ASCE Richmond Branch Newsletter

Volume 7 Issue 4

April 2015

Important Upcoming Dates

In This Issue

April Event - ASCE's 2015 Virginia Infrastructure Report Card

President's Message

April 14th, 6:10 PM, The Science Museum of Virginia

Exciting Upcoming
Events and PDH

President's Message
Spring is finally here, which means golf season

Opportunities
Educational Outreach
News

is also upon us. ASCE is again hosting the 13th

Younger Member

Annual ASCE Richmond Sponsored Golf

News

Tournament. We are postponing the event to

May, and we will update you as soon as we
know when the makeup date will be help. Your
support for this event allows ASCE Richmond to

Job Postings
Sponsor of the Month

financially support the Education Outreach Events, which support students

in the Greater Richmond Area. These events include the recently held
RJEC Engineering Ingenuity Day Event at the Science Museum. It was a
huge success with over 200 students participating in the Popsicle Bridge
Competition. It is always exciting to see the creativity that comes out of our
future engineers. Thank you to all of the volunteers who make the event a
success. ASCE could not put on the event without your help!
We have a lot of events going on this month that I hope you can attend.
First, is our monthly technical meeting is tomorrow at the Science Museum
of Virginia. You can still sign up until 12:00 PM TODAY! We will be hosting
Donald Rissmeyer from A. Morton Thomas, and he will be presenting on the

Meet the Board

and Chair
Members!
Click here for our
bio's and contact
information
President - Brooke
Jackson

recently released Virginia Infrastructure Report, that the Virginia Section of

ASCE produced. This event is a follow-up event to the Legislative Meet and

President Elect - Ashley

Greet event held in January. Hope to see you there!

Johnson, P.E.

Good luck to all those who are scheduled to take the PE this week! ASCE

Vice President

is hosting a PE happy hour after the test to celebrate all ASCE members
who are taking the exam. Additionally, Younger Member Forum is hosting a
local Q&A panel event consisting of local tenured civil engineers at VDOT

- Jonathan Oliver
Secretary/Treasurer -

for the cost of lunch. PHDs will be offered for attending the event. We have
hosted an event like this in the past, and it was well attended and received.
To find out more these events check out the Younger Member Forum

Shannon Kerrigan
Past President - Austin

section.

Clarke, P.E.

Thank you for your continued support of our organization, and as always we

Communications Chair

are looking for comments on how to better serve you through technical

- Melanie Leckey, P.E.

meetings and outreach. Please email me at brooke.jackson@kimleyhorn.com if you have questions or comments.

Exciting Upcoming Events and PDH Opportunities!

Education Outreach
Chairs - Justin Watson
& Ryan Abalos
Government Relations
Chair - Loai El-Gazairly

April Branch Meeting - ASCE's 2015 Virginia

Infrastructure Report Card

Membership Chair

When: Tuesday, April 14th, 2015, 6:15 - 7:30 PM

Website Chair - Kevin

*Food will be served at 6:15 PM with presentation to start at 6:30 PM.

Location: The Science Museum of Virginia
Cost:$25

- Jeremy Craft

O'Neill, P.E.
Young Member Chair Chris Friend & Carolyn
Desrochers

PDH:1 credit

ASCE periodically examines the state of the nation's and the state's
infrastructure, including roads, bridges, schools, parks and recreation,
drinking water, energy, waste and waterways, among other things. A report
card is then released rating the nation or state on a letter grade scale for
each aspect and overall. The Virginia Section of the ASCE recently
released the Commonwealth's report card, giving Virginia a C-. It doesn't
just look at what's problematic right now. It also cites a need for critical
improvements and funding. Don chaired the Infrastructure Committee for
the 2015 Infrastructure Report Card, released in January of this year.
Speaker: Donald J. Rissmeyer, PE, CFM
Don Rissmeyer is a licensed professional engineer
in five states and Washington DC, as well as a
certified floodplain manager. He has 25 years of
experience in providing consulting engineering
services to governmental clients at the local, state
and federal level. He currently manages the
Richmond, Virginia Office for A. Morton Thomas
and Associates, is the President of the Virginia
Floodplain Management Association (VFMA), and is a member of the
ASCE Stormwater Technical Committee in Virginia. Mr. Rissmeyer is also a
Past President of the ASCE Richmond Branch and Virginia Section, and
recently chaired the Infrastructure Committee for the 2015 Virginia

Connect with
ASCE Richmond
on our
LinkedIN Page!

Infrastructure Report Card.

Contact Jon Oliver by phone at 804-672-4723 or by email at

jonathan.oliver@kimley-horn.com for more information. Please register
on our website.

May Branch Meeting - Site Tour of Virginia State's New

Multi-Purpose Center
When: TBD
Location: New Multi-Purpose Center, Virginia State University
Cost:$25
PDH:1 credit

Presently under construction, the 167,000 gross sq. ft. event facility will
have approximately 5,200 fixed seats and accommodate nearly 6,200 for
events. The facility will be the home of Trojan basketball and volleyball,
and will include food and retail services, media spaces, classrooms and
faculty offices, a wellness center and conference/meeting spaces. The
Center is scheduled for completion winter of 2015.
More info: http://www.vsu.edu/about/administrative-offices/adminfinance/capital-outlay-and-facilities/capital-outlay/multi-purpose-center.php
Contact Jon Oliver by phone at 804-672-4723 or by email at
jonathan.oliver@kimley-horn.com for more information. Please register
on our website.

