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ASCE Austin Branch Update

institutes

ASCE Austin Branch Update

December 2021

The Austin Branch is active and engaged in the engineering community and would like to share a few highlights of the great things our members are doing.

Record Scholarship Awards

The Austin Branch has been focused on supporting students by increasing the amount our scholarship awards and increasing visibility with students. The Branch issues scholarships in conjuction with those provided by YMF, EWRI, and SEI. Collectively we were able to give out $5000 in 2021. We are excited to give back and financially support aspiring engineering students and hope to increase the amounts in the coming years.

Impacts in the Community

Our membership demonstrates their commitment to the community with a number of activities to help those in need. The Austin Branch (including Forums and Institutes) began in person community service events this fall with a Rain Garden Event in September, creek clean-up in October, a tree planting in December, and a volunteer day at the Mobile Loaves and Fishes transitional housing community. The Austin Branch is committed to stewardship and service along with a focus on positively impacting those around us.

Inspiring the Next Generation of Thinkers

The next generation of engineers and scientists need to engage practicing engineers to help guide their educational path, and the Austin Branch strives to advocate for the civil engineering profession. We have several initiatives including various activities at our adopted school (Kealing Middle School), participation with Central Texas Discover Engineering, and Engineer’s Day at the Museum during e-week. We even participate in judging the occasional science fair and are proud to report that the students are ambitious, resourceful, and talented.

Institutes & Forums on Fire

The Austin Branch has seen a resurgence of energy with our Forums and Institutes, which are an essential components of group. YMF has seen their membership swell in numbers and the group has been able to host a number of social, community service, and professional development events in the past few years. The solid leadership and engaged members are able to make huge impacts in the community and also provide a springboard to participating with the Branch leadership. SEI is experiencing success with their professional meetings, co-participation with other groups, and most importantly their SET talks, which is a popular event described as Alamo Drafthouse meets TED Talks. Lastly, EWRI continues their streak of success with community service events, engagement of non-engineers, and their annual continuing education workshop that draws speakers from all over the country to discuss practical applications along with cutting edge research.

We at the Austin Branch are proud to continue a great tradition of helping the public, developing the next generation of leaders, and advocating for the civil engineering profession.