The only way to start off an update about the SEI Futures Fund is to say THANK YOU! Thank you to SEI Futures Fund Donors, and especially Ashraf Habibullah and Computers & Structures, Inc. for the 3-to-1 donation match in 2023! The campaign raised more than $330,000 and increased the number of donors investing in the next generation of structural engineering!
Where Does the Money Go?
This year the SEI Futures Fund approved the largest grant amount in our 11 year history. With more than $400,000 in committed funds for the coming year, we will be supporting:
- A record number of student and young professional scholarships to both the SEI Structures Congress in Phoenix and the Electrical and Transmission and Substation Structures Conference in Dallas.
- A Performance-Based Design Roadmap Development Workshop to bring together SEI leaders and subject matter experts, as well as allied partners working to advance performance-based design into the profession; as well as underwrite the publishing of the ASCE/SEI Pre-standard for Calculation Methodology for Structural Systems in Whole-Building Life Cycle Assessment, so this guidance document can be provided to the profession for free.
- The subsequent SEI Towards Zero Carbon Bootcamp to train and educate the profession, and provide travel funding for SEI young professional members, on the current LCA practices and the many tools, documents, and resources available to help structural engineers achieve embodied carbon reductions.
- Continued Young Professional Travel Support for SEI Standards Committees to ensure that young professionals are able to participate meaningfully with development of SEI standards and codes.
- SEI Chapter Innovative Programs for Student and Professional Involvement to provide local and student chapters small grant money to help with outreach, networking, and other events to encourage the growth of students and young professionals in structural engineering.
- Efforts to finalize, publish, and distribute an ASCE/SEI 7 Student Primer specifically for students, or early career professionals, to serve as an introduction to the loading provisions of the ASCE/SEI 7-22 standard.
Does It Really Work?
Yes! The SEI Futures Fund’s goals center around getting the next generation of structural engineers engaged with and involved in our profession, as well as providing resources to help practicing engineers design with the future in mind.
The SEI Futures Fund vision is to support the art, science, and practice of structural engineering for a better and brighter future of our profession. Our specific goals as follows, include supporting programs that:
- Invest in the future of the structural engineering profession.
- Promote student interest in structural engineering.
- Support younger member involvement in SEI.
- Provide opportunities for professional development!
Past funding also supported well known efforts including SEI SE 2050 Commitment Program, performance based design development and life-cycle assessment methods which are all becoming more mainstream. Student design workshops and outreach efforts have reached the next batch of structural engineers. Additionally, past SEIFF scholarship winners are now serving on the SEI Board of Governors, ASCE/SEI 7 Standard Committees, and one is even the chair of the SEI Futures Fund Board this year (hint: its ME, who was among the first group of SEIFF scholarship winners in 2012!).
What’s Next?
The future champions of our profession may not even know it yet. The SEI Futures Fund would love to fund more projects targeted through local SEI chapters at K-12 outreach and engaging the next generation of structural engineers. How can we support those at all levels of the structural engineering career path to build the best future possible? From educating elementary students on what a structural engineer does, to showing undergraduate students why this is a worthy profession, to supporting graduate students and young professionals looking to make changes and improve processes, all the way to helping seasoned professionals give back and pass on their knowledge—the SEI Futures Fund is here to support not only the profession, but the people who make it great. We invest not only in what people are doing now, but what they can and will do in the future.
We also hope to continue growing. The generosity of Habibullah and Computers & Structures, Inc., allowed us to support more projects in the coming year than we have before. But that doesn’t mean we couldn’t do even more. Every year we turn away deserving proposals and excellent scholarship applicants. We are actively looking for new match opportunities and welcome new donors. With your support we will continue to advance and strengthen our profession.
As a reminder the SEI Futures Fund operates in collaboration with the ASCE Foundation so that 100% of your gifts goes directly to profession-building activities authorized by the SEI Futures Fund Board. Donors may be individuals, companies, or other organizations.
This year’s SEI Futures Fund Board members are me,Linda Kaplan, PE, F.SEI, M.ASCE; Jim Harris, Ph.D., PE, NAE, F.SEI, Dist.M.ASCE; Dan Linzell, Ph.D., PE, F.SEI, F.ASCE; Otto Lynch, PE, F.SEI, F.ASCE; and Erleen Hatfield, PE, F.ASCE. Please reach out to any of us if you have questions. We also want to thank Joe Burns for his excellent leadership of the SEI Futures Fund over the past year.
Learn more and give at www.asce.org/SEIFuturesFund. Thank you! ■
About the Author
Linda Kaplan, P.E., F.SEI is a Senior Structural Engineer with Pennoni in Pittsburgh, PA and the Chair of the SEI Futures Fund for FY 2024-25.