Summary of Events

With attendance of over 1,000 structural engineers, the 2007 Structures Congress held in partnership with SEAOSC was a major success. From the four Pre-Congress workshops, Forensics Engineering Symposium chaired by Eric Stovner, S.E., and Research Frontiers track chaired by John Wallace, Ph.D., P.E., to the wide variety offered in 99 sessions over 9 tracks, this Congress proved to be a wealth of technical, business, and practical information, and a great opportunity to earn up to 21 Professional Development Hours (PDH).

The program kicked off on Wednesday, May 16 with one full-day pre-Congress training session and three half-day seminars. The full-day session “ATC-20 Post-Earthquake Building Safety Evaluation Training” was offered by the ASCE Committee on Critical Infrastructure (CCI) in cooperation with the Applied Technology Council (ATC) and the California Office of Emergency Services (OES) Safety Assessment Program (SAP). Presenter Robert A. Bruce, S.E., with Wiss, Janney, Elstner & Associates, explained the procedures and guidelines that were written specifically for volunteer structural engineers and others who would be required to make on-the-spot evaluations of damaged buildings and other facilities.

The half-day seminars included “Seismic Provisions of ASCE 7-05”, “Sustainable Structures”, and “Wind Load Provisions of ASCE 7-05.” The first seminar, presented by Bob Bachman, S.E. and Jim Harris, S.E., focused on the seismic provisions as specified in ASCE/SEI 7-05, which will serve as the requirements for buildings and other structures over the next decade. The second session was presented by Jim DeStefano, P.E., Bruce King, P.E., Diana Klein, P.Eng. and Mark Webster, P.D. The seminar reviewed the LEED rating system, identified contributions that structural engineers can make to greening the built environment, and discussed sustainability in a broad context. The third session, presented by T. Eric Stafford, P.E., concerned the effect of wind on structures and how to determine the appropriate wind loads in order to mitigate the effects of wind.

A diversity workshop on “Mentoring for Success in Structural Engineering” was presented Wednesday night by co-facilitators C. Gary Kellogg, P.E., S.E., and Jeff Dingle, P.E. The focus was on the effects of mentoring on accelerated learning, fast-track leadership, improved retention, and elevated morale among younger employees. It was explained how mentoring has been proven to strengthen diversity awareness and inclusiveness in the workplace.

On Wednesday evening, SEI held its Grand Opening Reception at the Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific. The Aquarium was a fantastic site for reconnecting with friends and getting to know people while viewing the outdoor Shark Lagoon and strolling by the multi-colored fish tanks. Special thanks to Autodesk for sponsoring this reception, and thanks to all of the sponsors of the 2007 Congress including AISC which sponsored the terrific notebooks.

Thursday morning started with continental breakfast for everyone in the foyer, then the Congress officially kicked off with the Plenary Session which included SEI’s Annual Business Meeting and presentation of the ASCE/SEI National Awards. Jim Rossberg, P.E., SEI Director, and 2007 Structures Congress co-Chairs Paul Armstrong, P.E., and Larry Brugger, S.E., welcomed the attendees to the Congress. Bill Marcuson, President of ASCE, spoke about the challenges and opportunities facing the profession.

Glenn Bell presented a thought-provoking keynote on “Engineer-Driven Architecture”. It was given from the perspective of a 21st Century engineer with an interest in structures, building envelopes, mechanical systems and creative construction methods.

After the keynote address, Barry Goodno, Ph.D. P.E., President of SEI, and Jim Rossberg provided an overview of SEI’s current and future initiatives, including increasing student involvement, Building Information Modeling (BIM) activities, Progressive Collapse guidance documents, low-cost continuing education, separate licensure for S.E.’s, and Risk Management for individuals. Dr.Goodno presented certificates of appreciation to Paul Armstrong and Larry Brugger for their efforts in putting together the Congress, and also a Recognition plaque to Joe Ales for his service to SEI as a member of the Board of Governors.

2007 SEI and ASCE Structural Awards

The SEI and ASCE structural award recipients recognized this year were as follows:

Dennis L. Tewksbury Award: Neil M. Hawkins, Ph.D., M.ASCE for being an early and forceful proponent for the establishment of the Structural Engineering Institute and playing a leading role in areas such as serving on the executive committees of the Technical Activities Division and the Codes and Standards Activities Division as well as a member of the SEI Board of Governors.

Walter P. Moore Jr. Award: Robert Bachman, S.E., M.ASCE for his contributions to seismic standards by reorganizing the 2005 ASCE/SEI 7 seismic provisions and his key influence in improving the coverage of non-building structures and non-structural components.

