News / Press

Give a brief description of the committee you currently chair.
The SE3 Committee was established in SEAONC in 2015 with the mission of attracting and retaining the best talent into our profession and ensuring that all structural engineers have clear pathways to success in their careers. The SE3 Committee provides local events and research publications that focus on engagement and retention, racial equity, mentorship, and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in the structural engineering profession. We often use the results of the NCSEA SE3 survey to inform our programming.

What are your favorite things about being involved in the committee you currently chair?
Curtis: That we are making an impact that allows more people, from more diverse backgrounds, to feel welcomed in our profession. Working with SE3 gives me the opportunity to use the privilege that society grants me as a white-man to attempt to improve the experiences and lives of those that do not have the same privilege as me.

What will the Committee focus on this year?
We're continuing the programming and research that we've been working on over the last few years. The Mentorship Task Group just relaunched our Long-Term Mentorship Program and is starting to plan our summer speed mentorship event. Our Racial Equity Task Group is working on producing topic brief reports for the Civil Engineering Student Experience Survey we administered last year, recently hosted a panel on the engineer's role in equitable design, and has been hosting bi-monthly book clubs. Our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Task Group is working on producing a report on the benefit packages offered at structural engineering firms in Northern California, and several workshops that highlight why DEI is important and how individuals can affect change in their organizations. And finally, we will be hosting another SE3 Symposium in June where we can present the research we have been working on for the past two years and discuss the past and future of DEI with the structural engineering community.

What are some of the past projects/accomplishments of the committee you are chairing?
Three highlights from 2021 are the continued success of our yearly Long-Term Mentorship Program, our Firm Leader DEI Cohort Program, and Racial Demographics of Civil Engineering Pathways in California: From Undergraduates to Industry Professionals report.

All of our past and upcoming events, publications, and the archive of DEI spotlights can be found at www.se3project.org.

How has being a SEAONC member helped you and/or your career?
Curtis: Being a SEAONC member has helped me to meet the wider structural engineering community in the Bay Area. This has allowed me to make not only professional connections but develop friendships that extend beyond structural engineering.

Tell us something about yourself that isn’t on your professional resume?
We have been friends since we were undergrads at Cal and are both big Cal sports fans. Over the years we have taken numerous trips to support the Golden Bears, including a road trip to Utah back in 2015. Go Bears!



Hayley: I think it’s also important for people to know that Curtis was a Cal cheerleader during his senior year. He was the only male cheerleader and he did great!

What do you enjoy most about structural engineering?
Curtis: The problem solving and that there is a physical product produced from all my work. Having something that I can point to and say "I helped to design that" is pretty awesome.

Hayley: I really enjoy the collaborative problem solving and the hands-on work, like site assessments and nondestructive evaluations. I love the “aha” moment when we’ve finally come to a workable solution after a long meeting of bouncing around ideas.

What are you most proud of?
Hayley: On the committee side: I'm proud of what SE3 has been able to accomplish over the last few years. All of the committee members have put in a lot of hard work and I'm awed at the programs we've been able to put together even during a pandemic. On the personal side: I'm proud that I've kept *most* of my plants alive over the last few years.