The brilliant minds behind this year’s ASCE Innovation Contest winners are now trying to solve their biggest challenge – how to win over investors. It’s a harsh reality, but having a brilliant breakthrough is only half the process. Maybe not even half. It’s an entirely different challenge to bring that idea to market. Fortunately, the ASCE Innovation Contest can help. The contest serves to showcase
June celebrates the birth of Englishman John Smeaton, the first self-proclaimed civil engineer, often regarded as the “father of civil engineering.” Smeaton was born in Austhorpe, Leeds, England on June 8, 1724. After studying at Leeds Grammar School he was initially trained in law and joined his father’s law firm, but left to become a maker of scientific instruments. He was elected a Fellow of
It’s all how he envisioned it would be. ASCE student teams from across the country – from across the world – will travel to the Colorado School of Mines this weekend. They’ll come in caravans with colorful concrete canoes in tow. They’ll chant and cheer and bang drums. They’ll talk shop and trade ideas and share presentations about concrete mixes so innovative they defy logic.
This week, ASCE publishes its signature standard, ASCE/SEI 7-16, Minimum Design Loads and Associated Criteria for Buildings and Other Structures. It is the first update to the essential resource in nearly seven years. “ASCE 7 continues to be the very best resource for information about loads that occur in structures,” said Donald Dusenberry, P.E., SECB, F.SEI, F.ASCE, past-chair for the ASCE 7-16 Committee. “It has
The 2017 ASCE National Concrete Canoe Competition celebrates its 30th year when teams convene on the Colorado School of Mines this weekend in Golden, CO. Take a look back on three decades of history, fierce competition, and mind-boggling records. Most All-Time Wins: • UC Berkeley (5) • University of Wisconsin–Madison (5) • University of Alabama in Huntsville (5) Number of Teams to Win National Championship:
Ethics lie at the core of all engineering decisions. And the decisions made by civil engineers can affect millions of people. Despite the importance of ethics, many questions remain about ethical issues pertaining to sustainability, billable hours, and how to voice ethical concerns to a superior. “You can always find another job, but you can’t build another career,” said Steve Starrett, Ph.D., P.E., D.WRE, F.ASCE,
This is a question I struggled with myself when I started out as a young civil engineer working in the field of land development. When you work in land development, there are many different aspects to a project, so I ended up learning enough about each one of them to ensure successful project completions. However, looking back, I wish I’d taken a different approach. I
ASCE has been there to help Robert P. Wadell, P.E., F.ASCE. So it only seemed natural to him that he return the favor. And then some. Wadell recently made an extraordinary gift to the ASCE Foundation, placing him among the Foundation’s 1852 Society – a prestigious group of 16 of the most generous donors in ASCE’s storied history. “Every ASCE member can be proud when
With spring graduation season in full swing, it’s a good time to take the temperature of the civil engineering job market. David Odeh, P.E., S.E., SECB, F.SEI, F.ASCE, is well-positioned for insights as principal at Odeh Engineers Inc. in Providence, RI, a full-service structural engineering consulting firm at the forefront of the building-information-modeling revolution. He talked with ASCE News about the current job outlook –
