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 Kenneth B. Morris, P.E., PTOE, M.ASCE, your Region 6, Director, is a member of the Oklahoma Section and is president of KME, LLC in Edmond, Oklahoma. Ken represented you at the March 21-22, 2014, ASCE Board of Direction meeting, which was held in Arlington, Virginia. Ken 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 Membe[s from Region 6, Jean-Louis Briaud, Ph.D., P.E., D.GE, Dist.M.ASCE (G-I, Texas Section) and William H. Espey, Jr., Ph.D., P.E., D.WRE, Dist.M.ASCE (EWRI, Texas 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 Ken.  TEXAS SECTION DALLAS BRANCH Students at Dallas school’s Civil Engineering Club learn about water resources Photo courtesy Dallas Branch newsletter The Dallas Branch has just started a new series of presentations with a Civil Engineering Club at The Hockaday School in north Dallas. Ashlyn Kelbly, a water resources engineer from Kimley-Horn & Associates, gave the first presentation in February. This included a description of the many branches of civil engineering, a more detailed description of the day-to-day work done with water resources engineering at KHA, and a discussion on women in engineering colleges and the workplace.  In particular, the students learned about cure in place pipe rehabilitation and the design of new water distribution systems, including an example of a new project Ashlyn herself designed in Flower Mound, TX.   Section website>> TEXAS SECTION Acclaimed geotechnical engineer at Texas A&M named Distinguished Member Jean-Louis Briaud, Ph.D., P.E., D.GE, F.ASCE, has been selected by ASCE as a Distinguished Member, the highest honor the Society can bestow short of election to ASCE president. A professor in the Zachry Department of Civil Engineering at Texas A&M University, Briaud has made valuable contributions to site investigation technology through his research on the pressuremeter, leading to the design and patenting of an improved device. Learn more about ASCE’s newest Distinguished Member in ASCE News. TEXAS SECTION Expert in water resources engineering named Distinguished Member William H. Espey, Jr., Ph.D., P.E., D.WRE, 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. Espey’s exemplary 50-year career as a researcher, consultant, educator, and mentor in the field of water resources engineering includes notable advancements in urban watershed analysis, stormwater management, and hydraulic modeling. He was also instrumental in founding ASCE’s Environmental and Water Resources Institute. Learn more about ASCE’s newest Distinguished Member in ASCE News. TEXAS SECTION Structural engineering firm’s co-founder named ASCE Fellow Larry E. Whaley, P.E., F.ASCE, president of Cardno Haynes Whaley, has been elected an ASCE Fellow. One of the founding members of Haynes Whaley Associates in 1976, the firm, now called Cardno Haynes Whaley, today has offices in Houston and Austin, Texas, and Reston, Virginia, offering structural engineering services in all building types required by commercial, institutional, and governmental entities, nationally and internationally. Learn more about the achievements that made Whaley worthy in ASCE News.  TEXAS SECTION Design competition reinvents Dallas’s central waterway While efforts to transform the Trinity River into a recreational oasis have been ongoing for years, a recently concluded design competition aims to revitalize the land between the river and downtown Dallas, a 500-acre tangle of parking lots, floodwater zones, and extensive freeway infrastructure. The Connected City Design Challenge aims to recreate that land as a vibrant urban and recreational district. 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 6 update? See the March edition of News Around Region 6 Send this page via social media and email: