March is upon us, and with it warmer temperatures and Spring all around. We hope that you have been able to spend quality time outdoors enjoying nature and the tranquility it brings with it.

During the past months we have offered opportunities for our members to earn continuing education credits at the virtual Engineering Innovation Series, initiated the process for three new scholarship funds, and continued our planning efforts for the Annual Conference in July. On March 3, nine delegates from the Florida Section attended the Legislative Fly-In in Washington, DC, as a part of the event hosted by the ASCE Government Relations team. As the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act recently passed, our advocacy is more important than ever, to make sure that important infrastructure projects are initiated using those funds.

Our Student Chapters are preparing to meet later this month (March 24-26) in Tallahassee at FAMU-FSU for the ASCE Southeast Student Conference for the Concrete Canoe competition among other activities. FIT will be hosting the Steel Bridge competition as a separate event in Melbourne March 19-20. A call for abstracts was sent out for the July Conference, and we still need presentations. Please continue to submit them for consideration.

As we head into spring and summer, we hope that your planning efforts turn into projects, your design efforts come back with minimal comments, and your construction projects stay on schedule!

ASCE advocates urged their Senators and Representative to prioritize resilient infrastructure, support the FY2023 appropriations process to fully carry out programs enacted under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act  (IIJA), pass comprehensive funding for research and development, and to reject the recently introduced Gas Prices Relief Act in both the Senate and House.

Please contact Judy if you are interested in meeting with your local representative to share the ASCE position publications.

Current ASCE position papers:

Conference registration will be opening up next week - be on the lookout! We are still accepting abstracts in the following tracks: water/water resources, transportation, geotechnical, professional development, sustainability and utilities. Interested in presenting?

Our conference this year begins Wednesday, July 13, 2022,

with our welcome reception AND the YMG outing to Escapology.

Laws, Rules & Ethics

Technical Tour

Exhibits

Technical Presentations

Scholarship Reception

Poker Tournament

Breakfast presentation by Greer Johnson Gillis, Jacksonville Transit Authority

Exhibits

Technical Sessions

Annual Award & Installation Luncheon with keynote speaker Dennis Truax, PE,

President, American Society of Civil Engineers

New sponsorship opportunities have been opened for the

Wednesday YMG Event and the Thursday Poker Tournament

Come join the fun!!

As we transition into the next season, the Florida Section is hard at work getting ready for the 2022 Bridge Florida Program. We announced at the October 2021 Board of Directors meeting we that the 2022 ASCE Florida Section Bridge Florida Design Contest would be held in person in conjunction with the ASCE Florida Section annual conference July 14-15, 2022 at the JW Marriott Grande Lakes in Orlando. If Branches have a Bridge Florida representative, now is great time to reach out to teachers and schools to advertise/ discuss the upcoming 2022 Bridge Florida Program which will formally kick off in January 2022. Now is a great time to make contacts within the school system, volunteering as a Science Fair judge provides an excellent opportunity to network with science teachers within your branch. For those branches that currently do not have a Bridge Florida representative now is a great time to find one. Looking forward to happy, healthy and safe fall season.

Judges Needed for 67^th State Science & Engineering Fair

Join your colleagues on Wednesday, March 30, 2022, at the RP Funding Center in Lakeland, to support the young scientists of the State Science and Engineering Fair of Florida – STEM Competition. 

More than 200 judges are needed in 13 scientific disciplines for both Junior and Senior Sections. Judging is the single most important event of the SSEF of Florida for finalists and, in the words of a recent judge, “Judging was one of the most personally challenging, educational and rewarding experiences I have had in some time. These are truly amazing people!”  And from another, “I cannot emphasize enough what a fantastic experience this science fair is for students and judges alike.”  

If you know of any other contacts for Judging, please direct them to this website and/or send the information to nancybesley@gmail.com.   

The Federal government has made a significant number of decisions impacting the engineering and construction industry over the past few months. We have seen the first monies from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) be allocated to fund grants for water and energy projects that meet Extraordinary Maintenance (XM) classification around the country. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have each also announced plans to fund $2.89, $53.5, and $1.0 billion in projects respectively using allocations under IIJA in 2022. The Senate recently passed the annual National Defense Authorization Act for 2022 which includes an increase in the requirements for military bases to prepare for extreme weather events and conduct testing/cleanup for PFAS pollution. On December 8^th, President Biden signed the “Executive Order on Catalyzing Clean Energy Industries and Jobs Through Federal Sustainability” which will use $650 billion over 29 years to achieve carbon-zero electricity usage by the Federal government by 2030 and net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by the Federal government by 2050 (inclusive of vehicles and buildings). These announcements are giving the industry a taste for the scale of infrastructure work (Federal, State, and local) to come across the country in the next couple of years. Aside from this news, we have also seen the EPA finalize a new water treatment standard for allowable concentrations of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) that will take effect in 2023 and affect the monitoring programs of water treatment plants around the nation.

