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Your MSPE Briefings | OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2025
Opportunities, Resources, and Member News
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IN THIS ISSUE:
- President’s Message – Paul Robinson, PE
- NSPE-MA 2025 Annual Meeting Recap
- Success at NSPECon25
- Member Project Spotlight: LIG Consultants
- MSPE Appoints DSC Member for MA EOHLC
- New Professional Development Webinar Series - Live and On-Demand
- MATHCOUNTS – Please Share FREE Resources with Grade 6-8 Teachers
- 2025 NSPE Education Scholarship Winners Announced
- New Engineering Grads are Eligible for NSPE Discounted Dues
- Latest issue of PE Magazine Now Available
- NSPE Communities: Learn, Share and Connect
- Upcoming Events – Save The Dates!
| | President's Message - Paul Robinson, PE | | | | |
When I sat down to write this message I decided to give the latest shiny tool AI a shot. What I got was mostly lofty platitudes that you’d see from a typical CEO letter to employees that seems to have the right words but rings hollow.
Maybe it’s just the GenX sarcasm in me, or the years of reading the original inputs to AI models, but it didn’t resonate with me. So instead, I decided to go old school and put my voice into words.
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Back when I was about to graduate WPI with my engineering degree and was looking for a job, I heard the old phrase, “It’s not what you know but who you know that matters”. Having just worked so hard for that degree and coming from a small town in NH with no connections to leverage, it was very disheartening to say the least. Now that I’m well into the back nine of my career I have a new version to offer. “It’s not only what you know but who you get to know that matters.” Getting to know new people is challenging, especially for most engineers like me, but it is worth the effort.
I see MSPE as a tried-and-true tool for not only expanding what you know, but more importantly expanding who you get to know. Member participation is the life blood of this organization and ensures the society remains a dynamic aspect of your professional career. As we continue to look for opportunities for in-person events, please reach out and let us know if you have any ideas. My goals are to be a good steward for the position of MSPE President, and to not only get to know more members of this vibrant community, but also to make it easier for members to get to know other members.
Sincerely,
| | Paul Robinson, PE | MSPE President 2025-2027 | | NSPE-MA 2025 Annual Meeting Recap | | |
Pictured above from left: Outgoing MSPE President Weijun Li, PE, Incoming President Paul Robinson, PE; Directors Larry Nelson, PE; Tom Converse, PE; Nicholas Constantine, PE; Anthony Morreale, PE. Not pictured: John Hayden, PE
The 2025 NSPE-MA (MSPE) Annual Meeting and Dinner was held on September 17 at Mick Morgan’s Irish Pub & Restaurant in Sharon, MA. Participants enjoyed the opportunity to network, meet the MSPE Board, and witness the 2025 officer installation ceremony.
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In August, NSPE-MA President Paul Robinson, PE and Treasurer Tom Converse, PE participated in NSPECon25 and represented our State Society at the NSPE State Leadership Summit, a full-day pre-conference event where leaders collaborate, build community, and discuss programs that the NSPE federation provides in support of members on the national, state, and local levels.
| | Conference attendees participated in a variety of sessions and activities including tours, a first-time attendee mixer, engaging keynote speakers, a new professionals trivia night, education sessions and more. The annual national meeting truly showcased the value of being a part of the NSPE community and fostered connection and engagement for members and prospective members. In keeping with the conference theme of "MoMentum", keynote sessions explored the past, present and future of engineering. | | | | |
SAVE THE DATE: Aug 5-7 2026
NSPECon26 will be held in York City next August 5-7. A call for NSPECon26 presentation proposals will open in November.
View this brief 30-second video about the 2026 event.
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MEMBER PROJECT SPOTLIGHT:
LIG Consultants Team is Performing Substation Work
for AI-driven Data Centers
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Pictured: A typical substation yard being built out for Four 150 MVA transformers stepping 138,000 Volts to 34,500 Volts
Professional Engineers Tom Converse, Nick Constantine, and Tony Morreale of LIG Consultants continue to work around the country supporting data center expansions to facilitate the power needs of AI data centers.
LIG recently completed a large substation in Texas, with several others in the design stage in Alabama, Arizona, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio, and Virginia. The substation campuses typically take power at 138,000 Volts, 230,000 Volts and 345,000 Volts and step it down to distribution within the campus at 34,500 Volts.
The power needs continue to grow. 10 years ago, a data center build would be 10 Megawatts. We are now seeing data center substations with projected loads of 1.0 GW (1,000 Megawatts).
