Austin Branch Newsletter
May 2008	Volume 12, Number 9
In This Issue… Meeting/Speaker Info President's Message Volunteer at Children’s Museum Meeting Sponsor Info “Raise the Bar” Info Habitat for Humanity TX Section Awards to Austin Branch Members The Austin Branch Exhibits YMF Update UT Austin Update History & Heritage: Book Review Call for Conference Presenters Continuing Education	May Branch Meeting – May 20, 2008 Topic ASCE’s “Raise the Bar” Educational Initiative Speaker Kenneth Fridley University of Alabama When Tuesday, May 20th Social - 11:30 to Noon;  Lunch/Speaker - Noon to 1:00 PM Where Embassy Suites North - 5901 N. IH 35 Cost $15 with RSVP; $5 for Government/Students; Additional $5 without RSVP RSVP Click here to RSVP by Noon, Friday, May 16th \Meeting Sponsor
Quick Links… About Us Job Board Younger Member Forum
May Speaker: Kenneth Fridley, Department Head and Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Alabama ASCE’s “Raise the Bar” Educational Initiative Mr. Fridley is a Region 5 Governor who has been very involved with the Society’s “raise the bar" initiative – and has made several presentations on this topic.  He is a member of Committee on the Academic Prerequisites for Professional Practice (CAP^3), the Vice-Chair of the Body of Knowledge Committee of CAP^3, and the Chair of the BOK Educational Fulfillment Committee (BOKEdFC) of CAP^3.  He is also a member of a key National Council of Examiners for Engineering & Surveying (NCEES) committee working on some of the details for implementing the new NCEES Model Law.  Mr. Fridley is the Department Head at the University of Alabama – one of the largest civil engineering programs in the nation.
President’s Message by Kelly A. Barney, PE April was a great month for the Austin Branch and I hope you were all a part of it!  Kim Wilson with TCEQ came and spoke with us at the monthly luncheon regarding the changes that have been made to the TPDES permits.  Kim was very knowledgeable and hopefully answered all of the questions that we had regarding our projects and the new permits.  We also had Michael Powell of the Engineering Career Assistance Center and the Chair of the Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering Department at UT join us to discuss possible recruiting opportunities for smaller companies and government agencies in Austin on campus. We also had our first ASCE Austin Branch booth experience at the ACEA Symposium on Wednesday, April 23^rd.  This first experience was followed up with another opportunity at the Sustainable Land Development Institute conference that was also held here in Austin.  Thanks to Shelly Moczygemba, David Matocha, Linda Barlow and Dale Murphy for their efforts in making our booth a success.  (See photos later in the newsletter.) I had the privilege of also attending the ASCE Texas Section meeting in Corpus Christi last weekend.  It was a great conference and I want to thank Pape-Dawson Engineers for allowing me the opportunity to expand my knowledge and networking to the state level.  Dale Murphy was awarded the Texas Section Professional Service Award and Rose Marie Klee was awarded the Service to People Award!  They were presented with these awards at the State meeting in Corpus and we should all feel honored to have such talented and deserving individuals in our Branch.  And thanks to Garabed Harutunian (Honors Chair) for nominating these well deserving candidates.  The Austin Branch rocks!  Please see the article in this issue of the newsletter that explains these awards in more detail with photos.  Congrats Dale and Rose Marie! I am looking forward to another exciting month!  If you would like to get more involved in the Austin Branch of ASCE, please feel free to visit our website at www.austinasce.org, or feel free to contact me at Pape-Dawson Engineers, Inc. at 512-454-8711 or at kbarney@pape-dawson.com.  There is an opportunity waiting for you!
Another Volunteer Opportunity! Design Squad Event at the Austin Children’s Museum: Sunday, June 22 Come join us at the Austin Children’s Museum on June 22^nd from 1:00 to 5:00 for a day of engineering fun based on design challenges from the popular PBS TV show. The event is sponsored by the Austin Branch and the Central Texas Discover Engineering. ASCE volunteers will lead 3 hands-on engineering design challenges: · Design and build a table out of newspaper tubes. Make it at least 8” tall and strong enough to hold a heavy book. · Design and build something that can carry a Ping-Pong ball from the top of a zip line string to the bottom in four seconds (or less!). · Design electrical circuits to power fans, lights, motors and more using Snap Circuits  These real world design and building experiences will: · Give visitors an opportunity to see engineering as problem-solving using science, math, and technology · Build science and math skills · Increase interest and motivation to participate in engineering activities later in life The event is focusing on diversity and is targeting Hispanic families. We are looking for 30 volunteers to help with the event, especially bilingual volunteers. There will be two shifts for volunteers: 12:30 to 3:00 and 3:00 to 5:30. We are planning on four to five stations per each of the three activities, and need two volunteers per station. It could be you! Talk to your co-workers and friends and volunteer together! Email either Linda Barlow at lbarlow@hvj.com or Laton Carr at LCarr@pape-dawson.com. DESIGN SQUAD is produced by WGBH Boston. Major funding is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the Intel Foundation. Additional funding is provided by the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying, United Engineering Foundation (ASCE, ASME, AIChE, IEEE, AIME), Noyce Foundation, Northrop Grumman, the IEEE and the Intel Corporation. Find out more about Design Squad at http://pbskids.org/designsquad/. The program is broadcast locally on KLRU.
