Jeremy Chrzan, crouching at right, with friends in ASCE’s Philadelphia Younger Member Group.

To persuade college students and recent graduates of the benefits of ASCE membership, a Philadelphia civil engineer who is into his “final years” as a Younger Member has written a compelling article just posted to the ASCE website. In it, Jeremy Chrzan, P.E., PTOE, LEED-AP, M.ASCE, a transportation project engineer for Pennoni Associates, gets right into the nitty-gritty of how ASCE membership and activity has benefited his career. As he put it:

“ASCE’s national, regional, local, and student conferences, have allowed me to meet and develop relationships with hundreds of engineers from throughout the country.  These engineering friends and colleagues represent a diverse background of engineering disciplines, and academic and real-world experiences, allowing me to build a network of people whom I can rely on for personal, project-related, and career development guidance,” Jeremy wrote. “These same ASCE members are frequently my partners on engineering projects, allowing us to communicate well and work effectively as a design team.”

Jeremy cited the career benefits of taking part in CE outreach events such as Future City and Concrete Canoe for students from third grade through college. “These events have not only helped to spread the word about ‘What Civil Engineers Do,’ but they have also provided me with a comfortable venue to practice public speaking, opportunities to improve time management and task delegation, and an opportunity to understand the mindset of our future engineers.”

Participating in Philadelphia’s Younger Member Forum has actually been “a lot of fun,” Jeremy wrote.
“From community service to social events and happy hours, we enjoy getting together, talking about our work and home-lives, and learning from each other. … ASCE can help with nearly every aspects of your career, while providing an enjoyable format to meet new people and grow as a person.”

I encourage you to click and read Jeremy’s full article. How can ASCE do a more effective job of relaying the benefits of membership to CE students and young professionals? I welcome your ideas in the comments below.

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Tags: ASCE, Membership, Younger Member

Learn more about Envision project verification and professional credentialing at ISI’s official website.

I recently learned of some trends that have me enthusiastic about our profession’s adoption of sustainable practices and how we’re increasingly integrating them into projects.

It’s been a year since the public launch of Envision, the sustainability rating system for projects created and administered by the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure, the association launched by ASCE along with the American Public Works Association and the American Council of Engineering Companies, and six months since projects were welcomed for ISI’s independent, third party verification review. Already, there are about a half dozen projects in the verification pipeline.

It’s also been about six months since ISI began training and credentialing Envision Sustainability Professionals. In that time, 375 people have become ENV SPs, and ISI has started to see demand for them on projects. As Executive Director Pat Natale and I learned at ISI’s recent board meeting, a growing number of projects’ requests for proposals are requiring an Envision Sustainability Professional to ensure they satisfy the rating system’s standards.

These are trends that are only going to grow as we move deeper into the 21st century and sustainable practices are seen as increasingly essential to projects of every scale and scope. Here’s the link to ISI and the Envision program, including how to have projects evaluated, and how to become ENV SP credentialed. The website should be among your essential bookmarks.

I’d like to hear from you about any specific applications of sustainability you’ve included in your project work. Are you working on a project with the potential to be Envision rated, or think you might be interested in becoming an ENV SP? Talk about it below, or over at the LinkedIn discussion for this entry.

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Tags: Envision, Envision Sustainability Professional, Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure, Sustainability

Former Pa. Gov. Ed Rendell spoke in support of the Report Card at our release event March 19 in Washington, DC.

What a great day to be a member of ASCE – or a civil engineer in general. Today, the Society issued the 2013 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure, which if the last edition from 2009 is any guide, will attract attention from almost everyone, from the national media up to the president of the United States. And the headline is, we’ve given the nation a slightly better grade than four years ago, going from an overall grade of D to a D+.

As civil engineers, we believe we are the stewards of infrastructure – we designed it, we built it, and we actually oversee the operations and maintenance of it in many cases. So as stewards, we have a responsibility with the Report Card to call attention to the state of the nation’s infrastructure.

Our new Report Card calls for an investment of $3.6 trillion over the next seven years, $1.6 trillion more than anticipated. Even at that, former Pa. Gov. Ed Rendell called such an investment “modest” at our announcement today.

I encourage you to review the Report Card and all 16 categories. The best way is through a free app now available for all Apple and Android smartphones and tablets, enhanced with interactive charts, maps, videos and more. Click on the following to download: for iPads and iPhones or for Android devices, or go to our official Report Card website, www.infrastructurereportcard.org, and click on the icons there. Of course, the complete, detailed Report Card can be reviewed at the official site. There’s also a “Pocket Guide” app for iPhone users.

