Orange County Branch Newsletter
Established 1953
January 2023
President's Column
The Invisible Heroes
The Invisible Heroes
Happy New Year!
December certainly went out like a torrent and, for a good part of January, continued to overwhelm us with unprecedented rainfall, atmospheric rivers, and storm conditions. As professionals in the Civil Engineering community, these are exciting times!
While Orange County was largely spared the brunt of the storm systems compared to our neighboring counties and up into Northern California, we still received a record amount of rainfall over a short period. Thanks to everything you all do, the Orange County infrastructure system continues to operate with minimal impact. Our roads, highways, and freeways were a bit treacherous at times, but they were not inundated. Our storm drains continued to drain, and our rivers stayed within their banks. The sewer and water systems continued to serve the public. Bridges stayed in place, and buildings did not topple. Although several areas lost their footing due to erosion, efforts are underway to strengthen and rebuild.
These are the times when the public should really understand and appreciate all that civil engineers do - they should understand that we were kept safe and dry and healthy because of the systems and improvements that all of you work so hard to implement and maintain every day. The newspapers and online media should be filled with stories about young and old engineers who put in hours, days, weeks, and months to ensure that failures don’t happen in a storm event like this one. There should be acknowledgments for all engineers who were called out into the storm to inspect, modify, and improve in real-time.
That should be how it goes, but in my time working with Civil Engineers, I understand that you are a humble crowd of folks who are okay with having your hard work go largely unnoticed. After all, you know you did your job well when the problems don’t happen, and systems and structures remain, despite all the elements battling against them. And when everything works as it should, no one notices, which is precisely how it should be.
However, I appreciate these gentle reminders as I look around, and most of our communities show little damage from the past several weeks, that what you do impacts how we live and that Orange County would not be what it is without you. So even if you don’t hear it from anyone else, and the newspapers are not headlining your efforts, and social media is not calling you heroes, I thank you for all that is in me for your time, efforts, and creativity, and your problem-solving. You are the backbone of Orange County, and I look forward to reflecting on all of your successes that brought us through these times!
In Gratitude,
Jen
About the Author:
Jennifer Marks is a Vice President/Environmental Services Team Leader at Psomas and the 2022-2023 President of ASCE Orange County Branch. Jennifer can be contacted at President@ymf-oc.org.
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ASCE CSUF
Steel Bridge Team Hosts A Welding Workshop
CSUF ASCE hosted a welding workshop over the Winter Break to recruit new members to their PSWS 2023 Steel Bridge team!
By showing student members how to set up the welding equipment, put on safety gear, and use the proper welding technique, CSUF ASCE empowered them to participate in our assembly. Teaching hands-on skills like welding are essential for civil engineering students, and abilities like this will stay with them past their time on campus, whether they put their skills to work or as a reference to better understand their designs.
Thank you to the CSU Fullerton faculty for their support in using school facilities over the Winter break and for helping us have the supplies to run the Steel Bridge Team's workshop.
About the Author:
Brisa Bernal is the current Co-President of the CSUF ASCE Student Chapter. She is expected to graduate in Spring 2023 and is interested in pursuing Land Development. She has been enjoying her time on the board and looks forward to everything the rest of the school year will bring!
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ASCE CSULB
Civil Engineering United Career and Internship Fair
The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), Chi Epsilon Civil Engineering Honor Society (XE), Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE), and Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) Student Chapters at California State University, Long Beach, would like to cordially invite local civil engineering companies and public agencies to attend our Civil Engineering United Career and Internship Fair.
As a student chapter, ASCE CSULB's goal is to create an environment that promotes hands-on experience, professionalism, lifelong learning, and growth to prepare our students to become leaders in the civil engineering field. ASCE CSULB has collaborated with other student organizations through this shared purpose to organize this annual career fair for the Civil Engineering & Construction Engineering Management department at Cal State Long Beach. With our combined efforts, we aim to create a unique opportunity to bridge the gap between our enthusiastic student engineers and career opportunities in the surrounding area.
