ASCE Plot Points Podcast

Holly Piza, P.E., M.ASCE, is the research and development director at Mile High Flood District in Denver and the 2022 president of ASCE’s Environmental and Water Resources Institute. In episode of 117 of the ASCE Plot Points podcast, Piza talks with guest hosts Brianne Duncan and Wendy Cohen of the EWRI Environmental Health and Water Quality Committee about her career path.

As project design and construction continue to develop and change, the importance of quality control only increases. Tara L. Cavalline, Ph. D., P.E., M.ASCE, Dennis Morian, P.E., M.ASCE, and Clifford J. Schexnayder, Ph. D., P.E., Dist. M.ASCE, have authored a book to help engineers keep pace with changing construction landscape. It's called "Construction Quality in the Alternate Project Delivery E...

ASCE’s Transportation and Development Institute’s Technical Committee on CAV Impacts has prepared a new ASCE publication called Disruptive Emerging Transportation Technologies. In episode 115 of the ASCE Plot Points podcast, one of the book's co-editors Heng Wei, Ph. D., P.E., F.ASCE, a professor of transportation engineering at the University of Cincinnati, discusses some of the key technologies...

Tanesa Kassa is a structural detail designer for the Arkansas Department of Transportation. That wasn't exactly where her career started, though. She's been adding new skills and learning new technology for two decades, adapting her skillset to the changing engineering environment. In episode 114 of the ASCE Plot Points podcast, Kassa shares her journey and discusses the importance of being a life...

Elyssa Dixon, P.E., M.ASCE, ​is an environmental engineer who is very active in ASCE – she is the chair of ASCE’s Committee on Younger Members and the presidet-elect of the Seattle Section. And more recently her focus has been on mental health. She started her own business – called Fleece and Forests – to share her training as a mindfulness and meditation coach. In episode 113 of the ASCE Plot Poi...

Last December, the ASCE International Conference on Sustainable Infrastructure brought sustainabilty thought leaders from around the world together. And now, ASCE has published a book collecting selected papers from the conference. In episode 112 of the ASCE Plot Points podcast, the book's co-editor Michael Bloom, P.E., ENV SP, M.ASCE, discusses the special collection and what he calls a "tipping...

It's what many civil engineers strive for early in their career: the promotion into a management role. But how do you navigate the job after you've earned it? In episode 111 of the ASCE Plot Points podcast, Assunta Daprano, A.M.ASCE, a project engineer and deputy project manager at AECOM in Philadelphia, discusses the transition into a management role, especially at a young age.

There is perhaps no transition period in one's career more rich with emotion – excitement, anxiety, optimism – than the months just before college graduation. Cameren Lewis, S.M.ASCE, a fifth-year civil engineering student at Drexel University, is at just such an inflection point. In episode 110 of the ASCE Plot Points podcast, Lewis discusses his civil engineering journey and what he hopes for as...

Entering the civil engineering workforce is very different from life as a student. Matthew Jacobson, EIT, ENV SP, A.M.ASCE, knows. He works as a civil analyst for Kimley-Horn and Associates in Los Angeles, less than a year after graduating from Cal Poly Pomona. In episode 109 of the ASCE Plot Points podcast, Jacobson discusses that transition from student to professional, offering advice on how to...

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act was signed into law last November. But that doesn't mean ASCE's infrastructure advocacy work is complete. Far from it. Eric Czerniejewski, P.E., ENV SP, F.ASCE, was among the 225 ASCE members who attended the 2022 Legislative Fly-In last week to keep the advocacy momentum going. Czerniejewski is director of traffic engineering for the Corradino Group in M...

Shirley Clark, Ph. D., P.E., D.WRE, D.EWRI, M.ASCE, is a professor of environmental engineering at Penn State Harrisburg and vice president of ASCE's Environmental and Water Resources Institute. Recently, her work has included research into the potential connections between wastewater and COVID. In episode 107 of the ASCE Plot Points podcast, Clark talks with guest hosts Brianne Duncan and Wendy C...

ASCE launches the Future World Vision desktop app today, Feb. 22, at the new Future World Vision website. In episode 106 of the ASCE Plot Points podcast, Jimmy Bennett, a project engineer in Minneapolis who is among the core team working on Future World Vision from the outset, talks about the new platform and how Future World Vision can help engineers expand their work every day to incorporate vit...

