SEFW again supported the ASCE Popsicle Stick Bridge Competition, contributing to the budget for prizes for the virtual event. In 2022, SEFW continued to support the active SEAW Outreach Committee, which facilitated outreach opportunities across the state.
To celebrate the anniversary of the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair, SEFW actively shared the SEFW-produced documentary and other World’s Fair structural engineering facts in an online World’s Fair memories group, in an email campaign, and among high school STEM classes. The film “Structural Engineers of the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair” had 160 views in just a few months in 2022! View the documentary on Vimeo.
SEFW provided one scholarship to each SEAW chapter to send a YMG professional to the NCSEA Summit in Chicago. One member said, “As a first-time attendee, I was excited to participate in a national conference and learn from practitioners across the country. Networking and sharing knowledge with YMG counterparts from New York, Washington DC, Missouri, and many other states was a highly valuable and enriching experience.” Additionally, most of the attendees also got to experience the impressive architecture and engineering of the Windy City, like Tanner (left), who journeyed to the top of the John Hancock Building!
SEFW continues to provide majority funding for the SEAW Scholarship Awards Program. In 2022, four candidates were awarded $15,000 total in funds. The SEAW program has presented $220,500 to 83 structural engineering students since 1985.
Levi Arnold (Colbert, WA): BSCE Gonzaga, MSCE WSU
Andrew Hodge (Wenatchee, WA): BSCE/MSCE Cal Poly
Katrina Springer (Woodinville, WA): BSCE Gonzaga, MSCE Stanford
Benjamin Terry (Sammamish, WA): BSCE UW, MSCE UW
After one final request to close a funding gap with SEAO (Oregon), SEFW made a supplemental $7,500 donation to the SEAW Special Wind Regions study. Recommendations identified from the study will be published in a White Paper in early 2023 and submitted for adoption by the Washington State Building Code Council (and eventually ASCE 7 and the IBC).
The 12th Fall Forum, “Focus on the Footprint: Making Strides in Building Sustainably,” reached 200+ people (in 8 states!) in a hybrid event from Town Hall Seattle. Keynote speaker Kate Simonen moderated a panel of four A/E/C sustainability professionals about embodied carbon reduction efforts in the built environment. The lecture can be seen on Vimeo.
Melissa Verwest, incoming Chair
Jared Plank, incoming Director
Melissa Verwest of Knife River is the new chair of SEFW, assuming the role from Craig Roberts of CT Engineering who served for 3 years. Cale Ash of Degenkolb and Peter Somers of Magnusson Klemencic Associates will serve as Vice Chairs. Joining the Board for 2023 is Jared Plank of PCS Structural Solutions, the first SEFW Board member from the SEAW Southwest Chapter.
2022 Income
2022 Expenditures
The above graphs outline SEFW’s breakdown of contributions/income and expenditures for 2022. The Board continues to utilize a separate account, funded 100% by Board donations, to support SEFW-related expenditures not directly related to programs, such as Board retreats or social functions. Individual and corporate donations are used exclusively to support the SEFW mission. “Special projects” include fees to redesign the SEFW website, which will be complete in early 2023.