TransConnect WTS Triangle

WTS NC Triangle Newsletter
August 2014

In this Issue

Note from the President
Upcoming Programs
In Case You Missed It
Featured Businesses

Featured Events

"Choose Your Future You" Breakfast Series

Sept. 4, 2014  

 

 Engineering Success Business Forum

Sept. 16, 2014

Oct. 7, 2014  

 

Central VA and Hampton Special Event

Sept. 18, 2014

 

Transportation YOU

Sept. 18, 2014

 

Art in the Evening

Oct. 3, 2014 

Board of Directors

 

President

Kim Levine,

Asset Management Associates, PLLC

 

Vice President

Jenny Fleming, PE, Ecological Engineering

 

Secretary

Memory Washaya, NCDOT

 

Treasurer

Jessalyn Abril, PE, LEED AP,

URS

 

Past President

Amy Simes, PE, CPM, NCDENR

Quick Links

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2014 Partners

Advocate Sponsor

 

 

 

 
Patron Partner
  
  
  
  
 
  
  
Emerging Business
  
Supporter Partner 
 
 AMEC
 
Editors

Leslie Tracey, PE

City of Durham

 

Hatch Mott MacDonald

Taruna Tayal
VHB

Nicole Bennett, AICP
Parsons Brinckerhoff

Yuying Zhou
VHB 
 

Greetings! Summer is almost over, and soon we'll be seeing cooler temperatures, shorter days and fall colors. Although the year is winding down, at the WTS NC Triangle Chapter, we are gearing up to bring you some great events this fall.

 

Our next breakfast will be held next week - Iona Thomas with Stewart will talk about how to choose and implement career changes to your best advantage. Registration for this event will close soon, so see below for details and sign up. Later in September, we'll be bringing you the first session of a special business forum focusing on developing and marketing your engineering firm in today's economy. The first day of this event will focus on starting and growing your business, and the second day, in October, will cover development and marketing. This will be a great opportunity to learn from and network with experienced entrepreneurs, as well as people who make up the customer base for your firm.

 

But we're not all about work here. Our membership committee is putting together a fun outing in October at the NC Museum of Art's "Art in the Evening." It'll be a time for socializing in an enjoyable and laid-back atmosphere. And it'll be a great event for those who are thinking of joining WTS and want to learn more or meet other members. We hope to see you there!

 

Kimberly J. Levine

President, WTS NC Triangle Chapter

Upcoming for September

Engineering Success Business Forum  

 
This is a two-part series on business issues sponsored by WTS. The first part will be held Sept. 16, and the second part will be held Oct. 7. Each day will be three-hour forum that will focus on panel discussions and roundtables that will feature experts and allow participation from the audience. The first part, "Business 101," will feature a panel discussion on certifications, pre-qualifications, and financial compliance and roundtable discussions on the stages of company growth and development. The second part, "Setting up your company for growth," will feature a panel discussion on networking, creating a project-winning team, where to look for advertised work, and effective proposal writing, and a presentation on branding, social media, marketing strategies, and marketing budgets. Participants can earn up to 3 PDH credits for attending each day of the series. Click here to see the agenda and here to register for the first part of the series.

"Choose Your Future You" Breakfast

Iona Thomas, associate vice president with Stewart Engineering, will discuss investing in yourself and how to achieve the greatest success possible at the next breakfast series on Sept 4. Ms. Thomas will share her path from working as a Washington, D.C., defense analyst to her position today designing some of North Carolina's most ambitious greenways and trail projects. Individual success is tied to how well we are able to connect our daily choices with what is best for our future selves. Ms. Thomas will provide some tips on making and implementing career change decisions. Click here to register.
Transportation YOU
The next Transportation YOU event will focus on art and creativity, and how those can be utilized in a technical field such as science, math and engineering. Transportation YOU is WTS' mentorship program for middle-school-aged girls interested in learning more about careers in STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math). The next event will be held from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Sept. 18 at the ITRE building on the NC State University campus. Amy Skelding, a regional marketing manager in transportation with AECOM, will discuss communications and marketing careers in the transportation industry. Dinner will be provided for attendees. Visit the  Transportation YOU website for more information about the program. For those who want to volunteer at the event, or if you know a middle-school-aged girl who would be interested in attending, click here for information on how to register.

