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President's Message - October 2021

Howdy ASCE Dallas Branch Members!

It’s a bit hard for me to believe, but my term as your ASCE Dallas President is coming to a close. It has truly been a pleasure leading this fantastic ASCE Branch through some quite unprecedented times. I have a strong passion for sharing our profession with the next generation of leaders, and ASCE affords me the avenue to express that passion. I have wanted to be a civil engineer (and structural engineer specifically) since I was in middle school. This interest began when I learned that civil engineers are the people that build our roads & bridges, deliver us clean water, and make buildings scrape the skies above. I can honestly say that work I get to do every day as a structural engineer is truly a dream come true. On top of that, leading the local Branch of the American Society of Civil Engineers here in Dallas has been a tremendous honor for me and an experience I will never forget.

Over the past six years that I have been on the ASCE Dallas Board of Directors, I have seen our Branch leaders traverse many ups and downs. We moved event venues three years ago and landed at a fantastic location, the Vouv Meeting & Event Space. We had to navigate the devastating and tragic loss of our 2018-2019 Branch President Anthony Luce during the middle of his term. We created the Anthony Luce Award of Honor to recognize Anthony’s commitment to our Branch and the exemplary qualities he possessed. We then had to make the sudden and unexpected switch to a fully virtual environment in March of 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic descended upon us. We were able to distribute over $5000 to various non-profits around DFW during the pandemic by donating our virtual meeting PDH proceeds. We then took the lessons learned from the virtual environment during the pandemic to transition our Branch into a hybrid meeting approach that will hopefully continue to benefit those on the outer reaches of our Branch jurisdiction. These are all challenges that I could have never predicted, but I am so proud of our Branch for stepping up and continuing to provide value and benefit to our membership base!

I hope each of you reading this message are planning on attending our special October Awards Banquet on the evening of Monday, October 11^th! We are moving our typical Branch meeting in October from lunch to the evening for a celebratory banquet that will include honoring Bob Patton, PE as the first ever recipient of the Anthony Luce Award of Honor, recognizing Tim Abrams, PE and Chad Ostrander, PE as the 2021 ASCE Dallas Engineer of the Year and Young Engineer of the Year award winners, recognizing the 2020 and 2021 classes of Life Members from the Dallas Branch, and  the installation of the 2021-2022 ASCE Dallas Board of Directors.

In closing, I want to encourage each of you to stay involved with ASCE and to continue to support our Branch. I can say with great assurance that ASCE made me who I am today as an engineer, leader, and professional. I owe endless amounts of gratitude to the ASCE leaders that mentored me, advised me, and placed me in positions to succeed and grow. I want to echo the words of current ASCE President and Texas A&M professor Dr. Briaud:

“Ask what you can do for ASCE and not what ASCE can do for you.”

ASCE is full of member benefits and advantages, but it is our members that take action that make the biggest impact. Find your role in ASCE and give it all you have – I promise you won’t be disappointed by what it gives back to you.

-Jonathan Brower, P.E.

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