Dear Members,

What an amazing Gingerbread Challenge we just had! Thank you to all the teams who participated, our sponsors and to those that showed up to support the amazing builds. We had an incredible event this year and I was incredibly excited by the energy in the room.

We had a lot going on in November with webinars, partner meetings with AIA not to mention the NCSEA Summit in our backyard at Disneyland! Between SEAOC Board meetings, a joint SEAOC/NCSEA Board meeting and all our committee meetings, your Association was hard at work in November.

And the events all showed not only the dedication of our membership in promoting our profession, but also to all the opportunities still available out there. One ask that came out of our State meeting was for continued support of some of our State commitees. If you have interest in any of the following committees, our local SEAOSC MO could use representation on either the Wind, Policy/Legislature, Professional Practice or Continuing Education State Commitees. Please help SEAOSC stay involved and have a voice at the State level on these important committees. If you have interest, please reach out to me directly or to our association executive director at seaosc@seaosc.org.

We also approved two new policies through our Board of Directors in the past two months. One of these was to formalize our Safer Cities Advisory Board process. SEAOSC continues to get requests from cities and AHJ's to support and/or comment on upcoming legislation and we have a great process for providing feedback. We also adopted a new policy on Committee Grants/Stipends for promoting attendance at the annual SEAOC Convention. Your committee chairs received the latest policy on this opportunity and if interested, please reach out to them for information. Both of these continue to support our members who are interested and want to get involved!

One additional opportunity that will be coming in the next several months is the development of our Convention committee that will begin working on the next convention that our MO is responsible for in 2026. Will we go back to the desert? Will we go out of state?  Who knows, but if you want to be a part of the planning and help organize one of the most important and prestigious Structural Engineering events in the world, please reach out to me or via email at seaosc@seaosc.org.

My word for the month is Accountability. We all need to be accountable for what we do. Imagine if we all hit our deadlines and committed to getting done what was asked….. On time. Imagine the production that would result. Being accountable goes a long way in helping your team achieve the goals is sets forth. Without accountability, we'd be drifting without accomplishing much of anything. As leaders, we need to ensure we hold others accountable. We cannot be a team without it. But with it, amazing achievements can be realized. Make sure to hold yourself accountable and get done what you say you would. You can do it. 

We have a wonderful webinar later in December titled, "Seismic Retrofit and Repair in Alaska". This was a presentation that was also supposed to be given at the convention in Hawaii earlier this year and we are excited to bring it directly to our membership. We are also focused on our symposium in mid-January, Northridge30. This is a day not to be missed as we look back at what happened 30 years ago this January 17th. And we will also look at where we are headed today. Our symposium will be held on the campus of Caltech in Pasadena. There is lots of buzz about the event not only from our members but also media and government officials. This is a can't miss event. Be on the lookout for new announcements and registration opening soon.

Have a wonderful end of the year and Happy Holidays to all! I look forward to celebrating with everyone in the New Year. 2024 will be spectacular!

Best,

Craig Chamberlain, S.E.
SEAOSC President 2023-24

Last weekend, people visited SEAOSC’s second annual SoCal Gingerbread Challenge in droves, both in person and online, to revel in the festive creations made by engineering teams from across the region. If you couldn’t make it, view the colorful, whimsical structures online here. 

On Thursday, November 30, dozens of engineers and other industry professionals assembled at The District and Tustin Legacy, where they had five hours to create and decorate their gingerbread structures. The results included fantastical castles, iconic film sets, and other edible marvels. 

From Friday through Sunday, the public was invited to see what structural engineers can do to make buildings stand up, regardless of size or materials. During this three-day exhibition, all attendees and online visitors were invited to vote for their favorite structure—the one with the most votes being crowned the People’s Choice Award. Attendees could also build their own gingerbread structures and test them on a shake table for earthquake readiness. 

