Articles

President’s Message – August 2013

Howdy!! Remember last month when we had to meet at a different hotel than our usual venue. Well, we are moving again for the August meeting. To make a long story short, the Addison Marriott had a large conference that needed all of the meeting space during the week of our meeting and they asked us to move to another Marriott hotel for August. They gave us a great financial incentive to do this, so we are passing some of the savings on to you. We have reduced all of our prices by $10 this month. We will be meeting at the Dallas Renaissance Hotel near Downtown off of Stemmons Freeway. Please take this opportunity to enjoy a beautiful hotel in a different location and at a lower price this month. Register today.

I really enjoyed the presentation at the Crown Plaza Hotel last month. Dr. Carlos Aiken, Professor of Geosciences from UT Dallas talked about 3D LiDAR mapping in Dallas. This emerging technology will no doubt be seen on more projects in the near future. This month we have a topic and speaker that goes along with our monthly Centennial Theme of Structural Challenges. Mr. Mansoor Ahsan, P.E. from Bridgefarmer will present the Loop 12 / SH 114 Interchange and the innovations that allowed two separate projects (the highway interchange and the DART Orange Line) to be constructed simultaneously within the same limited right of way. Thank you to our monthly meeting sponsors: Urban Engineers Group and Bowlounge.

The 2013 Texas Section Fall Conference and Centennial Celebration is FAST APPROACHING!!! There are a number of reasons for Dallas Branch members to attend this conference, but I’m going to name just a few:

• Ethics Seminar (for those that need this for your P.E. renewal)
• The inaugural meetings for the Dallas Branch Technical Institutes
• The Centennial Celebration at the Old Red Courthouse
• Outstanding technical, professional and social activities
• There will be no September Branch meeting, so now you don’t have the excuse of, “I’m too busy
• Save $$ on travel (conference is in Dallas) and early registration goes until August 12

The conference is in Dallas on September 11-14. Please go to www.texas-centennial.com to find out all the details and to register for the conference.

Doug Smith chair of the Dallas Branch Nominations Committee, along with the rest of the committee has searched high and low for an outstanding group of motivated ASCE members to lead the Dallas Branch next year. Fortunately, they have come up with an outstanding slate of nominees for the 2013-2014 Dallas Branch Board:

• President - Kristin Green
• President-Elect - Angela Matthews
• Vice President - Brad Hernandez
• Secretary - Andrew Etchison
• Treasurer - Anu Kancherla
• Technical Director - Ed Penton
• Texas Section Director - Chula Ellepola
• Branch Director - Julie Jones
• Past President - Sean Merrell

Please be sure to vote in the elections for the ASCE Dallas Branch Leaders for next year.

Centennial Habitat House Volunteer Registration is still looking for volunteers to help with the construction of the ASCE Centennial Habitat for Humanity house this fall. Habitat for Humanity’s goal is to provide safe, affordable housing for families in need. We are looking for volunteers on weekends from Sep.14 to Nov. 9. Visit here for more information and for details on how to register.

I hope to see all of you at our August Branch meeting on the 12^th and at the ASCE Texas Fall Centennial Conference in September. Remember to register now for this great event.

Sean P. Merrell, P.E., PTOE
President
ASCE Dallas Branch, 2012 - 2013