News / Press

Hello Everyone,

It is hard to believe we are almost through winter and spring will soon be upon us. The last few months have left a chill in the air, though it didn’t put a damper on the members and students who attended our last association meeting. It was amazing to see everyone. We had over 70 students from Stanford, SF State and Santa Clara join 60 regulars, making February our biggest meeting of the year. SEAONC would like to thank Professors Jenna Wong (SF State) and Greg Deierlein (Stanford) who undoubtedly inspired their students to come. A special thanks to WJE, Degenkolb, and Hobach Lewin, who sponsored the students so that they could attend at no cost, and to Holmes for hosting an impromptu office visit. It was inspiring to see your excitement. I would be remiss if I didn’t finish with a big thank you to Kelly Cobeen for a fantastic presentation, taking us through a journey on how research has provided insight for timber construction and the building code.

Walking around San Francisco, you would be hard pressed to miss how the City has changed since the Pandemic. I, for one, recall working downtown and being part of the hustle and bustle of everyday life. I don’t miss having to cram into a BART train, though I'm sure we would all like to see San Francisco continue to revitalize. I have no doubt, in time, it will. As in many metropolises, the vacant office space is impacting our economies, and many have asked whether they can be repurposed. It doesn’t matter if you are in Southern or Northern California, people think that office buildings could be a solution for the housing challenges Californians encounter every day. The challenge is to repurpose these buildings while improving their seismic performance and resilience. Rest assured, Structural Engineers are leading the way and there is much more to come.

By now, you should have seen an announcement for the SEAONC Structural Engineering Excellence (SEE) Awards and I hope you are as excited as I am to see all the fantastic entries. You are not alone in noting that the general public is blind to the amazing nature of our work—despite the fact that any structure that you enter, walk, or drive on top was designed by a structural engineer. We need to celebrate our astonishing work and sing it out loud! In a rejuvenation of the awards, SEAONC is shifting the focus, looking to celebrate the work of all our engineers. Our work is diverse and so should be the projects that SEAONC cherishes. We will celebrate projects of all sizes, with categories of Small, Medium and Large projects, and I encourage you all to submit and showcase your work. The categories this year are Study/Research/Guidelines, Special-Use Structures, Infrastructure, Historic Preservations, Retrofit/Alteration and New Construction. Submissions are due on Friday, March 1 with the winners announced at our May SEE Awards at the War Memorial Opera House.

Our next monthly meeting is on Tuesday, March 5 at the SPUR Urban Center at 654 Mission Street in San Francisco. Thank you to SPUR for collaborating with SEAONC and helping with our visit. March is Women’s History month, and to commemorate, our meeting celebrates the successes of women in structural engineering. Led by the SE3 Committee, the evening features a panel of prominent women leaders who will share their experiences and reflect on the legacy of women in Structural Engineering. After the panel, we invite attendees to join group discussions about topics related to how Structural Engineering can and will develop in the future. Come to SPUR, network, and share your experiences. I look forward to seeing you all.