Unofficial ASCE ECB Horizontal
Newsletter

MARCH 2024

Dear ASCE,

Another month has flown by as we enter March, where we lose an hour of sleep, but get to kick back during spring break!


February was a busy month for our Branch as we held many Engineer’s Week events, highlighted by the E-Week Banquet on February 24. It was an unforgettable night in collaboration with the American Society of Highway Engineers (ASHE), Florida Engineering Society (FES), National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), Society for Marketing Professional Services (SMPS), Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE), Society of Women Engineers (SWE), and WTS. Please join me in congratulating our very own East Central Branch award winners:


  • Technical Contributor of the Year: Melissa Burns, P.E.
  • Member of the Year: Madeline Batey, E.I.
  • Engineer of the Year: Jennifer Nunn, P.E., BC.WRE


Thank you to Mike Olka and the rest of the E-week committee for making this outstanding banquet a reality! The East Central Branch was well represented, as shown in the below photo.

The ASCE Southeast Student Conference is being hosted by the ASCE Florida Section in Orlando and is only a few weeks away (March 21 to 23). With the event being local, we need your ECB support to help make this event a success!


I hope you have a Happy St. Patrick's Day and a relaxing Spring Break!


Cheers!

Corey Bloxam, PE

ASCE East Central Branch President

NEWSLETTER SPONSOR

Editorial and Advertising Contact

Khanh Olka, P.E.

ASCE ECB Officers


PRESIDENT

Corey Bloxam, P.E.


PRESIDENT-ELECT

Juan Gonzalez, P.E.


VICE PRESIDENT

Thomas Anzelone, P.E.


TREASURER

Isadore Carrie, P.E.


SECRETARY

Mallory Murray, P.E.


PAST PRESIDENT

Tonya Mellen, P.E.

This issue


  • Environmental & Water Resources Institute
  • Geo Institute
  • Structural Engineering Institute
  • Sustainability Committee
  • Education Committee
  • Younger Member Forum
  • Student Chapter Activities
  • Employment Opportunities

Please join us for the 16th Annual ASCE Icebreaker! Enjoy appetizers, drinks, and great company. This year the event will take place in the DinoDigs and Our Planet exhibit halls at the Orlando Science Center! Sponsorship and volunteer opportunities are available! For more information, please visit our registration page.

Register Now!

Thank you to our 2024 Icebreaker Sponsors and Volunteers! 

ASCE has generously agreed to sponsor up to 24 ASCE kids at this joint ASCE, SEI, and RenLUG event, where kids will make LEGO flowers for their mom for Mother's Day and watch the Dream Big video. We will also include a 3D-printed vase and the standard ASCE prizes via the prize wheel.


ASCE Registration deadline is March 31, 2024, for the Saturday, April 27, 2024 event on a first come first served basis.

Register Now!

DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION COMMITTEE

If you have any questions, or comments about Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion or would like to join the committee, please contact Michael Olka at mike.olka@lakecountyfl.gov

ENVIRONMENTAL & WATER RESOURCES INSTITUTE

We are still looking for sponsors. If interested, please reach out to Jennifer Nunn, jnunn@balmoralgroup.us.

GEO-TECHNICAL ENGINEERING INSTITUTE



Last week we hosted a hybrid seminar with the UCF Geo-Institute Graduate Student Organization featuring the Cross-USA Lecture on Lateral Resistance of Piles near MSE Walls by Dr. Kyle Rollins.

We will be announcing our next event soon!

STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING INSTITUTE

The aging structural stock makes it harder and more expensive to conduct regular engineering inspections. Lack of inspection will cause more and more safety issues in the near future. Emerging technologies, such as image processing and artificial intelligence, can help engineers in collecting, annotating, and classifying field data for a more efficient evaluation of aging structures.


This webinar will focus on the state-of-the-art technologies that can help in structural monitoring and defect detection, as well as potential use cases, advantages, and limitations. The focus will be on AI but other approaches, such as image processing and smart decision making will also be presented. Practical examples and tutorials will be shared in the webinar from masonry structures, RC structures, monuments, and reinforced concrete floor surfaces. Other uses of AI in smart decision-making will also be described shortly, to give a broader perspective of the capabilities of the technologies in hand.


Instructor: Ihsan Engin Bal, Ph.D., M.ASCE


CEU: 0.1


Non-ASCE members will have to create a nonmember login on the ASCE website to access course assessment and PDH certificate. 

Register Now!

EDUCATION COMMITTEE

(K-12 OUTREACH)



Advance planning for the Creativity Fair to take place at the Odyssey of the Mind State competition March 29, 2024 from noon to 5pm. The committee is in need of people interested in planning and creating exhibitions and activities for students and their families from around the state. ASCE ECB is tasked with creating approximately 20 stations/activities. Please contact Michael Olka at mike.olka@lakecountyfl.gov if you would like to join the planning meeting.

