Branch Public Outreach Presentation "What is Civil Engineering" Given at Northside High School's Engineering Academy

posted 4/22/07EEE

As reported by Past President Dax Douet, the Acadiana Branch unveiled its presentation, “What is Civil Engineering?” to the Northside High School Engineering Academy's senior class on April 20^th.  The presentation is part of the Acadiana Branch's Public Outreach program and is given by Branch member-volunteers to high school students to encourage their interest in civil engineering as a career.  This most recent event, headed by Dax Douet (C. H. Fenstermaker & Associates) and Dr. Robert S. Wang (ASCE Life Member and retired UL-Lafayette professor), was well-received by the students, who were very attentive and asked several follow-up questions about civil engineering.  Special thanks to Dax and Dr. Wang for volunteering their time and efforts to promote civil engineering and the Acadiana Branch.

Please contact one of our Board members if you would like to be a presenter and/or have suggestions as to where the next presentation should be given.

Pictures:

Northside #1 - Dr. Robert Wang and class

Northside #2 - Dax Douet and class

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Hurricane Response

As reported in our September newsletter, the Board of Directors voted unanimously to donate ^$1,500 to the United Way of Acadiana's "Hurricane Katrina Evacuee Fund."  The fund ensures that all money will remain locally, directly impacting the lives of evacuees in Acadiana.  President Dax Douet delivered the contribution to the United Way offices on September 2, 2005.

In the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Louisiana Section Secretary/Treasurer E. Ray DesOrmeaux (Acadiana Branch) and Past President Barbara Featherston (Shreveport Branch) headed efforts to locate our New Orleans-based members and professors and students from the University of New Orleans and Tulane University who were displaced by the hurricane.  We are pleased to report that several New Orleans Branch members and all of the Louisiana Section Board members from the New Orleans area have been contacted in this ongoing effort.  Regular Louisiana Section activities resumed in early October with the installation of the 2005-2006 Louisiana Section Board of Directors. 

University of Louisiana senior civil engineering student Jasmine Galjour played a central role in locating university students who evacuated from New Orleans and, in one case, helped to determine the whereabouts of one student's family members.  As noted by Mr. DesOrmeaux in correspondence to Dr. Mark Zappi, Dean of Engineering at the University of Louisiana:

"The National ASCE Board, and the Louisiana Section Officers and Members, have been working diligently to locate all engineers in the New Orleans area, and students who were enrolled at UNO & Tulane. The effort is centered on identifying if all members are safe, and providing all assistance that can be given in helping with their needs.

Ms. Jasmine Galjour, senior in Civil Engineering, one of the outstanding campus leaders, voluntarily agreed to assist in this effort.

Beginning on Friday, September 2 through Labor Day on September 5, she untiring assisted in the attempt to locate displaced persons. In addition, she offered valuable suggestions to ASCE officials at the state, regional and national level.

Ms. Galjour has once again displayed remarkable character, integrity, professionalism, and leadership in her efforts. She is already being recognized by many of our engineering colleagues at the national level “as a person of interest."

Numerous ASCE Sections and Branches and civil engineering professionals from throughout the country have contacted the Louisiana Section and District 14 Board members to express their sympathy and support for Gulf Coast residents in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.  ASCE members have contributed to hurricane relief efforts through individual donations and through their local ASCE branches, and have also offered jobs, temporary housing, and assistance in areas such as transportation and enrolling children in school to displaced engineers.  Among those who have taken action -- Pamela G. Miller, Past President of the Acadiana Branch and the Louisiana Section and current Florida Section committee member, has spearheaded Florida ASCE's response by collecting donations for our Louisiana Section branches to purchase and deliver school supplies to evacuees.  

More information regarding this most generous and phenomenal response by our fellow colleagues is available in the September ASCE News (registration/login required).

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Branch Elects the 2005-2006 Board of Directors

With activities winding down for our usual summer break, the Branch opted to veer away from tradition and hosted a special June branch membership meeting and luncheon. Although the meeting was originally scheduled to elect the 2005-2006 Branch Board of Directors, it also provided a unique opportunity for those branch members in attendance to commemorate the exceptional service and contributions of some of our colleagues to the Branch community. Specifically, during the June Branch membership meeting, the Past Presidents of the Branch were acknowledged and honored for their service to ASCE and the Acadiana Branch. During this same meeting, the branch celebrated the distinguished career of Robert S. Wang, PE, a Professor in the Civil Engineering Department at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, on the event of his recent retirement. These current and former Branch members have had a tremendous impact on our civil engineering community through their leadership and service to the profession. A listing of the Past Presidents of the Branch is provided on the About ASCE page.

