Thank you so very much,  civil engineering colleagues and fellow ASCE members, for the honor of serving as ASCE President this past year. It has been a truly remarkable experience.  Maybe you recall that I set a mission for my year as ASCE President, one whose objectives fit an acronym – MOVE.

“M” is Members – the heart, head, life blood and soul of ASCE. When I first began my presidency, I further noted “M” is for the Momentum resulting from the direction and energetic work of my predecessors. As I traveled talking about our three strategic initiatives, Infrastructure, Sustainability and Raise the Bar, I emphasized the long term dedication and resources (plus see “E” below – engagement) needed to achieve our goals. I believe we have made progress on all three initiatives. Our momentum toward bringing our country’s infrastructure “Back from the Brink” accelerated in 2011 with events such as President Obama’s reference to our Report Card for America’s Infrastructure grade in his State of the Union address. The added prominence for our Report Card spread recognition and understanding of infrastructure from town hall meetings to verbatim quotes by legislators in Congressional hearings. By mid-summer, we furthered the discussion with the release of an economic study that showed the costly economic impact on households and businesses, and the nation’s gross domestic product, over the next 30 years.

The letter “O” has been all about “Opportunity,” specifically, the opportunity for civil engineers to emerge from tough political and economic times as leaders in the establishment of public policy, and as creators of innovative and sustainable infrastructure solutions.  We took a big step forward on the progress of our sustainability initiative this year when ASCE joined APWA and ACEC as founding members of the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure.  We are excited about ISI’s Envision™ sustainable infrastructure rating system that is nearing launch. This tool will allow civil engineers to demonstrate through certification how their infrastructure projects are meeting the standards of sustainability. ASCE also began offering the first in a series of courses that will result in certification for professionals,  Fundamentals of Sustainable Engineering, now available online through the ASCE store. We’ve also enhanced the sustainability section of our website to include profiles of sustainable infrastructure projects, and we invite you to submit a project that exemplifies sustainability practices.

On the Presidential International Outreach trip, I witnessed “O” for Opportunity first hand. ASCE’s delegation traveled to Singapore, Bangladesh, and India. We marveled at civil engineering projects that combined technical excellence, aesthetically pleasing design and sustainable elements, and felt humbled at member meetings where they demonstrated their pride and devotion to ASCE. We witnessed the tremendous impact that civil engineers can have on individual quality of life.  The almost overwhelming opportunity to serve humanity in the broadest terms was evident through participation in the World Justice Forum in Barcelona.

“V” is for Vision as in The Vision for Civil Engineering in 2025 and the companion piece, Achieving the Vision in 2025, both of which serve as beacons for civil engineering as it seeks to satisfying the shifting demands of the future. Because it is today’s K-12 audience who will be the civil engineers of 2025,  I am very proud of the Outreach efforts our Society has made, from our expanded age-appropriate resources like ASCEville on our Web site, to all of you who go to schools and community events helping children and their families understand why civil engineers are important to society. I believe the seeds you plant are bearing fruit. As a judge at the Future Cities competition during Engineers Week, I saw great potential in the imaginative and innovative ways contestants built sustainability into their designs.

Finally, it is the “E” for Engagement that I mentioned most often in this past year. I am so grateful to each one of you for the time and effort you spend on behalf of ASCE emulating the best of civil engineering and spreading the message of the valuable work we do to protect the health, safety and welfare of the public. From coast to coast and literally around the world, I both challenged our members to engage and was privileged to engage with you in activities that MOVEd us closer to our Vision.  The level of enthusiasm for our profession demonstrated by our younger members is thrilling and their use of technology like social media to spread the word about ASCE efforts grew greatly this year. Our student programs have grown in number and activity and engaging with our student members and leaders has only further fueled my passion for them. It has been satisfying to collaborate with the Institutes on several common initiatives. We must continually support the activities of our grassroots organization entities, as it is through local engagement that you prove that civil engineers do indeed make the world a better place.

During my year as president, I have met so many incredible civil engineers doing incredible things to enhance our world. What do you think about what has been accomplished and where we need to go? How do we help new President Andy Herrmann build on the momentum of the past year?

One last note – thanks for reading my blog, especially to everyone who felt strongly enough to comment. Please be sure to continue the conversation with Andy over at his blog, blogs.asce.org/president2012.

One of Steve Jobs’ many talents was in marketing. Each year for the past several years, he made a “nice to have” product, the iPhone, feel like a “must have.”

Now, if only we had a “Steve Jobs for infrastructure,” or at least that kind of sales pitch, one that successfully persuades the public that repairing and expanding our infrastructure is a “must have.” Can we tap into what Jobs understood about psychology to rally the public behind infrastructure investment?

Jobs leveraged marketing tactics that previous manufacturing giants including General Motors’ Harley Earl had figured out – the perception of obsolescence, the urge that motivates people to want to have the latest and greatest, the feeling that life will be better by having the new product (in our case, as “renewed” product).