I was proud to lead today’s release event in Washington, and of all the hard work on the part of members and staff that the Report Card represents. Watch for coverage of our (and your) new Report Card, and help spread the word with its app in your pocket.

What’s your perspective on the new Report Card? Tell me what you think in the comments below.

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Tags: Economic Impact, Infrastructure, Inland Waterways, Maintenance, Report Card, Surface Transportation

This talented Modesto, Calif., Girl Scout troop won ASCE’s most innovative design award at the Future City finals.

It was not only an honor, it was fun to be the president of ASCE during this year’s National Engineers Week. Of all the events, at the top was serving as a judge of the national Future City finals in Washington D.C. You know what I mean when I say outreach activities like Future City can feel like a big inspiring, energizing feedback loop, for the young participants and for old pros. When you meet these kids showing a keen interest in engineering, and marvel at the ingenuity of their projects, you feel reassured about our profession’s future. Some of these kids will be carrying out Vision 2025.

At Future City this year, one team that gave us that good feeling turned out to be the first team entry not affiliated with a school in the 20-year history of the competition. The Girl Scouts of Troop 2225 in Modesto, Calif., offered “Vintage Grove,” a creative vision of a city that fully embraced sustainability, where water and wastewater is recycled, residents travel in “orbs,” grass grows on rooftops, trash is recycled to generate heat, and farmland is preserved by being layered. We gave ASCE’s Most Innovative Design of Infrastructure Systems award to Troop 2225 of the Girl Scouts, Modesto, Calif.

The point of Future City is not to consider practical questions, such as ‘how are you going to pay for this’ or ‘how is this going to get built,’ because that’s irrelevant. What is relevant is how wide these young people’s imaginations go.

The troop’s involvement in Future City attracted coverage from their local newspaper. Find out more about these inspiring kids in The Modesto Bee. You never know, in a few years you may be working alongside them.

Did you take part in any Engineers Week-related activities that also gave you that good feeling about the potential next generation of civil engineers? Tell us about them in the comments below.

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Tags: outreach, Sustainability, volunteerism, youth

ASCE’s 2013 Report Card is sure to make news in March.

I hope your 2013 is off to a good start. It’s sure to be an interesting one filled with new opportunities for ASCE members. Even with the shaky state of the economy, I am very optimistic about the civil engineering profession, especially when we look at what’s to come in each of ASCE’s three strategic initiatives.

Sustainability: We should see more civil engineers throughout our profession embracing sustainability concepts as the urgency becomes more apparent and techniques are more widely disseminated and used. 2013 will be the first full year that infrastructure projects will be evaluated as sustainable by the Envision certification rating system, launched last year by the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure, which was co-founded by ASCE with the American Council of Engineering Companies and the American Public Works Association. The institute also offers certification for professionals in the proper application of Envision and its standards.

Raise the Bar: We will make continued steady progress in preparing for a future in which the growing complexities of engineering practice will require licensed civil engineers to have additional advanced higher education. That will be one part of bringing the profession closer to realizing The Vision for Civil Engineering in 2025. ASCE will continue to work with the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying, the National Society of Professional Engineers and other prominent friends of the Raise the Bar initiative to move toward implementation of greater educational requirements for licensure. Work ahead includes more workshops to train advocates of the initiative, subsequent outreach, and state-level implementation developments. Learn more about the initiative at RaiseTheBarForEngineering.org.

Infrastructure: This year is the first in some time that federally funded surface transportation projects can move forward on solid ground, following the passage last summer of MAP-21, the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act. And this year will be huge for what ASCE will bring to the table. First, a final Failure to Act report will be released next week, with new study results that will summarize the economic impact that lack of investment in infrastructure could have on the nation. Then on March 19, ASCE will make national news with the release of our 2013 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure. A panel of your professional peers is putting the finishing touches on the once-every-four-years magnum opus, which will update the grades in every infrastructure category, provide estimated costs to upgrade infrastructure to a satisfactory condition, and offer suggestions for raising the grades.

What are you looking forward to in 2013? What would you like to see happen? What do you think we can expect from ASCE’s three key initiatives? Let me know in the comments below.

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Tags: higher education, Infrastructure, Report Card, Sustainability, Vision 2025

President Lincoln and Rep. Justin S. Morrill

As a graduate of Oregon State University, I’m proud to be part of the legacy of one of the first land-grant universities. 2012 marked the 150th anniversary of the law signed by President Lincoln that transformed higher education for U.S. engineers, essentially launching the profession we know.

