President

Erik Madsen P.E. is CEO of Madsen Consulting Engineering. Erik has extensive experience in the design and construction of new highrise building structures, renovations of historic and archaic properties, forensic work and design of temporary structures for construction. Erik started Madsen Consulting Engineering in 2010. He is a past SEAoNY Board Member, past chair of the Programs Committee, past staff editor of Cross Sections, co-chair of the SEAoNY Central NY Startup Committee, current co-chair of SPEC, and has served as the SEAoNY state delegate to NCSEA for 16 years. Erik has been a member of the NYC Department of Buildings Code Revision Structural Technical Committee and NCSEA's General Code Advisory Committee since 2011.

President-Elect

Yunlu (Lulu) Shen, P.E. is an Associate Principal at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM). Lulu’s engineering work encompasses a broad range of structures—including super-tall towers, museums and cultural centers, renovations, and pedestrian bridges. Notable New York projects include Two Manhattan West, Highline Moynihan Connector, 510 Fifth Avenue renovation, and 34 East 51st Street Boutique Office. She received her Bachelor of Engineering from McGill University in Montreal, and her Master of Applied Science from the University of Toronto.

Lulu has been an active member of SEAoNY since 2009. She was Secretary from 2019-2021, Director from 2016-2019, and Chair of the Programs Committee from 2010-2012. She led the taskforce that established the Central New York Chapter, as well as the Bylaw update in 2018. She is also on the steering committee of NCSEA’s PR campaign to promote the structural engineering profession.

Treasurer

Anthony Piderit, PE is an Associate at Murray Engineering. Anthony has been involved in numerous and diverse projects including the design of mid-rise residential and commercial use developments, townhome and penthouse renovations, as well as historical restoration of a number of NYC Landmark buildings. Anthony has designed different building types including conventional concrete structures, as well as steel and masonry structures for commercial, educational, residential, institutional, and cultural buildings. Anthony is the current Chair of the Structural Engineers Association of New York (SEAoNY) Young Member Group Committee and also sits on the Scholarship Committee. He also is the Secretary of the NCSEA Existing Building Code Committee. 

Secretary

Andrea Shear, P.E., is an Associate Principal at Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc. (WJE) in New York City. Since starting at WJE in 2003, she has performed field investigations and evaluations involving a broad range of construction materials, with a primary focus on renovation of historic steel and concrete structures. She has designed structural and building envelope repairs, restorations, and modifications for adaptive reuse, as well as completed construction period services and special inspections associated with a variety of structures, including high rise and historic commercial and office buildings, parking structures, residential buildings, and civil infrastructure. She has a bachelor's and master's degree in Civil Engineer from the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor and is a licensed Professional Engineer in New York and New Jersey, a director of WJE’s Special Inspection Agency and a New York City Qualified Exterior Wall Inspector, and a Qualified Parking Structure Inspector.

Andrea has been an active member of the Structural Engineers Associate of New York (SEAoNY) since 2008. She is the co-chair of the Codes and Standards Committee and has completed one term as Director. Prior to moving to New York, she was a member of the Structural Engineer’s Association of Michigan (SEAMi). She is also an active participant of the American Welding Society (AWS)'s Subcommittee on Strengthening and Repair and AWS D1 Task Group 1 on Design.

Past-President

Eugene Kim, P.E., is an Associate Partner at Gilsanz Murray Steficek. Eugene joined Gilsanz Murray Steficek in 2005, after completing his BS and MS in Civil Engineering at Columbia University. He is a licensed professional engineer in New York and California.

Eugene’s projects range from the 47-story residential tower at 235 Grand in Jersey City, to Jane’s Carousel, to the redevelopment at 280 Park Avenue, including an upgrade of the lobby and MEP Systems to reposition this mid-20th century office tower located above the Metro North railroad tracks. He recently completed construction of the 12-story Moise Safra Community Center, the LG North American HQ in Englewood Cliffs, and the reconstruction of a high-end retail space at 767 Fifth Avenue and is currently designing the Fairfield University Convocation Center.

