Happy 4th of July!

Dear CivilEngineeringCentral.com Readers & Contributors,

Carol & I would like to wish you and your family a very safe and happy 4th of July holiday!   We would  like to give a big “SHOUT OUT”  to all of those service men and women who cannot be home during this holiday as they are out protecting not only our country, but many others as well.  And of course, a big THANKS to all the civil engineers, both military and civilian, who are overseas in some pretty dangerous places helping build and rebuild infrastructure for many innocent people.  You are all in our thoughts and prayers during this holiday weekend.

All the best,

Matt & Carol

Matt Barcus/Carol Metzner
Managing Partners, A/E/P Central, LLC
CivilEngineeringCentral.com
building teams . engineering careers

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LEED Accreditation – Fad or Necessity?

By Carol Metzner
President, The Metzner Group, LLC
Managing Partner, A/E/P Central, LLC home of CivilEngineeringCentral.com

Is it really necessary to become a LEED accredited professional (LEED AP)? Can you design for sustainability without having LEED accreditation?  Is this just another acronym to put on a business card? Or, as some suggest, is this a half hearted attempt by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) to exploit the demand for solutions to environmental issues and make some money along the way?

Just a few years ago only a select few individuals had LEED AP following their name.  Now more than 75,000 architects and engineers proudly display this designation to demonstrate their prowess in green building, strategies and technologies. The USGBC clearly states that the “LEED Professional Accreditation distinguishes building professionals with the knowledge and skills to successfully steward the LEED certification process.” As LEED certification becomes better defined, the LEED AP testing has become more difficult and comprehensive.

The LEED train has left the station and whether critics like it or not, it is here to stay. Therefore, having LEED AP on your resume will become a necessity and possibly valued in the future as the PE, AIA, RLA or AICP designations are now. Whether one can or has designed with an eye to sustainability in the past will no longer matter, without having the acronym after their name.  Experts concur that, for now, LEED is here to stay and one might as well get on board.

Do understand that as the U.S. increases desirability and need for green design, skeptics are becoming louder and activists more outspoken. Pete Wann’s blog on the “Fashion of LEED Bashing” suggests that the original critics were builders and developers and that today’s naysayers are those from the environmental and architectural traditionalist movements. While an Internet search turned up plenty of arguments on both sides of the recycled fence, I still think that in spite of its flaws and inadequacies, the LEED program is better than nothing when it motivates people to seriously face the future environmental challenges. And if we are going to have universally accepted guidelines (I don’t see the USGBC going away) then why not have professionals accredited? What do you think?

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Some Civil Tomfoolery

By Matt Barcus
President, Precision Executive Search, Inc.
Managing Partner, A/E/P Central, LLC, home of CivilEngineeringCentral.com

Tired of reading about the failing infrastructure?  Tired of waiting for your firm to reap the benefits of the infrastructure stimulus package?  Tired of hearing about how the civil engineering industry is struggling and that civil engineering jobs are few and far between?  Well, at this very moment in time, I certainly am.   So in light of that, I thought I would use a little history and a little humor to maybe brighten up a few minutes of your day (though the historical video may also make you chuckle).

First, take a look at the videos below which I found on youtube, GM Futurama Parts 1 & 2.  These videos give perspective from 1939 in regards to what our infrastructure would look like in 1960.  Bridges, highways, airports that would solve all of our problems and make life easier.  These videos are amazing, really, to see how far our infrastructure has come since then.  Now we are looking at technologies like SkyTran and SmartRoads, ideas that were surely beyond comprehension in 1939.

Following the videos are a few snapshots that have been circulating the Internet, maybe you have seen them.  Engineering and construction masterpieces they are not…just a little civil tomfoolery!

NOW FOR SOME NOT SO MEMORABLE MOMENTS IN ENGINEERING

And you thought airport security was getting better…

My clients have often complained that good rail engineers are very hard to find…

Clearly a case of two very stubborn engineers working in the same office…

Maybe it’s not just the economy effecting the housing market…

An engineer should never go back to work after happy hour…

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Another Civil Engineering Shortage?

By Carol Metzner
President, The Metzner Group, LLC
Managing Partner, A/E/P Central, LLC home of CivilEngineeringCentral.com

Here we go again?  During the recession of the 1990’s, college students turned away from civil engineering and entered markets that assurred them jobs following graduation.  Again after 9/11 civil engineering programs showed a decline in students. Both of those points in time brought us to a shortage of civil engineers during this decade. Are we heading there again?

