It is hard to believe, but this will be my last editorial as chair of CASE. This spring, I will turn the gavel over to the capable hands of Dave Mykins from Stroud Pence and Associates of Virginia Beach, Virginia. It has been a pleasure and an honor to serve both the structural engineering firms who are members of CASE and the structural engineering profession as a whole. …
Your professional organizations always work hard for you, but often the groups work together for even greater impact by expressing a unified voice, strengthening an existing program’s effectiveness, or providing unique opportunities not otherwise available. New programs are announced with excitement and celebration, but then often go on to serve the profession silently, without follow-up reports on successes. I would like to discuss several unique partnerships so that you are aware, or can become re-acquainted, with these successful efforts. …
Unprecedented challenges face the structural engineering profession in the years to come. Threats from foreign competition, opposition to structural licensure, dwindling profits, decline in ethics, and increased risk and expectations are at our doorstep now. It has become obvious that trying to maintain the status quo will only result in a decline in the relevance of the profession. An idiom states that there are three types of people: Those that are in the loop, those that are out of the loop, and those that don’t know there is a loop. …
First, I would like to take the opportunity to wish all of you a Happy New Year. I hope this year holds promise for you in your individual careers, for your firms, and for our profession. Second, I would like to extend a thank you and best wishes to Bob Barnett of the Alabama firm of Barnett, Jones, Wilson. Bob has been a fixture on CASE’s Guidelines Committee for as long as I can remember, but is stepping back from his committee work as he moves into retirement. His down-to-earth approach has helped to keep our practice guidelines grounded in reality. I will miss his wit and friendship during our meetings. …
What inspired you to become a structural engineer? For me, it was a fascination with the great buildings of history, like the Parthenon and the Eiffel Tower, and the ingenuity and creativity of the civilizations that built them. Starting with that early inspiration, I have always been driven by a desire to create new structures that have a positive impact on the way people live. …
Leaders are expected to navigate effectively through a wide variety of social and professional situations with a wide variety of people. More often than not, however, engineering firms promote engineers who are successful at the technical requirements of the job into areas that require skills they haven’t been trained for–leadership, business development, public speaking, and conflict management. …
It is the last weekend of summer and there is a thunderstorm brewing while I am writing this article. (No, this is not another article about how climate change might affect engineers.) My youngest daughter completed her driver’s education classroom work this summer and earned her learning permit. For those of you who have not been through this, you don’t know terror like the first time your teen gets behind the wheel of your car. …
Volunteer professional organizations occupy a significant role in the business, education, regulation and licensure of structural engineering. These groups provide a positive influence from the professionals’ vantage on the laws, integrity and quality of our careers and act as stewards for the profession. Over the years, several organizations focusing on structural engineering have addressed separately the many issues surrounding the practice. …
I’m very excited about the upcoming 2014 NCSEA Conference in New Orleans. This year, we once again focused on putting together a schedule of well-known speakers with topics that the practicing structural engineer can really use, and we continued last year’s practice of offering concurrent sessions that allow attendees a choice between topics. …
Having completed the first year of my term as CASE chair, it has been a privilege to be introduced to, and get to know, so many committed engineering professionals who are working very hard for the betterment of the profession. As part of my duties, I attended both the ASCE/SEI Structures Congress and ACEC Spring Convention in April. I was able to hear very interesting keynote speakers and take in several great sessions at both conferences …