Pecha Kucha! Gezhundeit.

What is Pecha Kucha? First things first, try pronouncing it Pe-Cha-Ku-Cha with emphasis on the "Cha's." The expression is a colloquialism for chit-chat in Japanese, but since 2003 it has come to mean something special to young designers in several cities. Regular events feature architects, artists, and even engineers (in my case) giving fast-paced lively presentations. Each presenter is permitted only 20 slides and 20 seconds per slide. The results are entertaining to say the least.

On the night that I was asked to represent the Chicago AIA Younger Architects Forum, we heard presentations ranging from vacation photos from Jamacia to a career of designing military bunkers. The topics ranged broadly, but the speeches were unanimously entertaining. It's not certain whether the venue (Martyr's, a local bar) helped provide some liquid courage. The packed house was a bit imposing, but the audience was incredibly supportive and laughed at most of my lame jokes.

Please enjoy the video of my presentation... or not. I'm afraid to spoil my memory of the event by seeing what actually transpired.

NCSEA Annual Conference

The National Council of Structural Engineering Associations (NCSEA) serves to advance the practice of structural engineering and, as the national voice for practicing structural engineers, protect the public’s right to safe, sustainable and cost effective buildings, bridges and other structures. The group's annual convention kicks off this Thursday, October 15 in Phoenix, AZ.

Engineers representing societies from across the nation will be in attendance. I'm making my first trip to the conference, because I recently accepted a nomination to the NCSEA advocacy committee. I hope to make a contribution on Media, Education and Outreach topics.

While many structural engineers hope to grow the prestige of the profession, they face a public that is increasingly unaware of what it is exactly that they do. On the other hand, people seem to attribute many of the structural engineer's roles to architects. Over the past 75 years, these two professions have begun to separate in a way that the public has just not kept up with. The challenge for structural engineers is to educate the public about the added value they provide to building projects. We also ought to highlight how better designs result from the complimentary application of two quite different skill sets.

In an early assignment for the Media sub-committee, I attempted to research non-traditional media outlets discussing the building industry. I quickly arrived at dozens of architectural blogs, but only a handful of sites touched on structural topics. Many of those were published by material suppliers or manufacturers of proprietary products. There we very few independent opinions about engineering. View my list on Google Docs.

This discovery led in part to my desire to launch Will It Stand? I hope that this blog will fill that noticeable void in cyberspace and address those questions highlighted above. The NCSEA conference will be my first opportunity to pitch Will It Stand to a group of highly regarded structural design professionals. Wish me luck.

Ken Maschke, P.E., S.E., LEED A.P. is editor of Will It Stand? Do you agree with his view of the difference between architects and engineers? To what extent should the engineering community utilize 'new media' outlets like blogs to educate the public about the profession?