SEAMASS News & Member Briefs JUNE 2018

IN THIS ISSUE

2018 Annual Meeting Recap SEAMASS Awards 2018 Scholarship Renew Your SEAMASS Membership or Sponsorship Now Event Recap: Post-Disaster Structural Evaluation Training NCSEA-SEER Roster Management Young Members Group News & Events Member Profile: Meet Kara Kea, EIT Member Invitation: Call for PROJECTS Member Resources Career Opportunities Upcoming Event on October 18 – Save the Date

2018 Annual Meeting Recap

SEAMASS Board members, from left: Robert Kane, EIT (YMG Liaison), Aaron Ford, PE (Director), John Thomsen, PE, Ph.D, SECB (Treasurer), Bill Lovallo, PE (Vice President), David Morand, PE, SECB (President), Lisa Davey, PE (Director), Bassem Almuti, PE, LEED AP BD&C (Secretary), Ed Moll, PE (Director), Jeffrey Struble, PE (Past President), Jonathan Cowen, PE (Director). Not pictured: Directors Doug Antholz, PE and Marc Rivard, PE, SE. SEAMASS officially kicked off the new fiscal year at the 2018 SEAMASS Annual Meeting on May 23 at the UMass Lowell Inn and Conference Center. Guests enjoyed a social hour with hors d’oeuvres and cocktails, followed by a hot buffet dinner prior to the official meeting and presentation.

President David Morand, PE, SECB welcomed guests, summarized the year’s goals and achievements, and thanked all SEAMASS Board and Committee members for their service and dedication to SEAMASS. Vice President Bill Lovallo, PE praised David for his positive impact on the organization this year, and both said they look forward to a productive 2018-19.

SEAMASS Young Members Group Board members at the 2018 Annual Meeting, from left: Brian Post, PE (President) Kyle Karschner, PE (Finance Coordinator), Robert Kane, EIT (Past Chair/Adviser) Elisa Livingston, EIT (Events Coordinator), and Chelsea Hoplin, EIT (Record Keeper).  Robert Kane, EIT , outgoing Chair of the Young Members Group (YMG), recapped the group’s busy year of events, and thanked all YMG members for their participation and commitment. Incoming Chair Brian Post, PE presented Rob with a certificate of recognition for his years of service as YMG President and Record Keeper.  Kyle Karschner, PE was also recognized for his multiple terms as YMG Finance Coordinator.

Matthew Bronski, PE, FAAR , Principal at Simpson Gumpertz & Heger and winner of the 2009-10 National Endowment for the Arts Rome Prize in Historic Preservation and Conservation, presented key findings of his prize-winning Rome research project in a presentation titled, In the Footsteps of Vitruvius: Design and Construction Durability Lessons Learned from the Hands-on Study of Two Thousand Years of Historic Construction .

Mr. Bronski’s fascinating slide lecture shared his experiences with hands-on study of historic buildings in Italy, ranging from the 1st c. B.C. to early 20th c. modernism, to diagnose successes and failures in the durability of construction detailing, and to derive lessons and general principles for modern sustainable design. Discussion included the durability of ancient versus modern cast-in-place concrete construction, connections in structural timber framing and trusses, localized instabilities and consequent falling hazards in brick and stone masonry construction. Participants received 1.0 PDH credits. View the 2018-19 SEAMASS Board of Directors

SEAMASS Awards 2018 Scholarship

SEAMASS is pleased to present the 2018 scholarship winner, Meghan Cavalier, a Civil Engineering student from Billerica who will enter her senior year at UMass Lowell this fall. Pictured: Civil engineering student Meghan Cavalier accepts a $5,000 award check from SEAMASS Vice President Bill Lovallo, PE.

About the SEAMASS Scholarship Winner, Megan Cavalier Megan first became interested in engineering at Billerica High School when she enrolled in an engineering course in the math department. Her lab experience made a lasting impression when she was exposed to design activities such as robotics and 3-D modeling. Her track activities in high school first took her to UMass Lowell where she became interested in what the campus had to offer. Once accepted into the university’s School of Engineering, Meagan was eager to embark on her studies, not yet knowing what engineering discipline would focus her interest. She met her first formative professor in a freshman class, when Professor Donald Leitch was teaching Strength of Materials, and he captured her interest in Civil Engineering.  Meghan continues to be mentored by Professor Leitch as she enters her senior year, and she looks forward to classes in steel design, water resources, and construction management. Read more SEAMASS is proud to continue its scholarship program for students pursuing structural engineering careers.

