December 2008
Volume 33, Number 12

IN HIS INAUGURAL remarks as ASCE’s new president, D. Wayne Klotz, P.E., D.WRE, F.ASCE, discussed his focus for the coming year, which is encapsulated in, as he puts it, abc, the letters denoting “advocacy,” “benefits,” and “change.” Klotz delivered his remarks at the closing plenary session of ASCE’s annual conference—formally, the 138th Annual Civil Engineering Conference—which was held in Pittsburgh November 6–8.

Klotz related an allegory of a man who approached three masons doing the same thing. Each was asked what he was doing. The first replied that he was simply stacking rocks, the second that he was building walls, and the third that he was building a cathedral. These three masons, said Klotz, were “side by side with totally different ideas about what they were doing. Which one was right and which one understood the value of his work?”

When asked what they do, according to Klotz, many engineers reply that they design water lines or review subdivision plats. “Most of these answers...are answers of stacking rocks and building walls,” he said. “Is it any wonder that we must work so hard to convey the critical need to increase funding for civil works to our elected officials? Many of us do not seem to believe our profession matters, that it is critical to the public health and safety, to economic strength, [and] to our way of life. We better believe that,” he said.

Klotz said that, in his opinion, civil engineers have an unfortunate tendency to be reticent. “We really would rather our work speak for us,” he said. However, that attitude does not “adequately inform other people about the value of what we bring to society every day,” he said. For his part, Klotz stressed that infrastructure should be regarded as the “cathedral of modern civilization” and that each civil engineer has a responsibility to communicate that to others.

“Modern civilization does not and cannot exist without civil engineers,” Klotz said and, to make his point, discussed the importance of three particular areas of civil engineering: water resources, transportation, and structures. Among the most important accomplishments of the last millennium, he asserted, was clean water. “For the first time large groups of people could live together in good health,” he said, adding that clean water is the product of the efforts of civil engineers.

He also pointed out that transportation engineers make it possible to transport people and products, operations that are of fundamental importance to the nation’s economy. However, he lamented, many do not see the link between economic vibrancy and transportation. “To those civil engineers who are in the transportation business, you are the reason that your friends and neighbors can participate in the economy to support themselves and their families.”

Shelter is also necessary for human survival, Klotz said. “People do not want to wonder if the building they just entered is safe enough for them to exit in one piece,” he contended, adding that a functioning community requires that people be able to live, work, and function inside structures. “To those civil engineers who create habitable, safe structures, you are the reason that people can live and congregate safely,” he said.

Klotz said that he believed citizens desire to know how civil engineering affects their daily life. “The fact is, your friends would feel the same way [that you do] about civil engineering if you would take the time to explain to them exactly what it is that you do,” he said. He encouraged the conference attendees to “take what you have learned at this conference to your next section or institute meeting. Broaden your own horizons and bring other civil engineers along with you. We will never convince others until we believe it ourselves.”

At the conclusion of his remarks, Klotz proclaimed this year “the year of the civilization engineer” and said that any other title would “diminish your contribution to society.” Then he added, “You better believe the value of what we do. If you don’t, my goal is to make sure you do by the time I finish my term.”

—Brett Hansen

DURING THE 138th Annual Civil Engineering Conference, held by ASCE in Pittsburgh November 6–8, David G. Mongan, P.E., F.ASCE, who stepped down as the Society’s president, and Patrick J. Natale, P.E., F.ASCE, the Society’s executive director, discussed the accomplishments of ASCE during the past year and considered the future of the civil engineering profession. Mongan, who delivered his farewell remarks during the opening plenary session of the conference, which was held on Thursday, November 6, paid tribute to the notable individuals who had exercised their “power of one” during his presidency. Speaking on November 8 at the annual business meeting, Natale surveyed the Society’s achievements.

“I fully believe in the power of one, but I never expected to find so many examples in my travels this past year,” Mongan said, reintroducing a concept that he advanced when he began his presidency. (See “Mongan Inaugurated as President, Underscores the Power of One,” ASCE News, November 2007, page 1.) During that inaugural speech, he explained how such individuals use their power of one to affect the world around them.

Among the individuals mentioned in his farewell address, Mongan included Celestino R. “Chuck” Pennoni, P.E., F.ASCE, a president emeritus of ASCE, who in 1991 appointed him to his first ASCE committee at the national level, an appointment that paved the way to his service as president. “If you don’t like what has happened this past year, blame Chuck,” Mongan joked.

Another person who, Mongan said, has asserted his power of one is Charles H. Thornton, Ph.D., P.E., Dist.M.ASCE, the cofounder of Thornton Tomasetti, Inc., headquartered in New York City. Thornton has developed the ACE Mentor Program—an initiative designed to acquaint high school students with career opportunities in architecture, construction, engineering, and related areas through mentoring—into a program that now provides guidance to more than 30,000 students each year.

William H. Neukom, a leader of the American Bar Association, is another person who has used his power of one to the utmost, according to Mongan. Neukom founded the World Justice Project, a program “that is expanding the rule of law to all countries,” Mongan said. “During his term, [Neukom] promoted the concept of global principles of professional practice,” Mongan added, pointing out that ASCE too has been active in this respect, as witnessed by the recent release of the film Ethicana, which explores many of the ethical dilemmas that engineers encounter.

Mongan then cited Nelson Mandela, “whose power of one has changed forever the face of South Africa and the world.” He also saluted Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who as president of Tunisia  has moved his country forward by focusing on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education; Wangari Maathai, Ph.D., the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner, for her efforts with the Green Belt Movement, which has encouraged women’s groups in Kenya to preserve the environment by planting trees; Patricia Galloway, Ph.D., P.E., F.ASCE, a president emeritus of ASCE, whose work has elevated the stature of women in civil engineering; and Bernard Amadei, Ph.D., P.E., F.ASCE, who founded the group Engineers Without Borders–USA.

