PRESIDENT'S PERSPECTIVE

Highlighting Outstanding Engineers and Projects

March 2014

Last Friday, ASCE Region 9 (California) hosted its Infrastructure Symposium and Region 9 Annual Awards. The event highlighted a series of outstanding civil engineers and innovative and/or mega projects throughout our state. What an incredible honor to meet individuals and project teams that represent our industry so well.

This got me thinking about our own local civil engineers, planning efforts, and projects. Here at our Branch, we have a breadth of members who quietly make positive ripples in our industry. Our county faces incredibly challenging issues. From my own office, we deal with declining groundwater basin levels, finding options to improve drought reliability and creating community resiliency in the face of climate change. And each of you face dynamic challenges in your own areas of expertise. In this, we also find great potential in re-thinking traditional engineering, assumptions and processes. Engineers are constantly brainstorming new technologies, methods and approaches to these issues. I find this incredibly hopeful.

Each year, we encourage our ASCE Members to submit award applications (e.g. Outstanding Government/ Private Sector Civil Engineering Project, Outstanding Younger Civil Engineer, Outstanding Sustainability Project, Lifetime Achievement in Civil Engineering). This year is no different. We constantly face rapidly changing environments, morphing regulations, and dynamic community profiles. Because of that, our engineering industry is adapting and finding ways to stay ahead of the issues. Quite a few of you are part of that positive adaptation and would make outstanding candidates. We will publish the award requirements over the next few months. Start considering which engineer or what project might be a good candidate.

Your work already helps to uplift our communities, why not also let it uplift your firm and our industry? These awards will help to inspire other engineers and new methods for engineering. An added bonus, it highlights the positive changes that our industry makes, instilling more trust from our communities and residents. The best of luck to you each! Keep your eyes open for more information coming out on our annual awards.

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