To give back this season, every structure was paired with a local nonprofit organization—every vote for the structure counted as a donation to that partner organization. This year’s participants were ACE Mentoring (LA/OC), YMCA OC, Habitat For Humanity OC, South County Outreach, Destination Imagination, and the SEAOSC Foundation.

By 5 pm on Sunday, December 3, when the voting had closed, more than 5,000 votes had been cast in person and online! The public had spoken, and the results were in. 

After the competition ended, the teams returned to where they had spent an intense five hours just days before for an awards ceremony and reception. 

The 2023 SoCal Gingerbread Challenge winners are:

• People’s Choice: Van de Kamp’s Bakery (Architectural Resources Group & Structural Focus) 
• President’s Award: The Burrow, Weasley Family Home (SGH)
• Best in Show: Van de Kamp’s Bakery (Architectural Resources Group & Structural Focus) 
• Tallest Structure: The Bite-Sized Grand (Brandow & Johnston / AC Martin)
• Most Creative Original Design: Santa’s Surf Shack (Hilti)
• Best Replica Building: Hogwarts Castle (PBK/Kubala)
• Best Decorated: Super ES World (ICC Evaluation Service)

The second time around, this festive event was once again a great success, so look for us next year. Happy holidays!

Dear Members,

November is here! I hope everybody had a wonderful October and a great Halloween with family and friends last week.

October was another busy month for SEAOSC with numerous events as well as significant committee work! Between webinars, membership breakfast meeting in OC, in person SAP training and a structured connections event, we reached out across our SEAOSC region this month. For those that joined us, it was great to see you. If you missed these events, I hope to see you at another event very soon.

This week is the NCSEA Summit in Anaheim and I just got back from all day Board of Director meetings with our State Board as well as a joint board meeting with SEAOC and NCSEA. It is great to see leaders not only from across our state, but also from across the country. Both organizations are working hard to promote our profession and support our membership. From state committee work to national SE3 efforts to technical webinar content….. It was a day filled with lots of great ideas and effort to move our organizations forward. If you are interested in getting involved in either our local member organization (SEAOSC), state organization (SEAOC) or national organization (NCSEA), do not hesitate to reach out to me directly or any of our board members. There are lots of opportunities out there and not only is the work you do within the committees or groups rewarding and beneficial to our profession, but they are also tremendous opportunities for growth in your career!

Speaking of committees….. Our SEAOSC committees were also hard at work in October with regular meetings, event planning and provided some important policy support. We highlight our existing building committee this month which was focused on putting together the finishing touches on support of AC557 Acceptance Criteria Document for FRP Anchors. In collaboration between our EBC as well as our Board of Directors, we were able to vote and approve a measure to support the initiative and we were able to get this support in front of ICC ahead of their vote to pass the acceptance criteria document. This is exactly the type of collaboration that our members can put together which makes a direct impact on our profession. Great job to all those who were involved. The letter in support of the initiative can be found on our website.

We also have an amazing opportunity in Los Angeles right now with Adaptive Reuse. It’s a topic that is on the minds of many in our profession and there is significant movement to propose new amendments to the current adaptive reuse ordinance in the City of Los Angeles. Your executive director, John Bwarie, and I met last week with LADBS General Manager and Superintendent of Building, Osama Younan, to discuss a range of topics including our upcoming Northridge30 Symposium in January as well as Adaptive Reuse in Los Angeles. The City of LA is looking to SEAOSC to provide support and guidance on potential updates to structural provisions within the City of LA Adaptive Reuse ordinance. If you are passionate about this topic and have an interest in helping shape SEAOSC’s input on this critical topic in our city, please reach out and get involved. Several committees lead by the EBC are tackling this initiative and we can use the collective voice of our membership to create positive change in our community. Join us!