As of March of 2008  civil engineering student enrollment was up across the states. With the failing US infrastructure, it appeared that students flocked to civil engineering undergraduate programs. One would think they would have been guaranteed a job. However, with our recession, civil engineering graduates report low employer turnout on college interviewing days. The overall job market is touted as the worst since the Great Depression. One student in the Civil Engineering Central group on LINKEDIN even offered to work for free!

Will incoming freshman students opt for other engineering discipline studies? Ten years from now will the civil engineering community find a gap in experienced engineers with 6-8 years of experience? I don’t think so.

Employers are slowly increasing their staffing outlook. Civil engineers are needed now more than ever. Transportation, water, environmental and federal programs continue to climb to the top of the contract ladder.

To quote from my favorite video from the UK Institute of Civil Engineers:

“Throughout history, it is civil engineers that have shaped and improved our lives and our environment.”

Creative, thoughtful students interested in “building a better world” will find a career awaiting them.

civil engineering jobs :: civil engineering resumes :: civil engineering blog :: civil engineering discussion

Questions Of The Month – Final Tallies Revealed

By Matt Barcus
President, Precision Executive Search, Inc.
Managing Partner, A/E/P Central, LLC, home of CivilEngineeringCentral.com

Each month at CivilEngineeringCentral.com we have a Question of the Month.  This question is posted on our home page and is included in each issue of  ”The LinkedIngineer“ as well as our monthly e-newsletter which is sent out to nearly 10,000 members of the civil engineering community (If you would like to sign up for our monthly e-newsletter please click HERE…sorry, couldn’t pass up that free plug).   It’s been a while since we have posted the results, so in light of that (plus the fact that I have struggled to come up with anything else),  check out the results below.   If you see any surprising results in there or feel the urge to comment about any of the topics please feel free to do so.

MAY 2009

DID YOU SEE AN INCREASE IN PROJECTS IN YOUR COMPANY DURING THE FIRST QUARTER OF 2009?

83.1%     No
16.9%     Yes

Just yesterday I was speaking with  a colleague of mine who commented on a report he had just watched on MSNBC. They were discussing the question “where did all the stimulus go?”   Most of it of course is going to construction; all those projects that we have come to love and know as…shovel ready. What seemed like a lot of money initially, when spread out over the entire United States, seems to be spread pretty thin.

APRIL 2009

HAS YOUR FIRM CUT IT’S BENEFITS PACKAGE AS A RESULT OF THE CURRENT ECONOMIC CLIMATE?

67.6%     Yes
32.4%     No

It’s expensive out there folks.  Our health insurance has gone up 50% over the past four or five years…everyone is feeling the pinch here.

MARCH 2009

WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE HARDEST PART ABOUT SEARCHING FOR A JOB?

42.9%     Networking
25.0%     Not Knowing Where To Start
17.9%     Updating My Resume
14.3%     Nailing The Interview

The way I see it, assuming you are a talented engineer, if you are able to effectively network throughout the course of your career, that, in-and-of-itself, takes care of the the remaining three obstacles.  You see, if you are a great networker, you easily know where to start, and because you have networked so well and know so many people very well, there is no need to update your resume because they have seen you in action and your stellar reputation precedes you.  Your noticeable performance within your industry over the course of your career has coincidentally been an ongoing interview.  All that being said, a hand shake over a cocktail, beer, sparkling water or other beverage of your choice should be all that is needed to nail down your next job.  A little tongue in cheek maybe, but there is some validity to my theory.

FEBRUARY 2009

HOW OFTEN DO YOU VOLUNTEER IN YOUR COMMUNITY?

50.0%     8 or more times per year
23.1%      Not at all
15.4%     1-3 times per year
11.5%     4-7 times per year

One half of our respondents give back to the community 8 or more time per year…that is AWESOME!

JANUARY 2009

HAVE YOU EVER MISLED OR EMBELLISHED EXPERIENCES ON YOUR RESUME?

77.8%     No
22.2%     Yes

One should always be truthful on their resume, that goes without saying.  But sometimes resumes can be misleading as different titles mean different things to different companies and different people.

DECEMBER 2008

WHAT CONCEPT WILL MAKE THE GREATEST IMPACT ON SOLVING OUR ENERGY CRISIS?

40.0%     Nuclear Energy
23.3%     Wind Energy
20.0%     Solar Energy
13.3%     Bio-Fuels
3.3%       U.S. Oil Digging
0.0%      Coal

I think our economy will need to stabilize and re-establish itself for a while before we begin to see any of these technologies really begin to flourish.