“I believe that when a number of individuals focus their collective powers of one on an issue, much can be accomplished,” Mongan said in recounting how it took a collaborative effort to produce the second edition of ASCE’s Civil Engineering Body of Knowledge for the 21st Century (http://www.asce.org/professional/educ/). He also stated that although Barack Obama has voiced support for infrastructure investment, the new president will not be able to undertake the task alone. “We all need to make our individual and collective voices heard.”

Mongan concluded by thanking his wife, Janet, for her support and explained how he perceived the world’s view of ASCE. “As I have traveled the world, ASCE is recognized with great respect and reverence. The world’s engineers look to ASCE’s leadership and, believe me, we are leading.”

Natale commenced his remarks by discussing the current economic crisis and ASCE’s ability to weather it. “We are financially fit,” he said, adding, “the organization is strong and we have a strategy to deal with these rough times.” He also noted that the Society’s net amount from operations exceeded $2 million. Nevertheless, he said, “like any organization, any company, any business, none of us are immune to the conditions we are facing. Good planning and good leadership will navigate us through these rough waters.”

The Society’s new association management system and its new, Web-based operations also were mentioned by Natale. The management system will enable the Society to improve its record keeping and provide better service to members, according to the executive director. The new Web system will be evolving over the next 18 months, he noted.

Natale also reported a significant increase in membership in 2008. ASCE’s membership now stands at 146,000, approximately 5,000 more than last year. “This is interesting, especially when many other societies are seeing a decline in membership; [it is] something we need to be proud of,” he said.

Like many of the speakers at the conference, Natale stressed the need to enter the public policy arena to ensure that there is proper funding for the nation’s infrastructure. “Some people say that we cannot afford to invest in our infrastructure. We don’t agree. It is essential now more than ever to invest in infrastructure,” he said, noting that a former chairman of the Federal Reserve, Paul A. Volcker, stated that investment in infrastructure was essential for a robust national economy and would produce more civil engineers. “Now is the time for the public to know the value of civil engineers,” he said.

The Society has experienced success in its public policy efforts, according to Natale. Congress has acted on several issues related to the Society’s infrastructure plan, passing the Water Resource Development Act of 2007 (H.R. 1495) and approving the diversion of general Treasury funds to the Highway Trust Fund. Other legislative actions also have advanced the Society’s goals. Although not yet enacted, the National Highway Bridge Reconstruction and Inspection Act of 2008 (H.R. 3999) and the Dam Rehabilitation and Repair Act of 2007 (H.R. 3224) have been passed by the House, and the National Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2007 (H.R. 3398) has been referred to the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s Subcommittee on Highways and Transit. (S.3338, the Senate version of the National Highway Bridge Reconstruction and Inspection Act of 2008, was introduced in July.)

Natale mentioned that ASCE’s 2009 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure would be released on March 25. “It will be a tool, but not the answer,” he said. “The answer is what we do with it, how we make it actionable.” He explained that next year’s report would not only assign a grade to each component of the nation’s infrastructure but also propose solutions and new approaches. He then called upon local sections and chapters to develop “report cards” of their own.
The Society has successfully fostered partnerships with other organizations to develop engineering outreach programs, Natale stated. One example he cited was ASCE’s partnership with Penn State Public Broadcasting to produce Liquid Assets, a Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) program that called attention to the poor condition of the nation’s water and wastewater infrastructure. He also mentioned an ASCE Web site designed to appeal to teens that will soon be launched, the PBS series Design Squad, also geared toward teens, and the Society’s work with the History Channel in organizing a competition called The City of the Future: A Design and Engineering Challenge.

Through its own initiatives, including The Vision for Civil Engineering in 2025 (http://content.asce.org/vision2025/index.html) and the second edition of the Civil Engineering Body of Knowledge for the 21st Century, ASCE has provided a road map for the future, according to Natale. “But . . . it is essential to have our members involved,” he said. “We are a member-driven organization, and that is the way it should be.”

Natale concluded that ASCE stood ready to address the current challenges and called on members to become more involved in the Society’s sections, branches, regions, institutes, and technical committees. “It is a great time and a great opportunity,” he said. 

—Brett Hansen

AS THE NATION’S economic health continues to worsen, the nation’s leaders have turned to ASCE for guidance on ways to increase economic growth through infrastructure investment. As a nationally recognized authority on the condition of the nation’s infrastructure, ASCE has laid out a $38-billion plan to fund ready-to-go projects that will create jobs and begin to address the infrastructure problems identified in ASCE’s 2005 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure.

Lawmakers ignored a scheduled preelection recess to meet in Washington and discuss particular elements of the proposed new legislation, the Economic Recovery and Jobs Creation Act. 

On October 29, ASCE witnesses testified before two congressional committees. David G. Mongan, P.E., F.ASCE, then ASCE’s president, was invited to testify before the House Ways and Means Committee and ASCE Board of Direction member and chair of the 2009 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure Advisory Council, Andrew Herrmann, P.E., F.ASCE, appeared before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

Mongan addressed the Ways and Means Committee by saying that infrastructure spending “would serve the dual purpose of reviving the nation’s economy and the nation’s infrastructure.” He also stressed the hardships many engineering firms are facing—including his own—since states have started to cut back planned projects. Mongan appeared on a panel with New York Governor David Paterson; South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford; Trenton, New Jersey, Mayor Douglas Palmer; and representatives of the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers. All witnesses, save Sanford of South Carolina, stressed the enormous costs their states and localities face to make needed repairs and upgrades to infrastructure and the growing need to inject capital into struggling local economies.

