April Dinner Meeting
Joint EWB & ASCE Seattle Section
Bringing Clean Water to Nicaragua
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Wednesday, April 11, 2018
Speaker: Sierra Gawlowski
Engineers without Borders Puget Sound Professional Chapter
Engineers Without Borders-Puget Sound Professional Chapter (EWB-PSP) partners with Agros International, a nonprofit that seeks to end the cycle of poverty through land-ownership. Residents of La Bendicion, Nicaragua are trying to transform a wartorn battleground into a community. Their biggest need is a sustainable source of clean water, and EWB has collaborated with community leaders to develop a new water supply system. EWB-PSP volunteers have completed the design and are traveling to La Bendicion this April to kick off construction on three water sources, distribution lines, a storage and treatment tank, and spigots for each home.
Sierra Gawlowski began volunteering with Engineers Without Borders in 2009 on a water supply project for a rural community in Bolivia. She currently serves as co-lead on the La Bendicion Water Supply Project and as President-elect for the EWB-Puget Sound Professional Chapter. Sierra recently transitioned into the public sector after several years as a civil engineering consultant.
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5:30pm Social Hour
6:00pm Dinner
6:30pm Program
Regular Registration ends after Wednesday, April 4.
Registration closes
Sunday, April 8.
Attendees must preregister; there will be no on-site registration.
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2018 is a great year to get involved in ASCE.
When you join ASCE, you become part of the largest professional civil engineering network in the world. As a part of our community, you have access to our industry’s most comprehensive communication, networking, and learning resources. As an ASCE member, you have access to a wealth of benefits that serve you throughout your career.
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MAY 2018 NEWSLETTER CONTENT DEADLINE:
APRIL 20, 2018
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April President's Column
By Diana Hasegan, PE, ENV SP, Seattle Section President
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And just like that we are in the last stretch of the ASCE year, (September-June) but we still have a myriad of activities left for the next three months to meet you where you want to contribute. We’ll have a leadership retreat, an Executive Forum, K-12 events, community volunteering events (Rebuilding Together), three more dinner meetings showcasing our partnership with EWB (in April), Student Presentations (in May), Local Outstanding Civil Engineering Awards (in June), and plenty of YMF networking activities, technical committee meetings, and more.
This month we have guests from EWB at our
Section Dinner meeting
to talk about our unique partnerships. Did you know that as an ASCE member you can add
EWB membership
for a discounted price? Did you know ASCE and EWB are partner organizations? The EWB Board of Directors has three seats on its 17 member board which are nominated by ASCE. I myself am honored to be able to serve EWB and ASCE as one of the ASCE Representatives on the EWB Board of Direction for the entire USA. I am constantly inspired by stories of the great improvements EWB and ASCE together have been able to achieve together in the daily lives of
those living in countries less developed than our own.
As civil engineers, we strive to build a better quality of life for our own community. With EWB, you can take those skills internationally and help less fortunate communities where engineering skills are not as achievable. ASCE’s partnership with EWB helps us further our shared mission to build a better world through engineering projects that empower communities to meet their basic human needs. I hope you’ll join us this month at the dinner meeting on April 11th to learn more about EWB and how you can get involved in EWB as an ASCE member.
In addition to helping communities near and far with our engineering prowess, it is also our duty to inspire younger generations to find their passion and learn how they can serve their communities through a career in civil engineering. Over a year ago,
Dream Big: Engineering Our World
premiered in IMAX theaters all around the world showing millions of kids how today’s engineers are shaping the world of tomorrow, how we are pushing the limits of ingenuity and innovation in unexpected, imaginative, and amazing ways. This year,
Dream Big
enters a new phase of outreach as ASCE sets a new goal for 2018: placing a DVD copy of the acclaimed documentary in every U.S. public school. Read more details below for how you can be part of this crowdsourcing campaign and ensure every kid for generations to come has the opportunity to get inspired by civil engineering.
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Delivering the
Dream to Local Schools
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ASCE members have embraced Dream Big: Engineering Our World since the premiere night more than a year ago.
They’ve hosted viewing parties for the giant-screen film. They’ve hosted community events, connecting students to civil engineering role models. They’ve hosted outreach programs, complete with hands-on activities and lessons related to the movie.
