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Posted 11.23.09
Baltimore Travels to Research Bringing Solar Energy to Urban Areas
Dr. Craig Baltimore recently traveled for his research project in bringing Concentrated Solar Energy to Urban Areas. His first travels were to Rosendin Electric in San Jose, Ca. Rosendin is the second largest electrical contractor in the U.S. and their projects include the California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco. Rosendin is an industry partner with the ARCE Master’s Program and master’s student Peter Balla is assessing their Head Quarters Building in San Jose for the retrofit Concentrated Solar Energy.
In addition to traveling to San Jose, Dr. Baltimore completed travel to Los Angeles where he met with engineers from Buro-Happold, in regards to his research in Concentrated Solar Energy. He is currently working with Liz Mahlow at Buro-Happold.
Posted 11.23.09
ARCE Advisory Board Holds Semi-Annual Meeting
The ARCE Advisory Board held their semi-annual meeting on the Cal Poly campus on November 13th. The meeting was preceded by a dinner at Steamers in Pismo Beach. The welcome letter from the department head can be found here and the agenda for the meeting can be found here. The topics of discussion included curriculum revisions, the budget crisis, advancement, the new interdisciplinary course, the master’s program, and committee by-laws. Tom Jones, the CAED Dean, spent an hour with the advisory board discussing key issues and answering their questions. This was the sixth meeting of the Advisory Board and the next meeting will occur in May 2010.
Posted 11.23.09
Estes Attends ASCE Semi-Annual Meeting of Educational Activities Committee
Al Estes attended the ASCE semi-annual meeting of the Educational Activities (EDAC) Committee in Denver on November 7 - 8th. Al is the Architectural Engineering Institute liaison member to the committee. The Architectural Engineering programs are become more active in the EDAC programs, particularly through student activities, curriculum and accreditation and the department head’s council.
Posted 11.23.09
Estes Conducts ABET Accreditation Visit
Al Estes conducted an ABET accreditation visit to the Architectural Engineering program at the University of Wyoming in Laramie from November 1 – 3. Each accredited program is visited once every six years as part of the accreditation process. Al has been an evaluator for eight years and has visited both civil and architectural engineering programs. In addition to performing a service to the profession, these evaluation visits help Cal Poly stay current on the accreditation criteria and allows in depth visits to sister programs.
Posted 11.23.09
Estes Attends Council for Advancement and Support of Education
Al Estes attended the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) Development Workshop for Deans from October 18 – 20 in San Francisco. This conference offers deans and development professionals the help they need to increase their knowledge of the development process and strengthen the partnership between academic and advancement officers. Workshop topics included Advisory Boards, making the artful ask, campaign fundamentals, corporation and foundation development, ethical issues, managing prospects, and the cycle of development.
Posted 10.29.09
Saliklis Travels to Spain
Ed and his wife Dr. Ruta Saliklis, are with the world famous structural engineer Mamoru Kawaguchi. The occasion was the opening of a special exhibit displaying many of Kawaguchi’s spectacular projects.
In October, 2009, Ed Saliklis presented a peer-reviewed paper at the 50th Anniversary Symposium of the International Association for Shell and Spatial Structures (IASS). The symposium was held in Valencia, Spain and marked the founding of the IASS that took place in 1959 in Madrid, Spain under the guidance of the legendary engineer, Eduardo Torroja.
Ed presented a paper co-authored by Prof. Robert Arens of Cal Poly’s Dept. of Architecture, entitled "Rapidly Assembled Emergency Shelters Made From ‘Green’ Materials." It described the interdisciplinary project that Ed and Robert have supervised for the past year that has received $64,000 in funding from the Office of Naval Research.
Posted 10.29.09
Saliklis Travels to Budapest
In October of 2009, Ed Saliklis presented a paper at the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Global Colloquium in Budapest, Hungary. The annual global colloquium unites the diverse elements of the international engineering education and corporate world while focusing on issues of interest to the international engineering education community.
The paper that Ed presented was co-authored by Prof. Robert Arens of Cal Poly’s Department of Architecture. It was entitled "Teaching Architects and Engineers: Up and Down the Taxonomy" and it explored the differing ways that architecture and engineering faculty address student learning through the prism of Bloom’s taxonomy of the cognitive domain. The presentation was well received by a wide variety of engineering educators.
