Sunai Kim
Assistant Professor, Civil Engineering, College of Engineering
Education and Professional Registrations
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
Previous Appointments
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
Teaching
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
Grants & Sponsored Projects
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,
(2) Artificial Intelligence (AI) Grand Challenge: Across-the-Curriculum AI-based Personalized Assistants to Support Student Success in Engineering
Sponsor: California Learning Lab ($1,500,000)
Partnership: UC Riverside (PI: Sundararajan Venkatadriagaram), Cal Poly Pomona, Norco College
CPP PI: Li, M, Co-PI: S. Kim
Period: 1/2025 - 12/2027
Award: AI Grand Challenge Awards
Media: Inside UCR
(3) Fulbright Specialist
Sponsor: U.S. Department of State, Fulbright Association
Host Institution: Nguyen Tat Thanh University (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam)
Period: 6-week exchange, Summer 2024
Media: NTTU Website
(4) 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.
Past Grants
(1) 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)
Publications
Journal Articles
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., Woo, J., Lomiento, G., Perez, F., and Salem, Y. (2025). ASEE PSW Conference April 10-12, Pomona, CA. Conference Paper under Review
Escobar, M., Knorr, C., Castro, J., Yoon, D. E., and Kim, S. (2025). ASEE PSW Conference April 10-12, Pomona, CA. Conference Paper under Review
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.
Awards
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