What Can You Do With Your ASCE Membership This Summer?

The school year is rapidly coming to an end, but that doesn't mean your ASCE membership is. Between summer jobs and vacations, make sure you take advantage of what ASCE has to offer:

2008 Graduates can advance to Associate/Affiliate member for just $50 to tap into career-enhancing benefits that will jumpstart their career - Plus they'll owe nothing again until Jan. 1, 2010. Contact member@asce.org or (800) 548-2723 and use code 08STUNEWS as your code.
Find a last minute internship, co-op, or even your first job on the Career Connections job board.
Visit your hometown ASCE Section or Branch to network with professionals and Younger Members (members age 35 and under). Find the Section/Branch closest to you.
Find out how much your new civil engineering skills are worth in today's job market for free with the Engineering Income and Salary Survey.
Become an ASCE Key Contact and stay get the latest alerts on civil engineering legislation in your area.
If you're not graduating, be sure that you've renewed your membership and that your contact info is up to date.

Have a great summer! And congratulations graduates!

EWRI Announces YM Photography Competition Winner

Rachel Roblin, S.M.ASCE captures the Environmental & Water Resources Institute (EWRI) 18th Annual Student & Younger Member Photography Competition. Roblin, a Master's Student from the University of New Orleans, will have her winning photo of Steps Beach in Rincon, Puerto Rico (right) featured on the EWRI World Environmental & Water Resource Congress proceedings cover. She will travel to next week's Congress to receive the award for her beachside photo, which has become all the more appropriate as this year's Congress is being held in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Put us Over the Top!

You might have heard some of your friends talking about it before class (ok, probably not) but the ASCE Government Relations Facebook Group has been growing rapidly and currently has 97 members. So we in GR have set ourselves a modest goal of getting over the century mark, and we want you to be member #100! Join today and get up-to-date information on the biggest policy actions affecting you and your future profession. If you're already a member, stop on by the page and let us know what you think.

ASCE Welcomes NSBE Student Members!

ASCE sponsored a host of activities during March's 2008 NSBE Annual Convention in Orlando, FL. Bringing together members from both Societies, activities included a Career Fair booth, a workshop on Infrastructure in the Urban Community, a Design Squad outreach event with WGBH (the Boston affiliate of PBS), and a Civil Engineering Networking Suite for student, alumni and professional members. Co-sponsors included CDM and Parsons Brinckerhoff. A total of 45 NSBE student members joined ASCE!

ASCE challenges you to connect with NSBE student members on your campus and work together to advance the civil engineer profession! If you’re already working with your institution’s NSBE student chapter, we’d like to hear from you! E-mail your story to Lisa J. Jennings at outreach@asce.org using the subject ASCE/NSBE Campus Partners.

Autodesk Design Challenge - Entry date extended to June 15th – submit your final project today!

Submit your designs to the Autodesk® Student Design Challenge. It's the perfect way to share those masterpieces with the rest of the world. It’s also a chance to get your work in front of an international panel of industry and Autodesk experts. Prizes include Xbox 360s, $200 Visa gift cards, Autodesk® Maya® 2008 Software, and more!

Get started today by downloading free* Autodesk software from the Autodesk Student Community.

Is Somebody Working to Find You a Job This Summer? ASCE Will.

One of the worst parts of job hunting is trying to find the position that meets all your criteria. Don't worry - ASCE has the solution for you. With the Career Connections Job Agent, it's like having a personal headhunter do the looking for you.

Start at careers.asce.org/search/agent/index.cfm
Highlight the criteria that matches your needs
Put your agent to work
You'll receive e-mail alerts when new jobs meet your criteria. Plus, you can apply for it right there.

Let Career Connections be the only place you go for your civil engineering job and internship needs.

Check out these featured internships:

1. Structural Engineer-in-Training - CEO Structural Engineers, Inc.

2. Materials Engineering Paid Internship Position - East Bay Municipal Utility District

3. Civil/Structural Internship - BSM Consulting Engineers

4. Engineering Intern - Water/Wastewater Utility

5. Environmental Intern - Sovereign Consulting Inc.

ASCE Student Finds "Excellence in the Details" at OPAL

Tyler Hodge's tuxedo had hung in his closet since he arrived in Washington, D.C. The fifth year civil engineering student from Tennessee Tech hoped he may need it at some point during his semester internship. For three months, he had no luck. That is until the day's ASCE Smartbrief arrived in his inbox. He scrolled to the bottom and an article about ASCE's 2008 Outstanding Projects and Leaders Awards (OPAL) Gala caught his eye. The tuxedo had a purpose.

On Wednesday, April 30, ASCE celebrated the 2008 OPAL awards in Arlington, VA by recognizing five engineers for lifetime accomplishments in construction, design, education, government, and management, as well as crowning the Woodrow Wilson Bridge Project this year's Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement.

"It was a very inspiring evening," said Hodge, who is currently interning with Thornton Thomasetti. "To see the way these five engineers have advanced through their career, and to see the feats of these massive projects, it helps to fuel the flame to want to do great things and take part in something bigger than yourself."

The Woodrow Wilson Bridge Project used a variety of innovative techniques, to replace an inadequate, aging 47-year-old span, helping to relieve a major bottleneck for commuters on the busy Capital Beltway, Interstate 495.

