools you keep when the cohort ends.

For engineers who want to stop waiting for tools and start shipping their own.

Enrol on CFCE codingforcivilengineers.com
  • 10Sessions
  • 75+Trained
  • 4.8★Avg rating
  • Session 1–4: C# fundamentals + 2D PEB frame generator
  • Session 5–8: OpenSTAAD API + MTO + load-export tools
  • Session 9 & 10: Custom tool definition + production delivery

03 · Section

Ebooks

Three concise, applied references for the topics where most textbooks go vague — bracing, base connections, and structural optimization.

EB-01 · PEB

Behaviour of Bracing System in PEB

How bracing actually carries lateral load in a pre-engineered building — failure modes, configurations, and the rules of thumb that hold up on real projects.

Buy ebook PDF · DRM-FREE
EB-02 · CONNECTIONS

Design of Pinned Base for Pre-engineered Buildings

From theoretical pin to drafted detail: anchor layouts, base-plate sizing, and the assumptions that hide between code clauses.

Buy ebook PDF · DRM-FREE
EB-03 · OPTIMIZATION

Genetic Algorithm for Structural Optimization

Use evolutionary search to size and select sections — from section-set encoding to convergence diagnostics, with worked examples.

Buy ebook PDF · DRM-FREE

04 · Section

Blog

Read all articles
Most-read · 01 / 05

FeaturedSteel design

σ(x)

Shear Lag in Steel Structures

Why "stress is uniform across the flange" breaks down — and where it matters most in real practice.

Read article

StabilityBeams

Lateral Torsional Buckling

A working engineer's read of LTB — what triggers it, what restrains it, and how the code clauses map to the physics.

Read article

Lateral systemsPEB

Bracing System: Structural Arrangement

How to lay out a bracing scheme that actually carries lateral load — and the arrangements that quietly don't.

Read article

Second-orderAnalysis

P-Delta Effect on Structures

When linear analysis lies. P-Δ and P-δ, when each one matters, and how STAAD's options actually behave.

Read article

ConnectionsBolt design

Why Prying Force is Important

The hidden tension multiplier in tee-stub and end-plate connections — why it changes bolt sizing.

Read article

05 · Section

About the Maker

“I built these tools because I was the engineer doing the manual MTOs at 11pm. If they save you that night — they're working.”

Parishith Jayan has spent 8+ years writing production OpenSTAAD automation on real structural projects. MTO Generator, STAAD-to-CAD, and PEB Optimization came out of that work — packaged for engineers hitting the same pain. Everything you see here is shipped, used, and refined against actual steel design workflows — not a roadmap.

Parishith Jayan · Founder, Structures Simplified

06 · Section

Testimonials

Pulled from 75+ engineers trained, at firms ranging from PEB specialists to global EPCs. Full list on the cohort page.

It was a very helpful course. Even though I am a novice coder, by the end of the course I could code and create automation tools.

Ankita Patel Structural Engineer & Project Manager
M.P.Prime Structures Pvt Ltd

Before this course, I couldn't find the starting point. This course helped streamline my workflow.

Jaswanth Design Engineer
Kirby Building Systems

I had been searching for a program like this for a long time, and it truly met my expectations.

S J Avinash Senior Engineer
Atkins Realis

07 · Section

Get in touch

Got a STAAD workflow that’s eating your hours? An ebook question? A cohort enquiry, or a custom tool you want built? Whatever it is — write.

The fastest way to reach me is email. I read every one and reply within 24 hours on weekdays.

If it’s a custom-tooling enquiry from a design firm, expect a longer first reply with questions about your STAAD workflow, codebook, and project pipeline — that’s the only way the eventual tool actually fits.

For cohort enrolment, the Coding for Civil Engineers site has a dedicated form. For everything else, write directly.

Email · primary parishith@structures-simplified.com Replies within 24 hours on weekdays LinkedIn /in/parishith-jayan 9,000+ engineers · field notes shared regularly

Get started

Start automating the parts of STAAD
that eat your evenings.

Two tools, three guides — built for the engineer doing the work, not the one writing the brochure. One-time purchase. No telemetry.

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