January 2020 President’s Message
A Word from the ASCE San Jose Section President – JANUARY 2020 NEWSLETTER
President’s Message
A significant value of ASCE involvement is the ability to connect with people from a variety of civil engineering disciplines. As an engineer develops his or her expertise in a specific career, it can be easy to maintain a narrow technical view and to only interact with other disciplines that intersect in the same scope. ASCE is a resource for exposure to topics, new technologies, and projects across all civil engineering disciplines that widen the knowledge base and awareness of its members. Furthermore, this extended learning and networking can inspire ideas or collaborations that might not have occurred otherwise. This year’s San Jose Branch board is a widespread representation of the variety within civil engineering with half the board members working for private organizations and half working for public entities. The experience represented by the San Jose Branch board members include geotechnical analysis, transportation infrastructure, building materials, hydraulic infrastructure, structural design, and project management. The goal of our team is to use our diversity to provide a variety of events and topics that cover the wide scope of civil engineering so that the ASCE San Jose Branch continues to be a resource for members to maintain a wide knowledge base and set of contacts. I encourage members to seek out the opportunities available through ASCE involvement that could deliver unexpected return on investment of your membership.
New attendees at events, growing interest in board membership, and additional volunteers attending recent board meetings indicate the San Jose Branch is attracting new members and encouraging involvement. Additionally, we are fortunate to also have dedicated members, life members, and former board members who continue to support, volunteer, and provide experiential insight. New ideas in recent discussions have prompted us to dig into the many programs that ASCE offers, such as the Mentor Match program, to do our part in supporting the use of those resources. Renewed involvement with the Silicon Valley Engineering Council (SVEC) provides our organization value in the opportunity to support STEM education in the community and providing the aforementioned expanded knowledge and networking base. Collaboration with the very active YMF San Jose team remains strong and we look forward to the Bay Area being showcased as they cohost the WRYMC 2020 Conference with YMF San Francisco in January. The San Jose Branch of ASCE will be starting off the new year with two events in January. One is the tradition January monthly lunch meeting hosted jointly with APWA and the other is a new collaboration with the ASCE Golden Gate Branch of hosting a dinner with speaker presentation. Members can expect our typical annual events as well as new opportunities in 2020, so please join or connect with us! Thank you to everyone who continues to be an active part of our organization.