“Revitalizing Resiliency” at 2026 CECON
February 2026
Author: Bria A. Whitmire PE, CFM, CPM, ENV SP, CBO
The ASCE Texas Section’s CECON Planning Committee is thrilled to welcome everyone to CECON 2026, taking place September 16–18 at the Hilliard Center in Corpus Christi. Hosting this year’s conference in my hometown makes the event especially meaningful to me, however it is quite fitting for the Texas Section as well, since the organization was founded right here in Corpus Christi in 1913. We can’t wait to share the energy, innovation, and coastal spirit that make this city such a remarkable place to bring our engineering community together.
Civil engineering has always been a discipline rooted in safeguarding society, working to design the infrastructure that enables communities to thrive. Yet the accelerating pressures of climate change, aging assets, rapid urbanization, and resource constraints have pushed traditional engineering approaches to their limits. As these challenges intensify, the civil engineering community is embracing a renewed focus on resiliency rather than an optional enhancement, but as a foundational principle for future infrastructure systems.
Historically, resiliency referred to an infrastructure system’s ability to withstand and recover from disruptive events. Today, the definition has expanded to include adaptability, redundancy, sustainability, and equity. Entire careers are devoted to decoding shifting climate patterns, and the only certainty we have is that our systems must be ready to adapt. Emergency management consistently emphasizes the need for redundancy, requiring engineers to design systems with multiple pathways to ensure essential services remain available. As we develop better ways to analyze and understand our influence on environmental impacts, we can focus on minimizing harm while maximizing long‑term performance. Ensuring equity involves every neighborhood having the same benefit from resilient infrastructure. Revitalizing resiliency is not a one‑time initiative but an ongoing commitment to designing infrastructure that can endure uncertainty and support thriving communities. Civil engineers are uniquely positioned to lead this transformation by integrating innovation, sustainability, and human‑centered design into every project.
Lessons learned, combined with today’s rapidly advancing technology, are transforming how we monitor infrastructure and apply predictive maintenance, fundamentally reshaping the way we achieve resiliency. Yet even with a clear understanding of what is needed, significant challenges remain. Funding limitations, competing priorities, regulatory hurdles, inconsistent data collection, and the ongoing need to train the workforce in emerging technologies and methodologies all create barriers to progress. Overcoming these obstacles will require sustained investment, stronger policy alignment, and a cultural shift within the profession toward long‑term, proactive planning. Only through this collective commitment can we fully realize the resilient infrastructure systems our communities depend on.
As conferences and professional gatherings continue to spotlight resiliency, the field is steadily moving toward a future where resilient infrastructure becomes the standard rather than the exception. Opportunities to network with fellow professionals accelerate our collective ability to adapt and deliver solutions more efficiently. CECON brings this to life through an engaging lineup of keynote speakers, coffee breaks, breakout sessions, evening socials hosted by generous sponsors, multiple exhibitor mixers, and the presentation of the ASCE Texas Section’s 2026 awards during the CECON Gala, and much, much more. Beyond the robust program and technical content, the personal interactions and relationship‑building among engineering leaders from across Texas and beyond make attendance an invaluable investment.
The CECON 2026 Planning Committee and the ASCE Texas Section Board of Direction extend our sincere appreciation to our members for their continued support of ASCE Texas Section programming and the CECON conference. Past CECON events have provided a vital source of resources that enable the Texas Section to develop and sponsor programs that benefit our entire engineering community. We look forward to seeing you at this year’s event.