As civil engineers, from the national to the local level, we can leverage those attributes – and with greater urgency. Jobs and Earl dealt in perceived obsolescence, persuading potential buyers that they had to have this year’s model even if last year’s was still perfectly fine. With much of America’s infrastructure, we are confronted with genuine obsolescence – water works, bridges and roads, the electrical grid, levees, ports and more that are at or well past their expected functional life. We have been somewhat successful in getting the public to understand that through efforts like ASCE’s Report Card for America’s Infrastructure at the national and state/Section levels, and the publicity those reports generate. And, unfortunately, infrastructure-related disasters drive home the need, but it should never have to come to that.

How can we take the awareness that the Report Cards and disasters generate and rally the public to the next level of persuading decision-makers and voters that infrastructure improvement is a “must have”? Can we do a better job of showing the public projections of how their lives will be better by improving our infrastructure? How can we make the statistics that point to such improvements more tangible?

It’s hard to make the replacement of a 100-year-old water main seem as cool as the next new iPhone, but that’s the challenge we face. What is our equivalent of Steve Jobs’ black mock turtleneck and jeans (figuratively, of course)? Share your thoughts and ideas in the comments below.

Are you familiar with the frequently hilarious newspaper The Onion? I’m convinced that a couple of weeks ago they were inspired by our “Failure to Act” study/report on the economic consequences of failing to invest in surface transportation infrastructure. Just after our report was released, The Onion published a very funny tongue-in-cheek piece with the headline, Al-Qaeda Claims U.S. Mass Transportation Infrastructure Must Drastically Improve Before Any Terrorist Attacks. The story included this mock quote from al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri:

“ ‘The al-Qaeda network is fully prepared to continue the jihad against the American infidels by launching deadly attacks, but your outdated and rusting transportation infrastructure needs to be completely overhauled for those strikes even to be noticed,’ al-Zawahiri said. ‘We want to turn your bridges into rubble, but if we claimed credit for making them collapse, nobody would ever believe us. We’d really just be doing you a favor because then you’d actually have to rebuild them.’ ”

The Onion story also poked more fun at the state of U.S. infrastructure, noting one critical area in which we’ve fallen behind most other advanced nations: “The al-Qaeda commander confirmed his organization initially hoped to cripple travel in the United States by destroying its nationwide high-speed rail system, but had been shocked to discover no such thing exists.”

The article is amusing, yet seriously telling at the same time, especially for us as civil engineers. It says a lot about how the state of our nation’s infrastructure has fallen so far that it can be picked on for humor so easily. What’s sad is that intransigent lawmakers who have lacked vision and have stood in the way of adequate funding should be embarrassed by this, but aren’t.

What’s your take on our crumbling infrastructure as the subject of satire, what it says about where things stand and what should be done?

As part of our expanding efforts at ASCE to advance sustainable practices, earlier this year we got together with the American Council of Engineering Companies and the American Public Works Association and planted a seed we called the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure. That seed has sprouted and has borne fruit, notably in the form of a draft rating system that certifies the sustainability of infrastructure works. That system, called envision™, is currently out for public comment and is scheduled for market launch early next year.

If you read my President’s Note in this month’s Civil Engineering, or have seen some of the other promotion for envision, you’re familiar with its intent. Envision will evaluate the sustainability of a wide range of civil infrastructure projects, especially those most critical to our communities’ and nation’s economic competitiveness and to protecting the environment, and will recognize projects that meet those goals. The system will review and score existing infrastructure and at the same time, serve as a target that new and renovating projects will want to reach. In a sense, envision will work much the same as the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED certification, but go beyond buildings to cover all infrastructure.

We want envision to be effective as a respected and credible sustainability rating system, with a certification that is sought after and valued by engineers, planners, architects, contractors,  infrastructure owners and the public alike. That includes you. So I’m asking you to evaluate the evaluation system, to apply your professional insights to ensure that its methodology works, and to offer any suggestions that could help make it more effective. To read the envision draft and comment, visit ISI’s Web site, sustainableinfrastructure.org.  All comments and suggestions are confidential and will be considered.

Here in my blog, I welcome your candid reactions to the whole envision sustainability certification concept. Do you think it can be as effective an incentive to apply sustainability in design and execution as LEED certification has been in the building industry?

On my recent visit to India, I was honored to be involved in what could be called the “Three R theme” in action, the review, renewal, and revival of our India Section. This burst of activity can serve to inspire the same sense of review, renewal, and revival of other Sections and Branches that could benefit from a pick-up in member involvement.