In his testimony to the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Herrmann reminded representatives that a decaying infrastructure leads to further lags in the economy. “We firmly believe that any economic recovery legislation should contain significant new funding for many of the nation’s aging infrastructure systems, which are the indispensable lifelines of our economy,” said Herrmann. “The nation’s surface transportation systems, wastewater treatment facilities, waterways, and airports are all in need of repair and updates.”

Mongan and Herrmann each outlined the nation’s infrastructure needs as identified in the 2005 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure.  In each testimony, ASCE identified specific funding requirements to be part of the economic recovery. Among the most crucial investments needed:

• $7 billion for water resources systems under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers;
• $6.5 billion for the Clean Water Act State Revolving Loan Fund;
• $18 billion for necessary reconstruction projects for the nation’s highway systems;
• $5.4 billion to maintain and expand the nation’s transit systems;
• $600 million in capital improvements to the nation’s aviation infrastructure; and
• $200 million for the repair and rehabilitation of deficient dams.

ASCE is not alone in calling for an immediate investment in infrastructure to stimulate the lagging economy. Besides the dozens of other government groups, labor unions, and engineering and construction organizations that either testified or submitted written statements in support of the economic recovery plan, many of the nation’s leading economists are lending their voices to the charge.

In an October 12 interview with CNN, former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Robert Rubin endorsed the plan. “What [infrastructure spending] would do is create economic demand. So that stimulates the economy,” he said. “And it very directly creates jobs in the infrastructure. And, furthermore, since our country really has very serious needs in the infrastructure area for the long term, it, at the same time, is doing something very useful for the long-term good of our country.”

Seconding the call for infrastructure investment were former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Laurence Summers; Laurence Meyer, vice chairman of Macroeconomic Advisers and a former Federal Reserve governor; Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman; and Ross Eisenbrey, the vice president and policy director of the Economic Policy Institute.

Congress returned to business following the elections in mid-November, and economic recovery was certain to be the priority issue. ASCE will be working with congressional leaders now and in the 111th Congress, as well as with the new administration to ensure these investments are made in a timely manner.

ASCE will release its updated Report Card for America’s Infrastructure on March 25, 2009. This new assessment will make a strong case for the needs of our nation’s infrastructure and how the nation’s leaders can begin to improve it to create a lasting base for economic prosperity.

To read the full testimonies, visit ASCE’s Web site. http://www.asce.org/pressroom/publicpolicy/testimony_correspondence.cfm. ASCE members are encouraged to contact their legislators and urge support of this needed economic recovery legislation. You can send a message directly from the Click and Connect with Congress Web site. http://www.asce.org/pressroom/publicpolicy/advocacy.cfm.

IN THE PAST SEVERAL YEARS, the issue of climate change and its effects on the environment has shifted from the realm of possibility to that of inevitability. Yet the ramifications of climate change for the civil engineering profession remain unclear. To address this issue, civil engineers from around the world met on Wednesday, November 5, to discuss the current effects of climate change as well as the ways in which the profession will need to adapt to it. The symposium was part of a program of international activities held in Pittsburgh just before the annual conference.

“We recognize that tackling sustainable engineering is a huge task that requires a lot of partnership; it is not something that asce is going to do alone,” said Blaine D. Leonard, P.E., F.ASCE, the Society’s president-elect, at the beginning of the symposium. His sentiments were echoed by George Bugliarello, P.E., F.ASCE, the foreign secretary of the National Academy of Engineering, who expressed concern about the effects on the environment of urban areas that are rapidly increasing in population.

The role that engineers should play in formulating strategies for adapting to climate change was addressed by several speakers, including Craig Farkos, P.E., M.ASCE, an engineering program manager with Michael Baker Jr., Inc., of Alexandria, Virginia. “People in society [who] might not be as knowledgeable as we are on the technical side are frightened by climate change. So they come to us and ask us what the technical solution is,” he said. “We should make sure that we tell them that adaptation is different from mitigation.” Mitigation is a way to reduce the likelihood of climate change, he explained, but adaptation is a way “to reduce the level of damage that might have otherwise occurred—it is a risk management strategy.” Nevertheless, the concept of adaptation is not a straight path to a solution, he said; rather, it is a way of “muddling through” by means of trial and error.

A prime example of the current effects of climate change and of the attempts of engineers to adapt to them is provided by the disappearing glaciers in the Andes. “These glaciers provide an important economic and environmental service in the Andes. They are the source of water for human consumption, for ecosystem integrity, for power supply, and for agriculture,” said Walter Vergara, the lead engineer for environmentally and socially sustainable development in the World Bank’s Latin American and Caribbean division. The glaciers have been receding since the 1970s, and they are projected to disappear within the next few decades, according to Vergara. As a result, the surrounding vegetation, which includes the unique Andes wetlands, is likely to wither and disappear, he said, affecting the lives of more than 100 million people, disrupting the area’s entire ecosystem, and making the region more susceptible to fire. To adapt to the loss of these glaciers in Peru and Bolivia, the World Bank is currently tapping new water sources, creating new reservoirs, implementing new agricultural management plans for the valleys and glacial basins, and improving water supplies, Vergara explained.

For civil engineers in the United States to understand how to adapt to climate change through sustainable engineering, changes will be needed in engineering education. However, as explained by Cliff Davidson, Ph.D., M.ASCE, a professor of sustainable engineering at Carnegie Mellon University and the director of the Center for Sustainable Engineering there, “virtually all of the engineers in this country have never been trained in the principles of sustainability.”  To help surmount this obstacle, he argued, the principles of climate change should be integrated as examples in such required courses as chemistry, earth sciences, economics, and statistics.

