President's Letter

Dear SENH Members & Affiliates,

I am excited and privileged to serve as the SENH President for the upcoming year. I would first like to congratulate and extend my gratitude to Josif Bicja and Tom Lamb who completed their last terms as part of the SENH Board of Directors back in May. Josif and Tom are our two most recent past Presidents and have made many noteworthy accomplishments during their terms – helping to navigate our organization through the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic and being instrumental in the development and rollout of our new SENH website, to name a few. I am grateful that Josif and Tom will still be involved in various committees now that their time on the board is over; they are both valuable assets to our organization.

With Josif and Tom leaving the board, I am pleased to welcome Kayla Hampe and Dan Martel to their new leadership roles. Kayla has been active on multiple SENH committees over the past several years, most recently co-chairing the Professional Development Committee. Dan has been an active member and chair of the Code Advisory Committee. Kayla and Dan both bring a lot of energy and passion to the board. I very much look forward to working closely with them over the next year.

I would like to introduce the 2023-2024 SENH Board of Directors as follows:

• Tim Polson, PE – President
• Jeff Karam, PE – Vice President
• Dan Martel, PE – Secretary
• Kayla Hampe, PE – Treasurer
• Sean Brown, PE – Director at Large
  
  

Our new board has already met several times over the summer to exchange ideas and to determine the action items we would like to tackle over the coming year. Some of these topics include:

• Student Engagement – We have seen declining student participation in our annual UNH meeting which has traditionally been held in March. The PDC suggested swapping the UNH meeting to our November timeslot with the hopes to entice more students to attend as many will still be in the process of pursuing internships and fulltime employment. Additionally, we are considering dedicating a portion of the meeting to serve as a forum for students to ask questions to our members in a low-pressure environment. We saw success with this when we hosted a panel discussion for interested UNH students back in 2019.
• Strategic Plan – It is time to revisit our organization’s Strategic Plan, last updated in 2018, and evaluate how we have progressed towards our goals and identify new opportunities to improve our outreach and effectiveness moving forward.
  
  

To wrap up my first President’s letter, I would like to strongly encourage all our members to be active participants and volunteer when able – whether it be serving on one of SENH’s committees, volunteering for our ‘resume review’ sessions, or providing feedback on meeting topics and format. Our membership is comprised of engineers with diverse backgrounds and expertise – your involvement helps to expand our collective knowledge base and improve our effectiveness to engage and educate on topics critical to our industry. If you would like to get involved with a specific committee or have specific comments you would like to share, please do not hesitate to contact me directly at (603) 263-8885 or at [email protected]. Thank you very much for your support, I am looking forward to another productive year for our organization.

Tim Polson, PE
President, SENH

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Calendar of Events

SENH Meeting Announcement

Next Meeting: Thursday, September 21, 2023
SENH/ASCE-NH Joint Meeting: Sustainable Concrete

Presentations: 

Introduction to Sustainable Concrete
By the SENH Sustainability Committee

Concrete's Evolution to Being Sustainable
By Bill Lyons
The concrete industry for many years has had minor changes in its role of being a sustainable material. With the introduction of new cements, the opportunities to incorporate SCMs (Supplementary Cementitious Materials including Ground Glass), or the injection of carbon or the use of fiber reinforcement including plastic, are all contributing to the "greening" of the concrete construction industry. The presentation will briefly highlight all these phenomena.

Case Studies of Sustainable Concrete Projects
By Representative of Aggregate Industries
Two case studies from a supplier's perspective on the use of sustainable concrete in previously completed projects. 

Panel Discussion on Sustainable Concrete
Moderated by Justin Kordas of Stone Fleet, Inc.

Place:

The Derryfield Restaurant
625 N. Mammoth Road
Manchester, NH 03104
(603) 623-2880

Agenda:

5:30 pm - 6:30 pm Registration/Social Hour
6:30 pm - 7:15 pm Dinner
7:15 pm - 7:30 pm Business Meeting
8:00 pm - 9:00 pm Presentations

Dinner: 

Buffet with choice of seafood stuffed haddock and mediterranean chicken. Served with Caesar salad, tomato basil and mozzarella salad, rosemary bisque soup, chef's selection of starch and seasonal vegetable, and freshly baked rolls.

If you have any food allergies or dietary restrictions, please email Katelyn Welch at [email protected]

Cost:

Member: $65.00
Non-Member: $95.00
Government Employee: $30.00
student: $30.00

"No-Shows" will be billed at full amount. Refunds will not be issued.

