Matt Barnard, S.E., is a Principal and Engineering Manager with the Los Angeles office of Degenkolb Engineers. He has been with the firm since he graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2001. Matt specializes in healthcare, higher education, and seismic retrofit projects. He is the structural engineer of record for Kaiser's Los Angeles Medical Center Hospital and the Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center Ocean View Tower. He is currently in the midst of various projects including the new UCI Hospital and the assessment of nearly 300 buildings both at UCI and at UCSB. Matt is very active in the Southern California professional community. He is serving as current President of the Structural Engineers Association of Southern California. Matt has served on the ACE Mentoring Board and was named a National Mentor of the Year in 2015. He is also a volunteer with the Cal OES Safety Assessment Program having been deployed to New Orleans and St. Bernard Parish after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
The reality is that there are unspoken truths about what it means to be a structural engineer that I wish someone had told me before I took my first statics class. I never expected to be a structural engineer when I entered college. 20 years later, I am a Principal with Degenkolb Engineers and the 2020/2021 President of the Structural Engineers Association of Southern California. I love what I do. But, do you know what I actually do and what it means to be a structural engineer? Let’s explore together what it means to be a structural engineer in today’s world including those unspoken truths. They are even more relevant for you as you enter this industry during a time of such uncertainty.