Young member blog

National Air and Space Museum's revitalization project tour, organized by the Structural Engineers Association of Metropolitan Washington's Young Members Group was an eye-opening experience, highlighting the logistical coordination  between the design team and General contractor required from delivery of the exhibits to putting them on display, hanging several feet off the ground!

A huge shout out to the presenters from Smoot Construction Co. DC, TYLin/Silman Structural Solutions, Simpson Gumpertz & Heger, Roschmann Group, and Berlin Steel. Their insights into the complexities of the project and the innovative solutions they've implemented were truly inspiring.

If you found yourself squeezing past dozens of structural engineers on New Jersey Ave this past Tuesday, you were either on the YMG/SE3 walking tour, or profoundly inconvenienced by the sometimes two-block-long gauntlet of engineers who descended on near Southeast to learn about history and engineering. Presenters representing eight different firms spoke about their projects, and members of the YMG and SE3 Committee shared information about the history of the neighborhood, including the Nacotchtank settlements that predate European colonization.

It was thirsty work, and many of those in attendance gathered for drinks and food at nearby Dacha Navy Yard after the walk. Many thanks to all who presented and helped to organize; the list is long.

If you're eager to learn more, here are some resources:

Building Bridges Across the River nonprofit: https://bbardc.org/

More information about DC's highway system: http://www.roadstothefuture.com/

Resources on indigenous sites in present-day DC: http://onceasitwasdc.org/

Map showing the age of buildings in DC: http://maps.oldersmallerbetter.org/maps/dc/bdg_yr_age_med.html

We've uploaded some pictures from the walk here.  Photo credit: Alan Chong, Kellie Farster, Maria Raggousis, and Shambi Eubanks

Earlier this month, the Young Member Group hosted an SEA-MW meeting at Clyde’s Restaurant at Gallery Place.  The meeting included a presentation given by Christian Parker and Gary Strand titled “Bridging the Gap: What Young Engineers Envision vs. What Leadership & Ownership Expect”.  The presentation gave insight into both differences and common ground shared between younger and more experienced staff in the workforce as well as how the typical office and operations have changed over time.  The presentation also featured live audience polling followed by a lively open discussion with the audience. 

The event had great attendance encompassing different experience levels across engineers who were eager to share their experiences and expectations with today’s workforce. Thank you to everyone who attended the event and a special thanks to our speakers, Christian Parker and Gary Strand!

Thanks to everyone who came out to the Happy Hour last night at Bronson Bierhall.  We filled a long table and feasted on stuffed pretzels, wurst, brussel sprouts, and cheese curds.  So scintillating was the conversation that we forgot to get a group picture.

Happy Holidays and stay tuned for more YMG social events in 2023!

 - Christian Parker

Thanks to everyone who attended the volunteering event at the Capital Area Food Bank in Washington, D.C. 

The participants were part of a group that packed around 1,200 food boxes for distribution to households who most need that help in the D.C. metropolitan area. 

Thanks to the Capital Area Food Bank for this opportunity to serve, and play our part in their mission. 

Thanks to everyone who attended this webinar!

Through this quick lunch session, we learned helpful and user-friendly tools for easy embodied carbon takeoff. Chris Bird from Silman, and Sean Agustino from Arup taught how to use SE2050's ECOM, and EC3. These tools can be iterated over the lifecycle of a project for easy tracking with maximum efficiency, and therefore minimized time commitment. The emphasis is that these tools are so user friendly, they add almost negligible additional time toward a project, with unmeasurable benefit to the future of structural engineering.

Thanks to everyone who came out to Beltsville for the YMG Hands-on Anchor Demonstration with Hilti!

Participants were able to drill and install adhesive anchors with a variety of equipment and techniques. We also saw demonstrations of overhead adhesive installation, screw anchors with a torque control drill attachment, and pull testing of anchors in uncleaned holes.

Thanks to Hilti for hosting and setting up the demonstrations, and thanks to all who attended.

In October, the Young Member Group hosted a discussion on PE and SE licensure.  Six panelists shared their experience on a wide range of topics related to exam preparation, test taking tips, filing for reciprocity, and maintaining continuing education requirements.  The panelists had experience taking both the PE and SE exams as well as the California specific Surveying and Seismic exams. The panelists also represented several different homes states which allowed for great discussions about the varying requirements across jurisdictions. 

The Young Members Group was excited to be able to hold this event in person which allowed for a more engaging experience. The audience volunteered several questions and topics of their own in addition to those posed by the mediator. The eagerness from prospective professional engineers and the input from recently licensed engineers, overall, made for a very exciting and informative conversation. Thank you to all who participated in this event!

The Young Members Group had the opportunity to host the annual Lightning Lectures Night virtually on April 14th, 2021 as a lunchtime presentation. Last year's event was canceled due to the pandemic, however, this year we had seven great presenters with a wide range of engrossing topics. These topics sparked many great conversations/ Q&A among the presenters and audiences during the event.

This year we learned about: a career path as a Structural Engineer for the Dept. of State’s Overseas Buildings Operations, fast track construction of a Wastewater Treatment Plant, the structural design of the Atieh II Hospital in Tehran, a review and prevention of the various structural issues in existing buildings, an overview of Thornton Tomasetti's Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion initiative and their support for the employee's network group for women (Women@TT), a past to present digest of a career as a woman structural engineer starting in the early 1970s, and an introduction to different strategies, venues, and opportunities to think outside the box to benefit and enrich one’s firm and career.

Each presentation has 20 image slides, each shown for 20 seconds. Presenters speak alongside the presentation, with the slides automatically set to change every 20 seconds. It is a fast and engaging presentation style that effectively conveys concise information to the audience.

We look forward to the next Lightning Lectures and many more exciting topics yet to come!

- Ting-Wen Wang

Young members and friends gathered for drinks, food, and conversation this past week at Mission in DuPont Circle.  Thanks to all who joined the Young Members Group for a fun evening of networking!  Keep an eye out for upcoming educational and social events with YMG.

-Christian Parker