Introduction to Engineering Design

Civil Engineering & Architecture

Weblinks: 

• Project Lead the Way-Introduction to Engineering Design
• Project Lead the Way-Engineering-Civil Engineering and Architecture

About Ms. Van Kirk:

If you are looking here, perhaps you are thinking about trying out one of the classes that I am teaching through the Mission Valley ROP Center. Take your time and read the syllabus for each class and see if one might interest you. I hope so!!! Also feel free to call me, email me or stop by my classroom, if you have more questions. I’m very excited about this new school year and about meeting you!

I am a licensed architect and have been practicing in the Bay Area for over 25 years. I graduated from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo with a Bachelor of Architecture and loved every minute of college! After graduation I lived and worked in San Francisco, had a scooter and life was good! The study of architecture heightens your awareness of your physical surroundings and to be part of a city like San Francisco was a wonderful experience. I had spent my fourth year of college studying in Copenhagen so to be living in North Beach, was my small way of extending my adventure.

My early work experience was primarily in large offices, working on hospitals, hotels and commercial projects. Over the years I had the opportunity to work for Architects, Structural Engineers,  Contractors, Interior Designers and Landscape Architects. I’m happy that I had a broad base of experiences and will be able to share with you the many different directions available to you after further study in either architecture or engineering.

Gradually, I migrated to residential design. I found I loved being able to work closely with families, getting to know them and come up with suggestions of changes that could make their homes more comfortable for them and suited to their needs. Sometimes, something as simple as adding a new doorway could improve the way they used their homes. My favorite part of practicing architecture was in working with the many different people involved on a project. I liked developing a team spirit with clients, consultants and builders so that the design process, itself, was as enjoyable as the end result. Communication is an important part of engineering and design professions and in our classes we will discuss various means of communication and how to improve in those areas.

It’s difficult to briefly summarize such broad topic in a few words, so please, do stop by, or send me an email with any questions you might have about the courses or about the professions in general. That’s what I am here for! I’d love to share more with you about some of the successes and difficulties I encountered in my career. I’m hoping to be able to make you aware of careers in these professions. And I also want to help you learn a little more about yourself; about your strengths, your weaknesses and about what kind of things you enjoy doing. Starting to discover some of those things should help to set you on a nice path for your future. You never really know where you will end up, but definitely, each step you take, no matter what it is, puts you further along on a path that is becoming your own!

Oh! And one more very important thing about me! I have two children, a daughter who graduated in Writing, Photography and the Human Experience from the University of Redlands and moved to New Orleans to begin her career in photography. She has recently returned to the Bay Area. She completed a Bootcamp in San Francisco to learn Coding and is pursuing work locally!! My son, this past June, just graduated from Cal Poly with a Bachelor in… you guessed it! Architecture! After a 3 week vacation, he loaded up his big old pick-up and moved to New York to begin his work at Weiss Manfredi, a notable architecture firm in Manhattan. If you happen to give one of my classes a try, I promise you will hear much, much more about them! My children are strong inspirations to me. As a family, we three have all learned a great deal from each other and that is something I treasure most of all.

Thanks for reading this and I hope to see you soon!