BOWLING AND PIZZA NIGHT WITH ASCE SLO BRANCH & YMF (Nov. 19th)

Who: Cal Poly SCE students and ASCE SLO Branch and YMF members

When: Wednesday, November 19th, 5:30 am - 7:30 pm

Where: Mustang Lanes (on campus)

What: An opportunity for students to show off their bowling skills while meeting local civil engineering professionals! Join up with us at any time during the event. This is a FREE event for all SCE and ASCE SLO branch and YMF members. Email Monica Fiedler-Ross at events.cpsce@gmail.com for more information and click here to RSVP.

BRANCH MEETING: November 20, 2014

QUALIFICATION BASED SELECTION (Panel Discussion)

ASCE and ACEC-CA have teamed up to host a forum on qualifications based selection (QBS). How local, state and federal agencies procure professional services varies greatly. QBS is a process that affects how public agencies procure consultant services that ensures that the qualifications of a professional are considered before fees are negotiated for a contract.

The forum will allow for an open discussion to answer questions regarding QBS. The discussion will include a brief presentation on QBS, the law, and general procurement procedures that include QBS. Panelists will then answer questions from the moderator and the audience to dig deeper into what QBS is, why it is used, and how professional services related to engineering, land surveying, construction management, architecture, and environmental consulting are being procured.

MODERATOR:

Kelly Garman, ACEC-CA
Director of Government Affairs

PANEL:

Chris Cooper
Ventura County
Director of Engineering Services

Ditas Esperanza
City of El Paso de Robles
Capital Projects Engineer

Jon Blanchard
Padre Associates
Principal Geotechnical Engineer

Mohammad Maljai
Caltrans Local Assistance
Office of Policy Development and Quality Assurance

Peter Sevcik
Nipomo Community Services District
District Engineer

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Location: 
Embassy Suites
333 Madonna Road
San Luis Obispo, CA 93405

Date & Time: 
Thursday, November 20, 2014 at 12 noon

For additional details and sign-up, please click here.

ASCE, SLO Chapter Meet the Member: Meet Your New Officer Board!

This month, instead of highlighting a single member, we’re including a brief introduction of each of the 2014-15 Officer Board members.  We all look forward to talking with each of you at upcoming meetings.

Anthony Severy, President 
My name is Anthony Severy and I am this year’s ASCE San Luis Obispo Branch President.  I’m a Senior Project Engineer at Cannon in the Public Infrastructure division and have been with Cannon for over 8 years.  I’ve had the pleasure of working in almost all divisions while at Cannon; from Surveying, to Instrumentation and Automation design, and Oil Field Design and Onsite Demolition Inspection/Safety.

I grew up in the Central Valley and attended Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.  I like to say I was one of the lucky few who was able to stick around after graduating.  I’ve always loved the Central Coast, and I feel very fortunate to be able to call this place my home.
I’ve been involved with ASCE for 6 years now.  I started out as Assistant Newsletter Editor, then worked my way to Treasurer for 3 years, then President-Elect, and now President.  I love being involved in my community and networking with others working in Engineering Industry.  In addition to all the benefits ASCE has to offer, ASCE has been a great instrument in helping with the transition from student life to working life.

Outside of work, I enjoy being with my family.  I have a 5 year old son named Ethan and an almost 2 year old daughter named Lilly.  I also enjoy outdoor activities such as camping, snowboarding, and swimming.  Let’s keep our figures crossed for a great snow season this year!  I’m also a huge classic/muscle car enthusiast.  I have a 1965 Ford Mustang coop that has been my project sense high school.  I look forward to someday finishing it.

Cara Martinez, President Elect  
Cara is a Senior Civil Project Engineer in the Public Infrastructure Division at Cannon. She became involved with ASCE after graduating Cal Poly four years ago to help expand her professional network and keep current with local projects. Starting out as Historian, Cara continues to work her way up the member board ladder and is thrilled to fill the President shoes next year. She values the professional community and all it has to offer and hopes to give back by serving on the Board. Cara has headed the local ASCE student outreach program for the past two years and loves spreading engineering knowledge among today’s youth.  She and her husband just welcomed their first child, daughter Remi, 2 months ago. Aside from enjoying motherhood, Cara loves biking, running, and any adventure she can jump on.

