May 2015

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 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 9 update? See the April edition of  News Around Region 9 Share this page via social media and email:

ORANGE COUNTY BRANCH Inaugural pasta bridge contest winner holds 44 pounds Courtesy Cal State University Fullerton In the inaugural Orange County Spaghetti Bridge Competition, civil engineering students from the host school Cal State Fullerton (seen above) took first place with a pasta span able to hold 44 pounds. Organized by ASCE’s Orange County Branch and CSUF’s College of Engineering and Computer Science, the May 1 campus event challenged 27 students from CSUF, Fullerton College, Saddleback and Santa Ana colleges to use engineering know-how to design and build bridges using only pasta and glue. Second place went to Fullerton College, whose team’s bridge held an impressive 37 pounds.  Branch website>>

IN ASCE’s CIVIL ENGINEERING ONLINE MAGAZINE STEM majors earn most throughout careers, study finds A study comparing college majors to postgraduation income has found that students who major in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics earn the most, both at the start and later in their careers. Get details on the findings in ASCE’s online edition of Civil Engineering magazine.

IN ASCE’s CIVIL ENGINEERING ONLINE MAGAZINE Cities, universities lead in resilience planning Research by the consulting firm Haley & Aldrich finds that cities and universities are leading the way on bolstering resilience, but several barriers impede progress. Explore the resilience focus in ASCE’s online edition of Civil Engineering magazine.

IN ASCE’s CIVIL ENGINEERING ONLINE MAGAZINE Engineering innovations could expand wind power A new report from the Department of Energy notes that with taller towers and larger turbines, wind energy facilities could be sited closer to electricity consumers, boosting their efficiency. See what may be possible in ASCE’s online edition of Civil Engineering magazine.

IN ASCE’s CIVIL ENGINEERING ONLINE MAGAZINE U.S. carbon emissions drop despite rise in energy use Although energy consumption increased in 2014, heavier reliance on natural gas and wind resulted in a muted increase in carbon emissions, according to a federal analysis. Delve into the promising trend in ASCE’s online edition of Civil Engineering magazine.

SAN FRANCISCO SECTION Expert in coastal-ocean engineering projects elected Distinguished Member Ronald M. Noble, P.E., L.S., D.CE, D.PE, D.WRE, Dist.M.ASCE, an expert in coastal-ocean engineering, navigational and dredging projects, waterfront structures, hydrologic analysis and computer modeling, has been elected to the 2015 class of ASCE Distinguished Members. The president and CEO of Noble Consultants, with offices in San Francisco and Los Angeles, Noble reviewed the Interagency Performance Evaluation Team reports prepared by independent investigation teams after Hurricane Katrina, and is a past president of ASCE’s Coasts, Oceans, Ports, and Rivers Institute. Learn of the other achievements that made Noble deserving of Distinguished Member status in ASCE News.

SAN FRANCISCO SECTION Crescent City Harbor wins Branch project of the year award For fortifying a marina to withstand tsunami-generated waves, the Crescent City Harbor Inner Boat Basin Reconstruction Project was named the 2015 Project of the Year by the San Francisco Section’s North Coast Branch. The award was presented to the project’s principal design firm, Stover Engineering, at an ASCE awards ceremony on April 30 in Arcata. The honor recognizes the most outstanding civil engineering project completed in the Del Norte-Humboldt County area, according to ASCE North Coast Branch president Yoash Tilles. Read more about the honor as covered in a local newspaper.  Section website>>

SAN FRANCISCO SECTION Longtime Stanford professor and water resources expert Joseph Franzini dies Joseph B. Franzini, Ph.D., P.E., F.ASCE, professor emeritus of civil engineering at Stanford University and an expert on fluid mechanics and water resources, died April 15 in Palo Alto, CA. He was 94. Dr. Franzini was on the faculty of Stanford University’s Civil Engineering Department for 36 years, where he taught fluid mechanics and water resources engineering as well as serving as associate head of civil engineering for many years. He is coauthor of 2 widely used textbooks, Fluid Mechanics with Engineering Applications and Water Resources Engineering, which is recognized globally as one of the most authoritative technical publications in its field.  Learn more about his life and achievements in ASCE News.