Orange County Branch Newsletter
March 2015
Structural Engineering Institute
The Structural Engineering Institute has a new Chairman! Welcome Chad Harden, PE, SE!
By Chad Harden, PE, SE
During February we celebrated “e-week,” a nationwide celebration of engineering. Engineers across the nation were reaching out to students to give a first glimpse of the potential of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM)… maybe even combining art into the mix (see STEAM movement for engineering innovation, [url=http://stemtosteam.org/]http://stemtosteam.org/[/url], http://artsintegration.com/portal/). With so many new wonderful beginnings to this year, this is also a good opportunity to humbly introduce myself as the new SEI chair.
The Orange County ASCE Structural Engineering Institute (SEI) was created just last year to provide a resource and social environment for civil/structural engineers in Orange County of all disciplines (bridges, buildings and other civil structures). As with any new organization, committee or fraternity of sorts, it is helpful to remember a few thoughts on beginnings:
“Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.” - Henry Ford.
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” - Margaret Mead
So the question is, what do civil/structural engineers in Orange County want to accomplish as a team with SEI? What benefits do we want to realize for ourselves and our society? Let’s figure this out together, decide on a course of action, and act on our plan! With this major goal in mind, the focus this year is to (1) build a cabinet of officers and get in contact with other interested members, and (2) plan a social event! Interested in SEI? Please contact me with your ideas for the group and also stay tuned for more information at:
http://www.asceoc.org/committees/structural_engineering_institute
I am excited to see plans already for this year, including cross-collaboration of SEI with various other disciplines and interests in our ASCE OC Branch, with more to come! Please look forward to these future collaborations:
March 19 – San Francisco Bay Bridge. This is an event you cannot miss! Dr. Brian Maroney, PE and Ms. Karen Wang, PE of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge New East Span Project will speak on lessons learned on this complex mega project can be applied to future transportation projects.
May – Geotechnical & Structural Engineer Open-Questions Panel (Bring questions!)
September 16 – SEI Social Event – Whiskey Tasting! (All are welcome)
Thank you!
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