NOVEMBER 2008

DOES YOUR MANAGER ALLOW FOR YOU TO WORK A  4/40 OR 9/80 WORK WEEK?

65.5%     No
34.5%     Yes

I think the civil engineering industry,  prior to “The Great Recession,”  had actually come accustomed to the 6/60 work week – that is Monday-Saturday/60 hours week!

OCTOBER 2008

WHICH PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE WILL YOU VOTE FOR ON NOVEMBER 4th?

49.4%     Barack O’Bama
42.9%     John McCain
6.0%       Undecided
1.2%        Other
0.6%       Ralph Nader

Not bad, not bad.  The final results in total votes for the Presidential election in November was Obama 53% / McCain 46%. Our participants were nearly dead on here…sorry I can’t say the same for the Question of the Month which we ran in August 2008; see below!

SEPTEMBER 2008

WITH HIGH GAS PRICES, HAVE YOU CHANGED YOUR COMMUTING HABITS BY OPTING FOR PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION?

73.5%     No
26.5%     Yes

This poll was posted at the time when gas prices were averaging $3.74/gallon.  We have come a long way over the years in mass transit, but you know what?  People love their cars and it would take a lot more  than higher gas prices for them to drop their keys and take to mass transit.

AUGUST 2008

WHEN DO YOU BELIEVE THE LAND DEVELOPMENT MARKET WILL BEGIN TO PICK UP?

30.6%     2nd Quarter of 2009
26.5%     2010 or Beyond
14.3%     3rd Quarter 2009
12.2%     4th Quarter 2008
10.2%     4th Quarter 2009
6.1%        1st Quarter 2009

As of today, just about 50% of our survey responders are wrong and there are another 26.5% who will likely end up on the wrong side of the fence as well by the end of this year.  Seems to be an ol’ case of “if I only knew then what I know now.”

I would like to thank you all for answering our Questions of the Month and look forward to your continued participation.

Got Comments? Got Questions? Got Insight? Got Speculation?  Got Inside Information?  Let us know, we would love to hear from you on any of the subjects of our recent polls.

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Lessons Learned From An Economy Turned

By Matt Barcus
President, Precision Executive Search, Inc.
Managing Partner, A/E/P Central, LLC, home of CivilEngineeringCentral.com

So one of the headlines from CNN.com on Wednesday read “Economists: Recession To End In 2009.”  Reading this article got me to thinking that, now that we are beginning to see a little light at the end of the tunnel, what are some of the lessons that the civil engineering community has learned at the hands of this recession?  

If you jump on the band wagon, be sure you pack a lot of padding for when the wheels fall off.

How GREAT was the land development boom in places like Las Vegas, Phoenix, and the greater Washington, DC area (just to name a few)?  Engineering firms were actually turning away work from developers (or, working 90 hour work weeks because they couldn’t say “no.”); engineers of all levels were relocating to these “hot spots”; Professional Engineers were starting their own firms because they saw the dollar $ign$ that were there to be made;  every engineer I spoke with was chomping at the bit to work for a home builder or developer, and vying for those positions was like trying to get into Walmart as the doors open on Black Friday.  You don’t have to look very far to see what has happened in the wake of this recession.  Home builders and developers are selling off land (if they can) and running on skeleton crews at best.  As a result, many of the civil engineers who were living the high life during these boom years have since been acquainted with acronym “RIF.”   Knowing where the market was in those regions during the real estate boom, check out some of the headlines from the Las Vegas Review Journal for 2009:  http://www.lvrj.com/hottopics/housing.html.  Did you know that average price for a single family home in Phoenix for 2009 is $103,953.00 vs. $283,472.00 in 2008 (Source:  Realty Times – Phoenix, AZ).  To see the effect in the outlying suburbs of Washington, DC , take a look at the Housing Market Outlook For The Washington, DC Region as prepared by Robert Charles Lesser & Company.  My hope is that everyone who reaped the rewards of these robust land development markets was able to tuck away some of those lucrative bonuses and put them to use to help cushion their fall.  

Diversify. Diversify. Diversify.

