It’s Not What You Know, It’s Who You Know
As a member of Structural Engineers of New Hampshire (SENH), I have access to our parent organization National Council of Structural Engineering Associations (NCSEA) member benefits. I didn’t fully appreciate this until I attended the 2019 NCSEA Summit in Anaheim, CA as a young member. It had an immediate impact on me through the presentations I attended and the connections I made, which you can read more about in my Young Member’s Perspective of the NCSEA Structural Engineering Summit blog. Fast forward a handful of years, and I’ve now attended five NCSEA Summits (four in person and one virtual), I’ve been a member of the NCSEA Communications Committee since January of 2020, I’ve been the co-chair of the NCSEA Public Awareness and Outreach task force for the last two years, and I’ve gone to Rwanda twice and Bolivia once to build pedestrian bridges.
It’s About Opportunities all over the Country
For the summits, I have traveled to Disneyland (2019 and 2023), Chicago (2022), and Las Vegas (2024). Apart from the wanderlust, one benefit of attending these events is the opportunities they present. The trip to Chicago took me to Atlas Tube, a manufacturer of steel hollow structural sections (HSS) and pipe piles. As a structural engineer, I don’t often get to see actual structural elements that I may use in a design; as a bridge structural engineer, there are a lot of structural members that exist that are not used in bridges but are often used for buildings. It’s enlightening to see how these steel members are manufactured at all different sizes, and then get to see them in use to become part of a structure.
The summit in Vegas arranged a private tour of the Sphere that included a behind-the-scenes view to learn the intricacies of how this structure was built and now functions as an entertainment center. Both the outside and inside of the Sphere are unique, and we were given the opportunity to better understand how everyone came together to create this impressive structure that pushes boundaries.
It’s Open Minds & Expanded Perspectives
Soon after attending my first summit, I joined the NCSEA Communications Committee that advances the presence, influence, and leadership of NCSEA’s members and the structural engineering profession at-large by promoting the vision, mission, image, and credibility of NCSEA . By being on this committee, I’ve grown closer to other structural engineers across the country, which expands my knowledge and awareness of engineering in general because I get to discuss the similarities and differences we may face as engineers in different parts of the country. It gives me the opportunity to view structures with a different perspective, as well as appreciate how we may have different challenges, but we all engineer ways to solve problems (e.g. earthquakes vs blizzards vs tornadoes… oh my!).
It’s Sharing Industry Knowledge Outside the Industry
As part of the Communications Committee, I co-chair the Public Awareness and Outreach task force that focuses on pipeline development, or in other words, sharing with students (and the public) that structural engineering is a career, it’s imperative, and it can be fun. It’s a great
chance to use my leadership skills to bring a group of people together to achieve a common goal, while raising awareness of our profession. Many of the skills I use in this role often relate to presentations I’ve attended at the summit, and these leadership skills are great for work, other committees, and my personal life. This year’s Keynote “Awkward and Upward! Your Surprising Weapon for Taking More Professional Risks” touched on how advances in technology have made it easy to avoid real human interaction, and that we need to take risks in the moment, despite that awkward feeling, so that we can better collaborate with colleagues, initiate tough conversations, speak up, and share new ideas with each other. As part of an engineering team, I constantly have to work with people to develop solutions, and communication is key.
The most personal way that NCSEA has influenced me as an engineer started with a presentation called “The Power of Connection” given by Avery Bang, the former CEO of Bridges to Prosperity (B2P), at the 2019 summit. B2P is a non-profit that “works with governments and isolated communities to create access to essential health care, education, and economic opportunities by building trail bridges over impassable rivers.” I had learned about this organization before this presentation, but hearing Avery talk about their work directly connected with me. Their mission speaks directly to my professional bridge-building engineer side, as well as my service-loving humanitarian side. I jumped at the opportunity to travel to Rwanda on one of their teams, and it changed my life and those of thousands of Rwandans. Not only did I have this chance once, but I was lucky enough to go for a second time last year!
Most recently, I traveled to Bolivia last October with Engineers in Action (EIA), another non-profit with a similar mission to B2P, to build a 350’ long pedestrian bridge for a rural community. One of the people that I met through my B2P involvement connected me with EIA for another opportunity to do what I love. It was the power of “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know” that presented me with this latest endeavor.
It’s Made Me the Engineer I Am Today
NCSEA has allowed me to grow faster as an engineer by learning directly from presentations at the annual summit, connecting me with other engineers and professionals in our industry, giving me a venue to practice my leadership skills, and pushing the boundaries of what I thought would be possible. Out of everything, I am most grateful for the connections I have made and the community that I have become a part of. I may have made it to where I am today without NCSEA, but I would be a completely different engineer.
