Orange County Branch Newsletter

August 2017

CI Summit 2017

Attendees Network and Share Ideas on Building the Future


CI Summit Attendees pose on the span of the Gerald Desmond Bridge replacement project

More than 200 people from across the U.S. and 11 foreign countries gathered in Southern California for CI Summit 2017. CI is grateful to the volunteers, attendees, sponsors and exhibitors who made the summit a success!

The steering committee, led by Dan Becker as Chair and Craig Ruyle as Co-Chair, along with Orange County Local Chair Thomas Broz and committee members Juliet Su of Transportation Corridor Agencies and Valerie Largin of Western Council of Construction Consumers, coordinated a program of technical sessions on a wide variety of topics, exploring current and future issues in the construction industry, including a pre-conference workshop on new technologies being used to facilitate projects, such as 3D imaging and drones, among others.

One of the most impactful sessions was the panel discussion with women leaders in transportation, provided by partner organization WTS. A number of attendees appreciated the career advice offered by the panelists, much which could be applied to other professions, in addition to engineering and construction.

WCCC presented a panel of Los Angeles-area owners at the opening plenary breakfast. 

Another well-received session presented findings of an ongoing study of how the construction industry can mitigate the craft labor shortage by, among other things, encouraging a return of career and technical education to secondary schools.

CI's Claims Avoidance and Resolution Committee also provided an informative and entertaining mock mediation to walk attendees through the process of seeking a claim resolution without resorting to a trial or arbitration.

This year's conference also included a "legal affairs and dispute resolution" track - look for publication of the manuscripts in a future issue of the ASCE/CI Journal of Legal Affairs and Dispute Resolution in Engineering and Construction.  

A group of conference participants were also treated to an insider tour of the Gerald Desmond Bridge replacement project in the Port of Long Beach, given by Project Manager Bob Schraeder, who also presented a technical session on the project.

For video highlights and session videos please click the links to see the CI's Vimeo site.

Mark your calendar for CI Summit 2018, March 1-3 in Fort Worth, Texas.

This article was written by Laura Ciampa, Manager, Communications and Media Production Construction Institute for the American Society of Civil Engineers

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