Carolyn Berg, Past President 
Carolyn received a Bachelors of Science in Civil Engineering from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in 2008. She has worked for San Luis Obispo County Public Works Department in various positions since 2006. As a Water Resources Staff Engineer, she focuses on long term water resources planning, interagency coordination, and program management. Carolyn has been an active ASCE member since 2003, and has served on the Branch Board in various roles for six years. Her mentor, John Hollenbeck, described the importance of being active in professional organizations (especially ASCE) and encouraged her to become an officer. Carolyn followed his advice, and looking back, can see how pivotal that choice was. She loves ASCE for the connectivity it fosters between members, the opportunities to help change our local and global communities, and the personal and professional growth. Carolyn spends her free time traveling, taking photos/ painting, hiking and volunteering with various education and arts organizations.

Steve Tanaka, Vice President 
Steve is the Director of Water Resources at Wallace Group.  Steve has been working in the water resources arena, specializing in water, wastewater and recycled water projects, from planning through design and construction, for 29 years. Steve has a master of science degree in civil engineering from California State University, Long Beach.  He moved to the San Luis Obispo area in 2000 and has been employed with Wallace Group for 14 years.  In his spare time, Steve enjoys the outdoors and fishing.

Ryan Hayes, Treasurer 
Ryan is a project engineer for Rick Engineering in San Luis Obispo.  He joined ASCE initially after attending periodic lunch meetings and enjoying the opportunity to meet and connect with fellow engineers in a relaxed, only semi-work related environment.  After a few years Ryan recognized that he was getting a lot of benefits from ASCE both through the local meetings and the national organization, and figured he could probably spare a few hours a month to help out and have a say on the direction of the group.  (And some mild coercion by the incoming President at the time helped as well.)  Until the fall of 2010, Ryan spent most of his free time with his wife, Camille, out surfing, backpacking, fly-fishing or running.  He now has no need for those activities, as he gets the majority of his exercise when he gets home, attempting to wrangle his three children, all under the age of four.

Diana Haines, Secretary 
Diana is a Cal Poly grad, currently working in the Public Works Department for the  County of San Luis Obispo.   She enjoys being involved with ASCE as a way to connect with the professional engineering community in the area, and joined the Board because her friend (Past President) Carolyn Berg suggested it was a great way to get even more involved (thank you, Carolyn! We are delighted that Diana has joined us!)  Diana likes to stay active, participating in races, triathalons, adventure races  skydiving, and has even taken a trapeze class!

Ben Jensen, Membership Chair 
Ben is a Transportation Engineer at Wallace Group.  He enjoys the camaraderie and professional development available through ASCE , ever since he decided to pursue a career as a Civil Engineer in college.  – He has participated in other branches of ASCE, and he especially enjoys the tight knit and friendly atmosphere of the SLO branch.  Ben has recently relocated with his family to SLO from Boise, ID, and they are enjoying getting to know and appreciate the SLO area.  His passions include his Family, Civil Engineering, and Cycling (if you couldn’t tell from the bike helmet in his photo!).  Now that he’s in California and has access to a beach, he is also realizing his lifelong dream of learning to surf, and says “It’s tougher to learn than I imagined but am stoked every time I get out into the water!”

Rebekah Oulton, Newsletter Assistant Editor
Rebekah is a second year Assistant Professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering at Cal Poly, teaching water resources engineering and water and wastewater treatment.  She was a member of ASCE years ago when she worked for Cannon, but she took an extended hiatus while she went to graduate school to earn her PhD.  She is excited to be back in SLO and reconnecting with local professionals through ASCE.  She appreciates her involvement with ASCE not just so she can keep current in the engineering profession, but also so she can bring interesting project examples and opportunities back to her classroom to share with the next generation of civil and environmental engineers.  When she’s not on campus, Rebekah can often be found hanging around local theaters – she does theatrical lighting design in her (limited) free time.

