office (847) 816-3816
fax (847) 816-3971
toll-free (888) 425-2475
Employees
Structural Design Corporation has a staff of two (2) full time structural engineers and a full time office manager. The full time staff is supplemented with three (3) part time associates who work on a project basis. Two of the associates are mechanical engineers while the other is a certified weld inspector.
Principals
NAME William E. Vanni
POSITION Principal
EDUCATION BSCE Bradley University
Graduate Study, Illinois Institute of Technology
SUMMARY 23 Years Project Management
2 Years Engineering Management
9 Years Design Engineering
GENERAL EXPERIENCE
Mr. Vanni is a licensed Professional Engineer specializing in the inspection, design, and repair of structures, EOT cranes, tanks, vessels, and piping for firms in the power, steel, chemical and petroleum industries. He began performing structural inspections of residential structures in 1990.
RESIDENTIAL EXPERIENCE
Mr. Vanni has extended his heavy industrial inspection experience to
residential and commercial structures. His field and
structural design experience have allowed him to help homeowners
make good decisions when it came time to repair or remodel. He
tries to determine the root cause of a problem before recommending
repairs.
INDUSTRIAL EXPERIENCE
Since 1988 he
has
To support the structural inspection programs, Mr. Vanni has managed the development of a proprietary Structural Inspection and Maintenance Management System (SIMMS). SIMMS is a Microsoft Access database program which maintains the inspection database, processes the inspection reports, and can post-process the inspection data to develop condition based inspection and repair plans.
The engineering and project management services Mr. Vanni provides to the steel industry include development and implementation of repair plans or upgrades for structures and equipment in the Basic Oxygen Furnaces, Blast Furnaces, Hot Strip Mills, Casters and Coke Plants. He has worked with US Steel Executive Management to develop a condition based, corporate inspection program by using the SIMMS database approach to maintenance management.
Mr. Vanni has provided consulting engineering services to ARCO Chemical Company since 1991. An inspection program was developed to quantify the corroded structural condition of a process building. The work scope was expanded to rehabilitate and upgrade several process vessels in accordance with API 620.
Structural and B31.3 pipe stress engineering services have been provided to Universal Oil Products (UOP) to design process modules for their proprietary Recovery Plus and Penex systems. The modules are shop fabricated and shipped completely assembled to oil refiners worldwide.
Mr. Vanni is licensed to design seismic restraint systems in California. His largest seismic design project was for the Central Plant piping in the new Los Angeles County Jail. The jail has a thermal energy system with 30" diameter piping from two 34'-0 diameter ice tanks.
Mr. Vanni spent 2 years as a project manager for a subsidiary of Westinghouse Electric. He was responsible for the management of the Electrical Discharge Machining (EDM) program to form new holes in the top former plate of nuclear reactors for the Upflow Conversion projects. He was also involved with the C Tank Reactor repair at Savannah River and the removal of the lower core support assembly of the damaged reactor at 3 Mile Island.
His experience also includes 2 years as the Manager of Engineering for a company that manufactures pipe supports and cold formed channel framing. He spent 4 years with A/E consulting firms in the design of nuclear and fossil fuel power plants and process plants. For an additional 3 years Mr. Vanni was an engineer engaged in the design of structures to store ash generated from fossil fuels, and he spent 2 years designing steel, concrete and foundations for industrial and process facilities.
REGISTRATION
Registered Professional Engineer, State of Illinois
Registered Civil Engineer, State of California
NAME
John J. Fong
POSITION
Principal Structural Engineer
EDUCATION MSCE South Dakota School of
Mines and Technology
BSCE National Chung-hsin University
SUMMARY 37 Years Design
Engineering
GENERAL EXPERIENCE
Mr. Fong is a licensed Structural Engineer and has over 36 years
experience in engineering analysis and design. He excels in the area
of linear elastic stress analysis, seismic design, and database
programming. He provides analytical and design services
to several companies in the Steel Industry.
RESIDENTIAL EXPERIENCE
Mr. Fong has been designing repairs for residential structures since
1990. He certifies all structural design work performed by SDC
in the State of Illinois. He is currently developing new
design standards for residential structures that meet the 2006
International Building Code (IBC). These new standards are
required as a result of the Code changes stemming from the increased
wind loadings recommended by FEMA due to Hurricane Andrew in 1992.
INDUSTRIAL EXPERIENCE
Since 1998 he has developed the Structural Inspection and
Maintenance Management System (SIMMS) used at National Steel and US
Steel for their structural inspection programs. SIMMS is a Microsoft
Access database program that maintains the inspection data,
processes the reports, and can post process the inspection data.
His largest design project was for the 160 Plate Mill at US Steel's Gary Works. Mr. Fong analyzed all of the crane runway systems in the worlds largest plate mill. The scope of work included the design of new sliding back-up truss connections to the building columns. The longitudinal crane forces were shearing the existing truss connections creating a safety concern for the support of the intermediate building columns. Mr. Fong also developed a new type of lateral thrust connection that transfers the lateral crane forces to the building columns. The connection is designed by a detailed method that he developed that includes the effects of torsion, rail misalignment and girder tilt.
Mr. Fong has provided analytical services to US Steel Gary Works for the repair of the Uptakes, Crossovers, and Downcomer for the No.6 Blast Furnace. The duct system was in poor structural condition due to erosion that had ocurred since the furnace was built. Mr. Fong performed a finite element analysis on the duct system using GT STRUDL and developed a plan to reinforce the ducts until the system could be replaced. When the No.6 Blast Furnace was brought back online in 1999 the No.3 stove ruptured. Mr. Fong performed a finite element analysis of the stove to determine the cause of the failure.
His experience includes the design structures, tanks and piping for the chemical, pharmaceutical, food and power industries using STAAD and other computer programs. While at Sargent & Lundy where he helped pioneer the BWR Mark III containment liner design. The innovative design of this structure was awarded the 1983 Best Structure Award by the Structural Engineers Association of Illinois.
REGISTRATION Registered Structural Engineer,
State of Illinois