The obstacles that engineers encounter in addressing climate change are not just in education. For federal agencies, the issue is extremely complicated, according to Eugene Z. Stakhiv, Ph.D., a senior international water adviser for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Institute for Water Resources. Many federal agencies do not “see eye to eye on what the solutions are” or agree on the problems associated with climate change, he said, adding by way of example that “the [Environmental Protection Agency] has an entirely different view of how to go about doing adaptation to climate change.”
Stakhiv also contended that the civil engineering profession and such organizations as asce should convert conventional standards into risk-based standards. “A public engineering organization has evaluation and decision criteria imposed on [it] by Congress. So [the Corps] does not develop...any of these standards. It has to come from the engineering profession,” he said.

On a global scale, the challenge in adapting to climate change is chiefly financial, according to Dominic Waughray, the head of environmental initiatives for the World Economic Forum, which is headquartered in Geneva. “There is plenty of money in the world, even now,” he asserted, but the challenge, he said, is that many projects that hold promise for addressing climate change are in developing countries, where it is difficult to procure financing. To overcome these obstacles, the forum works to foster public-private partnerships that promote the goals of sustainable development. 

—Brett Hansen

I recently made the statement that modern civilization does not and cannot exist without civil engineers. Every aspect of life is supported by a system of basic facilities that makes it possible for people to live and work in a safe, secure environment. We lump all of these facilities into a single word: infrastructure. To be more accurate, we could say that civil engineers provide the basic quality of life for every community. I hope that you will grasp the significance of your contribution to your community.

Many of you know me as the ABC president. Contrary to what you may have heard, I really do know the rest of the alphabet. The purpose of my abc message is to help us stay focused on the goals that we have set for this year. This column will focus on my B—that is, benefits. With clouds on the economic horizon, I thought this would be a good time to remind you of some benefits of ASCE membership that you may have missed.

There are many reasons to be an ASCE member, and these reasons become more compelling in tough economic times. ASCE helps you position yourself in the face of a changing economy. If you need to make your next career move, ASCE’s Career Connections has vast resources that can help you find new employment. Get tips on starting a job search, benchmark your salary goals using our salary survey, or post your résumé to connect with employers. If you are the owner of a firm or an executive of a firm, you can recruit employees through this pool, the nation’s largest, of résumés of professional engineers.

How can you make your career more secure? One way is by keeping your civil engineering skills sharp. ASCE offers more than 500 continuing education courses and workshops each year. Our webinars enable you to save by obviating the need to incur travel costs. We also provide distance learning programs on DVD and CD. Our live, face-to-face training is available around the country. Members can earn continuing education units (convertible to professional development hours, or PDHs) to help meet state requirements for renewing professional engineering licenses, such renewal now being required in 33 states. Members can also take review courses to help them prepare for the Fundamentals of Engineering Exam or the Principles and Practice of Engineering Exam. New, on-demand courses will be available soon.

Another way to ensure that your technical skills are properly honed is to take advantage of free membership in any one of our eight technical institutes. In this way you receive two memberships for the price of one, and those who wish to join more than one institute may do so at extremely affordable rates. Our institutes promote advances in practice, policy, and education by expanding the boundaries of technical knowledge in eight areas of specialization. ASCE also offers specialty certification programs in such areas as water resources and building security to ensure that your expertise has the high profile it deserves.

ASCE’s conferences are a gateway to specialty and technical information. Members attend at special prices, and by participating they not only help to define common problems and develop solutions but also obtain specialty information that can help them maintain their expertise in particular fields. You also have opportunities through ASCE to submit technical papers to share your findings, advance your career, and earn recognition for your work.

ASCE will soon launch a downloadable widget for your desktop that will give you access to the ASCE Research Library. More than 1,200 technical publications, journals, standards, and manuals of practice are available to you at special member prices. ASCE is the single largest publisher of technical information on civil engineering in the world. Visit our Web site (www.pubs.asce.org) to review the titles that interest you most.

Through ASCE you can also develop leadership and communication skills that will set you apart. Active involvement in our sections, branches, and committees gives you an opportunity to meet other professionals, exchange ideas, and enhance your communication and leadership skills. Sections and branches in all 50 states and more than 12 countries host meetings and conduct programs. Our activities at the local level also concern themselves with infrastructure projects, public policy, and regulatory issues.

Another way of becoming a better communicator and leader is by attending one of our training workshops. In addition to the training available in our Leader Education and Development (LEAD) Program, members can participate in workshops on public relations (http://content.asce.org/prtoolkit/). Furthermore, in the activities organized each spring in connection with our Leadership Training in Government Relations Program, members learn about public policy by helping to shape it through visits to their representatives and senators on Capitol Hill. All of these training opportunities are available at low member rates.

Engineers early in their careers can build networks quickly by joining one of our local younger member groups across the country. These groups make it easy to participate in community service events and social activities, network with peers, and benefit from technical seminars. In this way you grow professionally and have a good time doing it. ASCE’s recent launch of a facility called eCareerMentor (http://careers.asce.org/ementor/) makes it possible for new engineers to benefit from the experience of others. Practicing engineers pass on knowledge they’ve gathered over the years to help young engineers through the early stages of their careers. Mentors and protégés are matched by interests and goals.

When it comes to personal finances, we have programs to help individuals save. Members receive competitive group rates on a wide range of insurance services and also obtain discounts on credit cards and car rentals. One side benefit is that revenue generated helps lower the cost of dues by more than $35 per member. I really like a program that saves you money on both ends of the transaction.

Enjoy the many benefits you have as an ASCE member, and experience the B in ABC. In an uncertain economy, you definitely want to take full advantage. You may be surprised at how valuable our programs are. ASCE is proud to include you in our membership, and we want you to get as much value as possible from being part of this great organization.  

