To read the full article with more details on the suggestions, please click here.
I highly recommend subscribing to Craig’s blog (there is no cost) and he has some great suggestions.

by Lisa Willard, PE

Recently my daughter was brought into the School Counselor’s office to discuss something that had happened in one of her classes between two other students. She was telling me about it that evening, and after going over the entire situation, I told her that I had 3 rules for her to help her be successful in school (and hopefully life!).

1. Be kind

2. Don’t be part of the problem

3. If you have a problem, try to solve it yourself, if you can

A few days after this conversation, I was thumbing through Jeffrey Gitomer’s Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude, and I ran across a page titled, “How can I be more positive at work?” I have written about the Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude before on our SE University Blog .  I appreciate the idea of having a positive, or YES! Attitude; I believe that people generally want to be around those who are positive, and this can lead to new opportunities. I was encouraged to read from his list of 12.5 Attitude Actions the following items that mirrored my rules for my daughter:

Be kind

3. Be willing to do for others without measuring

4. Be willing to help others without measuring

Don’t be part of the problem

7. Don’t join the bashing

8. Don’t join the pity party

9. Don’t join the revolt

If you have a problem, try to solve it yourself, if you can

10. Solve, rather than complain

If you’d like a chance to read the rest of this list (it’s on page 101), tell us one of your Attitude Actions for being more positive at work (or school) in the comments below. We’ll select one person at random, who’ll receive a copy of the Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude.

In an effort to “Pay It Forward,” SE University is happy to announce our “SEU Speaker Inspires” program in which our speakers can designate a charity/organization of their choice for SE University to make a donation to help improve our world.

Dave K. Adams
BWE

In February 2016, Dave K. Adams, SE, from BWE gave a talk on Ethics for Structural Engineers: Lessons in Negligence and Incompetence for SE University. He chose the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) Structural Engineering Scholarship Fund (https://giveto.ucsd.edu/ – giving option 2337), for the donation of the month. This fund assists undergraduate students studying structural engineering in the Jacobs School of Engineering.

Dave chose UCSD for his SEU Speaker Inspires donation because he would like to help make it possible for more students to attend UCSD and study structural engineering.

Thank you, Dave, for helping structural engineers with your SE University session, and for your designation of the UCSD Structural Engineering Scholarship Fund as our SEU Speaker Inspires Organization of the Month!

In an effort to “Pay It Forward,” SE University is happy to announce our “SEU Speaker Inspires” program in which our speakers can designate a charity/organization of their choice for SE University to make a donation to help improve our world.

Emily Guglielmo, SE Martin/Martin, Inc.

In November 2015, Emily Guglielmo, SE, from Martin/Martin, Inc., gave a talk on Clarifying Frequently Misunderstood Seismic Provisions for SE University. She chose the UCLA Civil Engineering Department (www.cee.ucla.edu), where she earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering, for the donation of the month.

Emily said the following about UCLA Civil and Environmental Engineering, “UCLA CEE gave me an excellent background in civil engineering and a launching pad to specializing in structures. The professors were excellent mentors who helped guide me through college and into the field of engineering.”

Thank you, Emily, for helping structural engineers with your SE University session, and for your designation of the UCLA Civil Engineering Department as our SEU Speaker Inspires Organization of the Month!

I found several helpful tips in the podcast.  To access the podcast, please click here.

by Cathleen Jacinto, SE, PE

How can an engineering office ensure it is a place where its employees love what they do?

Those who have chosen to be structural engineers, as with many other professions, are inspired. They persevere through academia and licensure examinations for a reason. Many times, they have a passion to contribute to the built environment.

Do your engineers currently still feel the same amount of inspiration and perseverance that they did when they first began their careers? Are they still doing the work they love? If not, when did you notice a shift? The Ted talk discussed in last month’s newsletter titled “How to Find Work You Love” by Scott Dinsmore was a great reminder to check in and ask these questions. If the answer to any of the above questions was no, how can we cultivate the inspiration and motivation that was likely inherent in many of us at the beginning of our careers?

Below are a few potential ideas to ‘jumpstart’ motivation and positive morale in an engineering office. While some may require a financial investment, some are very simple to implement without any cost.