Jazz Gilbert, Public Relations Officer 
Jazz is a Structural Design Engineer at Cannon and currently the Public Relations Officer for the SLO Branch. He attended Cal Poly for his bachelors and masters in civil engineering with an emphasis on structural engineering. Throughout college he was heavily involved with the student chapter, holding many officer positions (including president). Because of the value he sees in professional development and maintaining a strong professional, and social, network of fellow engineers, he chose to stay involved with ASCE after his fairly recent graduation (June 2013). Jazz loves to remain active in his free time; playing soccer, road and mountain biking, snowboarding and skiing, and traveling are a few of his favorite hobbies. He has traveled to more countries than his current age and doesn't plan on stopping any time soon; feel free to ask him for travel recommendations!

Kyle Anderson, YMF President
Kyle is a principal engineering designer in the water resources group at Rick Engineering Company where he has been for the last two years.  He is involved with a variety of water resources related projects including hydrologic and hydraulic analysis, drainage studies and design, and water quality analysis and design.  Kyle enjoys being involved with ASCE because it gives him an opportunity to network with other members of the civil engineering community. In 2011, Kyle founded the SLO YMF group as a way to encourage younger civil engineers in our community to be more involved with ASCE.  In his free time, Kyle enjoys running or cycling with his wife, mountain biking, and ultimate Frisbee.

BRANCH MEETING: October 16, 2014

Atascadero Mutual Water Company Well Field & Nacimiento Recharge Tour

Atascadero Mutual Water Company Well Field & Nacimiento Recharge Tour Topic Join AMWC General Manager John Neil for a tour of AMWC's water production facilities. The tour will include well, treatment, and Nacimiento Recharge Basin facilities. John will also discuss the unique nature of AMWC's water quality, production, and distribution.

Directions & Details

We will be meeting at 11:00 am in the empty lot between 4555 and 4545 Sycamore Road, Atascadero. We will be carpooling from the meeting site to the well, treatment, and Nacimiento Recharge Basin facilities. There is minimal walking and it is all flat terrain. Please indicate whether you will be attending the walk on the sign up page where you would normally make your lunch selection. If you choose not to attend the walk, the lunch and presentation will be at 12:30pm at the AMWC Yard.

Speaker Bio

John Neil has served for the last 11 years as the general manager of the Atascadero Mutual Water Company, one of the largest mutual water companies in the state of California.

John, is a 1981 graduate of Penn State University in civil engineering. After college, John worked for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation where he was responsible for bridge inspections and maintenance. John met the owner of Bailey Bridges in SLO and was asked to come to California to help run the business.

Neil worked countless hours to research and to protect the water basin for Atascadero residents and volunteered many hours to meet and educate concerned citizens from neighboring cities, according to the chamber.

He is best known for his dedication in assisting in the development of the Nacimiento Water Project, the largest public works project in San Luis Obispo County history. John is currently chairing the Paso Basin Advisory Committee. John was named the Atascadero Chamber of Commerce's 2013 Citizen of the Year and is starring in the 6th Annual Atascadero’s Dancing with Our Stars, a fundraiser for the Atascadero Library.

Location

Atascadero Mutual Water Company

6575 Sycamore Road, Just North of the Well Field Atascadero, CA 93422

Date & Time

Tour, Thursday October 16, 2014 - 11:00 am Lunch, Thursday October 16, 2014 - 12:30 pm

Be sure to sign up by Friday, October 10th to ensure you get a spot.

Click here for more information and to sign up.

PRESIDENT'S PERSPECTIVE

Annual Branch Awards

June 2014

ASCE strives to advance civil engineering and serve the public good. We do that by advancing technology, encouraging lifelong learning and professional development, promoting professionalism and influence public policy and developing leaders. It’s up to ASCE members (you and I) to advocate for infrastructure, protect public health and safety, improve quality of life, and to advance the perception of civil engineers through community activities. Our ASCE Branch is constantly working to meet these overarching goals. I would like to highlight a few recent efforts our Branch wrapped up.

Technical Seminar. Cara Martinez, Branch Vice President, took the lead on coordinating this year’s technical seminar for members. She diligently sought out seminar topics, solicited your input, and pursued a locally relevant topic. Working with U.C. Davis Extension, she coordinated and hosted a Groundwater Law and Hydrology seminar at Cal Poly. Over 60 local members, professionals, citizens and decision makers attended. Through her efforts, we have grown our community’s local knowledge base on groundwater and its management. A big thank you to Cara and her helpers along the way! And a big thank you to our sponsors: Cannon Corp, Contech and Wallace Group.

