July 2015 |
REGION UPDATE—JULY 2015 BOARD MEETING HIGHLIGHTS Through Strategic Discussions, ASCE Board Takes On the Future Jay Higgins, P.E., F.ASCE, your Region 9 Director, is a member of the Los Angeles Section and recently retired as a Senior Project Manager after 22 years with URS Corporation in the Construction Services Division. Jay represented you at a day-long strategic planning session, held in advance of the regular July Board of Direction meeting, to examine the trends and issues facing the civil engineering profession and ASCE as its professional association. At the July 17 session in Victoria, BC, the Board continued a strategic planning process that most recently centered on scanning the environment to identify issues that are affecting how civil engineers practice and how they can best serve the public welfare. The Board entered its planning session with about 30 professional issues and 15 association issues to consider, the latter being those related to the health of ASCE as an organization as it works to serve its members, the profession, and society. The Board’s ultimate goal is to create a prioritized “radar screen” of perhaps 15 to 20 issues that will then serve as a guide to determining the small number of strategic initiatives that will receive special Board focus over the coming years. On the table would be the possible continuation of one or more of our three existing strategic initiatives--infrastructure renewal, sustainable infrastructure, and raising the bar on the education required for professional engineering licensure—along with the consideration of potential new ones. After priority voting to close the day’s session, the interim list of professional issues was reduced to about 20 for the next stage of consideration. In addition to the issues that led to our current three strategic initiatives, those that received Board interest included:
Having explored and discussed the broad array of issues on its interim list, the Board will continue to refine it offline in August, and then seek to establish a final prioritized radar screen of issues at its October meeting.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 Jay. |
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 July If you live adjacent to a Section in a different Region, or are merely interested in the other Region reports for July, 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 Angles 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 June edition of News Around Region 9 Share this page via social media and email: |
IN ASCE’s CIVIL ENGINEERING ONLINE MAGAZINE Pressure mounts to keep global temperatures in check A new International Energy Agency report on energy-related carbon dioxide emissions focuses on the steps that must be taken to keep global temperatures from rising more than 2 degrees Celsius. Consider the recommendations in ASCE’s web-exclusive Civil Engineering magazine. |
SAN FRANCISCO SECTION Nuclear projects engineer for more than 40 years elected Fellow Raj S. Rajagopal, D.Eng., P.E., F.ASCE, a senior engineering consultant on nuclear projects with ARES Corporation in Walnut Creek, CA, has been elevated to Fellow status by ASCE’s Board of Direction. Rajagopal’s more than 40 years of experience in civil and structural engineering has been focused on nuclear projects including power plants and Department of Energy nuclear facilities. He is an active member of the ASCE Dynamic Analysis of Nuclear Structures subcommittee, and involved with revision of ASCE standards 4 and ASCE/SEI 43. Read more about the achievements that made Rajagopal deserving of Fellow status. |
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 trends in ASCE’s web-exclusive Civil Engineering magazine. |
IN ASCE’s CIVIL ENGINEERING ONLINE MAGAZINE Report examines the pros and cons of vertical greenery New research examines the benefits and challenges of incorporating extensive greenery into tall buildings by focusing on the early months of Bosco Verticale in Milan, Italy. Ponder the potential for success in ASCE’s web-exclusive Civil Engineering magazine. |
SAN BERNARDINO-RIVERSIDE YOUNGER MEMBER FORUM Younger Members Forum promotes civil engineer at museum Courtesy San Bernardino-Riverside Branch Younger Member Forum San Bernardino-Riverside Branch Younger Member Forum members recently organized a hands-on, cup-structure activity to promote civil engineering at the San Bernardino County Museum. Keep up with the San Bernardino-Riverside Branch YMF on Facebook. |
ORANGE COUNTY YOUNGER MEMBER FORUM Orange County group tours La Pata highway construction project Orange County’s Younger Member Forum recently took a technical tour of the La Pata Extension Improvements. The construction project, begun spring of 2014, will provide direct local connections between several Southern California communities. |