Structural Engineers Association of Northern California
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575 Market Street, Suite 2125 | San Francisco, CA 94105-2870 email: [email protected] | 415-974-5147 www.seaonc.org Structural Engineers Association OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA Our mission: To advance the practice of structural engineering, to build community among our members, and to educate the public regarding the structural engineering profession. Our vision: A world in which structural engineers are valued by the public for their contributions to building a safer and stronger community. MAY 2019 See our History, Mission Statement, and Bylaws for more information. Vol. XXII, No. 5 INSIDE THIS ISSUE PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE “I have never thought of myself as an architect. By education and by President’s Message pp. 1-2 choice, I am an engineer. However, I see no separation between an Upcoming Events pp. 2-8 architect and an engineer. We have a common area of responsibility, we both strive for the same results – that is: a structure with strength, PEER Updates & Links p. 8 utility, and grace, constructed in sincere collaboration from concept to final realization.” Job Forum pp. 10-19 I happened upon this quote from the famous Italian architect/engineer Pier Luigi Nervi when I was a student at Cal Poly SLO. I wrote it down on a piece of scratch paper and pinned it to my bulletin board, where it remains to this day. I went to Cal Poly originally as an Architecture major. When I was a child, I had big dreams of designing baseball stadiums, movie studios, and the first station on the moon. I wanted to create things. Even though I excelled in math, science, and drafting, I didn’t want to be an engineer because I thought they were too regimented, dull, and not at all creative. I swore that I would never wear a pocket protector. During my freshman year at Cal Poly, I discovered that it was more important for architects to excel in graphic arts than in math and science. I also discovered that I was a lousy artist. I realized after that year that I could either be a C level architect or an A level engineer, so I decided to change to an engineering major. I chose Architectural Engineering because it was the easiest engineering major to transfer to from Architecture since the curriculums were similar and they were in the same college. I graduated with a degree in Architectural Engineering, but when I did I didn’t really want to be a structural engineer. I still wanted to be an architect, or at least something in a creative field. I did not share the same enthusiasm for structures and buildings that many of my classmates had, and unlike most of them I did not have a job lined up yet when I graduated. I really did not know if I would be able or willing to last in this profession beyond a few years or so. ...continued on p. 2 HOW TO GET INVOLVED Become a member: Select the appropriate membership level for you and complete the application Monthly meetings: Meet and mingle with fellow engineers. Register through the link in this month’s newsletter Join a committee: Click here to see a description of each committee, contact the committee chair to ask how you can help, and how to join the committee email list. Make a suggestion: Have an idea and want to help with something that SEAONC is not already pursuing? Email the SEAONC Office. Ad-hoc committees can address specific needs. Become a sponsor: Support SEAONC and showcase your company’s services at the SEAONC events through sponsorship! Posting for Membership In order to view new applicants posting for membership, please visit our website www.seaonc.org. - 1 - Continued from p. 1 At numerous times inmy career as a structural engineer, especially in the first few years, I have wondered about my career choice. At times I struggled to find my voice and confidence. I was frustrated at times with the lack of opportunities to express my creative energy. Perhaps these struggles have contributed to my somewhat unconventional engineering career. I’ve worked for four different structural engineering firms. At each firm, I started there thinking that this would be the place I would work for the rest of my career and become a principal, and at each place that did not happen for one reason or another. Now I work at a research laboratory designing anchorages of equipment and plan checking construction documents prepared by others, things that I never thought I would ever do for a living. I also never thought I would work at a place where I can never be a principal and will never get the opportunity to design that moon base. Perhaps most surprising of all, I am fine with this. I now believe that structural engineering was the right career for me, and I have found ways to be creative with structural concepts to design structures with strength, utility, and grace. I am