'Engineers at Ground Zero’ Film Screening and Panel
Dates: Tuesday, September 8, 2026
Agenda:
5:00 - 5:30 pm: Registration + Networking
5:30 - 7:30 pm: Presentation
Location:
Delancey Street Foundation
600 Embarcadero
San Francisco, CA 94107
Engineers at Ground Zero is a powerful documentary produced by the Structural Engineers Association of New York (SEAoNY), capturing the extraordinary efforts of structural engineers in the aftermath of the September 11th attacks. This film highlights the critical role engineers played in the emergency response, recovery, and stabilization of Ground Zero—a testament to the technical expertise, leadership, and resilience that define our profession.
Following the film, we will host a Q&A and panel discussion with professionals in the field to reflect on the themes of the documentary, share personal insights, and explore how engineers today can make a meaningful difference—whether by inspiring the next generation or engaging more deeply in professional associations and initiatives beyond the day-to-day job.
Speakers:
John Osteraas, PhD, P.E.
JOHN OSTERAAS is a Senior Fellow and Principal Engineer at Exponent and has been a member of SEAONC for over 40 years. Throughout his career he has been passionate about the investigation and analysis of buildings and other structures subjected to extreme forces, with a seismic emphasis. He has been active in post-earthquake reconnaissance and safety and damage assessment since the Coalinga EQ in 1983 and has served as a SEAONC ATC-20 Safety Assessment Instructor since the 1990s. He became involved with the FEMA Urban Search and Rescue program at its inception as a Structures Specialist with Menlo Park Task Force 3 and was deployed by FEMA to the Oklahoma City Murrah Building bombing in 1995, the World Trade Center Attacks in 2021, and Hurricane Katrina in 2005 as a Lead (IST) Structures Specialist. Following his FEMA USAR service at Ground Zero John led the structural portion of Exponent’s extensive investigation and analysis of the damage and collapse of the twin towers.
John Abruzzo, P.E., S.E., LEED AP
John Abruzzo, P.E., S.E., LEED AP, is a Managing Principal at Thornton Tomasetti with extensive experience investigating structural failures involving bridges, cranes, stadiums, residential towers, parking garages and other complex structures. His practice includes emergency response, forensic investigations, litigation support, blast analysis, structural stability and deconstruction engineering. Following the September 11, 2001 attacks, John spent significant time at Ground Zero in New York with colleagues from Thornton Tomasetti and SEAoNY, providing engineering support for the emergency response, damage assessment of buildings in the collapse area, assistance with demolition and temporary stabilization procedures, design of grillages and analysis of structures to support construction equipment, and coordination of the survey monitoring of damaged structures, eventually facilitating the removal of more than 1.6 million tons of debris from the site.