“Joe, I got a question,” says Gary, his longtime collaborator and architect. “You know, I’m in design for this project. What do you think about this?”

Joe Stewart, a structural engineer, and Gary are sitting at the Marriott hotel bar in Orlando, Florida. The beer is cold, the conversation flowing, and the napkins? Covered in rough sketches of beams and structural details only architects and engineers could understand. To the bartender, they’re just two guys geeking out over hotel renovations. But to Joe, this is the kind of moment that captures everything he loves about engineering: “the creativity, the ability to sit and figure out problems and help a client create their vision, not always easy but challenging.”

Joe didn’t always know he was going to become an engineer. Growing up as the oldest of five children in the “sleepy little beach town of Manhattan Beach,” his early life revolved around ocean activities, team sports, and putting things together.
He found his spark in his high school’s industrial arts classes, where hands-on projects and mechanical drawing piqued his interest in design. He started college at Cal State Long Beach, exploring architecture and taking drafting and architectural practice classes. That path eventually led him to transfer to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, where he found the perfect fit in architectural engineering, a blend of technical skill and problem-solving that aligned with his interest.

The journey wasn’t without its bumps. One summer, after a cement strike canceled his usual construction job, Joe went door to door looking for work. “I walked into this little one-man engineering office,” he remembers. “The guy told me he didn’t have anything. I turned to leave, and as I got to my car, he called out, ‘Can you come back tomorrow?” Joe did, and became his first employee.

That unexpected opportunity didn’t just give him a job. It shaped the way he would eventually mentor and lead others in his own career.

After a few years in the industry and a growing desire to earn his structural engineering license, Joe found himself looking for a firm that offered more than just a job; it needed to be a place that aligned with his values, projects that made the work meaningful, the freedom to lead, and the people. And that place was KPFF.

The year 1985, Joe joined KPFF in Los Angeles. Over the past four decades, Joe has helped shape not only buildings but also the company itself. From being one of just nine employees in the office to seeing the team grow to nearly 190 employees across LA and Orange County, he’s played a role in KPFF’s evolution. He’s been a mentor, a principal, and a steady leader in times of crisis like the aftermath of the Northridge earthquake, an intense period that pushed everyone beyond what they thought was possible.

Even now, semi-retired, Joe continues to work on projects with clients he’s built longtime relationships with. “At this point,” he says, “I don’t care what the project is—as long as it’s with the people I want to work with.”

What’s kept Joe around for 40 years? The satisfaction of solving problems, working with good people, and finding joy in the process.

Joe is excited to get back to his old hobbies of fishing and traveling, beginning with a long-awaited vacation to England, as he looks to the future. Joe Stewart’s story isn’t just about designing structures. It’s about building connections, embracing challenges, and never underestimating where a stack of cocktail napkins can take you.

The post Built to Last: Joe Stewart’s 40-Year Blueprint appeared first on KPFF Greater Los Angeles Structural.

That was the TikTok trend we hopped on during my internship, capturing the personality of engineers in a short video that made people stop scrolling.

“I’m a marketing intern for a Structural Engineer, of course I…”

But what comes after that? Before this summer, I wouldn’t have known what to say.

The summer going into senior year of high school, I was lost. It seemed like everyone knew exactly what interested them and who they were going to become, future doctors, engineers, lawyers, and athletes. And then there was me, I was no athlete, nor was I good at math or science. Public health? Ew, blood. Engineering? My dad does that and he’s a total math nerd. Political science? I didn’t even know who our current local representative was.

I had no idea what I wanted to do but I knew what kept me entertained. Social media. In my free time, I would edit fun YouTube videos, scroll through TikTok and Pinterest, and I would get excited about social media trends. That’s what made me happy. So, as I scrolled through the list of majors, one caught my eye: marketing. It wasn’t as intimidating as the others; it was just up my alley.

Now here I am, working a summer internship at a structural engineering firm. That girl who once said, “ew, engineering” is now sitting in meetings about engineering projects, drafting proposals, and creating social media posts about engineers and what they do. And surprisingly, I love it.

