Wira Tjong, P.E., S.E., F.ASCE, the retired director of structural engineering at Fluor San Francisco office, has been named a fellow by the ASCE Board of Direction.
Tjong is the co-founder and a former president of ICESNA, and currently serves as ICESNA Advisory Board Member.
His long career at Fluor included leading structural engineering teams on high-tech industrial, microelectronic, biotechnology, and institutional projects. He has successfully managed and led structural teams on various projects across the United States and other parts of the world, collaborating with local engineering and construction professionals.
His expertise in structural seismic design – and his efforts, from coordination to the preparation of construction documents to supporting the fast-track design-build execution as the seismic engineer in charge – played a critical role in ensuring that the U.S. Embassy compound in Port-au-Prince remained functional throughout the catastrophic 2010 seismic event. With no other significant structures in the area surviving the earthquake, the embassy became a crucial base for relief efforts, making a profound impact on the devastated, impoverished community.
Wira co-founded ICESNA (Indonesian Civil Engineers’ Society of North America), a nonprofit professional organization for Indonesian civil engineers in North America. The organization serves as a platform for collaboration in knowledge sharing, volunteering, and professional networking to support members’ careers. Before ICESNA was established in 2014, Wira delivered presentations and lectures on U.S. seismic design practices and codes to professional organizations and underprivileged civil engineering students in high seismic regions of Indonesia, Nepal, and Myanmar. Recognizing the limitation of individual efforts, he co-founded ICESNA to expand these outreach initiatives.
Under his leadership, the organization expanded and established connections with civil engineering professionals and academic institutions in Indonesia. ICESNA regularly hosts webinars on U.S. civil engineering design practices and technologies for engineers, educators, and students across Indonesia. ICESNA focuses its outreach efforts on underresourced universities with the goal of bridging gaps in access to world-class education and professional development resources.
Before starting his career in the U.S., Wira was a part-time lecturer and technical faculty at Christian University of Indonesia, in Jakarta, where he was also a civil engineering handbook translator. The translated handbooks were widely used by civil engineering students and professionals. At that time, most Indonesian students had limited English proficiency, and these translations greatly helped the students’ understanding of the materials taught by their lecturers.
Wira holds a master’s degree from Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia, and an Ir's degree from Christian University of Indonesia, Jakarta.