Education Outreach News

Annual ASCE Golf Tournament to support ASCE's
Annual Scholarship
The Annual ASCE Golf Tournament has been rescheduled for May 2015 at
Brandermill Country Club. The Tournament is held to benefit the ASCE's
Richmond Branch Engineering Scholarship Fund and Educational Outreach

Efforts.
Support the Scholarship Fund by:
Playing as a team - $500
Playing as an individual - $125
Hole Sponsorship - $100
Dinner Sponsorship - $300
Closest Pin Sponsorship - $150
Putting Contest Sponsorship - $150

12:00 PM Lunch and Registration

1:00 PM Shotgun Start
Dinner and Awards to Follow
Please contact Justin Watson at justin.watson@deq.virginia.gov for more
information.
Please sign up at www.ASCERichmond.org
Stay tuned for updates for the exact date in May!

2015 Popsicle Stick Bridge Competition - A Huge

Success!
This year's Popsicle Stick Bridge Competition was a huge success! On this
past Pi Day (March 14, 2015), 90 teams made up of middle and high
schoolers from 19 schools in the Greater Richmond area met at the
Science Museum of Virginia to participate in the event as part of the larger
Celebrating Engineering Ingenuity Day sponsored by the Richmond Joint
Engineers Council. Students built their very own bridges out of craft
Popsicle sticks and Elmer's glue and put their bridges to the test in front of
a huge, cheering audience. One bridge held a whopping 575 pounds! In
addition to efficiency ratings, students also competed for Most Aesthically
Pleasing and Most Innovative bridges along with $400 in prizes, making for
an exciting, fun-filled day!

Younger Member News

Younger Member Forum
The Richmond Branch of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
is currently in the planning stages of a Younger Member Panel event.
Targeted towards our members under 35 years of age, the event is intended
to provide an opportunity for younger engineers to ask questions to senior
level engineers regarding their career in Civil Engineering. We are currently
looking for panelists for the event.

On Tuesday April 28, 2015 at 12 PM, the Richmond Branch of the

American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) is holding a Younger Member
Panel event. The event will take place in the VDOT conference rooms in
downtown Richmond. Targeted towards our members under 35 years of
age, the event is intended to provide an opportunity for younger engineers
to ask questions to senior level engineers regarding their career in Civil
Engineering.
We intend to have each panelist discuss their background, work/life
balance, steps they've made in their career paths (and why they made
them), and any advice they have to offer. We currently have four panelists
participating in the event, who are:
Kurt Cooper, a retired Senior Vice President from Kimley-Horn and
Associates, has 30 years of experience in the area of Water
Resources and Land Development.
Jeff McKay, an Associate at A. Morton Thomas, has 21 years of
experience in the industry, including significant involvement in
Design-Build and Land Development Projects.
Trip Phaup, a Vice President at Johnson, Mirmiran, and Thompson,
Inc., has over 24 years of experience in Structural Engineering,
including new and replacement bridge structures, railway structures,
and consultation services during the construction of highway and
railway structures.
Scott Smedley, the Director of Environmental Engineer at
Chesterfield County, has 25 years of experience in the fields of
Environmental Engineering, Stormwater Design, and Utilities.

The event is planned to last approximately 1 hour. After a brief introduction

for each panelist (lasting approximately 10 minutes), a Q & A will follow. We
plan to have 4-5 general questions that will then be followed by a floor open
to specific questions from the audience.
PDH's are planned to be offered for the event.
Have questions? Please contact Carolyn Desrochers at
carolyn.desrochers@atkinsglobal.com or Chris Friend at
cfriend@jmt.com

Post-PE Happy Hour!

On Friday, April 17 around 5pm the ASCE Younger Member Group will be
hosting a happy hour at T-Miller's Sports Bar and Grill (500 East Broad
Street, Richmond, VA 23219) to celebrate the conclusion of the PE exam.
The restaurant is located around the corner from the convention center so
we invite all exam takers to stop by and enjoy their first drink on ASCE.
Good luck to all those taking the exam! For any questions please feel free

to contact Chris Friend cfriend@jmt.com.

National ASCE Events

Engineering Career Success Summit
When: Thu, Apr 30, 2015 1:00 p.m. - Sat, May 2, 2015 6:00 p.m.
Where: Hyatt Place Washington DC/US Capitol, 33 New York Avenue
Northeast, D.C., 20002
This joint conference has combined the best of both Institutes Congresses
into one unique event. This will take the place of the 2016 congress for both
Institutes.
ASCE members get 15 % Discount when using code "ASCE" at
www.EngineeringEvent.com
The only event designed to transform engineers from educated technical
professionals into:
Effective Communicators
Powerful Networkers
Dynamic Leaders

Job Posting

Interested in posting a job listing in this newsletter to reach the local

engineering community? There's also the option to purchase a
package deal and have your job posting listed in our newsletter as
well as on our website, which is where all of our event registration is
funneled through. Email Melanie at mleckey@dewberry.com for more
information!

Thanks to our Sponsors this Month!

Interested in advertising in this newsletter and being seen by

hundreds of local engineers and companies within the Greater

Richmond Area? Email Melanie at mleckey@dewberry.com for more
information!

If you have any comments regarding this newsletter, please don't hesitate
to contact me at mleckey@dewberry.com.
Thanks!
Melanie Leckey
ASCE Richmond Branch Communications Chair