December 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 December If you live adjacent to a Section in a different Region, or are merely interested in the other Region reports for .December, 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 8 update? See the November edition of News Around Region 8   Share this page via social media and email:

SEATTLE SECTION Seattle structural engineer named a 2015 New Face of Civil Engineering As a civil engineer with KPFF Consulting Engineers, Courtney Davis, P. E., M.ASCE, has demonstrated extraordinary potential worthy of selection as one of ASCE’s 2015 New Faces of Civil Engineering. Her research paper, Evaluation of Design Provisions for In-Plane Shear in Masonry Walls, presented at the Masonry Society’s conference in Chicago and presented the Society’s 2009 Best Master’s Thesis, made a significant impact on the masonry design code. Based on the results of the research study, recommendations were made to improve the strength design and allowable stress design provisions in the Building Code Requirements for Masonry Structures (ACI-530-08). Her unique structural design experience is one of her greatest strengths. Davis, who is employed as a project engineer for KPFF, has worked on projects ranging from waterfront structures, below grade light rail tunnel stations, and bridges. Presently, Davis is managing the construction support on the Denman Island Ferry Project on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada—which will be the longest cable ferry in the world—where she designed the movable steel transition that bridges the gap between the ferry and the adjacent pontoon. Active within ASCE, Davis is presently the president of the Seattle Section YMF, where she has worked to increase membership, mentor students, assist with the community service, K-12 outreach and activity planning. “I am very passionate about structural engineering,” says Davis, who also currently serves as Western Region Younger Member Council registration chair for the upcoming Multi Regional Leadership Conference in Bellevue, Washington in February; where she is supporting the sustainability-themed community service event, technical tours, and programming.     “I think my involvement in ASCE and mentoring has not only benefitted the students but continues to inspire me and re-energize my passion.”  Section website>>

COLUMBIA SECTION Environmental engineer at Hanford Site named a 2015 New Face of Civil Engineering Alicia M. Gorton, Ph.D., EIT, A.M.ASCE, is an environmental risk and decision analyst for Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, which is involved in the cleanup of the Hanford Site, which represents two-thirds of the nation’s high-level radioactive waste by volume and is currently considered the most contaminated nuclear site in the U.S. A mostly decommissioned nuclear production complex, the 585-square-mile site is operated by the federal government and is now the target of a massive remediation of the contaminated soil and groundwater. Gorton’s early achievements made her worthy of selection as one of ASCE’s 2015 New Faces of Civil Engineering. In relation to the Hanford Site, the first project she is working on is the development of a web-based GIS tool called Phoenix, where the public can rapidly assess and visualize historical environmental data from the site.  “I’m not your typical civil engineer,” notes Gorton. “I haven’t built a bridge that hundreds of thousands of people commute over, I haven’t redesigned a dangerous intersection in a manner that will save lives but for me what I am doing is being the voice of the environment that can’t speak for itself. I am also trying to be a positive influence and role model for young of girls.” As the co-leader of Girl Scout Troup 4510 in eastern Washington and northern Idaho, Gorton helps young girls develop their leadership skills, while increasing their self-esteem, creativity, and independence by assisting with their journey and badge development, trip and budget planning, and product sales. “Having chosen a career path [as an environmental engineer] that is intertwined very closely with my personal life and my love and desire to serve and protect nature and the environment,” says Gorton, “Makes being a New Face of Civil Engineering the achievement I am most proud of.” Section Facebook page>>

IN ASCE’S CIVIL ENGINEERING MAGAZINE ONLINE Corps ‘embracing uncertainty’ in its project planning In adapting to climate change, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers now models both historical and theoretical storms and consults a sea-level rise tool that it developed to gauge site vulnerability. Discover the Corps’ new approaches in ASCE’s online edition of Civil Engineering magazine.

NEVADA SECTION Entrepreneurial engineer named a 2015 New Face of Civil Engineering While starting his own business would become one of his most enjoyable and rewarding enterprises that he ever took part in, Aaron K. Martinez, P.E., M.ASCE, knew the process was not without risks. So in April 2013, with a few clients and nothing more than his own unique combination of construction and design expertise along with strong technical and leadership skills, A.M. Engineering opened its doors for business. Martinez’s early achievements made him worthy to be chosen one of ASCE’s 2015 New Faces of Civil Engineering. A professional civil engineer with over 11 years of design and construction management experience with Lumos & Associates, his career up to that point had been comprised of public works projects along with residential and commercial development. However, the most important characteristic that he possessed was the will to succeed. “I feel that the past two years could be summed up as one big achievement,” says Martinez, whose business is located in Elko, Nevada, the town he grew up and went to high school in. “Currently A.M. Engineering has designed, contracted, and managed a total of 21 projects; 1 which exceeded $14 million and the total projects averaging nearly $1 million in construction costs.” Martinez lists as his most recent achievement as the urban planning and design services he performed for the $14 million Planned Unit Development (PUD), Carlin Crossing, a 326-acre mixed-used development in the city of Carlin that features over 5 miles of collector/residential streets, , bicycle lanes, as well as 14 miles of topographically challenged off-road bike trails. “Being a New Face of Civil Engineering means the world to me,” says Martinez. “We have an amazing opportunity as civil engineers to guide the project process.  With that opportunity comes great responsibility and I do not take that lightly.”   Section website>>

IN ASCE’S CIVIL ENGINEERING MAGAZINE ONLINE Pay trends indicate construction market changes Research reveals the emphasis that engineering and construction firms are placing on securing new business in the aftermath of the Great Recession. Explore a consulting firm’s results in ASCE’s online edition of Civil Engineering magazine.