AI 2 days · weekend · In person and online

AI Course for Structural Engineers

Name: AI Course for Structural Engineers
Price: 624 EUR
Availability: InStock

For engineers and design firms

A two-day course on using Claude in structural design, in four modules: Excel, Midas Civil/Gen NX, Grasshopper and a standalone application developed in Visual Studio Code. Each module includes a hands-on exercise on a structural case study. You will receive all the course material, with the worked-example files in Excel, Grasshopper and Midas NX to reuse, and a one-year license of the AMetric Toolbox structural design software.

Program

00 · Opening In person · Friday 22 JanuaryOnline · Saturday 6 February

AI in the engineering profession

AI in structural engineering

AI as a generator of verifiable tools, not as a calculator
The EU AI Act (Regulation 2024/1689) and the practical guide to AI for engineers by the Italian engineering council (CNI)
Confidentiality of project data and professional responsibility
AMetric Toolbox with MCP server for Claude and ChatGPT

An overview of AI tools

Why Claude: the Opus, Sonnet, Haiku and Fable models
Claude Desktop, Claude Code, MCP, API and skills: what each one is for
Avoiding platform lock-in: instructions and knowledge in open .md files any LLM can read
Setting up the class Claude accounts

01 · Excel In person · Friday 22 JanuaryOnline · Saturday 6 February

From spreadsheet to verification app

Multi-storey frame with the storey seismic forces of a linear static analysis

Exercise

Linear static analysis of a multi-storey RC building: base shear and storey seismic forces
2D frame drawn with G1, G2 and Q loads
Input through drop-down menus, sliders and buttons
Expected displacements, compared with a FEM linear dynamic analysis
Report export

What you'll be able to do

Bring AI into the way you build your Excel sheets
Turn a sheet into an app with buttons, sliders and custom charts
Produce a calculation report per §10.2 of NTC 2018, for preliminary sizing and for validating FEM model results
Use Claude skills for graphic layout and repetitive operations

02 · Midas Civil / Gen NX In person · Friday 22 JanuaryOnline · Saturday 13 February

FEM modeling and post-processing in Python

Steel beam-to-column connection modeled with plate elements, with the von Mises stress map

Exercise

Modeling and checking a steel structure with beam elements
Extracting results and applying them automatically to a connection modeled with plate elements
Iterations and result plots in matplotlib

What you'll be able to do

Build FEM models directly through vibe coding
Extract analysis results automatically: forces, displacements, stresses…
Connect Midas NX to post-processing for structural checks and charts

03 · Grasshopper In person · Saturday 23 JanuaryOnline · Saturday 20 February

Parametric geometry with Rhino MCP

Pier Luigi Nervi's branching columns in Brasília, with the geometry axes highlighted

Exercise

Modeling a structural type with complex geometry by Pier Luigi Nervi

What you'll be able to do

Build a parametric model in Grasshopper
Drive the geometry with sliders and parameters
Read the model's quantities live (weight, concrete volume…) and export the 3D model

04 · VS Code In person · Saturday 23 JanuaryOnline · Saturday 27 February

A design application to share

Strut-and-tie model of a pile cap: compression strut, steel tie and nodes

Exercise

App for checking strut-and-tie models with variable geometry
Strength checks of concrete struts and steel ties
Safety factors
Export of a concise check report
Compiling the executable

What you'll be able to do

Build a standalone structural design application
Compile it into an .exe to share with colleagues and collaborators

FAQ

Who is the course for?

Structural engineers who use Excel and a FEM package every day
Design firms that want to develop in-house design tools
Midas Civil and Midas Gen users interested in automating modeling and results extraction

What are the prerequisites?

No programming experience required. Day-to-day use of Excel and hands-on experience with a structural analysis package are enough; no prior Grasshopper experience is needed for the Grasshopper module. The course is designed for designers, not for developers. Taught in Italian.

What should I bring?

A Windows laptop with administrator rights (Midas NX runs on Windows only), desktop Excel, Midas Civil NX or Midas Gen NX (license or trial) and Rhino 8 or 9 (free 90-day trial). Python, Visual Studio Code, libraries and add-ins are installed together at the start of each module. Claude accounts for the course are provided by the instructor and included in the fee.

How many participants are there?

6 to 12 participants