President's Blog

In September 2006, the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES) met in Anchorage where they voted in favor of a modification to their model law. The modification calls for education beyond a B.S. degree in a program accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, Inc. To meet the new requirements, a student will have to earn either a master's in engineering or 30 additional credits in upper-level undergraduate or graduate courses from approved course providers. While this change cannot take effect until 2015, ASCE has worked diligently to drum up support for this initiative. Each state has to vote to adopt this law in their respective state in order for the change to go into effect in that state.

Last month, the NCEES meeting was held in Philadelphia and during that meeting, two states, Nevada and Maine, motioned to rescind last year's vote. A fair amount of discussion followed but after a lot of hard work, the motion to rescind was defeated by a larger number of votes than voted in support of the law a year earlier. This shows that our constituency is building. But it is still clear that we do not have everyone on board.

Change brings resistance. There are still a number of people who are not convinced of the value of this change. The problem is that NCEES is bigger than just civil engineers and it includes other types of engineers and land surveyors. We have the civil engineering segment behind it, but need to go beyond only addressing our constituents. The key is to convince engineering leadership in industry, professional/technical societies and academia to get behind this issue. By banding together, we can build an even larger constituency to support a move forward with this initiative which I see as critical to our future.

How can we begin to reach these engineering leaders?  What can you do to help?

Earlier this week, I returned from a brief trip to the Netherlands to show my support of the University of Wisconsin-Madison's efforts at the 30^th Anniversary BetonKanoRace at the University of Twente in Enschede. This year marked the 20th anniversary of our formal concrete canoe competition and for the first time, the winner of the U.S. competition traveled to Enschede to compete internationally.

From day-one of the competition, both the Madison team and I discovered some major differences between the U.S. and Dutch competitions. First of all, while the U.S. competition has a 70-page guidebook outlining rules and regulations, the Dutch competition rules are outlined in only two pages! Also, the Madison canoe weighed a good 100 pounds more than many of the other canoes. While the lighter canoes tended to get a faster start, the Madison canoe required a bit more energy at the beginning of the race to overcome inertia and get it going. Another interesting aspect of this race was the lack of lanes in the water. This made it easy for boats to travel all over the water in sort of a "bumper car" fashion. At one point, a Dutch canoe collided with the Madison canoe and accidentally almost knocked one of the Madison students out of her canoe!

All in all, I had a great time at the competition and was pumped up just being around these enthusiastic and energetic students. I'm happy to say that despite the differences, the University of Wisconsin-Madison team took first place overall, with victories in five out of the six race categories. I believe that the key to their success was their ability to have a competitive strategy and operate or control their canoe, which goes to show that when you are focused, dedicated, determined and have a vision, your goals are within your reach. Events like these are invaluable and offer a great out-of-the-classroom experience for civil engineering students, and in particular, these races offered a unique opportunity to compete on an international level. All of which, I believe, helps prepare you to succeed throughout your career in civil engineering.

Which out-of-the-classroom experiences have helped shape your path in the civil engineering profession? Which skills did these experiences help you develop which served you well in the latter stages of your career?

I really enjoy good quotes that resonate with what I'm doing at a certain time or the place I am in life. If I hear or read a particular saying I like, I log it into my memory and later incorporate these sayings into my everyday conversations with people. Some of the following sayings I've collected over the years have served me well in talking about issues that affect young people. I can only hope that some of them "stuck."

1) Life is not fair or just.

2) Nothing worthwhile is ever easy.

3) The best part of life is "making it on your own."

4) Give your kids enough money to do something, but not enough to do nothing.

The last one is derived from something Warren Buffet once said about providing for your children but not so much that they don't make good decisions. Now you could say that some of these quotes are a bit negative, but I believe that they are empowering. While life might not always be fair or come easy, the harder you work, the better you can face these issues head on.Once you've "made it on your own" it is all worth it. As a mentor to young civil engineers, you might be approached with concerns about entering the workplace and how one might encounter difficulties in succeeding in something they are passionate about. I've found these pearls of wisdom have served me well in guiding young people, and I hope you can use them to help inspire our young civil engineers.

Is there a particular quote that inspires you?