I once had the sales representative for a software company looking to secure our business tell me that, in his view, being a truss designer (or panel designer) was like taking a never-ending math test in which any score less than 100% was failure. He was certainly of the “old school”...

Did you know that Simpson Strong-Tie has a research and development lab in our McKinney, Texas, branch? In the following article, Francisco Hernandez, the McKinney branch lab manager, talks about the history of this lab and what we do there. History of the McKinney Lab Jeremy Gilstrap and...

Carol Sanford’s invention didn’t equal Cal Jureit’s, but he made up for it with his head start and his aggressive marketing. Sanford had filed for his patent in March 1954, two years ahead of Jureit’s September 1956 filing, and had a plate design that was relatively...

Since the 1960s, fabricators have used machine stress rated (MSR) lumber of all species to improve the performance and reliability of their engineered components and structures. Nowadays, you don’t have to look far to find a successful component manufacturer who relies heavily on MSR...

This August marked the 30th anniversary of the Florida landfall of Hurricane Andrew, one of the most damaging, and influential, hurricanes ever to hit the United States. Hurricane Andrew hit South Florida with Category 5 winds early on the morning of August 24, 1992. Andrew caused damages of $25...

Civil engineer Cal Jureit had moved on from wood structures to concrete foundations, but not completely. While he was engaged with the problem of building houses on Miami’s marshes near the Everglades, he had left the problem of wood connections unresolved. Perhaps his ongoing work on Dade...

We all know the future belongs to off-site construction and the increasing use of components. Although it’s a small percentage now, it is projected to grow exponentially. It is a more efficient use of materials with less waste and reduces labor requirements – and this adds up to more...

I sometimes wonder if I am at risk of becoming the truss designer version of the grouchy old man that sits on the front porch yelling at the neighborhood kids to “get off my lawn.” When I hear some newer designer criticize the limitations of today’s truss layout and design...

Every year, Simpson Strong-Tie awards scholarships to students in the fields of engineering, architecture and construction management to help them on their educational journey. The company also flies all the scholarship winners out to Northern California to spend a whole week learning about the...

A nearly perfect confluence of circumstances combined to create the truss plate in South Florida. The wartime home-building hiatus, the post-war baby boom, and the northward (from Cuba) and southward (snowbird) migration to Florida all combined to skyrocket the demand for new housing. But what...