N. Catherine Bazán-Arias, Ph.D., P.E., M.ASCE
At-Large Director

Vision Statement

My vision for ASCE is for the Society to continue to promote and lead the civil engineering profession in sustainable growth and development.

By sustainable growth and development I refer to academic excellence for civil engineers today and in the future; national and global contributions to communities that need civil work support; and consistent and constant advocacy through media and political interaction for our national infrastructure investments.

To contribute to ASCE's pro-active efforts, I will continue to actively volunteer at the Geo-Strata Magazine editorial board, CAP3 committee, Civil Connection e-column and my local Pittsburgh Section activities. I think that working towards future academic, industry and research excellence allows engineers to critically analyze and strive to improve our professional standards. Strengthening our pool of future professionals should also positively contribute to addressing issues in outsourcing, compensation levels and commodity perceptions of our services.  Related to these topics, I think that interaction with the media, the public and government officials broadens our outreach for awareness and builds our advocacy efforts; I will continue to pursue these activities.

Recently, I became a national and Pittsburgh Chapter member of Engineers Without Borders (EWB) -- what a great alliance! Civil engineers involvement and commitment in global sustainable development is crucial for our profession to maintain and expand our fundamental call to serve the public. These alliances, the fruit of years of dedication and savvy strategy, will increase our interaction with the public and broaden the Society's outreach. Moreover, the ASCE/EWB-USA alliance promotes diversity and provides an opportunity for professionals to "think outside the box" in solving engineering challenges, often in communities with limited resources.

My involvement will also include promotion of new educational material and programs for high school students. Through Boston's Museum of Science’s efforts, the "Engineering the Future: Science, Technology, and the Design Process" 2007 textbook brings hands-on activities to students in a format and layout that allows educators to record and monitor students’ progress. I was fortunate to be a contributor to this project and opine that adherence to the text’s curricula will build technological literacy and critical reasoning skills in high school students.

It is with honor that I accepted the nomination for At-Large Director and it is with commitment that I hope to serve the profession and Society that makes me proud to be a civil engineer.

The above statement appears as it was submitted to ASCE by the nominee. No revisions have been made to the statement by ASCE.