Civil engineering is everywhere – from the switch you flip to turn on the light in the morning to the roads you use to get home at the end of the day. Given the renewed interest in infrastructure lately, it’s no surprise that issues such as traffic congestion and new construction make the headlines each and every day. When journalists are insightful in their reporting, citizens can play a more informed role in the infrastructure debate that shapes their communities.

Many of you are probably aware of ASCE’s Excellence in Journalism Award. The award recognizes outstanding news stories that enhance public understanding of the role and impact of civil engineers and civil engineering in designing solutions for clean water, transportation, the environment and other public works projects. Journalists and producers from English-language, general interest regional and national newspapers, radio and television stations, magazines, and electronic and Web-based news outlets are all eligible.

So that brings me back to my original question – have you read any good news stories lately? Civil engineering-related news stories, in particular. Consider nominating them for the Excellence in Journalism Award! Stories eligible for the 2010 award must have appeared between May 1, 2008 and Oct. 31, 2009. Entries must be postmarked by Dec. 1, 2009, but it’s not too early to start keeping your eyes open for those stories worth nominating! (You can find more information on criteria and submission guidelines here.)

ASCE Sections and Branches are encouraged to conduct a local Excellence in Journalism Award competition along the lines of the national competition and nominate their local winner for the national competition. This is also a great opportunity to start getting to know some of your local reporters.

Click here to check out the 2008 Excellence in Journalism Award winners, Veronica Castelo and Jenna Hiller of News 8 Austin for their series of stories on Texas dams. (Also the winners of the Texas Section’s Excellence in Journalism Award!)

Send me an email if you have any questions and let’s see some of those stories! Feel free to link to some of the stories you’ve seen lately in the comments area below.

Karen Albers
Manager, State Public Relations

Many of us are well aware of the great contributions civil engineers make to society. However, those accomplishments may not be as apparent to someone outside the profession. One way to increase the public’s familiarity with civil engineering is to make sure it’s talked about in the news. A story with great visuals can help you achieve that goal and show the fun side of civil engineering.

People are more visual these days. To catch the attention of the potential viewer or reader, there has to be something that will catch his eye. The same can be said for the media. A good visual can often be the “make or break” that determines whether or not a reporter covers your story.

ASCE’s National Concrete Canoe Competition is a great example of students showcasing their hard work while also showing the fun side of civil engineering.

The regional Concrete Canoe competitions are a good example of an event your Section or Branch should consider promoting to the local media. Visualize a canoe, made of concrete, not only floating, but racing! Reporters and editors can see the visual potential. Not only that, kids will think it’s cool and they’ll learn more about civil engineering at the same time! Once we grab them visually, they’re hooked!

This year’s regional competitions have already been completed, but keep your eyes open for similar visual opportunities that arise throughout the year that can help you spread the word about civil engineering.

Tell us about Section or Branch events you’ve successfully promoted in the past. What other events can you think of that create good visuals to help promote the profession?

Do you have an event, but aren’t sure how to promote it? Email ASCE’s Communications office and we’ll be happy to help!

Anthony Reed
Manager, External Relations

Please welcome Jeff Duplantis, P.E., president-elect of ASCE’s Baton Rouge Branch. Today Jeff blogs about the Branch’s recent public awareness campaign, which was recognized with the 2008 State Public Relations Award at the ASCE Annual Conference in Pittsburgh.

How many times have you been in a conversation and been asked what you do for a living? When you answered “civil engineer,” do you think the person you were talking to understood what it is that you do? The general public typically doesn’t recognize the impact civil engineers have on their everyday lives. They don’t realize that the streets they drive on, the water they drink and their ability to flush a toilet or flip on a light switch were all made possible by a civil engineer!

In the wake of the devastation caused by hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Gustav and Ike on the Gulf Coast, the civil engineering profession was thrust to the forefront of the recovery efforts. These storms took a devastating toll on the transportation and utility systems in south Louisiana and south Texas. 

The impact of these storms forced local, state and federal agencies to prioritize efforts to address transportation, utility and drainage issues. The civil engineering firms and professionals of the Gulf Coast region played an important role in these projects, as they have historically in this area. 

As part of the ASCE Baton Rouge Branch’s program to improve public awareness of the civil engineering profession, we developed an area-wide advertising campaign beginning in 2007. With the assistance of ASCE National and the Louisiana Section, we were able to design and place two billboards in Baton Rouge in 2007, and then a single billboard in 2008. 

The 2008 billboard campaign ran in conjunction with National Engineers Week and allowed the Branch to increase the awareness of civil engineering among the largest audience possible. The campaign was hugely successful and won the ASCE 2008 State Public Relations Award. Below is a photo of the winning billboard.

What kind of public awareness programs have you undertaken locally?

Would it surprise you to learn that the public is not uninformed about engineering, they’re just not interested? Don’t worry, it’s not personal. It’s simply that engineers, in general, have not portrayed the profession in terms of its life-and-death impact on the future of humanity. Anything short of that has a tough time capturing the interest of today’s information-saturated, entertainment-loving media consumers.

The amazing truth is that engineers really do deal in life-and-death, real-world challenges. They hold in their minds the ideas that will provide sustainable energy, safe and abundant drinking water and protect us from the threat of climate change. As if that weren’t enough, making those ideas a reality provides the fuel to promote our economic prosperity.

The National Academy of Engineering argues in a recently published report, Changing the Conversation: Messages for Improving Public Understanding of Engineering, that engineers must tap into the hopes and dreams of the public and recast messages to focus on the inspirational and optimistic aspects of the profession.

Civil engineers James Johnson, dean of engineering at Howard University, and Pat Natale, executive director of ASCE, served on the NAE committee that authored the report. Johnson will present the report’s key recommendations during a session at ASCE’s Annual Conference in Pittsburgh on November 8.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the report is the set of engineering messages it recommends. They were developed and tested for effectiveness with segments of the public including kids, parents and teachers. The report should be required reading for any engineer serious about public awareness. You can read it online.

Jane Lombardi
Director, Communications