—D. Wayne Klotz, P.E., D.WRE, F.ASCE

In light of today’s crumbling infrastructure and struggling economy, the civil engineering industry needs intelligent and innovative individuals to enter its workforce, and the need may be greater now than at any time in our nation’s history. Yet many students choose other fields because they perceive them as being more exciting or more lucrative. At this year’s ceo Forum, which was held on November 7 as part of ASCE’s 138th Annual Civil Engineering Conference, five prominent leaders of the engineering community discussed the industry’s workforce and its uncertain future. The event was hosted by ASCE’s Industry Leaders Council (ILS), a new entity designed to bring leaders of the civil engineering profession together to develop strategies for improving the civil engineering industry.

Senior leaders from industry, academia, and government will, as part of the ILS, help to define issues and related strategies that have an important bearing on civil engineering. The ILS will also promote innovation within the industry and assume the responsibilities previously shouldered by the Civil Engineering Forum for Innovation (CEFI), which was recently dissolved (see “Board of Direction Votes to Integrate CEFI Programs into ASCE,” ASCE News, September 2008, page 9). The Board of Direction will formally vote on the new organization in January.

“We are the pipeline of the future,” said Dianne Dorland, Ph.D., p.e., a ceo panelist and the dean of the College of Engineering at Rowan University, referring to engineering education. To encourage students to pursue careers in engineering, the stereotype that portrays engineers as “nerdy and boring” needs to be changed, she said. “Building is extremely important to civil engineers, but we have to infuse into our conversations that engineers create, not just build.... We have to focus on images of people, not things.”

Robert “Bob” Luffy, P.E., M.ASCE, also a panelist and the president and chief executive officer of the American Bridge Company, of Coraopolis, Pennsylvania, agreed with Dorland and emphasized the importance of acquainting youngsters with the challenges and opportunities afforded by a career in engineering. “Until we get people interested in engineering at the grade school level and get people into high schools who can instruct our best and brightest...it is not going to change,” he said.

Once students choose engineering as a field, they must be able to learn how to address the unknown challenges of the future, Dorland argued, stressing that students should be more actively educated. “Students have to know that as engineers they are creative problem solvers,” she said. “We have to deliver that education in an active forum, a hands-on forum.”

Civil engineering graduates who are seeking employment are looking beyond salary, asserted Luffy. Rather, he said, they are looking for work that will be challenging and interesting. They also look carefully at the training that will be offered by their employers. Civil engineering graduates, he said, “have a lot of reservations, and they want to know that somebody is going to take them by the hand and develop their full potential.”

One of the reasons that students are not attracted to civil engineering is the “culture in our firms today,” said Celestino R. “Chuck” Pennoni, P.E., L.S., F.ASCE, another panelist as well as a president emeritus of ASCE and the chairman of Philadelphia-based Pennoni Associates. Pennoni said that this culture does not enable firms to earn enough to support training and other programs that make the field more desirable. Proposals that are submitted to clients, for example, are “bare bones” and do not provide for a “culture in the workplace to attract the best and brightest,” he said. In his opinion, to change the culture, the profession—including clients—will have to move away from standardizing the services that civil engineers provide.

The remaining panelists, H. Daniel Cessna, P.E., a district executive with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, and James A. Rispoli, P.E., F.ASCE, the U.S. assistant secretary of energy, urged more participation by civil engineers to promote civil engineering as a service to the community rather than just a career. Few industries have as much effect on the community as does civil engineering, said Cessna, adding that “I don’t know that we do as good a job promoting that as we need to.” Rispoli called on all of the civil engineers in the audience to select high schools in their neighborhoods and to set up booths there for their job fairs. “Show these people that [civil engineering] is not dry, that it is not boring,” he urged. 

—Brett Hansen

SITUATION: ASCE’s Committee on Professional Conduct (CPC) received a letter from the owner of a consulting engineering firm accusing a former employee of unethical conduct. The letter stated that the employee, a civil engineer and ASCE member, had recently left the owner’s consulting firm without notice and had persuaded several of the firm’s clients to terminate their contracts with the firm and retain him to finish the work. The owner alleged that the employee had actively solicited the firm’s clients to make this move while still employed at the consulting firm, actions that “set the stage” for his abrupt departure and move into private practice. Believing that the engineer had exerted “undue influence” on the firm’s clients, the owner requested that the CPC investigate the matter and noted that he had already filed a complaint with the state licensing board.

QUESTION: Did the engineer’s actions in persuading clients of his employer’s firm to cancel their contracts with the firm and follow him to his private practice violate ASCE’s Code of Ethics? 

DISCUSSION: The CPC considered this complaint in the light of canon 3 of the code, which at the time of the investigation dictated that no ASCE member was to “attempt to supplant another engineer in a particular engagement after definite steps [had] been taken toward his employment.” While this canon was subsequently removed from the code because of concerns that it might be seen as unlawfully prohibiting price competition (see  the March 2007 column for more information), it is interesting to note that the former employee’s conduct might still constitute an ethics violation under the code as it exists today.

Canon 4 of the code reads as follows: “Engineers shall act in professional matters for each employer or client as faithful agents or trustees, and shall avoid conflicts of interest.” This canon underlines the engineer’s duty to be loyal to his or her employer, as well as an obligation to act in the best interests of the employer, without regard to personal interest.