Annual Scholarships. Anthony Severy, Branch President Elect, coordinated our Branch’s annual scholarship program. He solicited applications from college and high school students currently pursuing civil engineering degrees. He received applications from stellar candidates that are not only good students, but are actively engaged in the local community. Please help us to congratulate this year’s college scholarship recipients: Hannah Johnson ($1,500), Logan McNeil ($500), and Monica Fiedler-Ross ($500); and this year’s high school scholarship recipient: Jeremy Rands ($500; yes, Barry Rands’s son is continuing the family’s love of engineering at U.C. Davis next year!). A big thank you to Anthony and his review panelists!

Annual Branch Awards. Each year our Branch highlights local excellence through a series of individual and project awards. It’s incredible to me how much our small community of engineers, contractors, firms and municipalities accomplishes each year. This year’s nominations highlighted our members’ resourcefulness, innovation, and extensive community engagement. 

It is my honor to publish the final San Luis Obispo ASCE Branch 2014 Award Recipients:

• Outstanding Government Civil Engineering Project – Union Valley Parkway Interchange, Owner/ Design: California Department of Transportation
• Outstanding Private Sector Civil Engineering Project – Pismo Heights Water System Reconstruction Project, Owner: City of Pismo Beach, Design: Wallace Group
• Outstanding Sustainability Project – 21st Street Complete and Green Street Project, Owner: City of Paso Robles, Design: Cannon Corp
• Outstanding Younger Civil Engineer – Kyle Anderson, PE
• Outstanding Faculty Advisors – Dr. Garrett Hall & Dr. Eric Kasper
• Outstanding Practitioner Advisor – Jazz T. Gilbert
• Outstanding Civil Engineer in Community Service – Cara Martinez, PE
• Outstanding Civil Engineering Student – Susie White

In addition, the Branch has two awards that are reserved for major infrastructure projects, and engineers that significantly benefitted our local engineering community. 

• Lifetime Achievement in Civil Engineering - John L. Wallace, PE. He has worked in the industry— both private and public sector, and as an operator, engineer and leader— for nearly 45 years, and celebrated the 30^th anniversary of his local firm this year. As noted in the nomination, “If ever there is a person who embodies the spirit, character, and ideals of our civil engineering profession, it is John Wallace.” And his work only begins at the office, and ripples out into many facets of community and professional organization involvement.
• Project of the Year - Union Valley Parkway Interchange, Owner/ Design: California Department of Transportation. This transportation feat has been in the works since the 1960s. It serves as an east-west arterial connection between the US 101 highway, Route 135 and the Santa Maria Airport. The effort required creativity and pioneering in construction methods, strong partnerships and collaboration, and active community engagement. 

Please take a moment to congratulate each recipient and project team. These recipients will move on to the Los Angeles ASCE Section, for consideration at the Section (southern California) and Regional (statewide) levels. A big thank you to those of you who submitted nominations, and to our review panelists!

Report Card. Looking ahead, our Branch Younger Member Forum (YMF) received ASCE grant funding to develop a San Luis Obispo Countywide Infrastructure Report Card. The YMF Board is in the information gathering stage, and will be looking for local, seasoned professionals to help with future discussions and efforts. This effort offers our Branch the chance to engage with our community, and highlight local infrastructure needs. Be on the lookout for future emails asking for volunteers. 

Enjoy the first official week of summer! See you at our July 17^th Branch meeting to talk about recycled water.

Carolyn K. Berg, P.E.

ASCE SLO Branch President

INPUT REQUESTED: County Public Improvements Standards

Attention Engineering Community: 

County Public Works is revising the Public Improvements Standards and seeks your input in the process.  The revisions to the 2014 draft focus on the following:

(1)  Include additional information and documents that are commonly needed in the private development process;

(2)  Include some of the tested LID techniques while also allowing for continuing development of new techniques;

(3)  Incorporate other relevant Department procedures and practices formerly documented elsewhere; and

(4)  Include routine revisions and updates since the last update.

Once it is ready, the update is scheduled to go to the Board of Supervisors on July 22, 2014.  Therefore comments for the update must be received by this Public Works by July 3, 2014.  (Comments received afterwards will be saved for the next update.)

