Ken O'Dell, SE
President
President’s Message February 2020
Well, with the rush of January behind us, I realized I missed the opportunity to wish everyone a Happy New Year… so here’s to those belated wishes. I trust this finds you well and already kicking off the next decade with an abundance of enthusiasm. Whether the economy holds steady or begins a “correction”, 2020 promises to be exciting. One cannot help but “see 2020” as a year for visionary (yes…pun intended) endeavors. Before we head down the path and jump into new ideas, I thought it might be good to look back at our history and legacy as an Association.
In 1929, SEAOSC was envisioned to advance the science of structural engineering; assist the public in obtaining dependable structural engineering services; encourage engineering education; maintain the honor and dignity of the profession and enlighten the public regarding the province of the structural engineer. Over the years SEAOSC has accomplished this through code development; invaluable research through the formation of the Applied Technology Council (ATC) and through exhaustive committee work; capacity building within our member firms through in depth professional and business practices; and of critical importance to our individual members, when we took advantage of it, the Association has, over the years, brought important engineering learning to each of our desks. This is 90 years of building the profession of Structural Engineering and this rich legacy remains embedded within the very nature of SEAOSC.
In keeping this legacy alive, SEAOSC has undertaken significant recent efforts to ensure the Association remains relevant in fostering the profession. Committee activities remain a key avenue for our members to participate in these efforts while building rewarding relationships with colleagues and advancing critical initiatives, such as helping refine the approach to implementation of Soft-Story retrofit ordinances throughout Southern California. Conversations focused on ensuring good design solutions are embraced continue to take place with the City of Los Angeles as they approve more retrofits.
The recent formation of the Wood Committee is intended to bring a collection of current and emerging wood experts together to provide our members with pertinent up-to-date information regarding new trends and the current practices for the design and construction of wood structures. With the approaching adoption of Mass Timber design practices this committee will seek to ensure we are engaged in the conversations. The committee will also seek to ensure conventional framing practices are enhanced and well understood by all. As wood structures continue to climb above traditional four to five and six story limits, our wood committee will help us navigate the issues in front of us. To help move that conversation forward, be on the look out for information and possibly a survey to help the committee focus on your critical Issues.
After a slight delay, the Board is now seeking to form a similar concrete committee. As with wood, the concrete committee will be charged with consolidating and disseminating important information regarding emerge design and construction practices for the use and advancement of concrete in Southern California. Those of you who have expressed interest in this committee be forewarned, the snowball is beginning to pick up speed.
With wood, concrete, and steel committees formed, SEAOSC will be better positioned to support the activities of our other committees by having a pool of resources that we can all tap into. Additionally, this year, two new coordinating committees were established. The Structural Standards Committee, chaired by our President-Elect, brings together the chairs of our technical committees, to ensure interaction and collaboration of ideas spreads between our committees. Similarly, our Treasurer is now tasked with chairing an Engagement Steering Committee, comprised of chairs of our Membership, YM, WiSE, Communications, and Education committees, to help bring engagement across the full breadth of our activities. A couple initiatives that have already come from these conversations include purposefully establishing a communications liaison within each committee to make sure content is brought back to our Communication Committee to be shared with our members. Additionally, a young member liaison is more purposefully being integrated within our technical and non-technical committees to help bridge the gap between our seasoned committee members and those who will make up the next committee cohort.
Finally, you would have to be in a box (perhaps the one we are so often accused of designing) to miss the fact that the makeup of our profession is changing. 2020 promises to be a year of seeing the opportunities behind that change come into clearer view. Our current membership reflects increased engagement by students and young associates. School enrollment and recent graduation numbers suggest more women are, and will be, entering the field for structural engineering. As our demographics change, it is incumbent on the Association to embrace, nurture, and promote the opportunities that follow. This past year has been about building our capacity of engagement; ensuring we are focusing not only of the technical education of our members but engaging them and ourselves with opportunities to tap into non-technical professional growth activities. As we continue our engagement toward building a stronger community, each of us, especially those in leadership roles, will need to push ourselves to mentor our colleagues and encourage growth beyond just knowing how to provide the best design. Afterall, good design is just the result of using the right resources; and the best resource is a well-rounded individual with engineering skills who can look over the top of the box and see the bigger picture; we don’t just design structures.
Structural Engineers design places where our communities live, work, play, and thrive.
I look forward to seeing you thrive with us in 2020.