I’ve learned that marketing isn’t just for beauty brands or movies. It’s about storytelling, even when the stories are hidden behind those concrete buildings. This role has taught me that it’s finding creativity in a place most people don’t look at, and adding light to a place that’s dim. So no, KPFF might not be as flashy as Netflix, Coca-Cola, or Apple but it’s what’s behind all that, the spaces where people dream, work, and create the brands we all know. And I’m getting to help tell that story? That’s a pretty cool job I have.

At first, I was intimidated by the world of engineering, as it felt so grey to me. Plans, measurements, calculations, and terminology I have never heard before. But I’ve realized that even in the precise world of engineering, there’s room and a need for creativity. Many Gen Z, including me, have little awareness of this industry, with less than a third even considering a career in engineering. Trust me we’re missing out on seeing how creativity and impact can merge in unexpected places. And I get to help tell this story to inspire others, and to market a company like KPFF, who are dedicated to bridging the gap between visionary design and the reality of building it. This internship has opened my eyes to how marketing can elevate industries people often overlook, and I’m excited to take these lessons into whatever story I help tell next.

And this is what I’d say if I had to finish the TikTok:

“I’m a marketing intern for a Structural engineer, of course I help tell the stories that are hidden behind those concrete walls.”

@kpff_la

We’re structural engineers…of course we’re late to this trend. #BetterLateThanNever #OfCourse #StructuralEngineers #StructuralEngineering #kpff #kpffla #kpffoc #losangeles #orangecounty

♬ original sound – KPFF LA & OC Structural

Julia Orue is our 2025 Structural Engineering Marketing Intern. She is attending Santa Clara University with an estimated graduation date of 2028.

The post KPFF builds structures, I build their stories appeared first on KPFF Greater Los Angeles Structural.

It All Started Across the Street

This story begins in 2016. Hamilton was taking Broadway by storm, Superheroes were dominating the box office, Pokémon Go encouraged everyone to be outside, and me? I was wrapping up my college studies and transitioning into my career as an engineer. I had spent the last three years working and volunteering at Santa Ana Library, mentoring local students. Even though I was looking towards my own future, I knew I wasn’t ready to step away from serving my local community.

A conversation with my boss at the Library pointed me toward Thrive Santa Ana, a local nonprofit located across the street, which was spearheading an initiative to reclaim public land for community use through a Community Land Trust model.

Community Land Trusts, which emerged as a form of community development in the late 1960s in Georgia, were instrumental during the Civil Rights Movement. Local Black farmers sought to assist African American families in securing access to land. By working the land cooperatively, these families enhanced their economic security and supported their multi-family communities.

Santa Ana has long struggled with outside businesses coming in, profiting from the people of Santa Ana, and sending those dollars back to the surrounding Orange County cities. Rallies were held, asking for “community lands in community hands.”

Thrive’s idea was ambitious: convert underutilized public land into a community farm and marketplace, operated by and for the residents of Santa Ana. When I heard their vision, I knew I had to be part of it. Their approach resonated with me, both as an engineer and as a resident invested in Santa Ana’s future.

Engineering Meets Grassroots

From the start, this project required a collaborative, multidisciplinary approach. I served as a connector between Thrive and key industry partners.

By this point, I had started working at KPFF. I reached out to my colleagues in our civil department, who were more than willing to help. They reviewed the schematic design and helped me put together a list of deliverables THRIVE would need from the civil engineer they planned to hire. Along the way, I learned about the importance of a Water Quality Report (WQR), something the City of Santa Ana’s Planning and Building Department would expect. Thanks to Ali Khamsi and his team’s experience working with the City, they knew exactly how to navigate the requirements and set the project up for success.

I also leaned on the support of our structural reporting center managers, who helped me understand that when shipping containers are repurposed for public use, they require foundations and some limitations on new openings in the containers. Bill Thorpe, who shares a strong commitment to civic engagement through his work with local school foundations, was a great advocate for the project. He understood that a community project like this couldn’t be approached with a typical “sticker price” mindset. With that in mind, I eventually pushed to formalize our involvement with a proposal.

Next, I connected Thrive with several architects I had built relationships with during my time at KPFF, and I even promoted the project on LinkedIn to help them find the right consultants. Thrive invited me to sit in on the interviews, since navigating the consultant selection process was new territory for them as well. In the end, they chose to collaborate with City Fabrick, a nonprofit organization based in Long Beach.