If you have stuck around long enough to read through the paragraph above, you know where I’m about to go here.  How many firms do you know put all of their eggs in the land development basket?  I guess you can’t blame them, right? That’s where all the business was and it did not take long to be completely bogged down with lucrative land development work.  To come up for air and even consider anything else was nearly impossible.  With all that money floating around, that would have been the best time to hire some key players in water/wastewater, municipal infrastructure, transportation and other areas of specialization in order to begin establishing a presence outside of the land development arena.  All good things come to an end, so when they did, by diversifying you would have had built established relationships and developed a nice track record within the municipal sector that would have helped ease the pain of the real estate bust.  Unfortunately, many firms failed to diversify and by the time they realized they needed to pursue work in other areas, it was too late…in fact, pursuing work with public and governmental agencies these days is like trying to get into Walmart as the doors open on Black Friday (yup, I used that analogy again).  Everyone is lined up looking for a piece of the action, but only a few will be fortunate enough to walk away with that nice plasma television.

Beware of  ”Best Firms”.  Are they only the “Best Firms” during the best of times?

Don’t get me wrong, there are many firms out there that deserve all the awards they receive for ethics, management style, benefits, employee training, employee incentive programs, employee retention, state-of-the-art technology, exciting projects, work environment, etc.  In fact, there are many firms that would likely win those types of awards but just choose not to submit themselves for consideration.  The best firms to work for, as I see it, are the ones that have strong business plans with strong leadership and that have had a fully executable game plan in place for when the market turned as it did.  They produced high quality work at a reasonable price with a diverse client base.  They stocked away some cash and had good working relationships with their bankers.  They are coming out of this downturn with minimal damage. They way I see it, the firms that rise out of this downturn and recession with the least amount of collateral damage to its employees, they are the “Best Firms” to work for.  

The best marketing is producing a quality product.  True, but lose the crutch.

It has always been said that the best form of marketing is developing a quality product, which in turn will produce great returns as a result of repeat business.  How true this is, not only for civil engineering, but for many industries. But avoid using this as a crutch.  What happens when your client’s well runs dry?  Be prepared to put on your sales and marketing cap and start pounding the pavement.  To better prepare yourself, make sure you take some classes and seminars on this topic of marketing and business development in the civil engineering industry; or even better, find a mentor within your company.  And then once you learn some of the strategies, don’t let them become dust collectors – make sure you put them to practice.  Keep in mind, just because the repeat business keeps repeating itself does not mean you should not be “out there” in the mean time marketing your services to other prospective clients.  This way, when your backlog runs low you will have a head start on the process, and your cold calls will now be warm calls.

Keep your resume polished up as often as your shoes.

Treat your resume as you would your finest pair of shoes.  Imagine a pair of dress shoes that have not been polished up in a long time.  They look fine when you finally get them done, but if you had kept them shined and polished regularly throughout the years they would remain in top notch condition.  Top notch condition is the way you should also keep your resume.  Every time you get a promotion or receive an award, update your resume.  Everytime you speak at a conference or write a paper, update your resume.  Everytime you complete a project, update your resume.  This way, should you roll into work one day after 20 years of loyal service only to be greeted with a cup of coffee and a pink slip, you will not be scrambling.  

There are certainly many other lessons to be learned as we scratch and claw our way back into multi-year backlogs, and these are just a few.  What other lessons have you learned that you can share with our readers?

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Back to the Boardroom: Engineering Leaders Are Returning to the Workplace

By Carol Metzner
President, The Metzner Group, LLC and
Managing Partner, A/E/P Central, LLC home of CivilEngineeringCentral.com

The civil engineering market has seen the return of well respected senior executives.  Those who either retired, or semi-retired have been enticed away from the golf courses, lakes and tennis courts back into the boardroom.  Not that many of them had fully retired;  but, they had found a comfortable consulting medium which has now turned into a minimum of 40 hours. Why is this return happening in the numbers that it is occurring?

Last month I spoke with the CEO of one of my clients.  In 2007 I had assisted the firm on executive recruitment for their succession plan.  The CEO had planned his retirement in two years.  Last month he told me that he put off retirement for another year or two. He stills enjoys his work and is experiencing success with new avenues for his firm. He jokingly (with a tinge of seriousness)  said that after the stock market losses and engineering market downturn, he had virtually worked for “free” for the past year and a half.  This sentiment is a recurring theme with senior leaders.

Talking to several of these returning or non-retiring executives, I have seen several common themes:

1. They are fortunate to be healthy and energetic;
2. They had a history of success in building, leading, managing or cleaning up firms;
3. They are finding retirement not all they imagined it to be;
4. They love the engineering business and when called upon to “fix” something that needs repair, they can’t resist;
5. They have the expertise in technical areas that had been dormant and are now in the forefront of the industry;
6. They enjoy their work.

