Braden Weeks Earp is Build Change's Program Manager in Indonesia.  Braden is an architecture graduate from Yale University.  Braden's hands-on design, fabrication and management experience as Head of Studio for Ursula Von Rydingsvard, a New York based artist who makes large-scale sculptures from cedar, urethane resin and bronze, has made him uniquely qualified to lead the Indonesia team's growth to other structural systems, geographies and marketing opportunities.  Under Braden's leadership, our team has already increased both the number and percent of homeowners building back better with technical assistance from Build Change.

 

Rebecca Faulkner Nixon, P.E. took a leave of absence from her position as an Associate at Guy Nordenson and Associates in New York to lead Build Change's structural engineering design analysis for single family houses in Build Change's Sichuan earthquake expansion.  Rebecca automated the analysis process in order to quickly evaluate different layouts, to enable homeowners to select a layout that suits their family size and needs.  Rebecca's projects at Guy Nordenson and Associates include the World Trade Center Memorial Museum Slurry Wall Bracing Structure, two pedestrian bridges at Yale University, and a laboratory building for L'Oreal.  Rebecca is a licensed professional engineer with a Master of Science degree in structural engineering from the University of California, Berkeley. While at Berkeley, she studied low-cost, sustainable earthquake-resistant building technologies for developing countries including the use of bamboo and improved adobe.  Rebecca continues to work for Build Change on a part-time basis from New York.  

 

Santina L. Watts spent her summer in Indonesia leading Build Change's materials testing program, in collaboration with Andalas University.  Santina tested compressive strength of bricks and mortar and flexural strength of masonry prisms.  Santina's work has been key to further quantifying the increase in strength that results from soaking bricks in water prior to building the wall.  Santina obtained her Master's degree in Structural engineering from University of California, Berkeley in 2008 and her Bachelor's degree in structural engineering from University of California, San Diego in 2007.  Santina was awarded the Chancellor's Fellowship for graduate study at UC-Berkeley.  Santina is now working as a Project Engineer for Miyamoto International in Los Angeles. 
 
Wiwik Fatimatus Zaroh manages the finance, human resources, and operations of Build Change in Indonesia.  Wiwik has played a critical role in Build Change's expansion to West Sumatra and Bengkulu, Indonesia, providing such functions as operations and office management, bookkeeping, audit support, payroll processing, budgeting, donor correspondence, and monthly financial and compliance reporting.  For human resources matters, Wiwik leads Build Change's recruiting and hiring programs for Indonesian staff and writes and implements employee policies.  Prior to joining Build Change, Wiwik worked for Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) Holland in various positions such as Field Assistant, Finance and Administration Assistant, and Information, Education, and Communication Materials Officers.  Before joining the non-profit sector, Wiwik was an English Instructor at several insitutions and a lecturer in Sanata Dharma University, Yogyakarta where she earned her Bachelor degree in English Education.  At Sanata Dharma University, Wiwik was awarded the prestigious honor of Best Graduate of the Year.  Build Change wishes Wiwik all the best for her new marriage, and relocation to Australia in March 2009. 

Join the Build Change team by applying for the following positions:

 

Program Manager: Successful candidate will combine proven management, coordination and training skills with hands-on construction experience.  Structural earthquake engineering design expertise and marketing experience are helpful.  For more details click here.  To apply, send cover letter and CV by January 15, 2009 to [email protected]

 

Construction Training Team Leaders: Requires Chinese language skills.  E-mail us for more information.

With your help, there is so much more we can do to make earthquake-resistant housing solutions available to earthquake survivors so they never have to face such a tragedy again.  Donate Now.     

 

Thank you and best wishes for 2009,

 

Through our site on  Universal Giving.  Use your credit card or Paypal account.  Note that a service fee is charged by Paypal. 

 

M. Timothy Louis

169 Throckmorton Ave., No. 2

Mill Valley, CA 94941

 

 

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Offset our travel costs by donating your frequent flyer miles.  Reply to this e-mail for more information. 

Check out the Build Change page on facebook

 

 

 

Berkeley Engineers - look for the Build Change feature story in the Spring Issue of the University of California, Berkeley College of Engineering magazine, Forefront. 

 

Resources on Confined Masonry - Build Change's handbook for building earthquake-resistant confined masonry houses in Indonesia is available on request in English and Bahasa Indonesia. 

If we missed you with our previous newsletters, visit our archive here.