RSVP:

By Thursday, September 14, 2023. There will be a $10.00 late fee for anyone wishing to RSVP past this date.

Registration and payments can be completed online at: https://senh.org/meetinginfo.php. 

Please contact Julia Chartier ([email protected]) with questions about registration and payments.

Note:

2.0 PDHs have been assigned for attendance. Attendees are responsible for ensuring their check-in on the attendance list upon arrival at the meeting.

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Committee Updates

Young Members Group

Submitted by Eric Caron

The Young Members Group will be holding a Resume Review this month at the University of New Hampshire for the Civil & Environmental Engineering Students. Previously, this was held in the Spring, but has been scheduled for the Fall this year to allow students the opportunity to have their resume reviewed prior to the UNH Career Fair and before many have already locked in jobs or internships.

Additionally, the YMG will begin social events similar to last year so please be on the lookout for future emails with more information.

Structural Engineering (SE) Licensure Committee

Submitted by Kayla Hampe, PE, Chair
Assistant Chair: Eric Caron, PE

The SE Licensure Committee met with the SENH Board of Directors at the end of June to discuss the Fall 2022 SE Licensure Survey results and analytics. We also discussed preliminary recommendations stemming from the survey and the research the Committee has done thus far. The Committee will be meeting in the next few weeks to plan follow up action to better understand the membership’s opinion regarding roster designation as a Structural Engineer. This may be in the form of a virtual Town Hall meeting or potentially a follow-up survey. 

If you’re interested in learning more about SE licensure, NCSEA is hosting a free webinar, “Understanding the 3-Es Path to Licensure and WHY SE Licensure Matters” on September 21, 2023 at 1pm EST that will be presented by NCSEA’s Structural Licensure Committee. If you miss the live event, NCSEA said it will be available as a recording via the NCSEA website (http://www.ncsea.com/events/past/). This is the webinar’s description from NCSEA’s announcement:

The webinar will cover the key aspects related to Structural Engineering (SE) licensure, highlighting the significance of licensure and its relevance to the profession.

The “Three Es” - Education, Experience, and Examination - will be explained as the most commonly accepted path leading to licensure. Some states offer alternative paths to become licensed. Attendees will be encouraged to verify the requirements in the state or territory where they plan to practice. Additionally, the presenters will provide insights into the requirements to become an NCEES Model Law Structural Engineer.

Whether you are considering taking the exam, or manage EITs in your department, plan to attend this special presentation to better understand how to traverse the “Three Es” on the journey to SE licensure.

There are no continuing education credits offered by NCSEA for this presentation.

Professional Development Committee

Submitted by Katelyn Welch, Co-Chair, Rebecca Lubrano, Co-Chair

SENH Call for Member Presentations

Overview
In planning our bi-monthly meetings, the Professional Development Committee (PDC) focuses on the number one reason that attracts participants - the education program. The SENH members will be allowed again to present a project at the upcoming annual UNH meeting. New this year: the SENH meeting at UNH will be held in November in hopes of increasing student attendance. Alternatively, members will be allowed to present on volunteer or extracurricular topics related to structural engineering; topics could include mission trips, disaster relief efforts, student outreach, etc. Individuals who are interested in presenting and sharing their knowledge and experience with the structural engineering profession are encouraged to submit a proposal by Friday, September 29, 2023.

Instructions for Submitting
Please submit the following information for the presentation you wish to be considered:

• Short speaker bios
• Presentation title
• A 200 word or less description of the presentation
• Photographs, if available
  
  

Presentations Program Format
Presenters should plan to conduct 15 minutes of presentation followed by 5 minutes of Q&A (total time of 20 minutes), with no more than two presenters. Every effort shall be made to make the presentations educational without presenting any marketing material.

Submission Evaluation and Selection
The PDC will review, evaluate, and select submissions using the following criteria:

• Relevance to the profession of structural engineering
• Timeliness of the topic
• Subject matter appeal
• Speaker qualifications
  
  

Note: PDC will keep records of all presentations and presenters and will make every effort to not select the same member firm without first giving the opportunity to other member firms.