Posted 10.29.09
Lawson Speaks in Oregon
On October 27th, 2009, ARCE faculty member John Lawson SE was an invited speaker by the Structural Engineers Association of Oregon to present current seismic design practices on concrete tilt-up buildings. In addition to presenting current design practices, Mr. Lawson provided insight into upcoming code changes in the upcoming 2009 IBC and the proper interpretation and application of those provisions to actual concrete tilt-up structures. Mr. Lawson is author of several chapters in the 2006 IBC Structural/Seismic Design Manual published by the International Code Council, and his Oregon presentation was adapted from his work on the behavior of tilt-up buildings under seismic loads. The Structural/Seismic Design Manual is in its third edition and is updated for each major building code cycle.
Posted 10.29.09
Loma Prieta Earthquake Commemorative Symposium
Jim Guthrie attended the Loma Prieta Earthquake Commemorative Symposium in San Francisco on October 17, 2009, the twentieth anniversary of the Loma Prieta earthquake. Speakers included structural engineers, geotechnical and geoscience professional and officials representing local, state and federal agencies. Topics included technical engineering issues such as code development, performance-based design, liquefaction and ground motion prediction. Also covered were such topics as the early warning, mitigation, preparation for and recovery from earthquakes and other natural disasters. One of the speakers was Ken Topping, with the CRP Department at Cal Poly. The ARCE department and Ken Topping are assisting the State of California with the preparation of their 2010 Harard Mitigation Program, a document that should the response to the next large earthquake.
Posted 10.29.09
ARCE Visits Alumni and Partners
Al Estes and Linda Kristenson visited alumni and industry partners in the San Diego and Los Angeles areas on August 31 and September 1st. In San Diego, Al and Linda met with ARCE grads and firm owners Jim Wiseman and Steve Rohy in the offices of Wiseman and Rohy Structural Engineers. Next was a visit to see ARCE classmates (1979) Michael Gardner and Mike Romanowski at SDSE, formerly Steadman Dyson Structural Engineers. Al and Linda had a wonderful visit with Tim Yuen (ARCE 1970) at the offices of Burkette and Wong. Tim’s life story and journey to Cal Poly are truly unique. The San Diego portion culminated at Hope Engineering and ARCE classmate / partners (all 1982) Jim Amundson, Dave McMaster, and Brad Lowe. Hope has generously agreed to host the Cal Poly ARCE reception to be held in late September in conjunction with the annual SEAOC convention.
Al and Linda met with three firms in the Los Angeles area. As Simpson StrongTie is a huge supporter of this program and a frequent visitor to campus, it was only appropriate to finally visit their office in Brea. Alan Hanson and ARCE grad (1999) / former part time faculty member Damon Ho hosted the visit and gave a wonderful tour of both the facilities and the production area. Al next met with Joshua Johnston and Jim Bluse of Hilti to thank them for their support of the concrete blade structure and stick structure and look for ways to become more involved in the ARCE program. The final visit was to John A. Martin and Associates that included a great tour from Kal Benuska (ARCE 1985) that included a brief meeting with Trailer Martin. It was nice to see some more recent ARCE grads (Mike Brown, Jenny Bachmeier) in the office as well.
To see more pictures from the trip, go to our Facebook Page
Posted 10.29.09
Estes Travels to Florida
Al Estes attended the semi-annual meeting of the American Society of Civil Engineers Committee on Faculty Development in Fort Myers, Florida on October 3rd. The committee planned the 2010 ExCEEd Teaching Workshops that will be held at the University of Colorado in Boulder and at the United States Military Academy at West Point in July. The Committee is working on DVDs of teaching seminars that can be provided to engineering programs to help develop adjunct faculty who will not be able to attend ExCEEd workshops. Al serves as the Department Head Council Executive Committee liaison to this committee.
Posted 10.21.09
ARCE Reception in San Diego
Left to Right: Alumna Michelle Kam-Biron with students
Grace Rose and Brian Planas
The ARCE department hosted a reception for alumni and friends of the department on September 25th from 5:00 – 7:00 in the downtown offices of Hope Engineering. The event was held on conjunction with the annual SEAOC convention in San Diego. The department thanks both Hope Engineering and Jerry Lohr for their sponsorship and support of this reception. The J. Lohr winery donated the wine for the celebration. The reception was attended by more than 40 alumni from various years as well as industry partners. Attendees included Michelle Kam-Biron, Jim Amundson, Brad Lowe, Dave McMaster, Mike Romanowski, Ken O’Dell, Frana Alex-Floresca, Juanita Sanchez, Tom Jakaby, Jeff Baker, Luvelyn Lampitoc-Benitez, Damon Ho, Tim Hart, Mark Gilligan, Mike Romanowski, Steve and Liz Pelham, Stan Raap, Cameron Duncan, Marlou Rodriguez, Michael Buck, John Minton, Federico Aldana, and Richard Nagtalon.
