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President's Message - February 2016

February is always an exciting month as we celebrate Engineers Week (E-Week). The purpose of E-Week is to call attention to engineers and the contributions we make to society.  It is also a time for engineers to emphasize the importance of learning Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) education.

This month provides us with a great opportunity to reach out to kids and showcase how civil engineers are making a difference in the world around them every day.  The Dallas Branch has a lot of opportunities this month for you to work with students to let them know how valuable engineers are to society. Our Branch will actively participate in MathCounts and the Perot Museum K-12 Outreach. We were also involved in Future Cities competition on Saturday, January 23 as we gave out the Excellence in Infrastructure Award. It truly is amazing what the next generation of engineers envision our world will be.

As part of E-Week, the Branch selects a Young Engineer of the Year and an Engineer of the Year.  The Honors Committee, led by Sean Merrell, reviewed a number applications and I am excited to announce Jonathan Brower, E.I.T. of L.A. Fuess Partners as ASCE’s Young Engineer of the Year and Jack Furlong, P.E. of Jacobs Engineering as Engineer of the Year.  Both will be recognized at TSPE’s Annual Engineers Week Awards Luncheon on Thursday, February 25, 2016.  I hope to see you all there to help me congratulate our recipients as they receive their awards.

Before closing, the Branch needs your help with the following:

Sponsorship: We are still looking to fill our sponsorships for 2016.  Please consider supporting your local ASCE Branch with your financial contribution! Phillip Packer, Fundraising Chair, will be contacting you on how you can support the Branch. If you have any questions please contact Phillip at [email protected].

Scholarships: We have just started advertising our G.B. Mann Scholarship applications to the local high schools within our area.  If you know any high schoolers who are interested in pursuing a career in Civil Engineering, please encourage them to apply here on our website or contacting Hossein Hosseiny at [email protected].

Finally, I hope you can join us at our next meeting on Monday, February 8, 2016. Our Institutes will once again have Technical Sessions before and after the luncheon providing a great opportunity to earn up to three (3) PDHs each month. I look forward to seeing you there!