Throughout this process, Thrive recognized the value I brought to the project, not just as an engineer, but as a passionate advocate and a resource familiar with the city. They wanted to continue working with me, and asked City Fabrick to partner with KPFF as their structural consultant. From there, Thrive assembled an incredible team to bring the project to life:

• City Fabrick for architecture
• Ardurra as civil engineers
• All American Construction Solutions as the contractor

Our design centered around using shipping containers as the primary structures. This approach was eco-friendly, modular, and cost-effective. It also presented valuable learning opportunities such as designing foundation pad footings to distribute the loads between containers. We also structurally “stitched” together the containers so, in case of an earthquake, the containers would move in unison rather than colliding against each other. To complement the design, Bill Thorpe and I designed a cost-effective wooden walkway to connect the containers and other structures across the site.

While the City provided the land under a 99-year lease, the funding was secured through grassroots fundraising and grants.

Designed by the Community, for the Community

Thrive made it a priority to keep Santa Ana residents and future vendors at the center of the process. In fact, the idea for the farm came directly from the community itself. Early on, as part of the city’s Sunshine Ordinance, which requires residents near planned construction sites to be notified, we went door-to-door to share the land-use plans. During those conversations, residents shared a common desire: they wanted spaces where they could gather, learn, and cultivate healthy food.

It’s not uncommon in Santa Ana for households to contain entire extended families. The crowded environment creates a strong desire to build something of your own. Additionally, many of Santa Ana’s residents work in the hospitality industry across neighboring cities, often relying on full buses each morning to get to work. Having a community space close to home meant more than just convenience. It represented belonging. Even before construction officially began, Thrive hosted community events on the graded land to build awareness for the project, making sure the vision remained truly community-led from the start.

Pandemics, Lead, and Plan Checks (Oh My!)

No great project comes without hurdles. Between the COVID-19 pandemic, plan check rounds, and the discovery of lead contamination in the soil, delays in the project were inevitable. But through City Council meetings, community advocacy, and lots of late-night emails, we kept the project moving forward.

My involvement extended beyond engineering; I frequently attended City Council meetings, advocating for the project’s community-driven mission and sharing insights on soil unpredictability to reinforce the need for flexibility in timelines. It was my own passion for the project that guided me to fight for the space Santa Ana deserved.

The City closely monitored the project, as the lease agreement for the land required regular reporting and accountability. Branded as “Santa Ana’s First Community Land Trust Project,” Thrive understood the significance of setting a strong precedent. Their hope was that this success would encourage the city to continue investing in its residents by repurposing some of the ninety-plus vacant lots scattered throughout the city. The goal was to demonstrate that even at a micro-farm scale, these small plots of land could become vibrant community assets.

As the plan for the farm developed, it became clear that we needed to collaborate with the OC Health Department, as the City intended to serve food from the containers. After clearing those final obstacles and receiving project approval, the real magic began to happen.

Construction Meets Community

Thrive made sure the inhabitants—local residents and vendors—were always part of the process. After we craned in the shipping containers and framed out entrances on them, we invited the community to help us with painting murals on the containers. We planted seeds together: both literally in the soil and metaphorically in the heart of the community.

My favorite moment though? Inviting students from Valley High School (as part of the ACE Mentorship Program) to the site. They toured the farm, learned about Community Land Trusts, and saw firsthand how engineering and architecture can shape communities. Fortuitously, the OC/LA ACE program is focusing on Community Land Trusts for their 2024-2025 All-Schools Student Presentations. Although still in development, I recently heard the students brainstorming ideas for food cultivation, which warms my heart.

The Grand Opening

The grand opening was a celebration of culture. The ceremony featured indigenous dances honoring and celebrating that soil is a living organism. Local vendors sold artisan crafts. There was free food for visitors and coffee tastings to promote the coffee shop container. Lines wrapped around the entrance. I invited City Council members, who showed up and witnessed firsthand what I had known from the beginning: Santa Ana wants more spaces like this.

Leaving a Legacy

With the land secured under a 99-year lease, this hopefully means the farm will thrive long after I’m gone. Knowing I played a role in creating something that will benefit generations to come is profoundly meaningful. Seeing young gardeners already working the land means I’m leaving something in the world that will have generational benefits. It’s why I do what I do.

I’m excited to see how this farm sparks more opportunities for community spaces in Santa Ana and beyond. By demonstrating the success of this model, I hope it inspires additional projects that blend engineering with community engagement.