Left to Right: Professor Brent Nuttall and alumni
Justin Wei and Tanya Worotko Wei
It was great to see some very recent graduates attend such as Jenny Bachmeier, Nick Bachmeier, Taka Yokoyama, Liz Kenyon, Keith Cullum, Tanya Wei, Justin Wei, Blake Schatz, Tomas Jimenez, Sarah Wagner, Kyle White, Allison Hellner, and Adam Azofeifa.
The formal program consisted of a welcome from Brad Lowe representing Hope Engineering. Al Estes made a few remarks on the department’s activities and progress over the past year. Ken O’Dell discussed the role of the ARCE Advisory Board and some of the financial needs of the department. Finally, some Cal Poly and ARCE memorabilia were offered as door prizes to those who had provided business cards. The grand prize SLO gift basket was won by Liz Kenyon. It was a wonderful event and the ARCE department looks forward to doing it again next year at the SEAOC convention in Palm Desert.
To see more pictures from the event, go to our Facebook Page.
Posted 9.28.09
Guest Lecturer for Faculty
Dr. Norm Abrahamson, a Senior Engineering Seismologist in the Geosciences Department at PG&E, gave a three day seminar on "Probabilistic Seismic Hazard Analysis" at Cal Poly for the ARCE faculty and graduate students. The seminar expanded on the EERI Distinguished Lecture Dr. Abrahamson gave to the SEAOC student chapter this past spring titled "The State of the Practice of Seismic Hazard Analysis: From the Good to the Bad". The three day seminar, held August 19th, September 2nd, and September 9th, brought ARCE faculty up to date with the state of the art of Probabilistic Seismic Hazard Analysis and will directly benefit the ARCE students through in-class discussions and assignments.
Posted 9.9.09
Industry Involvement in Master's Projects
On August 20th 2009, Garen McDonald of the Ross McDonald Company visited Eric Nakamoto and Kevin Dong as the testing phase of Eric’s graduate project begins. Eric is analyzing and testing library shelving units for dynamic response in accordance with code requirements.
On August 14th 2009, Kevin Dong and Joe Thompson (ARCE graduate student) visited the ARUP-LA office to discuss Joe’s upcoming graduate project. He will be conducting a parametric study to better understand the pros and cons of using PVC, PTFE, and Tensotherm™ as building materials for fabric structures. He is teaming with Stephen Lewis and others in the Los Angeles office to complete his work.
Posted 9.9.09
Faculty Presents Paper
From August 6th to August 8th, professors Kevin Dong (ARCE), James Doerfler (ARCH), and Robert Arens (ARCH) attended and presented papers at the 2009 BTES Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Kevin presented a paper with Tom Leslie from Iowa State University on “Haptic Structures” and a paper with James about their Collaborative Design Studio.
(From left to right: Kevin Dong, Robert Arens, James Doerfler, Tom Leslie)
Posted 10.29.09
Faculty Attend ExCEEd Workshop
Al Estes, Ed Saliklis, and Peter Laursen attended the Excellence in Civil Engineering Education (ExCEEd) Teaching Workshop at the United States Military Academy at West Point from July 22 – 27th. Peter attended as a participant, Ed as an assistant mentor for a participant group and Al presented three seminars and a demonstration class.
Ed became famous as he wrote three songs for the workshop and performed them on his ukulele. This is Al’s 19th ExCEEd works
hop in the past ten years. Cal Poly is one of the leading institutions to support this workshop. In the ARCE department, Cole McDaniel, Pamalee Brady, Ed Saliklis, Abe Lynn, and Peter Laursen have now attended the program and there have been at least five participants from the Civil Engineering Department.
Posted 10.29.09
Faculty Attend ExCEED Workshop
Al Estes and Abe Lynn attended the ExCEEd Teaching Workshop held at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona from July 12 – 17. Abe attended as a participant and is the fifth member of the ARCE faculty to attend this intense one-week teacher training program. Twenty-four participants from around the nation attend thirteen seminars and three demonstration classes. Each participant teaches three sample classes and receives extensive assessment from team mentors, assistant mentors and fellow participants. Al participated as a material presenter and group mentor. This was his 18th ExCEEd workshop over the last decade.
This year’s workshop was followed immediately by ExCEEd II, a day and a half graduate level workshop for those who have completed the ExCEEd workshop. This was the first time this ASCE sponsored workshop was conducted and brought 16 participants. Al Estes’ role in the workshop was the conduct of a demonstration class and presenting a seminar on dealing with challenging students.