This month I highlight in my words to work and live by is the word patience. It's one of the words that's written on the note card that sits on my desk which I look at every day. Although I feel all the words on this note card are equally Important, sometimes I think this may be one of the most important. The projects we work on typically are not simple and straightforward. They take hours and hours of work where we spend time developing construction documents for a contractor to build the project. And even when we finish CD's, we have construction administration to go through before the project is truly done. That can take a couple of months to several decades. Patience is key for all of that. But this is also true in life. Many things don't happen at the blink of an eye. But oftentimes now with everything we have at our disposal in the age of information, it feels like things should happen in an instant. But the reality is that work, life or whatever it is you are tackling, usually takes time and patience is important. Typically, it’s a marathon, not a sprint, and it’s good to remember that.

As we move into November, we're still busy at SEAOSC and there are big programs ahead for us this month! We have already had a webinar on the use of viscous dampers in retrofits last week which I hope many of you enjoyed! And speaking again about the NCSEA Summit….. I hope I will see many of our members in person at this week’s NCSEA Annual Summit right here in Southern California. Not only is this in Anaheim and readily accessible for our members to attend, but SEAOC is also hosting a Welcome to California night (Tuesday…..TONIGHT!) for structural engineers from across the country (I hear there are literally hundreds signed up to attend!). Come on out! Later in November, our annual event with AIA in downtown LA occurs mid-month with a meeting on sustainability. And to cap off November, our annual Gingerbread Build is Nov 30-Dec 2nd. Don't miss this event at a new location in Tustin! It's sure to be an amazing event and I hope to see you there.

Have a wonderful November and a great Thanksgiving with your family and friends. And I look forward to talking to you again in December. And I hope to also see you at one of our events soon!

Best,

Craig Chamberlain, S.E.
SEAOSC President 2023-24

The Structural Engineers Association of Southern California, SEAOSC, is committed to championing a livable environment for all. In this era of rapid climate change, the internationally recognized goal is to keep global warming to no more than 1.5°C, as called for in the 2015 Paris Agreement. This means emissions must be reduced by 45% before 2030 and reach net zero by 2050.

SEAOSC recognizes the need for legislation and policy, as well as coordinated action across all communities, in order to achieve the globally stated goal of net-zero carbon by 2050. As such, we support legislation and policy that works to reduce the embodied carbon of the built environment through requirements such as design for functional recovery, repurposing or refurbishing existing buildings, retrofit of existing buildings, use of low-carbon construction materials, exploration of alternative design, and construction methods for increasing efficiency and reducing construction waste.

By working to be a part of the solution, no matter how massive the problem may seem, we can contribute to making the net zero goal a reality for all. SEAOSC will continue to monitor relevant legislation and policy, as well as all facets of our organization from within, to ensure we are fighting for the lowest possible emissions at every step.

You’re invited to participate in ACE Mentor LA/OC’s All Schools Day on Saturday, October 21, 2023. This is one of the biggest ACE events of the year. High school students from across Los Angeles and Orange County will come together and compete in a surprise, hands on structural design project. Think glue guns, popsicle sticks, and spaghetti!

Structural engineer volunteers are needed to help coach the students in building the strongest, most economical, and most beautiful structure! This fun and exciting one-day event kicks off the ACE school year.

If you are interested in participating, please email Patti Harburg-Petrich at patti.harburg-petrich@mottmac.com.

ACE LA/OC All Schools Day

Location:

St. Mary's Academy
701 Grace Avenue, Inglewood, CA 90301

Schedule:

Saturday, October 21, 2023
8:00 a.m. Check-in/College Fair/Light Breakfast
9:15 a.m. Event Start
12:15 p.m. Lunch
2:00 p.m. Event Ends

https://acementorla.org/event-5431016

To volunteer, please email Patti Harburg-Petrich at patti.harburg-petrich@mottmac.com

Dear Members,

Fall is here. Can you feel the cooler weather out there? At the Chamberlain household, we put up Halloween decorations this weekend so it must mean that October has started!