Meanwhile, Florida’s state legislators have returned to the capitol for the 2022 Legislative Session which continues through March 11. Some of our ASCE members joined the Florida Engineering Society (FES) at the 2022 PE Legislative Days in Tallahassee in early January to meet with legislators from both the House and Senate to discuss the opinions of the engineering industry on a few pieces of proposed legislature. Attendees noted general favorability towards increased requirements for post-construction building inspections (related to the Surfside building collapse) and increases in infrastructure spending while opposing relaxed application of the Consultants Competitive Negotiation Act (CCNA) to State projects. Since those meetings, we have seen SB 1702, SB 7042, and HB 7069 be reviewed by multiple committees to enact requirements for periodic building re-certifications statewide and increase the recordkeeping requirements for condominium owners. Also, SB 398 /HB 157 have made progress to allow the State to use progressive design-build contracts for large infrastructure projects (either $250 or $400 million in the Senate and House bills respectively). There have also been the introductions of SB 1162/HB 621 which propose to prohibit local governments from receiving funding from the governing water management districts or the General Appropriations Act if the local government reallocates utility revenues to general government funds; however, these bills have yet to be heard by committees. Movement has been seen on SB 736 /HB 583 which each modify regulations surrounding construction defect claims and are now pending resolution between the Senate and House. On the environmental front, SB 882/HB 761 have been heard by multiple committees proposing changes to 373.036 F.S. to require water management district to collaborate with local governments to identify critical wetlands to be acquired through the Land Acquisition Trust Fund. SB 1940/HB 7053 have also been heard by committees in the Senate and House and include the creation of the State Office of Resilience and amends 380.093 F.S. to increase funding to projects, require the Department of Transportation to develop a highway resilience plan, and delay the completion dates of the Comprehensive Statewide Flood Vulnerability and Sea-Level Rise Data Set and Assessment to 2024. On the licensure front, the Florida Senate has generally favored the creation of a Professional Structural Engineering license in partial response to the Surfside building collapse; however, the House is pushing for only a recognition program for structural engineers under the current Professional Engineer license. The outcomes of these bills will be known soon as there are only a few weeks of the 2022 Legislative Session remaining.

The ASCE Florida Section and Florida Engineering Foundation are pleased to announce three new scholarship endowment partnerships. These endowments will support four new scholarships for students studying civil engineering in Florida universities making a total of nine scholarships awarded each year at the ASCE Florida Section Annual Conference. This year all of the Section's scholarships will be presented in a special setting in place of the Thursday cocktail reception at the annual conference. We do this to properly award and recognize the scholarship recipients.

The Larry Madrid Family Scholarship Endowment is an annual $1,500 scholarship to be given to a geotechnical engineering graduate student. This scholarship endowment is given to honor Larry’s memory and his commitment to civil engineering in Florida. He graduated from Colorado State University with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and a master’s in geotechnical engineering. He was President of Madrid CPWG, Inc. Larry was a professional engineer, an ASCE Fellow, and a Diplomate of Geotechnical Engineering.

The Kathy J. Caldwell Women in Engineering Scholarship Endowment will support the Kathy Caldwell Scholarship with an annual $1,000 scholarship to be given to a woman studying civil engineering. A group of individuals have joined together to fund this scholarship endowment. Kathy Caldwell is a past ASCE Florida Section President as well as a former ASCE National President, an ASCE Fellow, a Fellow of the Structural Engineering Institute and currently serves on the ASCE Foundation Council of Trustees. Kathy is a professional engineer and graduated from the University of Tennessee with a bachelor’s in civil engineering.

The E Bruce Lawson Scholarship Endowment will support two $1,000 scholarships. The first undergraduate scholarship will be for LGBQT students. The second undergraduate scholarship will be announced each year by the current ASCE Florida Section President to highlight an area of civil engineering of common interest between Bruce and the current Section President. Bruce is a past ASCE Florida Section President and a former ASCE Region 5 Governor. Bruce is professional engineer and graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor’s in civil engineering.

The other scholarships available this year are the ASCE Florida Section Past President’s Undergraduate and the Graduate Student Scholarships, the Universal Engineering Sciences Graduate Geotechnical Scholarship, the Hayden Family first generation undergraduate scholarship and the Epic/Chittaluru Family Scholarship undergraduate scholarship.

