SE3 Project Leads

Congratulations Founder Daniel Koothoor on the Official Launch of Structural Stalwarts!

Mandatory Coffee Break! ?

As the co-founders of the SE3 Project, we are excited to be supporting and advocating the long-awaited official launch of the Structural Stalwarts platform. Grab a cup of coffee or your favorite beverage, sit back, and get ready for an exciting, stimulating and expansive collection of featured technical and non-technical articles related to structural engineering.

What’s particularly unique about this collection is that it is really serving the needs of the structural engineering community at large, it’s collaborative, AND it’s a free resource for all who have an interest or passion in structural engineering!

When Daniel first reached out to me via LinkedIn and email in March, he shared his interest in SE3, and a description of his vision for this online knowledge-sharing portal. A few weeks later, he sent me an invitation to contribute content to the platform. We very quickly acknowledged an alignment in values and interests. I saw it as another opportunity to advance our profession, and offered to meet him in person to provide some initial guidance on how to further develop his vision, and to establish strategies to achieve his goals.

What is SE3 and how does it relate to Structural Stalwarts?

SE3 stands for Structural Engineering Engagement and Equity. Shortly after the SE3 group formed, in 2016 we conducted our first national survey of structural engineers on topics related to compensation, employee engagement, and career satisfaction. In 2017, SE3 became a national committee through the National Council of Structural Engineers Associations (NCSEA). Together with engineers from across the United States, we work to improve engagement, retention, diversity, and inclusion in the profession by collecting data, starting conversations, and encouraging all to do the same.

SE3’s mission is to attract and retain the best talent into our profession, and to ensure all structural engineers have a clear pathway to success in their careers.

The Structural Stalwarts platform is intended to be continuously expanding and evolving, featuring innovative designs, challenging problems, tips for young professionals and/or emerging leaders in our profession. It will showcase the legacy and evolution of structural engineering projects, design elements, and approaches used worldwide.

Daniel hopes that this portal will help bridge the gap between young professionals, researchers, educators and more experienced practicing structural engineering professionals who are exploring different structural systems, design methodologies or advances in technology. With the goal of advancing our profession, the platform seeks to provide access to knowledge and insights on innovative, optimized, and sustainable solutions to all parts of the globe.

We advocate for inspiration and collaboration as a means of keeping professionals engaged - whether that is through reading, learning, and getting inspired, or through sharing and giving back to the community with ideas, concepts or lessons learned through research and development, and practice.

NCSEA SE3 National Symposium

Our national SE3 committee hosted a half-day symposium on Tuesday, November 12, in Anaheim, California - on the same day as the Structural Stalwarts launch. This program is the first SE3 symposium to be held in conjunction with the 2019 NCSEA Summit. The content, format and schedule of the 4-hour educational experience had been developed by truly passionate and dedicated engineers throughout the nation.

It is entitled: A Reimagined Workplace: How to Navigate and Elevate the Future of our Profession. As part of this program, attendees participated in three separate sessions focused on various aspects of engagement, retention, diversity and inclusion. They learned more about the findings from 2018 SE3 survey, heard from industry panelists on the state of our profession, and acquired practical strategies and best practices for improving retention within their organizations. Please visit the SE3 website in a few weeks for a full recap of the event.

The SE3 committee hopes to keep the conversation alive on how we can improve retention in our industry and encourages all who attended the event to bring ideas back to their workplace to help inspire positive change. For those who were not able to attend, or are looking for more information, check out our first Blog Post with additional ideas on retention from researchers and our own industry leaders.

Check out the new SE3 documentary filmed at the 2019 SEAONC SE3 Symposium that took place in the spring in San Francisco, California. This video features interviews with collaborators, change agents, and leading structural engineering professionals discussing

engagement and retention.

Other resources that may be of interest

If you’re not familiar with SE3, here is a short list of other resources that you may want to check out!

• Follow us on LinkedIn or Twitter

• Check out our Best Practices, complete list of articles and references, or Leadership in Action Blog

• Watch our first video documentary

We are proud to continue to build our network of advocates and ambassadors who are dedicated to the advancement of our profession. As the leaders of this committee, we are grateful for the many individuals who have volunteered their time and support to provide meaningful events and programs for our profession.

How you can help!

If you’re a practicing structural engineering professional, and there is an exciting idea or system you’ve learned and or utilized recently, I’d encourage you to consider contributing to the Structural Stalwarts! Kudos Daniel for acknowledging the need for the platform and for taking the initiative to develop this communication tool for our global community!

---