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- President's Message
- Welcome New Members!
- Dues Renewal Reminder
- Past Event Recap
- Upcoming Events Calendar
- Corporate Member Corner
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- Commitment to DEI
- Committee Spotlight
- Committee News
- Association Leader Spotlight
- SEAONC Social Media Links
- Job Postings
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Megan Stringer, SEAONC President
I do not know where this year has gone or how I am already writing my second to last president's address. I will be honest that writing this column is probably the most exciting and dreaded part of being president. It has, however, gotten more interesting with AI - can you tell which portions, if any, have been written by ChatGPT or Sydney 😊? Speaking of AI, I have said this before but it will be interesting to see how AI changes our profession (and world) in the coming years. A quick type into ChatGPT and AI has the potential to greatly improve the efficiency, accuracy, and safety of structural engineering by helping us to optimize our designs, improve our analytical models to identify potential issues before they become major problems, monitor construction processes in real time, and predict when a structure might need maintenance and repair. Having this technology could greatly impact our profession for the better, but we need to be the ones to determine its best use case and oversee and validate any of its results. I say this only as I feel like we are on the cusp of some real changes coming to our field and want us all to be prepared.
Shifting gears, spring is here and that means the award season is upon us. For those of you not aware, in May, SEAONC always celebrates our projects at an annual award ceremony renamed this year to the Structural Engineering Excellence (SEE) awards. The Board is hard at work reimagining this event and this year's SEE awards will showcase the best in structural engineering, highlighting the innovation, creativity, and excellence that our industry has to offer. We hope structural engineers, architects, contractors, and building owners all come out to celebrate this year's best. It will be the first time that we will not be announcing the award winners until the ceremony and we hope this will add some suspense and excitement. We will also be awarding our scholarships at this event and will have a live band and photo booth! In June, we will continue the celebrations as we recognize the contributions of structural engineers to the built environment and bestow the SEAONC Honor Awards at the annual Business Meeting. At this meeting we will also recap the year, discuss SEAONC’s future, and announce next year's Board of Directors. I promise to liven up (and shorten) the Business Meeting while still holding true to the meeting's traditions. If you couldn't make the April Past Presidents event, June will be your opportunity to rub elbows with our esteemed past presidents. Both of these events will provide a wonderful opportunity to connect with colleagues and friends, hear about the future of SEAONC, and celebrate the achievements of our community. I look forward to seeing you there!
The last piece of news I am excited to share with you is that SEAONC is forming a strategic alliance with the AIA SF (thank you board director Leo Panian for forging this relationship)! This means our Boards will be collaborating on our common areas of interest including student outreach, member engagement, and education and events. SEAONC will be supporting the AIA’s new Center for Architecture and Design and this amazing venue will become our "home" for the coming years. The Board is really excited to build on this partnership and I will update you with more information soon.
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* Jerald Castillo, Estructure, Oakland, CA
* Sterling Wallstrum, On Guard Seismic Systems, Inc, Petaluma, CA
* Lei Zheng, Cecilia Home, Concord, CA
* Tariq Popal, Brandsafway, Walnut Creek, CA
* Marc Garcia, City of San Jose, San Jose, CA
* Riley Mullen, IMEG Corporation, San Francisco, CA
* Ryan Chan, Coffman Engineers, Oakland, CA
* Alexander Richardson, FTF Engineering, San Francisco, CA
* Andres Acosta, Degenkolb Engineers, San Francisco, CA
* Christopher Wolff, Degenkolb Engeinners, Oakland, CA
* Anders Johnson, Buro Happold, San Francisco, CA
* Marissa J. Visconti, Arup, San Francisco, CA
* Asisclo Villafuerte, Meinhardt, Makati City, Phillipines
* Sophia Ha, LPA Design Studios, San Jose, CA
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Time to Renew Your Dues
The SEAONC membership year runs from July 1 - June 30. If you have not yet renewed, please do so now, before your membership access is suspended. If you have any questions about the renewal process, please contact the SEAONC office at admin@seaonc.org.
Firms: To renew multiple memberships, contact admin@seaonc.org for a group invoice and more information about a corporate membership.
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Honoring Professor Jack Moehle
The structural engineering community from the Bay Area and beyond came together on April 1st to celebrate University of California, Berkeley Professor Jack Moehle’s achievements and legacy. Many of his former students and collaborators, including many SEAONC members, gathered at the International House for full-day retrospective talks and technical discussions to honor Professor Moehle’s impact on the structural engineering profession and his students. The event highlighted his many contributions to the field of reinforced concrete structures and seismic engineering.
[ Read More ]
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April Association Meeting
During our April association meeting, Professor Dawn Lehman shared her research and findings after working with an investigative journalism team following the 2021 Champlain Towers South building collapse in Surfside, Florida.
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SE3 Parenting Charrette
An Interactive Dinner Discussion about Juggling Parenting and Your Career
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Date: May 8th, 2023
Time: 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Program: 5:00 pm - 5:30 pm Networking/Food & Drinks, 5:30-7:00 Discussion
Location: Brower Center 2150 Allston Way, Berkeley, CA 94704
Cost: SEAONC & AIA Members: $45.00 | Non-Members: $50.00
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Thank you to our Corporate Members!
Your generosity and support of SEAONC are greatly appreciated.
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CORPORATE MEMBER SPOTLIGHT: SIMPSON STRONG TIE
Hi SEAONC friends, Wendy Allen, P.E. here from a company with Bay Area beginnings, Simpson Strong-Tie. Simpson has been a SEAONC sponsor for several years running and we enjoy the partnership that we have with SEAONC the Association as well as all of you, the members! I was lucky enough to serve on SEAONC’s Board of Directors from 2013-2015 and got to experience SEAONC from the inside.