SEAOSC had a very busy September despite not having the convention this year. Our State BOD as well as State committees all met in San Diego early in September to continue the business of our association that would have otherwise happened in Hawaii. It was a huge pivot for our State director and Presidents (outgoing Krista Looza and incoming Emily Guglielmo) and they did a tremendous job. Our entire Excom from SEAOSC was in attendance as well as many of our Committee chairs so we were well represented as an MO at the meetings. We held new strategy sessions that will help shape the next year and it was exciting to see the potential in front us! Look for messages from our State President in the next newsletter from SEAOC. 

We also had a successful Structured Connections event in Santa Barbara attended by several dozen central coast members as well as a fun Committee Showcase event in Los Angeles. Thanks again to Structural Focus for hosting. We had over 100 members and non-members join in the event to learn what committees are up to and had many show interest in joining a new committee. Our committees are one of the most vital parts of our organization and it was great to see the energy and enthusiasm at the event. If you missed it or possibly attended, but did not sign up for a committee, you can still reach out to the chairs through our website here (https://seaosc.org/Committee-Pages).

Prior to the committee showcase event, we had our monthly BOD meeting in person and discussed a number of topics including strategy sessions for SEAOSC looking forward for the coming two to three years. It was exciting to hear from the Board on their thoughts and feedback they have heard from our members about our direction! We will continue these discussions for the next several months during our board meeting. If you have a topic or vision that you would like to share, please reach out directly to me or another BOD member.

In my monthly message on thoughts and words to work (and live by. Thoughts for leadership), this month’s word I reference on the card on my desk is kindness. It's something I believe is so simple to give yet so easy to ignore at times. It often doesn't take much: Just saying hi to a stranger in the room during a business meeting or job site visit…. A smile when someone needs an ear to listen to their thoughts….. The thank you for anything, small or big, that someone may have done…. These all go a long way to making our collective efforts a bit easier. It doesn't take much to be kind, but the return on that small investment can be amazing! I task everyone reading this to try it out more today than you did yesterday! I bet something good will come right back at you……

We continue our full calendar slate with lots of events coming up. Don't miss these events:

10/11 - Webinar - Building Settlement and Structural Collapse Analysis

10/18 - OC Membership Breakfast Meeting - Topic - Mass Timber

10/21 - Post-Disaster Safety Assessment Evaluator Training

10/25 - Structured Connections - Inland Empire

11/1 - Webinar - Utilizing Fluid Viscous Dampers in Retrofit Applications

11/15 - SEAOSC/AIA joint event - DTLA

November (final date TBD) - YM & Sustainability - Arts District Social event

11/30 - 12/3 - SoCal Gingerbread Challenge

12/13 - Webinar

1/17/24 - Northridge Earthquake Symposium - 30yr Anniversary event

I hope to see you at an event soon.

Best,

Craig Chamberlain, S.E.
SEAOSC President 2023-24

Dear Members,

Welcome to September! For many this means we have kids going back to school after a long summer break or others possibly have a longer commute now with more people on the road. Either way, I always feel as though the Labor Day Weekend is the starting point to the stretch run for home and push for the end of the year. There is still lots to do at SEAOSC before we close out 2023 and I can't wait!

We had a busy August at SEAOSC starting with our golf tournament at Friendly Hills Country Club. What a successful event we had led by our Chair, Dan Fox, as well as the team from Stratiscope with a big shout out to Lilly Naveira for her hard work pulling all the fun together. We raised thousands of dollars for SEAOSC with a portion of the proceeds going to the SEAOSC Foundation. Great job team!

We also showcased our first SEAOSC movie premiere, Something from Nothing, at the Garry Marshall Theatre in Burbank. We had a great panel discussion along with the movie and it was a wonderful night enjoyed by all who attended.