The Acadiana Branch Board of Directors for the 2005-2006 administrative year will be comprised of the following Acadiana Branch members:

We would like to welcome aboard our new officer, Joshua Stutes, and extend congratulations and appreciation to our Board members for their dedication and accomplishments during this administrative year. Branch activities will resume with installation of the 2005-2006 Board of Directors at the September Branch membership meeting and luncheon later this year.

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2005 ASCE Louisiana Section Spring Conference

The 2005 Spring Meeting and Conference of the Section hosted by the Acadiana Branch was very successful, with over 90 registrants, 10 exhibitors, 11 sponsors, 14 guest speakers, and special guest and keynote speaker, ASCE National President-Elect Mr. Dennis Martenson. The conference kicked-off on March 30 with an informal meeting between members of the Louisiana Section Board of Directors and President-Elect Martenson, followed by the crawfish boil ice-breaker and social. The crawfish boil was well-attended and boisterous despite the inclement and unwelcoming weather, and our intrepid conference photographer snapped a shot of President-Elect (and Wisconsinite) Martenson befriending a crawfish (albeit, too late to rescue it).

The first full day of the Conference began bright and early at 7:30 a.m. with registration and the opening of exhibitions booths. The first concurrent session began at 9:00 a.m., with a break in the exhibitors’ display area from 10:00 a.m. to 10:25 a.m., and the second concurrent session was scheduled from 10:30 a.m. to 11:25 a.m. The first and second morning sessions featured the following technical presentations: STAAD.Pro: Cost Benefits & Design Strategies to Save Engineers Time and Money, Rammed Aggregate Pile Foundations, Design Methods for Sheet Piles and Retaining Walls, and DOTD Life Cycle Cost Analysis Program: How Do Tax Payers Benefit?. The conference keynote speaker for the Thursday luncheon was ASCE National President-Elect Mr. Dennis Martenson. Mr. Martenson’s speech primarily focused on ASCE’s recently-released 2005 National Report Card for America’s Infrastructure, and emphasized both national and state statistics provided by the Report Card. Mr. Martenson also addressed ASCE Governmental issues, the ongoing “Body of Knowledge” (formerly known as Policy Statement 465) dialog, and ASCE’s public relations efforts to familiarize the general public with civil engineers and our impact upon the public’s daily lives. In addition, Mr. Martenson also outlined the agenda that he will pursue as ASCE National President -- instituting a new, long-term strategic plan for the society, recruiting and retaining more government engineers, and encouraging more involvement from our younger members. Following the luncheon, the afternoon schedule provided four (4) technical seminars, including Values & Challenges of Restoring Louisiana’s Barrier Shoreline, Microsoft Project: A Tool for Engineers, Cone Penetrometer Testin g (CPT) vs. Conventional S oil Borings, and Recommended AASHTO Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide and Its Implementation.

Later that evening, the Branch hosted the annual Awards Banquet to honor the 2005 Life Member Award recipients and to celebrate the accomplishments of the outstanding graduating engineering students from universities throughout the state. After being lead in the evening’s Invocation by Acadiana Branch President-Elect Dax A. Douet and completing dinner, banquet attendees were introduced to Mr. Patrick Landry, ASCE Louisiana Section Director At Large for the Acadiana Branch, who presented the Life Member Awards to the honorees in attendance. As noted by Mr. Landry, Life Member recipients must satisfy factors that combine the age of the person, years of ASCE membership, and years of paying ASCE membership dues in order to attain Life Member status. Mr. Landry introduced those Life Member in attendance by reading a brief biography of each recipient. It was a pleasure to meet these distinguished engineers from around our state who have contributed so greatly to our profession and to hear bits of their personal experiences and their words of encouragement to the graduating seniors. Congratulations again to all of our new Life Members. The Section members who achieved the status of Life Member in 2005 are:

Acadiana Branch

William Henry Hidalgo, Sr.

Kam K. Movassaghi

Paul Richards

Carroll G. Westbrook

Baton Rouge Branch

Greer Eugene Coursey

James C. Porter

New Orleans Branch

J. A. Badeaux, Jr.

Arthur Alexander De Fraites, Jr.

Morris R. Heinzen

Leonce P. Waguespack, Jr.

Thomas R. Wartelle

Shreveport Branch

Lloyd G. Hoover

Gordon M. Naquin

Robert A. Neff, Jr.