Art in the Evening with WTS 

Join us at the NC Museum of Art for a fun evening of networking and socializing. In October, the chapter will hold a free event open to anyone in the transportation industry. We'll be meeting at the museum in Raleigh on Oct. 3 for its "Art in the Evening" special event. WTS will have tables set up for our attendees, and we'll award door prizes, as well as provide food and drinks. There will also be live music at the event, and attendees can wander the galleries to appreciate the art. If you're looking to meet others in the industry or want to learn more about WTS, register for this event.

Welcome New Members! 

The following members joined the WTS-NC Triangle Chapter recently: Hanan Assfoura, Stewart; Jennifer Rivera Gonzalez, student; Lauren Wilson, Parsons Brinckerhoff; LaNica Allison, NCDOT-Deputy Secretary; Ann Steedly, Planning Communities; Rhonda Early, HNTB Corp., and Anamika Laad, NCDOT-PDEA. Welcome to all the new members! Click here to read the welcome letter. 
In Case You Missed It ...
Public Private Partnership Luncheon
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Virginia Mabry with the NCDOT Priority Projects Office was the featured speaker at the August luncheon. She discussed Public-Private Partnerships (P3) and explained how they are being used here in North Carolina to fund transportation projects. See her Powerpoint presentation here.

Featured Business

HNTB's roots in North Carolina began in 1921, when one of the firm's namesakes, Ruben Burgendoff, started his career with the North Carolina State Highway Commission. Today, HNTB is celebrating a century of service as one of the largest employee-owned companies in the nation and the 6th largest design firm.  Our professionals deliver a full range of services, including award-winning planning, design, program delivery and construction management.  For more information, visit www.hntb.com.

 

Our partnership with WTS provides an opportunity for HNTB to realize our full potential as an organization committed to developing the best talent and delivering the highest levels of innovation to our clients. Through our active membership, with more than 20 HNTB professionals serving in WTS leadership roles across the nation, we are dedicated to the development of young professionals and encourage accomplished HNTB experts to give back to the transportation community. 

 

HNTB is pleased to announce the addition of four professionals. Allen Pope, PE, has joined HNTB as director of construction and operations services after more than 30 years with the NCDOT. Robin Pugh, AICP, brings 30 years of planning experience to our growing project development group. Trace Howell, EI, and Monica DuVal have a combined 18 years of direct NCDOT experience and will provide engineering services for roadway design and traffic control.  

Featured Business

Ecological Engineering, LLP, was formed in June 2008 with the mission to provide quality-based engineering and environmental services. Located in Cary, we specialize in clean water engineering, ecological consulting and environmental compliance services. We provide hydraulic, hydrologic and stormwater-based engineering, erosion and sediment control design, ecological analysis and assessment and environmental permitting for projects ranging from intersection improvements to greenways to major highways. Our firm is identified by NCDOT as a Woman Owned Business (WBE) and Small Professional Services Firm (SPSF). In addition, our firm is a certified Historically Underutilized Business (HUB) with the State of North Carolina through the Statewide Uniform Certification program.

 

Our company is continuing to grow! David Cooper joined our staff as a Project Scientist. Mr. Cooper has more than 15 years of professional experience. He performs a variety of services including, but not limited to, threatened and endangered species surveys, jurisdictional assessments and determinations, biological and ecological assessments, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) mapping. David has conducted a variety of surveys and habitat assessments for terrestrial and aquatic animals, prepared NEPA/ SEPA documents, Natural Resources Technical Reports, construction drawings, erosion control inspections, and mitigation monitoring. David's experience includes 7 years with the NC Museum of Natural Science. He is currently President of the NC Herpetological Society.

 

In addition, we were one of only four firms selected to provide on-call surveys and monitoring for the Northern Long-eared Bat. We hold limited services contracts with the NCDOT Hydraulics Unit, NCDOT Roadside Environmental Unit and with the Town of Cary to provide Environmental, Scientific and Engineering Services. Visit our website at www.ecologicaleng.com. 

Professional Connections

For those looking for networking opportunities within the Chapter, consider joining the Professional Connections program. Each quarter, the members of the program are split into groups of four or five, and each group plans a lunch meeting. This is a good way to meet others and learn about their careers, hobbies and interests. For more information, or to sign up, contact Karen Reynolds.
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