Member Newsletter 

July 7, 2026

Newsletter

In This Issue

Fall Events:

9/23 Good Vibrations

Volunteering & Careers:

7/15 Engineering Day

9/18 Next Step Forum

Wolf Trap Canopy

Fall Events

September 23 | 6:30 p.m. | Member Meeting

Good Vibrations? Measuring, Feeling, and Fixing Building Motion

Save the date SEA-MW's fall kick-off meeting! This interactive program will provide a practical framework for understanding and evaluating vibration in buildings. Using live demonstrations with seismographs, wired and wireless accelerometers, an active mass damper, and potentially a laser vibrometer, attendees will see how vibration is measured, processed, and interpreted in real time. 

Volunteering & Career Programming

July 15 | 10 a.m. | Volunteering

Engineering Day at District Architect Center's Summer Camp 

On July 15th, SEA-MW is excited to host "Engineering Day" at a summer camp held at The District Architect Center, designed for kids ages 8-10. The event will run from 10am to 3pm, and we're looking for volunteers to help these young students explore the world of structural engineering. Volunteers are welcome to join for either the morning shift (10am–12pm) or the afternoon shift (1pm–3pm), depending on their availability. Activities may include building spaghetti and marshmallow towers to test on a shake table or using fans to blow over a tower of cups to simulate wind loads.

September 18 | 9 a.m. | Career Event

2026 Next Step Career Forum

Save the date!  This annual event provides a forum for SEA-MW member firms to connect with undergraduate and graduate students in the area.  It also provides students with insight into careers in structural engineering. Details and registration coming soon for both students and firms! 

Project Spotlight

This feature highlights SEA-MW's 2026 Excellence in Structural Engineering Award winners and finalists.

Awardee: Specialized Structure

Wolf Trap Main Gate Canopy

Rathgeber/Goss Associates

The Wolf Trap Main Gate is a 3-level canopy structure at the entrance to the Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts. The Main Gate features a curved and sloped seventeen-foot cantilever on the backside with thirty-foot spacing to accommodate the 400,000 visitors the Park sees yearly. It welcomes visitors to the Filene Center, a covered outdoor amphitheater, operated by the National Park Service, hosting world-renowned artists. The Main Gate is a steel structure over-clad with a curved wood façade soffit designed to mimic the Filene Center. The trapezoidal plan shape of the canopies was designed to fit between the existing concessions and box office buildings without disturbing them. All edges of the three canopies cantilever between two and seven feet, most curving to a knife’s edge profile, requiring several different framing details for each edge. One edge on each canopy also encloses a hidden two-foot-wide gutter system. Piping for the downspouts had to be routed through the beams and columns. The existing canopy was demolished, and the new Main Gate was constructed during the off-season between performances.

View all award winning projects