October 2019 General Meeting Recap
For the second meeting of the Fall 2019 Semester, we had the privilege of hosting Saroj Shrestha, P.E., and Ryan Sbrusch, E.I.T., from Dunham Engineering, Inc. Dunham Engineering is a local structural and corrosion engineering consulting firm specializing in tanks, towers, buildings, and bridges throughout Texas and the surrounding region. They discussed two projects which highlighted the need for adaptability in engineering design.
Ryan Sbrusch, a structural engineering graduate student at Texas A&M University and engineer-in-training at Dunham Engineering, presented on the renovation of a building built in the 1880’s. He discussed the challenges associated with adding new structural elements without disturbing the existing structure. Ryan walked through the initial assessment of the building condition and discussed several design options which sought to increase the load capacity of the upper floors. Ryan also shared his perspective on gaining engineering experience while in graduate school and encouraged our members to seek those opportunities when available.Saroj Shrestha, a licensed professional engineer at Dunham Engineering, presented on a recent parking garage project which required several design solutions during mid-construction. Initially, he discussed the parking garage layout and displayed the load magnitudes which governed the design. He presented two foundation options, shallow spread footings and pile foundations, and discussed the benefits of each. Saroj then explained several unforeseen site conditions that were discovered during construction which warranted the switch between spread footings to pile foundations. He presented the design changes and impact on the overall project cost. Saroj advised our students that engineers must be adaptable and capable of developing efficient solutions when challenges arise.
Saroj Shrestha, a licensed professional engineer at Dunham Engineering, presented on a recent parking garage project which required several design solutions during mid-construction. Initially, he discussed the parking garage layout and displayed the load magnitudes which governed the design. He presented two foundation options, shallow spread footings and pile foundations, and discussed the benefits of each. Saroj then explained several unforeseen site conditions that were discovered during construction which warranted the switch between spread footings to pile foundations. He presented the design changes and impact on the overall project cost. Saroj advised our students that engineers must be adaptable and capable of developing efficient solutions when challenges arise.
