Today marks the end of my stewardship of the ASCE President’s Blog. Beginning next week, Blaine Leonard will have the privilege of sharing his thoughts with you each week. Please accept my sincere appreciation for spending a few minutes each week reading this space.

I have tried to highlight issues that I believe are important. My entries have been intended to both inform and stimulate thoughts. Some of the topics revealed deeply held opinions. Your comments have been interesting, if not always enjoyable.

My hope is that the President’s Blog will continue to grow. We need a place to discuss issues. While some of us could use a refresher in manners, we can all learn by reading opinions of other members on the issues of our day. Time is precious, and you have honored me by giving me a little of your time each week.

Last week, ASCE held the first meeting of a new group, the Industry Leaders Council. This group consists of invited leaders in the civil engineering industry, representing public and private entities. Their purpose is to bring ASCE the best insights into what is happening in the profession.

Our goal is to make certain that we always keep the big picture on ASCE’s agenda. The elected leaders of ASCE do an amazing job of establishing strategies and policies that benefit our members and the society as a whole. The ILC allows us to add the perspectives of some of the most insightful employers and leaders to our priorities.

As we deal with the important issues of advocacy, infrastructure, education, sustainability, energy, etc., we will benefit from those who form as well as interpret public policy. The list of members is a Who’s Who of civil engineers. The ILC will give us more opportunities to serve as the stewards of infrastructure.

[Learn more about the Industry Leaders Council and the monthly series of podcast interviews it conducts with civil engineering leaders, Insights.]

Today is Columbus Day. I still remember “in 14 hundred and 92, Columbus sailed the ocean blue …” History has revealed that the discovery of the New World may not have been exactly according to the old rhyme. Today, we remember it mostly as a federal holiday, except for people in consulting firms who are working today.

In one sense, Columbus’ trip was a failure because he failed to find a passage to India. Imagine how Fox News might have covered the trip if the person who sent Columbus to India had been named Obama instead of Isabella. In many other senses, the trip changed the world forever.

Today, we have many new frontiers to explore. These frontiers are technological instead of geographical. Engineers are modern day explorers. We stand at the beginning of a new day in bio-medicine, energy, sustainability, and materials. We are not certain where the exploration of these fields will lead us. What we do know is that our lives will be changed dramatically over the next decade or two. Today, cheer Columbus and hug an engineer!

The Executive Officers and Executive Directors of the Founder Societies met last week in Kansas City. Representing the major branches of engineering, the discussion revealed a number of common challenges. I find it interesting that even though we deliver different value to our communities and the marketplace, we are remarkable similar in our aspirations for the profession.

You might wonder what civil, mechanical, electrical, chemical, mining, and materials engineers have in common. Each group recognizes that we are essential to the continuation of civilization and that we can use our expertise to accelerate the development of Third World communities. We learned that most of the societies have ongoing efforts to reach out in humanitarian programs around the world. Collaboration may allow us to reach more people with the same resources. Each group is keenly aware of the need to reach a new generation with the incredibly creative story of engineering as a career. Again, all of us have outreach programs of one kind or another to K-12 students. Collaboration may allow us to reach many more students as they decide how best to spend their lives.

I remain impressed by the inventive process going on in each discipline related to sustainability. Engineers will truly establish the way that we live in the future. For some reason, engineers tend to define ourselves as being materially different from other engineers in other disciplines. I suppose that we like living in silos. Believe me when I say that we have more in common than we think. We are educated professionals who creatively dedicate our lives to making the world a better place for everyone. I say Hooray for engineers, whatever flavor they represent.