2013 40 Under 40: Hans-Erik Blomgren, 39

Hans-Erik Blomgren, MS, PE, SE, PEng, 39

Associate, Arup, Seattle

University of Minnesota, MS Structural Engineering

Hans-Erik Blomgren is making his mark as a lead structural engineer by slowly transforming Seattle’s skyline. His design contributions to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation headquarters and visitor center, the Four Seasons Hotel, and the Museum of Flight’s pedestrian bridge in Tukwila, Wash., are only a sampling of his vast experience. The Pacific Northwest native hopes to expand the traditional role of a structural engineer in the design process, something that his most recent work on the 11,000-lb suspended Wawona Sculpture embodies. The sculpture, located at Seattle’s Museum of History and Industry, was awarded the 2013 Woodworks Award for Engineering for its sophisticated structural analysis model and design procedure. Blomgren has for the past 2 years taught and inspired new generations of engineers at Arup’s Design School as a faculty member for the program’s design exercises. He used his engineering expertise outside of the office while volunteering in post-Hurricane Katrina community rebuilding and in the design of orphanage housing, a water tower, and a viewing tower in Kenya. When he isn’t innovating, Blomgren tends to his chickens on his 3 acres of Vashon Island, a rural area close to Seattle. He uses his father’s original 1956 Rolleiflex F2.8 medium-format camera to record memories of his children, 16-month-old Felix and 5-year-old Signe, and wife, Stephanie.

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