Articles

Younger Member's Report

Happy February Everyone,

Hope everyone had a great first month of 2016 and are ready for an exciting next couple of months.

Our two main events for the month of January were a huge success. On Wednesday, January 27, we had a joint happy hour event with the Houston CPA Society’s Young Professional Group and Society of Petroleum Engineers Younger Member Group. Based on the responses I’ve had the past week, most of those in attendance are looking forward to having the event again next year, if not sooner, so special thanks to Megan Scudder and Brandon Ash for putting us into contact with those folks and making that event successful. The following day was our (now) annual tour of the Rinker Materials concrete plant on Langfield Road. Due to the event having an even better turnout than last year, Ron Reichert with Rinker has agreed to have us back in 2017 and from thereon out as long as we are willing, so special thanks to him for sharing that opportunity with us. In addition, I want to take the time to thank Ashley Francis, P.E., C.F.M. with LJA, Negin Yousefpour with ARUP, Jason Ellison with Brown & Gay, Manik Mitra with HR Green, Krystal Gutierrez with RPS Klotz Associates, Uttam Karmaker with PGAL, and John Myers, E.I.T. with Terracon for participating in the STEM “Shadow the Engineer” program held this past Thursday 02/04. These folks were kind enough to take 3 hours out of their busy work schedules to show several high school students around their company’s complex in an effort to give them a glimpse of what engineers do on a day to day basis and what it means to be a Civil Engineer. The students seemed to have been pleasantly surprised at how intricate and multifaceted civil engineering is and commented on how interesting and sociable everyone seemed. Their willingness to participate goes such a long way in promoting S.T.E.M. education in our local schools. Thank you all for pay it forward!

Frist off, we have two volunteer opportunities planned in addition to everything going along with E-week, the first of which will be the 2016 regional MathCounts competition this Saturday, February 13, 2016 from 7:30 – 1:00 pm at the Sugarland Complex of Fluor Enterprises, Inc. (1 Fluor Daniel Drive, Sugarland, Texas 77478). All interested volunteers are encouraged to RSVP by 02/10/2016 to Megan Siercks, P.E. at [email protected]. Upon arrival, go straight to the main entrance – past the stop sign and take the first right into the visitor parking area. Volunteers will be provided with breakfast, lunch, and a t-shirt. Below is a link to the MathCounts website for those who aren’t familiar with the program.

https://www.mathcounts.org/

Our second volunteer event, for those available, will be the opportunity to assist the Prairie View A&M Engineering Department with their senior design course on Thursday February 11, from 2:00 to 5:00 pm. This is a great opportunity for all Civil Engineering disciplines and for those recent graduates to provide the additional help that they wish they had when undergoing their senior capstone project. The event will take place at the Wilson Engineering Center, Room 110C, EE O’Banion Avenue at Ann Preston Avenue, Prairie View, Texas 77446. Volunteers are encouraged to contact Radha Rahakrishnan at [email protected] for course syllabus and other additional information.

Secondly, I wanted to take the time to let everyone know about our annual fundraising event this year. As most of you know by now, the ASCE Houston Branch has had much success in the past 16 years raising scholarship funds for ASCE student chapters across Texas through our annual golf tournament fundraiser. This year, in an effort to build upon that success, we are moving away from the traditional scramble style of play and having the tournament at Top Golf! The competition will consist of a combination of top golf specific games selected by the fundraising staff. Below is a link to all the types of top golf play for those who aren’t familiar with the venue.

http://topgolf.com/us/play/games/

This year, we will be having the event on Friday, May 13, from 1:30 – 5:30 at the Katy location (1030 Memorial Brook Blvd.). The awards ceremony and luncheon will run the same way it has in past, however; there will be an optional happy hour to follow at Watson’s House of Ale around the corner from Top Golf (14656 Grisby Rd.).

Below are the prices for individual registration as well the sponsorship tier opportunities being offered this year.

Individual Registration: $140.00

Government Employees: $120.00

Students: $120.00

Bronze Sponsor: $200.00, includes Recognition on Sponsor Board

Silver Sponsor: $850.00, includes 6 players & Recognition on Sponsor Board

Gold Sponsor: $1000.00, includes 6 players, Recognition on Sponsor Board, Bay Sponsor & Recognition on TVs in the banquet room

As mentioned before, and for those who have not had a chance to participate in the past, this is a great opportunity to benefit ASCE student chapters, especially with the initiative from the national chapter to get students more involved with ASCE post-graduation, as well as obtain marketing recognition for your company or organization.

The main points of contact for this event, should you have any questions or concerns, will be William Sauor at [email protected], and Seth Robinson at [email protected], and as always, feel free to contact me directly as well.

Finally, our friends at the Society of American Military Engineers (SAME) have invited us to be a part of their next lunch & learn at the Terracon office (11555 Clay Road, Suite 100). Three mortgaging companies, The Hernandez Team, Greenwood King Properties, and Chicago Title, are going to be putting on a presentation entitled “Home Buying 101” that will consist of all the necessary information needed for young individuals like yourselves who are interested in buying a starter home as well as what to look for when doing so. This is a great opportunity for those of you who may have any questions or need any additional information before making that big ticket purchase.

As always, feel free to contact me directly with any questions or concerns. 

Regards