Engineers in the classroom

 

Stone Lake Elementary       March 29, 9 – 11 a.m

 

If you would like to volunteer for an Engineer in the classroom event, please contact David Schmitt at dave.schmitt@dseorl.com

Orlando Science Center – Science Fair Judges


Orlando Science Center is currently seeking judges for their upcoming science competition season. Their competitions at Orlando Science Center provide opportunities for students in Kindergarten through Grade 12 to showcase their accomplishments and work toward future careers in STEM.

 

Competition dates and time commitments are as follows:


  • Curtis Kinetic Science Competition | Grades 6th-8th

Competition Day: April 13, 2024

Time: 8:00 am to 1:00 pm

 

If you are interested in volunteering as a judge for any competition, please complete the Google form linked below. More specific information about each competition can be found on the Orlando Science Center website https://www.osc.org/learn/competitions/.

Register Now!

MATHCOUNTS

 

MATHCOUNTS is always looking for volunteers. The State Competition will be held in Orlando on Saturday, March 29, 2024. If you are interested in volunteering and would like more information or if you have any questions, please contact Stehpanie Shealey at sshealey@kittelson.com.

FIRST ROBOTICS


The State of Florida FTC Championship tournament concluded successfully on March 2nd. The two teams sponsored by ASCE, Team ZIP Ties and Team Super 7 performed vey well. ZIP Ties won the Connect Award and the Inspire Award 2nd Place. They are headed to the World Championship in Houston. Team Super 7 won the Innovate Award and ended up 4th place in the Robotics Matches. They came up short in their goal to advance to the world championship. Both teams worked extremely hard with complete dedication this season and represented ASCE well.

Creativity Fair at OOTM State Competition



The Education Committee is looking for volunteers to help run STEM events at the Creativity Fair, which will be held at the Odyssey of the Mind State Competition on March 30, 2024, at the Orange County Convention Center from noon until 5 pm. Volunteers will staff activity centers for the students and help demonstrate/explain the STEM activities. This will include activities such as paper bridges and spaghetti towers. We will need at least 20 volunteers for this event.

Register Now!

Future Events


February is full of STEM events, if you are interested in advance notice of these events, please contact Michael Olka at mike.olka@lakecountyfl.gov.

ASCE putting civil engineering back on the big screen with Cities of the Future film 

The film is to be released in February 2024

Trailer for Cities of the Future

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5iYRsIuLYE


ASCE Future World Vision

https://www.futureworldvision.org/cities-future

If you have any questions, or comments about K-12 Outreach or would like to join the committee, please contact Michael Olka mike.olka@lakecountyfl.gov

E-Week 2024 was a series of great events and celebrations including a Panel Discussion at UCF with the student chapter and professionals from ASCE and ASHE and the formal awards dinner celebration with other engineering societies. Thank you to our event sponsor Patel Greene and Associates for supporting the events of E-Week. Thank you to our guest speaker Sabrina Morton. Here is a list of the E-Week 2024 Award Winners:

 

WTS:

  • Member of the Year- Dawn Ratican

SWE:

  • Member of the Year - Naomie Baptiste
  • Technical Contribution Leader - Savanna Peterson
  • Engineer of the Year - Ilana Moreno

SHPE:

  • Member of the Year - Linnette Martinez
  • Technical Contribution Leader - Fiorella Yanovich
  • Engineer of the Year – William Gonzalez

NSBE:

  • Member of the Year - Gerardine Jean-Baptiste
  • Technical Contribution Leader - Lazelle Cherubin
  • Engineer of the Year - L'Wade Lewin

FES:

  • Member of the Year - Francina Gil
  • Technical Contribution Leader - Artis Dukes
  • Engineer of the Year – Charles Davis

ASCE:

  • Member of the Year - Madeline Batey
  • Technical Contribution Leader - Melissa Burns
  • Engineer of the Year – Jennifer Nunn

If you have any questions, or comments about E-Week or would like to join the committee, please contact Michael Olka at mike.olka@lakecountyfl.gov

YOUNGER MEMBER FORUM


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 in the new year.

Upcoming Events

YMF is still looking for a few people to join the YMF kickball team. If you are interested, please email Will at gator062915@gmail.com. All skill levels are welcome. 

The month of March brings March Madness, and we hope you will join us in this year's bracket challenge. On March 17th, the bracket challenge will open. 

Register Now!

YMF will be attending a Solar Bears hockey game on April 4th. We will also be hosting a social before the game at Broken Strings Brewery. Thank you to our sponsor SESI Consulting Engineers.

Register Now!

Register for our cornhole tournament benefiting Give the Kids the World. The event will be on April 13th at the Twisted Handle. Thank you to our sponsor, Geopier.

Register Now!

