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Younger Member's Report

Happy December Everyone,

Hope everyone had a relaxing Thanksgiving and are ready to close out the year. As this year comes to a rapid close and we gear up for 2016, the ASCE Houston Branch Younger Member Forum has several events coming up to help us finish the year strong, but first, let’s take a look at where we’ve been this past month.

On November 12^th, the ASCE younger members had their annual P.E. luncheon at the Terracon office on Clay Road. The presentation was given by George Hartman, Engineer for Texas Board of Professional Engineers for over 12 years, so special thanks to him for volunteering his valuable time and to Mahsa Arastoo, our Technical Activities Chair, for coordinating and facilitating the event. ASCE Younger Members were educated over the current specifics of the professional licensure application process and participated in a valuable Q&A session following the presentation. Moreover, four recent licensed professionals gave a brief rundown of what to expect on exam day. Special thanks to Ashley Francis, P.E., Christina Kim, P.E., Brett Pope, P.E., and Feifei Bai, P.E. for volunteering time out of their schedules to participate. On November 14^th, ASCE Younger Members participated in The Houston Mini Maker Faire, a great event that inspires learning by individuals and families and promotes positive involvement in the community. The event was easily one of the most informative and inspirational events of 2015, and special thanks to Ashley Francis again for all of her hard work setting up the event and of course to all those who volunteered to participate.

Our first event for the month of December will be a volunteer activity, the bicycle build sponsored by CYCLE (Changing Young Children’s Lives through Education). CYCLE is dedicated to improving literacy in Grades K – 3 in Title One schools in the Greater Houston area. They give young students the opportunity to earn a bicycle for achieving their set goals, and in return, they learn that hard work equals reward. CYCLE believes that learning this lesson can put school children on the path to a brighter future. CYCLE has also awarded more than 144,000 bicycles to hard-working students in the Greater Houston Area. Volunteers will have the opportunity to participate by assisting with the assembly of bikes or with a monetary donation on several different occasions throughout the first week of December. Please check our calendar for more details regarding sign-up procedures and time slots. Your registration/donation helps build and deliver bicycles to reward students who have met their literacy goals for the year.

Secondly, on December 9^th, we will be teaming up with the Society of American Military Engineers (SAME) for a joint happy hour event at Warehouse Bar & Chill on W. 11^th St. in the Heights. The event is $5.00 to participate and will last from 5:00 – 9:00 pm. Feel free to bring as many guests as you like! Also, the following night will be our December Happy Hour Social at Howl at the Moon from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Two free drink tickets are available to members upon arrival (be sure to ask for Megan Scudder with ASCE). This event is open to non-members as well.

Last but not least, our deadline for submitting nominations for Young Engineer of the Year are due by Monday, December 14, at 5:00 pm. Applications are available on our website and should be filled out and submitted to me via e-mail.

As always, feel free to contact me directly with any questions. Thanks, and have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Regards,