Eugene serves as an associate member on both American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) 7-22, General Structural Requirements Subcommittee, and the Wind Subcommittee developing the 2022 version of Minimum Design Loads for Buildings and Other Structures. And he served as the SEAoNY President for 2020-2021.

Directors

John Pat Arnett, P.E. is a Principal at Silman. He received a B.S. in Civil Engineering and an M.S. Degree in Civil Engineering (Structural Engineering) from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. In 1996, Pat was awarded a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship and did research on improving ductility and energy dissipation in steel moment connections. His projects at Silman have ranged from adaptive reuse to new construction, working for both institutional and corporate clients. Pat previously created a course in existing building renovations at NYC College of Technology (City Tech) and currently is a studio consultant for the Rice School of Architecture (since 2011) and an adjunct professor at Columbia University (since 2013).  He is currently the professional mentor for the Engineers Without Borders Manhattan College chapter and was formerly the mentor for Princeton University. Some of Pat’s notable projects include Maroon Ranch - Aspen, Theater For a New Audience, and the Empire Stores renovation and redevelopment in Brooklyn, NY.

Samantha Brummell, P.E. is a Project Engineer at Thornton Tomasetti. Sam started her career in NYC at Severud Associates. Prior to that, she worked in the Construction of Facilities Department at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. Most of her experience is in healthcare, residential and commercial construction. Notable projects include Brooklyn Methodist New York-Presbyterian Hospital and The Greenwich Lane Condominiums. Sam holds a Bachelor’s in Civil Engineering and Master’s Degree in Structural Engineering, both from Cornell University. She is licensed in the State of New York. Sam has volunteered as an ACE mentor for five years with Brooklyn Tech High School, and is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers and Professional Women in Construction. She was selected for CTBUH NY’s first Emerging Leaders Award and ENR New York’s Top Young Professionals in 2019.

In 2015, Samantha joined the Education & University Outreach Committee. The following year, she chaired the group and started a side project to organize and pilot events targeted towards younger members. In only 8 months, the committee hosted all their annual events for students as well as six new events targeted towards YMs. In 2016, she founded SEAoNY’s Young Members Group, which was honored in 2018 as a Finalist for “Young Member Group of the Year” by NCSEA. Sam is also active in NCSEA’s Code Advisory Committee, General Requirements Subcommittee as the group’s Recording Secretary.

Jill Hrubecky, P.E. serves as the Executive Engineer for the NYC Department of Buildings’ (DOB) Investigative Engineering Services (IES) unit – DOB’s engineering response and audit unit. IES supports all DOB portfolios, manages special initiatives like compromised structures, and aids the Technical Affairs unit in Code and Rule revisions. IES encompasses the following units: Concrete Enforcement, Forensic Engineering, Local Law & Façades, Retaining Wall, and Structurally Compromised Buildings. In her role, Jill provides technical expertise and aids in managing a team of 60 design professionals, inspectors and administrative support staff. She works to further the DOB’s efforts to create a culture of safety on construction sites and enforce laws to protect all New York City residents, workers, and visitors. Previously, Jill was a Principal Engineer with the Forensic Engineering Unit where she provided engineering competence for incidents, accidents, collapses, fires, weather events and building related fatalities. Prior to joining DOB, Jill was an Associate at Gilsanz Murray Steficek LLP Engineers and Architects, where she worked for 14 years. Jill is a licensed professional engineer in the states of New York and California. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from Cornell University and a Master of Public Administration from New York University.