Donald F. Sorgenfrei

The Distinguished Civil Engineering Senior Student Awards were also presented during the banquet by Mr. Jerome Klier, Louisiana Section Student Awards and Activities Committee Chairman. For those who are not familiar with the nomination process, the civil engineering department faculties of each Louisiana university with an ASCE Student Chapter may nominate one senior student for this honor. Mr. Klier presented each award recipient with a commemorative plaque acknowledging his/her as that university’s Distinguished Civil Engineering Senior Student and a $100 monetary reward. We would once again like to congratulate these deserving students for their outstanding accomplishments:

Jeanne C. Arceneaux was recognized as the Louisiana Section’s “Outstanding Civil Engineering Senior Student.” As a special bonus, Ms. Arceneaux received a special plaque marking her accomplishment and she and Louisiana Tech University’s ASCE Student chapter received a monetary reward of $250.

The second – and final – full day of the conference began at 8:00 a.m. with opening of the exhibition booths followed by the fifth concurrent session from 8:30 a.m. to 9:25 a.m. The featured presentations during this session were Continuous Flow Intersections, and Hydrological Effects of Storms/Hurricanes on Local Areas. After a break in the exhibitors’ display area, the sixth concurrent session opened at 10:00 a.m. with Numerical Modeling: A Tool to Aid in Coastal Restoration, and Personality Profiling for the Engineer, followed by a General Membership Meeting from 11:00 a.m. to 11:55 a.m. The final conference luncheon featured keynote speaker and ASCE Louisiana Section President, Dr. Norma Jean Mattei.  Dr. Mattei’s presentation served as the conference’s Ethics seminar, titled "Engineering and Business Ethics: Is There A Difference?" Following Dr. Mattei’s presentation, door prizes were handed-out to lucky winners and the 2005 ASCE Louisiana Section Spring Meeting officially came to an end. Following the luncheon, the Louisiana Section Board of Directors held the March Board of Directors meeting, which ultimately adjourned at 3:30 p.m.

Pictures taken during the conference have been posted on the Photos page.

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Region II Science Olympiad

Members of the Branch Board of Directors had the opportunity to participate in the Region II Science Olympiad held on the University of Louisiana campus on February 19, 2005. Board members, along with UL-ASCE student volunteers, provided judging duties for Divisions B and C of the “Storm the Castle” competition. Teams participating in the competition designed, constructed, calibrated and operated a device capable of launching a projectile as far and as accurately as possible using only the energy of a falling counterweight.

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Acadiana Branch at the 2005 Career Connections Expo.

For the third consecutive year, the Acadiana Branch participated in the 2005 Career Connections Expo.  The event, an interactive career expo aimed at promoting career awareness and presenting cost-of-living lessons to 10^th graders in Lafayette, St. Martin and Iberia parishes, took place in the Cajundome Convention Center on January 25, 2005. 

Hosting a booth typically involves fielding questions from interested students like "What do you do during at typical work day?" "What kind of salary can I expect when starting out?" "What do you like/dislike most about your job?".  Participants usually work either a morning or afternoon shift (1 shift = approximately 4 hours). 

Please see the Photo Gallery for pictures taken during the expo.

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Incoming & Outgoings, Branch Elects the 2003-2004 Board of Directors

The 2003-2004 Acadiana Branch Board of Directors was elected during the April Branch meeting.  We would like to welcome Dr. Jamal Khattak into the fold!  The new officers are:

We would also like to thank outgoing Branch President Larry Cramer for his years of service to the Acadiana Branch.  Larry provided thoughtful leadership and enthusiastically represented the Branch locally and at the State level throughout his tenure as President.  On behalf of the Acadiana Branch, the Board would like to extend our best wishes to Larry and his family.

Pamela G. Miller, former Acadiana Branch President and current Louisiana Section President-Elect, has accepted a job opportunity in Orlando, Florida.  Pam's contributions to the Acadiana Branch cannot be overstated.  The Branch would like to congratulate Pam on this most recent accomplishment and wish Pam and Blaine the best of luck!

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Acadiana Branch at the Career Connections Expo.

For the second consecutive year, the Acadiana Branch sponsored a booth at the annual Career Connections Expo.  The event, held in the Cajundome Convention Center on January 27^th,  is an interactive Career Expo aimed at promoting career awareness to 10^th graders in Lafayette, St. Martin and Iberia parishes. 

Please see the Photo Gallery for pictures taken during the expo.

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2003-2004 Books-To-Schools Program, Iberia Parish

The Acadiana Branch recently donated several civil engineering-related books to the Iberia Parish School Board.  Board members Jeff Duplantis, Public Relations Chairman, and Larry Cramer, President, attended the August 20^th Iberia Parish School Board meeting to make the official presentation.  Jeff Duplantis presented three books to the school board - The Art of Construction by Mario Salvadori and Building Big & Underground by David Macaulay.   A copy of each book will be available in every Iberia Parish public middle and elementary school library. 

