= 5901 N. IH 35

Cost:
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$20 – with RSVP and payment at the door

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$5 – student/government employee with RSVP and web payment=

$10 – student/government employee walk-up (no RSVP, no pre-payment)

RSVP:
Click here to RSVP by Noon, Friday, September= 11th

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Quick Links…

About Us

Job Board=

Younger Member Forum=

Se= ptember Speaker: Dr. Ro= bert Gilbert, P.E., Professor, The University of Texas at Austin

Topic: Offshore Experience from Recent Hurricane= s

Three of the strongest hurricanes on record recently passed through the offshore oil and gas facilities in the Gulf of Mexico: Hurricane Iv= an in August, 2004, Hurricane Katrina in August 2005, and Hurricane Rita in September 2005. The cumulative impact of these storms was significant, wi= th more than 100 platforms destroyed, tens of billions of dollars in property loss, and more than 200 million barrels of oil production that was removed from the U.S. oil supply. Remarkably, however, there were no fatalities or injuries to offshore workers because they were successfully evacuated in advance of e= ach storm. This talk will address what happened and what we have learned from these intense hurricanes. Topics will include hurricane forces, wave-indu= ced mudslides, and the performance of facilities such as temporary drill rigs, permanent production facilities and pipelines.

Robert B. Gilbert, Ph.D., P.E. is the Brunswick-Abernathy Professor of Ci= vil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering at The University of Texas at= Austin. He joine= d the faculty in 1993. He also practiced with Golder Associates Inc. as a geotechnical engineer from 1988 to 1993. His technical focus is on risk analysis and management for civil engineering systems including buildings, slopes, pipelines and dams and levees. Recent activities include analyzing the performance of offshore platforms and pipelines in hurricanes; managi= ng earthquake and flooding risks for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta in California; and performing a forensic analysis of= the levee failures in New Orlean= s.

President’s Message

by Julia M. Harrod, P.E.<= span style=3D'font-size:9.0pt'>

Over the past year, I have used this forum to highlight opportunities for ASCE members to get involved with the organization. I w= ould like to use my last President’s message to write about the people t= hat make things happen at ASCE. My only fear is that I will inevitably leave people out. There are SO many active members doing great things that ther= e is no way I could possibly remember them all or have the room to be comprehensive. Suffice it to say that for every person mentioned here are numerous folks working with them to support the organization. So a big “Thank You” to everyone.

ASCE Board:

= · &nbs= p; As Past President, Kelly A. Barney, P.E. was a HUGE help to = me over the last year. Her dedication to ASCE and the community at large was honored when she was awarded the Texas Section Service to People Award. Special thanks to her for lining up a great slate of officers for the com= ing year as well.

= · &nbs= p; Robert Scholz, P.E. President-Elect was always available to = pick up my slack and served as co-chair of the newly formed Regulatory Stakeholders Committee.

= · &nbs= p; Work as the treasurer never ends. My personal thanks to Tony Buonodono, P.E. for his efforts to look after the budget and balance the books.

= · &nbs= p; Craig A. Chesser, P.E. served the branch by representing us = at the section meetings and assisting in coordinating efforts between the br= anch and section.

= · &nbs= p; Roman Grijalva, P.E., M.B.A., Communications Director, put together the monthly newsletters.

= · &nbs= p; The monthly speakers were selected by Rose Marie Klee, P.E., Vice President, Programs, who also coordinated the 2009 New Orl= eans trip to assist in rebuilding efforts.

= · &nbs= p; Reem Zoun, P.E., Board Secretary, took on the important task= of documenting all Board meetings.

The Younger Member Forum under the leadership of Kimberly K. Patak, P.E. (Director), Brandon Hammann, EIT (President), Jackee Grote (Vice Presiden= t), Zach Ryan (Treasurer), Yvonne Garcia, EIT (Secretary), Alex Reyna, EIT (G= olf Chair), Jill Wicks, EIT (West Point Bridge Chair), Ty Womble, EIT (UT Stu= dent Chapter Liaison) put on a number of activities including a PE Review Cour= se, PBS Liquid Assets program viewing, technical seminars, and a Golf Tournam= ent among others.

Committee Chairs:

= · &nbs= p; L= inda Barlow, P.E., has done it again with her tireless work as the Publ= ic Relations Committee chair. The event at MakerFaire, work with Discover Engineering, and the Capital Area Food Bank fund drive are highlights of = her commitment to the branch.

= · &nbs= p; As membership committee co-chairs, Carlos Gonzalez, P.E. and Travis Michel, P.E. came up with great ideas to increase membership. They worked together to keep everything running smooth for the rest of us at t= he membership meetings.

= · &nbs= p; The Austin Children’s Museum event was spearheaded this year by Sharron Hamilton, P.E.

