I joined Simpson Strong-Tie in 2003 as a branch engineer providing support to 24 states throughout the New England, Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. I’m a licensed Professional Engineer in nine states and was a member of the Structural Engineering Certification Board for fourteen years. After graduating from Penn State in 1984, I acquired almost twenty years of experience at two structural engineering firms in Columbus, Ohio. As a structural engineer, I had the opportunity to work in quite a few states utilizing a number of different building codes (remember when it wasn’t just the IRC and IBC?). These projects were diverse in nature, including residential, commercial, institutional, mixed-use and industrial type construction that involved designing with wood, structural steel, concrete, masonry and cold-formed steel. This prepared me well for my role as a branch engineer at Simpson Strong-Tie where we strive to help people build safer structures economically. There’s nothing I like more than chatting with fellow structural engineers regarding their current projects, the structural engineering profession, codes and standards, new methods and types of construction or the good ole days (when concrete anchorage design was simple!).