April 2, 2003

Design Detailings: Five-part series covers A/E 101

Guadarrama and Thompson

The Seattle Chapter of the Society for Marketing Professional Services this month will host a five-part education series titled A/E 101. Gayle Guadarrama, director of marketing for Coughlin Porter Lundeen, and Carla Thompson, vice president of marketing for MulvannyG2 Architecture, will share their techniques and lessons learned during 20-year careers.

Using case studies and proven strategies, Guadarrama and Thompson will go beyond the basics to show what a marketer would need to know to develop a successful marketing program and improve sales in a firm -- and how to have fun in the process. The series schedule is: Wednesday, Marketing Roles, Responsibilities, and Systems; April 9, Marketing Plans and Budgets; April 16, Public Relations Tools and Tricks; April 23, Proposals That Win; and April 30, Presentation Strategies and Structure.

The cost for SMPS members is $80 per session or $325 for five sessions, and for non-members $100 per session, or $425 for all 5 sessions. Classes will be held from 4 to 6:30 p.m. at Sellen Construction, Westlake Ave. N., Seattle. For more information about the Education Series, contact Grace Vigil at Parametrix at (425) 822-8880.

Cierra relocates to Belltown

To accommodate additional staff, Cierra Associates has moved to larger offices in Belltown. Their new address is 2505 Third Ave., Suite 204, 98121. Telephone remains the same: (206) 442-0112.

Students push limits of sticks and glue

Jon Engel, Cascade High School

Area high school students recently put their math and science skills to the test when they tried to resist a 2,000-pound load with bridges made only of Popsicle sticks and Elmer’s glue.

Three months of planning led to 30 seconds of snap, crackle and pop when the bridges started to break at the 8th Annual Popsicle Stick Bridge Contest at Crossroads Shopping Center in Bellevue. The contest was started by the Seattle American Society of Civil Engineers Younger Member Forum as part of the annual Puget Sound Engineering Council’s Engineering Fair.

This year’s winners are Cascade High School Team, first; Auburn Riverside High School Team, second; and Edmonds Cyberschool Team, third. The overall rankings combined scores from aesthetics judging, strength of the bridge, and the best estimation of the bridge’s capacity.

The Seattle ASCE Younger Member Forum has a mission to educate the community about civil engineering and promote engineering careers among high school students. Three months before the day of the event, the YMF engineers team up with university students and visit each high school to explain the contest rules and give the students tips for designing their bridges.