Passed in response to the Industrial Revolution, the Morrill Land-Grant Act was landmark legislation that allocated federal lands to each state and U.S. territory to establish or sell to fund colleges to teach agricultural and mechanical arts, including engineering. Today, about 70 percent of the nation’s engineering degrees are awarded by the 74 colleges and universities in the land grant system. The technical advances and research contributions to engineering that emerged from land-grant institutions helped establish the United States as a global industrial giant. An expansion of the Morrill Act in 1890 also helped establish several of the nation’s historically black colleges and universities.

The Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities and its member institutions celebrated the Morrill Act’s 150th anniversary this year with events including a national convocation in Washington, D.C., and presentations at this summer’s Smithsonian Folklife Festival on the National Mall in Washington. For more on the fascinating history and legacy of the Morrill Act, read this good feature by the American Association of Engineering Societies. Learn why there should be a greater appreciation for its significant role in creating the modern system of higher education for engineering.

Did you or are you attending a land-grant university? Here’s your free chance to shout its praises. Tell me what makes yours great in the comments below, especially if you can connect it to its land-grant legacy. Happy New Year!

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Tags: education, higher education, land grant

If you have ever had the privilege of leading school kids in hands-on engineering activities, you’ve likely heard them called “awesome!” In a little more than two months, engineers from every discipline will “Celebrate Awesome” during National Engineers Week, fanning out to schools and other places where kids gather, getting them acquainted with what makes engineering awesome for society, and for a career.

In 2013, ASCE volunteers will be a major part of this celebration, coordinating partnerships, buying and testing materials for hands-on activities, supporting Future City competitions, participating in Engineering Days, introducing girls to engineering, visiting classrooms, and talking about civil engineering with just about anyone and everyone willing to listen – especially kids. How will you take advantage of the national spotlight on engineering careers? ASCE Pre-College Outreach has tips, tools and resources to plan and launch a successful event – visit www.asce.org/eweek to get started.

ASCE has been one of the most enthusiastic participants in Engineers Week outreach activities. It’s great member-volunteers who make it happen, sharing their passion for engineering, and rallying their peers on behalf of students everywhere. To honor and show appreciation for such spirit, ASCE is seeking nominees for the DiscoverE Volunteer Recognition Program.

Do you know such a member? Section and Branch officers, and Younger Member Group leaders, especially are encouraged to identify one special volunteer in your area deserving of a high level of recognition for their effort, then submit them online to ASCE. These volunteers will be honored at the upcoming Multi-Regional Leadership Conferences, and I will send each a letter during Engineers Week to say “thank you” for their dedication to promoting the profession through educational outreach.

Do you have any “awesome” experiences relating engineering to kids, or other memories of past Engineers Week volunteerism? Share them in the comments below.

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Tags: Engineers Week, outreach, pre-college, volunteer

The massive Sandy passes over the Northeast on Oct. 29 as seen in this radar image from Google Earth.

Thanks for joining me on my blog as your new ASCE President. During my year in office, I’ll share some of my views on current civil engineering-related issues affecting our profession, including how ASCE fits in. I’ll then read your replies and respond to the most thought-provoking comments.

To all who have suffered losses due to Hurricane Sandy, I extend my sympathies and wishes for as full a recovery as possible.

Sandy was so enormous, so unprecedented, it actually made “hurricane” seem inadequate to describe it. The huge swath of damage it inflicted on the Northeast has been estimated at $50 billion and continues to climb. Most tragically, scores of people have died. Fortunately, most residents in Sandy’s path heeded evacuation warnings, so the toll is not as severe as it could have been.

Are we entering a new era of “superstorms,” as the media dubbed Sandy? If so, what should civil engineers be doing to prevent devastation on a huge scale? Are we really going to need Netherlands-style dikes to protect New York City? Will we need to build levees up and down the Eastern seaboard? Could this change how we define sustainability?

Offer your thoughts below on what “superstorms” may mean for the future of civil engineering. This critical issue deserves a robust conversation.

Before signing off, I want to encourage you to join me in contributing to relief efforts. The American Red Cross, ASCE’s official partner for relief efforts, has been busy helping those hit hardest by Sandy. The fastest and easiest way to provide financial support for relief efforts is to text the word “Redcross” (one word) to 90999. You will donate $10 automatically, which will appear on your cell phone bill. There also are other worthy agencies conducting relief efforts deserving of your help.

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Tags: Disaster, Economic Impact, Infrastructure, Inland Waterways, Maintenance, Surface Transportation, Sustainability