Timothy Lynch, PE is a NYS licensed Professional Engineer with over 35 years of engineering experience. Up to June of 2022, Mr. Lynch served as the Chief Enforcement Engineer for the New York City Department of Buildings (DOB). Since 2005, Mr Lynch has served with the DOB in a number of titles, working on all types of field and engineering evaluation issues related to the public safety of NYC’s 1.1M existing buildings. As a structural engineer, using all his years of experience, he has coordinated and attended DOB’s engineering responses for partial and full building collapses, and the immediate efforts required to make them safe using shoring campaigns, demolitions or short and long term repairs. Regular responses and management were daily tasks required to make buildings safe for occupants and the public when serious structural stability issues arose from construction accidents and errors, fires, and structural decay from weathering and wear and tear. The work also required responding to, managing and coordinating NYC’s response to major weather events such as hurricanes and large coastal storms. These can impact anywhere up to 100K of NYC’s buildings, in particular, family dwellings located in coastal areas as was the case with Superstorm Sandy. The emergency response work also extended to out of state deployments up and down the Atlantic seaboard, where NYC provided expert engineering help for building evaluations through its mutual aid programs.

 

Jennifer Anna Pazdon, P.E. is Vice President of Cast Connex where she enables architects and engineers to leverage steel castings to simplify design, enhance aesthetics, and improve performance of connections. She earned her Bachelors in Civil Engineering with a Minor in Architecture from Carnegie Mellon University and her Masters in Structures from Princeton University where her studies focused on aesthetics, efficiency, and economy in structural design. Ms. Pazdon’s projects in NYC include One Jackson Square (with GMS), The New Whitney Museum of American Art (with Silman), VIA 57 (with Thornton Tomasetti) and multiple residential renovations with Pazdon Engineering, Inc.

In addition to her practice as a structural engineering consultant based in New York City, Ms. Pazdon has been technical consultant to humanitarian agencies for projects in developing nations in Africa, Asia, and SE Asia. She was Lead Engineer for Build Change from 2015-2016.

Ms. Pazdon has been an active member of SEAONY for over 13 years. She is founding Chair of the SEAoNY Diversity Committee, was SEAoNY Programs Chair for 3 years, and is a frequent contributor to Cross Sections, the SEAoNY Newsletter.

In 2016, Ms. Pazdon became inaugural voting member of the NCSEA SE3 Committee. She is an active member of the AISC Continuing Education Committee Archives, the Professional Women in Construction Membership Committee, and the Organizing Committee for the 2018 IABSE Future of Design Conference in New York City.

Muhammad Rahal, P.E. joined Severud Associates in 2002 as an engineer. Within the next five years, he received his master’s degree and progressed to senior engineer. In 2008, Muhammad advanced to the role of associate and in 2019 was elevated to senior associate. Muhammad’s condition survey and field experience has made him particularly expert in building additions and alterations and renovations of existing structures. He has contributed to many noteworthy projects, including the mixed-use building at 851 Avenue of the Americas, the 35XV Condominium, and renovation of the former New York Times building, all in New York City.

Muhammad is author of the master’s thesis, The Design of Steel Structures Under the Influence of Blast Loading, published by The Cooper Union in 2004.

Muhammad is licensed as a professional engineer in New York and New Jersey. He earned a Bachelor of Engineering and a Master of Engineering in civil engineering, both from The Cooper Union.

Hannah Valentine, P.E. is the AISC Structural Steel Specialist for the greater Los Angeles region. She works with architects, engineers, and general contractors to identify ways in which domestically produced and fabricated steel may be utilized to generate optimal building design solutions. She brings to AISC her previous design experience as a structural engineer working on large-scale steel projects in the sports, commercial, and education sectors.

Hannah currently serves as a Director on the Structural Engineering Association of New York (SEAoNY) Board and Co-Chair of the SEAoNY Diversity Committee. She works with organizations such as AIA Diversity & Inclusion, ASCE Met Section, and Qu-AKE (Queer Advocacy & Knowledge Exchange) to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion within the built environment professions. As a past mentor for the LA Promise Fund Intern Project and ACE Mentor Program, she strives to widen the education pipeline to the built environment professions. She received both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Pennsylvania State University.