A review draft can be found on our website or go directly to:  

http://www.slocounty.ca.gov/PW/DevServ/PublicImprovementStandards/DRAFT_2014_STANDARDS.htm

There are three ways to forward your comments:

Email to:          fhoneycutt@co.slo.ca.us

US Mail to:     

PW Standards Update

Room 207

County Government Center-

San Luis Obispo, CA 93408

Call Frank Honeycutt in Development Services at (805) 781-1596 and setup an appointment to come in and discuss it.

BRANCH MEETING: June 19, 2014

2014 ASCE AWARDS CEREMONY MEETING
SAN LUIS OBISPO BRANCH

Please join us next Thursday, June 19^th to celebrate the selection of SLO Branch award winners for 2014. A number of categories were nominated and selected by our past-president judging panel and we have some excellent projects and people to honor. The winners will receive a plaque at the ceremony for their accomplishments, and each award will be submitted to the Los Angeles Section for the upcoming Section awards competition.

In addition, we will present the winner of our 2014 High School Scholarship!

We hope you will attend and support ASCE SLO Branch for these two important presentations.

Thank You,

Carolyn K. Berg, P.E.

Branch President

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Location:
Madonna Inn
100 Madonna Rd.
San Luis Obispo, CA

Date & Time: 
Thursday, June 19, 2014
12:00 PM

Cost: 
Members and Guests $20 by RSVP ($25 at the door)
Students $10
ASCE Life Members, complimentary lunch.

Menu:
Choose from*:

 - Italian Lasagna:  Italian Sausage, marinara sauce layered with parmesan and mozzarella cheeses.

 - Chicken Piccata: Chicken breast breaded with Italian herbs, enhanced with a lemon caper white wine sauce.

 - Three-Cheese Tortellini: with meatless marinara sauce.

*Coffee and Black Forest Cake for everyone

Please RSVP by 1:00 p.m., Monday, June 16th, at the Branch web site (www.asceslo.org). Please attend the luncheon if you sign-up – some venues will charge the Branch for every seat we reserve, regardless of the actual attendance. If you have specific dietary restrictions or have questions, please contact Ryan Hayes, ASCE Secretary at rhayes@rickengineering.com or (805) 544-0707.

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Interested in sponsoring a future meeting?
A $200 donation to our scholarship fund will also bring you recognition at the meeting and in our newsletter following the meeting. Please contact Liz Moody at lizm@cannoncorp.us for more information.

ASCE Student Chapter 
Cal Poly SCE meets twice a month on Wednesday evenings. All members of ASCE are invited and encouraged to attend. Please see the SCE website for information regarding special events and ongoing activities.

HELP NEEDED: SLO County Infrastructure Report Card

Opportunity Alert! 

The YMF is currently starting the process to develop a San Luis Obispo County Infrastructure Report Card. The report card will look at several different types of infrastructure and establish grades and comments that will eventually be published to the public. The process will take place over the next 9- to 12-months, with data collection taking place over the next few months. Following data collection, draft reports will be developed to be analyzed by the board and willing industry professionals with expertise in each infrastructure type. At the end of the process, the report will be submitted to ASCE’s Committee on America’s Infrastructure for final review before printing and releasing to the public.

We are currently seeking the assistance of professionals with expertise in any of the infrastructure types listed below, as well as anyone who wants to be part of the report card process.

Specifically, we will need experts for the following tasks:

 - Provide key contacts at local agencies that can help us with

    the data collection process.

 - Help collect and organize data.

 - Help assess the collected data and assign grades.

If you have expertise in any of the 8 infrastructure types listed below and wish to participate in this vital Branch effort, contact Seyla Ros at sros@rickengineering.com. We look forward to recruiting several industry professionals to help in this effort.

