Recent News

ARCE Students Place Second in EERI Seismic Design Competition

March 2nd-6th 2020

A team of Cal Poly architectural engineering (ARCE) students placed second in the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI) Seismic Design Competition (SDC) in early March in San Diego.

The Cal Poly team competed against 46 other university teams from throughout the U.S. and countries such as Canada, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Malaysia, Mexico, Turkey and Romania.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Cal Poly team’s months-long preparation involved writing a design proposal; constructing a 5-foot-tall balsa-wood model to survive two shake-table ground motions; refining computer simulations to accurately predict the model’s performance; and developing communication materials, including a poster and oral presentation. Their efforts led to a second-place award for presentation and poster, third in proposal, and fifth for architecture.

Fourteen students were accompanied by ARCE Assistant Professor Anahid Behrouzi, Cal Poly’s EERI student chapter faculty advisor. Of this group, 12 undergraduates participated in the competition. Jenna Williams, graduate student and, past EERI seismic design competition team captain, served as this year’s chair. Students Alejandra Bravo and Nicholas Slavin presented research with Behrouzi during a talk titled “Leveraging ArcGIS Mapping: Investigation of Concrete Building Damage after 2017 Mexico Earthquake.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Our Top 10 performance in the competition sub-categories led to significant bonus points for our team,” Behrouzi said. “The students’ quality construction and the model’s outstanding seismic performance under shake-table testing helped the team rank second overall.”

In conjunction with the competition, team members Autumn Wagner and Ryan Millward coordinated office tours to three firms — longtime Cal Poly supporters were KNA Structural Engineers in Irvine and LPA and KPFF in San Diego — for discussions on their recent projects involving novel seismic design solutions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sponsors of the Cal Poly team included: John A. Martin & Associates, KNA Structural Engineers, Harris & Sloan, FTF Engineering, the Cal Poly Instructionally Related Activities program, and the ARCE Department.

Technical advisors included Behrouzi and other ARCE faculty members Peter Laursen, Graham Archer, Kevin Dong, and John Lawson; Civil Engineering faculty and staff members Robert Moss, Charles Chadwell, and Xi Shen; and industry members David Cocke of Structural Focus and Alex Mueller of KPFF.

Cal Poly has participated in the EERI Seismic Design Competition since 2007 — taking first out of 19 teams in 2009 and placing second out of 28 teams in 2011.

30th Annual Structural Forum

February 8th 2019

The 30th annual Structural Forum took place on February 8th, 2020. Structural Forum Chair, Doug McArthur, along with the members of the Structural Forum Committee worked extremely hard to organize this incredible event. This year’s theme was Designing Visions, Building Reality. At the morning portion, guest speaker Erin Andes spoke about her specialty in building enclosure consulting in order to achieve durable, watertight, and energy efficient building enclosures. Brian Katz, Senior Managing Engineer with Hinman, gave a speech about his work on the assessment of risk and resilience to extreme event mitigation and management planning. Troy Morgan of Exponent in New York, spoke about his work on sophisticated techniques and applications of advanced seismic protective systems.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the evening portion, students mingled and engaged with industry professionals during the resume-free career fair at the Madonna Inn. After the career fair was a delicious three course meal where students and industry professionals were able to celebrate the evening and the future of the profession. During dinner, Mark Guberman, Design Partner at Foster + Partners and Keynote Speaker, gave a speech about the importance of interdisciplinary work between Architects, Engineers, and Construction Managers. Following the evening portion of Structural Forum, attendees were invited to continue the events of the night in a more informal setting at an after party in downtown San Luis Obispo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Structural Forum is the most common way current ARCE students find their internships and jobs, because it allows them to get to know professionals based on their interaction, not just their resume. Structural Forum is one of many excellent resources Cal Poly ARCE students have to expand their networks, make connections that will benefit their future, and inspire their drive and passion for the structural engineering profession.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To learn more about Structural Forum follow this link!

To view more photos of the event click here!

Fall 2019 Order of the Engineer Ceremony

December 14th 2019

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The ARCE Department conducted its most intimate Order of the Engineer ceremony ever in conjunction with the Fall Commencement on December 14th. ARCE graduates David Hsu and Joseph Martin were both inducted into the Order as they signed an oath to serve the public and Department Head Al Estes placed stainless steel rings on the pinkie fingers of their working hands. Both graduates had many family members and friends on hand. The Order of the Engineer is generously sponsored by Barrish-Pelham in Sacramento – a Degenkolb Company.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Fall Commencement ceremony speaker was Ashraf Habibullah, the founder and President of Computer and Structures Incorporated (CSI). Ashraf has been extremely generous to the ARCE program by sponsoring a laboratory and supporting the travel expenses of our Structural Engineering Students for Humanity (SESH).

26th Annual ARCE Advisory Board Meeting

December 6th 2019

The ARCE Advisory Board met on December 6th on campus for their twenty-sixth consecutive semi-annual meeting since we reconstituted this group in 2007. The Board reviewed the annual ARCE program assessment, discussed the obstacles and cost associated with growing the Master’s program, and provided some input required for our upcoming accreditation. We were visited by Dean Christine Theodoropoulos, Senior Director of Advancement Jessica Otten, and Director of Real Estate Education Initiatives John Day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We also received a research presentation from ARCE masters students Jenna Williams and Tracy Doan, as well as visits from Master’s Coordinator Cole McDaniel and CM Department Head Jeong Woo. We also took advantage of the fact that the Civil Engineering Advisory Board was meeting on the same day and had a joint session together. Interdisciplinary collaboration continues to be a priority.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Board members in attendance were Ron LaPlante (Chair), Abe Lynn (Emeritus Faculty member), Michael Parolini, Jen Hiatt, Chris Haight, Evan Reis, Elisa Suarez, Margaux Burkholder, Matt Melcher, and Randy Collins.

