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State Leadership

President

Heather Kline (SP)

Vice President

Jared Plank (SW)

Treasurer

Owen Kohashi (SE)

Secretary

Jessica Jenness (SE)

Past President

Tyler Winkley (SE)

Trustees

Emily Sackmann (SP)

Evan Olszko (SW)

Heather Kline (SP)

Matt Leslie (SC)

Jared Plank (SW)

Jessica Jenness (SE)

Owen Kohashi (SE)

Patrick Lindblom (SE)

Teresa Krell (SC)

Kai Ki is the Principal Engineer at the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections, where he leads technical programs related to engineering and construction codes, as well as emergency management and unreinforced masonry (URM) programs. With over 20 years of involvement in SEAW, he received the SEAW Seattle Chapter Engineer of the Year award in 2022. He has served on the Earthquake Engineering Committee, including six years as Chair. Kai is also active in building code development, serving as a voting member on the ASCE 7-22 and 28 Main Committee and as an associate member of the Dead & Live Load subcommittee.

Amanda is the URM Program Manager at the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections and Co-Chair of the EERI Public Policy and Advocacy Committee. She oversees resources for URM building owners and helps develop policies for mandatory retrofits in Seattle. Before joining the City in 2022, Amanda worked for 12 years at FEMA, leading risk reduction, analysis, and mapping efforts. She contributed to major disaster response and recovery efforts, including the 2018 Anchorage earthquake and 2012 Hurricane Sandy.

Derek is the URM Program Lead Engineer and Senior Structural Plans Engineer at the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections, where he assists with technical questions on URM seismic regulations. Prior to joining the city, he worked as a consulting engineer specializing in seismic evaluation and retrofitting of URM buildings and as a carpenter for adaptive reuse projects. His experience in both carpentry and engineering helps him bridge the gap between design and construction. Derek has been a member of SEAW since 2014.

2025 SEA NW Conference

Request for Abstracts and Registration

Author(s): Brian Parsons, Planning Committee Chair

The planning committee for the 2025 SEA Northwest Conference is excited to announce our Request for Abstracts. Please submit information if you are interested in being a speaker. And please forward to anyone you think might be interested. All speakers receive free full conference registration and a $500 travel/expense allowance. Request for Abstracts can be found here. The request for abstracts has been extended to March 21st, with selected speakers being notified March 28th.

Also, Registration is Open for the 2025 SEA Northwest Conference! We look forward to seeing you all in Spokane! Please see the links below for early bird registration (25% discount) and hotel information.   Early bird registration will end April 1st. We are also excited to announce that CSi, Inc., will be hosting an unforgettable social event after the conference on Thursday evening that you won’t want to miss! More information to come soon.

• Conference Website
• Registration
• Hotel Information

Lastly, the NW Conference is also accepting applications for sponsorships and exhibitors. Please contact Matt Hoit at matt@hoitengineering.com for further information. 

SEAW’s Rich History

with Other Professional Organizations

Author(s): Ed Huston, Seattle Chapter

Following up on Scott Douglas’ article in the February Equilibrium which outlines the origins of SEAW 75 years ago, this month’s article details SEAW’s interactions with other local, regional and national organizations. Scott reported that the start of multi-state conferences occurred when Oregon joined Washington. By the mid-1980s, this rotation was well established. In 1989, SEAW and SEAO developed a plan to reform the annual conference and reduce the risk to the hosting organization by establishing a reserve fund. Subsequently, SEAI, SEAMT, and SEABC joined the Northwest Conference of Structural Engineers.

The Western States Council of Structural Engineers was formed in 1960. SEAW joined the WSCSE early on. Its main focus was not on having annual conferences, but on providing a conduit for sharing information about regulations that varied from state to state, and for reducing friction between states on licensing and comity. The name changed to the Western Council when SEABC joined. The Western Council membership has ebbed and flowed over the decades. The Western Council still exists but has been inactive since the pandemic. On the local front, the Seattle Chapter of SEAW is an active member of the Puget Sound Engineering Council. PSEC is made up of 20+ diverse engineering societies. It provides training for new officers of engineering societies and opportunities to mentor university students. PSEC also holds an annual Awards Banquet, where it honors prominent engineers from the various societies. 

Until very recently, the Seattle Chapter was also a member of the Architects and Engineer’s Legislative Council (AELC). AELC members keep track of bills submitted to the Washington Legislature, rate them for their positive or negative influence on design firms and registrants, and provides testimony where necessary. In this partnership, SEAW testified in front of the legislature on several occasions and successfully sponsored at least two bills in Washington.

