Tipping Structural

Next Thursday evening on November 5th, join AIA East Bay’s Architectural Community for the Environment for the kickoff of ACOTE: FUTURE FIRST, a new event series highlighting innovation in sustainable and resilient design! Tipping Principals Mike Korolyk and Marc Steyer will be part of the panel discussion.

To learn more and register for the free event, visit: https://aiaeb.org/calendar/ #!event/2026/11/5/acote-future-first-2-lu-hsw

"Using Bakar Labs for Energy & Materials (BL-EM) as a case study, this panel will bring together perspectives from the owner, design team, builder, and specialty engineers to explore the opportunities, challenges, and lessons learned while pursuing ambitious sustainability and resilience goals. The team explored a range of innovative strategies, including mass timber and hybrid structural systems, seismic resilience, geothermal energy, architectural solar, battery energy storage, innovative concrete technologies, and new approaches to collaborative workplace design. Panelists will share not only what ultimately made its way into the project, but also the ideas that were explored along the way, the realities, and limitations they encountered, and what these lessons could mean for future projects."

Hosted at Gensler Oakland's office (2101 Webster Street, Suite 2000), other panelists include: Rudy Letsche, Gensler; Gino Segre, Bakar Labs for Energy & Materials; Christopher Klinga, P.E. SolMotiv; and Brett Stuckey, Turner Construction Company. We look forward to seeing you there next week!

Next week, Tipping Principal Marc Steyer will be attending the 2026 NCSEA Structural Engineering Summit in San Francisco at Hilton Union Square, October 27–30! We're excited to connect with industry leaders and innovative thinkers to explore the ideas shaping the future of structural engineering. See you there!

https://www.ncsea.com/summit/

Last Friday, the Tipping Rebar Riders participated in the City of Hope Real Estate and Construction Industry Council's Bike to Hope — all to help save lives! Together, our team raised over $5K to support City of Hope’s global mission to find cures for cancer, diabetes, and other life-threatening diseases. A heartfelt thank you to everyone who rode and donated this year!

Tipping Rebar Riders: Andrew Jimenez, Itria Licitra, Henry Nistler, Elisa Woodham, Dayana Bulatbekova, and Christopher Tiran

https://ourhope.cityofhope.org/team/851489

Tipping Principal Leo Panian is heading to the Monterey Design Conference (MDC), October 23–25, at the historic Asilomar Conference Grounds in Pacific Grove, CA. Bringing together a diverse blend of globally recognized speakers to inspire and educate, we're looking forward to the conversations and fresh perspectives that move design forward. See you there!

https://mdc.aiacalifornia.org/

From the job site to the finished structure, our engineers help bring ambitious projects to life. Here’s a look at our team on site at a new lab building under construction at UC Berkeley, checking out the progress and unlocking possibilities. At Tipping, we’re hiring structural engineers who help shape the places that define communities!

Ready to engineer what’s next with us? Explore our open positions: https://apply.tippingstructural.com/apply/openPositions.php

Tipping is seeking a full-time CAD/BIM specialist to support more than 30 engineers and expand our building-modeling capacity. Social skills and an attitude of service are paramount, in addition to expertise working with Autodesk AutoCAD, and Revit. We're looking for a fast learner who is enthusiastic to learn in-house custom tools, with an affinity for problem solving and the ability to think creatively. This is a nonexempt, or hourly, position and is 40 hours a week in person/on site. Learn more and apply here: https://apply.tippingstructural.com/apply/openPositions.php

On October 16th, the Tipping Rebar Riders are participating in the City of Hope Real Estate and Construction Industry Council's Bike to Hope — all to help save lives! We're raising funds to support City of Hope’s global mission to find cures for cancer, diabetes, and other life-threatening diseases. Please support us by donating or joining our team for this meaningful event:

https://ourhope.cityofhope.org/team/851489

Riding from Tipping are: Andrew Jimenez, Itria Licitra, Henry Nistler, Elisa Woodham, Dayana Bulatbekova, and Christopher Tiran.