If you would like to donate to any of these scholarship funds go to www.myfef.com and click the Donate Now link, in the comments section just list the scholarship endowment you wish to support. Please contact myself, or Judy Nichols if you are interested in funding a scholarship.

East Central - The East Central Branch has really started the year with a bang! Their institutes have already held multiple social, technical, and volunteer events. February started with the Multi-Regional Leadership Conference (MRLC) – the Branch and Institutes had several representatives attend to connect with members nationwide and learn more about how we can continue to improve our Branch.

Last month was Engineer’s Week held February 20-26^th. This is a time to celebrate how engineers improve communities around the world, and an opportunity to educate others on the importance of new engineer recruitment and bringing STEM into local schools and homes. This year, the Branch has teamed up with multiple other engineering organizations to bring events and an awards dinner celebrating engineers in our community. Thank you to Michael Olka for once again spearheading the ECB’s involvement with this important event. Congratulations to ECB for receiving the ASCE Certificate of Commendation in the Large Section and Branch membership category (runner up award). Read their February newsletter here.

Jacksonville - ASCE Jacksonville Branch kicked off the 2022 Engineer’s Week on February 18th. ASCE Jacksonville Branch hosts the scholarship luncheon with the University of North Florida, NEFL Engineer’s Week, companies and other societies, like FES, ASHE, and SAME in attendance. They hosted 115 attendees and awarded more than 29 scholarships. Nicole Bohaczyk, PE, current ASCE Jacksonville Branch President, awarded three UNF ASCE Student Members: Brody Naughton, Ashley Smith, and Tess Redrick. ASCE Jacksonville Branch is looking forward to the social event, student fundraising event, and awards banquet scheduled during Engineer’s Week. ASCE Jacksonville Branch has nominated two ASCE members for the NEFL E-Week awards: Brett Manzie, PE and Nicole Bohaczyk, PE for Engineer of the Year and Young Engineer of the Year, respectively. Happy E-Week everyone!

Miami-Dade - ASCE Miami Dade Branch held on February 19,2022 at Zoo Miami its 9th Annual Field Day Scholarship Fundraiser. With this event, ASCE Miami-Dade was able to raise funds to award multiple scholarships to civil engineering students enrolled in our local universities. This year’s event celebrated the strength and resilience of our community during the COVID-19 pandemic by once again uniting our families and friends for a day of light-hearted competition between teams from various companies in the engineering and construction industries. We had over 200 attendees. “Field Day” included backyard game classics such as tug-of war, corn hole, and mini-golf. Several raffles took place during this event. The winning team of all the games was Ardurra and was awarded the Field Day Trophy. 

Palm Beach - The Solid Waste Authority provided a technical tour of their Renewable Energy Facility 2 (REF 2) to ACSE Palm Beach Branch. The tour started at the Environmental Education Center, where participants learned about the Authority’s operations. From there, participants visited REF 2, an active power plant where solid waste is combusted for energy generation. This facility provides enough power for roughly 70,000 homes in Palm Beach County. Participants were able to see cranes moving tons of waste, the fire from the incinerator, and the ash collection system.

Pensacola - The Pensacola Branch held a wildly successful golf outing last week, with 17 teams, including ones from Roads Inc., Mott MacDonald, HDR, LMJ, and Escambia County. The tournament was held at Marcus Pointe Golf Club. Lunch was sponsored by Eisman and Russo, and dinner was hosted by the club. There were plenty of raffle prizes, and the overall winner was a team from Volkert. Overall it was an excellent fundraiser and people were excited to be back on the course after the last two years.

Congratulations on the SEI East Central Florida Chapter’s receipt of the 2022 Chapter of the Year Award from SEI. The SEI East Central Florida Chapter, its officers, and members are commended for their dedication to advance and serve the structural engineering profession through successfully rejuvenating activities, events, and scholarships, including co-hosting webinars with the SEI Metropolitan NYC Chapter and the SEI Grad Student Chapter at University of Central Florida. Plans for this year include collaboration on both in-person and virtual events with other entities of the East Central Branch such as the Florida Bridge Design Contest for local middle and high school students. SEI will be honoring all 2022 award recipients at Structures Congress 2022 luncheon on Saturday, April 23, 2022.

Tiffany Ritch of the University of North Florida was selected to be one of the 2022 ASCE Collegiate New Faces! This award recognizes and celebrates future leaders for their academic excellence and commitment to serving others. he selection was made by a panel representing several groups within ASCE including the Committee on Student Members, Committee on Younger Members, MOSAIC, and the National Engineers Week/DiscoverE Committee. Tiffany is being featured on the ASCE website and various other ASCE and nationwide media outlets, and we encourage you to celebrate her accomplishment locally as well.