Many of us should be in Maui right now and I should be writing this report from my hotel balcony, but unfortunately the fires in Maui and the devastation to the town of Lahaina changed things. Many of us were planning to attend this year's convention in Hawaii to hear the latest in structural engineering, meet with colleagues, and possibly enjoy a bit of rest & relaxation on vacation too. But now is not the time to be visiting Maui and canceling the convention was the right decision. There is a tremendous amount of rebuilding and support needed for the community and that is where the focus is and should be. If you are interested in supporting Maui relief efforts, please see these links on the State convention website (click here).

The disappointment of having to cancel our convention in Maui this year reminds me about GRATITUDE, one of my words from the card I keep on my desk. Being thankful and thoughtful about the good things in life is so important. We cannot always control the things in front of us and sometimes we may take them for granted. Taking a moment to reflect on how lucky we are is important for ourselves in recognizing what we have done when something good happens, but also what we have when something that didn't go as planned. As leaders in our companies, within SEAOSC or any other organization, gratitude affects your attitude and can uplift the attitude of others in your circle. I challenge each of you to take a minute and think about gratitude. Why or what can you be grateful about right now?

Here is one of my favorite quotes on gratitude. It's short, but right on point…..

"Gratitude is a powerful catalyst for happiness….." - Amy Collette

And now on to September! It is a busy month for our association. Don't miss out on upcoming events:

9/20 - Structured Connections in Santa Barbara

9/27 - SEAOSC Committee Showcase - In-N-Out food truck

10/18 - OC Membership Breakfast

10/21 - SAP training

10/25 - Structured Connections - Inland Empire

11/30 - 12/3 - SoCal Gingerbread Challenge

1/17/24 - Northridge Earthquake Symposium - 30yr Anniversary event

Hope to see you soon!

Craig Chamberlain, S.E.
SEAOSC President 2023-24

On August 7, 2023, SEAOSC hosted its annual Golf Tournament at Friendly Hills Country Club. It was a wonderful day—the players gave it their all, fun times were had, and the weather was perfect. A sellout crowd of 144 golfers took to the green to compete in a variety of competitions, creating connections and strengthening the Structural Engineering community in Southern California.

Participants started the day with a three-hole putting competition, where six strokes was the score to beat. Four players tied for the title, and in the end, by a draw of the card, Nathan Kehl took the putting champion title this year.

After a group photo and a shotgun start, eight golfers took to their carts and dispersed across the course to their starting hole. Along their day of play, various holes had different activities and challenges. From the longest drive to hole-in-one challenges to an air cannon, the competition kept play lively and fast-paced. Golfing teams also brought their own action to the course, including matching shirts from the SEAOSC WISE team and SSG Engineers (who sported unmissable Taco Bell shirts!), drinking games, and buying mulligans to improve their scores. Fun was the central theme of the day!

After about five hours of play (and lunch!), the group returned to the clubhouse to celebrate the winners. Once again, the 1st place team was Miyamoto, led by the legendary Jeff Crosier.

Other tournament prizes included:

Men’s longest drive: Sandy Hohfner

Women’s longest drive: Jami Ellis

Accurate drive: Jeff Creed

Closest to the pin hole #8: Brett Eckles

Closest to the pin hole #16: Austin Fedrich

2nd place winning team: Kurt Anderson, Chad Gammell, Mark McCauley, Larry McCauley

Congratulations to our winners! The talent and drive (pun intended) each of our teams and individual players showcased throughout the day was impressive.

Special thanks are in order to our dedicated sponsors, who made the event possible with their generous support. Our sponsors provided refreshments, golf carts, and more—there was even a golf air cannon which will not surprise anyone to know that our engineers thoroughly enjoyed testing out.

Dear Members,

It's August 1st and the middle of summer and it's hot out there! Stay cool SEAOSC.

We had a great kickoff to our 2023-24 year with our first Board of Directors meeting in mid-July followed a day later by our Committee Chair kickoff event. It was great to see everyone in person and begin to collaborate on this year's programs for our membership. We had a number of familiar faces who have served on the Board or committees for some time as well as several new faces. I am excited and energized by all who attended and shared their vision for the year.