When contacted by the CPC, the member denied having persuaded his former employer’s clients to cancel their contracts with the employer’s firm. He admitted that he had left the consulting firm without notice but contended that he had done so only because of the owner’s long-standing failure to fulfill a number of promises made to him as enticement to join the firm. The employee said that he had taken away only a small number of assignments in which he had been heavily involved and that the clients in each instance had expressly asked him to continue as their engineer until the work was completed.
A significant hurdle in the CPC’s investigation of this case was the absence of any disinterested sources of information. The majority of “evidence” submitted consisted of letters from the complaining party and the accused member, each replete with heated language and charges of unprofessional conduct. One of the clients involved in the controversy reconsidered its decision to give work to the employee and reestablished a contractual relationship with the consulting firm. Other clients supported the employee, citing his familiarity with the work and his availability as reasons for transferring their assignments to him.

After examining the available information at length, the CPC determined that it was unable to establish the truth of either party’s account of the circumstances. The members of the CPC felt that the evidence presented was insufficient to establish a finding that anyone had violated the Code of Ethics. The CPC voted to dismiss the complaint and to send a letter to both parties notifying them of its decision and stating its belief that neither party had acted in a way that was wholly appropriate.

Some employers attempt to address such issues as this at the very onset of an individual’s employment by means of a noncompete agreement. While many courts, citing a public policy against restricting a person’s future employment opportunities, are reluctant to enforce these agreements and while potential employees may be put off by the requirement to sign one, a well-written agreement can be useful in making it clear to both parties what is expected of the employee after the end of the employment relationship. The best noncompete agreement is one that is narrowly tailored to the company’s reasonable needs, both from the employee’s perspective, to prevent an agreement that could threaten his or her livelihood after employment, and from the employer’s perspective, to limit the possibility that a court of law may decline to enforce an agreement seen as overly broad.

In the absence of a noncompete agreement, engineers leaving a place of employment are encouraged to remember that their ethical obligations to their employers require proper treatment of the employers’ proprietary information and resources, along with disclosure of any conflicts of interest.

Fellows Elected
The following members were elected fellows of the Society in recent months. ASCE fellows are legally registered professional engineers or land surveyors who have made significant technical or professional contributions and have demonstrated notable achievement in responsible charge of engineering activity for at least 10 years following election to the ASCE grade of member. Fellows occupy the Society’s second-highest membership grade, exceeded only by distinguished members.

Jean-Guy L. Béliveau, Ph.D., P.E., S.E., F.ASCE, obtained a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Vermont in 1968 and a doctorate in civil engineering from Princeton University in 1974. Béliveau is currently a professor at the University of Vermont and the chair of the school’s civil and environmental engineering department. His research has focused on the use of measured vibrations and concepts of structural dynamics to assess structures for stiffness, stability, and strength. He has applied parameter estimation techniques to, among other structures, suspension bridges, tall buildings, and barn roof trusses, and the applications have involved modal testing methods as well as measurements of resonant frequencies to determine axial compression in rails and tension in the iron bars of wood and iron trusses. He has also used vibration and system identification techniques to determine the aerodynamic coefficients of suspension bridges. Béliveau has taught structural engineering and advised numerous graduate and undergraduate students both academically and professionally throughout his career, both in Canada and at the University of Vermont. Within ASCE he has served as president of the Vermont Section and been a member of committees dealing with structural stability and the structural identification of constructed facilities. A licensed professional engineer in Canada and a licensed structural engineer in Vermont, he has more than 60 technical publications to his credit, including more than 20 journal publications and more than 20 technical reports.

Paul L. Freedman, P.E., F.ASCE, received a bachelor’s degree in 1972 and a master’s degree in 1973, both in civil engineering, from the University of Michigan. Freedman is the founder and president of LimnoTech, a firm nationally recognized for expertise in water environmental issues. Since the company’s inception, in 1975, he has provided guidance and leadership in developing capabilities and expertise in a variety of water science and engineering areas at the forefront of the water quality field. In addition to his leadership role, he provides LimnoTech with special technical expertise; indeed, from the outset of his technical career he has focused on the development and application of computer simulations for rivers, lakes, and estuaries, as well as for watershed management. He helped pioneer methods for probabilistic modeling to assess uncertainty and variability and for continuous simulations for long-term forecasting. Freedman is also a nationally recognized expert in a range of environmental topics, including water quality analysis, conventional and toxic National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permitting, total maximum daily load development, watershed management, computer modeling, adaptive management, use attainability analysis, wet-weather assessment and control, and the fate and transport of toxic pollutants in the environment. A licensed professional engineer in Michigan, Ohio, and Maryland, Freedman has more than 20 years of experience in groundwater contamination, modeling, site remediation, remedial action planning, and regulatory compliance.

R.B.M. Gunawardena, F.ASCE, obtained a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering in 1991 and a postgraduate diploma in highway and traffic engineering in 1996 from the University of Moratuwa, in Sri Lanka, and in 2001 he earned a diploma in business management. He currently serves as the general manager of Luminex, Ltd., which is part of the Luminex Group and specializes in the construction of telecommunications infrastructure. Before joining Luminex, Gunawardena was the general manager of RN Constructions, Ltd., where he was responsible for the oversight of several multimillion-dollar projects, the evaluation of bid proposals submitted by specialist subcontractors, and the implementation of standards in the area of quality management set by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), in particular, ISO 9001:2000. Gunawardena also oversaw the rehabilitation of 40 km of roadway in Sri Lanka, including edge correction, the construction of base with dense graded aggregates, asphalt concrete surfacing, shoulder construction, and road signs.

