North Central Branch's
Report
For the June 2006 Issue of the
Indiana Civil Engineer
Report by:
Mark Foster,
President
North Central Branch
June 2005
The North Central Branch has many
members to thank in making our 40th year’s meetings and events a success. We
would like to recap the highlights of our past year and thank those
volunteers for their time and efforts.
The St. Joseph County Public Library’s 14th annual Science Alive! event was
captivating, as always, for our community’s children. The North Central
Branch participated by introducing our community’s youth of all ages to the
rewarding profession of Civil Engineering. It was held on February 4, 2006
throughout the Main Library in South Bend. We would like to thank the many
ASCE North Central Branch volunteers for their efforts and especially Jared
Huss for organizing the event.
The North Central Branch celebrated National Engineers Week 2006 with
another great program at the Century Center on March 4, 2006. ASCE joined
nine other engineering societies to hear Mr. Michael D. Thieneman, Ph.D.,
Executive Vice President, Chief Technology Officer for the Whirlpool
Corporation tell the Whirlpool engineering story of the “Washing Machine”.
We would like to express a very special thanks to Mr. Thieneman and his
staff for their enthusiasm, generosity and for bringing many modern and
antique washing machines and appliances to display at the Century Center for
all to see. We would also like to thank Mr. Jim Koontz and the Steering
committee for planning the momentous celebration.
The Indiana Section ASCE meeting held on March 21, 2006 was again a
fantastic success. Although the weather didn’t cooperate, it was obvious
that our section officers put forth extra effort to ensure a very
enlightening program. Our own North Central Branch was very well
represented. In fact both the Civil Engineering Project and Engineer of the
Year awards were presented to North Central Branch members. Burne Miller and
Eric Horvath from the City of Elkhart were on hand to accept the Civil
Engineering Project of the Year Award for the American Consulting Engineers,
Inc. designed Indiana Avenue Underpass. Mr. Daniel R. Lawson, who is now a
Lifetime Member Certificate Award achiever from the North Central Branch,
received the Outstanding Civil Engineer of the Year Award. Lastly, Mr. Ken
Herceg received recognition in the form of an honorary Louisiana Section
President pin and Plaque from the ASCE Louisiana Section for the Hurricane
Katrina disaster relief efforts. Ken presented photos and discussed the
aftermath and their efforts to start the rebuilding efforts at the section
meeting luncheon. We at the North Central Branch are delighted to witness
and help honor the achievements of our fellow practicing engineers. We would
like to express our special thanks to the ASCE Indiana Section Officers for
their many hours of planning to afford us the opportunity to celebrate these
achievements and gain knowledge and camaraderie with our peers.
The North Central Branch has endeavored to bring area professionals together
and to help inform them of new technologies available, local projects of
interest and different ways to support our communities and age old and
evolving profession. It has once again been an exciting year for our field
and we would like to thank our members for their support and dedication.