In short, Society members and Dream Big are inspiring an entire generation to get excited about the potential of engineering careers.
So as Dream Big enters a new phase of outreach, it should not surprise anyone that members are again seizing the initiative. The Society has a new goal for 2018: placing a DVD copy of the acclaimed documentary in every U.S. public school.
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ASCE Geotechnical Group Spring Seminar: Waterfront Engineering
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We are pleased to announce our 35th annual Spring Seminar will be focused on Waterfront Engineering and Construction. This topic was last presented by our group back in 2003 and since then a number of major waterfront projects have been designed and built in Seattle and the greater Puget Sound area. The same challenges exist but we have new methods to use in design and new technology to use in construction. Our region also has unique seismic demands that have evolved over the years that affect waterfront projects. It’s a great time to talk about Waterfront Engineering in Seattle!
Dates:
April 13th @ 7 am, Spring Short Course: Waterfront Engineering –Pile Design for Seismic Regions.
April 14th @ 8 am, Spring Seminar: Waterfront Engineering – Evolving Practices in Seismic Regions
Where:
Columbia Tower Club, Seattle
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Volunteers Needed: Rebuilding Together
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Volunteer Date: April 28, 2018
New affordable housing is costly compared to rehabilitation and repair. Even with the Seattle Housing Levy providing additional financing, 1 new unit of affordable housing in Seattle costs on average $268,605 to build. Come join ASCE at the Rebuilding Together event on Saturday, April 28
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this year. Be part of a community of local volunteers transforming deteriorating houses into safe, healthy, and affordable homes. If interested in volunteering, please contact Megan Ramsay at
megan.ramsay@abam.com
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Save the Date: LOCEA Awards
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Thank you to everyone who submitted a project for consideration in ASCE Seattle's 2018 Local Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement Awards! The judging process is now underway.
Please join us at our June 13 dinner meeting at Mirabella where we will recognize the nominated projects and announce the winners in each category. Winning projects will be featured in this newsletter following the awards presentation at the dinner.
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Upcoming ASCE Seattle Events
Never miss a Seattle Section event, link our calendar to your Outlook today!
Have you seen our new event calendar?
Click here
to see what exciting events we have planned!
The best way to stay up to date on Seattle Section happenings is to
add our calendar to your Outlook
or other email manager. All you have to do is
click here
to download a .ics file that you can open and add to your own calendar.
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On May 17th, 2018
, the Seattle American Society of Civil Engineers Younger Member Forum (ASCE YMF) and the Seattle University ASCE Student Chapter will be hosting our annual Executive Forum. We invite the local universities as well as young civil engineering professionals to join us for an evening of discussion with a panel of executives in the industry.
The purpose of the Executive Forum is to enhance the career development of young professionals as well as to expose university students to the potential career paths they take after college. The event will begin with a networking-cocktail reception. After the cocktail hour, the five industry executives will share about their background and then answer questions based on this year's theme of Winning Work: An Engineer's Approach. This puts a spotlight on the business side of engineering.
The event will take place at Seattle University and is part of an ongoing University Outreach program that the Seattle ASCE YMF has worked hard to build. Our organization does a great deal of K-12 and University Outreach. Our hosted events include an annual Popsicle Stick Bridge competition for high schoolers, engineering fairs, and various in-classroom activities. We also provide a $1000 scholarship for an outgoing high school senior.
We are asking for your help to sponsor our Executive Forum event. The Executive Forum event is free for all participants and run by volunteers. Your support would make it possible for our small, non-profit budget to provide light snacks to the students and professionals. We are encouraging students and young professionals from the private and public sectors to participate. Your sponsorship would go a long way to minimize our costs and help make this event and others successful in the future. We will recognize your contribution during the event.
We hope that you will choose to help the Seattle ASCE YMF in hosting this worthwhile activity – every little bit helps!
