On Wednesday, March 15, the Structural Engineers Association of Southern California (SEAOSC) hosted Emerging Engineers Night at Luminarias Restaurant in Monterey Park. More than 100 people were in attendance at the annual event, sponsored by Computers and Structures, Inc. (CSI)

The event renewed SEAOSC’s commitment to the next generation of structural engineers, spotlighting the SEAOSC Foundation Scholarships and the SEAOSC mentoring programs.

The evening started with traditional networking and reconnecting of many members and guests prior to the official start of the event. 

The formal program was kicked off with the scholarship portion of the evening complete with a video reel interview with each of the 13 SEAOSC Foundation scholarship recipients. Kevin O’Connell, president of the SEAOSC Foundation,  then presented checks to this year’s recipients, who represented such local universities as: Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Cal Poly Pomona, California State University Northridge, California State University Los Angeles, California State University Long Beach, Loyola Marymount University, USC, UCLA and UC Irvine. A special thanks to the SEAOSC Young Members Committee for promoting and organizing this year’s scholarship program with the SEAOSC Foundation.

Dinner was followed by keynote speaker Dana Taylor Old, a Communication Coach and Trainer, which was sponsored by the National Council of Structural Engineers Association (NCSEA). Key takeaways from the presentation were speaking with intention and the importance of choosing your tone prior to beginning a conversation. She also firmly stressed how it is important to listen to understand rather than listen to respond in being more collaborative. Her presentation was truly interactive with everyone practicing techniques in pairs, volunteers demonstrating tone from the stage, and even a worksheet that allowed attendees to apply what they learned as soon as the next component of the evening!

The evening concluded with the pairing of emerging engineers with a mentor who was an established engineer. This program allows students, recent graduates, and working engineers seeking to develop professionally to pair up with a mentor who will guide them through their careers and through the world of structural engineering. 

SEAOSC thanks this year’s event sponsors for their generosity, especially CSI, and to those volunteer members for making this event a success and supporting the next generation of Structural Engineers.

See all event photos here.