SEAOC Talk January 2023

President's Message

Krista Looza, SE

2022-2023 SEAOC President

Last month I wrote of the sense of community and how it is important to us humans as we crave a sense of belonging. This concept is nearly synonymous with identity. Identity can be defined as the unique set of characteristics that can be used to identify a person or group. We often define ourselves based on the characteristics we want others to identify us by, and in doing so, find others of like minds and then build our community. From time to time, our identity may need a refresh. It may mean the same thing at its core but finding a fresh way to express it is an important step to staying relevant and recognizable.

Well, I am excited to share that SEAOC’s new identity – it’s new branding – is ready for launch! You will notice the new fresh logo and fonts and color palettes on emails, websites, slides, newsletters, and presentations going forward. The look is modern but demonstrates a strong respect of our history. There is still the arch – one of the most basic shapes that we use to create stable structures – with our name squarely below it, but the acronym also “moves beyond” it toward our future. You will see adaptations of this logo with unique color palettes for each of the Member Organizations (MO). We are excited to have a cohesive identity as a state that also allows for each MO to be recognizable individually. Be on the lookout for how your MO will be rolling out their new identities in the coming months.

A reminder about SEAOC and MO Disaster Response

This morning’s 4.2M earthquake off the coast of Malibu and Santa Monica rattled a few out of our sleep but had little to no significant impact. These are the “good” earthquakes, they keep us on our toes without keeping us out of our homes. They are also great reminders that we need to be prepared to respond to bigger events. That preparedness includes effective plans for response and communication whether between family members, business teams, or those who may be called upon to respond and support their communities.

To this end, SEAOC has empowered our DES committee, in collaboration with the MO DES committees, to refine our statewide disaster response and communications plans to allow consistent response throughout the state when the need arises. The success of these plans lies within the ability to bring engaged members together quickly across the state. In accomplishing this, SEAOC encourages our members to reachout to the local MO (SEAOCC, SEAONC, SEAOSC, SEAOSD) DES Committees and Boards to express interest in joining the efforts.

Current contact information can be found on our websites or by reaching out to our State and Local DES Committee Chairs:

SEAOC: Chair Stefanie Rae Arizabal, StefanieRaeA@zfa.com

Vice Wayne Chang, wchang@structuralfocus.com

SEAOCC: Chair Steve Hines, steven.t.hiner@gmail.com

SEAONC: Chair Amy Inofer, ainhofer@degenkolb.com

Chair Jack Wegleitner, jwegleitner@degenkolb.com

Vice Chair, Tommy Sidebottom, TommyS@zfa.com

SEAOSC: Chair Mohammed Bala, mohammedbala@icloud.com

Chair Hooman Tavallali, HoomanT@cannoncorp.us

SEAOSD: Chair Ian Mellor, imellor@mellor-eng.com

As you reflect back on your first cup of coffee, tea or other morning routine consider how much different your day could have been had the earthquake been greater in magnitude. Are you prepared to respond, have you completed CalOES training, do you need to renew, do you have a plan to stay in contact with family members and business partners? Participating on a DES committee will help ensure you can answer yes to those questions, as well as being a key member of SEAOC and the structural engineering profession’s response when the need is greatest.

Attention: Structural Engineering Job-Seekers

You're invited to the:

SEAOC Virtual Career Fair

Thursday, Feb 16, 2023 via Hopin

The Structural Engineers Association of California (SEAOC) invites engineering students and young engineering professionals to join us for SEAOC's first-ever statewide Virtual Career Fair, 2 - 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 16. Registration is FREE.

The Career Fair will he held on the Hopin platform, where attendees can meet in real-time with employers wanting to connect with job-seekers. Résumés can be uploaded and shared with prospective employers.

Attendees must be either students in a civil or structural engineering major or professionals on these fields seeking employment in these professions in California. Eligibility will be confirmed as part of the registration process.

Please join us for an afternoon of connections and career building!

Thank you to our Participating Employers!

Advanced Structural Design, Inc.

AVELAR

Bevier Structural Engineering

Buehler

C.W. Howe Associates

Cannon

Cast Connex

CDM Smith

CA Dept. of Health Care Access and Information (HCAI)

CA Division of the State Architect (DSA)

City of Los Angeles - Department of Building & Safety

Concrete Science, Inc.

COWI North America Inc.

Costa and Associates, Inc.

Crosby Group

Daedalus Engineering

Degenkolb Engineers

DeSimone Consulting Engineers

Forell Elsesser Engineers, Inc.

Gregory P. Luth & Associates, Inc.

Hohbach-Lewin, Inc.

Holmes US

IDA Structural Engineers, Inc.

IMEG Corp.

ISAT Total Support

JCE Structural Engineering Group

KNA Structural Engineers

KPFF Consulting Engineers

Maffei Structural Engineering

Mar Structural Design

Martin/Martin, Inc.

MHP Structural Engineers

Miyamoto International, Inc.

Murphy Burr Curry, Inc.

