Los Angeles Section Honors Life Members
ASCE’s Los Angeles Section sponsored a brunch on March 3 to honor its newest life members for their professional accomplishments and dedication to the Society. (Life member status is conferred by ASCE when a member reaches the age of 65 and has paid membership dues for at least 20 years. Life members are exempt from further membership dues.)
David G. Mongan, P.E., F.ASCE, the Society’s president-elect, delivered an address that underscored the need for the civil engineering community to be actively engaged in enhancing the image and raising the stature of the profession. Through an increased commitment to leadership, innovation, and education, civil engineers can influence public policy as well as the future course of infrastructure, globalization, and the quest for sustainable development, Mongan pointed out. “We are committed to shaping and directing the future of civil engineering,” he said last year during the Summit on the Future of Civil Engineering—a conference he facilitated and helped to organize as part of an effort to define a collective vision for moving forward.
Carl L. Blum, P.E., F.ASCE, a former director of Region 9, and Robert W. Bein, P.E., F.ASCE, a past president of ASCE, were presented with special awards for their achievements. Blum, a former deputy director of public works for Los Angeles County, earned the section’s Annual Lifetime Achievement Award. Bein, who helped establish the section’s forum for life members, was honored with the Los Angeles Section Lifetime Achievement Award. Blum and Bein also received letters of commendation from California’s governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and from one of its U.S. senators, Dianne Feinstein (D).
The section’s life members have been active on a variety of committees dealing with such civil engineering issues as technical outreach, public image, mentoring, community service, political involvement, disaster preparedness, and infrastructure. An annual event, the awards ceremony for life members has been an important way for the section to recognize many of its leaders over the years. According to John Morris, P.E., F.ASCE, the section’s president, attendance this year was the largest ever.
CI Seminar to Address Partnerships, Trends, and Site Conditions
ASCE’s Construction Institute (CI) will sponsor a seminar in Dallas on June 27 that will consider public-private partnerships, technology trends in construction, and differing site conditions.
The panel on public-private partnerships will be chaired by William Marino, M.ASCE, the chairman and chief executive officer of Allied Group Holdings, a brokerage firm headquartered in Jericho, New York. Among the topics it will discuss will be the opportunities these partnerships offer for new development and for creating infrastructure. Some of the challenges that contractors encounter—such as contractual obligations, cost of entry, surety requirements, legal aspects, and sources of capital—also will be discussed by the panel.
Christian Burger, M.ASCE, the president and cofounder of the Burger Consulting Group, a technology consulting firm based in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, will offer an overview of new developments in systems and technology within the construction industry. In addition to highlighting new products and technologies and recent developments in the vendor community, Burger will consider such topics as accounting and job cost systems, estimating and bidding, integrated project management, equipment management, and computer-aided design.
Issues relating to differing site condition claims will be addressed in a panel discussion to be moderated by Peter M. Kutil, A.M.ASCE, a counselor at King and King, a law firm in Long Island City, New York, that specializes in construction contact claims and disputes, and by Kenneth F. Haines, M.ASCE, a certified forensic claims consultant with Greyhawk, a construction management and consulting firm headquartered in Woodbury, New York. Kutil and Haines will discuss the various aspects of the now commonly used differing site condition clause—particularly how this clause is intended to work, how it is used in practice,
and how disputes can be avoided or minimized.
In addition to a variety of presentations and question-and-answer forums, the seminar will include informational sessions about CI technical committees and will offer opportunities for networking with individuals from all areas of the construction industry. For more information, visit www.asce.org/cidallas07.
History Channel Celebrates Inventors From Modern Marvels Contest
ASCE’s partnership with the History Channel and involvement in the latter’s Modern Marvels Invent Now Challenge have given a fillip to American ingenuity and innovation and have highlighted the role of civil engineers as master integrators and experts who can incorporate innovative technology into complex infrastructure systems. Aimed at encouraging human, social, and economic progress, the competition recently advanced to the semifinal round, celebrating 25 inventions and inventors.
David W. Jensen, Ph.D., F.ASCE, a civil engineering professor at Brigham Young University, has devised an automated process for continuously manufacturing IsoTruss grid structures and other open-lattice structures of fiber-reinforced composites having highly consolidated members. The invention uses a continuous process that makes it possible to create complex patterns incorporating interwoven members with individually braided sleeves around each member. “One of the most significant potential impacts of this invention on society is the opportunity to reduce the contamination by toxic chemicals inherent in all wood utility pole installations,” Jensen told the History Channel recently. “Lightweight composite IsoTruss poles could cost-effectively replace wood poles while simultaneously saving energy in shipping, simplifying installation, and reducing failures caused by high winds.”
In 2005 ASCE became a program partner of this competition, which gives independent inventors a chance to be discovered and to showcase their ideas on a national television network. Chosen from thousands of individuals who submitted entries, the semifinalists come from a variety of backgrounds and disciplines. “These semifinalists represent the dreamers in America who have the tenacity to pursue their ideas in order to make an impact on the way all of us live—just like their predecessors, Ben Franklin and Thomas Edison,” Judy Klein-Frimer, one of the creators of the competition, said in a recent press release. “Our signature series, Modern Marvels, showcases everyday inventors of our past whose contributions remain vital to us today, so we are proud to support everyday inventors of the present who will have a significant impact on advancing our quality of life in the future.”
David G. Mongan, P.E., F.ASCE, the Society’s president-elect, spoke last month at the New York Regional Independent Inventors Conference. He served on the panel of inventors and experts that selected the 25 semifinalists. For more information about the competition, visit www.History.com/invent.