Young member blog

In January, the Young Member Group hosted a discussion on the PE and SE licenses.  Six panelists shared their experience on a myriad of topics, from resources for exam prep, to balancing personal life with a proper study schedule.  A diverse range of ages, home states, and experience levels among the six panelists made for a lively and informative conversation.

Attendance was high, thanks to a wide interest among young engineers in moving towards licensure.  Between questions posed by the mediators, attendees volunteered questions of their own, making for interesting discussions while engaging audience members in addition to the panelists.  It was encouraging to see a high level of independent research among prospective professional engineers, especially given the complexity and state-by-state variation of the licensure process.  Thanks to all who came to learn about—and share thoughts on—this important topic!

-Christian Parker (Photos courtesy of Ting-Wen Wang)

On March 20^th, the Young Member’s Group hosted a panel event titled “The Workplace We Want”. It was moderated by Emily Garrison and Sharon Jankiewicz from Silman and the panelists were Margaret Giron and Todd Holbert from Holbert Apple Associates and Scott Stewart from SK&A. The goal of the event was to continue ongoing conversations about equity in our industry to focus on the future – what we want our workplace to be and how we get there. The group of moderators and panelists consisted of experienced and younger engineers who lead a group discussion and presented their perspectives. A few of the topics discussed during the event were mentorship, burnout, retention in the structural engineering field, and work-life balance. This was a great opportunity to hear from various perspectives of structural engineers in the metro-Washington area, and it is our intent to continue this conversation through subsequent events to discuss how we can lead cultural change in our industry.

On April 10, SEAMW members and guests attended a Lightning Lectures event at Seasons 52 Tysons Corner restaurant for a night full of informative and fun short presentations.

Each presentation has 20 image slides, each shown for 20 seconds only. Presenters need to 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.

This year, presenters did a phenomenal job of putting together their slides from a wide range of topics. The specific presentation titles were the following:

• Sheeting, shoring, and underpinning (by Morgan Eddy)  

• Parametric modeling of an elevated rail structure (by Eileen Phan)

• Enhanced nitrogen removal facilities project (by Michael Nye)

• Advice for young engineers from a not so young anymore engineer (by David Pirnia)

• Architectural precast concrete wall panels (by Grace Meloy)

• Prismatic glass engineering (by Adam Nizich)

• Using Trello for effective project workflow (by Nonish Jain)

• Super Typhoon Yutu Hitting Northern Mariana Islands (by Brenda Villarreal)

Each of the presenters received a gift card from the SEAMW Young Member Group (YMG) team towards the end of the event in appreciation for their hard work. Aside from the amazing presentations, the event included a full course meal with dessert brought to the audience during the 15 minute break midway through the presentations.  

On January 23, Mike Goss of Rathgeber/Goss Associates and David Smith of Holbert Apple Associates presented a case study on the Alexander Court Vertical Expansion to a group of SEA-MW YMG members.

The project consisted of a major building repositioning in the core of Washington D.C.'s central business district.  The upgrade involved combining 2000 L St NW, an 8-story office building with 3 levels of below ground parking, with an 11-story office building.  The result is an entirely redesigned building that connects both original buildings with a modernized 2-story atrium.  The final product has over 1,000 linear feet of window line per floor and nearly 800,000 sf of state-of-the-art office space.  Originally constructed in 1966, with structural design by T.Y. Lin, 2000 L Street was one of DC's first cast-in-place post-tensioned concrete office buildings.  The existing structure is unique using 8" thick slabs to create 41'-0" bays with 15ft cantilevers at the east and west and a 10 feet cantilever at the north and little to no mild reinforcing steel within the 2-bay post tensioned slab. 

Success on this project was made possible because of collaboration from several members of the SEA-MW community.  The project's Structural Engineer of Record Rathgeber/Goss Associates along with Holbert Apple Associates, hired by the general contractor for construction phase design assistance, and the strengthening engineering division of Structural, a specialty contractor, all played a significant role in the project.

Michael Goss described the challenges his firm encountered as they designed a 4-story vertical expansion. Design challenges to overcome included the need to provide a lateral system for the taller structure, and upgrading foundations to support the new shear walls that were added. Design of the new vertical structure included significant web openings to allow for ductwork layout to achieve the most efficient building height. They also had to find creative solutions for new slab extensions, and to create a new 2-story lobby space.

Holbert Apple’s involvement in the project started by providing temporary support design and consultation services for the demolition that created the 2-story lobby. Coordination between HAA, RGA, Structural, and the GC was required to complete the lobby demolition and new work. David Smith also described the various other tasks that HAA provided design services for, including support of tower cranes, temporary support at penthouses, and assistance in resolving unforeseen field conditions.

- Josh Jaskowiak 

On November 29, 16 members of SEA gathered at DC Central Kitchen for a night of festive food preparation and community engagement.  Drafting scales and building codes were put aside as SEA members from all around the DC region lent a helping hand in preparing steak, butternut squash, and turkey for that upcoming Saturday’s meal. A good time was had by all in this annual event. We are thankful to DC Central Kitchen for welcoming our volunteers and providing an opportunity to give back.

 

If you are interested in learning more about DC Central Kitchen and how they have been preparing fresh meals in the DC region since 1989, check out their website at:  https://dccentralkitchen.org/

Stay tuned to the SEA Blog for news about our latest efforts to make DC a top place to be for structural engineers.