News

Sometimes it’s amazing what engineers do for their jobs. This week JAMA Associate Principal Matt Timmers and Project Manager Hossain Ghaffari got warm and cozy with Godzilla at the top of the Cinerama Dome in Hollywood. When the two arrived for a site visit to check loads and cable anchors of the inflatable monster on top of the structure, they expected to simply take a look from the ground and discuss the installation with the crew. Instead, the inflatables marketing team handed them harnesses and suggested they “suit up” to take a look in person. The multi-story piece was placed on top of the iconic dome as part of a marketing campaign for the Godzilla: King of the Monsters movie, opening May 31, but required great care as large-scale lighting was attached as well. Winds or other weather could greatly affect the safety of the structure as well as crowds if the piece shifted too far from its intended position.

The Tom Bradley International Terminal (TBIT) Expansion at Los Angeles International Airport is, even years after its completion, still garnering attention. Selected by an international jury of top designers, architects, curators and academics, the project was named the winning Transportation category project of The Plan Award 2019. The award aims to disseminate knowledge of and improve the quality of work done by designers globally. TBIT is the largest public works project in Los Angeles’s history, requiring close collaboration with the community and among the team, which included JAMA as structural engineer alongside Fentress Architects. The 1.2 million square foot project achieved LEED Gold certification and continues to be a gold-standard in aviation design, in part for its non-orthogonal structural components that JAMA cleared with the City of Los Angeles through extensive testing.

JAMA is thrilled to share the news about Kent Kaewwaen, P.E., S.E.‘s honor as a 2019 ACE National Mentor of the Year! Well done, and well deserved! JAMA’s Kent Kaewwaen has been selected as an ACE National Mentor of the year! This significant honor was given to only five mentors across the country, and includes recognition in an upcoming issue of Engineering News-Record, as well as participation in the National ACE Design and Construction Competition this May in Washington, DC. A scholarship, awarded to a Los Angeles-area student who participates in the ACE program, will also be named in his honor. Kent’s involvement with the ACE Mentor program started when he was a mentee at John Marshall High School back in 2004. He received an ACE scholarship in 2005, and volunteered with the organization through college. After graduating with his Masters, he returned as a mentor, rebuilding and then leading ACE LA’s Pasadena team. In 2015 he was recognized with the ACE LA/OC Engineering Mento

After a 2-year study, JAMA is assisting The Huntington Library in moving forward with the seismic renovation and relocation of a former samurai house from Marugame Japan to the Huntington’s San Marino campus. The team for the project, referred to as the Japanese Heritage House, has grown to include two Japanese architects, one American architect, a general contractor, framers, and craftsmen. In March, Project Manager Kim Pacheco traveled to Marugame to view the house in its existing condition and meet other members of the team. This summer, a rehearsal build will take place in neighboring Matsuyama, Japan, including templates to locate new plywood shear walls. The house will then be disassembled and packed into shipping containers, due to arrive in the US by the end of the year. Reconstruction in California will begin in January 2020, along with construction of a new gate house and site wall to enclose a new exhibit space. Planning of this complex project has required extensive coordin

JAMA is remembering the Northridge Earthquake, which took place 25 years ago today. As the costliest natural disaster of its time in SoCal, it has since shaped our practice, and our city. One of biggest lessons learned: the need for high performance seismic connections. JAMA, and the industry at large, has continually explored ways to improve life safety, decrease property loss and increase resilience through improvements to non-ductile steel moment frame connections. Like the rehabilitated and seismically upgraded Royce Hall at UCLA, our buildings are designed to take on the next “big one.”

JAMA’s efforts on the conceptual design of the Fifth Xiang Ya hospital in ChangSha, China, are becoming a reality. Construction on the 2,500+ bed facility began earlier this year and is moving at lightning speed. JAMA worked on the design with Payette’s Boston office, which features a series of mega-structures to accommodate outpatient services for 100,000 people daily in an “eco-hospital in the garden.” In total, the 5.6 million square foot project covers a nearly 30-acre site that blends with an adjacent public park. Construction is expected to be complete in 2020.

Congratulations to JAMA Senior Engineer James Lee for being selected as an incoming Board Member for the Asian American Architects / Engineers of Southern California Foundation (AAa/e) Foundation. His commitment and future efforts will help the organization raise funds for scholarships for students pursuing a career in architecture, engineering or construction. The AAa/e Foundation was created in 2004 as a branch of the Asian American Architects / Engineers Association of Southern California (www.aaaesc.org) to better support efforts to seek additional means of fundraising for our scholarships, and to better serve students.

What was originally planned as a lovely Fall camping trip IN Joshua Tree National Park turned into a lovely Fall camping trip OUTSIDE of the Park. The “campsite” was a bit primitive, but our hearty JAMA campers said it was a great time to hike, explore and bond over hot chocolate! The group headed to Joshua Tree National Park on Friday evening, but since the campsites inside the park were all full the group ended up setting up camp in nearby Sunfair – an interesting area just north/northwest of the park. The next two days offered plenty of sightseeing, bouldering and hiking inside the park. We’re just glad the group made it back……