SBCA Strengthens Ties with Engineering Community at NCSEA Structural Summit
Originally Published by: SBCA Magazine — October 29, 2025
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The 2025 NCSEA Structural Engineering Summit took place in the heart of New York City from October 14–17 at the New York Hilton Midtown. The event brought together over 1,000 practicing structural engineers, industry leaders, and forward-thinking professionals to explore the latest in building design, code development, project delivery, and leadership in the built environment.
SBCA exhibited at the Summit for the first time this year with the goal of connecting with the structural engineers in attendance and better understanding the challenges and opportunities they face when designing with wood trusses. SBCA’s Technical Director, Greg Greenlee, P.E., and Director of Marketing, Sean Shields, both had several conversations with engineers on topics ranging from permanent restraint to their responsibilities reviewing truss submittal packages.
To hear more about Greg and Sean’s experience, listen to the latest episode of Component Connection Podcast: https://www.sbcacomponents.com/media/ep-154-the-incredible-value-of-talking-with-structural-engineers
The event also offered comprehensive sessions covering technical practices, business management, and emerging trends—attendees had the opportunity to earn up to 14 professional development hours (PDHs) through workshops on advanced analysis techniques, resilience and sustainability strategies, new codes and standards, case-studies of landmark projects, and leadership/development topics. It was clear that every attendee was there to learn.
SBCA was given a unique opportunity to partner with NCSEA and Think Wood to design and host a structural roof system competition for young engineers. Over the course of 80 minutes, participants were asked to design and build a roof structure that could clear span more than 28” and resist a load of 16 ounces placed on top of the structure at the midpoint of the span, using only 12”x1/8”x1/8” balsa-wood dowels and aluminum HVAC tape. It was a great chance to reinforce the efficiency of trusses and the importance of restraint and bracing in a three-dimensional roof system.
The winning team received a $1,500 scholarship ($500 per team member) from the SBCA Foundation & Endowment towards covering education-related expenses. The team with the best-performing structure was (right to left) Tiffany Scott, P.E., Reyes Alvarez, and Marissa Martinez.
In parallel with the education, the largest structural-engineering-focused Exhibit Hall in the industry showcased solutions, innovations, and partner-resources tailored to everyday challenges faced in practice. This environment led to several quality discussions that reinforced the value of the work the SBCA E&T Committee has done in BCSI-2025 and in technical documents on SBCA’s Knowledge Center (https://kcenter.sbcacomponents.com/).