These execs are making changes in their firms in many important ways. For example, with technological advances such as SKYPE and other avenues for “virtual meetings,” many executives tried to minimize busy travel schedules by cutting in person regional office visits.  This meant that they were less available to staff, less visible. Employees of “Best Firms” stress the importance of feeling valued and known by company leaders.  Accessibility to these leaders is of paramount importance to them.  Returning executives understand this and several have re-established travel to branch offices – they are bringing back the “TOWN HALL” meetings!  While industry morale has been lower than in past years,  the increase in potential opportunity is pulling companies up by their boot straps. To compete for work, companies need involved and committed staff. These smart executives can teach future leaders a few things. Connecting with employees in person, who are the heart of the company, is never a bad thing.

For whatever reason engineering leaders are returning, or postponing leaving…let’s learn from them.  They have survived past recessions, lawsuits, bad press and staff shortages. While the industry is changing, some aspects of running an engineering consulting practice has not, or maybe should not.  Let’s take advantage of mentors and pay attention, learn while we still can!

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Engineering Ethics… Is There Ever A Question?

By Carol Metzner
President, The Metzner Group, LLC and
Managing Partner, A/E/P Central, LLC home of CivilEngineeringCentral.com
 

Several studies conducted across the world suggest that the majority of engineering failures can be traced to a deficiency in engineering ethics. Specifically, someone was dishonest in their business dealings as they cut corners to save a dollar or keep a project on schedule. Perhaps they evaluated a situation that they were not competent to assess. In either case a failure occurs and an engineer’s ethics are called into question.  Is there ever a grey area when pondering ethics in engineering?

In 1995 thirty-five faculty from across the US and eight undergraduate fellows, gathered to develop engineering ethics resource material across engineering disciplines.  Numerical and ethical problems were developed with the support of the National Science Foundation.  These materials have made their way into many engineering ethics courses.  As I reviewed the civil engineering problems,  I, a non engineer, paused trying to think how to answer the ethical issues. For example, in one scenerio, a new female PE, is sent to a construction site to oversee the construction of her first sealed design (a parking garage).  After a day of heckling, whistling and additional lack of respect from the construction team on site, she returned to her civil engineering office and sought her colleagues/supervisors responses to issues she had confronted.  Getting their input she returned for day two.  Concrete is poured and a delay ensues. She confronts the construction supervisor and advised him that if a delay continues, then the poured concrete will need to be removed to avoid a structurally unsound joint.  The construction supervisor advises her that her inexperience and lack of construction knowledge leaves her with inadequate knowledge to make an accurate assessment in this case. He assures her that the joint will be sound and she is forced to make a decision to continue or place the project on delay. Under pressure she backs down. Guess what happens? Six months later a crack develops where the cold joint was and two years later an earthquake collapses that part of the garage severaly injuring people. The young PE and her company are found liable.

Some good ethical questions come out of this tragedy:  When do you let a new engineer go to a site alone?  There has to be a first time at some point. When she returned after the first day describing the adverse working conditions, should she had been sent back out alone? Should the contractor be held liable also? 

On the CivilEngineeringCentral Group on LINKEDIN, one member commented “if one has been in the engineering industry long enough, properly resolving ethical ambiguities are inevitable.” He so eloquently continues that when confronted he makes an “attempt to resolve any ethical dilemma through thoughtful deliberation first (never acting impulsively), then by calling my local PE Board for advice, who are exceptionally helpful, then finally as difficult as it might be, by confronting those who are central to the dilemma to offer an opportunity to arrive at an acceptable resolution prior to moving forward with reporting a transgression that might have crossed the line.”

The majority of us have an internal compass that moves when we are off center.  When something doesn’t feel right we know it in our gut.  We need to trust our instincts, talk with our mentors and our colleagues and make the good solid ethical choices.  As ASCE so plainly states:   Ethics is a cornerstone of civil engineering practice.

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MSCE vs. MBA – Let’s Get Ready To Rumbllllle !

By Matt Barcus
President, Precision Executive Search, Inc.
Managing Partner, A/E/P Central, LLC, home of CivilEngineeringCentral.com

The purpose of one pursuing a Masters Degree in Civil Engineering  is to develop a deep understanding and knowledge base specific to the specialization that is chosen (transportation, water resources, structural engineering, etc.). According to a 2005 survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, the starting salary for a Civil Engineer with a Masters Degree was ten percent higher than what was offered as starting compensation to graduates with a Bachelors Degree.  Obtaining a Masters Degree in Civil Engineering not only leads to  higher pay, but more importantly it shows one’s commitment to their field and is looked upon in a positive manner by the civil engineering community.  