INFRASTRUCTURE TYPE (CATEGORY):

 - Drinking Water (Water)

 - Storm Water (Water)

 - Wastewater (Water)

 - Bridges (Transportation)

 - Roads (Transportation)

 - Transit (Transportation)

 - Public Parks and Recreation (Public Facilities)

 - Schools (Public Facilities)

UPCOMING TECHNICAL SEMINAR - JUNE 18

GROUNDWATER LAW AND HYDROLOGY
(A UC DAVIS EXTENSION TECHNICAL SEMINAR)
HOSTED BY ASCE AT CAL POLY, SAN LUIS OBISPO
June 18, 2014

Registration for this year’s annual technical seminar is now open! UC Davis Extension will be presenting on Groundwater Law and Hydrology on Wednesday, June 18th from 9am-4pm. Seating is limited to 100, so sign up early. Registration deadline is June 11th. Contact Cara Martinez at caram@cannoncorp.us or (805) 503-4526 for further information. See below for registration and seminar details, or click on the following link to register: http://asceslo.org/Announcement/Final%20Technical%20Seminar%20Registration%20Flyer%202014.pdf

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COURSE INSTRUCTORS
Kevin O’Brien, Downey Brand LLP
Tom Elson, Luhdorff & Scalmanini Consulting Engineers
(see below for additional background information)

DESCRIPTION
This course is essential for professionals working in water resources in California. Effective groundwater management requires a combined understanding of the legal principles and physical characteristics of the resource. Acquire a working knowledge of groundwater law and hydrology, and discover new developments in case law, legislation and practice.

Receive a thorough discussion of the characteristics of groundwater and the fundamental tenets of California groundwater law, including distinctions between percolating groundwater and surface water, the definition of basin boundaries, interrelated concepts of safe yield and overdraft, and different categories of groundwater rights. Examine alternative problem-solving approaches to address specific groundwater allocation and quality problems, such as management plans, physical solutions and court adjudication. You will also review case studies from groundwater disputes throughout California. Participants are encouraged to relate their own case studies and specific problems during the course.

Take advantage of this great opportunity being offered to our local professionals. This course is usually several hundred dollars per person. Sign up now before it fills up.

LOCATION
Cal Poly, Building 3, Room 213 (Business Silo)
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA 93407

DATE & TIME:
Wednesday, June 18, 2014
9:00 AM - 4:00 PM

MENU
Lunch will be provided. Includes chips, cookies, a drink, and your choice of the following:
 - Turkey Sandwich
 - Roast Beef Sandwich
 - Veggie Sandwich

COST
$100 per person until June 6th
$120 per person from June 6th—June 11th
 - Parking is not included in the cost. A day pass will need to be purchased on campus for $5 the day of the seminar.
 - Mail your form and check or cash to Cara Martinez, 1050 Southwood Drive, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401. Please make checks payable to ASCE.

REGISTRATION
Seats are limited, registration deadline is June 11th.
First come, first serve basis, but priority seating for ASCE members until May 30th.
To register, click on the following link: http://asceslo.org/Announcement/Final%20Technical%20Seminar%20Registration%20Flyer%202014.pdf

PLEASE NOTE
Payments are non-refundable.
Email confirmation will be sent once you are enrolled.

CONTACT
For questions regarding the seminar, please contact:
Cara Martinez, ASCE SLO Vice President
caram@cannoncorp.us
(805) 503-4526

OUTLINE/AGENDA
9:00-9:15 Introduction and Course Overview
9:15-10:15 Groundwater Hydrology Concepts
 - Basic Concepts
 - Basins and Sub-Basins
 - Safe Yield and Overdraft
 - Well Interference
10:15-10:30 BREAK
10:30-11:45 California Law of Groundwater Rights
 - Types of Groundwater Rights
 - Priority Rules
 - Prescriptive Rights
11:45-1:00 LUNCH
1:00-1:30 Legal Classification of Groundwater
1:30-2:00 Adjudications, Groundwater Management Alternatives, and CASGEM
2:00-2:45 Conjunctive Use and Water Transfers Involving Groundwater
 - What is Conjunctive Use?
 - Examples of Conjunctive Use Projects
 - Water Transfers Involving Groundwater
2:45-3:00 BREAK
3:00-4:00 Case Study: The Santa Maria Valley Basin

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COURSE INSTRUCTORS' BIO

GROUNDWATER LAW AND HYDROLOGY
UC Davis Extension (http://www.extension.ucdavis.edu/)

Kevin O’Brien is a Senior Partner and former Managing Partner of
Downey Brand LLP. With more than 25 years of experience in water
law, Kevin assists clients throughout California in water rights, water
quality, endangered species and environmental matters. His clients
include private landowners, water districts, cities, counties, real estate
developers, wineries and mining companies. He litigates water cases
in state and federal courts and handles major water-related
administrative hearings. He also negotiates agreements for the
purchase and sale of water rights and contractual entitlements to
water. Kevin is a member of the American Bar Association
Environment, Energy and Resources Section and Past Chair; Water
Resources Committee and a member of Association of California
Water Agencies (ACWA), State Legislative Committee.