1. “Which projects do you want to work on?” Believe it or not, many engineers are not asked this question. Remember that we do what we do because we are inspired. Listen to what inspires your team members, and you may be surprised by how well they do in what they love to do.
2. Does each employee have adequate resources to do their job? If you hold an engineer accountable for a role, do they have the means and appropriate authority to execute? For example, if they are expected to manage a project, do they participate in staffing and budget decisions as needed to fulfill their role?
3. Regular team meetings: Clear communication regarding workload, tasks, and timelines should be transparent within a team. Effective weekly meetings are a great platform to confirm project delivery and to foster input from team members in making sound decisions.
4.  Complete execution of employee annual reviews: An honest conversation between an employer and employee, and follow-through on the talking points are essential. It is best to be in constant open communication throughout the year, but with busy schedules or different personality traits, this may not always occur. The annual review is the set time when employees and employers speak openly and constructively. Both parties taking action on agreed plans is equally as important in developing a clear career path.
5. Celebrate as goals are achieved: Recognition and the power of ‘thank you’ is highly motivating and creates mutual respect within a team. Timing is also key. It should be a priority to show appreciation to team members immediately after a deadline where individuals have gone above and beyond.
6.  Mentor programs: Mentoring is an effective way to switch interpersonal relationships from possibly non-communicative to teaching and fostering. One way this can be done is to pair a senior engineer with a younger engineer where they are able to meet for work lunches. Is there an engineer who has inspired you? Do you seek to be that person for another?
7. Offer opportunities for additional learning: Provide a variety of ways for staff to continually learn as a structural engineer, even if the learning is in areas outside of your typical project types. This can lead to a boost in morale as engineers know that their companies are investing in them. There are a wide variety of learning opportunities readily available to structural engineers.

We hope that the ideas presented above provide some ways to motivate your team, and make a difference in your office.

“Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you plant.”- Robert Louis Stevenson

We would love to hear of ways your office has been able to make positive strides!

SE Solutions was pleased to recently present scholarships to three Purdue Structures students to help defray the cost of their education. Aishwarya Puranam, Lucas Laughery and Francisco Pena were the recipients of the awards. This is the fourth year that SE Solutions has offered the scholarships.

Purdue University SE Solutions Structures Scholarship Winners (l to r): Aishwarya Puranam, Lucas Laughery,
and Francisco Pena

Aishwarya Puranam, an International student from Hyderabad, India, received her BSCE from Purdue University, and she will be finishing her MSCE this May (2016). She plans to continue on towards a PhD; her graduate research is on reinforcement limits in reinforced concrete flexural elements such as slabs, beams, and walls with regular and high-strength steel reinforcement.

Lucas Laughery received his BS degrees in civil engineering and architectural engineering from Missouri S&T in 2012. In 2013 he earned his MSCE from Purdue University with an emphasis on structural engineering. His doctoral thesis focuses on the seismic response of reinforced concrete (RC) frames containing high-strength longitudinal steel. For this, he conducted 20 tests of RC frames on an earthquake simulator. Lucas will finish his PhD this spring or summer.

Francisco Pena received his BSCE from Universidad del Valle at Cali-Colombia. He finished his MSCE last August (2015) with a 3.9 GPA at Purdue. He currently is working on a doctoral thesis related to developing a fragility analysis of structures subjected to ground motions in a rapid manner using limited computational resources.

Francisco was motivated to focus his study on mitigating and recovering structures from the damage caused by natural hazards because around 85% of the population of Colombia lives in areas of intermediate to high seismic risk. For this reason, he has been involved in the study of different alternatives for the rehabilitation of structures. Francisco plans to return to Colombia as soon as he finishes with his PhD, since this study has been funded by his government.

In an effort to “Pay It Forward,” SE University is happy to announce our “SEU Speaker Inspires” program in which our speakers can designate a charity/organization of their choice for SE University to make a donation to help improve our world.

Janel Miller
University of Wisconsin – Madison

In August 2015, Janel Miller from University of Wisconsin – Madison gave a talk on Designing Slides for Effective Project Presentations. She chose the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (http://www.lls.org) for her SEU Speaker Inspires donation.

Thank you, Janel, for helping structural engineers with your SE University session, and for your designation of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society as our SEU Speaker Inspires Organization of the Month!

In an effort to “Pay It Forward,” SE University is happy to announce our “SEU Speaker Inspires” program in which our speakers can designate a charity/organization of their choice for SE University to make a donation to help improve our world.

