I am a structural engineer. I design steel connections, concrete foundations, and equipment supports for oil and gas facilities. Every calculation package I produce has to be checked by another engineer before it goes to fabrication.
That peer review process takes days. Sometimes weeks. The reviewer has to verify every load combination, every member check, every connection detail. It is tedious, critical, and expensive.
So I built an AI system that does the first pass.
What StructCalc AI Does
StructCalc AI is a web app built with React, Supabase, and FastAPI on Railway. You input your structural members, loads, and geometry. It runs checks against AISC 360-22, ACI 318-19, and ASCE 7-22 load combinations. Then it generates a PDF calculation package with an AI peer review section.
The AI peer review does not replace a licensed engineer. It catches the obvious stuff. Did you forget a load combination? Is your demand-to-capacity ratio above 0.95? Did you specify A36 steel when the spec calls for A992? These are the mistakes that waste a reviewer's time.
The Tech Stack
Frontend — React with Vite. Clean input forms for member properties, loads, and boundary conditions. No drag-and-drop modeling. Just numbers and dropdowns.
Backend — FastAPI on Railway. Handles the actual calculations. AISC steel member checks use the interaction equations from Chapter H. ACI concrete checks follow the strength reduction factors from Chapter 21.
Database — Supabase. Stores projects, calculation history, and user preferences. Row Level Security keeps each engineer's work private.
AI Layer — Claude API. Takes the calculation output and reviews it against code requirements. Flags anything that looks wrong or marginal.
PDF Export — ReportLab. Generates a professional calculation package with cover sheet, assumptions, calculations, and the AI review summary.
Why This Matters
A junior engineer spends 4 to 6 hours on a typical steel connection package. The peer review takes another 2 to 3 hours. StructCalc AI cuts the review portion down to minutes.
That does not mean the reviewer stops checking. It means they spend their time on the hard stuff instead of verifying that you used the right Cb value for lateral-torsional buckling.
The Business Case
I showed this tool during my interview at ESI Inc. They were interested enough to ask follow-up questions about it in the third round. Structural firms spend significant money on QA/QC. A tool that reduces review cycles is worth real money.
The app is live at structcalc-ai.vercel.app. Still early, but the core engine works.
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