The goal of the Books-To-Schools Program is to educate middle and elementary school students throughout Acadiana about the various career paths available through civil engineering.  These presentations are made in conjunction with the Branch’s continuing effort to promote civil engineering and ASCE National's belief that introducing civil engineering to students at this time in their academic careers helps them to prepare for the future.  The Iberia Parish donation is the second of what the Acadiana Branch intends to be an annual service to each of the public school systems throughout its jurisdiction. The Lafayette Parish School Board was the recipient of the inaugural, 2002-2003 donation. 

2003-2004 Books-to-Schools Gallery

Textbook Presentation Photo

Acknowledgement of Donation from Iberia Parish School Board

Underground by David Macaulay

The Art of Construction  by Mario Salvadori

Building Big by David Macaulay

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ASCE's Civil Engineering Salary Survey

The following is from ASCE-National website at: http://www.asce.org/membersonly/salary_surveyreports.cfm

Find out if your salary is on target with ASCE's salary survey, the United States' largest and only real-time civil engineering compensation survey. The ASCE Salary Survey Corporate Reports give you a competitive edge by providing the most accurate national, regional, state, and local pay information available for civil engineers. A one-year subscription provides 12 months of unlimited access to reports through the Internet, with controlled access and a secure connection.

Data is submitted by each individual engineer and is updated regularly. ASCE members - be sure to participate in the survey to ensure that the product continues to provide the most accurate information.

A Corporate Reports subscription gives you immediate access to both a full standard report and online custom reporting. Data is available by job level, geography, industry, education, professional status and experience. The standard report displays data for all levels for each key sorting variable, while the custom report permits you to set the sorting criteria.

Subscribe now to access the latest civil engineering salary data!

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Branch Announces New Television Commercial Broadcast Schedule

Jeff Duplantis, our Public Relations Chairperson, has been busy promoting Branch activities within the Lafayette area and finalizing the new television commercial broadcast schedule.  Look for an article describing the Acadiana Branch's public outreach programs in the "Business Briefcase" section of Sunday's (4/13/03) Lafayette Daily Advertiser.  The commercial, produced by the Acadiana Branch with the intent of promoting civil engineering toward middle school students, will air during the following times and dates:

To learn more about the television commercial, please see the our News Archive.

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William H. Miller Approved for Advancement to Fellow Grade

The Acadiana Branch would like to congratulate Mr. William H. Miller, P.E. on receiving approval for advancement to Fellow grade by the ASCE National Membership Application Review Committee!  ASCE Fellows occupy the Society's second-highest membership grade, exceeded only by Honorary Members. There is no direct admission to the grade of Fellow, and the standard required for advancement is broad responsibility for engineering work of major importance.

Biography

William H. Miller of Lake Charles, LA holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the Louisiana State University and is a registered professional engineer in Louisiana. Beginning his career in 1950, Miller is currently Vice President at F. Miller and Sons, Inc. His career has been concentrated in the construction engineering field, and much of his professional experience has involved heavy construction requiring the driving of many types of pilings on land and in water located in the State of Louisiana. Notable among those projects are the Calcasieu River Bridge and Approaches (US-171), the Vermilion River Bridge (Pinhook) and the Bayou Teche Swing Span Bridge (St. Martinville). Miller has served as a member of the Design of Shore Protection Standards Committee of ASCE. He is currently serving on the Louisiana Board of Registration for Engineers and Surveyors and is Secretary of that Board.  Mr. Miller is married and has 7 children and 9 grandchildren.  Mr. Miller served in World War II as a Navy enlisted man, joining in January 1945, and was discharged in May 1946.

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ASCE at the Career Connections Expo.

The Acadiana Branch sponsored a booth alongside the UL-Department of Engineering and the UL-ASCE Student Chapter during the 2003 Career Connections Expo held at the Cajundome Convention Center on January 29^th.  The annual event is an interactive Career Expo aimed at promoting career awareness to 10^th graders in Lafayette, St. Martin and Iberia parishes. 

Acadiana Branch Officers were equipped with a civil engineering-related video, civil engineering brochures, ASCE mouse pads, and ASCE doubloons for the interested students.  The UL ASCE Student Chapter exhibited their award-winning steel bridge and a video of the national concrete canoe competition.  Volunteers had the opportunity to meet with students and answer age-old questions such as...what is a civil engineer?, how much money do you make a year?, can I work at two different consulting firms at the same time?, and architects and engineers do the same thing, right?

Please see the Photo Gallery for pictures taken during the expo.

