The Structural Engineers Foundation is an independent, non-profit charitable organization dedicated to one goal: the advancement of structural engineering. To attain this goal, and thus prepare for tomorrow's horizons, the SEF has committed itself to sponsoring and funding scholarships, lectures, awards, publications and research - all aimed at improving structural engineers and structural engineering.

Read the Corporate Membership Letter, and download the Response Form to support SEF today!

Thanks to our 2016 Executive Members:

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

And to our Affiliate Member: 

 

 

SEF Board of Directors

James Pawlikowski, President
Nihar Shah, Vice President
James Hauck, Treasurer
Adam G. Theiss, Secretary
Homa Ghaemi
Bruce Kaskel
Andrew Keaschall
Jeremy Kirk
Tony F. Shkurti
John Viise
Chelsea Zdawczyk

 

SEF Scholarship Awards

The Foundation strongly believes that the future of structural engineering depends on today's students. Without them and their vision, there literally is no future for our profession. The Structural Engineers Foundation is privileged to provide merit-based tuition scholarships to encourage undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in structural engineering programs. 

Four scholarship categories are available:

  • Undergraduate engineering scholarship, for students who will be entering the third or above year of an undergraduate program during the 2017-2018 academic year.
  • Graduate engineering scholarship, intended for students who will be entering or continuing a graduate program during the 2017-2018 academic year.
  • Max Zar Scholarship, awarded to an outstanding student pursuing his or her engineering studies in the State of Illinois
  • Rubinos-Mesia Scholarship, named for Teresa Mesia Rubinos and Jacinto Rubinos, awarded to an outstanding engineering student of Hispanic descent.

For all categories, applicants must be currently enrolled in good standing in a civil engineering program or architectural engineering program at a recognized university in the United States and plan to continue with a structural engineering specialization. 

For more information and to apply, download the complete SEF Scholarship Information & Application form today! 

Applications must be received by Friday, April 28, 2017. 

SEF Research Grant

The Structural Engineers Foundation (SEF) is proud to offer a grant to partially fund research efforts in the structural engineering or related fields for the 2016-2017 academic year.  The SEF recognizes the importance of research to the future of the structural engineering field and profession, and offers this grant to provide assistance in a selected research endeavor.  The offered grant is a one-time, fixed sum of $2500. 

Congratulations to Alok Deshpande, Recipient of the 2016-2017 Research Grant!

Alok Deshpande completed his undergraduate education in Civil Engineering from the College of Engineering, Pune (India) in 2010, and earned a Master’s degree in Civil Engineering, with a specialization in Structural Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2011. Immediately following graduate school, he started working at Leslie E. Robertson Associates (LERA) in New York and Mumbai, where I worked on the design of tall and supertall buildings in Mumbai. From 2014 to 2015, he was a project officer at the Structural Engineering Laboratory at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, where he worked on the development of a book and tools to perform improved nonlinear analysis and design of reinforced concrete buildings. Currently, he is pursuing a PhD in Structural and Earthquake Engineering at the University at Buffalo, where he studies the seismic behavior of reinforced concrete walls that have been subjected to elevated temperatures. Mr. Deshpande's research interests are in analysis and design of reinforced concrete structures, earthquake engineering and advanced concrete materials.

Polymer fiber-reinforced concretes demonstrate better mechanical behavior than conventional concretes at ambient conditions. More recent studies have demonstrated that this improvement also extends to increased durability and better fire resistance. However, owing to a lack of systematic studies targeting the bond behavior of such materials with rebar at elevated temperatures, it is not clear whether the improved behavior of such materials extends to an improved bond performance at both ambient and elevated temperatures. An experimental program has been designed to study this topic at two scales – material and member. Pullout tests of rebar embedded in concrete cylinders and flexure tests of rectangular concrete beams will be executed to obtain data and study bond-slip behavior. The goal of the project is to develop a simple expression to account for the reduction in bond strength with increasing temperature, suitable for inclusion in design codes. Different mixes of conventional and fiber-reinforced concretes (made using polymer and steel fibers) will be studied. The study will supplement the project team’s ongoing efforts to study the effect of elevated temperature on the performance of reinforced concrete components.