In New Delhi, I met with members of the four newly proposed Branches that will operate under the India Section. We had a full day of roundtable discussions with members from around the country about how they viewed the future of the India Section. A topic of great interest was the challenges in serving members over such a large geographic area. It was gratifying to see how at the end of a day of hard work, those present agreed on a path to the future and pledged their cooperation and dedication to bring their ideas to fruition. From this meeting will come a reemerging strength from within the India Section, as younger and new members join in leadership positions to drive the Section forward and live up to its promise to be a showcase of activity and service to the communities they serve. The meeting also served as a renewal of ASCE’s commitment to serve its members, wherever they may be.

It is my hope that if you are planning a visit to India, that you will contact the Section through the ASCE International Department at international@asce.org and share with them your experiences and expertise and learn from their enthusiasm about new technologies and best practices that will enable them to serve their public with professional dedication.

Is your Section or Branch undergoing a period of review, renewal, and revival? Please share with me what’s working – what is fueling success? Have you contributed time and/or effort to help it happen? Or the corollary – if you think your Section or Branch is in need of the “three Rs,” what do you think needs doing? What would you do to make it happen?

One of the things I noticed while riding around Singapore on my recent trip was a large overhead sign that said “ERP.” It is mounted on a large steel structure that spans a modern urban roadway. I asked about these signs while visiting engineers at the Port (another story!) They advised me that ERP stood for Electronic Road Pricing and that their system was implemented as a way to relieve congestion.  In fact, they reportedly had the first road pricing system in the world (manual in 1975, automated in 1998). Now I was really intrigued!

It reminded me of a similar project that also intrigued me several years ago, conducted by the Oregon Department of Transportation as a pilot program. Willing motorists had a “black box” installed in their vehicle that tracked miles driven, route and time. When they pulled up to the gas pump they paid their “toll” – a surcharge based on their actual usage of the roadway system. I thought it was brilliant.  However, it didn’t get beyond that pilot program. In the U.S., the issue of privacy seems to be an insurmountable “road block” to any sort of road pricing system.

In Singapore, this type of road pricing has been proven to reduce congestion and provide funding for continued transportation system improvements (combined with some pretty stiff registration/licensing fees). Perhaps their culture has a different idea of individual privacy rights versus the greater good?

I may be simple-minded on this issue, but aren’t the vast majority of us already carrying around devices that pinpoint our location? Granted the info is not collected and dispersed (or so they say), but can that really be that far away? What do you think of that approach? Are there others you know of that you care to suggest?

Toward the end of June I attended the World Justice Forum III in Barcelona, Spain. The Forum is planned and executed by the World Justice Project, a non-profit organization working to advance the rule of law.

WJP’s mission is “to lead a global, multidisciplinary effort to strengthen the rule of law for the development of communities of opportunity and equity” and is based on two complementary premises:
• First, the rule of law is the foundation for communities of opportunity and equity; and
• Second, multidisciplinary collaboration is the most effective way to advance the rule of law

This three-day event was truly unlike any I had ever attended. Rule of law topics included underground economies, fair elections, justice, freedom of the press and access to information, women’s issues, human trafficking, the environment and human health, the latter of which I participated in. The roughly 450 participants came from across the globe and were of every race, creed, and religion. Many had remarkable stories of loss and incarceration resulting from their struggles for freer, more democratic societies.

Presenters included prime ministers, current and former presidents, secretary-generals, United Nations representatives, university presidents, chief justices, and ministers of every sort. Many of the attendees were from the legal and judicial professions but, as indicated above, the inclusion of many professions and walks of life was prominent.

Engineers made up a very small handful of participants, and it was intriguing to work on project designs with social scientists, behaviorists, academics, artists and writers, NGO representatives, government and private enterprise leaders (such as Bill Gates Sr.!), and journalists.

At the end of the forum a sampling of the projects proposed for funding were given by each of the various study groups/topics. It was amazing how hard people from so many different walks of life came together to define the what, when, who, how of complete project plans! There is no doubt this amazing initiative is making a positive difference in the world. I was a bit dumbfounded at first (in today’s world we are still struggling to end slavery?!), passed through hopeful and impressed, and left incredibly inspired.

One of the session moderators was a young woman from China, and she made a statement that stuck with me. She said “The rule of law is like oxygen. When you have it you don’t really notice. When you don’t have it, nothing works.”

The “rule of law” is defined on the WJP Web site, but before you peek, ponder this: What does “rule of law” mean to you? I certainly have a new perspective. ASCE leadership will be talking about our future participation and what it should consist of. What do you think ASCE’s role in the World Justice Project should be?

If you’re like most folks, the only election you’ve heard about has been the 2012 presidential election, and the announcements from Republicans vying for their party’s nomination. Yet there is another election currently under way also of  importance — ASCE’s election.

