Message From the President

April 22, 2010

My first four months as president has made me appreciate even more the volunteer leaders in our organization who have helped get the local sections of SEAoO up and running in Cincinnati, Columbus, and Cleveland.  Our membership to date is 186 and growing and we have had good programs and attendance at all three sections.  Forty people attended our March 19th tour of NASA’s Plum Brook Testing Facility in Sandusky.

SEAoO continues its efforts to promote the profession to Ohio colleges and universities. The Student Chapter at Ohio University is now active with Brad Hoffman as president.  I met with Carolyn Merry, the chair of the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at Ohio State University and Professor Halil Sezen to help to establish a student chapter there as well.  Professor Sezen stated that 50 percent of the Civil Engineering undergraduates choose structures as their major and that a student chapter will be welcomed.

We are finalizing our schedule of speakers and activities for our Sixth Annual Conference to be held on September 16th and 17th at the Hyatt Regency in Columbus.  We will have a full day’s presentation on Thursday the 16th, with Dr. S.K. Ghosh and Susan Dowty on the topic of “Frequently Misunderstood IBC/ASCE 7-05 Structural Provisions.” Last year a number of conference attendees requested that we have a presentation for bridge design. This year we will have Dennis Mertz Ph.D. give a presentation on bridge design on Friday the 17th. Professor Mertz teaches bridge engineering at the University of Delaware, and is the Director of the University’s Center for Innovative Bridge Engineering.

Finally, there will be a position open on the Ohio Board of Building Standards and on the Ohio State Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Surveyors.  The board of directors of SEAoO feels that it is important that the structural engineers in Ohio be represented on these boards.  Our plan is to fill these two positions with prominent practicing engineers from within our organization. 

Many of our committees need volunteers, especially the licensure committee. The board of directors agrees that we need to convince the Ohio legislators that the practice of structural engineering in Ohio should require a separate SE license.  Please visit our website for the latest information on committee activities and our annual conference.

Dick Meyer, PE
SEAoO President

 You can contact Dick at president@seaoo.org.