Our career fair will be held in person, and this year the fair will be a 2-day event on Monday, January 30th, and Tuesday, January 31st, from 12:00 PM - 5:00 PM. We can do our best to accommodate the day you prefer to attend. This event will host private and public sector professionals to meet our expected attendance of over 100 civil engineering and construction management students that are eager for opportunities to join your team.
Through sponsorship, your company will be given the invaluable opportunity to interact with a diverse range of students and alumni. This opportunity will further establish your reputation as an outstanding and well-respected employer on our CSULB campus and recruit highly motivated employees for internship, part-time, or full-time positions. You'd also be aiding us in promoting leadership and professionalism beyond the classroom environment while building public brand recognition through your company's support for our passionate student organizations and the Civil Engineering & Construction Engineering Management program. Please be advised that our four organizations are nonprofit organizations and all grants, donations, or "in-kind" services are tax-deductible.
If this is an opportunity that your company is interested in, please contact president@csulbasce.org by Monday, January 23rd, 2022, at 11:59 PM. We hope to work with you soon!
About the Author:
Lucinda Rubio is a fifth-year Civil Engineering Student at California State University, Long Beach, and Webmaster of their student chapter of ASCE for the 2022-2023 school year. Lucinda plans to continue her career in Construction after interning at Atkinson Construction. Lucinda can be contacted at webmaster@csulbasce.org.
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ASCE OC Community Service
Holiday Toy Drive
ASCE Orange County continued its partnership with the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers’ (SHPE) Support of Orphanages in Need Through Resources, Innovation, and Empowerment (SONRIE) program by hosting a Toy Drive. Toys were collected throughout November and December.
A big portion of the toys were collected at ASCE OC’s Annual History and Heritage/Student Scholarship Night event. Toys were donated by ASCE OC’s professionals and university students.
SHPE SONRIE program members will deliver the toys to the community of Ojos Negros Baja California, Mexico, during the holiday season.
ASCE OC YMF, community service committee, would like to thank the History & Heritage Night and Student Scholarship event coordinators and attendees for all their contributions. Thanks to you and the generous donors, the community of Ojos Negros will have a great holiday season!
About the Author:
Danny Mejia is a Civil Engineer in Orange County CA who works in the Water/Wastewater Treatment Design industry. He enjoys giving back to the community, helping others, and protecting the environment through his work and by volunteering.
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ASCE CSUF
Students Members Participate in the Sustainability Decathlon Workshop
The Sustainability Decathlon is a competition focused on building a creative, sustainable home. The purpose of this competition is to allow CSUF ASCE student members to put their skills to the test when it comes to making a structure that's both practical and sustainable.
Being a part of CSU Fullerton's Solar Decathlon team, ASCE Student Members learned more about the competition, such as where and when to transport our sustainable homes to the site and how to prepare best to present designs to the public.
The competition features a total of 16 schools, both local and international. Each school was given a monetary grant to participate in this competition. The funding ($100,000 for each school) covers materials, overhead costs, and transportation/accommodations for the competition time.
It was encouraging to be around the other teams passionate about sustainable design. The unique aspect of this competition is that it involves all majors and disciplines. While our team primarily consists of civil engineering majors, we also have graduate students in graphic design and business administration, meaning we each bring something different to the table and contribute accordingly. We plan to employ the skills learned by way of participating in ASCE student competitions during this competition, such as timber strong. The competition will take place in October of this year and will span about four weeks, with the houses' displayed at the Orange County Fair Grounds and open to the public to visit. After this, CSUF's house will permanently be displayed at the Fullerton Arboretum. We are proud to contribute to a more sustainable future using our civil engineering skills!
About the Author:
Brisa Bernal is the current Co-President of the CSUF ASCE Student Chapter. She is expected to graduate in Spring 2023 and is interested in pursuing Land Development. She has been enjoying her time on the board and looks forward to everything the rest of the school year will bring!