May Meeting Sponsor – Halcrow Halcrow, Inc. is an international multi-disciplinary civil engineering company, based in the UK, with over 70 offices world wide with 18 in North America.  We offer professional services through five major divisions, including: § Transportation – Halcrow provides design, construction management, maintenance management, planning, and PPP advice for all modes of transportation including roads, rail, tunnels, bridges and airports. § Maritime – Halcrow has performed design, planning and asset management for many of the world’s major ports, as well as coastal engineering services. § Property – Halcrow offers structural engineering services for buildings, including multi-story office buildings, hospitals, museums, casinos, airport terminals and sports stadiums. § Water and Power – Halcrow has expertise in water and wastewater treatment and distribution systems as well as experience developing alternative power sources such as wind and wave electricity generation. § Consulting – Halcrow provides management, demand forecasting, economic and planning advice to financial companies, developers and government clients related to all forms of infrastructure. Locally, Halcrow has offices in Houston, Dallas and Austin, serving primarily the transportation and maritime industries.  Please consult our award-winning website, www.halcrow.com for further information
ASCE “Raise the Bar” Newletter reprinted from April 2008 Vol. 5, No. 1 The ASCE Committee on Academic Prerequisites for Professional Practice (CAP^3) has continued its efforts to raise the educational requirements for the future practice of civil engineering at the professional level (licensure). For more than a decade, ASCE has been refining our proposed program to “raise the bar” in engineering education. The National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE), the National Council of Examiners for Engineering & Surveying (NCEES), and the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) have joined in this advocacy. A summary of some activities since our last newsletter: Second Edition of the Body of Knowledge (BOK) ASCE released the Civil Engineering Body of Knowledge for the 21st Century, Second Edition (abbreviated as "BOK") on February 19, 2008 at a special event at the National Academy of Engineering (NAE). A comprehensive report of the NAE event and the new BOK is included in the March 2008 edition of the ASCE News. A copy of the BOK has been mailed to every civil engineering and technology department in the nation – as well as to every dean of engineering. We invite you to download a free copy of the Second Edition as a pdf file from www.asce.org/raisethebar. You may purchase a bound copy of the complete report from www.asce.org/bookstore/book.cfm?book=8241. A frequent question is “What is the BOK?” The BOK is defined in ASCE Policy 465 as “the necessary depth and breadth of knowledge, skills, and attitudes required of an individual entering the practice of civil engineering at the professional level in the 21^stcentury.” For civil engineers, entry into professional practice normally equates to becoming licensed. The BOK uses outcomes -- and it is designed to be a dynamic, comprehensive, aspiration and future-focused document. Each outcome is associated with a level of achievement. The BOK is fulfilled through a combination of formal education and practical experience. Another question is “How is the BOK related to accreditation criteria and licensure law/rules?” From ASCE’s perspective, it is understood that the BOK represents a strategic direction for the profession. Under today’s accreditation and regulatory processes/procedures, some of the elements of the BOK may not be translated into accreditation criteria and licensing requirements in the near term. To say it another way, the BOK describes the “gold standard” for the aspiring civil engineering professional. Since input into the accreditation and licensing processes comes from a considerable number of stakeholders beyond just ASCE, it is unlikely that these processes will reflect all aspects of ASCE’s BOK. ASCE is optimistic that the accreditation and licensing processes could change over time to adopt a more BOK-centric approach. As this occurs, a greater proportion of the BOK could be reflected in the accreditation and licensure requirements. Educational Fulfillment of the BOK The BOK Educational Fulfillment (BOKEdFC) was formed in early 2008. The committee has had two conference calls and a face-to-face meeting. Ken Fridley (Chair) and Jeff Evans (Vice Chair) are leading the committee. There are 11 full members and 31 corresponding members. If you are interested in becoming a corresponding member, please contact Ken Fridley at kfridley@eng.ua.edu. Accreditation Criteria and Removal of the Prohibition on Dual Level Accreditation The Accreditation Committee of CAP^3 prepared a new version of the civil engineering program criteria and masters level general criteria along with supporting commentary. These criteria and associated commentary are available at www.asce.org/raisethebar. These new criteria were unanimously passed by the ABET Board of Directors (on its second and final reading) on November 3, 2007. These criteria are effective for visits scheduled for the 2008-2009 accreditation cycle of ABET. A dedicated group of ASCE accreditation champions, led by Phil Borrowman, Rich Anderson, and Ernie Smerdon, carefully executed a well thought-out plan on how to get ABET to remove its prohibition on dual level accreditation of engineering programs. The ban kept engineering programs in a given discipline at the same university from being accredited at both the baccalaureate and the master’s level. With the help of ASCE’s top leadership, ASCE’s ABET Board appointees, members of the committees of CAP^3 and the Educational Activities Department of ASCE, and numerous partners external to ASCE; the effort to remove the prohibition was successful. In a significant positive development for ASCE's “raise the bar" initiative, the ABET Board of Directors removed the prohibition on March 29^thby a vote of 28-12 (with two abstentions). The ABET Board of Directors and the ABET leadership are to be congratulated on their historic and future-focused decision. What does the lifting of this prohibition mean to our long-term effort to implement the Body of Knowledge and ASCE Policy 465? It opens up multiple practical paths to the fulfillment and validation of the civil engineering Body of Knowledge. And, within the next decade, ASCE hopes that more universities (by their own choice) will have ABET-accredited practice-oriented master's degree that better prepare the engineering practitioners and leaders of tomorrow. For more on dual-level accreditation see www.abet.org/dual.shtml and/or www.asce.org/raisethebar. Licensure In late 2007, the National Council of Examiners for Engineering & Surveying (NCEES) formed the Bachelor’s +30 Task Force with the a primary goal of developing definitions for approved credits and approved course providers for inclusion in the NCEES Model Rules. Given the complexity of the assignment, it is anticipated that the Task Force will work on this issue for at least two years. For up-to-date information about this Task Force, please see www.ncees.org/licensure/licensure_exchange/. Questions, Comments, or Suggestions Please contact Jeff Russell (russell@engr.wisc.edu) or Tom Lenox (tlenox@asce.org).
Pictures from May 3^rd Habitat for Humanity Event courtesy of Kelly Barney
Austin Branch Members Receive Texas Section Awards by Kelly Barney, P.E. – Austin Branch President Dale P. Murphy, P.E. – 2008 Spring Texas Section Professional Service Award Dale P. Murphy, P.E. was awarded the Texas Section Professional Service Award at the Texas Section Meeting in Corpus Christi on April 25, 2008.  This award is given to a subscribing member of the Texas Section for meritorious service to the Texas Section and to one or more of the Section’s Branches.  Dale has been a key component to the success of the Austin Branch over the past few years and he is highly qualified for this award.  Among his contributing efforts to the Austin Branch, Dale created the Austin Branch website, strengthened our relationship and increased our involvement with the UT Student Chapter, founded the Younger Member Forum, brought groups together to “Bowl for Kids Sake” that raised over $19,000 this year for the Big Brothers Big Sisters and the list could go on and on.  Dale was nominated by Garabed Harutunian (Honors Chair), recommended by several colleagues and was endorsed by the Executive Committee to receive this award.  Please join me in congratulating Dale on this tremendous award! Front (L-R):  Dale Murphy (recipient), Nancy Cline (Texas Section President) Rose Marie P. Klee, P.E. – 2008 Spring Texas Section Service to People Award Rose Marie P. Klee, P.E. was awarded the Texas Section Service to People Award at the Texas Section Meeting in Corpus Christi on April 25, 2008.  This award is given to a civil engineer who has distinguished themselves with special service to people.  Rose Marie has had a remarkable impact on the Austin Branch and the community and is very deserving of this award.   Besides her multiple roles and accomplishments in the Austin Branch, Rose Marie has organized a trip to New Orleans for the Hurricane Relief effort the past two years.  This past Labor Day there were almost 100 volunteers to help with new housing construction, remodeling homes and a women’s shelter and gutting the St. Bernard Health Clinic.  Rose Marie has also served the Texas Secretary of State as an official election inspector (2004 and 2006 elections), tutored at-risk high school students in math, and currently serves as president of the board of directors of the Wheatsville Food Co-op.  Rose-Marie was nominated by Garabed Harutunian (Honors Chair), recommended by several mentors and colleagues and was endorsed by the Executive Committee to receive this award.  Please join me in congratulating Rose Marie on this outstanding award! Front (L-R): Nancy Cline (Texas Section President), Rose Marie Klee (recipient), Kelly Barney (Austin Branch President)
The Austin Branch Exhibits? by Kelly Barney, P.E. – Austin Branch President Yes, we do!  Thanks to the generosity of Hanson Pipe & Precast for letting the Austin Branch borrow a table top set up, the Austin Branch successfully was able to enter the arena of Exhibitors!  Two opportunities presented themselves to the Austin Branch to enable us to market the Austin Branch of ASCE. The ACEA Symposium was held at the Austin Convention Center on April 23, 2008 and as a co-host of the event, the Austin Branch was allowed free booth space.  With help from Dale Murphy who provided pictures, Linda Barlow who prepared Austin Branch flyers and Shelly Moczygemba who helped set up, tear down and man the booth throughout the day, it was a huge success!  Many pens, bottle openers, mugs, candy, flyers and membership applications were handed out throughout the day.  Hopefully this advertisement will help peak the interest of future members and encourage current members to become more involved! (L-R): Shelly Moczygemba (Austin Branch Community Service Chair), Kelly Barney (Austin Branch President) The Sustainable Land Development Institute Land Development Breakthroughs Best Practices Conference was held at the Renaissance Hotel on May 1-2, 2008 and as a partner of the event, the Austin Branch was allowed free booth space.  As a National conference, the approach of the Branch was a bit different than the local conference as we were able to visit and meet with other ASCE members from other Branches throughout the country to share ideas and success stories.  David Matocha graciously volunteered his time to help set up, tear down and monitor and man the booth over the course of the two day conference.  (L-R):  David Matocha (Austin Branch State Director), Kelly Barney (Austin Branch President)
YMF Update by Kimberly Patak, P.E. – Younger Member Forum President Please join us for our monthly social at Little Woodrow’s on 6th Street on May 21st after work. Hope to see you there!
ASCE Student Chapter – May Briefing from UT by Ryan Rush, UT Student Chapter Corporate Relations Officer With the academic year wrapping up and finals around the corner, the UT ASCE student chapter aims to finish the year on a strong note. On January 19, The Steel Bridge team placed 1^st overall at the Texas-Mexico regional competition in Beaumont, Texas. The team has been preparing for the National Steel Bridge Competition to be held in Gainsville, Florida on Friday May 23^rd. After finishing 6^th in the nation last year, the team is poised for another strong showing. The regional Concrete Canoe competition was held on April 26, 2008 in Corpus Christi. The team had a very strong showing compared to past years and placed in the top 4 in every race. The “Ramshorn” ended up being able to carry 4 people while weighing only 185 lbs including the pre-stressed cable system. While the team did not qualify for nationals, this year’s team laid the groundwork for future teams to be successful. In April, UT ASCE meetings were blessed by the presence of Jerimi Henry from URS. URS has been an integral part of our success here at UT ASCE by supporting our technical competitions. If your company would like to get involved with ASCE, please contact Ryan Rush at ryan@mail.utexas.edu. With half of our meeting slots for the 2008-2009 academic year already booked, we are looking to fill our remaining bi-weekly meetings with companies that have interesting projects and great opportunities to share with our students.  Our website can be found at www.ut-asce.org. It contains information for Technical Competitions, Outreach, IM Sports, and Social Events as well as useful contact information to reach our officers. (Middle : From Left to Right) Corey Meeks and Dong Hyun Kim accept an award for the sprint race.
Book Review: Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How it Changed America, by John M. Barry by Bill Stoner, P.E. – ASCE Member John Barry quotes the Bible in his front’s piece, ”And the rain descended, and the flood came, and the wind blew, and beat upon the houses; and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” -- Matthew 7:27. The Mississippi Flood of 1927 was, literally, a watershed event in the nations’ history.  In every sense the flood of 1027 was to fabric of the US nation as the flood and house foundation analogy described in the New Testament.  We need only look at a map of the Ohio, Tennessee, Arkansas, Missouri and the Mississippi Rivers combined drainage basin to see the influence of politics, transportation, and finance on society in the United States.  The history of the flood intertwines the story of the river with the engineers, the prominent Senator and his family, wealthy and poor society, the beginning of government humanitarianism, and the racial migration from the south to the north. The Engineers: The book covers the national debate on flood control between General Andrew Humphreys, Chief of the Corps of Engineers and James Eads, Engineer and Constructor.  These two men are the two most influential engineers of the late nineteenth century.  One self taught and experienced, the other a hero and a West Pointer, trained in the classical French model of engineering. Tragically their egos led to bitter personal battles. Their feud and their influence to exert control over the methods, levee or by pass, for managing river flooding failed the nation.  Eads’ noted, “To facilitate trade two great agencies are absolutely requisite…Transportation and Finance, and they are absolutely requisite, […]that the first may not inaptly termed the bone and sinew and the last the nerve and brain of Commerce.” The history of the country and the region mixes with the rivers and the historic undercurrent of race relations on society mixes with commerce.  Commerce demands controls of the water rights, irrigation, agriculture, and transportation.  The national relationships of finance, and political will, both in and outside of government solidify during and after this flood. The Senator and his family: The influence on flood control, agriculture and southern society by the family of Senator LeRoy Percy of Mississippi again melds the river and tragedy. The Mississippi River also demonstrates its natural force on the politics of agriculture, transportation and race relations after the Civil War. The Humanitarian: Government intervention by Herbert Hoover, the Secretary of Commerce, helped mitigate the tragedy. The Red Cross and the Corps of Engineers met in cooperation and conflict during the flood, setting the standard for their future roles.  This intervention by the Federal government set the precedent for a larger intervention during the Great Depression. Society along the River and in New Orleans: The wealthy landowners and New Orleans financiers controlled society and used a subtle form of racism to maintain the economy of the South with cheap labor.   The flood destroyed not only the businesses of the wealthy, local transportation but also the black landowners. After the flood the blacks migrated and the poor to the North, the south is dramatically changed. This book is an excellent document to review the conflicts within society and how they will continue to be debated well into the future. [John M. Barry is a Distinguished Visiting Scholar at the Center for Bioenvironmental Research of Tulane and Xavier Universities.  His other books include: The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the 1918 Pandemic; The Ambition and the Power, A True Story of Washington; and The Transformed Cell, Unlocking the Mysteries of Cancer (with Dr. Steven Rosenberg).]
Call for Structures Congress 2009 Conference (Austin, TX) Speakers/Papers! You are invited to submit your proposals and/or paper abstracts for the 2009 STRUCTURES CONGRESS. Proposals should focus on topics consistent with the list published in this announcement. Session requests and paper abstracts should be no more than two printed pages per abstract and must be submitted through the SEI Website at www.SEInstitute.org. SESSION REQUESTS need to include the session title and a short description of the session, name of proposed session chair and contact information (including email address), and name of the organizing/sponsoring committee (if applicable), as well as each presenter/author’s name and contact information (including email address), and each paper’s title. Each author/presenter in the proposed session MUST individually upload their abstract and select the proposed session as its topic (session MUST be uploaded first). Sessions organized by committees of SEI/ASCE are strongly encouraged. PAPER ABSTRACTS must include each author’s full name, credentials, affiliation, location, and contact information (including email address). Abstracts will be reviewed and should be sufficient to judge the quality and appropriateness of the work for the Congress. Any special comments, such as session, track, or topic for which the paper is best suited, should be written at the bottom of the abstract page. EXPENSES All expenses related to preparing and presenting the papers, including camera-ready manuscripts and illustrations, are the responsibility of the authors and co-authors. Due Date: June 10, 2008
ASCE Spring/Summer 2008 Continuing Education Seminars from Michael W. Cook – Senior  Manager, ASCE Geographic Services In our continuing effort to enhance communications between ASCE’s Sections, Branches and ASCE National, Geographic Services is pleased to advise you of the following seminars scheduled in your geographic area from April  through September 2008: May 29-30, 2008 Corpus Christi, TX Design of Buildings in Coastal Regions (Structural) May 29-30, 2008 San Antonio, TX Effective Project Risk Management (Management and Leadership) June 19-20, 2008 Dallas, TX Financial Management for the Professional Engineer (Management and Leadership) September 11-12, 2008 San Antonio, TX Pipe and Pipeline Renewal (Geotechnical) September 25-26, 2008 San Antonio, TX Construction Cost Estimating for the Civil Engineers ~NEW! (Construction/Development) These in-depth, practice-oriented programs are produced by ASCE’s Continuing Educations Department and may be of interest to many ASCE members in your Sections and Branches.  We would greatly appreciate if you would consider positing information on these seminars in your newsletters and on your websites. Information on seminars scheduled in other ASCE Regions can be found under the Region maps on ASCE’s website at http://www.asce.org/inside/sec_brnch.cfm,  Detailed descriptions of the seminars (by title) are available on ASCE’s website at www.asce.org/conted/seminars. If you have questions or need assistance, please contact Kelly Jarvis, Continuing Education Registrar at kjarvis@asce.org, or me at mcook@asce.org.
Thank You to Our 2008 Sponsors