Articles

President's Message - July 2017

Happy 4^th of July Dallas Branch. I hope everyone has/had a fun filled safe holiday.

I would like to extend a special thank you to Mr. Majed Al-Ghafry, City of Dallas Assistant City Manager, for filling in on such short notice for T.C. Broadnax. It was fascinating to hear the story surrounding his hiring by Mr. Broadnax and to hear his perspective on the upcoming bond program.  The citizens of Dallas will have the opportunity to vote on over 800 million dollars in infrastructure, deferred maintenance and other projects.

The annual ASCE DFW Joint Meeting is just around the corner, to once again be held at the Arlington Hilton on July 17^th. Please make plans to attend, as the meeting gives our Branch members the opportunity to meet and network with engineers from all corners of the metroplex. Additionally, you have the opportunity to earn up to 5 PDHs, including one hour of ethics. We welcome Dr. Peter E. Crouch, Dean of the College of Engineering - The University of Texas at Arlington as our Keynote Speaker. Technical sessions run from 9:00 to 11:50, the networking luncheon begins at noon, and ethics will be immediately following lunch. Registration is now open, so secure your spot today, as seating is limited and we are always at capacity for this event.

You have probably heard me mention the Dream Big film a time or two over the past several months.  Well, our outreach event was held on June 3^rd at the Perot Museum of Nature and Science.  If you were one of the 200 people in attendance, thanks for coming out! We were able to reach hundreds of pre-college students through our hands on activities and the film itself. We partnered with the National Society of Black Engineers to help expand our outreach as much as possible. I would like to thank all our volunteers who helped plan, budget and run the event.

In closing, I would recognize our two Dallas Branch G.B. Mann Scholarship recipients: Elondreya Gosa of Desoto, attending Howard University, and Matthew Webb of Flower Mound, attending Texas A&M University. Congratulations to you both. If your careers bring you back to DFW, I hope you choose to become an active member ASCE Dallas Branch. Good luck this year!

Frank Pugsley, PE
President
ASCE Dallas Branch, 2016-2017