News

JAMA was thrilled to learn that the structural design for “Agrifolia Major” won a Structural Engineers Association of Southern California (SEAOSC) Excellence in Structural Engineering (EISE) award! The project – a 14’-3” tall, 20’-9” long x 22’ wide sculpture by internationally acclaimed artist Nancy Rubins – utilizes a unique structural framework to allow the expression of multiple animals of cast iron, bronze, brass and aluminum. The animals are arranged in a balanced compression and ‘secured’ with tensile cables, but the engineering had to allow for a diverse set of weather conditions and loads, and its assembly / re-assembly accommodate transit and set-up anywhere on the across the globe that the piece may be shown or finally housed. Senior Project Manager Jaime Garcia and BIM Manager Felix Olmos accepted the award for this sculpture at the recent SEAOSC awards dinner. We’re awaiting news whether the project has also won at the State level.

In anticipation of Saturday, June 23rd as International Women in Engineering Day (#INWED18), JAMA introduced some of the amazing individuals who produce and support the firm’s award-winning engineering on LinkedIn. Her Yang Lee, E.I.T., who joined JAMA last September, was the first in the five-part series, followed by Jennifer “Jenni” Shishido who serves as JAMA’s Director of Contracts & Risk Management. Partner Jackie Vinkler, SE, was the Wednesday highlight followed by Ivy Policar and finally Kim Pacheco, SE, LEED AP. All of the posts for this important international day can be found on JAMA’s Company LinkedIn Page.

JAMA Partner Steven C. Ball, SE has been busy at work with longtime structural and facade engineering collaborator Knippers Helbig on the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures (AMPAS) in Los Angeles. The project is one of the most anticipated in the City. AMPAS was designed by Pritzker-prize winning architect Renzo Piano, but its 130’ tall glass dome with structural engineering by JAMA is the crowning piece of project. While other teams are reworking the Streamline Moderne department store built in 1939 (at the corner of Wilshire and Fairfax), the attached Saban Building with a sphere element to the north will be the more interesting architectural feature. The bottom of the sphere will be encased in precast concrete panels and house a 1,000-seat theater named after David Geffen for performances, screenings, premiers, and events. The top will be sheathed in glass and serve as an observation deck looking out over the Hollywood Hills. JAMA is looking forward to the completion of this unique p

JAMA’s Activities & Adventure Committee was looking for a way to channel some of our employee’s competitive spirit into a fun game that could be done during short breaks at work and after hours. The answer: a cornhole tournament! Cornhole (or bean bag toss for those of us who have been around for a while) is a popular lawn game that’s pretty simple: throw your bean bag at a hole in your opponents raised platform 33 feet away. A bag in the hole scores 3 points, while one on the platform scores 1 point. The first to score 21 wins. After 9 weeks of a 14 team, double elimination tournament, JAMA crowned the firm’s first Cornhole Champion, the undefeated team of Michael Brown and Ben Rogowski – aka “the Holers,” held off the comeback “A-Team” in a best 2 of 3 rounds. Next up….Shuffleboard!

For years JAMA has been involved in the on-again/off-again effort to bring the Orange County Museum of Art (OCMA) to life. In May the Museum unveiled its latest plans for the new state-of-the-art facility, located adjacent to the Segerstrom Center which also showcases JAMA structural design. The new 52,000 SF venue focuses on connecting to the Segerstrom site and expanding art exhibition space and arts education. An open-air roof terrace will cover 70% of the museum site, while the plaza, with indoor art galleries tucked beneath it, will host film screenings and outdoor art installations. Congrats to JAMA team members Kurt Clandening and Matt Timmers.

JAMA was recently notified that the firm will be honored with the 2018 Professional Excellence Award by the Chinese American Construction Professionals organization, or CACP. CACP works to enhance member’s competitiveness in both local and global markets, facilitating professional and business networking and serving communities in the US and China to nurture future construction professionals. Each year, the organization chooses an A/E/C firm that fosters the organization’s ideals of enhancing, connecting, serving and nurturing. The awards event will be held on Thursday, July 26th at the LA Hotel Downtown. Accepting the award on behalf of JAMA will be Managing Partner Kurt Clandening and Chaoying L.

Spring 2018 marked JAMA’s 65th anniversary, a proud occasion highlighted by our newly renovated office space filled with talented staff leading the firm into the future. Since our founding in 1953, JAMA has continually expanded services, fostered new leaders, and pioneered the use of technology to support clients. Today, JAMA applies lessons learned from 65 years of structural engineering with a range of advanced technologies to service an increasingly diverse portfolio of projects. We utilize a production model centered on 100% BIM workflow alongside the latest 3D, virtual reality and artificial intelligence technologies. Our staff, which includes nearly 40 licensed engineers, stays actively engaged in project typologies that range from aviation, sports and convention centers to education, healthcare and mixed-use projects. Here’s to another 65 years!

Partner Kal Benuska, SE recently travelled to Japan to oversee the Flight of Dreams, a large-scale installation featuring the first Boeing 787 airline inside Central Japan International Airport’s (Centrair) main terminal. Thirty-five percent of the Boeing 787’s components are made by Japanese suppliers and then shipped to the US for final assembly. In July 2015, Boeing donated the first-ever built 787 – the ZA001 – after it served its role as a flight test airplane. Considered a home-coming for the plane, Japanese officials determined the plane should be permanently restored in Centrair as a static display. In addition to the challenges of displaying an “artifact” that cannot be taken apart, the Flight of Dreams posed a handful of challenges: • Because of ZA001’s use as a test flight airplane, it has no interiors, so the engineering has to accommodate a different weight and center of gravity compared to commercial 787’s. • At the time of donation, the electrical and systems