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ASCE Membership Hits All-Time High

[Note:  The following has been copied from the October 2002 Volume 27, Number 10 of ASCENews]

The Society’s membership reached new heights on August 22, encompassing a total base of 130,000. ASCE’s membership has been rising ever since September 2001, when the figure was nearly 123,000, as the membership rosters of many engineering societies have been declining, particularly in the United States, say membership representatives.

“ASCE has a creative, focused, and energized membership team of volunteers and staff who together have taken the Society’s membership total to this new 130,000 plateau,” says James E. Davis, ASCE’s executive director. “I have watched the number rise from one hundred and ten thousand to one hundred and twenty thousand and now one hundred and thirty thousand members. It has taken a steadfast effort, high-quality products and services, and the greatest civil engineering networking opportunity in the world to enable us to attract and retain members.”

While a declining membership pattern would be consistent with the overall post–September 11 economic downturn, ASCE membership staff report that they have seen significant membership growth during the past 12 months.

More members are expected to join the Society as a result of the recent launch of the new Group Membership Program, which allows organizations employing civil engineers, for example, government agencies, corporations, consulting firms, and educational institutions, to make a single payment for the dues of all their ASCE employees. In addition, targeted mailings this year have brought in more than 4,000 new members.

Adding to the total, members participating in the 2002 Member-Get-a-Member Drive recruited more than 1,200 of their colleagues between November 2001 and September 2002. And ASCE student membership has grown by 70 percent in the past year, largely because national student membership dues were eliminated in 2000.

Perhaps the greatest factor in ASCE’s continued membership success has been the pride that civil engineers have taken in their profession in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Within hours of the September 11 attacks, ASCE was organizing teams to evaluate the collapse of the World Trade Center and the damage to the Pentagon and to give both the profession and the public at large a better understanding of how the structures performed. ASCE is also a founding member of The Infrastructure Security Partnership (TISP), an umbrella group of associations and agencies seeking to make the nation’s built environment more secure.

“As the chairman of the ASCE Membership Committee, I want to thank all the ASCE members and Membership Committee members who gave up their personal time and extended great efforts to help us meet our goal of one hundred and thirty thousand members,” says Patricia D. Galloway, who as of next month will be ASCE’s president-elect. “This is an achievement that we as a Society should all be proud of and we should continue to spread the word about ASCE and its benefits.”

To help increase ASCE membership, please contact Wendy Cowan, the managing director of membership, by telephone at (703) 295-6113 or by e-mail at wcowan@asce.org.

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The ASCE official Register of 2003 is now online!  Go to http://www.asce.org/or/ for more information and to download and/or print the document. 

The Official Register is published annually to provide ready access to governing documents, statistics, and general information about ASCE for leadership, members, and staff. It includes the ASCE constitution, bylaws, rules, and code of ethics; as well as information about member qualifications and benefits; section and branch contacts; technical, professional, educational, and student activities; committee appointments; past and present officers; honors and awards; CERF/IIEC; the ASCE Foundation; and staff contacts. There are also sections with constitution, bylaws, and committees for Geo-Institute; Structural Engineering Institute (SEI); Environmental and Water Resources Institute (EWRI); Architectural Engineering Institute (AEI); Coasts, Oceans, Ports, and Rivers Institute (COPRI); Construction Institute (CI); and Transportation & Development Institute (T&DI). For the convenience of those who do not wish to download these files, this print version is available for purchase.
 

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Books-to-Schools Program

We are pleased to announce that the Acadiana Branch has officially donated a total of 82 civil-engineering related text books to Lafayette Parish elementary and middle school libraries.  The presentation was made during the September 4^th Lafayette Parish School Board (LPSB) meeting.  Mr. Burnell LeJeune, Supervisor of Vocational Education for the LPSB, recognized and thanked the Acadiana Branch for our efforts.  Jeff Duplantis and Glenn McCall graciously represented the Acadiana Branch during the brief ceremony. 

The Books-to-Schools program was conceived by Past-President Glenn McCall in conjunction with ASCE National's "Building Big" program and overall goal of educating young people about civil engineering.  A special thank you to Jeff Duplantis, Public Relations Chairperson, for heading the program.  Jeff was responsible for researching, selecting, & ordering the appropriate text books, obtaining approval of the selected text books from LPSB members, and arranging & scheduling the official donation. 

The Acadiana Branch encompasses more than Lafayette Parish.  As such, the Board will expand the Books-to-Schools program to those parish public elementary and middle schools located elsewhere within our Branch. 

Books-to-Schools Gallery

Textbook Presentation - Photo 1

Textbook Presentation - Photo 2

Underground by David Macaulay