Something I want to touch on in these President's messages over the course of the year is sharing my thoughts on several words I have jotted down on a card that I keep on my desk and I look at work each day. Not every day goes smoothly, and we all have our ups and downs as we complete our work as Structural Engineers. What we do can be stressful with calculations and details that are so important to the construction of our buildings and infrastructure. So, I keep these words written on a card on my desk and refer to them often when working to keep myself grounded and focused on what I am doing to support our team and our clients and our profession: Attitude, Gratitude, Kindness, Patience, Accountability, Efficiency, Trusted Advisor and Delegate. Each month I plan to touch on one of these words and the deeper meaning it has to me as I strive to be the best that I can be in whatever it is I am doing.

Attitude - This is item #1 for me. We have things which are in our control and out of our control each day, but our attitude is our choice. We can choose to be happy or sad, positive or negative, thoughtful and caring or selfish and inconsiderate. The pace of our work can be challenging. The disappointment of not getting awarded a new project or promotion can be hard. The frustration from realizing you missed a detail in developing a set of plans that is now going to result in a change order is tough. Our days can seem overwhelming at times and yet keeping a positive attitude can help in so many ways. It helps you remain focused on the task at hand. It presents a positive message to others that you can handle the challenge in front of you. And it can help provide you with the energy you need to tackle and concur what lies in front of you.

I recall over the past year what an amazing attitude our past president, Patti Harburg-Petrich, brought to each and every meeting we had. I am sure there were days that may not have gone quite right, but she was always positive and genuinely happy to see and interact with the people she worked with. Kudos to you Patti for such an amazing and positive attitude you always bring!

I look forward to seeing many of you at our upcoming golf event on August 7th followed by our movie night showcasing our DEI movie series on August 17th. Then it’s the convention in Maui (stop by our special SEAOSC event just for our So Cal members!) and then the committee showcase later in September.

Hope to see you at an event soon!

Craig Chamberlain, S.E.
SEAOSC President 2023-24

Dear Members,

Welcome to our 2023-24 year for SEAOSC. I am incredibly excited and humbled to be your President this year. I have spent the past two years on the Executive Committee as Treasurer and President-Elect working with our recent past Presidents, Patti Harburg-Petrich and Kelsey Parolini, as well as our Board of Directors making our association the best we can be! I look forward to working with our new board, Executive Committee, Past Presidents, Committee Chairs and Committee Members, and our overall Membership in continuing to strengthen and expand our Association in 23-24. And we start that right away this week with our Board of Directors kickoff meeting this Thursday and Committee Chair kickoff meeting this Friday!

A big emphasis to kick off this year will be membership engagement. This was a difficult task through the pandemic (as many things were….) but we have worked hard the past several years reconnecting with our membership bringing a variety of events and programs to our diverse membership. And reinvigorating our membership engagement only happens if we are all working together on it. So expect more connections from our Board and committees and I look forward to seeing our membership connecting and getting involved!

So, what events are coming up, you ask?

Well, coming up in just a couple of weeks is our first ever Golf Introduction event at Top Golf in El Segundo. Come out for instructions from a professional golfer and then stay for drinks and appetizers and socialize with your fellow SEAOSC members. This is followed by our annual Golf Tournament which is nearly already sold out except for a few foursomes, some individual spots and sponsorship opportunities. We then move right into August with a movie night showcasing our DEI movie series on August 17th. Then it’s the convention in Maui and our Committee Showcase later in September. Whew!!!!

I always feel as though I say, "I can't believe how fast this year is going by…." and I probably will say that a number of times throughout this year. But it's true. It's July. 2023 is half over. We have had so many interesting programs and events this year and there are so many in front of us!

Lot's going on and lots to do. I hope to see you out there!

Craig Chamberlain, S.E.
SEAOSC President 2023-24