Join us for a webinar on April 17th, benefitting EWB-FLs water supply projects in Nepal and Guatemala. The topic will discuss the engineering of demolition. Thank you to our presenter, Aron Mandelbaum, P.E. 

Register Now!

YMF is hosting the 17th Annual Central Florida Field Trip on April 5th, 2024! Civil engineering students from several of Florida's Engineering Universities will visit exciting state-of-the-art engineering projects and existing facilities showcasing the Central Florida area. Sponsorship opportunities are available! 

Sponsor Now!

Recap



YMF was fortunate enough to attend a Magic Game that had a retirement ceremony for Shaq's jersey at the end. Everyone had a great time. Thank you to our sponsor, ADS.


For Engineers Week, YMF hosted a panel with the ASCE student chapter of UCF.

YMF also went to Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University to discuss the benefits of ASCE available to students and to encourage students to join YMF post-college.

March Monthly Report


Last month was filled with events as the semester is in full swing and students are preparing for the Conference. Various meetings were held throughout the month for competitions, and we look forward to competing in the symposium next month. We started the month off with a Painting Pots social. This was an opportunity for students to take a break from studying and paint some pots for plants.


Additionally, we hosted two general body meetings. Turner Construction presented at the first one, and Avcon presented at the second. Students were able to learn from these two different companies and gain knowledge about civil engineering.


Some students attended the ASCE Florida Section Second Annual Student Development Conference that was in Orlando. Students gained a lot of knowledge about becoming a new grad and what to expect in the industry and got to network with many professionals throughout the state of Florida.


Our student chapter got to participate in many events during E-Week as well. We volunteered for the CECS showcase in which we assisted young students in building structures out of marshmallows and spaghetti sticks. Students attended the ASCE Civil Engineering Technical Panel Talk that was hosted by the East Central Branch. Students were able to ask questions to professionals in various fields of civil engineering and got to network with them.

Sponsor Us!
EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES

Senior Highway Engineer  

                                                               

KCG Transportation Services (KCGTS) is currently seeking a professional with the skills and passion to excel within their areas of expertise and a desire to experience notable career advancement within our company. If you have a desire to serve clients with excellence, innovation, and responsiveness and you aspire to grow into project management and/or chief engineer roles – we are looking for you!


KCGTS has immediate openings for a skilled and motivated Senior Highway Engineer with FDOT roadway design experience. This position involves hands-on design and the ability to work well within a team environment.


The successful candidate will be responsible for the following:


Perform design and plan development tasks for transportation-related projects from preliminary to final design. Develop specifications, and cost estimates, and prepare final bid packages. Participate in project decisions regarding technical approach, budget, and schedule. Interact with colleagues and clients to ensure successful project delivery. Engage in business development activities. Experience working on FDOT projects is required. We seek an individual who is motivated to learn, grow, and seek out new project responsibilities.


Job Requirements


Minimum 10 years of highway project engineering experience. Experience should include the development of FDOT construction plans for highway projects.


Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering.
  • Registered Professional Engineer in Florida.
  • Experience working on FDOT projects is required (and with District 5 a plus).
  • Experience with MicroStation and Geopak is required.
  • Experience with OpenRoads is also valuable.
  • Drainage design and permitting experience is a plus.
  • Experience in business development a plus – client engagement, LOR’s, Interviews/ presentations, negotiations.
  • Proficiency with Microsoft Office programs (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)


Our success is created by our people. If you have the drive and experience it takes to achieve design excellence and exceptional project performance – contact us. We are seeking an innovative and motivated professional to join our dynamic team.



Interested applicants should send a resume along with a brief cover letter to Frank Caruso, PE, fecaruso@kcgcorp.com

ROADWAY DESIGNER II

Job Details


Posting Number: 23-12-15-3266

Pay Grade: 22N (Salary: $26.12 - $41.51 per hour) 

Agency / Dept. / Office: Public Works - Engineering - Design Engineering

Closing Date: Open Until Filled

Job Summary


The essential functions of the position include writing legal descriptions, reviewing legal descriptions, entering and maintaining property information in GIS for the Right of Way Section, performing property vacations, assisting with property title reviews, and assisting with property acquisition. The position is responsible for creating maps and GIS solutions for resolving business/operational problems, collecting and maintaining GIS data, troubleshooting technical problems, providing professional customer service at all times, and performing related work as assigned. The position is also responsible to acquire right-of-way (ROW) through donation or purchase for road construction operations, stormwater, trails and other projects of the Public Works Department.


May be required to assist with emergency support functions in the event of a declared emergency and/or any other emergency duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications


Any equivalent combination of education, training and experience may be considered. Requires an Associate’s degree in civil or transportation engineering, urban planning or a closely related field with four years of related experience or six years experience in Stormwater Design and Road Design. 


Requires a valid Florida driver’s license. AutoCAD certification preferred.


Apply HERE

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