In 2006, our nation faced the shocking aftermath of the enormous devastation wreaked by Hurricane Katrina on the Gulf Coast the year before. During the fiscal year that began on October 1, 2005, and ended on September 30, 2006, ASCE was called on by Lieutenant General Carl A. Strock, P.E., M.ASCE, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ commander and chief engineer, to peer-review the work of the Corps’s Interagency Performance Evaluation Task Force, which studied the causes of the ruptured levees and extreme flooding. ASCE’s External Review Panel (ERP) helped find answers to questions about the operation and performance of the hurricane protection system. The panel’s scope of work was to provide an objective technical review of the IPET’s findings on the performance of the hurricane protection system in New Orleans and surrounding areas in an effort to define new methods of building resilience against future flooding.

 

ASCE’s external review of the Gulf Coast crisis demonstrated how our profession must lead--not only as engineers, but also as managers, communicators, and innovators. Our ERP outlined a set of essential recommendations for overcoming the deficiencies in the nation’s hurricane and flood protection system and instituting significant change in its governance, management, and engineering. The lessons learned from this review process have significant implications for many communities and for the engineering profession. By means of this review process ASCE distinguished itself in the public eye throughout the year, releasing the ERP’s findings periodically through media briefings and press conferences.

 

ASCE increased its proactive stance in pushing for public policy to better our quality of life. During the year, we met with legislators and regulators to support measures to establish an infrastructure commission, strengthen the nation’s levees, and restore our failing dam system, which threatens human lives.

 

ASCE continues to build public awareness through our award-winning “Report Card for America’s Infrastructure” campaign. Our country faces an increasingly serious infrastructure crisis, and ASCE sections and branches in various states—including California, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Virginia--produced their own infrastructure assessments during the year.

 

The message that our infrastructure is in crisis is spreading to an ever-expanding audience. ASCE established the Civil Engineering Forum for Innovation in January 2006 in part to promote innovation to make infrastructure improvement a national priority. The State of Virginia came to ASCE seeking our expertise in the form of an analysis of a proposed tunnel option for the next extension of the commuter rail system in the Washington, D.C., area. We completed the study after reviewing the geology, tunnel alignment, and physical limitations of the plan and announced our findings to the public.

 

ASCE’s 2006 president, Dennis R. Martenson, P.E., DEE, F.ASCE, spearheaded our mission to include sustainability in all civil engineering endeavors. Our profession is embracing the future by seeking to define ways to build a more sustainable, stable, and secure world. By working in partnership with others through our Practice, Education, and Research for Sustainable Infrastructure (PERSI) initiative, we have taken on the challenge of meeting human needs while protecting and enhancing environmental quality.

 

In June 2006, we held the successful Summit on the Future of Civil Engineering. The 60 summit participants included engineers and nonengineers from around the globe. The summit report will address the challenges we will likely face in the year 2025 and will outline ways in which civil engineers can  prepare to meet these challenges in the areas of technology, leadership, and globalization.

 

As the recognized leaders in advancing technology in the future, our seven institutes and technical activities continue to offer an expanding variety of specialty conferences. During the year they drew between 500 and 1,000 attendees to conferences that focused on topics ranging from soils to structures. A water resources conference in New Delhi was organized at which participants from 26 countries made presentations.  

Since September 11, 2001, ASCE has continued to work to protect critical infrastructure. The Society maintains an active leadership role in homeland security and multihazard protection. Various ASCE workshops provided overviews of federal disaster response programs and disseminated information on how engineers can become involved locally in disaster management and assessment. We also presented seminars in partnership with the National Institute of Standards and Technology on new best practices to mitigate progressive collapse.

 

To prepare for the future global economy, we continue to expand and build partnerships with organizations around the world. We actively participated in planning the convention of the Unión Panamericana de Asociaciones de Ingenieros, and Dennis Martenson and ASCE’s 2005 president, William P. Henry, P.E., F.ASCE, addressed the convention on two key ASCE priorities: sustainability and anticorruption initiatives. ASCE designated Incan sites in Peru as International Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks, broadening the reach of Society relationships beyond our borders.

 

It is remarkable how hard so many members and staff continue to work on the complex task of preparing the profession for the future and “raising the bar” to elevate standards for a career in civil engineering at the professional level. We were pleased when the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying--at its September 2006 meeting in Anchorage, Alaska--took positive action by voting to modify section 130.10 of its model law to call for education beyond a bachelor of science in a program accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, Inc. The change will encourage all states, by the year 2015, to require additional credits of upper-level undergraduate or graduate work prior to licensure examination. ASCE’s close involvement every step of the way was critical to this success.

 

Engineers are ethically bound to protect the public, and ASCE believes civil engineers must have the skills essential for assuming this vast responsibility. In addition to our technical competencies, we must be highly skilled in leadership and management. ASCE offers such programs such as the Leader Education and Development, or LEAD, program to help our members develop these skills. Our continuing education participation flourished during the year, producing a surplus in excess of $1 million and enrolling more than 42,000.

 

ASCE helped attract young people to our profession by raising funds to develop the dynamic new television series, Design Squad, for its February 2007 premier during Engineers Week. ASCE also partnered with Design Squad producer and educational foundation WGBH on earlier programs for the young, including the series Building Big and the outreach program ZOOM into Engineering.

 

Our Society’s future depends on a sound financial picture and future-oriented programs that confer high member value. ASCE’s continued success clearly relies on strategic planning, an ongoing, interactive process. Dennis Martenson kept this task consistently before us as we shaped our road ahead.

 

ASCE had another excellent financial year, with results higher than last year’s. Investment earnings were positive and expenses were lower. We upgraded our accounting software and invested in our Society’s “infrastructure” through the first phase of implementation of a new computerized association management system.

 

Our membership kept growing, totaling more than 140,000 at year’s end. We focus on making sure our members are aware of all we offer and that they have the tools they need to reach their full potential.

 

Our profession leads the way in protecting public safety and health. The next generation of civil engineers will be engaged in increasingly complex work, requiring broader and deeper knowledge and innovative ways of approaching engineering solutions. ASCE welcomes these challenges and looks forward to continuing to build strong leaders within our profession.

 

ASCE President William F. Marcuson III, Ph.D., P.E., Hon.ASCE

 

ASCE Executive Director Patrick J. Natale, P.E., F.ASCE, CAE