As Lin-Manuel Miranda says in Hamilton, a legacy is “planting seeds in a garden you’ll never get to see.” Well, I’m glad I got to see this one flourish.

Photos by Felipe Ramirez, and courtesy Erik Sanchez and Thrive

The post Built to Belong: The Story of Santa Ana’s First Land Trust Farm appeared first on KPFF Greater Los Angeles Structural.

In 1994, Northridge, California, was struck by a 6.7 magnitude earthquake, which caused extensive damage to the area. KPFF’s Structural Engineers were among the first responders who arrived to assess the damage and develop plans for rebuilding the community. KPFF’s response to the quake is considered a crucial moment in our history, and many employees credit it as a turning point in the company’s success.

Last summer, as the 30th anniversary of the earthquake was approaching, and with several retirements on the horizon, we decided to preserve the stories related to the event. What began as an update to a few slides turned into a full documentary. Scope creep at is finest.

With the Hollywood strikes ongoing, we enlisted the help of a striking television writer to help tell our story. His availability allowed us to complete the documentary in only a few weeks, leaving me and the rest of the marketing team fully available support our office with proposals and other marketing tasks.

Initially, there was some hesitation from the participants, but once in front of the camera, the stories flowed easily. “It really bonded us to work as a team,” reflects Susan Crichton. From Joe Stewart quarterbacking calls from owners and clients, to Juan Hinds-Rico entertaining employees from out-of-town, we worked together to accomplish the tasks at hand.

Although the most meme-able moment was Mike Dygean claiming “we don’t know sh–” when it came to facing the disaster head-on (yes, we already have a gif), Ramzi Hodali had perhaps the most inspiring reflection of the time: “I would say what we do matters. We’re here to save lives…create safe buildings.”

The documentary was first shown at the 2023 Fall LAS Basecamp, KPFF’s New Hire Orientation. Later, it was screened at a “World Premiere” party for the entire LAS staff on January 16, 2024, a day before the 30th Anniversary of the quake. The full documentary was made available to the public on January 17, 2024. “I get chills every time I watch it,” Joe Stewart shared. “My wife loved it.” You can watch the complete documentary by clicking here.

The post What We Do Matters: A Look Back on KPFF’s Response to the 1994 Northridge Quake appeared first on KPFF Greater Los Angeles Structural.

There have been conscious efforts to quantify embodied carbon for projects in the office using innovative sustainability technology. It has been rewarding to see sustainability concepts applied to structural engineering projects as an integral part of the process. I have learned a great amount through discussions with my peers about their experiences and lessons learned with sustainability. This is one process that has been helpful for further developing the methods of defining sustainability in structural engineering, especially within the LA office. Attending the monthly sustainability group meetings and assisting with the ECAP report have also been great ways to encourage a future of more sustainable design in our local office, as well as the general AEC industry.

The post Young Engineers in Sustainability appeared first on KPFF Greater Los Angeles Structural.

This competition started as a fun idea and took off in a way no one expected. It is now composed of four aspects:

1. Educational lesson(s) on an aspect of architectural history or the engineering industry. Past examples include
   – The Seven Wonders of the World
   – History of Bridges and Bridge Design
   – Temples
   – Residential Architecture
2. Individual or team build of a gingerbread structure based on a specific theme
3. Presentation of the gingerbread structure
4. Shake Table test of gingerbread structure in which it MUST fail

The competition is a fun time and a great way to connect with our coworkers, but also provides individual development. The architectural history education component gives us a better understanding of the architectural and engineering industry. The presentation allows us to practice our public speaking in a fun, low-pressure environment. Hidden talents shine in reenactments, raps, short films, and even a full band performance.

The excitement of the gingerbread competition even brought out someone’s handyman creativity – and one of our engineers made us a shake table. With plywood sheets on tracks and an attached sawzall, the makeshift shake table mimics lateral shaking in an earthquake. The gingerbread structures are clamped to the plywood and shaken until the satisfying collapse.

This competition was so popular, we continued it during the COVID Pandemic. Because we couldn’t come together to build and destroy it on the shake table in the office, we found a way to do it at home. We built ginger-bridges and loaded them with canned food to see how much weight they could support.

