Orange County Branch Newsletter

July 2015

Secretary's Column

Part 1 of a 7-Part Series on Ways to Volunteer

By Greg Henk, PE

Part 1 - Ways to Volunteer

ASCE-OC has an active and growing program through which its members can volunteer.  We have outreach involving K-12 students (primarily through the YMF) including classroom presentations, OC Academic Decathlon participation, OC Science and Engineering Fair judging and STEM support.  We are working with the San Diego Zoo’s Safari Park to retrofit railings on four existing bridges – this involves design, contracting and CM as well as an upcoming work weekend to complete the construction.  We are working jointly with Engineers Without Boundaries to add sanitary improvements to their existing home building work in Tecate, Mexico; primarily through design of individual facilities.  We also are just establishing a working relationship with the National Forest (NF) Service’s Pacific Southwest Region (California and Pacific Islands) to help engineer improvements on NF land and to assist on weekend construction projects, potentially with disadvantaged youths from the metropolitan areas.  These projects provide needed improvements, are self-rewarding and also show our communities the capabilities of engineers and our support for their needs.  Please let me know if you are interested in participating in such outreach programs –  GregoryHenk@Gmail.com

ACTIVITIES

The San Diego Zoo’s Safari Park Bridge Railings retrofit project is advancing through the conceptual design of alternative railings including steel and wood, as well as an assessment of the crash worthiness of these concepts.

Corazon is a home building program in Mexico.  EWB-OC and ASCE-OC have agreed to help develop a Sanitation element to the homes (both new and retrofit) and for their developing community centers in Tecate, Mexico.  The next meeting is on July 7th.

The US National Forest Service has agreed to partner with ASCE-OC and EWB-OC (through the Community Engineering Corps partnership program) to engineer needed improvements for facilities that might otherwise not be improved.  In addition we have agreed to provide volunteer working groups for day-long trail and facility improvement work, possibly including overseeing disadvantaged youth work teams.  The formal agreement should be going before the ASCE-OC and EWB-OC boards in July.

Member volunteers are sought for each of these projects.  Please contact me (GregoryHenk@Gmail.com or 949-292-2505) if you are willing to help out in any capacity.

Finally, a hike is scheduled in Peters Canyon on the morning of August 15th to commemorate the ASCE-OC Historic Civil Engineering Landmark regarding the Irvine Ranch Irrigation System.  Sign up and join the fun.