= · &nbs= p; Melinda Luna, P.E. continued her work as History and Heritage Committee chair, producing interesting historical articles for the branch= and section publications, reminding us where we come from.<= /p>

= · &nbs= p; Our webmaster Dale P. Murphy, P.E. is responsible for creati= ng fabulous, award-winning website that we have today. Last year he used his creativity to produce a PowerPoint highlighting branch activities so that meeting attendees can get a glimpse of what the Austin Branch is all abou= t. In addition, Dale organized ASCE involvement with the Big Brothers Big Sisters Bowl-a-thon fund raiser.

= · &nbs= p; Other committee chairs that put in ASCE-sized effort this pa= st year include Laton Carr, EIT, Student Outreach; Garabed Harutunian, P.E., Honors Committee; Jonah Mankovsky, EIT, organizer of the summer Continuing Education Program; Shelly Moczygemba, EIT Community Service; Lee Sherman, P.E., responsible for awarding Scholarships to four recipients for a tota= l of $6,000; Amy Smith, P.E. and David Matocha, co-chairs for the 2010 Spring Section Meeting; Ralph Tinajero, P.E., Corporate Sponsorship; and Don Willhouse, P.E., Strategic Planning.

In closing, I would be supremely remise if I did not thank the companies that these great people work at for supporting them in their efforts and contributions to ASCE: AECOM; Alan Plummer Associates; Bury Partners; Crespo Consulting Services; Espey Consultants; Freese & Nichols; Halff Associates; HDR; HVJ Associates; Jacobs Engineering Group; K Friese & Associates; Klotz Associates; Kurkjian Engineering Corp; Lockwood, Andrews & Newnam; Lo= wer Colorado River Authority; MWM Design Group; Pape-Dawson Engineers; PBS&am= p;J; Raba Kistner; and Terracon.

A= SCE Sponsorships

The ASCE Austin Branch would like to thank all of our current members and company sponsors. Your collective commitment allow= s the Austin Branch to reach out and make Civil Engineering a highly respected profession in the Austin community.

ASCE Austin Branch Sponsors allow ASCE to give back to the Austin Community by providing scholarships, student outreach, volunteer opportunities, and support for inspiring civil engineers. It also supports continuing education and training for young professional engineers.

A sponsorship not only bene= fits the members and community of Austin it also allows Companies to market their name. With a sponsorship, your company will be recognized in the ASCE Austin Branch flyer and website, as well as at the monthly lunch meetings.&n= bsp;

Meeting and Branch sponsors= are currently being accepted for the remainder of 2009 and for 2010 and new members are always welcome. We encourage everyone to reach out and get involved. As representatives of our profes= sion the more we learn and educate others the more influential we are within o= ur community.

Once again we appreciate everyone’s involvement with the ASCE Austin Branch and hope to see = even more in the future.

For information regarding the types of sponsorships please refer to http://www.austinasce.org/s= ponsors.htm for more details or you can contact Suzanne Dean at suzanne.dean@jacobs.com.<= o:p>

Austin = Branch Hosts Texas Section Spring 2010 Meeting

The Austin Branch will be hosting the T= exas Section Spring 2010 Meeting. This meeting will be unique in both its revised format and location. This will= be a Texas Section meeting that will be talked about for years to come. There is no better opportunity t= o get involved in creating the future Texas Section meeting formats.=

Preparations for this meeting have begun with the selection of a fabulous venue – the newly constructed AT&a= mp;T Executive Education and Conference Center, located on the University of Tex= as Campus.&nb= sp; This facility combines advanced technology and sophisticated hospitality – just the setting to make the Texas Section meeting in= Austin the civil engineering event of the year!

The Host Committee invites all Austin Branch members to get involved in making this meeting a success. you may contact individual sub-committee chairman to find out about volunteering = for their committee.

General Co-Chair: Amy Spicer = Smith = ; amy_smith@urscorp.com

General Co-Chair: David Matoc= ha = ; &nbs= p; david.matocha@hanson.com

Budget/Finance: Curtis Steger = ; = curtis@holfordgroup.com=

CPD Seminars: Craig Chesser &nbs= p; cachesser@lan-inc.com

Awards Banquet: Kelly Barney = ; &n= bsp; kbarney@pape-dawson.com=

Exhibits: &nbs= p; Ron Reichert &nbs= p; rreichert@ejiw.com

Hotel Arrangements: Steve Bontempo &= nbsp; steve@bontempo-eng.com<= /span>

Printing/Mailing: Dale Murphy = ; <= /span>dmurphy@kfriese.com

Publicity: = ; Vanessa Rosales-Herr= era Vanessa_Rosales-Herrera@URSCo= rp.com

Registration: = ; Linda Barlow = ; &n= bsp; lbarlow@hvj.com<= /p>

= ; &n= bsp; Don Willhouse &nbs= p; dotdon32@msn.com<= /span>

Student Activities Rose Marie= Clee = ; rmklee@crespoinc.com

Order of the Engineer

Ceremony: = ; Cres Guzman &nbs= p; Crespin.guzman@klotz.com

ASCE Continuing Education Seminar

I am thrilled to report that the annual continuing education seminar hosted by the Austin Branch on Friday, July = 31^st was a success! On behalf of the committee, I would like to thank all the engineering community members who attended the daylong event held at the Commons Center MCC Auditorium located at the West Pickle Research Building. As a result of your strong participation, the branch raised almost $5,000, with all the proceeds being donated to the ASCE Austin Branch Scholarship Fund.