An MBA on the other hand, held by a  Professional Engineer working within the Civil Engineering industry, for some reason is not always looked upon in a positive light…and I cannot quite put my finger on as to why?  MBA students study a wide array of business courses including accounting, finance, statistics, marketing, economics, management and other courses of the like.  By gaining an MBA, one is better preparing themselves for a role in management, which often is not a natural path for the more technically inclined civil engineer. It’s not that it is really frowned upon, but my deduction is that the pursuit and receipt of an MBA by a civil engineer sometimes puts up a misunderstood “red flag.”  In fact, many firms will reimburse their employee’s for coursework towards their MSCE, but not their MBA.

What I have found is that Civil Engineers who achieve their MBA have the best of intentions, but those on the outside looking in sometimes tend to smirk…as if that individual has “sold out.”  For some outsiders looking in,  they view their civil engineering counterpart who received their MBA as someone who is either attempting to get out of the industry altogether, or as a fellow professional who is not fully committed to the civil engineering profession in its purest sense. Or maybe it is that the existing supervisor or potential hiring manager feels threatened.  Because the MBA candidate is unaware of this oft ill willed perception,  they end up over estimating the power, if you will, of their MBA.  They often believe it will swiftly take them to the next level in their career, when the reality is, it will eventually play a role in their career advancement.  This mentality is ESPECIALLY the case for younger engineering professionals who, in the grand scheme of things, have really only just begun to put the brush on the canvas.   Again, their intentions may be good, but occasionally they believe that with just a few years of design experience, and now an MBA, that cube world will be a thing of the past and the red carpet will be rolled out leading to the corner office, only after passing by their newly crowned Executive Assistant.  This of course is not meant to be a blanket statement, but I would be lying if I told you that I did not speak to engineers from time-to-time who think this way.

Talking to hundreds of civil engineers each month for the past 12 years, the above scenario is what I see.  I believe that the pursuit of an MSCE and an MBA are both admirable and advantageous to one’s career.  But after talking to so many civil engineering professionals over the years and reading between the lines during the hiring process, both Masters Degrees can indeed benefit one’s career, but it is a matter of timing.  I am of the school of thought that one should pursue their MSCE first, and then only consider pursuing an MBA after spending a decent amount of time in the trenches.  The pursuit of the MBA should maybe come after one has already entered into the world of department or program management; or at least when they are on the cusp of attaining that level of responsibility.  It is at this level that you will begin to reap the benefits of your MBA.  You can have as many letters as you want after your name, but the way to respect is not solely through those letters, but through your successful technical experience within your trade, among other factors as well.  

How has your MSCE or MBA influenced our career?  If you had to recommend one over the other, which would you recommend?  I look forward to your comments.

 

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The Public Perception Of Civil Engineering

By Carol Metzner
President, The Metzner Group, LLC &
Managing Partner, A/E/P Central, LLC home of CivilEngineeringCentral.com

During my college years (long ago ) I can’t say that I ever thought of the science of civil engineering as “sexy.” As far as I knew, civil engineers built cement canoes for competition.  While interesting, not “sexy.” I was obviously not well informed! 

Fast forward 20 some years and I know MUCH more. The daily job of civil engineers hasn’t changed that much in two decades – specifically, in the sense of planning, designing, managing jobs, working with agencies, citizens and clients. What has changed is the manner and tools used to accomplish those daily responsibilites.

Technology and better textile/materials has catapulted our industry into a new realm.  Environmental concerns with the multitude of regulations make the nuances of the job even more complex. Technology and sustainability will transform the civil engineering profession for years to come.

Robert Mote asked a question on the CivilEngineeringCentral LINKEDIN Group.  He asked for folks to name the most famous civil engineer in the US.  Not unlike my understanding of civil engineering 20 years ago, I think most people may not be entirely clear on that subject.  While, as a non civil engineer, I am not ready to give my answer to Robert’s question, I certainly DO know what a civil engineer does.  Over the past 10 years the US has seen it’s share of infrastructure failings, crumblings, etc.  I have witnessed countless numbers of civil engineers being called to speak to the press to explain in “plain talk” what happened in these tragedies and how to repair them.  So, hopefully, if Robert asks his question in another 10 years, folks will be able to rattle off not only a famous US civil engineer, but they will actually understand what a civil engineer does!

The Institute of Civil Engineers put together an EXCELLENT video about “The Public Perception Of Civil Engineering“…..Take a look:

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