 

SEF ACTIVITIES

Scholarships:

The Foundation strongly believes that the future of structural engineering depends on today's students. Without them and their vision, there literally is no future for our profession. The Structural Engineers Foundation is privileged to provide merit tuition scholarships to encourage undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in structural engineering programs. 

Sponsored Lectures

The Structural Engineers Foundation sponsors lectures in April and November designed to broaden the mind and heighten awareness of excellence in structural engineering. Foundation-sponsored lectures by prominent leaders in the field of structural engineering keep attendees informed with vital cutting-edge information.

Awards

SEF bestows awards and honors to recognize outstanding achievements. The John F. Parmer Award is presented annually by SEF and SEAOI. This award, in recognition of lifelong contributions in the field of structural engineering, is presented to an individual whose distinguished career is acknowledged by his or her peers to be an example of excellence.

Research

SEF understands the importance of research, knowing that it advances our profession by broadening its horizons and expanding our knowledge base. The Foundation offers grants to support graduate and post-graduate research projects. 

James J. Pawlikowski, President

Position: Associate Director, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, LLP

Education: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, M.S. Architecture (Structures Option)

Licensure: S.E., Illinois; LEED

Societies: SEAOI, CCHRB, ASCE,

Nihar Shar, Vice President

Position: Senior Engineer, RME, Inc.

Education: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, B.S. Civil Engineering, M.S. Civil Engineering

Licensure: P.E., Illinois

Societies: SEAOI, ASCE


Adam G. Theiss , Secretary

Position: Associate, Magnusson Klemencic Associates

Education: University of Washington, M.S. Civil Engineering; Lawrence University B.A. Physics; Washington University in St. Louis, B.S. Civil Engineering

Licensure: S.E., Illinois; P.E., California

Societies: SEAOI


Homa Ghaemi

Position: Chief Operating Officer / Principal, Klein and Hoffman, Inc.

Education: Northwestern University,Kellogg School of Management, M.B.A.; The Ohio State University, M.S. Civil / Structural Engineering; The Ohio State University, B.S. Civil Engineering

Licensure: S.E., Illinois, NE and NV P.E., Illinois, DC, DE, FL, GA, IA, IN, MD, MI, MN, MO, NJ, NY, OH, PA, TX, VA, and WI

Societies: SEAOI, AISC, ACI, Village of Wilmette Historic Preservation Commission

Bruce Kaskel

Position: Principal, Wiss Janney Elstner Associates, Inc.

Education: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, B.S. Architectural Studies; University of Illinois, Chicago, M.Arch, Structures Option

Licensure: S.E., Illinois, Architect in CO, IA, IL, MI, and WI, LEED

Societies: SEAOI, ASTM International, ISCC

Andrew J. Keaschall

Position: Vice President: Structural Group Manager, Alfred Benesch and Company

Education: University of Illinois, B.S. Civil Engineering, M.S. Civil Engineering

Licensure: S.E., Illinois; P.E., Illinois, IA, NE, IN

Societies: SEAOI, ASCE, SEI, PTI, IRTBA

Jeremy Kirk

Position: Project Engineer, Forefront Structural Engineers

Education: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, M.Eng.; Geneva College, B.S.E.

Licensure: S.E., Illinois; P.E., Illinois

Societies: SEAOI, ASCE

Tony F. Shkurti (SEAOI President-Elect)

Position: Principal Engineer, HNTB Corporation 

Education: University of Tirana, Albania, B.S.; Wayne State University, M.S.; University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Ph.D. 

Licensure: S.E., Illinois; P.E., Illinois, MI, MN, OH, WI

Societies: SEAOI, ASCE, AISC, PPCI 

John Viise

Position: Associate Principal, Thornton Tomasetti

Education: University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, M.S. Civil Engineering; Virginia Tech, B.S. Mechanical Engineering

Licensure: S.E., Illinois; P.E., Illinois, SCEng, MIStructE, LEED AP

Societies: SEAOI, ASCE, ACI, IStructE

Chelsea Zdawczyk

Position: Senior Structural Engineer, Arup

Education: Cornell University, B.S. Civil Engineering; UCLA, M. Arch.; Princeton University, M.S. Structural Engineering

Licensure: P.E., Illinois

Societies: SEAOI, ASCE

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