Gene Wilhoite Award: Robert Nickerson, P.E. for his significant contributions to the advancement of the Art and Science of transmission line engineering.

Jack E. Cermak Medal: Peter A. Irwin, Ph.D., P.Eng., F.ASCE for being a technical innovator and leader in the Wind Engineering profession.
Shortridge Hardesty Award: Russell Bridge, Ph.D., P.E., F.ASCE, LM has been a leader in the international arena for structural stability research for more than 30 years, specializing in steel, which played a major role in numerous design codes.

Walter L. Huber Civil Engineering Research Prizes: Reginald DesRoches, Ph.D., A.M.ASCE and Sherif El-Tawil, Ph.D., P.E., M.ASCE for contributions in the field of seismic design and retrofit of bridges, and development and application of novel numerical simulation models for the analysis and design of steel and hybrid steel-concrete structures.

T.Y. Lin: Amir Fam, Ph.D., P.Eng. and Siddwartha Mandal, A.M.ASCE for their article “Modeling of Prestressed Concrete-Filled Circular Composite Tubes Subjected to Bending and Axial Loads”

Moisseiff Award: Kim Rasmussen, Ph.D., M.ASCE and Ms. Maura Lecce, Ph.D., for groundbreaking research on the distortional buckling of cold-formed stainless steel sections and further research as published in two papers in the ASCE Journal of Structural Engineering, April 2006.

Raymond C. Reese Research Prize: Yozo Fujino, Ph.D., M.ASCE, Masato Abe, Ph.D., Tomonori Nagayama, and Kenji Ikeda for pioneering a rare collaboration between academe and government, involving high-density dynamic sensor array measurements on a major suspension bridge. This integration of field experimentation on a large-scale structure is extremely difficult and very rare. The study was published in the ASCE Journal of Structural Engineering, October 2005.

George Winter Award: Keith D. Hjelmstad, Ph.D., P.E., M.ASCE for his accomplishments in structural engineering research, his dedication to the education of future structural engineers, and for his exemplary community and artistic service in leading the Parkland Community Orchestra as Concertmaster for 15 years.

      SEI and ASCE Structural Award Recipients:
      Left to Right, front row: Neil Hawkins, Bob Bachman,
      Bob Nickerson, Amir Fam, Sherif El-Tawil, Peter Irwin,
      Barry Goodno, SEI President
      Left to Right, back row: Reggie DesRoches, Tomonori 
      Nagayama, Keith Hjelmstad, Maura Lecce, Yozo Fujino,
      Reidar Bjorhovde, SEI Awards Committee Chair

Nominations Sought for SEI and ASCE Structural Awards

SEI and ASCE seek nominations for the 2007 -2008 Awards Program. The objective of the Awards Program is to advance the engineering profession by emphasizing exceptionally meritorious achievement, so this is an opportunity to recognize colleagues who are worthy of this recognition. Nomination deadlines begin October 1, 2007 with most deadlines falling on November 1, 2007. A list of structural engineering awards and nomination procedures and forms are available at http://www.SEInstitute.org/inside/honorawards.cfm.

Jim Harris Wins Best of the Best for the Second Year in a Row

As in the past, Structures Congress attendees voted on the presentation they felt was the “Best of the Best.” SEI is pleased to announce that the 2007 winning presentation is “ASCE 7-05 Seismic Provisions” by Jim Harris of Denver. Some of you may recall that Jim was also recognized last year. Harris will receive $1,000 towards his attendance of next year’s Structures Congress in Vancouver. The drawing winner of CDs of ASCE/SEI 7-05, Minimum Design Loads for Buildings and Other Structures and ASCE/SEI 41-06, Seismic Rehabilitation of Existing Buildings is Paul Askham of New York City. Congratulations to both!

    Jim Harris, Best of the Best Award

Speakers' Presentations and Proceedings

Available speakers' PowerPoint presentations can be found within the Full Session Matrix at the 2007 Structures Congress website:

1. Click on any session

2. A list of the papers will be given. Under the titles will be the links "(View Abstract / View

    Presentation)"

    NOTE: Presentation link will be visible ONLY if the author has uploaded it

3. Click on the Presentation link to download the PowerPoint slides

Available pre-Congress seminar presentations can be found on the Technical Program page. 

Copies of the proceedings may be obtained here.

PDH Certificates

2008 Structures Congress - "Crossing Borders" in Vancouver, Canada