Sunai Kim

Ph.D. Structural & Earthquake Engineering, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles

M.S. Structural & Earthquake Engineering, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles

B.S. Civil Engineering, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

P.E. Registered Professional Civil Engineer | C74450 (CA), 18932 (HI)

S.E. Registered Structural Engineer | S6042 (CA)

Certified Post-Disaster Safety Assessment Evaluator, CA Governor's Office of Emergency Services | 68479

Structural Plans Review Engineer, Bureau Veritas North America | 2019-2022

Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Loyola Marymount University | 2017-2022

Structural Engineer, Los Angeles Unified School District, Los Angeles, CA | 2016-2017

Tall Buildings Intern, Thornton Tomasetti, New York, NY | Summer, 2014

Structural Design Engineer, John A. Martin & Associates, Los Angeles, CA | 2008 - 2012

Transportation Engineer, CTE | AECOM, Chicago, IL | 2006-2007

Graduate

CE5504 Advanced Steel Design

Undergraduate

CE 4810/20 Senior Design Project

CE4560 Structural Steel Design

CE2051 Mechanics of Materials

CE2041 Statics

Extracurricular

Orange County Sustainability Decathlon 2023

Steel Bridge

Current Sponsored Projects

(1) CURE (Closing Achievement Gaps in Core Undergraduate Civil Engineering Courses)

Sponsor: National Science Foundation ($1,000,000)

PI: S. Kim, Co-PI's: G. Lomiento, F. Perez, Y. Salem, J. Woo

Period: 01/2024 - 12/2027

Abstract: NSF Award #2318158

Media: PolyPost, HeySoCal, MyNewsLA, Twitter from Congresswoman Torres,

Past Grants / Scholarly Works

(1) University of Pennsylvania | Wharton Executive Education 

Entrepreneurship Acceleration Program: Scaling Your Business

Finalist & Winner (S. Kim) of 2023-12 Wharton Business Plan Competition | Sustainable Construction Company

Award: $10,000

Exemplary Work in: Elevator Pitch, Business Plan

Invited judge for 2024 Wharton Business Plan Competition.

(2) OCSD23 (Orange County Sustainability Decathlon 2023) | Cal Poly Pomona's Roots House

Sponsor: Charitable Ventures | State of California ($100,000)

PI: S. Kim, Cal Poly Pomona's Team of Students, Faculty, Mentors, Sponsors

Period: 01/2022 - 10/2023

Overall: 3rd Place

1st Place: 

- Communication & Marketing

- Energy Efficiency (tie)

- Health & Comfort (tie)

2nd Place:

- Architecture & Interior Design

- Lighting & Appliances

3rd Place:

- Market Potential

- Water Use & Conservation

- Sustainability & Resilience

- Engineering & Construction (tie)

Website: Team Roots | Instagram: Team Roots |Students' 1-min Promotional Video

3D Virtual Tour: Roots House | Photos: Roots House

University News: Built on Belief, Polypost, CPP News (2), CPP News (1), CPP Top News of 2023 (#10) 

Media: Archinect, Voice of OC, Claremont Courier (2), Claremont Courier (1), Los Angeles Daily News,  SoCal Edison's Energized Blog, Spectrum News 1 (2),  LAist, The Orange County Register, Yahoo Lifestyle

 TV/Youtube: Panther News, Interview with OCSD23, Univision 34

Inclusive Excellence Grant | Loyola Marymount University (2022)

Faith & Justice Curriculum Grant | Loyola Marymount University (2021)

Continuing Faculty Grant | Loyola Marymount University (2018, 2020)

Academic Technology Grant | Loyola Marymount University (2018)

Journal Articles

Kim, S. (2025). "Prefabricated and Modularized Residential Construction: A Review of Present Status, Opportunities, and Future Challenges," Buildings. 15(16), 2889. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings15162889

Kim, S. and Wallace, J.W. (2025). "Quantification of Dispersion in Tall Reinforced Concrete Core Wall Building Responses," Structures. v.72. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.istruc.2024.108161 

Kim, S. and Wallace, J.W. (2022). "Reliability of Structural Wall Shear Design for Tall Reinforced Concrete Core Wall Buildings," Engineering Structures. v. 252. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engstruct.2021.113492

Conference Papers

Kim, S., Perez, F., Lomiento, G., Salem, Y., and Woo, J. (2025). "Preparations in Writing an Engineering Education Grant," ASEE PSW Conference April 10-12, Pomona, CA. 