NIC Consultants

Nichols Melburg & Rossetto Architects + Engineers

OLMM Consulting Engineers

Peoples Associates Structural Engineers

PZSE Structural Engineers

Rinne & Peterson, Inc

Rutherford + Chekene

Ryan Joyce Structural Design

Saiful Bouquet Structural Engineers

Salas O'Brien Engineers, Inc.

Simplengi Engineering

Simpson Gumpertz & Heger Inc.

Strandberg Engineering

Structural Focus

T&S Structural, Inc.

Thornton Tomasetti

Tipping Structural Engineers

VMC Group

Walter P Moore

Watry Design, Inc.

ZFA Structural Engineers

SEAOC College of Fellows Scholarship

Call for Applications

The Structural Engineers Association of California’s College of Fellows hereby offers the SEAOC College of Fellows Scholarship. The objective of the scholarship is to raise the level of structural engineering by promoting the educational development of California structural engineers through advanced degrees. This scholarship is intended to recognize those that have completed an undergraduate degree, moved on to work in engineering practice or research, and are now returning for a graduate degree.

The Scholarship

A $5,000 grant will be made to the selected scholar towards graduate school expenses at an accredited graduate school program in Civil or Architectural Engineering with a structural emphasis, or in Structural Engineering. While the scholarship is primarily intending to encourage scholars attending California institutions, those attending institutions outside of California will be considered.

Eligibility

The applicant shall meet the following eligibility requirements:

Hold an undergraduate degree in Civil Engineering, Structural Engineering or Architectural Engineering from an accredited engineering school or university and,
Have a year or more of structural engineering practice or research experience following receipt of the undergraduate degree (the year must be completed before the graduate degree starts), and
Have been a member for at least six months in one of the four SEAOC member organizations (SEAOCC, SEAONC, SEAOSD, or SEAOSC). Any class of membership is acceptable.

LEARN MORE & APPLY

YMF Presentation on Staying Engaged and

Preventing Burnout

Join the SEAOC Young Members groups for a discussion and presentation on work-life balance.

The event will on Zoom from 12 noon to 1:15 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 21. Registration is FREE.

Presenter Emily Ballesteros, MA will share her work on Burnout Management: Tools and Solutions for Creating Work-Life Balance.

During this 60-minute virtual training, attendees will learn how to manage burnout, create work-life balance, and optimize your performance. You will obtain solutions for the top areas that impact personal and professional burnout: Time Management, Stress Management, Boundaries, Personal Care, and Mindset. Corporate companies that have benefited from this training include Pepsi Co, Macy's, Paypal, Nickelodeon, Salesforce, ThermoFisher, & many more! In this session, Ballesteros will share tools to better work-life balance and ways to stay engaged in our challenging and rewarding field of structural engineering.

To submit questions prior to the presentation, fill out this form.

LEARN MORE & REGISTER

ATC Call for Consultants to Serve as Trial Users

for Post-Earthquake Guidelines

The Applied Technology Council (ATC), in cooperation with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), is seeking licensed U.S. civil and structural engineers from a range of experience levels to serve as trial users for the forthcoming Guidelines for Post-Earthquake Assessment, Repair, and Retrofit of Buildings. Currently in the later stages of development under the FEMA-funded ATC-145 project, these guidelines are intended to serve as the state-of-the-art standard in post-earthquake repair decision-making once released to the wider structural engineering community. The overall framework is applicable across all structural materials, but parameters are only available for reinforced concrete at this time.

Trial studies are designed to improve the clarity and usability of the methodology and confirm the consistency and reasonableness of the results. Trial users will provide feedback that improves the future effectiveness of the Guidelines and be provided with an early look at this forthcoming document.

Interest form submissions are due on February 8, 2023. Visit this link for important information about the opportunity, including minimum requirements for eligibility, scope of services, benefits for trial users, and a link to the interest form.

SEAOC 2023 Convention

Call for Abstracts

The Structural Engineers Association of California issues this Call for Papers to be presented at the 2023 Annual Convention to be held at the Hyatt Regency Maui Resort & Spa in Maui, Hawaii, Sept. 6-9, 2023.

Innovation for the Future is the theme of Technical Program. The emphasis is on structural design of buildings and other structures for both building design as well as non-building structures for natural hazards. Subject areas include anything that you as an engineer find exciting and interesting. Tie-ins to the following are welcome but not required:

Building codes and standards
Cities & Politics (city ordinances, future codes/legislation, etc.)
Healthcare
Business and Economic Impacts
Use of Innovation for better resilience

Papers presented at the SEAOC Convention will be published in the 2023 SEAOC PROCEEDINGS. All speakers presenting papers at the convention are expected to use commercially available computer presentation software.

Interested parties should submit brief abstracts (300 words or less) of their papers on or before March 6, 2023 via the Call for Abstracts form by clicking here .

The Technical Program Committee will review the abstracts; authors will be notified by May 1, 2023, regarding acceptance. Final Papers by selected authors shall be submitted by July 17, 2023. Detailed instructions for the complete manuscripts will be sent to prospective authors with the acceptance notification.

If you have any questions, please email SEAOCConventionTechnical@seaoc.org

SUBMIT YOUR ABSTRACT

Meet the SEAOC Board