ASCE Plot Points Podcast

Season 4, Episode 10: Burçin Becerik-Gerber, a professor in the civil and environmental engineering department at the University of Southern California and director of CENTIENTS (Center for Intelligent Environment), discusses her work on intelligent threat-sensing buildings – structures that employ AI technology to keep people safe during emergencies, including maybe most frighteningly those involving active shooters. We also hear from ASCE’s Student Ambassadors about how they’ve used civil engineering to make a difference in the world. Listen to the episode below, and subscribe to the show wherever you listen to podcasts. * SUBSCRIBE IN APPLE PODCASTS * SUBSCRIBE IN GOOGLE PLAY * SUBSCRIBE IN SPOTIFY * SUBSCRIBE IN STITCHER

It’s amazing to think that even in the oldest professional in the world, civil engineering, there remain new boundaries to push. Erica Fischer is doing just that in the field of structural fire engineering design. Fischer, Ph.D., P.E., M.ASCE, is an assistant professor of structural engineering at Oregon State University. She’s working on the upcoming ASCE Structural Engineering Institute performance-based prestandard for structural fire engineering, while also leading an effort to develop new structural fire engineering curriculum for undergraduates in collaboration with the members of the Educational Subcommittee of the ASCE Fire Protection Committee. We also hear from the ASCE Student Ambassdors about some creative civil engineering costume ideas just in time for Halloween. Listen to the episode below, and subscribe to the show wherever you listen to podcasts. * SUBSCRIBE IN APPLE PODCASTS * SUBSCRIBE IN GOOGLE PLAY * SUBSCRIBE IN SPOTIFY * SUBSCRIBE IN STITCHER

Are civil engineers doing enough to combat climate change? It’s a simple question with a complicated answer. Or maybe it’s a complicated question with a simple answer. Either way, Emily Grubert, an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology, makes sense of the chaos on today’s episode. And our ASCE Student Ambassadors play guest DJ, curating a playlist of songs that sum up what it’s like to be a civil engineering student. Listen to the episode below, and subscribe to the show wherever you listen to podcasts. * SUBSCRIBE IN APPLE PODCASTS * SUBSCRIBE IN GOOGLE PLAY * SUBSCRIBE IN SPOTIFY * SUBSCRIBE IN STITCHER

Cybersecurity is a hot topic these days – and one that most people would agree is important for our modern society to regulate and prioritize. But is cybersecurity something civil engineers need to concern themselves with? Brad Allenby says yes, 100-percent yes. Allenby is the president’s professor of sustainable engineering, and the Lincoln professor of engineering and ethics at Arizona State University. Previously hes worked as a senior attorney and as an executive at AT&T. He talks today about an ASCE News article, “In the Impending Cyberwar, Engineers Must Be on the Front Lines,” he wrote with colleague and fellow ASCE leader, Mike Chester. Listen to the episode below, and subscribe to the show wherever you listen to podcasts. * SUBSCRIBE IN APPLE PODCASTS * SUBSCRIBE IN GOOGLE PLAY * SUBSCRIBE IN SPOTIFY * SUBSCRIBE IN STITCHER

Avery Bang is probably most familiar to civil engineers for her star turn in the ASCE movie Dream Big. But by day, she’s the president and CEO of Bridges to Prosperity, an organization that collaborates with industry partners and local communities to design, build and maintain bridges that provide crucial lifelines to people in some of the most remote locations in the world. That work has gotten more complicated in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. But also even more important. Listen to the episode below, and subscribe to the show wherever you listen to podcasts. * SUBSCRIBE IN APPLE PODCASTS * SUBSCRIBE IN GOOGLE PLAY * SUBSCRIBE IN SPOTIFY * SUBSCRIBE IN STITCHER