Please send submissions to the PDC Co-Chairs:
Rebecca Lubrano ([email protected])
Katelyn Welch ([email protected])

Scholarship Awards Committee

Submitted by Sean Brown, PE

The SENH Public Relations Committee is proud to announce that up to two scholarships, in the amount of $1000.00 each, will be offered to resident or non-resident UNH students and New Hampshire residents studying structural engineering at an ABET-accredited institution outside of New Hampshire. The deadline to apply for these scholarships is Friday December 8^th. To download the application, or for more details on the scholarship please visit the SENH’s website: https://senh.org/SENH_Scholarships 

We encourage SENH members to solicit applicants from their alma maters at regional out-of-state engineering schools. We are hoping this year to receive applications from UNH and from one or more of the following regional schools:

• University of Massachusetts
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• University of Vermont
• Norwich University
• Clarkson University
  

Please reach out to Sean Brown, P.E. at [email protected] or Robert Durfee, P.E. at [email protected] if you would like to represent your alma mater and assist in soliciting applicants from the schools listed herein. 

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Last Meeting Attendance List & Meeting Minutes

May 24, 2023 Meeting

Puritan Conference & Event Center, 245 Hooksett Road, Manchester, NH

Business Portion:

• • The Excellence in Structural Engineering Award Submissions were presented. Four submissions were made by members this year, ultimately one award was made in the category of Bridge & Transportation Structures:
    • Congratulations to Hoyle, Tanner & Associates on their Main Street Bridge Replacement & US 202 Rehabilitation Project located in Peterborough, NH!
  • Josif Bicja and Tom Lamb have reached their 6-year term limits for serving on the Board of Directors.
  • A vote was held to fill the two vacant Board positions. A quorum was present at the time of the vote.
    • Kayla Hampe, PE was voted unanimously to join the Board of Directors by those in attendance.
    • Dan Martel, PE was voted unanimously to join the Board of Directors by those in attendance.
  • As noted in the April 2023 Newsletter, the Board of Directors has recommended amending language in the SENH bylaws to allow online voting by members to amend bylaws and elect future Board of Directors positions.
    • Having a quorum present the proposed language was read. With no comments or questions from those present, the proposed amended language was unanimously approved by those in attendance.
    • The amended language is shown below:
      
      ARTICLE VII
      NOMINATIONS AND ELECTION OF DIRECTORS
      
      SECTION I: The Board of Directors shall appoint a Nomination Committee who shall select a nominee for each expiring position of Director, and submit nominations to the Board for approval. Additional nominations may be submitted in writing, signed by representatives of no fewer than three Members on or before March 31.
      SECTION II: The Board shall submit the nominees to all members for consideration, on or before April 15. Voting shall be a by hand vote at the annual meeting or online voting within 30 calendar days of the annual meeting.
      
      ARTICLE XI
      
      SECTION IV: Voting bylaws changes and amendments thereto shall be by a hand vote at general membership meetings or online voting no later than seven calendar days of such meetings. A quorum of the Members is required to conduct a vote or online voting for amending or repealing these bylaws.
  • Josif reminded members that an IBC 2021 Full Day Seminar is scheduled for June 1, 2023, in Kittery, ME.
  • Next Meeting will be in September 2023 and will be the joint SENH-ASCE meeting.

Presentation: Specification and Use of Cold-Form Steel Trusses
Presenter: Kevin Brown, Eastern Regin Sales Manager for MiTek's Structural Framing Division
This presentation provided an in-depth overview of the many critical elements and steps that make up a complete truss system, from the initial design to final assembly and installation. Topics covered included the use of cold-formed steel trusses, including the history and development of steel trusses, critical design elements, appropriate building types, necessary design elements and needed installation practices for a complete and effective truss system.

List of Attendees:

June 28, 2023, Hinsdale-Brattleboro Site Tour

SENH Members toured the Hinsdale-Brattleboro Bridge project.

Project:

This 8-span structure over the Connecticut River was an in-house design by NHDOT. Currently, steel erection is underway. This tour gave visitors an opportunity to see both the substructure and superstructure elements in construction. Further information about the project can be found on the NHDOT website.

List of Attendees:

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Sponsors

GoliathTech - Vendor Webinar Sponsor

GoliathTech Screw Pile System
James Buzzell, with GoliathTech, presented a webinar to our members on June 21^st on their GoliathTech Screw Pile System. The presentation highlighted the history of helical piles, installation processes, advantages and various specialized applications where helical piles are relied upon as the best solution. We thank James for sharing his expertise in excavation and construction and introducing many of our members to the GoliathTech Screw Pile System. For more information on GoliathTech's helical screw pile system, or to find the closest local installer, please visit their website at goliathtechpiles.com

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