May 2014      PITTSBURGH SECTION University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown excited to host National Concrete Canoe Competition Photo courtesy ASCE National Concrete Canoe Competition website The Western Pennsylvania campus of the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown is gearing up to welcome 23 student teams from across the country, including Puerto Rico, plus Canada and for the first time, China, in ASCE’s 27th annual National Concrete Canoe Competition.  The host school has been a frequent competitor in the national competition, and is seeking to improve on its 13th place finish in 2013. Above, UPJ’s own team poses with its concrete canoe, named Essayons, designed with a theme that honors the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.  Student chapter website>>   Official Concrete Canoe website>> NATIONAL CAPITAL SECTION Section’s sustainability group tours ASCE’s LEED-certified national headquarters Photo courtesy ASCE On May 15, the National Capital Section’s Sustainability Committee hosted tours and a panel discussion at the ASCE Headquarters building in nearby Reston, VA, which recently received LEED Gold Certification in the Existing Buildings-Operation & Maintenance category. Activities highlighted measures that led to certification of the facility. Representatives from the US Green Building Council, the ASCE Foundation, and upgrade designers RSG Architects took part in the event.   Section website>> NATIONAL CAPITAL SECTION HDR’s sustainability chief, an ASCE member, backs Envision at Section meeting At the National Capital Section’s April meeting, HDR Director of Sustainability Michaella Wittmann, A.M.ASCE, delivered a sustainability keynote address on the merits of applying the Envision rating system to projects, focused on the Envision-approved William Jack Hernandez Sport Fish Hatchery in Anchorage, AK. Prior to her address, Wittmann was asked by Section President Ranjit Sahai if she thought Envision will succeed. She replied, “Absolutely! It is flexible and addresses the right issues for the time. It specifically addresses two things that some other rating systems do not – leadership and climate/risk. I have used Envision on the following types of projects: utility plants, biodiversity/habitat protection, reclamation, roadway, bridge, water treatment plant, and community plan. Envision works for all of them to ask the right questions and drive good design decisions. The credit documentation information does need to be tightened up a bit more and that is being worked on.” The full Q&A with Sahai is in the Section’s May newsletter.  Read the discussion on page 4>>   Section website>> PITTSBURGH SECTION Carnegie Mellon’s facilities director elected ASCE Fellow Donald Coffelt, Ph.D., P.E., F.ASCE, associate vice president and director of the Facilities Management Services Division at Carnegie Mellon University, has been elected an ASCE Fellow. Coffelt oversees a 275-member team responsible for facility services, infrastructure management, and utility operations at the university’s 140-acre Pittsburgh campus. He also teaches as an adjunct professor in Carnegie Mellon’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Learn more of what made Coffelt worthy of election as a Fellow in ASCE News. MARYLAND SECTION Active Maryland Section officer elected ASCE Fellow Cynthia S. Smith, P.E., CEFP, PMP, F.SEI, F.ASCE, project manager for Sparks, MD–based Johnson, Mirmiran and Thompson, where she specializes in educational facility planning and design, has been elected ASCE Fellow. Smith has served as vice-president, president, and past president of the Maryland Chapter of the Structural Engineering Institute, and currently she serves as a director on the ASCE Maryland Board. Learn more of what made Smith worthy of election as a Fellow in ASCE News. PHILADELPHIA SECTION ‘Big Cat Crossing’ opens at Philadelphia Zoo A mesh-covered passageway allows carnivores to move from their traditional enclosures to other points in the zoo through an elevated walkway – as visitors stroll beneath. Delve into the findings in ASCE’s online Civil Engineering magazine. Read story>> Outreach event? Successful activity? Announce it here! 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, 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. See the other Region reports for May If you live adjacent to a Section in a different Region, or are merely interested in the other Region reports for May, click on each to view them: Region 1   Boston Society of Civil Engineers Section, Buffalo Section, Connecticut Society of Civil Engineers Section, Ithaca Section, Maine Section, Metropolitan Section, Mohawk-Hudson Section, New Hampshire Section, New Jersey Section, Puerto Rico Section, Rhode Island Section, Rochester Section, Syracuse Section, Vermont Section Region 2   Central Pennsylvania Section, Delaware Section, Lehigh Valley Section, Maryland Section, National Capital Section, Philadelphia Section, Pittsburgh Section Region 3   Akron-Canton Section, Central Illinois Section, Central Ohio Section, Cincinnati Section, Cleveland Section, Dayton Section, Duluth Section, Illinois Section, Michigan Section, Minnesota Section, North Dakota Section, Quad Cities Section, Toledo Section, Wisconsin Section Region 4   Arkansas Section, Indiana Section, Kentucky Section, North Carolina Section, South Carolina Section, Tennessee Section, Virginia Section, West Virginia Section Region 5   Alabama Section, Florida Section, Georgia Section, Louisiana Section, Mississippi Section   Region 6   New Mexico Section, Oklahoma Section, Texas Section Region 7   Colorado Section, Iowa Section, Kansas City Section, Kansas Section, Nebraska Section, South Dakota Section, St. Louis Section, Wyoming Section Region 8   Alaska Section, Arizona Section, Columbia Section, Hawaii Section, Inland Empire Section, Montana Section, Nevada Section, Oregon Section, Seattle Section, Southern Idaho Section, Tacoma-Olympia Section, Utah Section Region 9   Los Angeles Section, Sacramento Section, San Diego Section, San Francisco Section Region 10   All International Sections, Branches, and Groups Missed last month's Region 2 update? 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