In This Issue
- President’s Report
- Section News
- University News
11.26.12
EIYMG/IES Annual Holiday Social The Airliner, Iowa City
12.14.12
CIYMG Social – Des Moines Buccaneers Game
Stay Connected to Iowa ASCE
Visit our Website
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
Join our LinkedIn Group
Younger Member Groups
Central Iowa YMG Facebook
Eastern Iowa YMG Facebook
Student Chapters
ISU ASCE Website
UI ASCE Website
Dordt ASCE Website
Contact Us
Andrew McCoy, PHD, PE
Communications Director
/
President’s Report – Fall/Winter 2012-2013
The holiday season is upon us. Temperatures are getting cooler, football season is winding down, the winter sports season is starting and 2013 is nearly here. 2012 has flown by. As is customary, the arrival of the fall/winter season calls for a report to the membership on the state of the Section, planned activities and establishment of long range goals for the Section.
The Iowa Section is alive and well, with 933 members at last check. We have two Younger Member Groups (the Central Iowa Younger Members Group and the Eastern Iowa Younger Members Group) and three Student Chapters (Iowa State University Student Chapter, University of Iowa Student Chapter and our newest addition with the student Chapter at Dordt College).
Recent board activities have included our annual conference which was held in the Iowa City area back on September 6, 2012. The Iowa Section 2011-12 year was culminated with a record attendance at the annual meeting highlighted by a keynote address by now ASCE President Greg DiLoretto on the “Raising the Bar” Initiative as well as many relative topics to our profession. Additionally, legendary Iowa icon Dan Gable addressed the membership during our luncheon. The success of the annual conference was a testament to our outgoing President, Steve DeVries, and the leadership he has shown over the past year. We thank him for his service and look forward to working with him on the board as Past-President.
Most recently, the board hosted a joint meeting in Sioux City with the Dordt College Student Chapter on October 17. The joint meeting was well attended and included a project tour of the I-29 Improvement Project and Section/Chapter updates. The board continues to be excited about the ability to reach out to different areas of the state. A future joint meeting will be held in Ames with the ISU Student Chapter in February 2013 and in Iowa City with the UI Student Chapter in April. Success of these joint meetings partially depends on you, our membership. We highly encourage your attendance. Please keep an eye out for future e-mail blasts concerning these events.
I was fortunate to attend the 2012 Annual conference for the Society in Montreal Canada back in October. This was a great learning experience highlighted by a number of interesting topics including outreach efforts, some latest technologies in our profession and leadership development. The biggest “take-away” item included ASCE’s continued educational process on the state of America’s infrastructure and making the case for infrastructure investment. Beginning with the 2009 Infrastructure Report Card (which analyzed numerous infrastructure areas and issued an overall letter grade of D to America’s infrastructure), followed by economic reports that identified measurable results due to the Failure to Act and which will culminate in the Society’s efforts to update information with the 2013 Infrastructure Report Card which will be rolled out in March of 2013. The goal of this educational process is to support a long term, sustainable funding source for America’s infrastructure.
The Iowa Section continues to support professional development opportunities with our Technical Conference series. The Transportation and Structural conferences have been held already and Geotech, Water Resources and Surveying conferences are slated for Spring 2013. We hope these professional development opportunities are well-received and we continue to thank the organizers/tech conf. chairs as well as Steve Jones for their tireless efforts in bringing these conferences to fruition.
As we embark on a new year for the Iowa Section, we are excited about the possibilities that ASCE provides. The Iowa Section Board will be working on establishing goals for the 2012-13 year. Some of the items under discussion include increasing membership attendance at our technical conferences/annual meeting, bolstering our overall membership numbers, creating a more seamless membership transition from student to Section, continuing/increasing our outreach programs and updating our Iowa Section website.
Finally, we thank you for your membership to the Iowa Section. We are always looking for ways to improve what we do for the membership. If you have any thoughts or ideas, I encourage you to contact me or any of our board members. Thanks again for your support.
Gary L. Reed, P.E., ASCE Iowa Section President
Section News
The ASCE Structural Engineering Conference was held November 12th and 13th in the Scheman Building on the campus of Iowa State University. Thank you to the 180-plus attendees this year. In addition to the traditional one day seminar, this year featured a second day lateral workshop with nearly 60 area structural engineers partaking in this valuable opportunity to learn about design procedures and Code requirements for lateral building loads, facilitated by Edwin Huston, P.E., S.E. of Smith and Huston, Inc. Huston is a member of several code writing committees which made his presentation and feedback even more valuable. The first day consisted of several sessions with topics ranging from construction errors and remedial action to risk management and a 75th Anniversary historical retrospective on the design and construction of the Golden Gate Bridge. The first day also included the traditional bridge and building targeted mid-day division. The bridge breakout topics included the I-80 bridge over the Mississippi River, the I-64 bridge over the Ohio River, the Center Street Pedestrian Bridge and the US Hwy 61 Mississippi River Bridge. The building focused sessions covered the TD/Ameritrade Ballpark, Veterans Memorial Auditorium Renovation and an overview of AISC’s Specification for Structure Steel Buildings, Code of Standard Practice and Specification for Structural Steel Joints. A special thank you goes out to all of the great presenters providing a prodigious service to the profession.Structures Conference Lateral Design Workshop
Now is the time to renew your ASCE membership for 2013. Currently there are two promotional programs going on in an effort to encourage early registration. The Younger Member team that has the highest percentage of renewed members by December 14, 2012 will win a $1,000 cash prize from National. Last year, one of our Iowa Younger Member Teams received this cash prize! Read more. Additionally, when you renew your 2013 ASCE membership, you automatically qualify to win $101. ASCE will pick 15 total winners between September 7 and December 14, with new winners announced each week. The earlier you renew, the more chances you have to win. Also, don’t forget to page through the 101 Ways to Benefit from ASCE booklet. You may find previously unknown benefits that membership entitles you to. Renew online.