ASCE OC President's Column: Kicking-Off FY 2026

The 2025/2026 fiscal year is off to a great start for the ASCE Orange County Branch!

We kicked off the year with a Happy Hour event at Hangar 24 on October 9 and hosted one of our annual marquee events, History & Heritage / Student Scholarship Night, at the Norma Hertzog Community Center on November 6.

Our Institutes hosted a variety of excellent events, including technical presentations (Geotechnical Institute: Emergency Stabilization of a Coastal Landslide; Utility Engineering & Surveying Institute: Metropolitan Water District Look Ahead; Environmental & Water Resources Institute: Newport Beach Trash Receptor). Our Committees (e.g., Mentorship, Sustainability, and Community Service) held bar crawls, bike rides, mixers, community service events, and other great activities. Our Younger Member Forum (YMF) continued to be one of the most active YMF groups in the nation.

I am also pleased to report that the 2025 California Infrastructure Report Card was released on December 3. There was a release event in Sacramento led by ASCE Region 9 (California) Director and former ASCE Orange County Branch President, Yaz Emrani. The overall grade for California infrastructure was a C-, highlighting the need for additional investment to maintain and upgrade the state’s infrastructure. Please visit the website here. The release of the report card and the event drew significant media coverage, for example: The Los Angeles Times. We would like to thank ASCE Region 9 and all the volunteers who contributed to this key ASCE California Infrastructure Report Card.

We are in the process of finalizing annual sponsorship packages for 2026. Our sponsorships come with great benefits like complimentary event tickets and career fair booths. Your sponsorships are critical to our continued success and help fund scholarships for students. We hope that many of our annual sponsors will elect to sponsor again, and we look forward to welcoming new firms as well.

The rest of the year is shaping up to be a great one for the ASCE Orange County Branch. Stay tuned for a wealth of upcoming Institute and Committee events throughout the year, along with the Branch’s other two marquee events: Awards Night in May and the Golf Tournament in June. Please encourage your colleagues and friends to sign up for our email list at asceoc.org and become ASCE LA Section members. Thank you for your continued support of the ASCE Orange County Branch!

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About the Author:

Eric Pheifer is a Principal / Vice President at Biggs Cardosa Associates, and is currently serving as the President for the ASCE Orange County Branch. Eric can be contacted at EPheifer@BiggsCardosa.com.