Orange County Branch Newsletter

May 2023

ASCE OC YMF

Western Region Younger Member Council 2023

By Nestor Godinez, PE | ASCE OC Branch Treasurer



ASCE Orange County had the great honor of hosting the Multi-Regional Leadership Conference (MRLC) for the first time in over a decade. The MRLC was held at the Double Tree hotel in the City of Orange from February 15 to 18, 2023. Over 300 civil engineering students and professionals attended across the ten states encompassing Regions 8 and 9. The MRLC was organized by the Society’s Leader Training Committee, including OC Branch’s Past-President Ravi Shah as one of its exclusive members, the Society’s Committee on Younger Members, and OC YMF.

The western MRLC combines three concurrent conferences encompassing all levels of the ASCE membership and leadership. It includes the Workshop for Section, Branch, and Institute Leaders (WSBIL), the Western Regional Younger Member Council (WRYMC), and the Workshop for Student Chapter Leaders (WSCL). The purpose of the MRLC is to provide an opportunity for attendees to gain knowledge of social initiatives and goals and provide interactions between students, younger members, section, branch, and institute leaders while gaining personal leadership skills and learning the importance of networking.

OC YMF organized an action-packed agenda for attendees that highlighted the best Orange County offers. The agenda included social events, technical tours, speaker sessions, and the Awards Banquet. The fun social events include a visit to Disneyland, a brewery tour, a Duffy boat ride around Newport Harbor, a meet-up at the Anaheim Packing District, and a Downtown Santa Ana bar crawl. Five exciting technical tours were offered of the OC Street Car, the Yorba Linda PFAS Water Treatment Plant, the Newport Environmental Nature Center, The OCWD Groundwater Replenishment System, and the Caltrans Traffic Management Center.

The highlight of the MRCL was the WRYMC Awards Banquet which presented six awards recognizing individuals and groups who have demonstrated outstanding achievements in engineering and ASCE activities. ASCE Society President Maria Lehman and special guests Mickey and Minnie presented the awards. Orange County had a fantastic night as four of the six awards were given to Orange County. Melissa Hilsabeck won the Outstanding Young Civil Engineer in the Public Sector award. Jazzy Principe won the Outstanding Younger Member in ASCE Activities award. The 2022 Women in Construction Week, a joint event between OC YMF and the Construction Institute, won the Outstanding Younger Member Group Project award. OC YMF won the Outstanding Support of a Student Chapter for the fourth consecutive year.

This was an MRLC and especially a WRYMC that will not be forgotten by all who attended this magical event. A special thank you to all in the planning committee.

ASCE Orange County WRYMC Group Photo

WRYMC 2023 Attendees Group Photo

WRYMC 2023 Award Recipients


About the Author:

Nestor Godinez is a Senior Engineer at SLR Consulting. He is currently the ASCE OC Branch Treasurer. Nestor can be contacted via ngodinez@slrconsulting.com.