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ASCE OC Publications
Transfers Magazine: From Knowledge To Action
I recently discovered the Transfers Magazine in my Regional Transportation Policy class in my MSCE Master's Program at Cal Poly Pomona. It is a federally-funded publication by the Pacific Southwest Region University Transportation Center (PSR) with eight partner campuses across Arizona, California, and Hawaii. It aims to provide policymakers with essential research knowledge from transportation professionals/experts to improve people's lives.
Transfers identify pressing issues in the transportation industry with various topics, ranging from active transportation to transportation equity. The peer-reviewed research articles were written by faculty, staff, and students of partnering universities throughout the region.
It delivers insight into the public's experiences while providing statistical information and strategies on critical transportation questions. As I read the articles, I reflected upon our engineering projects' impact on everyday lives and asked the questions:
- How can we further help?
- How can we make our transportation systems better?
- How can we equip the next generation?
With advancing technologies leading to a new era of safety, efficiency, and sustainability, policies that affect mobility for all modes of transportation are at the forefront. Research on existing transportation challenges poses a call for action to design a transportation system built for all. As local engineers, we are a part of the community that can provide a unique perspective on these transportation issues. Staying up-to-date on these topics allows for an open conversation that can positively impact the public.
Check out the Transfers Magazine Publications at https://transfersmagazine.org/.
About the Author:
Marionne Lapitan is a Civil Associate in the Traffic/ITS Department at Michael Baker International, an MSCE Graduate Student at Cal Poly Pomona, and a CSU Long Beach Alumni. She is currently the ASCE OC Publications Committee Editor-In-Chief and the ASCE OC YMF Communications Committee Co-Chair. Actively involved in various professional organizations, she is passionate about designing and building communities, both structurally and socially. She aims to make a difference in the world through civil engineering in hopes of building a brighter future for the next generation. She also enjoys traveling, graphic designing, and reading books in her free time. Marionne can be contacted via marionne.lapitan@mbakerintl.com or LinkedIn.
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ASCE CSUF
Mini PSWS with LA YMF
Hosted by LA YMF, this year’s Mini PSWS competition brought together schools from all over the Pacific Southwest Region, including Cal Poly Pomona, Cal State University Northridge, Loyola Marymount University, UCLA, Cal State LA, and USC.
CSUF student members drove to the Hansen Dam to participate and were happy to see some of the schools they compete alongside each year at the symposium. With PSWS approaching, students are challenged at work preparing their technical projects for the competition hosted by CSU Northridge in March 2023.
Although this event focused on nontechnical competitions, the various schools presented a friendly yet competitive environment which will undoubtedly give way towards preparing for the PSWS games in March. This day was a chance to focus solely on the nontechnical events, filled with various schools -some joining forces- to compete against each other in sports like Soccer, Volleyball, Kan Jam, and the Mystery event. It was a chance for students to get to know each other while preparing to play these games at PSWS in March. It was a great event, with the CSUF/CSUN team taking first place in Soccer!
Thank you so much to LA YMF for having us!
About the Author:
Brisa Bernal is the current Co-President of the CSUF ASCE Student Chapter. She is expected to graduate in Spring 2023 and is interested in pursuing Land Development. She has been enjoying her time on the board and looks forward to everything the rest of the school year will bring!
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ASCE CSULB
PSWS 2023 BBQ
PSWS 2023 is right around the corner! CSULB ASCE will host a PSWS BBQ Prep Day to kick off the Symposium for our members!
Our Student Chapter's technical teams will work on their projects together, while our sports teams can train and practice their events. Our board will provide snacks and lunch for the groups to encourage team bonding. This event is open to CSULB Alumni and industry professionals to allow our students to network and showcase the incredible projects they have been working on all year!
- Teams participating are:
- Environmental
- Timber Strong
- Sustainability
- Concrete Canoe
- Transportation
- Surveying
- Geowall
- Steel Bridge
About the Author:
Lucinda Rubio is a fifth-year Civil Engineering Student at California State University, Long Beach, and Webmaster of their student chapter of ASCE for the 2022-2023 school year. Lucinda plans to continue her career in Construction after interning at Atkinson Construction. Lucinda can be contacted at webmaster@csulbasce.org.