Tom Elson is a principal with the Woodland firm Luhdorff &
Scalmanini Consulting Engineers. He has 35 years of professional
experience with engineering, production and injection wells, and
groundwater. Prior to joining Luhdorff & Scalmanini, Mr. Elson worked
in the petroleum industry on wells and production problems. Current
work assignments include groundwater exploration and development
projects, groundwater impact analyses for CEQA, preparation of
groundwater management plans under AB 3030, Water Supply
Assessments under SB 610, and design and evaluation of
groundwater storage projects. He has also assisted with permitting
two Class I deep injection wells in California under EPA’s
Underground Injection Control Program. Mr. Elson has B.S. and M.S.
degrees from Stanford University.

CAL POLY CIVIL ENGINEERING SHOWCASE

CAL POLY, SAN LUIS OBISPO
DEPT. OF CIVIL & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING

Industry Practitioners, Colleagues, Members of the Community, Guest Speakers, and Fellow Faculty; Good Afternoon, 

On behalf of the Department of Civil Engineering, it is our pleasure to invite you to the Cal Poly Civil Engineering Senior Design Showcase for 2014 (Tuesday, May 20, 2014 from 6:00 to 8:00 pm).  This Showcase (specific to Civil Engineering) is an event where students, faculty, and industry members come together to see this year’s Civil Engineering student projects.  The event will be located at the Cal Poly Advanced Technology Laboratories (Bldg 007) in San Luis Obispo, CA (Cal Poly ATL).   

This year’s project was the Johnson Avenue Housing Project.  Senior Design I & II serve as both a capstone to our undergraduate students’ educational careers and a cornerstone to our future alumni’s professional careers. Thus, this course is central to our students bridging the gap between the theory addressed in their courses and the application that they will face in industry. Their designs are a culmination of six months of effort from 20 design teams each consisting of 5-6 graduating seniors. Student design teams will be presenting their work in an open forum interactive poster session.  Please note that our Award Winning Canoe and Bridge Teams will also be presenting a poster/displays.  

We hope that you can attend this year's exciting event!

LOCATION, DATE & TIME:
Tuesday, May 20, 2014 from 6:00 to 8:00 pm (or come and go any time in between 6:00 to 8:00 pm) at the Cal Poly ATL. 

Light snacks and drinks will be provided and you need NOT RSVP. 
Please feel free to forward this to anyone who has an interest in this project and/or the Cal Poly Civil Engineering Program. 

Please contact me if you need more details, direction, parking information, or for any other reason.       

Warmest Regards, 

Charles Chadwell, Ph.D., P.E.  
Senior Design Course Coordinator
Associate Professor
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
California Polytechnic State University
San Luis Obispo, California 93407
http://ceenve.calpoly.edu
Office: (805) 756-1317, Fax:  (805) 756-6330

Paul Valadao, P.E.
Senior Design Project Coordinator
Project Engineer
Caltrans District 5 - Office of Design II
http://dot.ca.gov/dist05/ 
Office: (805) 549-3028, Fax: (805) 549-3480 

BRANCH MEETING: MAY 15, 2014

ANNUAL COMBINED BRANCH/SCE MEETING
SAN LUIS OBISPO BRANCH & CAL POLY SCE

Have you ever seen concrete float? Have you ever witnessed the Steel Bridge, Concrete Canoe or GeoWall competitions? Wouldn’t it be fascinating to understand what innovative techniques and designs were used to create award winning products? Well look no further. Attend this month’s Branch meeting and hear about designing “outside of the box” from our students.