Vatsal Shah, Ph. D., P.E., D.GE, M.ASCE, had a nugget of wisdom he’d sometimes to refer to: “Change is uncomfortable, but you only grow when you’re uncomfortable.” The philosophy certainly was put to the test these last two years, as the pandemic and a family health scare turned his life upside-down. In episode 105 of the ASCE Plot Points podcast, Shah discusses how the last two years have reframe...

Maxx Taga is an onsite integration manager and facility manager for NASA in Lompoc, California. It's the latest step in a career that has taken many twists and turns but is firmly a product of Taga's make-your-own-luck approach. If he wants to know about something, he finds out. If he wants to do something, he tries it. Even if it's new. Even if it's intimidating at first. In episode 104 of the AS...

RoadBotics won five awards at the 2018 ASCE Innovation Contest. Since then, the company has only grown. In episode 103 of the ASCE Plot Points podcast, RoadBotics CEO Ben Schmidt talks about his company and how he's navigated the pandemic and continued innovating through a changing industry.

Natalie Palmquist is unique. She has had a plan for her life’s work since she was a teenager. And she’s living out that plan. She graduated from Auburn University with a degree in civil engineering, got her master’s in international development studies at the University of Grenoble Alpes in France, and recently started a position with Samaritan’s Purse. The driving force behind all of this? Her fa...

Aimee Corn wasn't sure where her career would lead, even after she fell in love with civil engineering. But she's happy with the way it worked out: dams. Corn, P.E., M.ASCE, is a civil structural engineer for Gannett Fleming in Denver, Colorado. She's also in her fourth term on the ASCE Structural Engineering Institute Board of Governors. In episode 101 of the ASCE Plot Points podcast, she talks a...

Applied research is one of the most exciting topics in all of civil engineering. It also can be very complicated to secure the necessary funding. In episode 100 of the ASCE Plot Points podcast, Monique Head, Ph. D., A.M.ASCE, associate professor and associate chair in the department of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Delaware, talks about what the funding landscape looks l...

It's one thing to acknowledge that the recent bipartisan infrastructure law will change the civil engineering industry. But, looking deeper, what do those changes mean for the everyday work of civil engineers? How will their lives and careers change? In episode 99 of ASCE Plot Points, Del Shannon, P.E., M.ASCE, principal and senior vice president for Schnabel Engineering, discusses those potential...

Kristina Swallow, P.E., Pres.18.ASCE, worked for years to advocate with ASCE for infrastructure investment. Now, as director of the Nevada Department of Transportation, she is excited about the opportunity presented by the recent bipartisan infrastructure law to improve her home state. In episode 98 of ASCE Plot Points, Swallow discusses the various ways the new law will reshape the civil engineer...

It's an enticing question to ponder. What would Robert Moses do? How would he navigate the infrastructure landscape of 2022? John Williams, the CEO of Autocase and board chair for the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure, discusses in today's finale of a three-part series. Williams is speaking at the 2021 ASCE International Conference on Sustainable Infrastructure, Dec. 7, in a session called...

What is anti-fragile infrastructure? And what's the business case for its design? John Williams, the CEO of Autocase and board chair for the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure, answers both questions in today's second part of a three-part series. Williams is speaking at the 2021 ASCE International Conference on Sustainable Infrastructure, Dec. 7, in a session called "Post-Black-Swan-Event In...

John Williams is speaking at the 2021 ASCE International Conference on Sustainable Infrastructure, Dec. 7, in a session called "Post-Black-Swan-Event Infrastructure: Lessons Learned and Plans for the Future." So, today kicks off a special three-part series, Williams, the CEO of Autocase and board chair for the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure, talks about some of the key ideas from the ses...

The holiday season is a great time to catch up on podcasts, and bridge engineer Luis Duque, P.E., M.ASCE, has a great podcast for your queue.   It's called Engineering Our Future , and he talks about the show on Episode 94 of ASCE Plot Points.

Mel Butcher is someone who believes that, as she says, "Everyone has something to offer this world to make it a better place." It's the driving philosophy behind Underdog Engineers, her new community-based learning space for early career engineers. A group lead in Carollo Engineers' Private Sector Group, Butcher talks today on Episode 93 of ASCE Plot Points about Underdog and what young civil engi...