Check out Tipping Rebar Riders' team fundraising page for City of Hope Structural support, in every sense.

We're pleased to share that Samuel Merritt University – Oakland City Center is a 2026 Structural Engineering Excellence (SEE) Awards Finalist in the Performance Design for Resilience category!

https://www.ncsea.com/education-events/2026-see-awards-finalists/

"Samuel Merritt University’s new 10-story, 250,000-square-foot campus supports expanded enrollment and helps address the Bay Area’s shortage of healthcare workers. Its structure uses an innovative BRB Mast frame lateral system that combines strong seismic performance, architectural flexibility, and cost efficiency. During design, four systems were studied: moment frames, a dual BRB plus moment frame system, a BRB-only frame, and a BRB Mast frame. The BRB Mast frame proved most effective, producing the lowest drift ratio—1.30%—with a uniform drift profile and no concentration of story deformations, improving seismic resilience over conventional approaches. The system pairs BRB devices with a vertical mast truss, which carries about 40% of the total base shear while remaining elastic. This helps distribute loads uniformly and simplifies design. Compared with a BRB-only scheme, it cut the number of BRB devices in half, improving constructability and reducing cost. Compact enough to fit within permanent walls, it also preserved interior planning flexibility."

Presented annually by NCSEA, these prestigious awards honor projects that showcase ingenuity, technical skill, and groundbreaking design. Winners will be revealed live at the Celebration in San Francisco on October 29th at the NCSEA Summit. Congratulations to the team and stay tuned for more!

Owner: Samuel Merritt University

Developer: Strada Investment Group

Architect: Perkins&Will

Contractor: Hathaway Dinwiddie

Steel Fabricator: The Herrick Corporation

Structural: Tipping (Leo Panian, Gina Carlson, SE, Jason A***s, S.E., Christopher Tiran, PE)

Photo: Bruce Damonte (building),

We're pleased to share that Hacienda Heights Apartments is a 2026 Structural Engineering Excellence (SEE) Awards Finalist in the Residential/Single and Multi-Family Homes category!

https://www.ncsea.com/education-events/2026-see-awards-finalists/

"Hacienda Apartments in Richmond, California, is a 150-unit, 121,000-square-foot senior affordable housing complex made up of four six-story non-ductile reinforced concrete buildings built in 1964, before modern seismic codes. The team leveraged a creative, performance-based engineering approach, supported by advanced nonlinear shaking simulations, to develop a targeted seismic retrofit that fully harnessed the strength of the existing structures while minimizing construction cost and disruption. The innovative exterior bracing scheme allowed seismic improvements and interior renovations to proceed simultaneously, shortening the construction schedule and minimizing impacts to the residential units. While early schematic retrofit estimates were $4.63 million, the optimized design was priced at $3.9 million at bid, allowing $730,000 to be reallocated to other important project elements. The result is a resilient, cost-effective retrofit that restored a deteriorating complex to provide safe, affordable housing for Richmond seniors while demonstrating the value of performance-based engineering for existing buildings."

Presented annually by NCSEA, these prestigious awards honor projects that showcase ingenuity, technical skill, and groundbreaking design. Winners will be revealed live at the Celebration in San Francisco on October 29th at the NCSEA Summit. Congratulations to the team and stay tuned for updates!

Owner: Mercy Housing California

Architect: PYATOK architecture + urban design

Contractor: Nibbi Brothers General Contractors

Structural: Tipping (Leo Panian, Gina Carlson, SE, Jason A***s)

Come design what's next with us! Join our team and put your mark on the built environment: https://tippingstructural.com/careers/

At Tipping, we see every project as an opportunity to rethink what’s possible. We have developed a wide range of award-winning, unconventional structural solutions for projects with complex challenges. Rather than pursuing innovation for its own sake, we let project goals lead us in new directions. This responsive approach has repeatedly led us to push the boundaries of structural design.