ASCE’s global reach extends to international federations

As the world’s largest civil engineering association with more than 150,000 members in 177 countries, ASCE has a sizable presence in the global engineering community. Recent actions by international engineering federations have only expanded that.

“It’s essential that ASCE collaborate with fellow engineering societies for the betterment of the profession worldwide,” said 2021 ASCE President Jean-Louis Briaud, Ph.D., PE, D.GE, Dist.M.ASCE. “We should never presume that the good ideas for advancing engineering come only from here in the U.S.”

ASCE’s reach includes active roles in these alliances:

Asian Civil Engineering Coordinating Council

Established in 1999, the ACECC is composed of civil engineering societies in Asia and along the Pacific Rim. ASCE is one of its three founding organizations, along with the Japan Society of Civil Engineers and the Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers. Today societies from 14 countries belong to the ACECC, including Australia, Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, South Korea, the United States, and Vietnam. Its current secretary general is ASCE member Udai P. Singh, Ph.D., M.ASCE, a past president of the Environmental & Water Resources Institute and an environmental consultant based in California.

ASCE took over secretariat duties for the ACECC in 2020. As such the Society oversees ACECC’s governance, oversight of the council’s website, and staging of events including the council’s signature gathering, the Civil Engineering Conference in the Asian Region, known as CECAR. The ninth CECAR will be held in September 2022.

Pan American Federation of Engineers (UPADI)

UPADI – abbreviated from its Spanish name, the Unión Panamericana de Asociaciones de Ingenieros – represents 31 civil engineering organizations from 27 countries throughout the Americas and the Caribbean. Its mission is to actively contribute to economic and social development in areas related to engineering.

ASCE is a member association representing the United States, along with the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. UPADI recently elected new leadership, and its new president and vice president are both ASCE members – Ari Herrera, MSCE, M.ASCE, is president and Raymond Issa, Ph.D., P.E., F.ASCE, is vice president of UPADI Region 1 North.

World Federation of Engineering Organizations

Founded in 1968 by a group of regional engineering organizations under the auspices of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organizations in Paris, WFEO brings together national engineering organizations from some 100 nations and represents more than 30 million engineers from around the world. ASCE is an associate member of WFEO and hosts the WFEO-U.N. Relations Committee, with ASCE 2021 Past President Kancheepuram Gunalan, Ph.D., P.E., D.GE, F.ASCE, as committee chair.