For the ninth consecutive year, KNA has awarded a Senior Project Grant to students in the Architectural Engineering (ARCE) program at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. The official ceremony was held on June 7th at the university. The annual award is given to students who have the ability to advance the art of the structural engineering profession with their projects.
Top Students Recognized with KNA Grant Awards
To qualify, a senior student or team must demonstrate academic excellence and leadership in their ARCE career(s). The proposed project must have clearly defined goals along with measurable and obtainable results. Special emphasis is given to projects that have the potential to advance our profession.
Larry Kaprielian, Principal of KNA Structural Engineers and an ARCE graduate, said of the grant, “We are happy to help support these talented students. When looking for engineers to join our firm, we look for dedicated, smart individuals who are forward-thinkers. The ARCE program tells us a lot about how those students think.”
Jerry Luong and Garrett Brown are this year’s recipients of the $1500.00 award. Their project focuses on the recent Los Angeles ordinance regarding non-ductile concrete buildings. They found there was no research on using Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) to confine boundary elements, particularly in slender walls. The two students will continue further research and testing the FRP application which they believe will be an effective, non-invasive and affordable retrofit solution for buildings anywhere. Peter Laursen and Anahid Behrouzi are their advisors on the project.
“We wanted to test the walls this Spring Quarter, but found out that no one has documented the capacity of the ARCE high bay reaction frames. We spent this quarter concurrently designing shear wall specimens and finding the capacity of the reaction frame system. We have also proposed some retrofits for strengthening/stiffening the system to increase our testing capacities.”
— Jerry Luong, ARCE Grand Recipient
Al Estes, Architectural Engineering Department Head, said of the KNA Senior Project Grant: “The scholarship program remains incredibly important to this department and to its students. As college becomes increasingly expensive for students, it is firms like KNA Structural Engineers that help relieve that burden through their generosity. I particularly like the senior project scholarships because they go to tangible hands-on, learn-by-doing projects.”
KNA has participated in the grant program for years and understands the benefit of students putting their education to practice use. Cal Poly’s grant program provides these opportunities. The firm is happy to announce that their ARCE video won the 2018 Honorable Mention Award. Thanks to all of KNA’s engineers who labored over the Legos!
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