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask. I can be reached at (206) 434-9925 and
Daniel.Worthen@KPFF.com
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Five representatives from around Washington State attended the annual ASCE Fly-in on March 13 and 14 in Washington DC. This year’s event was attended by 210 delegates from 49 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. ASCE organizes this annual event as a way for ASCE members from around the country to meet with and inform their representatives in Washington on the importance of improving and maintaining our nation's infrastructure. The Washington State ASCE members attending this year's fly in included
Conrad Felice, Benjamin Hoppe, Savannah Linders, Menzer Pehlivan, and Bernie Sison
. On the afternoon of March 13 and the morning of March 14, the fly in delegates heard from members of Congress, ASCE leadership, and industry representatives on specific issues and concerns relating to the state of the nation's infrastructure. On the afternoon of March 14 our Washington State delegation met with representatives from the offices of Senator's Murray and Cantwell as a group and individually with house representatives Adam Smith, Susan DelBene, Denny Heck, Dan Newhouse, and Pramila Jayapal. With the issue of our nation’s infrastructure forefront in the news and the ASCE grade report of D+ for the current state of our nation's infrastructure, the delegation highlighted the importance of identifying solutions and addressing the investment deficit. The delegation also informed the representatives that we in Washington state are now in the process of updating our states report card and that the results will be available in the fall of 2018. Each office we visited was very interested in our findings and requested to receive briefings on our results when completed. Other issues the delegation discussed included President Trump’s Infrastructure plan, FAA reauthorization (H.R. 2997/S.1405), WRDA and the SRF Win Act (H.R. 4902/S. 2364).
All ASCE members are encouraged to obtain a obtain a copy and review the content of the 2017 report card that gives our nation's infrastructure grade of D+ (
http://www.infrastructurereportcard.org
). The current grade of Washington State's infrastructure is C based on the 2013 report card. As our Washington State infrastructure report card is currently being revised, there is still time to get involved and you are encouraged to contact Erik Ellingsen (
erik.ellingsen@hartcrowser.com
) for more information on participating. All Seattle members are also encouraged to participate in the ASCE key contact program. For more information on the key contact program please contact Conrad Felice (
conrad.felice@cwfelicellc.com
). We all have a responsibility and encourage you to get involved.
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Washington State Report Card
Volunteers Needed!
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We are gaining momentum in updating the report card. In December the ASCE Seattle Section was awarded a State Public Affairs Grant (SPAG) to help fund our report card undertaking.
Volunteers are needed for developing our report card!
Categories Include:
- Aviation
- Bridges
- Dams
- Drinking Water
- Rail
- Roads
- Schools
- Solid & Hazardous Waste
- Stormwater
- Transit
- Waste Water
Previous work by ASCE members to develop the first report card and two recent example cards (storm water and the electrical grid) have been uploaded to
Collaborate
and Google Drive.
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Tony Nguyen | Director of Branches
Tony has held various ASCE leadership roles over the years that includes being the Seattle Section Secretary, Sustainability Committee Communications Chair, YMF Seattle Programming Chair, Western Region Younger Member Council Conference Planning Committee, National Student Steel Bridge Competition Fundraising Committee Chair, UW Chapter Co-Secretary, and UW Chapter Outreach Chair. As Director of Branches, he is the liaison on the Seattle Section Board for the North Branch and Kitsap Branch leadership teams. His goals are to educate our members about the Branch resources available to them and work with the Branch leadership to help grow the Branches.
As a Bridge Designer with HDR Engineering, Inc., he has had the fortune to take on a wide range of local and national bridge projects. From having the position of Deputy Area Manager for the high profile PennDOT Rapid Bridge Replacement Program assisting in national oversight of 5+ bridge design teams (35+engineers) to being one of the primary team members on the SDOT 45
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Street Viaduct East Approach Seismic Retrofit, and to load rating numerous structure types from prestressed girders bridges to concrete box bridges for WSDOT, SDOT, and ITD. His passion for bridges comes from the inherent collaboration from all stakeholders to get a bridge completed within a community’s needs.
Tony is a proud WA native and always grateful to call this state his home. He earned his BSCE and MSCE (both with a structures emphasis) from the University of Washington. He is honored to have received both the 2014 National Council of Structural Engineers Association Young Member Scholarship and the 2016 SEI Young Professional Scholarship.
As a devoted networker, he hopes to help bring the civil engineering profession closer together through his endless enthusiasm for connecting with others and making genuine, lasting relationships.
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