Jessica Chen probably isn’t going to talk to you about how good the Los Angeles Rams defensive line was last season. Truth be told, she doesn’t much care.
She can, however, carry on a far more interesting conversation. She can tell you all about how the Rams’ new football stadium was designed and constructed.
Born and raised in China, Chen now lives and works in Los...
For Sarah McEwen, it was almost too good to be true.
She moves to Jackson, Mississippi, to start her career as a water resources engineer, and what does she find? A detailed replica of the Mississippi River Basin constructed over 200 acres of park land.
It’s a water resources engineer’s dream, right?
“It’s the largest scale model in the world, and it’s in Jackson, Mississippi,” McEwen said....
Neeraj Kumar Sharma’s passport is running out of pages. He’s got too many stamps.
Sharma’s civil engineering career and his penchant for travelling has taken him to 25 different countries (and counting) in six years, bringing a truly global perspective to his work and life in general.
“Every country, every city has its own set of challenges,” Sharma said. “Once you start traveling and seeing and...
For some people, an address represents merely where they live.
For Ruwanka Purasinghe, it’s who he is.
Purasinghe is Los Angeles to his core.
“I was born and raised in L.A., so I have a special connection with the city. I love this city,” he said.
“L.A. is an incredibly huge melting pot of people, cultures, and ideas. There’s something in L.A. for everybody. You can snowboard and...
Think of it a bit like ASCE's 10 under 30.
Each year, ASCE identifies an exceptional group of rising talents as the New Faces of Civil Engineering, shining a spotlight on 10 outstanding young professionals who exemplify the future of the profession.
This year's class of young professional New Faces, each 30 or younger, boasts a diverse array of interests and achievements.
Some are already managing their...
Casie Venable had a simple wish as a kid.
She wanted to help people.
She didn’t know what form that would take. She couldn’t know how her life would play out. But she did know she wanted to make a positive contribution to the lives of others.
Ten years later, she’s stayed remarkably true to that instinct.
Venable has made several service trips around the world and is...
Alexa Ducioame was one of only two women in most of her civil engineering classes in college.
She’s working now to make sure that the women of future generations don’t find themselves in the same position.
“We have an informal women engineers group here. I think we all realize it’s important,” said Ducioame, a project engineer for Moore Engineering, Inc. in West Fargo, ND.
“We want to...
It was just after midnight. Guillermo Díaz-Fañas, 14, awoke to a buzzing in his ears.
He sat up and looked around. Surely, this was some kind of dream. The walls appeared to bend; everything was shaking. His immediate thought was of protecting his 12-year-old brother.
“All I could think was, ‘Oh my God, what am I going to do?’” Díaz-Fañas remembered. “I sheltered him with my...
Being a role model wasn’t really a choice for Aziza Amiri. It was a job she was born into.
“I have so many little cousins, I’ve lost count,” Amiri laughed. “I’m one of almost 20 grandchildren, and I’m the oldest, so I’ve always been around young kids my entire life.”
Amiri isn’t complaining. She loves serving as a role model – for both her family and...
If you have spent any amount of time in the field of civil engineering, you know that one’s ability to speak in public can play a huge role in their success in this industry, as well as the success of that person’s firm.
I am constantly asked by engineers how they can improve their public speaking skills.
Useful resources
Here are five resources that I have found...
