Howdy! We kicked off 2021 with a virtual bang!
The Younger Members of ASCE Texas Section have kept busy as soon as the holidays wrapped up. We began the year participating in the inaugural Younger Member Week hosted by the Committee on Younger Members (CYM) of ASCE Global. This initiative ran for an entire week and was filled with sessions that included other YM’s from across the nation. The trivia night teamed members here in Texas with other YM’s from Orange County to New Jersey and everywhere in between. We look forward to this becoming an annual event in addition to MRLC activities.

The momentum continued into February, ASCE Texas YM started, for the first time, a virtual networking opportunity that will brought the Texas YM community together called the “Networking Shuffle”. Since we are all experiencing various levels of isolation as a result of the current global situation, the Texas Section Younger Member (YM) Committee thought we needed something to bring people together. This event paired YM’s based on information provided when registering. This was geared to introduce members across the great state of Texas, where otherwise in-person activities may not have made the opportunity available as a statewide community.

The Houston Branch YM’s hosted a Trivia Night virtual event that featured prizes and had over 40 attendees. This event was held as apart of ASCE Houston Branch E-Week activities.

The ASCE Dallas Branch kicked off 2021 with a new program called “The Bridge” which is specifically geared towards the needs and wants of Student Members and Young Members alike. The sessions have included multiple topics such as: what are employers REALLY looking for in employees/interns, tips and tricks into the programs that companies are using for design, and story sharing from Young Members and how they have built the foundations for their careers in civil engineering.

Most recently, the Younger Member Committee was heavily involved in the Virtual 2021 Texas-Mexico Student Symposium hosted by the UT-Austin Student Branch. Over 20 Younger Members facilitated and judged several competitions that took the place of the typical in-person competition, like concrete canoe racing.

The Texas YM’s are also beginning to plan their portion of activities for CECON 2021. This event will be aimed at resuming in-person sessions and hopefully begin normal activities in a safe manner.

For more information on the committee, or interested in joining, please contact:
Joe W. Alvarez, Chairman of the Younger Member Committee of ASCE Texas Section at (361) 661-7069.