Unfortunately, I’ve learned that many of you have not received any announcements in your email because they likely were filtered out as spam. So, if you did not receive your voting credentials by email recently, please contact ASCE Customer Service at 800-548-2723 to have your credentials resent by email, then if it doesn’t arrive in your regular inbox, check your spam or junk mail folders to see if the mail landed there. Then, please follow up with your IT department at work or check your home computer’s spam filters to make sure ASCE is allowed delivery access. A paper ballot was mailed to all voting members. Contact Customer Service to request a replacement ballot if you didn’t receive it or have misplaced it. International members seeking help may call 703-295-6300.

Our Society elections are being held for 2011-12 president-elect, at-large director, technical region director, and  your region’s governor and/or director. Environmental Water Resources Institute members will also be selecting an EWRI vice president for a four-year term starting in October. There are also two constitutional amendments to consider that revise potential actions on Code of Ethics and Bylaws amendments. Get the background on every candidate and the amendments via our official 2011 election Web site.

In order to be eligible to vote, you must be a member in good standing at the grade of Associate or higher as of May 15 with dues paid. Only members of an Institute may vote for the technical region director, and only EWRI members can vote for EWRI vice-president.  The constitutional amendments may seem rather dry, but they are important issues, so please don’t forget to vote on them.

Thank you for participating and helping to elect the Society’s leaders for the next year!

While in Dhaka City, Bangladesh, recently, I learned of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who is fondly called “Bangabandhu”, which means “father of Bangladesh.” Bangabandhu is a national hero who led the Bangladeshis and the country to freedom from Pakistan, to become a liberated country. Several decades later, Bangabandhu is still revered and his death deeply mourned. This was apparent everywhere we visited, including his home where he and most of his family were brutally murdered. His work and the sacrifice of others were especially poignant at the Bangladesh National Monument, erected to honor those who gave their lives for freedom and as a symbol of Bangladesh’s independence.

The ASCE Bangladesh Section had arranged a wreath-laying ceremony during our ASCE Presidential delegation visit and I had the honor of placing a wreath at the base of the monument and entering a comment in a memorial book. This got me thinking about heroes and what makes up a hero.

Certainly, we have our own national heroes whose deeds are routinely appreciated George Washington, John Adams and others are credited with our own national freedom. With some, such as President Kennedy, we wonder how and if our nation would be different had their lives not been ended so young.

Each of us likely has our own personal heroes. I am in awe of the hard work and dedication of the civil engineers we met in Bangladesh – truly battling to improve the quality of life for a population living in a still developing country. Their efforts, such as the delivery of potable water, mean not only improved health but a significantly improved way of life. (Stay tuned for more on that whole topic).
Who are the heroes of today’s generation? Who pops in your mind when you think about national heroes? Who are your personal heroes and why?

Singapore was our first stop on ASCE’s annual “presidential delegation” international journey this year. While there we visited with engineers and others at the Building Construction Authority (BCA). These are the folks that permit building construction, establish construction quality measures, and issue occupancy permits. In addition, they offer training, certification, government assistance and technology development.

We would consider them a “semi-legislative” authority as they have the authority to mandate building construction. For example, they require all new construction to be “green,” meaning new buildings must be a significant percentage more energy efficient than required by standard code. They also award significant incentives to existing building owners who retrofit for energy savings.

The research and development undertaken by the BCA Academy includes the operation of the” first Zero Energy Building (ZEB) in southeast Asia retrofitted from an existing building.” BCA invites vendors of “green” technology and products to participate in this living laboratory for the purpose of testing various systems and promoting energy efficiency and sustainability.

While a friend maintains that his office is a ZEB every Monday, BCA defines a ZEB as a building that produces energy equal to or greater than needed to run the building. Solar power generation is a big part of the program and they have extensively tested the 3 major material systems used in panel manufacture. Different types of vertical exterior “living” building panels are being tested and maintained. The insulating performance of different groups of plants is being measured in a small green roof top (a vast majority of the roof is solar). Really cool mirror ducts deliver natural light throughout the building (the aluminum lining is the best) and the light delivered by strategically placed light domes can even come with dimmer switches. Building shades and a passive cooling system includes solar chimneys, personalized ventilation delivered desk top, and displacement cooling. The currently occupied portion of the building has supplemental cooling via air conditioning while a totally passive system is monitored in the yet unoccupied section.

The list of green materials and technologies goes on and after about 18 months of operation, the BCA Academy ZEB is meeting its goal and is actually producing net energy greater than needed – ultimately contributing power to the grid.

While we washed our hands in the open air bathroom, a colleague on the trip asked “how far would you be willing to go to be green?” Go without air conditioning in the Florida summer? Perhaps give up the corner office for low profile cubicles that let light and air dissipate across larger spaces? Climb the stairs in elevator-free buildings (fortunately we only had to climb two stories in 95 degree Singapore heat)? How about you? How far are you willing to go to save energy and go green?

Learn more about Singapore’s efforts at www.bca.gov.sg and www.bca.gov.sg/zeb.