Renew your SEAMASS Membership or Sponsorship Now

The new SEAMASS fiscal year began on June 1, and all members are reminded to RENEW their membership if they haven’t already done so.  Renewal is Quick and Easy - Please take a moment to do it now! Simply click here to briefly update your contact info and pay for your 2018-19 membership.  This link also provides an option to bundle your membership with a SEAMASS Sponsorship , for just $300 more (less than $1/day) for Professional and Business-level sponsorships. Corporate Sponsorships are also available for $1,200/yr. View the benefits of each sponsor level on the How to Get Listed page of seamass.org. Thank you in advance for your cooperation and support of SEAMASS.

Post-Disaster Structural Evaluation Training Recap by Jeffrey W. Struble, PE | Principal, Struble Engineering, LLC

The SEAMASS Post Disaster Building Safety Assessment (SAP) Training seminar on April 23rd was a great success. 74 participants received instruction on how to rapidly evaluate structures after catastrophic events such as earthquakes, high winds and floods for use by emergency management personnel. Three speakers rotated to the podium throughout the full-day event to present case studies and outline the procedures required of Second Responders who volunteer to participate in that capacity.  NCSEA’s Scott Nacheman, PE and local instructors Michael Fillion, PE, SECB and David Grandpre, PE worked from the training manual published by the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal-OES) and the Applied Technology Council’s field manuals ATC-20-1 (Earthquakes) and ATC-45 (Wind and Floods) to indoctrinate the attentive crowd in the services they would be expected to perform. Each enrolled participant received copies of all three manuals to keep for later reference.

NCSEA’s Scott Nacheman, PE and local instructors Michael Fillion, PE, SECB and David Grandpre, PE worked from the training manual published by the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal-OES) and the Applied Technology Council’s field manuals ATC-20-1 (Earthquakes) and ATC-45 (Wind and Floods) to indoctrinate the attentive crowd in the services they would be expected to perform. Each enrolled participant received copies of all three manuals to keep for later reference.

Several building officials from around the State attended and brought a fresh perspective to the many discussions that occurred concerning emergency property evaluation. The instructors appreciated the high level of participant interest, which made for a lively day at the Kostas Center in Burlington. As a consequence of this training, 68 of the participants opted to sign up as official SAP Evaluators. They will be listed for five years on a roster in the Cal-OES office as available volunteer-responders to emergency events. Many states draw from this roster - soon including Massachusetts, hopefully. Forms were filled out and signed by the instructors confirming completion of the training and ID photos were taken to send to California for badges that will be produced for each individual to use when called upon to volunteer. Another such training session is being contemplated for the fall, perhaps during the Architecture Boston Expo (ABX) event in November. This event could be sponsored by the newly-emerging Task Force of Architects and Engineers Emergency Responders (AEER) that meets monthly to organize itself as a formal entity that will present its services to MEMA as on-call second responders. Stay tuned to future issue of SEAMASS News for AEER news and training events.

NCSEA - SEER Roster Management by Michael Fillion, PE, SECB | Principal, Fillion Group, Inc.

Recently, NCSEA & the International Code Council (ICC) signed an agreement to join forces regarding NCSEA’s Structural Engineering Emergency Response (SEER) Second Responder Roster, to create a single database between the two organizations of volunteers willing and able to quickly and effectively serve when disaster strikes. In the aftermath of Hurricanes Harvey & Irma in 2017, 75 Second Responders were deployed from the database to assist in damage and safety assessments.

As of 2014, more than 118 people were CAL-OES SAP certified professionals in Massachusetts. Many of those certified in MA, however, are not on the newly formed NCSEA/ICC roster. It has been observed that communities that react quickly, recover quickly.  By joining the roster, you can ensure that if disaster strikes in Massachusetts or neighboring States, we will be better prepared to act quickly & effectively. Joining the roster also ensures that you will receive volunteer request notices. Last fall, I received nationally-distributed requests to volunteer in Florida, Texas & Puerto Rico. Volunteers traveled from as far as Washington State & Oregon in response to the Florida disaster.

Your efforts to become certified are very much appreciated and we ask for your help in building the Roster. Visit www.ncsea-seer.com to easily add your name. Please feel free to email me with any questions. Regionally, the NECSEA (Northeast Coalition of Structural Engineers Associations) has developed a SEER/AEER contact list with representatives from each of the Northeast States, including New England States, New York, and Pennsylvania. The goal is to better-unite the Northeast Region should a disaster occur.

Young Members Group News & Events

The SEAMASS Young Members Group (YMG) continues to grow and enhance the SEAMASS membership community.  Member Support & Professional Development: In 2017-18 the group facilitated several events and site tours designed to benefit all SEAMASS and YMG members. Recent events included an Intro to the SE/PE Exam night, as well as Tours of the Wynn Casino site, and the Boston Sand & Gravel plant. Industry Support: The SEAMASS YMG will be using its $2,000 grant from NCSEA to supply the local Boston ACE Mentor Program with new computers and equipmen t. Learn more: Visit the SEAMASS YMG Page of seamass.org to view recent events and see biographies of the 2018-19 YMG Board of Directors and Committee Chairs, who volunteer their time and talent to lead and shape the group’s future.

