Orange County Branch Newsletter

May 2019

ASCE OC YMF

Mentorship Program Mid-Year Check-In Event

By Bryant Wong, PE, ENV SP, F. ASCE | Mentorship Program Committee Advisor



A lively discussion and a valuable exchange of ideas took place at the Mentorship Program Mid-Year Check-In Event on April 10, 2019 at the PACE facilities in Fountain Valley.  Twenty-five mentors, protégés, and Mentorship Committee members participated in the evening activities.  After self-introductions, co-chairs Paul Gabot and Marlo Maynigo led the evening’s program that included a preview of upcoming ASCE events, a review of past mentorship activities, and a reminder of upcoming mentorship meetings and events.  Then attendees were divided into two groups of protégés and two groups of mentors and discussed lessons learned, different mentoring styles, suggestions for the mentorship program, types of advice given and received, mentoring activities, and other related topics.

Examples of some of the lessons learned from their current mentor-protégé experience include:

  • Listening more and trying not to drive the discussion.
  • Asking the right questions to draw out self-discovery.
  • Importance of prioritizing goals and time management.
  • Appreciating differences and commonalities of motivations and values between different generations of engineers.
  • Taking notes during mentoring sessions and checking up on follow-through of previous sessions.

Special thanks to PACE Advanced Water Engineering for graciously lending its facilities for this event and for sponsoring dinner for the group.

Upcoming events include the July 2019 Mentorship Panel Discussion that is open to all ASCE members (not just participants of the current Mentorship Program).  This is a first-time ASCE event added to bring focus to the importance of mentoring to professional careers.  Additional details on the Mentorship Panel Discussion are forthcoming in the next Newsletter.

In August, the current Mentorship Program will conclude with the Year-end Banquet as its final group event.  Also that month, an announcement inviting ASCE members interested in participating in the 2019-2020 Mentorship Program will appear in the Newsletter. 

2018-2019 ASCE OC YMF Mentorship Program Committee Chairs, Members, Mentors, and Protégés

About the Author

Bryant Wong is Senior Consultant in environmental engineering at Polytechnique Environmental. He has been active in ASCE for over 40 years starting as a student member. This year he is serving as an advisor to the Mentorship Committee. Bryant can be reached on LinkedIn.


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