April 2007 - President’s Message

There was a membership meeting and luncheon held March 15. The guest speaker was Andrew Beall with the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources. His topic was “Integrated Ecosystem Restoration and Hurricane Protection – Louisiana Comprehensive Master Plan for a Sustainable Coast”. The presentation was very interesting and discussed the challenges facing the department with population demanding to live within our beautiful coastal zones and how this plan was in correlation with the overall Coast wide 2050 Plan. In 1998, the State of Louisiana and its Federal partners approved a coastal restoration plan entitled, “Coast 2050: Toward a Sustainable Coastal Louisiana”. That document presented strategies jointly developed by Federal, State, and Local interests to address Louisiana's massive coastal land loss problem. For the first time, solutions were proposed to address fundamental ecosystem needs in order to prevent the loss of this natural treasure. By implementing the plan’s regional ecosystem strategies, it is envisioned that a sustainable ecosystem will be restored in coastal Louisiana, in large part by utilizing the same natural forces that initially built the landscape.

Following the luncheon presentation, a one hour PDH was offered by Steven McCutcheon, Ph.D., P.E., M. ASCE on “Disaster Preparedness for CEs: US Population moving into harms way.” Steve is affiliated with the ASCE Region 5 Board of Governors and is currently at the University of Georgia. It was a pleasure to have Steve visit our branch and volunteer to present to our membership.

February 18-24, 2007 marked this year’s Engineer’s Week, which features various activities designed to interest young people in engineering and technology. The Baton Rouge Branch was involved by the following:

• Awarded three scholarships to engineering students at LSU and Southern University
• Placed two billboard advertisements along our Interstate systems in Baton Rouge
• Appeared on a local television morning program

Every year, we give back to our upcoming and future civil engineers by presenting scholarships to our local student chapters at the annual Louisiana Engineering Society Banquet. This year, we were proud to present two scholarships to Southern University and one to Louisiana State University. The recipients were Tynekia Hampton and Ineaka Carbo of Southern and Danielle Chabaud of LSU.

As we discussed in the last Journal, the Baton Rouge Branch recently won a State Public Affairs Grant (SPAG). The intent of the grant was to use high visibility billboards for the month of February in observance of Engineer’s Week. The LAMAR billboards were located at I-12 and Sherwood Forest Blvd, which was the standard vinyl and the digital billboard was located at I-10 and College Drive. The slogan read, “Civil Engineers Make a World of Difference”. In our previous issue of the February 2007 Journal, the logo was displayed on the cover.

On February 12, I appeared on WAFB-TV to promote awareness and encourage young people to become our engineers of the future. We need more and more engineering leaders doing this type of public relations as our profession needs it. My television spot made the National “ASCE News” as to encourage other branches and Sections throughout the nation to follow suit.

As we continue to be proud and enjoy the careers we have chosen to become civil engineers, we have a civic duty to promote our profession. We need for young people at all levels to get excited about what our profession has to offer. That is why it is extremely important to GET INVOLVED. Involvement can be defined as several different stages for all of our members. From discussions of the importance of engineering at social gatherings to presenting in front of capacity auditoriums with math and science students eager to listen to what is engineering.

As we look back at Engineers Week, we as a membership need to spread the word that engineers are needed in everyday life activities and the future of our profession is our young people. I challenge each one of you to get involved with your local community and encourage you to make a difference. Remember, Engineers Turn Ideas into Reality.

Here are some examples of how to get involved:

• Get involved with your local school and volunteer to tutor in mathematics and/or science
• For Career Day, volunteer to present and discuss Civil Engineering
• Write Letters to the Editor about the importance of engineering
• Once a week, make an effort to tell someone about engineering
• Public relations within your local community