It is not uncommon for the substation transformation to be 150MVA or 250 MVA. For comparison, a typical town on the South Shore has a peak load of approximately 50 MVA. The data center market continues to explode to support the projected AI need, with many household tech names participating in the buildout.
| | NSPE-MA Appoints DSC Member to MA EOHLC | | | | In September, MSPE appointed a Professional Engineer to the serve on the nine-member Designer Selection Committee (DSC) of the Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (EOHLC) in accordance with the agency’s selection protocol. | | |
The MSPE Board reviewed the credentials submitted by Adrienne Gould-Choquette, MS, PE, a Principal Engineer with Adicot, Inc. Professional Engineering in response to MSPE’s call for qualified applicants for the Committee role.
MSPE appreciates the opportunity to contribute to the important work of the EOHLC and its Designer Selection Committee, and wishes the organization and committee continued success.
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Massachusetts MATHCOUNTS encourages ALL professionals to please share these opportunities and free toolkits with Grade 6-8 Math Educators and leaders in their local middle schools, and encourage them to REGISTER NOW for the National Math Club for FREE, and for the MATHCOUNTS Competition Series by November 5, 2025 (early bird rate).
Learn more about Massachusetts MATHCOUNTS, including our state's first place finish at the National Competition in May 2025, as well as simple ways that you and/or your firm or team can share your support to maintain this vital program in our state.
| | QUESTIONS? Contact MATHCOUNTS State Coordinator John Hayden, PE | | PROFESSIONAL RESOURCES FOR MEMBERS | | | | |
LIVE and ON-DEMAND Webinars Available
NSPE's WORKability Wednesdays live webinars are offered FREE to members to support their professional development goals.
Through the PE Institute, members can log in and enjoy free, on-demand access to recorded webinars.
| | 2025 NSPE Scholarship Winners Announced | | | | |
The NSPE Education Foundation recently awarded several scholarships to support talented students pursuing engineering degrees in ABET accredited programs.
Winners from the Northeast Region include Douglas Coulter (Durham, New Hampshire), and Michael T. Schoff (Portsmouth, New Hampshire).
Learn more about this year’s scholarship winners.
| | Latest Issue of PE Magazine Now Available | | | | |
The latest issue of PE Magazine includes feature articles on the imperative for engineers to embed cybersecurity principles into their design processes and an exploration of quantum computing technology.
The featured article, Designing for the Invisible Threat, explores how cyberthreats make it imperative that engineers embed cybersecurity principles into their design processes from the outset, and think beyond traditional design parameters as they build for resilience, survivability, and operational integrity.
| | This issue also contains articles on PEs advocating for the US chemical safety board; the public’s view on artificial intelligence; engineering ethics and antitrust law; a focus on reducing workplace hazards; the AEC industry’s digital future; and a profile of the 2025 New Professional Award recipient. The issue has been delivered to digital subscribers and is now available for members to access. | | Discounted Member Dues Program for Engineering Graduates | | NSPE offers discounted membership dues to recent college graduates of ABET-accredited schools and/or programs. If qualified, recent grads can join NSPE at a discounted rate up to 80% off of full dues, depending upon the year of graduation. Members are encouraged to promote this graduated dues program opportunity to engineering students and recent grads. | | Learn, Share, Connect: NSPE Community Discussion Groups | | Your MSPE/NSPE membership makes it easy for you to network with other PEs across the country, and connect with peers across engineering disciplines. NSPE Communities is an easy-to-use online forum where members can connect, exchange knowledge, and ask questions of their peers. Discussion groups enable you to communicate with leaders and partners in your field through the Open Forum, Women in Engineering, and Engineering and Climate Change communities. | | |
How to Join the Discussion
Getting started is easy! Visit the Get Started page, review the guidelines, and follow the instructions on how to log in, set up your profile, create and reply to posts.
As an NSPE/NSPE-MA member, your profile is already set up and you are automatically subscribed to the main discussion group, called the Open Forum. Now it’s time to login, update your profile and begin making connections!
| | If you need assistance with logging into your NSPE account to access your profile and member-only content, simply email memserv@nspe.org or call NSPE Member Services at 888-285-6773. The team is available M-F from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. ET. | | Upcoming Events - Save These Dates! | | |
February 22-28: Engineers Week 2026
February 27: Federal Engineer of the Year Ceremony
March 4: World Engineering Day
August 5-7: NSPECon26 (New York City, NY)
August 5: PE Day
| | The Massachusetts Society of Professional Engineers | www.mspe.com | | | | |
