August 2014

Great outreach event or other activity? Let the whole Region know! 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, done charity work, fund raising 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 August If you live adjacent to a Section in a different Region, or are merely interested in the other Region reports for August, 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 6 update? See the July edition of  News Around Region 6  Share this page via social media and email:

NEW MEXICO SECTION Bechtel VP based in New Mexico honored with 2015 OPAL for construction With more than 35 years of diverse leadership in engineering, construction, and facilities operations for major projects, Andrew K. Phelps, P.E., M.ASCE, is the recipient of ASCE’s 2015 Outstanding Projects and Leaders lifetime achievement award for construction. Principal vice president and manager of operations for Bechtel Mining & Metals, Phelps is responsible for the execution and performance of 10 major capital projects valued at $25 billion in the U.S., Canada, Peru, Chile, and Argentina.  A key leader in the dramatic expansion of Bechtel’s operations in Latin America, most recently Phelps coordinated Bechtel’s disaster recovery and relief efforts for approximately 2,000 colleagues and their families during the Maule earthquake in Chile. Phelps will receive his award during ASCE’s OPAL Gala ceremony next March 2015 in Washington, DC. Learn more about Phelps’ OPAL-worthy achievements in ASCE News.  Section website>>

TEXAS SECTION President of The University of Texas at Arlington elected ASCE Fellow Vistasp Karbhari, Ph.D., F.ASCE, a professor of civil engineering who has risen to become the eighth president of the University of Texas at Arlington, has been elevated to ASCE Fellow status by the Society’s Board of Direction. Karbhari is an expert in the processing and mechanics of composites, durability of materials, infrastructure rehabilitation, and multi-threat mitigation and has authored or co-authored more than 460 papers in journals and conference proceedings and edited or co-edited six books. He holds one patent and has served as principal investigator or co-principal investigator on more than $37 million in research projects. Find out more about what made Karbhari worthy of becoming a Fellow in ASCE News.  Section website>>

IN ASCE’s CIVIL ENGINEERING ONLINE MAGAZINE Seismic hazards more widespread across U.S., maps show Updated maps by the U.S. Geological Survey suggest that earthquake risks are more widespread around the nation than previously believed. Review the sobering findings in ASCE’s online edition of Civil Engineering magazine.

IN ASCE’s CIVIL ENGINEERING ONLINE MAGAZINE NIST researchers develop new corrosion test A team from the National Institute of Standards and Technology investigating rapid corrosion in fuel tank sump pumps develops a way to better understand corrosion in vaporous environments. Explore the discovery in ASCE’s online edition of Civil Engineering magazine.