This year we will be back to structures and the shake table. This year’s theme is “US Monuments.” My brain is already spinning with ideas for a build. This competition brings out engineering creativity in me that I didn’t know I had and I don’t usually get to use on actual buildings. Whatever challenges await us this year, I’m sure they will be fun, entertaining, enriching…and tasty!

This year’s competition will be held on December 14 in our DTLA office. We’ll be sharing the festivities on Instagram and TikTok. Follow along at @kpff_la

The post Sugar & Spice: Everything Nice about KPFF LA Structural’s December Tradition appeared first on KPFF Greater Los Angeles Structural.

The calendar may say fall, but we’re wrapping up our Epic Summer Series detailing our Intern Program in Los Angeles Structural. We’ve explored how we enhanced the intern experience, heard from interns in our 2022 program as well as interns who are now full-time employees, and learned how communication ties everything together. In our last and final entry, we’re going to discover the history of the LA-S Intern Program.

HUMBLE BEGINNINGS

We’ve always had some form of an intern program, but it wasn’t as robust as our intern program today. Largely unstructured, no one knew what to do with the interns and no one was monitoring their success. The interns were bored, and we weren’t benefiting from them as part of our team.

In 2016, Mike Dygean created a more focused approach to the intern program on his team. He hired two summer interns and developed the Intern Design Project (IDP) to give the interns something to do when they didn’t have a task. “We needed something that was real, live engineering and something to judge their skills on,” he says.

8–10 WEEK INTERVIEW

When KPFF LA-S moved to Downtown Los Angeles in 2018, the intern program was refined further. We struggled to hire entry-level engineers, and those we did hire had a 50% turnover rate. Could we use our intern program as an 8–10 week interview to see if the interns were a good fit as full-time employees?

“That’s what I tell my interns,” Neil Bahen shares. “It’s a two-way interview for sure.”

“It’s our interview process for them, but it gives the person a deeper insight into what they would be doing as an Engineer,” Mike adds. “It’s them interviewing us. The interns appreciate that.”

This approach has proved successful: roughly two-thirds of our interns return either as repeat interns the following summer or as full-time employees.

FURTHER REFINEMENT

During the pandemic, the intern program became more defined. While we were fully remote, we were able to have interns living in other geographic locations. But when it was time to return in-person, there was a need for further refinement.

Team leaders expressed concern about Juniors and even some Seniors joining our team. But Juniors are arguably the most essential interns. “Juniors go back to school with one year left to the same University we want to hire from, and they talk,” Mike explains. “Let’s see if we can get more people applying from these schools.”

And so far, it’s worked – the 2022 Summer Intern Class was the largest class to date with 20 interns!

To accommodate the younger engineers, we interviewed the team leaders and created a wish list. From this list, we developed the Crash Course Series to get engineers up-to-speed so they could jump into projects right away.

In addition to the crash courses, interns also had emotional intelligence, core strengths, and crucial conversations trainings, in addition to other summer activities throughout the office.

TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING?

Our intern program has evolved into a robust career training experience. As Jeanne Li covered in Epic Summer Part 1, our 2022 summer internship included design Crash Courses in topics such as steel and concrete, Entry Level Training seminars, an Intern Design Project, emotional intelligence training (Core Strengths, Crucial Conversations, DEI training), site visits, client meetings, and of course, real project work.

We may have gone too far last year. With a record size Intern Class and a robust learning schedule, the intern exit interviews showed many interns felt overwhelmed. While the 2023 Intern Program will have fewer trainings, they are not going away completely.

“We’re just sliding it into our Design Engineer training.” Neil shares. “As you’re transitioning in your career from intern to design engineer, there are even more trainings you’ll get from us as a full-time employee. At KPFF, the learning never stops.”

Mike adds, “Ultimately, we’re looking to fine-tune it so everyone has a beneficial summer.”

READY FOR AN EPIC SUMMER?

Are you interested in joining the KPFF LA Structural team for your summer internship? Applications are now open!

The post Epic Summer Part 4: The History appeared first on KPFF Greater Los Angeles Structural.

GRIFFITH PARK

In the late 1800s, wealthy landowner and bachelor Don Antonio Feliz contracted a deadly case of smallpox. When his niece Petranilla discovered she was left out of the will, rumor has it she put a curse on the land her family had owned for generations. All subsequent owners have met untimely deaths or misfortune, including Griffith J. Griffith, who sold the land to the City before going to prison for shooting his wife. The ghost of Petranilla is said to haunt the Feliz Adobe at Crystal Springs, staring out the window at night.

KPFF LA holds our annual summer party at Crystal Springs. While we have yet to encounter Petranilla, a Pokemon piñata did suffer an untimely demise this year. Additionally, KPFF LA has provided civil engineering services to the LA Zoo, located in the heart of Griffith Park.

HOLLYWOOD ROOSEVELT HOTEL

KPFF LA provided structural engineering services for the existing stair #6 and lowered landing demolition, a new raised stair and landing connected to the Upper Ground Floor level. We hope the ghost of Marilyn Monroe appreciates this new staircase to help her revisit her old stomping grounds.

COLORADO STREET BRIDGE

The hauntingly beautiful Colorado Street Bridge in Pasadena was completed in 1913, claimed its first life in 1919, and has been the backdrop to a string of untimely deaths ever since. KPFF LA provided peer review services for the structural support and anchorage of a proposed new perimeter iron fence to increase bridge safety.

Additionally, we have been a trusted advisor to the City for years, including serving as the on-call structural engineer since 2018. As part of our on-call contract, KPFF provided a structural engineering evaluation of the Pasadena Central Library, an Unreinforced Masonry (URM) building initially constructed in 1925. URM buildings are known to be collapse prone during earthquakes, requiring seismic strengthening to meet life safety standards. The City plans to rehabilitate and retrofit the Library so the historic building can safely reopen in time for its centennial celebration.

ELSEWHERE IN TOWN

We’ve also helped build some other scary haunts in town, but we’ve been sworn to secrecy for those, so we’ll take those details to our graves.

The post Haunted KPFF appeared first on KPFF Greater Los Angeles Structural.

“Hi, my name is Esther, and I’m an incoming third year civil engineering student.”

This past summer offered me many chances to introduce myself to others. Whether with a person who has been at KPFF LA Structural for more than a decade or with a new hire on their first day in the office, someone is bound to come up to you and say hello. The environment is so welcoming and friendly, and I’m thankful I had the opportunity to intern here for the summer. As soon as I started, people came to my desk to greet me, and I was also able to meet some new hires who started the same week I did. Since then, I’ve learned how intentional and genuine KPFF LAS is in wanting to get to know people. Not just our basic introductions, like which school we’re going to or what year we are going into, but also what we like and what we do outside school and work. As a marketing intern, I’ve learned how essential connecting with people is in this industry.

KNOWING TO COMMUNICATE

Every week is filled with meetings. As part of marketing, I was invited to join in on meetings with fellow support staff on Mondays, LA Civil Marketing on Tuesdays, principals on Wednesdays, and LA Structural Marketing every day.

To help our Support Staff better support staff, we met weekly to discuss new tasks and events, follow up on previous ones, and check in on how everyone was doing. We also covered any office-wide announcements to ensure everyone was on the same page.

Each week, we met with our sister office, LA Civil, to follow up on any projects on which LA Civil and LA Structural were collaborating. In addition, we had meetings with our principals to get caught up on any new projects or developments on existing projects. And finally, we had daily marketing meetings, which allowed the marketing staff to update one another on our tasks. Through these marketing-specific meetings, I learned how to sell KPFF’s services when making proposals for potential clients and advertising on different platforms.

After talking with the engineering interns, I realized there was just as much communication within other departments. The office has multiple conference rooms, and if you walk around the office, you are almost guaranteed to stumble upon someone making calls to clients, partners, etc. KPFF recognizes the need for communication and continues to find and provide resources and opportunities to optimize our communication effectiveness.

KNOWING HOW TO COMMUNICATE

Not only is the act of communicating essential for producing good work, but so is knowing how to communicate. During our time here, all interns and new hires had various training modules to complete. One of the most memorable and valuable was KPFF’s Crucial Conversations training. KPFF gave us access to books, videos, and discussions to help us better communicate in difficult yet crucial situations. This training also allowed us to get to others in the office we don’t work with daily. We were paired with learning partners and table groups for activities to practice our new communication skills. I appreciated that KPFF LA Structural went to the lengths it did (and still does) to provide all staff – even the interns – with access to these resources because they realize it advances workplace productivity.

KNOWING WHO WE’RE COMMUNICATING WITH

Finally, I learned it is essential to know who you are communicating with. Along with Crucial Conversations training, KPFF LAS has everyone take the SDI assessment and training course. Through this course, I could better understand myself and my peers and learned how to communicate with them based on their SDI assessment. We reviewed each person’s results and all possible combinations to see what environments allow us to optimize communication and, thus, productivity in the workplace.

KPFF also provided a broad spectrum of fun activities, such as the Office Olympics and the Wellness Challenge, allowing us to meet coworkers outside our teams.

The post Epic Summer Part 3: Communication is Key appeared first on KPFF Greater Los Angeles Structural.

In Part 2 of our Epic Summer Series, which looks at our Intern Program, we reached out to our current interns and an intern who later became full-time employees for their perspectives on the program.

The KPFF LA Structural Intern Program was restructured in 2018 (more on that in a future blog). Last summer, we ran the numbers: 67% of LA Structural interns either return the following year as repeat interns or join KPFF after graduation as full-time employees.

GETTING IN THE DOOR

Before our interns become interns, they have to find us first. And how exactly do our interns (and full-time employees, for that matter) find us? We asked some of our current interns to share how they discovered KPFF.

Suha Hussain, a current Cal Poly SLO student and first-time intern, shared she started with LinkedIn, cross-referenced her findings with online ratings, and talked with her friends who had previously interned with LA Structural. “Most of the firms I interviewed with were civil engineering only or land development,” she shares. “ I wanted exposure to true structural engineering before deciding on a focus for my senior year.”

Courtney Huitt similarly found KPFF via LinkedIn, though she had a slightly different approach: “I go to Cal Poly SLO, so I looked at the recent Cal Poly alumni – where they interned and now work full time. A lot of Alumni work at KPFF.”

THE DECIDING FACTOR

Most of our interns interviewed with multiple firms but ultimately decided on KPFF, but every intern’s deciding factor was different.

“I was originally trying to find something at home in Colorado,” Clayton Sumner explains. “In the Structural Engineering world, you have to worry about seismic, and Los Angeles is the best of the best. If you work in California, you can pretty much work anywhere.”

Courtney describes how the program’s overall structure appealed to her: “The crash courses, the entry-level seminars, and the Intern Design project the Interns would participate in throughout the internship were appealing to me. I’m a younger intern – I haven’t graduated yet, so I knew I wouldn’t have a ton of experience. The idea of having all these classes, I thought this would be the internship I would learn the most.”

GETTING HANDS-ON EXPERIENCE

The interns found us, interviewed with us, and chose to work with us. So what does a day in the life of an intern entail? From weekly lunch-and-learns to the intern design project and summer activities, there’s always something to engage our interns.

“This was my first time doing design work,” current employee and former intern Kiana Sarad explains. “I was given a lot of responsibilities as an intern. KPFF allowed me to bridge the gap between what I learned in school and what is done in the industry.”

“I didn’t expect so many activities in the office!” Suha adds. “The picnic, the Summer Olympics, the Wellness Challenge. Everyone’s enthusiastic. They want to have fun.”

Clayton shares his involvement in several types of projects “I spend a lot of time in etabs, I’ve done equipment anchorage and retaining walls, a structural analysis of an existing building. I’ve made a small impact on some big projects.”

THE CULTURE

The SDI and Crucial Conversations trainings surprised Suha. “I tried stepping into leadership roles such as student government to learn these skills. I never thought I would get that in engineering.”

Clayton agrees, “The culture was evident from the first initial conversation. Very inclusive and encouraging of everybody with the practice groups and soft skills training.”

“There are a lot of interns, at least in LA Structural,” Courtney adds. “I enjoy being able to interact with peers my age in the same program I am and working together to figure things out.”

FINAL THOUGHTS?

When asked if our interns would return next summer, they responded with a resounding YES. Suha shares, “During the time we’re here, we’re treated like full-time employees. I don’t feel like I’m just an intern.”

“At the end of the day, the reason I came back as a full-time employee was the people,” Kiana laughs. “It’s so cliche, but it’s true.”

The post Epic Summer Part 2: View from an Intern appeared first on KPFF Greater Los Angeles Structural.