amazed at the many different career paths several of my colleagues and friends have taken. Apparently I am not the only one who has not followed the track to firm principal that most of us envisioned taking when we graduated from college. I know a structural engineer who designs art structures, another who designs retrofits of homes in third world countries, and another who manages a multi-million dollar real estate portfolio. One of my college classmates is an associate dean of engineering research for a large university. Another founded a technology firm. At the same time, two other classmates are principals at the firms that they started working at right out of school. I believe there is room in our profession and in SEAONC for structural engineers who are pursing unconventional careers. Not all of us need to know how to do a non-linear time history analysis. Indeed, it is better for our profession when we have colleagues who are pursuing a wide variety of interesting careers and are able to share their ideas and dreams with all of us, especially to students who are about to graduate into our profession and may be wondering about their career choice as I was all those years ago. I can also say to those students that I have never worn a pocket protector… UPCOMING EVENTS 2019 Excellence in Structural Engineering Award Ceremony • Tuesday, May 7, 2019 • Registration // Hosted Happy Hour // Live Music: 5:00 pm • Awards Ceremony: 6:30 pm • Sir Francis Drake Hotel // 450 Powell Street, San Francisco, CA 94102 2019 SE3 Symposium A Changing Workplace: How to Engage, Retain and Secure the Future of our Profession • Friday, May 10, 2019 • Registration: 12:30 pm • Symposium Program: 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm • Networking Event: 5:00 pm - 7:30 pm • SPUR SF // 654 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94105 2019 SEAONC Short Course: Full Day Welding Seminar • Wednesday, May 15, 2019 • Registration // Breakfast Refreshments: 8:00 am • Course: 8:30 am - 4:30 pm • DPR Construction Office // 945 Front Street, San Francisco, CA 94111 California SAP Evaluator Training • Saturday, May 18, 2019 • Registration: 8:00 am - 9:00 am • Seminar: 9:00 am - 5:00 pm • San Francisco State University // Seven Hills Conference Center // 1600 Holloway Ave, San Fancisco, CA 94132 SEAONC Business Forum & ACEC Present: The Ins and Outs of California SB 496 • Tuesday, May 21, 2019 • Program: 9:30 am - 11:00 am • Degenkolb Engineers // 375 Beale Street, Suite #500, San Francisco, CA 94105 Click here to view our Events Calendar and to register. - 2 - UPCOMING EVENTS 2019 Excellence in Structural Engineering Award Ceremony Date: Tuesday, May 7th, 2019 Registration // Hosted Happy Hour // Live Music: 5:00 pm Awards Ceremony: 6:30 pm Location: Sir Francis Drake Hotel 450 Powell Street San Francisco, CA 94102 Join us at the iconic Sir Francis Drake Hotel to toast to all structural engineering accomplishments of the past year, and celebrate the winners of the 2019 Excellence in Structural Engineering Awards! The submittals this year were of great quality, and we look forward to revealing the projects that the jury identified to best reflect outstanding achievements in creative design and technical innovation. The festivities include live music, a hosted bar and many hors d’oeuvres from 5 - 6:30 PM prior to the ceremony. Come celebrate our profession with your peers. Please invite your clients and project team members to acknowledge these successes of the structural engineering profession with you, and showcase the great services we can provide. 2019 SE3 Symposium A Changing Workplace: How to Engage, Retain and Secure the Future of our Profession Date: Friday, May 10, 2019 The SEAONC Structural Engineering Engagement and Registration: 12:30 pm Equity (SE3) Committee is hosting its second sympo- Symposium Program: 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm sium entitled “A Changing Workplace.” We will be dis- Networking Event: 5:00 pm - 7:30 pm cussing the Psychology of Retention, the 2018 SE3 Location: SPUR SF Survey results, and interacting with Thought Leaders 654 Mission Street and industry professionals on creating and reinforcing San Francisco, CA 94105 firm culture and values. Please join us on May 10, 2019! Schedule Overview: 12:30 PM Registration 1:00 PM Opening Remarks 1:10 PM Keynote Address 1:45 PM Session A | 2018 NCSEA SE3 Survey Results 2:15 PM Session B** | Breakout Sessions & Workshops | Storytelling Breakout Session B1: Building our Culture B2: Buttressing our Foundations and Values B3: Stressing the Importance of Diversity and Inclusion in the Workplace 3:10 PM Coffee & Dessert Break 3:30 PM Session C | Securing Today’s Talent with Strategic Direction and Conscious Leadership 4:50 PM Closing Remarks 5:00 PM Networking Social 7:30 PM Close **SEAONC SE3 will contact you following registration to rank your top two breakout choices.