Our local Student Chapter continues to make waves with their excellence and dedication to ASCE and to the Civil Engineering industry. In fact, the chapter was awarded the Robert Ridgway Award Finalist award, recognizing them as one of the most outstanding student chapters in ASCE. This month we are very proud to highlight some of the students’ recent accomplishments and projects. Fresh off their victory at the Pacific Southwest conference, their project teams are getting ready for national competitions in June 2014. We have the great honor of hearing from the students’ Concrete Canoe, Steel Bridge and GeoWall teams at this month’s Branch meeting.

I am sure you have noticed the unwavering student attendance at our meetings this year. This is a great opportunity to show our support for the students and be amazed by their accomplishments. This month some of our participating SCE student members will be sharing their experiences on the project teams.

We will also take time to highlight our Annual SCE Student Scholarship recipient.

We look forward to seeing you there!

CONCRETE CANOE TEAM - CAL POLY 2014

Location:
Pappy McGregor's
1865 Monterey Street
San Luis Obispo, CA

Date & Time: 
Thursday, May 15, 2014
12:00 PM

Cost: 
Members and Guests $20 by RSVP ($25 at the door)
Students $10
ASCE Life Members, complimentary lunch.

Menu: 
Select from the following options:
• Chopped Salad – Chicken, Avocado, Tomato, Onion, Almond, Bleu Cheese Crumble, Creamy Balsamic
• Baja Style Fried Shrimp Pub Tacos – Onion, Cilantro, Cabbage, Cheese, Salsa Verde, 3 tacos
• ABC Burger – Avocado, Applewood Bacon, Irish Chedder, 1000 Island, Lettuce, Tomato, Onion, Local Brioche Bun
• Original Fish & Chips – Beer Battered Arctic cod, Garlic Fries, house made cocktail and dill tartar sauce.

Please RSVP by 1:00 p.m. Friday, May 9th, at the Branch web site (www.asceslo.org). Please attend the luncheon if you sign-up – some venues will charge the Branch for every seat we reserve, regardless of the actual attendance. If you have specific dietary restrictions or have questions, please contact Ryan Hayes, ASCE Secretary at rhayes@rickengineering.com or (805) 544-0707.

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Interested in sponsoring a future meeting?
A $200 donation to our scholarship fund will also bring you recognition at the meeting and in our newsletter following the meeting. Please contact Liz Moody at lizm@cannoncorp.us for more information.

ASCE Student Chapter 
Cal Poly SCE meets twice a month on Wednesday evenings. All members of ASCE are invited and encouraged to attend. Please see the SCE website for information regarding special events and ongoing activities.

PRESIDENT'S PERSPECTIVE

Lifelong Learning

April 2014

It’s nearly May, our month for highlighting the incredible talents and successes of our next generation of Civil Engineers – Cal Poly’s SCE Chapter.

Our Branch is small and in a more remote part of Region 9, yet within our borders is one of the nation’s leading universities for Civil Engineering. In fact, Cal Poly recently received the Robert Ridgway Chapter Finalist Award, which means they are among the top five university student chapters in ASCE! That’s incredible considering there are over 150 student chapters nationwide. Suffice it to say, we are proud of our SCE Officers, Student Members and Faculty Advisors, and grateful for the opportunity to spend time with the students through ASCE.

Each month SCE makes it a point to send student members to our Branch meetings – providing a connection between students and professionals, and helping to bridge the gap when students enter the industry. I urge our members (you!) to attend this month’s Branch meeting on May 15^th, where we will hear presentations about innovation, dedication, and engineering from Cal Poly SCE’s Concrete Canoe, Steel Bridge and Geo Wall teams. Come help to highlight the successes of our local students and encourage their education and practice in Civil Engineering. And who knows, you might even meet your company’s next student intern or new hire! We look forward to seeing you there.

Speaking of SCE events, I want to leave you with one last great ASCE opportunity for the month. Do you like eating delicious BBQ? Better yet, do you like eating free BBQ?! Or hanging at Chorro Park? Or playing softball and frisbee? SCE would love to see our Branch members (you!) come out for a casual and fun event! So grab your sunblock and your family, and come join SCE, YMF and the Branch for the SCE End-of-the-Year annual BBQ at Chorro Park on Sunday, May 25^th, 11:00 am – 4:00 pm. You’re welcome to bring your kids, spouses and friends.

As always, thank you for participating in our local ASCE events, and for helping to support our students! 

Carolyn K. Berg, P.E.
ASCE SLO Branch President