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Daniel Van Dorpe, PE, CBO
Founding President
Mr. Van Dorpe is the founding partner of VCA engineers. Prior to starting the firm, he spent six years with the Federal Administration as a facilities engineer and thirteen years in municipal government planning, building and public works departments. He was the Building Official for the City of Anaheim before starting private practice and currently serves as a member of the Anaheim Budget commission, which he chaired for eight years.
Mr. VanDorpe serves on the board of directors of the Orange County Building Industry Association and is an active member of several building code organizations including ICBO, NFPA and ICC. He is a civil and fire protection engineer and is registered in California, Nevada, Colorado and Texas.
During his tenure with the FAA, Mr. VanDorpe was the project engineer for the expansion of aircraft navigation facilities at several major airports including Denver and Las Vegas international airports. As Building Official for the City of Anaheim he was responsible for issuance of all building permits and inspection in the City. Major projects included Disneyland expansion, the Anaheim Convention Center expansion and several thousand new homes and shopping centers in the development of Anaheim Hills. As president of VCA he is responsible for all administrative matters including human resources, financial, and legal matters as well as providing oversight of the engineering production and quality control.
Other Activities
- City of Anaheim Budget Commission, chairman for eight years
- Active in religious and social organizations
- Member of Anaheim Union High School, Building Industry Technology Academy
Robert Chou, MS, SE
Senior Partner
Mr. Chou was the co-founder of VanDorpe Chou Associates in 1979. His structural engineering specialty is in residential, commercial and industrial low rise construction. He has been the engineer of record of over 40,000 housing units and is well known by his peers for creating innovative yet simple solutions to the many challenges faced in residential construction. His residential design experience ranges from single-family homes to multi-story apartments over concrete parking structures, and mixed use buildings. His commercial design experience includes shopping centers, offices and large industrial buildings. He has been responsible for the design of several solid waste transfer stations and other industrial structures involving unusual loads and design parameters.
Mr. Chou has led the development of several proprietary software programs used by VCA engineers in the design of light wood structures. His VCACalc program performs both rigid and flexible diaphragm analysis and determines the appropriate shear resisting elements to satisfy both methods of analysis. He is experienced in the design of conventional and prestressed concrete structures and has designed many podium type parking structures with two to 5 and a half stories of Type V or Type III construction above. Other projects include tilt-up concrete buildings and multi-story buildings with concrete and steel moment resisting frames.
Mr. Chou is a registered structural engineer in California, Oregon, Utah and New Mexico.
Tom Van Dorpe MS, SE, CBO
Senior Partner
Mr. Van Dorpe has 18 years of professional experience in Structural design and plan review since joining VanDorpe Chou Associates (VCA Engineers) in 1989. He has been the engineer-of-record of numerous Residential and Mixed-Use, Light-Framed construction projects and has specialized in addressing the challenges of “Podium” and “Wrap” developments, including 5 story “Type III Modified” construction. Tom is fortunate to help lead a world-class group of structural engineers and designers that have established themselves among the top-name developers and architectural firms in the industry. VCA is recognized as one of the few firms available to provide a true specialty in an integrated, in-house design of both Type I (Parking structure) with the Type V (Residential) structure.
Education
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BSIE California Polytechnic University, Pomona
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MSE Long Beach State University
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SE in California, Arizona and Washington
Other Activities
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Habitat for Humanity – Orange County, Site Development Committee (1992-1998)
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ICC Orange County Regional Code Uniformity Program, Committee Member (2000)
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SEAOC Seismology Committee (Representing Southern California Section 2003-Present)
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Chair, SEAOSC Light-Frame Systems Committee (2003-Present)
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Moderator, Panel Discussion on Rigid versus Flexible Diaphragms. 02/03
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Presenter, Light Frame Structures on Concrete Podium Construction, 02/04
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Moderator, Panel Discussion on Steel Moment and Braced Frames in Predominantly Plywood Shear Wall Systems, 02/05
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Presenter, Design of Wood Shearwalls with Openings, 02/06, 04/06
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Presenter, Practical Design Considerations for Wood-Framed Structures, 3/07
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Lead Author, Wood-Framed Design in Seismic Areas: Re-tooling for the 2006 IBC in Light of Current Design Practice, 9/07
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Presenter, Transition Issues for engineered Light-Framed Structures: 1997 UBC -2006 IBC, 1/08, 3/08
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SEAOC Seismology and Structural Standards Committee, LFSC Chair (2002-2006)
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Contributing Author, SEAOC “Recommended Lateral Force Requirements and Commentary”
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Panelist, Building Industry Association Construction Committee, “The Good the Bad and the Ugly of Podium Construction”, 2006
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Vistage International 2003-2006
Abraham Blunda, PE
Vice President Mixed-Use Design Division
Mr. Blunda specializes in the structural design of podium and wrap developments of conventional and post-tensioned concrete construction. During his ten years with the firm, he has designed projects ranging from light frame buildings to multi-story steel and concrete structures. His design team has a consistent presence on multi million dollar projects throughout the west coast.
His future plans as Principal concentrate on the development of new standards by creating effective processes and implementing new training.
Education
Other Activities
Shahla Soltani, PE
Vice President of Construction
Soltani has over twenty years of design experience in structural engineering. Shahla has been with VCA for twenty years and leads a team of field engineers who work closely with contractors, inspectors and Building Officials to help resolve any field issues. Her team specializes in providing practical solutions with a quick turnaround time. Her goal as principal will be to continue the firm’s most important objective: ensuring their client’s success from design through construction.
Education
Other Activities
Mark Van Gaale, PE
Vice President Low-Density Residential Division
Mark Van Gaale P.E. has been employed with VCA for the past ten years. His designing experience ranges from single-family dwellings to multi-story, high-density residential projects. Mr. Van Gaale’s current projects include a three-story wood framed condominium project supported on a post-tension foundation in Orange County, a four-story wood framed townhouse project supported on a post-tension foundation in San Diego, and numerous tract home projects throughout Southern California.
Education
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BSCE from California Polytechnic University, Pomona
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MSE from California State University, Long Beach
Other Activities
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