Mathew Picardal does a little bit of everything when it comes to popular civil engineering communication. He works as a structural project manager for DCI Engineers. He’s also started a YouTube channel called the Structural Engineering Life, posting his own videos where he discusses or explains structural engineering issues and concepts. “A Day in the Life of a Civil Structural Engineer” has half a million views. Meanwhile, he also hosts the Structural Engineering Channel podcast, which is part of Anthony Fasano’s Engineering Management Institute network of podcasts. He talks about his passion for communicating with others about structural engineering. Gabreele Gonzalez shares her civil engineering origin story. And in Student Ambassadors, we hear how students pick their civil engineering discipline. Listen to the episode below, and subscribe to the show wherever you listen to podcasts. * SUBSCRIBE IN APPLE PODCASTS * SUBSCRIBE IN GOOGLE PLAY * SUBSCRIBE IN SPOTIFY * SUBSCRIBE IN STITCHER

Melissa Fischer is a supervising engineer for the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts. But lately, they’re probably better known as a novelist. Their novel, “The Advocacy,” has earned rave reviews – Kirkus Reviews called the protagonist, Louisa Lehmann “a delightful, complicated character” and the Southern Literary Review called the book “profound.” Fischer talks about the novel, why it was something they spent 25 years working on and how it’s helped make them a better civil engineer. And in Student Ambassadors, we get a rundown on some favorite ASCE memories. Listen to the episode below, and subscribe to the show wherever you listen to podcasts. * SUBSCRIBE IN APPLE PODCASTS * SUBSCRIBE IN GOOGLE PLAY * SUBSCRIBE IN SPOTIFY * SUBSCRIBE IN STITCHER

S&C Associates is a small engineering firm in Sun Valley, Idaho, providing an array of essential services to the community. Sherri Newland, principal engineer and owner, started the company in 2016 with a plan to create a specific kind of supportive workplace culture. And as circumstance would have it, four years in, that culture features an interesting dynamic: all six S&C staff members are women. Newland and S&C intern Natalie Palmquist (a former ASCE New Face of Civil Engineering college honoree) talk about the resulting workplace culture and how the industry is changing. And the ASCE Student Ambassadors offer tips for thriving in the virtual-learning life. Listen to the episode below, and subscribe to the show wherever you listen to podcasts. * SUBSCRIBE IN APPLE PODCASTS * SUBSCRIBE IN GOOGLE PLAY * SUBSCRIBE IN SPOTIFY * SUBSCRIBE IN STITCHER

Transportation is a lot different in 2020 than it was in 2019, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. The key question now is what changes wrought by the coronavirus will still be affecting transit systems next year and into the longer term? Today’s episode of ASCE Plot Points is devoted to answering those questions. A special expert panel, assembled by the ASCE Transportation and Development Institute, discusses “COVID-19 Impacts on Future Planning, Design and Operations Choices for Transit Systems.” Dan Becker, who runs his own consulting firm in Washington State, with more than 40 years of experience working in the private sector and with public agencies developing projects all across the West. Marsha Anderson Bomar, the assistant general manager for capital programs delivery for MARTA (the Metropolitan Atlanta Regional Transit Authority). She is also a member of the ASCE Board of Direction as a director of the Technical Regional Board of Governors and a former president of T&DI. And Robert “Buz” Paaswell, Distinguished Professor of Civil Engineering at City College of New York and Director of the CUNY Institute for Urban Systems. Paaswell served as CEO of the Chicago Transit Authority, is active, globally, in transit issues and has been elected a Distinguished Member of ASCE. Listen to the episode below, and subscribe to the show wherever you listen to podcasts. * SUBSCRIBE IN APPLE PODCASTS * SUBSCRIBE IN GOOGLE PLAY * SUBSCRIBE IN SPOTIFY * SUBSCRIBE IN STITCHER

Work looks a little bit different these days. Especially for those civil engineers who are balancing their jobs with their duties as parents, often working from home with their children one room over. Kelly Farabee, Jesse Gormley, Rhonda Hurst, Tung Nguyen and Kate Osborn share their experiences juggling multiple roles this year during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the Changing the World segment, Los Angeles Departement of Water and Power civil engineering associate Chloe Gharios explains the message behind her #StompingOutStereotypes hashtag. And we hear some jokes from ASCE’s Student Ambassadors. Listen to the episode below, and subscribe to the show wherever you listen to podcasts. * SUBSCRIBE IN APPLE PODCASTS * SUBSCRIBE IN GOOGLE PLAY * SUBSCRIBE IN SPOTIFY * SUBSCRIBE IN STITCHER

