Greetings,

Certainly everyone reading this newsletter is familiar with the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and most you are members.  The organization is a resource for engineers at all stages of their career and it is a visible representative for the profession.  As a show of appreciation, we want to highlight some of the offerings of the organization, starting with advice we give young engineers to get involved in the organization.

 

Entry-level engineers often ask us for guidance about getting started in the profession.  The most important tip that we offer is to make personal contact with a successful engineer.  We know that engineers typically enjoy mentoring new members of the profession but the difficulty is finding a forum for that connection to take place.  We have several suggestions for them but perhaps the strongest is to participate in professional societies.  And no organization has more opportunity for networking than the ASCE.  We encourage young engineers to go to ASCE meetings because, when their resume is sparse except for an engineering degree, they are more likely to be hired on the basis of their perceived personality traits than technical ability. 

 

The ASCE has been encouraging thinking within the profession and has now taken advantage of media technology to present issues of interest to engineers, such as these:

http://news.asce.org/5-issues-dominating-the-civil-engineering-profession/

 

The ASCE is politically involved.  Their Infrastructure Report Card ( http://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/) is highly influential in articulating the dire need for political support for infrastructure projects.  They often expedite communication between engineers and legislators such as this California Legislative Fly-In in Sacramento on May 18th:  http://asce-sacto.org/meetinginfo.php?id=121

 

As a general update on the diverse topics important to civil engineers, the ASCE Roundup is an excellent start: http://blogs.asce.org/

 

And finally, a humble addition; an interview with PRG Owner, Pat Havard, in the ASCE Magazine, Civil Engineering:  http://tinyurl.com/h7y4zos

We like working with engineers and one reason is their respect for their profession and willingness to contribute to the big picture.  As a result, the future of engineering is bright.