Timothy A. Reinhold, Ph.D., P.E., M.ASCE is ASCE's 2022 recipient of the Jack E. Cermak Medal for his leadership in the development of modern wind engineering practices for the safe and efficient design of residential and small commercial construction. Dr. Reinhold will receive the medal at the 2022 ASCE Structures Congress in Atlanta in April. Dr. Reinhold's experience includes wind engineering studies for high-rise buildings, long-span bridges and specialty structures located in the United States, Europe, and South America. His experience includes damage assessments, model and full-scale laboratory studies, and field research. He serves on the ASCE 7 Wind Loads subcommittee and served on the SBCCI Wind Load subcommittee. Tim has authored or co-authored numerous journal papers, chapters of books and conference publications.

Congratulations on the SEI Graduate Student Chapter at University of Central Florida receipt of the 2022 SEI Graduate Student Chapter of the Year Award. The SEI Graduate Student Chapter at University of Central Florida, its officers, and members are commended for their dedication to advance and serve the structural engineering profession through hosting virtual presentations on the next generation of structural engineering challenges on coastal structures and a day in the life of a structural engineer, with student and professional attendees from across the US and abroad. Programs included membership outreach and collaboration with the ASCE undergraduate student chapter at UCF. SEI will be honoring all 2022 award recipients at Structures Congress 2022 luncheon on Saturday, April 23, 2022.

ERAU - The Embry-Riddle Student Chapter has been focusing on preparing for conference. They hold meetings every Tuesday evening and their main focus is the concrete canoe and conference competitions. They plan to send 23 students. Events they are looking forward to are the Annual Central Florida Field Trip that took place last month and the concrete canoe pour day on February 26th, and Kimley-Horn visiting our meeting on March 8th.

FAMU-FSU- After much excitement from last semester's Student Union Tour, the student chapter knew an update would have to be scheduled. Last week, the FAMU-FSU Student chapter got to experience a walkthrough tour of the new FSU Ogelsby Student Union - a highly anticipated on campus project that has been in construction the past four-plus years. Students got the opportunity to learn more about design and construction challenges the team faced and had a unique opportunity to compare experientially the project's progress over the past 5 months. Concrete Canoe pour day was a great success as we prepare to host and compete in the 2022 ASCE Southeast Student Conference (March 24-26)! Any support you or your firm could offer would go a long way and provide an excellent proactive step in top tier recruiting from our outstanding students. Please feel free to reach out to ysr18@my.fsu.edu for sponsorship opportunities.

Florida Institute of Technology - The 2022 Southeast Student Steel Bridge Competition Regional Event will take place at Florida Institute of Technology on March 19-20. Students from more than 10 universities in Florida, Georgia, and Puerto Rico will compete for the opportunity to advance to the 2022 National Finals. Elements of the competition include timed construction, lateral and vertical loading, weighing, and aesthetics judging. Additional information regarding the SSBC Southeast Regional Competition can be found on this website. For more information, including the Rules that govern the competition, please visit aisc.org/ssbc.

University of Central Florida - The ASCE UCF Student Chapter was established in 1972 and has been active throughout the years. With a focus on communication, membership, organization and community outreach, we seek to give our members the most opportunities to improve themselves and knowledge on the industry. Regular meetings allow students to join together in the pursuit of enhancing education, community involvement, and leadership opportunities. We have made it a priority to offer our members with as many opportunities such as social events, site tours, volunteering events and networking events. Because of the extensive involvement of members in activities, joining ASCE has become an effective method that allows students to establish contacts within the university and in the engineering profession.

University of Florida - UF ASCE participated in Project Makeover, a community service beautification project for local schools. UF ASCE members volunteered and helped by building and setting up easels for the art class at a local elementary school! Later in the month, the student chapter hosted its first Corporate Cornhole Tournament! They hosted a 20-team double elimination cornhole tournament with over 30 professionals from 14 companies and over 50 students in attendance.

University of North Florida- The University of North Florida ASCE chapter recently held their annual Trivia Night/Beers with Engineers on February 26th. The local chapter holds this event to fundraise for the upcoming ASCE student conference. At this event 12 professional teams participated and multiple student teams competed. The chapter was able to fund raise roughly $2,100. Below are the first through third teams, with a special appearance from the lowest scoring team.

Join other leaders in the profession as they discuss the program theme “Adaptive Planning and Design in an Age of Risk and Uncertainty.” Please review the conference website for details at www.ewricongress.org.

Please contact Brian Parsons or Mark Gable with any questions (bparsons@asce.org). 

