UCLA Civil & Environmental Engineering Department
C&EE 200 Section 1 Seminar
EERI at UCLA Distinguished Speaker Series
Structural, Geotechnical and Civil Engineering Materials
“Concrete Structures – Then and Now”
David W. Cocke, SE, F.SEI, F.ASCE
President of Structural Focus

Engineering students learn a lot about analyzing structures, designing systems and connections and other tools
to be successful as a practicing engineer in the real world. In real life, engineers have a tremendous impact on
our society. The profession plays a major role affecting important issues such as sustainability, public safety, the
aesthetics of our built environment, community resilience and recovery from disasters, economic growth, preservation
of historic structures and our client’s needs for a viable facility.
In this presentation, David Cocke, SE will explain some of the Structural Focus philosophy and strategies, touch
generally on a few recent projects. Structural Focus has built a strong reputation not only in design of new
ground-up facilities, but in the evaluation and seismic retrofits of complicated older structures. With the recent
wave of mandatory seismic retrofit ordinances, the number of future retrofits of older concrete buildings is growing
significantly. Pre-1980 concrete structures are particularly susceptible to severe earthquake damage and
David will show some EQ damage photos, provide some concrete history and latest retrofit practices. David will
also present a more detailed case study of the complicated seismic retrofit of a large historic concrete building
in DTLA. David will also introduce you to their latest work in promoting community resiliency involving postdisaster
inspection programs. During this discussion, David hopes to show how a wide diversity of projects can
provide engineers with the opportunities to contribute to a better future and how their passion can lead to their
success.

David Cocke, S.E. is the founder and President of Structural Focus in Gardena, CA.
He has been practicing Structural Engineering since 1981 and is a registered Structural
Engineer in California and several other states, with expertise in seismic evaluation,
historic preservation, retrofits and new design. Some notable projects include the Red
Bull Headquarters, Wallis Annenberg Center for Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, the
new Amazon campus at The Culver Studios, and restoration of the Wilshire Boulevard
Temple.
David joined EERI in 1992 and is a Charter Member of the Southern California Chapter. He is an active
member of the EERI Initiatives Development Committee and currently participates in the Friedman Family
Visiting Professionals Program. David has served on the Board of Directors of numerous other organizations
including the California Preservation Foundation, Pasadena Heritage, USC Architectural Guild,
SEAONC, SEAOSC, and SEAOC. He recently finished his term as Vice President of EERI. In 2014, David
was named to Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s Mayoral Seismic Safety Task Force to perform a yearlong
study of seismic risk in Los Angeles, resulting in the Mayor’s Resilience by Design report. David has
also been leading the effort to bring Back to Business (B2B), a building occupancy resumption program, to
Southern California. Currently, David is on the Board of Directors of Los Angeles Conservancy, is the
current President of the Structural Engineers Institute of ASCE.

Where: A18 Haines Hall
When: 12:00 – 12:50 PM, Wednesday, February 27, 2019