ASCE Plot Points wraps up the “Engineering a Culture of Inclusion” series, talking with civil engineers impacted by the current sociopolitical climate, sharing their experiences within and insights about the civil engineering profession, specifically as they relate to race and racism. Today we hear from Frederick Paige, Ph.D., EIT, A.M.ASCE, associate professor at Virginia Tech. He talks about his journey through the civil engineering profession, as well as his identity as an African-American civil engineer. Music courtesy of Timothy Triplett and Frederick Paige. Listen to the episode below, and subscribe to the show wherever you listen to podcasts. * SUBSCRIBE IN APPLE PODCASTS * SUBSCRIBE IN GOOGLE PLAY * SUBSCRIBE IN SPOTIFY * SUBSCRIBE IN STITCHER

ASCE Plot Points continues it series called “Engineering a Culture of Inclusion,” talking with civil engineers impacted by the current sociopolitical climate, sharing their experiences within and insights about the civil engineering profession, specifically as they relate to race and racism. Today we talk about unconscious bias with Kim Parker Brown, P.E., F.ASCE, a senior program manager for the Naval Facilities Engineering Command in Washington, D.C. Listen to the episode below, and subscribe to the show wherever you listen to podcasts. * SUBSCRIBE IN APPLE PODCASTS * SUBSCRIBE IN GOOGLE PLAY * SUBSCRIBE IN SPOTIFY * SUBSCRIBE IN STITCHER

ASCE Plot Points continues it series called “Engineering a Culture of Inclusion,” talking with civil engineers impacted by the current sociopolitical climate, sharing their experiences within and insights about the civil engineering profession, specifically as they relate to race and racism. Today we talk with Sidney May, P.E., M.ASCE, past president of ASCE’s Alabama Section Birmingham Branch. After more than a decade of work in the private and public sectors, Sidney struck out on her own in 2019 and is now the lead engineer for her own firm Sidney H. May, P.E., LLC. She also has been active volunteering in local schools and mentoring students. Listen to the episode below, and subscribe to the show wherever you listen to podcasts. * SUBSCRIBE IN APPLE PODCASTS * SUBSCRIBE IN GOOGLE PLAY * SUBSCRIBE IN SPOTIFY * SUBSCRIBE IN STITCHER

Today on ASCE Plot Points marks the start of a new series called “Engineering a Culture of Inclusion,” talking with civil engineers impacted by the current sociopolitical climate, who will share their experiences within and insights about the civil engineering profession, specifically as they relate to race and racism. Birdel Franklin Jackson III, P.E., M.ASCE, lives in Alpharetta, Georgia, enjoying retirment after a long and successful civil engineering career. In today’s episode, he reflects on his life and career, from segregated Memphis to the ASCE Student Chapter at the University of Toledo and the Jackson-Davis Foundation the organization he named after his parents to give scholarships to African-American civil engineering students. Listen to the episode below, and subscribe to the show wherever you listen to podcasts. * SUBSCRIBE IN APPLE PODCASTS * SUBSCRIBE IN GOOGLE PLAY * SUBSCRIBE IN SPOTIFY * SUBSCRIBE IN STITCHER

Today on ASCE Plot Points marks the start of a new series called “Engineering a Culture of Inclusion,” talking with civil engineers impacted by the current sociopolitical climate, who will share their experiences within and insights about the civil engineering profession, specifically as they relate to race and racism. Yvette E. Pearson, Ph.D., P.E., F.ASCE, is the associate dean for accreditation, assessment and strategic initiatives at Rice University in Houston. She has been an active member of ASCE for two decades, and she talks today about her work with ASCE’s MOSAIC, her new podcast, Engineering Change, and why this moment is the right moment for positive change. Listen to the episode below, and subscribe to the show wherever you listen to podcasts. * SUBSCRIBE IN APPLE PODCASTS * SUBSCRIBE IN GOOGLE PLAY * SUBSCRIBE IN SPOTIFY * SUBSCRIBE IN STITCHER