The call for proposals for Structures Congress 2023 is now open! We invite you to submit today for a chance to be a part of the program. Don't let this opportunity pass you by - deadline to submit is June 15, 2022. 

Suggested Topics  

·        Blast & impact loading

·        Bridges, tunnels, and other transportation structures

·        Buildings

·        Business and professional practice

·        Career and leadership

·        Education

·        Forensic

·        Life-cycle assessment

·        Natural disasters

·        Nonbuilding and special structures

·        Nonstructural components and systems

·        Innovative research

·        Technology advancements

 

Key Dates  

·       Submission Due: June 15, 2022

·        Status of Submission Notification: September 12, 2022

·        Conference Dates: May 3-6, 2023

Please note that all accepted presenters are required to register and attend the conference - confirm that you can attend the conference prior to submitting.

Every quarter we focus on one of our outstanding active current members and one student member to highlight the benefits of ASCE and our profession. If there is someone you know that has made a great contribution to our field, please nominate them by emailing Judy Nichols.

Why did you join ASCE? Aside from being “voluntold” to be the Gainesville Branch Newsletter editor, having just moved to Florida, I joined ASCE to be more actively involved in professional organizations and to get to network in my field.

What would you say has been the best benefit of being a member?  The best benefit of being a member has been the opportunity to get involved at the Section level, which opened up a whole other level of networking. I have met many fellow engineers both at the Section and Regional levels; a number of which have become personal friends, with some even opening doors to career-changing opportunities.

What advice would you give to other students/professionals on the benefits of joining a professional society and participating in the organization? Be an active member, whether that be at the local or Section level. There are so many opportunities at your fingertips, but you must actively take advantage of them and not be a passive member.

What do you like best about being an engineer? What I like best about being an engineer is that every day, in one way or another, I get to help our society and more importantly I get to have a tangible, positive impact on my community.

What is the most interesting thing about yourself that you can share? As a side job, I am a blackjack and roulette dealer! Usually during the holiday season, I will help a friend’s company if the company needs extra “hands.” Let me know if you ever want to learn how to play.

What was a time you felt most accomplished as an engineer? Earlier in my career I was tasked with my first large scale design project for the Kennedy Space Center to upgrade their water and wastewater systems. I was nervous when originally tasked to lead the Design Team. It was a lot of work and responsibility, and I was not 100% confident I could tackle the challenge. Taking the project one step at a time, I not only helped complete a very large and successful project, but I also experienced tremendous professional growth. This accomplishment greatly developed my self confidence and allowed me to take on the larger subsequent phases with strong assurance in my engineering abilities.

.Rob is a past District III Vice President and chair of the Section's 2022 and 2023 Annual Conference.

Why did you join ASCE? I joined ASCE to surround myself with others on the same / similar career path and grow with them through shared experiences and guidance.

What would you say has been the best benefit of being a member? The best benefit of being a member is the networking opportunities that come with it. You get to meet others who have been in your shoes and mentors who can provide invaluable resources to help prepare for your future career.

What advice would you give to other students/professionals on the benefits of joining a professional society and participating in the organization? Don’t hold back on introducing yourself and asking for advice. Everyone I’ve meet through ASCE is more than happy to help and appreciates when others show passion and dedication towards engineering.

What do you like best about being an engineer? The potential for a positive impact on a grand scale, be that improving transportation, housing or any other discipline.

What is the most interesting thing about yourself that you can share? I have been working on a self-sustainable modular housing solution to combat homelessness and housing insecurity since 2019. We are excited to initiate prototyping later this year.

What was your first experience joining ASCE? My first experience with joining ASCE was a general board meeting where I got to meet so many others that shared the same interests and passion as me.

What was a time you felt most accomplished as an engineer? Being selected as ASCE West Coast Branch 2021 Engineering Student of the Year is one of my greatest achievements as an engineer.

http://www.bargedesign.com

Branch Manager – West Palm Beach, Florida

Ardaman & Associates, Inc. is one of the largest geotechnical engineering and materials testing consulting firms in the Southeastern U.S. Over our history, we have worked on more than 150,000 projects throughout the Southeast, the U.S., and worldwide. This vast list of project experience includes services for virtually every type of public and private client associated with industrial, commercial and infrastructure projects.

The successful candidate will be technically superior and must have excellent written and verbal communication skills. This position requires a Florida P.E. license. A Master’s degree specializing in Geotechnical Engineering is a plus; a BSCE degree with geotechnical engineering and construction materials testing experience is the minimum qualification. The position will provide a dynamic, team-oriented work environment and an exceptional opportunity for career growth.   

Please apply at https://www.ardaman.com