Dear Members,
The Holiday season is upon us and I wish you all well. I know most of us can say we didn’t see this coming. For the past 9 months COVID has dominated our lives. We made changes to the way we work, eat and shop. We limited our in-person contact with family, friends and co-workers. Through it all we continued to meet the needs of family, community and employer.
In March, my office shifted instantly to telework. Teleworking meant going home and staying home. Many of us walked out of the office with nothing more than our laptops. We left our paperwork, monitors and reference materials behind. Even now I can picture my trusty steel book on my desk. But we adjusted our business practices to meet the new environment. We adjusted to fully virtual meetings and to using the cloud for file sharing. We proved that as engineers we can solve the problems given to us, we showed that we are resilient. ASCE is no different, our section is run by engineers and you can expect we will overcome the obstacles in our way.
Last year, the chapter president introduced a new format for meetings; shorter meetings that ended earlier. This format was introduced to increase younger member in-person participation. This year, I must do the exact opposite. I need our members to stay engaged but not come to in-person meetings. This is a unique challenge and required us to make changes. During the COVID restrictions, ASCE Central PA will be offering lunch time presentations. Some will be recorded, some may be live, but I hope everyone takes advantage of the offerings as they will meet your PDH requirements for PA.
Additionally, I ask you as professional engineers, look at ways to share your passion for engineering. We all went into engineering for different reasons, but someone or something sparked an interest within us and set us on our course. I challenge you be that person who introduces engineering to a child. Regionally there are science fairs, career days and other volunteer opportunities. I have attended several career days. It’s always heartwarming when a parent approaches you during a soccer game to thank you for introducing their child to engineering.
Until we see each other again, thank you for your continued support.