I recall attending my first meetings of the Houston Branch in 1974. The meetings were held at a central location for dinner. The room was set up with a small head table and the ubiquitous projector. In those days, speakers would bring a carousel of slides to use to support their speech. We would mill around for a while, eat our chicken dinner, hear a few ASCE announcements, and listen to the speaker.

That format worked well in the mid-’70s. Fast forward to 2009. Think about your meetings. My guess is the only change from 1974 is the speaker brings a thumb drive instead of a carousel. Even the chewy chicken is still the same. Wow!

The practice of civil engineering has changed by leaps and bounds in the last 35 years. The use of technology and the evolution of project content are stunningly different from the past Yet many ASCE meetings still look and feel the same. Do you wonder where the young engineers are? I suggest that you start with your meeting format. We are now a visual rather than auditory culture. Creative use of technology is an expectation instead of an enhancement. Announcements can be handled on the screen while we are talking and eating. You get the picture.

ASCE must change (the C of my A, B, C’s) to reflect the changes in civil engineering. I think you are the person to lead that change in your community. Besides, those double knit plaid sport coats look really cheesy.

This week is a big one for ASCE.  We are holding our Fly-In, where members from all over the country descend on Capitol Hill to promote infrastructure and other ASCE priorities.  We will release the full 2009 Infrastructure Report Card with all of the supporting data.  Finally, our Policy Committees will meet to make certain that ASCE holds positions that are both current and relevant related to a myriad of technical, professional, and legislative issues.  Talk about “A” for Advocacy! 

Let’s look at the significance of each of these events.  Our annual Fly-In is a great opportunity for our members to engage their elected officials.  The event includes sessions where we train attendees in how to make an effective visit to Congress.  They are provided with information that supports our positions to assist in the effort to influence the discussion leading up to votes on specific legislation.  Never underestimate the value of constituents showing up to discuss what is on their minds.  Voters still get heard in the halls of Congress. 

The second event is the release of the full 2009 Infrastructure Report Card.  Our early release of grades in January succeeded beyond all expectations.  ASCE made infrastructure the key topic in the stimulus bill that passed.  We did not stop there.  We did dozens of interviews with radio, TV, and print media to communicate the importance of improving our infrastructure.  Our message resonated with the public.  The complete Report Card will provide a lot of the details of how we developed our grades, and will do more exploration of how to solve the problem of inadequate investment.  Candidly, we get another bite at the apple of public opinion.  I expect that ASCE will once again demonstrate why we are the leaders on infrastructure in the United States.

The third emphasis of the week is our Policy Committee meetings.  ASCE is the recognized leader on a plethora of topics related to civil engineering.  We recognize the responsibility that comes with that distinction.  Our policy committees are comprised of some of the best experts in their fields.  They develop policies after proper research and discussion so that our policy statements represent the best interests of ASCE members.  We have approximately 120 policies that must be kept up to date, and we are exploring emerging issues to see if new policies are needed.  You can find our policies under the Government Relations section of the ASCE Web site. 

The work of all of the people involved this week yields huge benefits to all members of ASCE, the civil engineering profession, and the general public.  Why don’t you join us in 2010?

Many of us began our association with ASCE during our college years. The activities of the student chapter set the foundation for a lifetime of professional service. Today, we are working hard to increase the percentage of our student members who join ASCE after graduation. These bright students see the advantages of ASCE and participate fully during their college years. Somehow, they miss the message that ASCE is valuable at every stage of your career. They do not know about the myriad of opportunities for networking and professional development available to those who are starting their careers. Amazingly, many of them are unaware that ASCE exists outside of the campus environment.

A number of initiatives are under way to increase the percentage of students who become Associate Members. I have confidence that we will see benefits from these efforts. However, one option is open to all of us. Each of us has an alma mater and/or a Section/Branch/Institute in our local community. What do you think would happen if every member of ASCE chose to invite a graduating student to join ASCE? We could hand or send them an application for membership personally.

This small gesture would pay big benefits for the student and for the future of ASCE. I don’t think that we could ever have too many Texas Aggies or Houston Cougars in ASCE. Do we have too many people from your university in the society? I didn’t think so.

When I agreed to serve as ASCE President, I knew that my life would be very interesting. Meeting great civil engineers and leading the premier organization for civil engineers is exhilarating. This week, I want to share with you how life can be even more interesting than we expect.

One of the things that we taught our children was to “make your plans, and live your life.” They understood that to mean that we can set a direction but we cannot control events. We were reminded of the truth of this philosophy by the events of this week. On February 28, my mother-in-law, Katheryne Wilson, succumbed to the ravages of Alzheimer’s disease. She was a wonderful person who provided unconditional love to all that she met. She leaves a great legacy for all of the family.

Before we could hold a memorial service for her, our second grandchild, Jude Andrew Johnston, was born on March 4. (Yes, I taught my granddaughter to sing “Na na na na na na na.”) Simultaneously dealing with the extremes of grief and joy in our family has been a new experience for all of us. We had other plans for this week, but we quickly adjusted to the reality of each day. The “busyness” of our lives was put back into its proper perspective.

Work is important, but life remains about relationships. Love your God. Love your family. Make a difference in someone’s life (the perfect definition of civil engineering).

For over a decade, ASCE has pursued an initiative to Raise the Bar in what qualifications are required to obtain a professional engineers license. You may have heard of it in many forms such as Policy 465, CAP3, B +30, or BOK. In any of its forms, it remains an essential effort to keep civil engineers properly qualified to create a better quality of life in a sustainable manner, or what we might say is to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the public. Dr. Jeff Russell of the University of Wisconsin has led our efforts, and we owe him a debt of gratitude.

My purpose in this blog entry is to ask you where you are as a member on this important initiative. We are moving into the next phase of this process where we take our message to the state legislatures. ABET is already using the Body of Knowledge, second edition (BOK2) in establishing accreditation criteria. NCEES, the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying, has adopted our ideas in their model law. However, as you might expect, not everyone in the engineering profession agrees with us. We are reaching out to those organizations to listen to their concerns and to see if we can satisfy their needs.

We will not be successful without the strong endorsement of our own members. With 146,000 of us, we can make a lot of progress towards our goal during this phase. However, I know that you want to be fully informed. Currently, we have the full BOK on our Web site — you can see it here. A Raise the Bar newsletter also is available for the asking on that Web page. Please take a little time and get familiar with the issues. Then, we can boldly go where no engineer has gone before (cue music). As civil engineers, we owe society a future designed by people with the right education, experience, and commitment. Help us deliver on that obligation.