Knorr, C., Escobar, M., Castro, J., Yoon, D. E., and Kim, S. (2025). "Insights From a Senior Project Team Designing a Sustainable and Affordable Container Home," ASEE PSW Conference April 10-12, Pomona, CA. 

Sherian, S., Omar, T., and Kim, S. (2025). "Net-Zero Smart Home Monitoring System," 12th IEEE Conference on Technologies for Sustainability (SusTech 2025). April 20-23, 2025, Los Angeles, CA. 

Unal, E., Abdullah, S. A., Kolozvari, K., Kim, S., Wallace, J. (2024). "Testing of Reinforced Concrete Beams and Structural Walls under Wind and Seismic Loading Protocols," WCEE Conference June 30 - July 5, 2024, Milan, Italy.

Kim, S., Lin, J., Sullivan, M., Law, D., Omar, T., Salem, Y. (2024), "A Framework for Multidisciplinary Student Teams Participating in a Large-Scale Design-Build Competition," ASEE PSW Conference April 18-20, 2024, Las Vegas, NV.

Kim, S., Forney, A., Cappelli, C., Doezema, L. A., Morales, V. C., and Ruengvirayudh, P. (2023). "Examining Timely Positive Interventions Utilized by First-Year Students to Improve their Course Grades in Science and Engineering," ASEE Conference June 25-28, 2023, Baltimore, MD.

Forney, A. & Kim, S. (2020). "Redefining Retention in STEM Education: New Perspectives on a Student-centered Metric of Success," ASEE Conference June 22-26, 2020, Online.  Selected as Educational Research and Methods Division's (ERM) Best Paper Finalist (Top 4).

Kim, S. Wallace, J.W. (2017). "Shear Design of Reinforced Concrete Structural Walls," 16th World Conference on Earthquake Engineering, Santiago, Chile.

Kim, S. Wallace, J.W. (2014). "Reinforced Concrete Wall Boundary Element Longitudinal Reinforcing Termination," Tenth U.S. National Conference on Earthquake Engineering, Alaska, AK. 

Student Advocate Award, CPP College of Engineering| 2024-2025

Fulbright Specialist, Nguyen Tat Thanh University (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam) | Summer 2024

Teacher-Scholar Award, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona | 2024

Inspire Award (Roots House), AIA OC | 2024

One Team Award (Media Feature), Cal Poly Pomona | 2024

Fulbright Specialist, U.S. Department of State | 2024

Solar Decathlon Faculty Training Scholarship, Society of Building Science Educators (NREL, CO) | 2024

ASCE ExCEED Fellow (Excellence in Civil Engineering Education Teaching Workshop) | 2022

Ascending Scholar Award, Loyola Marymount University | 2020

Seaver College Fellowship, Loyola Marymount University | 2020 

Graduate Academic Scholarship, Korean-American Scientists and Engineers Association | 2014

Young Generation Forum Travel Award, Korean Federation of Science & Technology | 2013

The Young Generation Technical and Leadership Conference Travel Award, Korean-American Scientists and Engineers Association | 2012

Graduate Opportunity Fellowship, UCLA | 2007-2008 (full tuition & stipend towards MS)

Undergraduate Academic Scholarship, American Public Works Association | 2003, 2004, 2005

Undergraduate Academic Scholarship, International Concrete Repair Institute | 2003, 2004

Louise Moritz Molitoris Leadership Fund, Women in Transportation Seminar | 2003

Maude E. Eide Memorial Scholarship, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | 2003

Undergraduate Academic Scholarship, Korean-American Scientists and Engineers Association | 2002