A little known fact, Simpson Strong-Tie started in California with an Engineering lab and production facility in San Leandro, CA. Now we are a world-wide company with several hundred Engineers in North America alone. Once just a wood connector company I would argue that Simpson is now a ‘Solutions’ company! We offer Engineering solutions ranging from our new Yield Link Brace Connection, to Mass Timber Connections and even a free of charge Composite Strengthening Systems design division consisting of FRP (Fiber Reinforced Polymer) and other strengthening solutions.
[ Read More ]
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The DEI Spotlight is a monthly forum in the SEAONC Post in partnership with the SEAONC Structural Engineering Engagement and Equity (SE3) Committee to engage our members in the mission of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in the structural engineering profession.
May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. For this month’s DEI Spotlight, we would like to highlight some information about the “model minority” myth and how it can be perpetuated in the workplace. When discussing the model minority myth, it is important to remember that the AAPI community is not a monolith and consists of people with a wide range of ethnic and cultural backgrounds from more than 40 countries. Experiences within the AAPI community can vary highly depending on the individual as well as the history of each ethnic community.
The term “model minority” is typically used “to refer to a minority group perceived as particularly successful, especially in a manner that contrasts with other minority groups.” This NPR article breaks down some of the myths associated with the idea of the model minority:
- “Myth: All Asian Americans are well educated and high earning”
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A 2018 Pew Research Center study found that Asian Americans were the most economically divided racial or ethnic group in the U.S., with Asian Americans in the top 10th of the income distribution making 10.7 times more than those in the bottom 10th, compared to 7.8 times for white Americans.
- “Myth: Asian Americans are fairly represented in leadership positions”
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Although there is a healthy representation of AAPI professionals within structural engineering in the Bay Area, that is not the case nationally, where Asians and Asian Americans face barriers to enter leadership positions. According to the Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers (SASE), Asians make up 14% of STEM professionals but are “2.8x underrepresented at executive levels.” (SASE)
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These disparities exist within the structural engineering profession as well. According to the 2020 NCSEA SE3 Survey, Asian structural engineers are the least satisfied with their career advancement when compared to other racial groups.
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Join the Construction Quality Assurance Committee!
The Construction Quality Assurance Committee (CQA) deals with issues related to the engineer's role in the quality of construction. Our focus is on the primary quality assurance tools mandated by the building code: special inspection; testing during construction; and structural observation. We also look at the project specifications and the submittal review process as key contributors to construction quality. We develop and maintain guideline documents including the comprehensive "Guidelines for Special Inspection & Structural Observation", as well as documents on review of concrete mix designs, review of Welding Procedure Specifications, and inspection of wood framing. The committee has also been active in developing and commenting on code changes related to the committee’s scope.
CQA is excited to get new members on board! Benefits of the committee include exposure to different codes and standards, opportunity to help edit the guidelines and specifications, and meet with the industry leaders.
As the year continues, the committee will finish updating the Wood Inspection Guidelines, and will be publishing more FAQ articles for the SEAONC membership. The series of FAQ articles are brief "teaching moments" used in an actual project situation related to inspection or testing, to illustrate and (we hope) clarify the building code requirements and typical practice. We are also in progress on creating an Instagram Account for the committee to update members on the work we are doing.
If you are interested in joining the committee, please contact cqa@seaonc.org for more information. Meetings are held on the third Tuesday of the month via Zoom.
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Continuing Education Committee (CEC)
Please save the date for May 23rd at 12-1:30pm to a virtual presentation by SEAONC’s 2022 Helmut Krawinkler Award winner Bret Lizundia. The award acknowledges an individual member who has applied and adapted pioneering academic research to structural engineering practice. Save the date and look out for more information to follow - you won’t want to miss this great presentation!
In March, CEC hosted another successful seminar on “Mass Timber: Codes and Practice” with Ethan Martin and Kelly Cobeen. Thank you to all those who attended and to the speakers for an informative seminar.
Continuing Education Committee (CEC) would like to invite members of SEAONC to share with us any recommendations on topics/projects/code development updates that they would like to see a seminar about. Being a valued component of the membership we would like to understand better how to serve the needs and interests of the community. Please email us your recommendations at cec@seaonc.org or to be added to the meeting invite and join us virtually to participate in the planning process of our upcoming events for the year!
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YMF has some exciting events coming up! Our annual spring social at Golden Gate Park is happening on May 20th from 12-3 PM. We will have food, drinks, and a fun mini-Olympics of games in the Hellman Hollow area. Feel free to join us for the whole event or just stop by if you’re in the area.
YMF is also hosting our annual Giants game on June 2nd as they play the Orioles! We have a large block of seats reserved and we will have a tailgate in a stadium parking lot and migrate over before the game. Stay tuned to the YMF newsletter for more information!
Sign up for the YMF newsletter here: Subscribe
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Meet the Committee Chairs
Get to know your SEAONC Committee Chairs each month! We have 15 committees, lead by amazing volunteers. This month, we are pleased to introduce you to the chairs of the Disaster Emergency Services Committee and the Seismology Committee.
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The new Communications Committee manages our social media accounts—including our NEW Instagram account! Follow us on all platforms for updates and fun content. If your committee has something they’d like to share on any of our platforms, reach out to communications@seaonc.org. | |
We post regular updates, calendar events, awards, and other exciting news on our social media accounts. | |
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Having trouble logging into the SEAONC website?
Most information on www.seaonc.org is open to the public, but a few items, such as access to the SEAONC posting for membership, requires a member login. If you have not entered your member login since we created a new website in 2018, you must first reset your password. It is quick and straightforward. Contact the office for assistance.
Structural Engineers Association of Northern California
Managed by: Paragon Events, Inc.
352 NE 3rd Ave
Delray Beach, FL 33444
admin@seaonc.org
(415) 974-5147
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