Mike Mota, PhD, PE
CRSI

In December 2015, Mike Mota, PhD, PE from CRSI gave a talk on Vibration of Reinforced Concrete Floor Systems. He chose the Delaware Valley Association of Structural Engineers (DVASE – http://www.dvase.org) for his SEU Speaker Inspires donation*.

Mike said the following about DVASE, “DVASE offers a forum through educational activities for the advancement of the structural engineering profession in the Delaware Valley.”

Thank you, Mike, for helping structural engineers with your SE University session, and for your designation of DVASE as our SEU Speaker Inspires Organization of the Month!

*As DVASE cannot accept charitable donations, SE University purchased a supporting sponsorship to DVASE to contribute through the SEU Speaker Inspires program.

by Sam Rubenzer, PE, SE

Recently I listened to Scott Dinsmore’s TEDx Talk, “How to Find Work You Love“, and could not help but think about how it could guide so many structural engineers and others in the Architecture and Engineering world. The talk defines how we need to figure out what work we truly want to do, then inspires us to pursue it.

One of Dinsmore’s closing thoughts is, “What is the work that you can’t not do?” This talk was certainly inspirational. Some of the ideas promoted from Live Your Legend are not always as sound (some I would outright disagree with), but I think there are several things to learn from the video. And the essence of the talk is a great stimulus for positive changes in your career. Also, the video stops just short of another important question to me which is so much larger than our specific career, “how do we have a career within our life or do we live in our career?” What type of projects do we pursue? Who do we work with? What is the purpose for why we are working in the first place?

• What types of jobs do we work on? Big and small, for profit and not for profit?
  • By far, the most rewarding project I have worked on was a small roof system meant for some of the world’s poorest people. It was a collaborative effort to create both an affordable and a buildable shelter. Yes, there have been much more challenging and intellectually difficult projects. However, the small roof system was the most meaningful. Solving a complex roof system, understanding the true response to dynamic lateral loads, while considering the limited resources to build a robust structure in remote areas of the world was very challenging. However, to me, it was most fulfilling to create a design that would radically improve lives of people with limited resources. Much of our work can be categorized into improving people’s “wants”; this was improving people’s true “need” for a safe home.
• What project stands out as most fulfilling to you? Can you set a goal to pursue more projects that inspire you?
  • If you’re like me and you are interested in more work in developing communities, you might find out it’s not always possible to choose those project types within your current organization. There are other non-profit companies that may work on the projects you would like to impact. It’s likely your organization supports employees working with these non-profit companies. A few examples are Engineers Without Borders, Engineering Ministries International, or Build Change.
• How did you come to do what you do?
  • As engineers, I believe we likely all started out as problem solvers with a sense of responsibility to provide safe designs for people in our community – a basis of engineering ethics. Has this initial motivation morphed into only considering profit margins and retaining business? Both are important, but these two philosophies can become opposing forces. I think the recent economic woes certainly make this more challenging. We can not lose sight of our original purpose, passion, and ethics.
• Who you work with (this includes all colleagues, including your boss)? How do they impact your success? Do they want you to succeed as much or more than their individual success?
  • Find those people that inspire you and support you. Surround yourself with them.
    • Mentor programs within a firm is a great way to build strong relationships and morale within teams
    • Becoming involved in the greater SE community also allows you to meet people that inspire and support you, such as local chapters of SEA, ASCE, SEI, or code committees.
• Who we work for: For me, this is an easy question as I am a man of faith, a husband to my beautiful wife, a father of three incredible children, an active community member, and I strive to be an active contributor to the global profession of structural engineers. For you, it might be slightly different, but ask yourself who you work for and why you work. This question alone inspires me to want to do my best at my company and in all those that I work for and with. Scott Dinsmore closes his talk by stating:

“I imagine a world where 80% of the world loved the work they do. What would that look like? What would the innovation be like? How would you treat those around you?… Ask yourself what is the work you can’t not do. Discover that. Live it. Not just for you but for all those around you.”

Recently, I read NCSEA President Brian Dekker’s article, “What on Earth is NCSEA Here For?” He talks about the goal for an organization meant to serve structural engineers. It caused me to ask, why am I a structural engineer? What am I here for, working in this engineering profession? I believe answering that question will guide me, and you, to live your structural engineering legends.

Sam Rubenzer, PE, SE,  is Structural Engineer and Founder of FORSE Consulting.  See www.forseconsulting.com.

Also contributing to this article are Cathleen Jacinto, PE, SE, and Stephanie Fontaine, both with FORSE Consulting.