April 2014      REGION DIRECTOR'S REPORT Board Tackles Strategic Topics; Elects 11 Distinguished Members; Votes on LA Section’s Proposal to Form 501(c)6 David B. Peterson, P.E., F.ASCE, your Region 4, Director, is a member of the North Carolina Section and is a Senior Manager for Rummel, Klepper & Kahl, LLP, in Raleigh, NC. David represented you at the March 21-22, 2014, ASCE Board of Direction meeting, which was held in Arlington, Virginia. David and his fellow ASCE Board of Direction members dealt with a variety of issues, including the following: The Board began its meeting with a facilitated strategic planning session as part of its ongoing role to shape policy for the future of ASCE and the profession. In break-out groups, Board members were asked to explore the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and strengths (SWOT) of both the civil engineering profession and ASCE as an association. The groups then singled out what issues might be most important to tackle first and reported out. Results will be consolidated and further discussed and refined offline and at future meetings. Furthering its strategic approach under ASCE’s new governance structure of fewer Board committees and more communication, the Board participated in discussions led by three of the eight Board and Strategic Initiative committees.  Michael Mucha, P.E., M.ASCE, chair of the Committee on Sustainability, challenged the Board to consider whether ASCE could embrace a future in which civil engineers are defined not just by what they build, but also by what they don’t build. In another committee session, chair of the Raise the Bar Committee Blaine Leonard, P.E., D.GE, Pres.10.ASCE, sought feedback from the Board on the potential for a new, more robust approach in leading the charge to adopt the NCEES model law, and its increased education requirements for licensure, in a number of states. The Board will explore the possibilities further at its July meeting. In her time before the Board, Committee on Advancing the Profession (CAP) chair Renee Schwecke, P.E., M.ASCE, touched on topics ranging from technologist credentialing to diversity in the profession. The Board asked CAP to study the possible development of an ASCE policy on the issue of allowing engineers to sit for the P.E. exam prior to the completion of the experiential requirement, a provision that is now part of the NCEES Model Law. The nature of the P.E. exam itself will likely become a focus for study as well. The question arises whether the exam truly tests content that one learns from experience.  After careful deliberation, the  Board voted not to approve a proposal from the Los Angeles Section to create a new, parallel 501(c)6 organization, which would have allowed the Section to do unlimited lobbying and potentially gain greater access to public policy discussions with lawmakers through the establishment of a Political Action Committee (PAC). Prior to the vote, there was robust discussion, reflecting a range of views among Board members. There was widespread belief that the Society should enable self-governance of its units to the greatest degree possible, and a belief that the LA Section leaders had done an admirable job of presenting their case. On the other hand, there was great concern expressed that a PAC with ASCE’s name, even if just a local or regional entity, risked irrevocably altering ASCE’s stature as a non-partisan, non-political organization.  The Board elected 11 members to the grade of Distinguished Member. Other than president, Distinguished Member is the highest honor the Society bestows on an individual. Congratulations to the newest Distinguished Member[s] from Region 4, Jesus de la Garza, Ph.D., Dist.M.ASCE, NAC (CI, Virginia Section). In an executive session, the Board discussed the task ahead to find a new executive director to succeed Pat Natale, who will be retiring at the end of 2014. The Board identified what it believes are the most important qualifications for this position, and provided input for use by the search committee, chaired by Past President Greg DiLoreto. The search is now underway and applications are due May 31. See www.asce.org/EDsearch for more information. Board members are interested in your views on the issues they are considering. To share your views, or other ideas on how ASCE can better serve its members and the profession, please email David.    VIRGINIA SECTION ASCE Virginias Student Conference attracts 14 universities’ teams Photo courtesy West Virginia University Institute of Technology Student Chapter The West Virginia University Institute of Technology’s ASCE Student Chapter readies its concrete canoe “Possimpossible” to hit the road for Charlottesville, VA, and ASCE’s 2014 Virginias Student Conference, hosted by the University of Virginia. The Concrete Canoe and Steel Bridge regional finals and other conference events attracted Student Chapters from a total of 14 schools in Virginia, West Virginia and the Washington, D.C. area.   Chapter website>>  Conference website>>  VIRGINIA SECTION Construction engineering professor named Distinguished Member Jesus de la Garza, Ph.D., Dist.M.ASCE , NAC, has been selected by ASCE as a Distinguished Member, the highest honor the Society can bestow short of election to ASCE president. A professor of construction engineering and management at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, where he leads the Center for Highway Asset Management ProgramS, de la Garza is an internationally acknowledged leader in construction education and research. Learn more about ASCE’s newest Distinguished Member in ASCE News NATIONAL CAPITAL SECTION Former Navy vice admiral, visionary in infrastructure logistics, named Distinguished Member Michael K. Loose, P.E., USN (Ret.), Dist.M.ASCE, has been selected by ASCE as a Distinguished Member, the highest honor the Society can bestow short of election to ASCE president. The retired Navy vice admiral last served as the deputy chief of Naval Operations for Fleet Readiness and Logistics and was responsible for the planning, programming, and resourcing of the Navy’s energy, environmental, and logistics programs and the maintenance and operations of its ships, submarines, aircraft, and shore infrastructure. He is currently senior vice president and infrastructure and environment division manager at Parsons Corporation. Learn more about ASCE’s newest Distinguished Member in ASCE News. NATIONAL CAPITAL SECTION Master of highly complex infrastructure projects named Distinguished Member Dennis M. Kamber, P.E, Dist.M.ASCE, has been selected by ASCE as a Distinguished Member, the highest honor the Society can bestow short of election to ASCE president. Senior vice president of ARCADIS U.S., Inc., Kamber is renowned for developing and implementing innovative design solutions and for effective management of the infrastructure of complex design-build program and construction management projects. Learn more about ASCE’s newest Distinguished Member in ASCE News. INDIANA SECTION Notre Dame professor receives ASCE sustainable coasts award Joannes J. A. Westerink, Ph.D., M.ASCE, is the recipient of the Orville T. Magoon Sustainable Coasts Award for developing computational fluid dynamics models to predict hurricane storm surge, for applying his expertise to build more sustainable coastal communities, and for educating and inspiring the next generation of coastal engineers. He is chairman of the civil and environmental engineering and earth sciences department at the University of Notre Dame. Learn more about the achievements that made Westerink worthy in ASCE News  KENTUCKY SECTION Engineers help to extract rare Corvettes from massive sinkhole Early in the morning of February 12, a massive karst formation had opened an oblong sinkhole 45 feet wide, 60 feet long, and 27 feet deep at the National Corvette Museum, swallowing up eight of the classic cars. A team of engineers and construction experts quickly assembled on site to assess the situation and determine the immediate steps to stabilize the structure. Local firm Scott, Murphy & Daniel, LLC, served as the project manager and coordinator of the team. Find out more in ASCE’s online Civil Engineering magazine. Read story>>   Outreach event? Concrete Canoe? Let us know and we'll announce it here! Spring is here (in much of the world), and we're moving into a very busy time of year. If you’re a local ASCE leader and your Section, Branch, Younger Member Group, or Student Chapter has staged any special events, engaged in outreach from grade-school kids to lawmakers, ramped up for Concrete Canoe regionals, or anything of the sort, let ASCEnews Weekly know and we may include it in next month’s Region report. You may already have written about it and posted pictures in your newsletter, website, or social media. Share the details and any photos at asce.org/localnews. Got questions? Write to submissions@asce.org. Missed last month's Region 4 update? See the March edition of News Around Region 4 Share this page via social media and email: