Hello SEAOI Members,

As we enter into the new year, I wanted to take a minute to talk about the opportunities ahead of us in 2026. We as a profession continue to do great things. It’s an ever-changing profession, which is one of the things I like most about it. Every one of our projects is an exploration into how we do things, thinking about previous solutions so that this time we can do one better. In this way we are always looking to advance our profession.

Our organization’s purpose is essentially to advance our profession. We look to accomplish this by serving our professional community. We’re an advocate and voice for our members in efforts to shape policy, such as the recent NCEES exam changes. We’re a resource for our members in their efforts to grow in the profession, through the multitude of events we organize – both online and in-person. We also try to bring us all closer together as a community. There are so many incredible in-person events that SEAOI sponsors – dinner meetings, happy hours, symposia – which are all great opportunities to network, grow as professionals, and hopefully build some relationships and have a good time while you’re at it.

The beginning of the year is a time of goal setting, and resolutions. My challenge to everyone is to be involved in your profession in 2026 and thereby help to advance it. This was a challenge my mentor gave me 25 years ago, and I often think about how much more rewarding my career has been because of it. I’ve made connections and friends, expanded my knowledge base, and grown as an individual and professional.

We have such a vibrant and active professional community here, truly unlike anywhere else, and I encourage everyone to take advantage of it. Being involved means something different to every one of us. It can be something as simple as trying out a dinner meeting for the first time, or something more involved like volunteering your time. SEAOI can be a resource to help you figure out what your involvement wants to be. This isn’t meant to be a push to get involved in SEAOI (although it would be great if everyone did) but rather, a push just to get involved, and to highlight that SEAOI can help.

For those of you interested in attending events, you can visit our website to see what the upcoming offerings are. For those of you interested in participating or helping out, please reach out to anyone of us at SEAOI – we always have a need for help, and opportunities to become as little or as much involved as you would like.

These opportunities include efforts outside of SEAOI as well. One that I would like to highlight is interacting with the next generation and helping to inspire future engineers. We have chapters at local universities, and we also help with student organizations and events focused on younger students – high-school and even earlier. These events are always looking for professionals to attend and engage with the students. We need to be encouraging young people and students to be entering into our profession – this is ultimately how we ensure we are advancing our profession, by bringing talented, passionate people into it. Your efforts are critical in this endeavor and can be as simple as talking to a student. This is a passion of mine, and being on the faculty at UIUC gives me a vehicle to interact with students. I find that conversing with students always has a way of giving me a fresh outlook, a sort of recharging the batteries – I feel I get as much out of this interaction as the students do.

I hope that my message helps encourage you to try something different in 2026. For those of you who haven’t gotten involved yet, try something out. For those of you who have dipped your toes in the water, try going in waist deep. We as an organization are here to serve you. If you have any suggestions for how we can better serve you and the community, or any questions for us, please reach out to myself or the board, or Stephanie and her staff.

I wish everyone a productive and rewarding 2026!

Jim Pawlikowski, SE, LEED, AP 

President, Structural Engineers Association of Illinois