Member Profile: Meet Kara Kea, EIT

Kara Kea, EIT is an Associate II with more than 3 years of experience in forensic engineering. She currently works for Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc. in Boston, Massachusetts. She earned a Master of Science in Civil Engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Kara has answered the questions below, so we may get to know her. Thank you, Kara, for your contributions to SEAMASS and the Structural Engineering profession!

Q: Why did you join SEAMASS? A: I joined SEAMASS because I wanted to become involved with a professional organization that exposed me to interesting technical issues and allowed me to get to know my engineering peers in the Boston area. Q: Describe a project that you’re involved with. A: I’ve been fortunate enough to have been involved with a variety of projects while working at WJE, so I can’t pick just one. I will say that my favorite type of projects usually involve work with our Difficult Access Team, which allows me to repel down structures for observation, failure investigations, and vibration monitoring and related design issues. I’m currently working on a project at Symphony Plaza Towers, where we are designing, testing, and monitoring the installation of epoxy-adhered supplemental anchors for existing mineral fiber cement panels. The project involves modeling the existing cement panels and anchorage to determine loads on the existing and supplemental anchors. Q: As an engineer, what accomplishments are you most proud of? A: I’m proud of how much I have grown as an engineer over the past few years working with WJE. I’ve had the opportunity to work on projects that allow me to collaborate with other engineers from around the country. I think that exposure to different types of people and projects is a valuable asset that can significantly impact your career.  Q: How do you spend your free time? A: In my free time I enjoy working on my house, brunching, biking, reading, and listening/playing music.

MEMBER INVITATION: Call For PROJECTS to be featured in SEAMASS News & Web

All SEAMASS members are encouraged to submit projects for the Project Spotlight feature section of SEAMASS News, as well as promotion on the SEAMASS website. Following the successful Spotlight Projects Seminar last fall, the SEAMASS Board of Directors invites members to submit spotlight projects to highlight in future issues of SEAMASS News and on seamass.org. Types of construction projects must be designed by structural engineers in the SEAMASS region, and can range from small to large, and be located anywhere in the world. Of particular interest are projects that will attract the attention of the structural engineering community and engage them to learn about a project. For example, a spotlight project should include something relatively unique, such as unusual structural, construction, or architectural features, or out-of-the-box structural design approaches and detailing solutions. If you have a project to submit for recognition, please contact Bassem Almuti at balmuti@cannondesign.com .

SEAMASS & NCSEA Member Resources

New Resources Added to SEAMASS.org website The News & Resources page of seamass.org now features three Construction Control Documents per the 9 th Edition Massachusetts State Building Code, for members’ reference and use. Templates include Initial, Progress, and Final version documents.   Free NCSEA Communication Webinars NCSEA monthly Communication Webinars are free for all NCSEA Members. Past Communication Webinars can be viewed on the NCSEA Member Portal by visiting the SEA Resources tab with your login information.   How to Log In and Access Your NCSEA Benefits The Member Login section in the right-hand corner of the NCSEA web site is an opportunity for all SEAMASS Members to take advantage of no-cost access to NCSEA's Member Portal, the members-only section of the web site. If you’ve logged in before, the login process has not changed. If you have never logged in , click on Member Login, type the e-mail address you used when joining or renewing your SEAMASS membership, and the (case-sensitive) password NCSEA1234. First-time users will be asked to create a new password.   Once logged in, you can take advantage of benefits such as access to STRUCTURE Magazine, ICC publication discounts, NCSEA Committee minutes, and more.

Career Opportunities

Engineers Design Group, Inc. Seeks Candidates for These Positions:

Senior Structural Engineer Full-time, Registered Structural Engineer with 5-10 years’ experience and a PE Registration.  View Full Position Description Structural Engineer Full-time, Structural Engineer with 2 to 5 years' experience. Candidates with a professional license or pursuing professional licensing are encouraged to apply.  View Full Position Description

This section is a benefit to SEAMASS Sponsors . Email SEAMASS Secretary Bassem Almuti with a brief description (and/or a PDF or link to a description on your website) for consideration of publishing in SEAMASS News.

Upcoming Event: OCTOBER 18 - Save the Date

Please save the date of October 18 for a presentation by Scott F. Wolter, PG, founder and president of American Petrographic Services in St. Paul, MN.  Scott is highly recognized as a materials forensic geologist, professional petrographer, and host of America Unearthed, which airs on the History Channel. Full details are forthcoming, and will also be posted on the SEAMASS Meetings & Events Calendar

ANNUAL CORPORATE SPONSORS

SEAMASS is grateful to these Annual Corporate Sponsors for their support and Dedication to our Organization Click logos to view websites