Unofficial ASCE ECB Horizontal
Newsletter

DECEMBER 2025

Greetings!

Let the Holidays continue!


December is a time for celebration and planning, and in this final newsletter of the year, we're highlighting key milestones, upcoming events, and ways to end the year on a high note. December is full of opportunities to get involved and be ready for many more opportunities come the New Year. Over the span of 2025, our members have helped us achieve so much including winning 2025 Outstanding Medium Sections and Branch. We’ve held over 100 professional meetings, offered 30+ PDH courses, had a combined 1,400+ attendees to technical activities (meetings/luncheons/events), 900+ attendees to social activities (happy hours/sporting events/fundraising events), and over 300 attendees to civic activities hosted by the Branch, it’s Institutes, committees and Younger Members Forum! It’s truly amazing to see how engaged our members are in the engineering community and beyond and we continue to grow and offer more opportunities every year!

 

The Younger Member Forum (YMF) will be hosting their annual Toy Drive on December 9th! If you are reading this newsletter as soon as you received it, it’s not too late to attend – see below for more information.

 

As we look forward to 2025 – it’s never too early to start putting those holds on your calendar for all of the events that are listed below for next month. I look forward to continuing to see growth in numbers of our members attending the events planned by our many institutes, committees, and younger member group in 2025. I urge all of our members to try to attend at least one more event that you did this past year, even if that only brings you to one event – I will take that as a win for everyone! If you have younger engineers or recent graduates in your office – I implore you to encourage them to come out to a YMF happy hour or a technical meeting in their area of expertise next year.

 

Lastly, membership renewals are due by December 31, 2025. Before you renew your membership this year, I encourage you and your company to take advantage of the ASCE Partner and Associate Partner programs. Not only does it streamline your invoicing by having all of your members renew at one time, but you also receive a discount on every membership renewal fee.

The ASCE Partner Program offers significant discounts for organizations on memberships (up to 20-25% off individual dues), training/webinars (20% off), conferences, and publications, with larger organizations getting volume discounts up to 40% off.


Together, we’ve achieved amazing things, and we’re looking forward to an even brighter 2025. Let’s finish this year strong!

Thank you for your continued support! Until next time,

Juan Gonzalez, PE

ASCE Florida Section East Central Branch President

Editorial and Advertising Contact

Khanh Olka, P.E.

ASCE ECB Officers


PRESIDENT

Juan Gonzalez, P.E.


PRESIDENT-ELECT

Isadore Carrie III, P.E.


VICE PRESIDENT

Mallory Welch, P.E.


TREASURER

Catherine Felter, P.E.


SECRETARY

Michael Finch, P.E.


PAST PRESIDENT

Thomas Anzelone, P.E.

This issue

  • EWRI
  • GI
  • SEI
  • TD&I
  • Sustainability Committee
  • Diversity Committee
  • Education Committee
  • Engineers Week
  • YMF
  • Student Chapter Activities
  • Employment Opportunities
ECB EWRI Horizontal

EWRI Committee meetings are usually held on the second Tuesday of each month from 12:00pm to 1:00pm. This month’s meeting will be held on December 9th, 2025, at the Drummond Carpenter office. Next month’s meeting will be held on January 13th, 2026, at the SFWMD office. If you are interested in attending, contact Tom Amstadt at tamstadt@geosyntec.com.

January 2026 Technical Luncheon


EWRI will host its next luncheon on January 15th at the CFX Headquarters from 12:00PM to 1:00PM. Patty Therrien, PE, CFM, with the SFWMD will be providing training regarding the water quality performance standards set forth in Senate Bill 712 and adopted in ERP Applicant’s Handbook Volumes I & II on June 28, 2024. The session will provide an overview of the changes and a walk through of a design example applying the rules.



Registration link coming soon!

ECB SEI Horizontal

SEI Future Fund Scholarships to Structures Congress - April 29-May 1, 2026 - Apply by Jan 2

Register now for our annual CIP luncheon on January 7, 2026. Get a chance to hear from agencies such as FDOT, Florida's Turnpike Enterprise, Central Florida Expressway Authority, Orange County, and Osceola County. Sponsorship opportunities available!

The Sustainability Committee’s core mission and function are to organize and facilitate outreach opportunities, allowing the East Central Branch members to stay informed and promote sustainable engineering practices. Below are some upcoming events and other news recommended by the Committee.

🏆 ASCE Sustainability Committee Member Highlight!



We’re excited to share that our very own Sustainability Committee member, Aimee Krivan, has won the Ken Zarker Memorial P2 Champion Award from the National Pollution Prevention Roundtable!

 

The P2 Champion Award celebrates an individual whose work has an outstanding impact on implementing pollution prevention in one or more of the following areas:

●      Setting pollution prevention vision and strategies;

●      Leading and directing pollution prevention programs;

●      Implementing pollution prevention projects; and/or

●      Significant impact on pollution prevention achieved.

 

Aimee works for the Orange County Environmental Protection Division as a Pollution Prevention (P2) Program Coordinator, she leads waterway cleanups on weekends, and has been an invaluable member of our committee since 2022.