ARCE Undergraduate Nick Slavin Presents Research at International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition in Salt Lake City, Utah

November 13th 2019

On November 13th, ARCE undergraduate senior Nick Slavin presented research at the International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition in Salt Lake City, Utah. Although the conference was geared primarily toward mechanical engineers, Nick presented his work at a poster session for all NSF-funded student research, which featured a wide variety of engineering disciplines.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nick has been working with faculty supervisor Anahid Behrouzi to investigate reinforced concrete building damage in Mexico City from the 2017 Puebla earthquake. His poster illustrated relationships between damage, building characteristics, and site attributes. Nick enjoyed interacting with students and professionals and gained valuable experience presenting research at a conference. The highlight of his trip was meeting an engineer from a town near Puebla who had experienced the 2017 earthquake and was directly impacted by the event.

ARCE Grad Shawna Peterson is Poly Great Grad

6.19.14

Architectural engineering major Shawna Peterson from Lake Arrowhead, Calif., chose Cal Poly because of its Learn by Doing philosophy and hands-on, interactive labs and studios. Peterson demonstrated her capacity and love for math and physics by earning straight A’s throughout her college career. While interning at Moffatt & Nichol in San Diego, Peterson was involved in the design of various bridges and Navy projects. “At Cal Poly, I learned how to design structures using materials such as concrete, steel, masonry and timber,” she said. “This knowledge is critical at my internship. I also learned how to use software analysis programs and drafting/modeling programs, which I often use at work. As her senior project she traveled to Camilo Ortega, Nicaragua, with a team of eight students to help design a school. “Many kids are not receiving formal education because there just aren’t enough schools,” Peterson said. The students partnered with Cal Poly’s student chapter of Engineers Without Borders. After surveying the site and getting feedback from community members, the students returned to the U.S. and designed three alternatives using reinforced masonry, confined masonry, and a light gauge structure. “We decided on the light gauge structure because of the cost, ease of construction, and accessibility of local materials. Our plan was to build the school this summer. Since three of us are graduating, we passed our completed design to our EWB teammates to carry out the construction.” Peterson will pursue graduate studies at Stanford in the fall and eventually hopes to use her seismic engineering knowledge to provide earthquake disaster relief services around the world.

Estes Brady Attend ASEE Conference

6.18.14

ARCE Faculty members Al Estes and Pamalee Brady attended the annual American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE) annual conference and exhibition in ASEE Indianapolis from 15-18 June.  Al presented a paper “New Civil Engineering Program Criteria: How the Sausage is Being Made” based on his service on the ASCE Civil Engineering Program Criteria Task Committee.  He presented a second paper “Using K’nex to Teach Large Scale Structures to Architects and Construction Students” co-authored with ARCE faculty member Craig Baltimore.  Pamalee Brady was a speaker at a sponsored session workshop on Using Failure Case Studies to teach Engineering and Ethics.

ARCE Projects Day

6.5.14

ARCE Scholarship Luncheon

6.5.14

The ARCE department held their annual scholarship luncheon in the KTGY gallery on June 5^th.  Over $36,000 in scholarships were donated to the following ARCE students from our generous friends, alumni and industry supporters.  Dean Christine Theodoropoulos was on hand to present the CAED scholarships while department head Al Estes presented the others.  Scott and Julia Starkey, John Edmisten, and Victor Montgomery attended the luncheon in person to present the Carson Starkey Memorial Scholarship, the Hans Mager Scholarship and the RRM Design Group Scholarship, respectively.  Many of the donors who were not able to attend in person (CYS, Forell/Elsesser, Degenkolb, SGH, KNA, kpff) sent short video clips to congratulate the recipients.  The winner of this year’s ARCE academy award for the best video goes to CYS in Sacramento.

 

Scholarships 2014-2015
CAED Scholarships
Carson Starkey Memorial Scholarship for Merit ($4750)	Jesse Fowler
RRM Scholarship ($2700)	Georgine Mooney
Herbert E. Collins Scholarship  Undergraduate ($1200)	Georgine Mooney
Herbert E. Collins Scholarship  Undergraduate ($1200)	Anthony Tiapon
Herbert E. Collins Scholarship  Undergraduate ($1200)	Sheela Vedula
Herbert E. Collins Scholarship Graduate ($1200)	Raney, Joshua
Herbert E. Collins Scholarship  Graduate ($1200)	Andrew Stephens
ARCE Scholarships
Hans Mager Scholarship ($1200)	Vicente Acuna
CYS Eugene Cole S.E. Senior Project Award ($1425)	Cristina Chilin and Shannon Abeling
John A. Martin and Associates Scholarship ($1500)	Elena Good
Forell/Elsesser Engineers Scholarship ($1000)	Lyndsi Halvorson
Fluor Foundation Upper Division Scholarship ($1250)	Kion Nemati
Simpson Gumpertz & Heger Inc. Scholarship ($2000)	Simon D. Jardel-Menno
Fluor Foundation Lower Division Scholarship ($1250)	Anthony Keshishian
Emanuele Barelli Structural Engineering Scholarship ($1050)	Connor Hanlon
Degenkolb Engineers Scholarship & Internship ($2500)	Nicole O'Hearne
KNA Consulting Engineers Senior Project Scholarship ($1000)	Jared Parker
KPFF Los Angeles / Pasadena Scholarship ($1500)	Tyler Poucher
Outside Scholarships
SEAONC	Shawna Peterson
SEAOSC	Shannon Lee

 

ARCE Senior and Master's Photos

6.5.14

The ARCE department took the annual senior photo and the master’s student photo on June 5^th as part of the Scholarship Luncheon and Project’s Day.

Mwangi Attends Earthquake Perfomance Evaluation Program

10.1.14