Orange County Branch Newsletter

November 2012

President's Message

The Mother Ship

By Tapas Dutta, PE



Founded in 1852, with 12 Founding Members, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) represents more than 140,000 members of the civil engineering profession worldwide and is America's oldest national engineering society.  In September of this year I traveled to the ASCE headquarters in Reston, Virginia to attend the President & Governors Forum (PGF), partially designed to serve as orientation for incoming Presidents. 

The headquarters building, owned by ASCE, is a five storied building (plus a basement).  ASCE staff of over 200 inhabits all but one floor which is leased out.  They provide support to over 400 local affiliate organizations, including 91 Sections, 156 Branches and 284 Younger Member Groups.

ASCE moved in to this current building in the summer of 1996.  Prior to that, ASCE headquarters were in various locations in New York, starting with a two-room suite.

The PGF was attended by about 100 of ASCE’s leaders including two from outside the USA.  It was a very interesting glimpse into the activities the various chapters and branches engage in for the members.  As may be expected, the challenging economy was a common refrain and ASCE has been affected by it as well.   As part of the “Best Practices” break out session, Penny Lew, PE, our Vice-President and I made a presentation focused on Communication.  Click here to view the presentation.

ASCE has three major goals that it asks its members to support.  They are:

  • Infrastructure
  • Sustainability
  • Raising the Bar

 I will address each of these individually in future articles.

 Some of the major areas that ASCE contributes towards our profession include:

  •  Engineering Programs: Each year, more than 6,000 civil engineering professionals contribute volunteer technical expertise that benefits the Society and the profession through participation on ASCE technical committees.  
  •  Professional Activities: ASCE is dedicated to helping its members navigate the issues currently affecting the profession, including licensure, ethics, employment, business practices, global principles for professional conduct, career development, community service, leadership and management.  
  •  Educational Activities: ASCE developed the Civil Engineering Body of Knowledge for the 21st Century: Preparing the Civil Engineer for the Future, which aims to elevate the educational prerequisites needed before an engineer can take the licensure exam and practice professionally. As a member of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, Inc. (ABET), ASCE develops specific program criteria used in the civil engineering and civil engineering technology accreditation processes.  
  •  Publications: ASCE is the world’s largest publisher of civil engineering information – producing more than 55,000 pages of technical content each year. The ASCE Publications Division produces professional journals (available both in print and online editions), conference proceedings, standards, manuals of practice, committee reports and monographs under the ASCE Press imprint. The 200,000-entry civil engineering database is available at pubs.asce.org, along with many other resources, including a complete publications catalog and the ASCE Online Research Library (ascelibrary.org), which provides access to more than 650,000 pages of journal articles and proceedings. 
  • Conferences and Continuing Education: Each year, more than 55,000 engineers earn Continuing Education Units (CEUs) and/or Professional Development Hours (PDHs) by participating in ASCE’s continuing education programs. ASCE hosts more than 15 annual and specialty conferences, more than 275 continuing education seminars, and more than 250 live web seminars. In addition, ASCE offers customized on-site training, hundreds of distance learning programs (including on-demand, online courses and courses on CD/DVD) and live P.E. Exam Review courses on the web. 
  • Government Relations: ASCE is a strong advocate for civil engineering and infrastructure-related issues. The Society’s federal priority issues are clean water, drinking water and wastewater, natural hazards mitigation and infrastructure security; qualifications based selection (QBS) for engineering services; STEM education; sustainable development and sustainable energy use, and transportation. 
  • Public Relations: ASCE maintains an award-winning program devoted to enhancing public awareness and understanding of civil engineering and its impact on society. Stories featuring ASCE and its members have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, USA Today, The Washington Post, Business Week, the Los Angeles Times, Engineering News-Record, and on National Public Radio, NBC’s Today Show and the CBS Evening News, among many others. Through its Report Card for America’s Infrastructure, ASCE has become widely recognized for its efforts to engage the public as informed advocates for the renewal and development of America’s public works. 
  • Honors and Awards: ASCE recognizes members through awards for their commitment and accomplishments in public service, leadership and management. ASCE instituted the OPAL Awards program in 2000 to recognize the lifetime, individual achievements of civil engineers, as well as to showcase the exemplary civil engineering projects honored through the Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement (OCEA) awards. Information on ASCE’s more than 80 national awards, including the prestigious Distinguished Membership, can be found at www.asce.org/pressroom/honors.  
  • International Activities: ASCE is committed to sharing and growing the civil engineering body of knowledge worldwide. The Society serves approximately 14,000 international members, has Agreements of Cooperation with 72 engineering organizations in 59 countries, and supports 15 International Sections and 18 International Groups. ASCE also represents the interests of the U.S. civil engineering community as a coalition member, of such groups as the World Federation of Engineering Organizations and the Pan American Federation of Engineering Associations.  

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