IDEA StatiCa Announces Maverick United Consulting Engineers as the Featured Company of the Month

Maverick United Consulting Engineers is a Kuala Lumpur–based engineering consultancy specializing in structural, infrastructural, and value engineering services for the built environment. Their team has successfully delivered projects worth up to USD 200 million across Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Australia, and the United Kingdom. 

Maverick is part of Leighton Asia, a member of CIMIC Group, a leading international construction company with a proven track record in delivering complex infrastructure and building projects across Asia.

Notable Projects by Maverick

Confidential Maintenance Facility in Pampanga, Philippines

Engineering Challenges

The project presented complex engineering challenges due to the sheer scale of the structure and the forces acting on its members. 

The hangar had to support not only their own enormous self-weight but also the superimposed dead loads and live loads from cladding, roofing systems, services and maintenance. 

Located in a typhoon-prone region, the facility was designed to withstand a basic wind speed of 260 kph (72.22 m/s), equivalent to a Category 3–4 hurricane based on NSCP 2015. This translated into roof uplift pressures of 3.5 kPa and wall pressures of 3.18 kPa, requiring a highly robust lateral stability system and projecting substantial forces into the primary members. 

In addition, being in Seismic Zone 4 based on NSCP 2015, the hangar’s considerable mass and height introduced significant seismic demands at the truss-to-column connections.

The connection between the roof trusses and stanchions was one of the most critical challenges, as it had to transfer enormous forces generated by the large-span structure. 

To construct this structure, an end-plate connection approach was adopted, with the use of thicker plates (up to 50 mm) and large-diameter bolts (M56), to safely resist the design forces. 

Key Joints Modelled in IDEA StatiCa

Maverick’s Connection Tonnage Estimation

Accurately estimating the total connection tonnage at the preliminary stage for the contractor was a significant challenge. Each connection was exceptionally heavy—up to 1.6 tonnes per connection. Traditionally, this process involves labour-intensive, plate-by-plate manual calculations, making it both time-consuming and prone to inefficiencies. 

With IDEA StatiCa’s Bill of Materials, Maverick was able to estimate the total tonnage by accounting for additional plates, welding sizes, bolt quantities and dimensions. This was achieved by modifying the steel cost calculation from USD/kg to 1 kg/kg for the additional steel parts. The estimated tonnage from IDEA StatiCa's Bill of Materials was consistent with the manual calculation.

Conclusion

“Given the complexity of the stress distribution, such connections could only be modelled and verified using IDEA StatiCa. We defined plate orientations, cut-outs, and flexible options for welding either to members or plates. The CBFEM approach enabled stress-based analysis, allowing us to clearly visualize force flow, identify critical stress zones, and quickly determine where additional strengthening was required. This ensured both design accuracy and installation practicality,” said Gan Zhisheng, Senior Structural Engineer, Maverick United Consulting Engineers.

“IDEA StatiCa and OTTE have consistently provided seminars and knowledge-sharing sessions that helped us better understand apply IDEA StatiCa in our projects. OTTE has provided us excellent online technical support,” added Gan Zhisheng, Senior Structural Engineer, Maverick United Consulting Engineers.

Jan Valicek, Regional Director APAC, IDEA StatiCa, added, “With expertise in high-rise, mega developments, and complex structures, Maverick United Consulting Engineers applies advanced engineering methods and BIM collaboration to deliver innovative, buildable, and cost-effective projects. We are glad to acknowledge them as our Featured Company of the Month.”