Kurt D. Gustafson, P.E., S.E., F.ASCE, obtained a bachelor’s degree in architecture in 1966 and a master’s degree in architectural engineering in 1968 from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Gustafson is currently the director of technical assistance at the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC), where his primary responsibilities involve directing the activities of the technical assistance department in answering inquiries from engineers, architects, fabricators, contractors, and others who use the AISC’s Steel Solutions Center. Before joining AISC, Gustafson was the principal for Tylk, Gustafson and Associates, providing consulting structural engineering services on a national and global level. Through his active participation and contributions to numerous committees within AISC, ASCE, and the latter’s Structural Engineering Institute, in particular, the institute’s Methods of Design Committee, he has contributed significantly to the development of codes and standards used throughout the structural engineering profession. His focus has been on the design of steel structures and, most recently, on provisions for mitigating progressive collapse. With a specialization in structural steel erection procedures, Gustafson helped resolve lifting problems encountered in removing debris from Ground Zero after the terrorist attacks in New York City on September 11, 2001. Gustafson has a number of publications to his credit and is a licensed professional engineer in seven states and a licensed structural engineer in Illinois.

Hong Hao, Ph.D., F.ASCE, received a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Tianjin University, in China, in 1982. He then earned a master’s degree in structural engineering from the University of California at Berkeley in 1985 and a doctorate there, also in structural engineering, in 1989. Hao is a professor of structural dynamics at the University of Western Australia, where he also chairs the School of Civil and Resource Engineering. His research focuses on structural dynamics and random vibrations and their application to various engineering problems, as well as on blast engineering and structural condition monitoring. He has more than 400 technical publications to his credit, including 150 journal papers, 200 conference papers, 60 technical reports, and 9 edited books. His work in blast engineering has been incorporated into the design code used by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in constructing underground ammunition magazines. Before joining the University of Western Australia, Hao was an associate professor in Singapore at the Nanyang Technological University. There he was the principal investigator and leader of various projects for Singapore’s Defense Science and Technology Agency. He has also been a member of the editorial board of the International Journal of Engineering Structures and a reviewer for several ASCE journals. His other contributions include serving as treasurer of the committee that founded the ASCE international group in Australia.

Vijay G. Panchang, Ph.D., P.E., F.ASCE, earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Poona (now the University of Pune), in India, in 1980 and then obtained a master’s degree and a doctorate in civil engineering from the University of Maine at Orono in respectively 1982 and 1985. He is currently a professor at Texas A&M University at Galveston, where he heads the maritime systems engineering department and the marine engineering technology department. Previously he was a faculty member at the University of Maine, where in 1992 he received an award from the College of Engineering for outstanding research accomplishments. Panchang has made significant research and development contributions in a variety of areas of engineering, among them harbor wave predictions, coastal wave hindcasting and forecasting, bridge scour modeling, aquaculture-related environmental engineering, satellite data analysis for engineering applications, artificial neural networks, Gulf of Mexico hurricane waves, and inverse modeling for coastal circulation models, and his work has been described in several journal papers. One of his most significant contributions has been the development of the harbor wave prediction model CGWAVE, which is used by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, consulting engineers, and academic institutions in many countries. Panchang has served on the editorial board of ASCE’s Journal of Waterway, Port, Coastal, and Ocean Engineering since 1996, and his efforts have been recognized with the Society’s Richard R. Torrens Award. A licensed professional engineer in Texas, he has more than 80 technical publications and presentations to his credit.

W.M. Sarath C. Piyadasa, F.ASCE, earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Peradeniya, in Sri Lanka, in 1975 and a master’s degree in construction management from the University of Moratuwa, also in Sri Lanka, in 1994. He also obtained a postgraduate diploma in economics from Sri Lanka’s University of Colombo in 1997 and a bachelor’s degree in law from the Open University of Sri Lanka in 1999. Piyadasa currently works in Colombo as the general manager of the Central Engineering Consultancy Bureau. There he is responsible for consultancy services provided in the fields of water resources planning, hydropower, irrigation, highways, railways, ports, coastal water supply, and environmental engineering. His duties include the management of several large engineering projects—including a project in the Maldives for Maldives Marine Cement Ltd.—various feasibility and prefeasibility studies, and project performance evaluations, including postimplementation reviews. Piyadasa was also the deputy project manager of the joint venture CNEC, which was formed to undertake the feasibility study and prepare tender documents for a hydropower project that was to have a weir 40 m high, 18 km of tunnels, and an underground power station with an installed capacity of 150 MW. He has coauthored several articles and is a licensed professional engineer in the United Kingdom.

Michael A. Schenk, P.E., F.ASCE, obtained a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Central Florida in 1980. He currently serves as the director of civil engineering for the Lakeland, Florida, office of Keith and Schnars, P.A., where he is responsible for the preparation of design plans, specifications, contract documents, cost estimates, and engineering reports for a variety of projects. He is also involved in marketing, preparing requests for proposals, and mentoring junior engineering staff members. Before joining Keith and Schnars, he was a project director with Greenborne & O’Mara, Inc., in West Palm Beach, Florida, where he participated in the weekly transportation meetings held by the City of West Palm Beach to review all roadway construction work as it related to utility work in the city. Schenk was also the president and owner of M.A. Schenk & Associates, Inc., which for five years was the primary consultant to the housing authorities of the Florida communities of Pahokee and Riviera Beach. He also played a vital role in securing a $1.6-million grant from Rural Development—a body within the U.S. Department of Agriculture—that was used to upgrade Pahokee’s wastewater treatment plant. A licensed professional engineer in Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina, Schenk has more than 27 years of engineering experience in water distribution, wastewater collection systems, wastewater force mains, and pump stations.