On September 11th, 1992, there was a “Structural Summit” meeting in Denver attended by 40 structural engineers from 20 states. The result of this meeting was the formation of the National Council of Structural Engineering Associations (NCSEA). Greg Schindler and I represented SEAW at the Denver meeting. NCSEA was launched in 1993 and is 32 years old this year.

In 1999, the Structural Engineering Institute (SEI) of ASCE was formed. SEI is 26 years old this year. SEI started forming Local Structural Technical Groups (LSTG) almost immediately. Don Northey, who served as SEAW treasurer and ASCE Seattle Section president during this era, suggested SEAW become the LSTG for the ASCE Seattle Section, rather than establishing a duplicative body. This idea was accepted and by 2002, SEAW was attending a national meeting of SEI LSTGs.

Going beyond the history of SEAW’s involvement with related organizations, I hope to emphasize that SEAW was there at the start of many organizations or was an early adopter of other structural engineering organizations. We have always been involved, and we have always made a difference!

One the SEAW’s partner organizations is PSEC, which gives annual engineer-related awards, many times to individuals nominated by SEAW. Lee Marsh (second from left) and Susan Chang (right), were nominated by SEAW in 2022 and recognized by PSEC. Photo courtesy PSEC.

When SEAW participated in AELC, members were able to participate in the legislative process. Gov. Christine Gregoire signed the SEAW Significant Structures Partial-Practice Act on April 21st, 2007, joined by (L to R), James Curry (attorney & AELC), Lynnell Brunswig (SEAW administrator), Senator Ed Murray (sponsor), Steve Hawk (SEAW pesident), Robert Bourdages (SEAW Legislative Chair), Mia Scherich (assistant to Robert Bourdages), Mark Leingang (SEAW Southwest Chapter President), Senator Jeanne Kohl-Welles (Chair of the Senate Labor, Commerce, Research & Development Committee), Ed Huston (SEAW Seattle), and Clifford Webster (AELC Lobbyist). Photo courtesy Washington State Senate.

Southwest Chapter Hosts Annual Trade Show

Author(s): Jared Plank, SW Chapter

The SEAW Southwest Chapter had our annual trade show on Wednesday, February 26th. The event was held at the EQC Event Center in Fife. This was the first trade show that our group has had in several years and we were happy with the interest and attendance. 

The event included 16 vendor tables with specialties spanning from anchors and buckling restraint braces to material suppliers and industry organizations. With 51 attendees and 25 vendor representatives, the room was bustling and many great conversations were happening. Attendees had ample time to meet with vendors and peers throughout the evening. This was a great opportunity to meet new and familiar vendors and create connections. Over the course of the evening, we drew door prizes for many of the attendees which included items such as hand tools, gift cards, Mariners tickets, books, etc. Any attendee that stayed until the end of the event received at least one door prize!

The SEAW Southwest Chapter held a “trade show” event where members visited vendor booths and heard from engaging speakers. Photo by Evan Olszko.

Sprinkled in throughout the event were three important seminars on sustainable concrete, snow loads, and flood loads. With the upcoming code updates, local priorities, and proposed Washington State Building Code amendments, these topics were very timely and applicable. Seminar attendees were treated with great information and national experts in each of these areas. We are so grateful to our speakers! Thank you to Nathan Forrest (sustainable concrete), John Duntemann (snow loads), and Matt Gilbertson (flood loads). Each of these presentations had great feedback and engagement.

At the finale of the event, we heard from our Chapter President, Evan Olszko, who thanked attendees, speakers, vendors, and sponsors. And lastly, we had a grand prize drawing for four different items: an Apple iPad, a Makita drill/impact driver set, a Dewalt multi-tool, and a rack smoker. Four lucky attendees, who had filled out their vendor passports, received with these fun prizes. 

Once again, we want to thank all the attendees, vendors, sponsors, and speakers for making this event a success. If you missed it, we hope to have you at our next Trade Show!

SEAW Committee Changes Name

to “General Code Requirements Committee”

Author(s): Scott Douglas, GRC

SEAW previously announced the formation of a “Code Advisory Committee,” which held its first meeting on February 25th, with 9 of the 15 charter members in attendance. The following items were discussed at the meeting:

• General Code Requirements Name Change – The name of this SEAW Committee, subject to SEAW State Board Approval, will change from the Code Advisory Committee to the General Requirements Committee (GRC). This name change will more accurately define the Committee’s function and align with the subcommittees of NCSEA’s Code Advisory Committee. See Code Advisory - NCSEA .
• GCRC Committee Chair – The committee needs a permanent chair. Please contact Scott Douglas, temporary chair, if you’d like to discuss this opportunity.
• SBCC & IBC Code Change Process – Jon Siu gave a presentation on the2024 Washington State Building Code Council (SBCC) Process and the 2027 ICC (IBC, IEBC, IRC, etc.) Code Development Process.
• Washington State Snow Loads – Evan Olszko gave a presentation on the ASCE 7-22 revisions for snow loads and the resulting challenges and concerns for Washington State. A proposed amendment to the Washington State Building Code has been submitted to mitigate some of these challenges and concerns.
• Guard Loadings – Richard Green gave a presentation on a proposal for increased guard loadings in crowded areas for the 2027 IBC and ASCE 7-28. The majority of countries have addressed guard loadings for crowded areas in their building codes, unlike the States. A code change proposal to address this issue has been submitted for the 2027 IBC. 
• Participation – All SEAW members, whatever their experience, are encouraged to become members of the SEAW CAC. Please contact the GRC temporary chair, Scott Douglas sdouglasscott@gmail.com, to join and receive additional information and announcements on Committee activities and actions. 

Next Meeting – Tuesday March 11th from 12:00pm to 1:00pm. Meeting will be virtual via the following Zoom link.

Meeting ID: 856 5520 0157

Passcode: 923079

EEC Works to Bring Updates to ACI 318 

Author(s): Scott Neuman, EEC

The International Building Code (IBC) 2021 and 2024 editions reference the American Concrete Institute (ACI) 318-19 as the Reference Standard for design using concrete. The 2019 edition of this standard introduced several significant changes to the seismic and one-way shear design of new concrete structures. Some of these changes have led to issues that are revised in ACI 318-25. The EEC has worked to create Washington State Building Code amendment proposals that bring specific revisions made by ACI 318-25 into the 2024 Washington State Building code. These amendments were recently approved by the Washington State Building Code Council Technical Advisory Group, and will move on to public comment, and state legislative vote later this year. If the amendments are approved, the revisions made to ACI 318 would be adopted in Washington State at the same time the state adopts the IBC 2024 standard, currently scheduled for November 2026. Without these building code amendments, revisions to ACI 318 would not be adopted until the IBC 2027 is adopted in the state, nominally in 2029.

Specific provisions addressed by the proposed amendments are:

•  The shear wall design force shear amplification in section 18.10.3. ACI 318-25 updates section 18.10.3 to curtail the changes made in the 318-19 edition and the revisions reduce the design forces required for Special Reinforced Concrete Shear Walls. Additionally, changes to Section 18.10.4.1 make clear that the use of high-strength concrete is allowed for the construction of Special Reinforced Concrete Shear Walls which is unclear in the current version of the code. Lastly, Section 18.10.6 and its subsections have been modified for clarity to more correctly reflect the intent of the detailing requirements for the steel reinforcing inside Special Reinforced Concrete Shear Walls which reduces the quantity of reinforcing steel from what was described in the previous version of the code. Some of these items have already been balloted and published by the ACI 318 committee as a Code Case published in the June 2023 edition of Concrete International. 
• ACI 318-19 introduced several significant changes to one-way shear design of new concrete structures. ACI 318-25 updates sections 11.4.1.5, 13.1.1, 13.2.6.2, 13.3.7, 13.4.6.6, and 22.5.5.1.1 to curtail the changes made in the 318-19 edition and these revisions are included in the proposed code amendment.

SWR Proposals Receive Multiple Affirming Votes

Author(s): Scott Douglas, SEAW WEC Chair

The Wind Engineering Committee submits the following report for the March 2025 Equilibrium: 

• State of Washington Special Wind Regions (SWR) – Washington State Building Code - SEAW’s proposal for incorporating the recommendations in White Paper WEC #3-2023 Structural Engineers Association of Washington (squarespace.com) has cleared its first hurdle, acceptance by the Washington State Building Code Council (SBCC) Technical Advisory Group (TAG) Committee. After the anticipated review and approval by SBCC’s BFRW and Main Committees, posting for public comment, and passing the State Legislature, the updated special wind regions are expected to finally become an official part of the 2024 Washington State Building Code in November 2026.
• State of Washington Special Wind Regions (SWR) – Washington State Residential Code – SEAW members rarely use the International Residential Code (IRC) but many of the county AHJs in the special wind regions do. A proposal to incorporate the recommendations in White Paper WEC #3-2023 Structural Engineers Association of Washington (squarespace.com) into the 2024 Washington Residential Code will be submitted when the window for IRC proposals opens in the coming weeks.
• State of Washington Special Wind Regions (SWR) – ASCE 7-28 – The ASCE 7-28 Wind Load Subcommittee completed voting in January on incorporating the updated Washington State SWR’s into ASCE 7-28. The SWR proposal ballot passed with 38 affirmative votes, 5 affirm with comment votes, and 1 negative vote. Persuasive comments have been incorporated and the ballot proposal will be forwarded to the ASCE Main Committee. 
• Update to the 2004 SEAW commentary on wind code provisions (SEAW/ATC 60) – Work continues on this effort by the NCSEA Wind Engineering Code Advisory Subcommittee. Several SEAW WEC Members are involved in this Commentary revision. 
• City of Bellevue Kzt Map – This effort is still on the WEC’s agenda for the Kzt Wind Load Factor map for the City of Bellevue’s consideration. It will replicate the existing City of Seattle Wind Load Factor Map found at Wind Load Factors - SDCI | seattle.gov. If adopted the map will facilitate an alternate conservative method for rapid determination of Kztfactors and justify use of a Shoreline Exposure C classification in the City of Bellevue.
• Participation - All SEAW members, whatever their experience, are encouraged to participate in WEC meetings. Please contact the WEC chair, Scott Douglas sdouglasscott@gmail.com, to join the SEAW WEC and receive additional information and announcements on Committee activities and actions. 

