ASCE Region 6 Director’s Report
December 2021
by Jerry B. Paz, P.E., ENV SP, M.ASCE | ASCE Region 6 Director
At the October Annual Convention, our new ASCE President, Dennis Truax took office and is now the face of ASCE. He previously served on the ASCE Board of Directors and is a Department Chair at Mississippi State University. He follows in the footsteps of Jean-Louis Briaud, who will serve as past-President.
I would like everyone to welcome two new members to the Region 6 Board of Governors. From New Mexico we have Dr. Sonya Cooper. She is a past President of the ASCE New Mexico Section and a former Dean at New Mexico State University. Having recently retired from academia, she now turns her attention to her own consulting engineering business, with a focus on renovation of historical structures and to serving as ASCE Region 6 Governor. Also joining us is Lawrence (Larry) Goldberg representing Texas. Larry is a past President of the ASCE Texas Section, and Director of Infrastructure for Woolpert, consulting engineering. Both Sonya and Larry bring tremendous collective experience with them to our Region 6 Board and are available to serve you in this capacity. We also want to thank the grateful service of retiring Board Members Mr. Jerry Parker of New Mexico and Sanford LaHue from Texas.
A few items on the national level include
- New ASCE Website: By now I hope you’ve explored the new ASCE Website (ASCE.org) and become familiar with all it has to offer. Among the highlights is an all-new search function that makes finding what you’re looking for easier than ever and it learns from your search terms to better help you navigate your experience.
- Update on Future World Vision: The Future World Vision (FWV) initiative continues its development as a platform that will help engineers anticipate trends over the next 50 years. And now, over the next few years, it will add new ways to explain and visualize what those trends could be, not just to engineers but to the public as well. The Board of Direction has approved the next phase for FWV. It completes the buildout of the Mega City 2070 virtual platform, updates the website with more dynamic, engaging content, and authorizes developing a public-outreach initiative that will include a film and educational programs. The goal is to unveil the next module by Engineer’s week 2022. Stay tuned!
- Infrastructure Investment Jobs Act: After decades of advocacy by ASCE, the Congress passed this historic infrastructure bill, which has now been signed into law by President Biden. Our ASCE Infrastructure Report Card has been cited as the primary inspiration behind this legislation, and all the hard work that goes into State Report Cards provided a critical role in this historic event. ASCE President Dennis Truax represented ASCE at the signing of this bill by our President. Get ready to make transformative change!!!!
- Legislative Fly-In: Put March 2-4, 2022 on your calendar for the Legislative Fly-in in Washington, DC. It will be IN PERSON, this year and if you would like to participate, contact your Sedition Leaders.
- The next ASCE Board of Directors Meeting will be January 14-15, 2022.
To share your views or provide ideas on how ASCE can better serve its members and the profession, please email Jerry Paz at [email protected].
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