Song-Kai Yan, Ph.D., P.E., P.H., F.ASCE, earned a bachelor’s degree in hydraulic engineering and construction in China in 1964, a master’s degree in civil engineering from Colorado State University in 1983, and a doctorate in civil and environmental engineering from Louisiana State University in 1989. He is currently the senior staff consultant and director of hydrology and hydraulics at Shaw Environmental & Infrastructure, Inc., where he specializes in surface water hydrology and hydraulics modeling and in hydraulic engineering design. In carrying out projects he has worked with various state and federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Department of Defense, and the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development. Aside from his work with Shaw Environmental & Infrastructure, Yan is an adjunct professor of engineering at Louisiana State University and a member of the committee that advises the civil and environmental engineering department there. He has taught courses on water distribution and wastewater collection, hydrology, and hydraulics. As a licensed professional engineer in Louisiana and a professional hydrologist, Yan has done extensive work on the land subsidence problem afflicting New Orleans, and his predictions on subsidence go back nearly two decades before Hurricane Katrina and the devastating flooding it brought.

Fellow applications may be obtained from ASCE’s world headquarters, in Reston, Virginia, by calling (800) 548-2723, extension 6289. From outside the country, the number is (703) 295-6289. The e-mail address is fellows@asce.org. The application may be found on the Web at www.asce.org/pdf/fellowmemapp.pdf. Completed applications may be submitted online at www.asce.org/membership/fellowgrade.cfm (click on “Online ASCE Fellow Application”). Questions concerning fellow guidelines (including guideline waiver inquiries) or the application process may be directed to Patrick Ballou, the applications coordinator, at (703) 295-6169 or pballou@asce.org. Completed applications are reviewed monthly by the Membership Application Review Committee.

Anticorruption Initiative Premieres Ethicana 

Corruption in engineering and construction has become a significant global burden, costing approximately $500 billion annually. As a way of combating this scourge, the Anti-Corruption Education and Training Initiative (ACET) has produced the film Ethicana, which was shown in Pittsburgh on November 6 as part of a program of international activities that preceded ASCE’s annual conference. A dramatization of the ethical dilemmas that confront those working in engineering and construction around the world, Ethicana is designed to foster discussion in corporate or university training programs.

In discussing the reasons for producing the film, D. Wayne Klotz, P.E., D.WRE, F.ASCE, the Society’s new president, pointed out that corruption occurs irrespective of geographic location, level of development, or type of government. He also noted that significantly more funds would be available for the construction of schools, hospitals, water treatment facilities, and roads “if corruption were reduced or eliminated.”

As civil engineers “we are part of the most corrupt industry in the world,” said William P. Henry, P.E., D.WRE, F.ASCE, a president emeritus of ASCE, at the premiere. “Half of the total corruption in the world is in the construction industry,” he said. Henry defined corruption as “two people making one bad decision” and said that Ethicana would help all engineers understand the issues related to corruption and provide them with the tools necessary to address those issues. “We are going to see civil engineering practiced on a global scale like we’ve never seen before. If we want the American engineers to have their fair share of this global market, we have to do something to level the playing field, to take corruption out of the equation for getting work and for doing work,” Henry argued.

The film depicts several firms that do business within a country named Ethicana. Corruption and bribery on various levels are shown in scenes involving employees of the firms, government officials, and representatives of other organizations and groups. The film offers a number of examples, showing not just officials who expect to receive monetary gifts but also cases of simple bribery of the local residents so that the firms can use ports and roads without difficulty. Ethicana is designed to “promote greater ethical decision making among professionals in those fields” and to help those professionals “avoid falling prey to corruption” and to “have the moral courage to expose it,” according to a statement on the film’s Web site, http://content.asce.org/ethicana/ethicana.htm.

The ACET is a consortium of 12 bodies, including ASCE, and the Society’s Committee on Global Principles for Professional Conduct is particularly active in its affairs. To view an excerpt of the film or obtain additional information about the ACET, visit the Web site given above.

TCLEE Delegation Attends Conference In Beijing, Holds Workshop In Chengdu

Delegates from ASCE’s Technical Council on Lifeline Earthquake Engineering (TCLEE) attended the 14th World Conference on Earthquake Engineering, which was held in Beijing October 12–17. They also conducted a workshop in Chengdu, China, on lifeline damage and measures to mitigate it. Chengdu is in the province of Sichuan, which in May of this year experienced an earthquake that leveled cities, cut off lifelines, and claimed the lives of approximately 87,000 people.

As part of the conference, Alex Tang, P.E., F.ASCE, conducted a special ASCE session on the repair and restoration of lifeline systems. The session addressed various aspects of earthquake damage and made recommendations for mitigating damage and making future construction more robust.

Tang was also on hand for the workshop in Chengdu, which sought to distill the lessons learned from the earthquake this year. He was joined by Curtis Edwards, F.ASCE, a vice president of Psomas Engineering, of Los Angeles; John M. Eidinger, P.E., M.ASCE, the president of G&E Engineering Systems, Inc., of Oakland, California; and Del A. Shannon, m.ASCE, an engineer with Black & Veatch, of Denver. Also in attendance were Manchao He, a professor at the China University of Mining and Technology, and Zhirong Mei, a professor and the general manager of the China Railway Engineering Corporation’s Southwest Research Institute. The Chinese professors discussed landslide predictions and the effects of the 2008 earthquake on lifelines. The workshop was attended by more than 50 local engineers.

Mei and He also helped to plan field trips into the Sichuan earthquake zone, where the team obtained a firsthand look at the devastation. The temblor destroyed thousands of structures and induced hundreds of landslides and rockfalls that blocked roads. The team documented landslide damage and examined a major surface fault that experienced more than 20 ft (6.1 m) of horizontal displacement and approximately 10 ft (3.1 m) of vertical displacement.

For additional information about the TCLEE and its delegation’s visit to China, contact Tenzing Barshee, the coordinator for ASCE’s technical activities, by telephone at (703) 295-6115 or via e-mail at tbarshee@asce.org.