 

“One of Aimee's contributions is her leadership of the “Fix It, Don’t Pitch It” events, which won the MVP2 Multimedia award in 2019 and addresses several core P2 areas including waste reduction, community education, and environmental behavior change. By coordinating free public repair fairs twice a year, she empowers residents to extend the life of their household items—from small appliances to furniture and textiles—diverting substantial waste from local landfills.”

 

Click here to read more about Aimee’s contributions towards pollution prevention! 

News / Resources / Interesting Reads



●       ASCE Sustainability Symposium - Join us on February 11, 2026, for a free, virtual half-day event focused on reducing the climate impact of the industry. Structural engineers and related professionals will gain practical strategies to apply wherever they are in their climate journey. Stay tuned for updates and check out last year’s symposium on the ASCE SEI YouTube channel! Click here to learn more and register for the Sustainability Symposium.


●       Seminole County has rolled out Scout, a new on-demand rideshare service. This electric and hybrid fleet links directly to SunRail stations in Seminole County, helping to close the "first mile, last mile" gap often experienced by public transit users. Click here to learn more about Scout.



●       Orange County is launching a new compost pilot program aimed at reducing landfill waste and supporting more sustainable communities. Help the County gather information about residents’ knowledge and opinions on composting and general insights into where composting efforts could be most beneficial by completing the Compost Needs Assessment Survey at www.ocfl.net/OCcomposting.

Volunteer Opportunities



●       Central Florida RECON (CFR) - Waterway Cleanup Fleet



CFR RECON is a group of friends and concerned citizens protecting Central Florida’s surface waters and natural environment by removing trash and debris from lakes, rivers, and streams. All those who enjoy canoeing and kayaking and would have a couple hours are welcome to join upcoming events! The RECON fleet is growing and currently has 9 kayaks available to use at events. Shoreline volunteers are also welcome if you feel the urge to walk instead of being on the water. Click the link to check out upcoming events!


 Click here to view all RECON events on Meetup.

 Click here to view the Facebook page.

Check out our ASCE ECB Sustainability Committee website for more information about us, and useful resources including our Event Sustainability Venue Guide and Recycle Guide!



If you would like to join the ECB Sustainability Committee, please reach out to our Committee Chair Steve Sommerfeldt. The committee meets (virtually) on the last Tuesday of the month during lunch to plan out future activities and ideas related to sustainability. We welcome any new and/or seasoned individuals who are interested.


Want to hear more? Join the Sustainability Committee mailing list today!

Welcome to the second edition of Bridging Backgrounds. December marks Universal Human Rights Month, commemorating the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) by the United Nations on December 10, 1948. This observance reminds us of the role these rights play in education, advocacy, and professional practice.

In civil engineering, it means creating inclusive infrastructure and upholding ethical standards—ensuring access to essentials like clean water, sidewalks, and roadways. To support these principles, consider engaging with organizations such as the ASCE Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), and the National Academy of Engineering (NAE).


Our monthly meeting is held every last Thursday at noon. Stay tuned for updates, and feel free to reach out for details!


Click here to learn more!


If you have any questions, please contact:



ECB Diversity Chair: Dayna Duffy (daynaduffy.asce@gmail.com)

YMF Diversity Co-Chair: Miels Massaquoi (mmassaquoi@ardurra.com)

YMF Diversity Co-Chair: Neida Lopez (nlopez@ardurra.com)

If you are interested in providing engagement to K-12 students, please contact Michael Olka (mike.olka@lakecountyfl.gov).


The goal of the ASCE Younger Member Forum (YMF) is to promote professional development among young engineers. YMF hopes you will join us for some of our upcoming events.

Upcoming Events


Join YMF and the Geo-Institute TOMORROW for our annual Holiday Toy Drive benefiting Hope Helps at Rockpit Brewing. Please bring new and unwrapped toys for donation. Your first drink is included thanks to our sponsor GEC.

Event Recap


Thank you to everyone who attended our joint Canned Food Drive with the branch. Your contributions helped us donate 764 lbs of food to Second Harvest Food Bank!

YMF members had a fun evening socializing at Barkhaven during our dog social. Hope to see you at our next event!

December Report


As UCF finals arrive, the ASCE UCF Student Chapter is ending off the fall semester strong! Members gathered for our final general body meetings of the semester, which featured engaging presentations from Ardurra and Kimley-Horn, both offering insights into the industry and how their work relates to engineering sustainability and ethics. The chapter also celebrated the last tailgates of the UCF football season, hosting UCF vs. Houston with Bayer United and UCF vs. Oklahoma State with LandDesign.


Professional development remained a strong focus, with events such as an interview workshop led by Robins & Morton, a lunch and learn led by Roger Schmitt, and a reverse career fair led by HDR. Volunteering opportunities were offered during Concrete Exposure Day, giving members a chance to contribute while also expanding their knowledge of concrete work. The UCF Concrete Canoe Team hosted their Pour Day in preparation for the 2026 competition season, bringing together the ASCE UCF student body for a hands-on experience that showcased coordination and teamwork. A workshop cleanup was also conducted to prepare the space for upcoming competition projects as our teams continue preparing for upcoming events. Together, these activities provided a month filled with growth and progression that will help equip our chapter for the 2026 Southeast Student Symposium!

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES
ASCE East Central Branch | www.eastcentralasce.org | Orlando, Florida
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