The Austin Branch would like to e= xtend its sincere gratitude to State Representative Joe Pickett for delivering a very entertaining and informative keynote address. The continuing educati= on committee would also like to offer thanks to the following individuals fo= r sharing their time and insights at the conference:

· &nbs= p; Louis Herrin III, P.E. (Texas Commission on Environmental Quality)

·     &nbs= p;   Lance Kinney, P.E. (TBPE, Deputy Executive Director= )

·     &nbs= p;   Dr. Robert Gilbert, P.E. (Professor of Civil Engineering, University= of Texas)

·     &nbs= p;   Wes Burford, P.E. (CTRMA, Director of Engineering)<= o:p>

·         Carlos Lopez, P.E. (TxDOT Austin District Engineer= )

·     &nbs= p;   Joe Cantalupo, AICP (CAMPO, Executive Director)

Of course, the conference w= as made possible thanks to the generous sponsorship donations from the follo= wing local engineering firms:

·     &nbs= p;   Halff Associates

·     &nbs= p;   JACOBS

·     &nbs= p;   AECOM

·     &nbs= p;   KBR

The continuing education committee encourages everyone to provide any positive feedback or constructive criticism on how our program can better serve your needs throughout the following year. Please do not hesitate to e-mail me if you have any suggestions, otherwise I look forwarding to seeing all of you at next year’s event.

by Jonah Mankovsky, EIT – Continuing Education Chair

<= /a>YMF= Update

by Brandon Hammann, EIT

First and foremost, it has been a pleas= ure to serve as YMF President over the last year. Our new officers will take the reins beginning in October. The success of the organizatio= n is due to the countless hours of dedication from fellow members. Each = of us plays an important role in maintaining the organization's integrity and expansion. Our ideas and insight help to provide better services to= our constituency and benefit those in our local community. I am fortuna= te to have worked with such great peers within the organization. = We only helped build upon what has been a strong foundation set by those bef= ore us.

We are always looking for ways to impro= ve the organization whether it be providing more happy hours to volunteering= our time for a local cause. You are encouraged to participate in the an= nual golf tournament to meet others within the organization and provide an afternoon of fun with clients. Our PE Review Course is taught by experts in their respective fields at an affordable price. We conti= nue to provide financial support to the UT student branch for their annu= al activities, and soon be rolling out a new mentoring program for UT students. Held a few times a year, you can enjoy a free meal while learning discipline specific topics from industry experts during a techni= cal seminar. It's free to you and doesn't burn the budget! These = are some of the great services and contributions YMF has to offer. I encourage you to participate by attending monthly branch meetings, social events, and providing insight on topics which may be of interest to you.

I hope you have been pleased with the efforts we provided over the last year and I look forward to possibly wor= king with you in the future.=

UT-ASCE = Update

This year, ASCE members are thrilled to be back! Unlike last year, most of our returning officers have a good deal of experience; and the new ones - ple= nty of ambition. This year we h= ave decided not to take our annual volunteer trip to <= st1:City w:st=3D"on">New Orleans as we feel our efforts ca= n be better spent on a local project. The officers are excited to discuss participating in a large servi= ce project within the Austin area and hoping to partner with the Austin Branch. Students look forward to the possibility of a new and different project. Once again, we participated in t= he Fall Gathering, and it was a huge success. We introduced a lot of incoming freshmen and transfer students to what UT ASCE is all about and look forw= ard to seeing them become a part of our organization.

At our first meeting of the year, we had a huge crowd with many standing sin= ce we surpassed capacity of the largest room in ECJ. Dr. Gilbert engaged the room in = his motivational commentary about why ASCE is a vital organization for civil engineers to join. Andy Cre= el from AECOM, a former UT-ASCE President (2006), reinforced this positivity= in his responses to questions. We hope to get students more energized about our competitions, especially Steel Bridge and Concrete Canoe, so th= at they become more involved early and stay involved throughout the year.

This year we are excited to have DPR and Kiewit come to our September meetings. We held a Friday = in the Park on Septmeber 3 that we sponsored.&n= bsp; Intramural football has kicked off with practices already taking p= lace in the hopes that we will make it to the playoffs this year. We look forward to excelling in = all our technical and athletic competitions.= We hope to make this year even more successful than in the past and are confident that we have all the tools to do so. Hook ’Em!

Contact Kassey Wooldridge at kwooldridge@mail.utexas.edu if you would like to get involved with UT ASCE.

Our website can be found at www.ut-asce.org.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> It contains information for Tech= nical Competitions, Outreach, IM Sports, and Social Events, as well as contact information for all of our officers.

Don’= t Forget to Update You Email Address

As a reminder, please update your email addresses thr= ough the National ASCE website. You may have moved or changed jobs and y= our email may have changed.

ASCE Continuing Education Webinars

September 2009

Fri Sep 11, 2009

How to Give and Receive Effective Feedbac= k