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ASCE CSUF
Student Members Attend the January EWRI Luncheon
About the Author:
Brisa Bernal is the current Co-President of the CSUF ASCE Student Chapter. She is expected to graduate in Spring 2023 and is interested in pursuing Land Development. She has been enjoying her time on the board and looks forward to everything the rest of the school year will bring!
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ASCE OC Branch
Welcome New Members!
Welcome to the American Society of Civil Engineers! We are happy you joined us in ASCE's Orange County Branch. Remember...there are 101 ways to benefit from your membership with ASCE. Become involved, educate yourself on an engineering topic outside of your expertise, and build relationships with others in the industry - to name a few.
Please contact a Board Member if you have questions or a committee chairperson to become involved.
Welcome New Members:
December 2022
- Christopher Defalco, A.M.ASCE
- Ashley Esquerra, S.M.ASCE
- Ma Luisa Jhorine Faller, S.M.ASCE
- Lawrence Fellows, R.Eng, M.ASCE
- Tania Gonzalez, P.G., A.M.ASCE
- Graciela Inguito, S.M.ASCE
- Nicolas Kousoulas, S.M.ASCE
- Ning Lee, S.M.ASCE
- Najibullah Momand, S.M.ASCE
- Jazzy Principe, Aff.M.ASCE
- Nabil Rao, S.M.ASCE
- Tariq Saba, S.M.ASCE
- Victor Weber, EIT, A.M.ASCE
January 2023
- Hana Aljassim, S.M.ASCE
- Luke Belinsky, S.M.ASCE
- Giovanni Catalano-Trujillo, S.M.ASCE
- Arya Chandran, S.M.ASCE
- Yangbo Chen, Aff.M.ASCE
- Alexis Gonzalez, S.M.ASCE
- Ashley Inocencio, S.M.ASCE
- Tyler Johnson, S.M.ASCE
- Mark Julian, S.M.ASCE
- John Lee, Aff.M.ASCE
- Kelly Leyva-Ochoa, S.M.ASCE
- Vicente Morales, S.M.ASCE
- Hoang Phuc Nguyen, S.M.ASCE
- Khang Nguyen, S.M.ASCE
- Nathan Ratzlaff, S.M.ASCE
- Peter Robertson, Ph.D., Aff.M.ASCE
- Alexandra Roche, S.M.ASCE
- Michael Rodriguez, S.M.ASCE
- Emely Ruiz-Carrillo, S.M.ASCE
- James Russo, S.M.ASCE
- Edward Shen, P.E., M.ASCE
- Ziyin Shen, P.E., M.ASCE
- Alexander Svecz, P.E., M.ASCE
- Shane Sweeney, S.M.ASCE
- Archaela Tadiosa, S.M.ASCE
- Joe Vertrees, M.ASCE
- Harvey Yang, S.M.ASCE
- Xiaoting Zhou, S.M.ASCE
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ASCE OC Publications Committee
Newsletter Information
Do you have an interesting topic you would like to share? We are always looking for new and relevant content to distribute to our members relating to Civil Engineering in Orange County (no ads!). If you have an idea please feel free to submit it to the Publications Committee! You will receive a confirmation email; however, no further acknowledgment will be sent. There is no guarantee of publication.
Advertising Rates:
Company Business Cards / Professional Directory: $500 for 177px X 300px company business card placed in the bimonthly newsletter and on our website for the year. www.asceoc.org/professional-directory
Newsletter ads: Tier 1 - $350 (top section), Tier 2 - $300 (middle section), Tier 3 - $250 (bottom section) for 300px X 800px ad placed between articles in the bimonthly newsletter for the year.
Annual Sponsorship Opportunities: See our website for information on how to become an annual sponsor for even more benefits. www.asceoc.org/sponsorship
For more advertising and billing information please contact our Publications Committee at pc@asceoc.org
National ASCE: (800) 548-2723 (ASCE), www.asce.org
LA Section: www.ascelasection.org
Orange County Branch: www.asceoc.org
Orange County Younger Member Forum: www.ymf-oc.org