Detailing — LNT (Korea) and ATAD
Detailing engineer: 3D modelling in Tekla Structures, producing approval drawings, shop drawings, erection drawings and bills of materials for pre-engineered buildings.
TEACHING STAFF
Nguyen Van Thanh Tam
A steel structures engineer who has walked the whole pre-engineered steel chain, from shop detailing to project engineer, through leading firms such as ATAD, Kirby Southeast Asia and TLC Modular.
2012in steel structures since
04steel firms across his career
US standarddetailing per the US Manual
PMcurrent role: project engineer
ROLE AT THE INSTITUTE
Teaching Tekla with real factory shop-drawing workflow
Modelling Tekla to learn is quite different from modelling so a factory cuts steel from your drawings. He belongs to the second group: his drawings go straight to the shop floor.
- Teaches the Tekla Structures course at the Institute, following the trade’s real sequence: model, approval drawings, shop drawings, erection drawings and the bill of materials.
- Thirteen years in pre-engineered steel, through all four roles: detailer, checker, structure engineer, then project engineer.
- Detailing to the US standard since his years with a Korean firm: shop details per the US Standard Detailing Manual, working with foreign consultants in English.
- Now in modular construction at TLC Modular — prefabricated building with steel at its core, from design through supplier negotiations at home and abroad.
CAREER
Four roles along one steel production line
Each position reads the steel drawing set at a different station: the one who draws, the one who checks, the one who designs, the one answerable for the project.
Checking — Kirby Southeast Asia
Detailing checker for over three years: checking models and every drawing before release to the factory. The checker is the last gate before steel gets cut.
Design and delivery — TLC Modular
Structure engineer, then project engineer: designing steel structures, controlling every structural drawing on the project, attending tender interviews on technical matters, coordinating consultants at home and abroad.
WHAT HE TEACHES
The parts he goes deepest on
- Modelling Tekla to factory standard — models that can be fabricated, not just viewed: connections, bolts and welds as they are actually made.
- The three drawing sets of pre-engineered steel — approval, shop and erection drawings: who reads each, what it must carry, where it goes wrong.
- The bill of materials — exporting it from the model and controlling it so the factory orders the right steel in the right amount.
- Checking with a checker’s eye — the errors a Kirby checker catches most often before release.
- Linking Tekla to analysis — coordinating the Tekla model with results from SAP2000 and ETABS.
TOOLS
Software he works in
- Tekla Structures — his core tool since 2013: modelling, shop drawings, bills of materials.
- SAP2000 and ETABS — structural analysis ahead of detailing.
- AutoCAD — 2D drawings and document exchange.
- MS Project — programme tracking in the project engineer role.
EDUCATION
Education and expertise
A civil engineering degree, with a career built inside export-grade steel fabrication.
- Civil engineering degree — Ho Chi Minh City Open University, 2008–2013
- Merit scholarships from the university and from construction companies
- Steel detailing to the US standard — the US Standard Detailing Manual, from his years with Korean and export-oriented steel firms
- Professional English for steel structures — daily work with foreign consultants and suppliers
Learn Tekla from someone whose drawings go to the factory
A model built for fabrication is a different thing from a model built for viewing.