One week out of the year we dedicate to celebrating our society’s unsung heroes – engineers. An engineer’s work affects everything we do, yet it’s often taken for granted. While we are perhaps too often enamored of celebrity athletes and entertainers, this month we focus on the true heroes, the ones who ensure our quality of life with things like shelter, heat, transportation, and water.
ASCE has honored Barbara Ellen Spang Minsker, Ph.D., M.ASCE, with the 2019 Margaret S. Petersen Award for her technical accomplishments, leadership, and commitment to mentoring women pursuing engineering careers, aligning with the ideals that the award’s namesake championed throughout her life. Minsker is chair of the civil and environmental engineering department at Southern Methodist University’s Lyle School of Engineering in Dallas, TX. Through two highly acclaimed books
George Crommes, P.E., F.ASCE, joined ASCE in 1962. The Life Member is now retired but is still finding new ways to push the boundaries of his own creativity. As he says, “All my engineering experiences have entailed innovation to solve problems.” In today’s Member Voices, Crommes explains why developing those creative skills and habits are so important in civil engineering and then offers some tips
Even if your job or role at work isn’t explicitly to consider big-picture planning, it’s still probably a good idea to stay aware of a larger context beyond just your desk. We’re here to help you improve your big-picture thinking skills by asking civil engineering leaders how they manage the big picture in their work. Today, we talk with Roger Millar, the secretary of transportation
Below everything in Columbus, Ohio, there is the tunnel. Beneath buildings, bridges, interstate highways, railroads, and even below the Scioto River. And it is making a huge difference. The new OARS-OSIS Augmentation & Relief Sewer has been honored by ASCE as a finalist for the 2019 Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement award, the Society’s preeminent project honor. All five OCEA finalists will be recognized at ASCE’s
ASCE has honored John C. Crittenden, Ph.D., P.E., F.ASCE, NAE, with the 2020 Simon W. Freese Environmental Engineering Award and Lecture for his extraordinary accomplishments in using fundamental scientific principles and current research findings to solve the most challenging water quality problems. Crittenden is one of the world’s foremost experts in physicochemical processes for environmental systems. A pioneer in water treatment systems, his work in
ASCE has honored A. Jacob Odgaard, Ph.D., D.WRE, F.ASCE, with the 2019 Hans Albert Einstein Award for his leadership and tireless effort in the field of sediment transport and river erosion control. Many people work their entire career striving to make a difference in their field, but Odgaard has produced groundbreaking achievements in three key areas in civil engineering. First, he designed and patented a
ASCE has honored Rao S. Govindaraju, Ph.D., P.E., D.WRE, F.EWRI, F.ASCE, with the 2019 Ven Te Chow Award for his pioneering contributions to the hydrology of infiltration and to run-on processes over hillslopes and watersheds, and for algorithms for the quantification of uncertainty. Govindaraju is the Christopher B. and Susan S. Burke Professor and Bowen Head of Engineering at the School of Civil Engineering at
ASCE has honored Brian Morse, Ph.D., P.Eng, M.CSCE, with the 2019 CAN-AM Civil Engineering Amity Award for outstanding contributions to cold regions hydraulics that advance the state of the art in river ice processes and for significant publications on the subject that foster positive relationships among river ice researchers in the U.S. and Canada. Morse has demonstrated an exceptional candidacy through his career as a
ASCE has honored Farhang Ostadan, P.E., F.ASCE,with the 2019 Stephen D. Bechtel Jr. Energy Award for significant contributions to practice, research, and codification activities for advancing soil-structure interaction analysis and seismic analysis in the energy industry, in particular the nuclear power industry. In the past 30+ years, Ostadan has earned his reputation as a worldwide earthquake engineering authority through his numerous contributions to several key
