“Global Competitiveness and the Transportation and Development Institute of ASCE”

T&DI Technical Activities Councils and Committees Help Define the Future

Everyone’s talking about it.  It used to be that when the US and "global competiveness" were mentioned in the

same breath, there was a sense of pride and accomplish-ment.   Now, increasingly, those same two words trigger worry and doubt.  Are we losing our competitive

edge?

Statistics certainly aren’t encouraging.  According to U.S.  

Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings, “Ninety percent

of the fastest-growing jobs require postsecondary edu-cation, and less than half of our students graduate from

high school ready for college level math and science.  Our 15-year-olds rank 24th out of 29 developed nations in math literacy and problem solving.  And almost half of our 17-year-olds don't have the math skills to work as a production associate at a modern auto plant" (excerpted from testimony before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, & Pensions Committee, February 9, 2006).

How do we retain our edge and stay competitive in the global marketplace?  By moving swiftly and effectively into our schools and our workplaces, with knowledge, experience and the tools to excite, motivate and challenge our children and our colleagues.  Here at the T&DI, we are privileged to count among us some of the smartest, creative and dedicated transportation and development professionals in the world.  Our Institute has the capability—indeed, the obligation—to help inspire students and young professionals to deliver the new ideas and initiatives for research, development, education and training that will keep us competitive.

Within the T&DI, there are 19 technical committees grouped into 4 technical councils (see http://www.tanddi.org/inside/techcommittees.cfm for more detail).  The chairs of each of the technical councils (Bill Fife, Planning and Development; Paul Foxworthy, Design, Construction and Maintenance; Marsha Anderson-Bomar, Operations and Safety; and Roger Smith, Cross-Cutting) synergize and cross-pollinate the activities of the committees under the framework of a Technical Activities Division Executive Committee, chaired by Marsha.  Together, they form the nucleus of a 15,000-member strong Institute that is helping to propel the ASCE and our nation forward into the 21st century.  How?  By publishing white papers, synthesis reports and standards; conducting specialty conferences and webinars; teaching professional development courses, performing research and development work under grants and contracts from private, non-profit foundations and government agencies; partnering with sister societies to leverage scarce volunteer and staff resources; and yes, by reaching out to our colleagues around the world to gain a better understanding of how we can all work together, in the spirit of collaboration and collegiality, to make this world a more sustainable, secure and better place to live.

If you are a member of T&DI, take advantage of your member benefits and find the time to mentor a promising young student or engineer with the products and services we offer.  If you are a chair of a T&DI council or committee, find ways to solicit the active participation of your members and reward them with encouragement and recognition.

Together, we can make a difference in our global competitiveness and set a firm and steady course for our future.

Technical Region Director's Report

January 17, 2006

By:  Stan R. Caldwell, P.E., F. AEI/ F.ASCE, Technical Region Director

All members of the ASCE Board of Direction are expected to communicate

effectively with the constituents in their respective regions.   The Technical Region is a worldwide,  virtual region comprised of ASCE's seven Institutes.  This report is the second in a series of brief summaries intended to keep you informed of news from the ASCE Board of Direction.  Communication is a two-way process.  Please do not hesitate to contact me at any time with your questions and concerns.  I would especially appreciate receiving any thoughts that you might have on how ASCE and its Technical Region can better serve you.

For the rest of this article, please click here.

You are invited to contribute a chapter for a monograph being prepared by the Intermodal Committee that will present emerging solutions for intermodal freight transportation. The monograph is planned to include over 20 chapters in four parts covering the following areas: operations, planning, security, and other aspects. The chapters will be peer reviewed. The operations part will include such topics as electronic freight technologies, efficiency and performance evaluation, intermodal hub initiatives, congestion mitigation, and maintenance best practices. For the rest of this article, please click here.

Sixteen of T&DI's technical committees met during the recent TRB Annual Meeting held in Washington, D.C.  During the meeting committees reviewed progress on current projects and brainstormed new activity proposals. T&DI Director Jon Esslinger reported that some of T&DI's committees have been very active and have produced products for the profession.  For the rest of this article, please click here.

Airfield Pavement Committee Meeting

By:  Richard Thuma, P.E., M.ASCE, Airfield Pavement Committee,

Vice-Chair

The Airfield Pavement Committee held its annual meeting on Sunday, January 22nd, 2006 in conjunction with TRB in Washington, D.C.  The meeting was well attended by more than 60 members and colleagues.  Key topics of discussion included the upcoming T&DI Pavement conference (April 30 – May 3, 2006) in Atlanta and continued debate on the issue of specialty certification for airfield pavement engineers.  For the rest of this article, please click here.

APM Standards Committee Meeting

By:  Lawrence Smith, P.E., F.ASCE

APM Standards Committee Secretary

The ASCE APM Standards Committee met at Tampa International Airport on February 9 & 10, 2006. The committee resolved ballot comments for the final chapter of Part 4 of APM Standard (ASCE 21) dealing with operation, maintenance, system acceptance and inspections, and will proceed to publish the entirety of Part 4. Part 1, Operating Environment and Train Controls, originally published in 1996 was reaffirmed through a rigorous committee and public ballot process and will be republished in 2006.  For the rest of this article, please click here.

Members of the APM Standards Coommittee at their

meeting at Tampa International Airport

National Academy of Engineering Elects 75 Members and Nine Foreign Associates

Election to the National Academy of Engineering is among the highest professional distinctions accorded to an engineer.  Academy membership honors those who have made outstanding contributions to "engineering research practice, or education, including, where appropriate, significant contributions to the engineering literature," and to the "pioneering of new and developing fields of technology, making major advancements in traditional fields of engineering or developing/implementing innovative approaches to engineering education."  For the rest of this article, please click here.

Continuing Education

Conferences

Design Build Institute of America's 2006 Transportation Conference
April 5-7, 2006, Portland Marriott Downtown Waterfront Hotel
Portland, Oregon (T&DI is a co-sponsoring organization)

5th Biennial Conference on Historic Roads, April 27 - 30, 2006, Boston, Massachusetts For more details go to www.historicroads.org. (T&DI is a co-sponsoring organization).

T&DI Airfield and Highway Pavement Conference, April 30 - May 3, 2006, Westin Atlanta Airport Hotel, Atlanta, Georgia  For more details go to www.asce.org/conferences/pavements2006.

9th International Conference on Application of Advanced Technology in Transportation, August 13 - 16, 2006, Wyndham Chicago Hotel, Chicago, Illinois.  For more details go to www.asce.org/conferences/aatt06/.

2006 NDE Conference on Civil Engineering, August 2006, St. Louis, Missouri www.asnt.org/events/conferences/smt06/papers.pdf. (T&DI is a co-sponsoring organization).

11th International Conference on APMs, April 22 -25, 2007, Vienna, Austria. www.apm07.org

29th International Air Transport Conference, Dallas, TX, July 2007.

International Conference on Transportation Engineering, Chengdu, China, Late 2007 (T&DI is a co-sponsoring organization).

The Transportation and Development Institute newsletter is a quarterly publication of the Institute for its members. Please direct any questions or comments about the newsletter to tanddi@asce.org

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