"In life, you have to see the excellence in the details," said Hodge. "Getting down to the details in the Wilson Bridge Project, when you listen to the leaders talk about it, you really see that to do things well and to pull the project off on time and on budget, all the details had to be tended to and tended to well."

Hodge will soon earn his engineering degree with an emphasis in structural engineering, which will complement a Political Science concentration and Business minor. Before entering the workforce, he will travel to Brazil for a mission trip with Belo Horizonte.

>> Watch videos on this year's OPAL recipients and the OCEA winner and get more details on this year's OPAL Gala.

Members of the Duke University Team

History Channel City of the Future

What does the city of the future look like? Teams from across the country, several giving up time off their spring break, set out to develop innovative engineering solutions for major cities 100 years from now.

The History Channel and IBM, with support from ASCE, awarded $5,000 to the regional winning teams, Georgia Southern, CSU Sacramento, and Duke University.

ASCE Off Campus

By Loreen Choate, P.E., M.ASCE
Publications Member – Committee on Younger Members
asceymf@earthlink.net

You are really involved with your school’s ASCE Chapter. But did you know that there are Branches, Sections, and Technical Groups throughout the United States and Internationally that you can get involved with? Whether you are still in school or about to graduate it is never too early to get involved with your local Branch or Section.

ASCE at the universities is a great start as you graduate and start working in the real world of civil engineering. Once you graduate (or even before) we encourage you to seek out your local ASCE group where you are moving and get involved. What a great way to meet new people, participate in community service events, attend technical and professional presentations and attend social events!

There are a couple of different ways to find out about your local ASCE Branch or Section. One way is to ask your Practitioner Advisor about the Branch/Section in the area where you have gotten a job, so that you are prepared when you get situated. Another way is to look up the information on the ASCE Web site. Go to www.asce.org, click on Inside ASCE, click on Sections/Branches, then use the handy map to find the location where you are moving to. Most Branches/Sections have Web sites with contact info. If you do not find any information about their Younger Members, I encourage you to e-mail the President of that Section or Branch and ask them about the Younger Member group. Even if you don’t get involved with the Younger Member activities, the local Branches and Sections also provide great opportunities for a working civil engineer. My advice, Stay Involved!

Younger Members are those ASCE members who are 35-years-old and younger. Your local ASCE Branch or Section probably has an active Younger Member Group. Younger Member Groups across the country participate in community service events, technical seminars, and social activities. Getting involved with your local group while still a student will help you to make contacts that could help you with getting an internship or job after graduation.

The Younger Member Groups around the country are under the Committee on Younger Members (CYM), which is the national ASCE committee representing members age 35 and under.

Not sure if your local Branch or Section has a Younger Member Group? Find your local Section, Branch, or Younger Member Group. Still not sure, feel free to contact Loreen Choate at asceymf@earthlink.net.

ASCE/AISC National Student Steel Bridge Competition Comes to the Swamp

When: May 23-24, 2008

Where: Gainesville, FL

Details: www.2008steelbridge.com/competition_info.html

The ASCE/AISC National Student Steel Bridge Competition (NSSBC) gives students the opportunity to guide a project from conception and design through fabrication, erection and testing, culminating in a steel structure that meets client specifications and optimizes performance and economy. The NSSBC increases awareness of real-world issues such as spatial constraints, material properties, strength, serviceability, fabrication and erection processes, safety, esthetics and cost. Success in inter-collegiate competition requires effective team work and project management.

International Science & Engineering Visualization Challenge

Excitement is growing on college campuses and venues around the world as the 2008 International Science & Engineering Visualization Challenge draws to a close. Sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the journal Science, the flagship publication of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the 6th annual Visualization Challenge will accept entries only until May 31.

The Challenge recognizes the increasing importance and power of visualizations as they illuminate and explain the crucial work of science and engineering.

Asked what characterized a winning entry, Jeff Nesbit, Director of NSF's Office of Legislative and Public Affairs, said, "Entries are typically graded higher when they (1) explain non-obvious phenomena in an engaging and not overly-technical manner, (2) have "depth" or layers of information that reward continued inspection, (3) have a solid match between the media or technique and the subject, and (4) are focused to communicate to a well-defined audience."

Get the rules, entry forms, and details.

National Concrete Canoe Competition Teams Paddling in to Montreal

When: June 19-21

Where: Montreal, Quebec

Details: http://content.asce.org/conferences/nccc2008/index.html

Students from across North America will travel to École de technologie supérieure on June 19-21 to compete in the 21st Annual ASCE National Concrete Canoe Competition. The national competition will be hosting the finalists of over 200 teams and challenge students to apply the practical engineering principles they learn in the classroom, along with important team and project management skills they will need in their careers.

5th International Engineering and Construction Conference (IECC’5)

When: August 27-29, 2008

Where: Hilton Hotel in Irvine, CA

Details: www.iecc5.org
Participate in the Student Paper Contest and earn awards for your entry. Student registration is $25.00 to participate in this year's conference, examining “Challenges in the Development of Energy Efficient and Environmentally Compatible Infrastructure Systems in the 21st Century.” The conference seeks to enhance the lines of communication between researchers and technical professionals to exchange innovative research and technological advancements.