Next Meeting – Friday May 2nd from 12:00pm to 1:00pm. Meeting will be virtual via the following Zoom link.

Meeting ID: 843 8393 1970

Passcode: 526078

The Wind Engineering Committee’s Special Wind Regions Study was completed several years ago in conjunction with SEA Oregon.

SEFW Provides Prizes

for Bridge Building Competitions

Author(s): Katie Bohocky

Structural Engineers Foundation of Washington (SEFW) will once again fund prizes for two Popsicle Stick Bridge Competitions!

First, the Mead School District’s Popsicle Stick Bridge Competition in Spokane took place on Saturday, February 22nd, 2025.

Mead School District students in Grades 5-12 were invited to participate. Using only popsicle sticks and white Elmer’s school glue, each team of one or two students were tasked to build a bridge according to the competition's rules and requirements. On competition day, each bridge was loaded with weight until it broke, then judged and scored on its efficiency (defined as the ratio of its ultimate load capacity to its own weight). Students needed to use creativity, ingenuity, and resourcefulness in order to maximize the strengths and minimize the inherent shortcomings of each material. Plaques and prizes were then awarded to the teams with the top efficiency scores! 

Check out this video from a past MSD Bridge Building Competition to get the flavor of competition day! 

Students add weights to their bridge to test its capacity at the Mead School District popsicle stick bridge competition in February, sponsored by part by SEFW. Photo courtesy Herb Ahten.

 Second, is the Seattle Section American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), Younger Member Forum (YMF) 30th Annual Popsicle Stick Bridge Competition in Seattle.

The 2025 Competition was held in person at the Museum of Flight on Saturday, March 1st, 2025. The competition was free and open to all high school students.

This was an opportunity for high school students to challenge themselves with a real-world application of math and science through an engineering exercise of building a strong, light, and aesthetically pleasing bridge using only popsicle sticks and white glue. On contest day, bridges will be loaded to see which bridge can withstand and earn a prize provided by SEFW.

Come back in March to find out the Popsicle Stick Bridge Competition winners!

March 18th, 2025 | 12:00PM - 1:00PM  

Disaster Prep/Response Committee Meeting via ZOOM

March 26th, 2025 |  5:30PM - 8:00PM  

SEAW Seattle Chapter Dinner Meeting l Swedish Club

May 2nd, 2025 |  12:00PM - 1:00PM  

Wind Engineering Committee Meeting via ZOOM

May 28th, 2025, | TBD  

SEAW SW Summer Social at the Rainiers at Cheney Stadium, Tacoma

September 15th - 19th, 2025

19WCSI at University of California Berkeley

September 25th - 26th, 2025 

SEA Northwest Conference / SEAW 75th Anniversary Celebration at DoubeTree by Hilton, Spokane

For additional SEAW event dates and information, visit SEAW Calendar Online.

Welcome New Members!

Kevin Haiar

Quanta Infrastructure Solutions Group

PE – Spokane Chapter

Kendall Marquez Vargas

University of Washington

Student – Seattle Chapter

Check out our job board for current employment opportunities.

Applying or Renewing your Membership in SEAW

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Please consider making a line-item donation to SEFW as part of your dues renewal. Special designation can be placed on the donation, so it can be applied to scholarships, disaster preparedness or research opportunities. SEFW fulfills its mission with the assistance of donations from individuals and corporations. More information on SEFW and its mission to promote structural engineering can be found at www.sefw.org. Thank you for your support!

Structural Engineers Association of Washington 

info@seaw.org | 206.338.7376 | www.seaw.org