September 2021
In this issue…
EPA Loan Supports Hampton Roads Water Projects
Broadband Initiatives Take Off
Anti-Licensing Forces Miss the Point
NSPE Calls for PE Role in AI Risk Management
Meet the 2021 Scholarship Winners
Nominations Open for Federal Engineer of the Year Award
EPA Loan Supports Hampton Roads Water Projects
The Hampton Roads Sanitation District will be receiving a $477 million loan from the EPA for water infrastructure projects, reports Engineering News-Record. The loan is the second part of $1 billion in EPA assistance for projects that will reduce nutrients and sediment released into waterways and build facilities that will return clean water to the Potomac Aquifer.
AECOM’s Norfolk, Va., office is serving as engineering consultant on the projects.
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Broadband Initiatives Take Off
Virginia’s digital divide, which has become much more apparent during the COVID-19 pandemic, is getting greater attention as well as funding, according to the Daily Press. In July, Gov. Ralph Northam announced that Virginia plans to spend $700 million on deploying broadband infrastructure in unserved areas. His goal is to close the digital divide within the next three years.
King and Queen County, with just over 7,000 people on the Middle Peninsula, has led the way in setting up a rural broadband service. The county is in the process of constructing a county-wide fiber to the home project. New Kent County is also working on the issue and hopes to start construction on the network this fall. County Administrator Rodney Hathaway said broadband access is the county’s biggest issue.
Stay up to date on legislative issues through the NSPE Advocacy Center.
Anti-Licensing Forces Miss the Point
Extreme anti-licensing bills have popped up in numerous states and are posing a threat to the rigorous and established professional standards followed by PEs, architects, and others who design and construct the built environment, according to an op-ed in The Hill.
Lawmakers calling for these extreme measures don’t differentiate between barbers and manicurists, for example, and PEs and architects, say Tom Smith, executive director of ASCE, and Michael Armstrong, CEO of NCARB. “In their absolutist free-market view, reflected in the language of their model legislation, a visit to a barbershop or beauty salon should be treated the same as designing a bridge or water treatment plant.”
The legislative proposals range from measures that would eliminate licensing entirely to so-called “Universal Licensing” bills that would require states to accept licenses from any state regardless of whether the out-of-state license had the same level of qualifications behind it.
NSPE Calls for PE Role in AI Risk Management
To protect the public from the potential dangers of artificial intelligence applications, NSPE is calling for the involvement of licensed professional engineers in the AI development process.
NSPE’s recommendations were submitted to the National Institute of Standards and Technology in response to NIST’s request for input on an artificial intelligence risk management framework. The recommendations advocate for professional engineers or certain certified individuals to be included within the risk management framework, which covers all levels of development and implementation.
“This individual would be responsible for making decisions related to protecting the public, including those who would use or potentially be affected by an AI application,” wrote NSPE President Rick Guerra, P.E., F.NSPE. “Oversight responsibility should include having the authority to approve or reject the process, methodology, or other characteristics of the specific AI project. Having a credentialed individual to ensure these considerations are made can reduce risk that an artificial intelligence application will fail.”
Meet the 2021 Scholarship Winners
The NSPE Education Foundation recently awarded several scholarships to support talented students pursuing engineering. Meet the 2021 winners:
Markie Ash, of Waupaca, Wisconsin, is winner of the Auxiliary Legacy Scholarship and the George B. Hightower, P.E. Fellowship. Ash is studying civil engineering with a structural emphasis at University of Wisconsin-Platteville. The $2,500 auxiliary scholarship is awarded annually to a female undergraduate entering, or continuing, her junior year of a four-year ABET-accredited engineering program. The $3,000 Hightower Fellowship is awarded annually to an engineering undergraduate or graduate student who is enrolled in, or graduated from, an ABET-accredited engineering program.
Justin Sivasothy is this year’s recipient of the Maureen L. and Howard N. Blitman, P.E., Scholarship to Promote Diversity in Engineering. The $5,000 scholarship is awarded to a high school senior from an ethnic minority going into an ABET-accredited engineering degree program at a four-year college or university. Sivasothy, of Sugar Land, Texas, is attending the University of Texas at Austin.
The $5,000 Steinman Scholarship has been awarded to five students studying in ABET-accredited programs this academic year. Michael Kadus (Chicago, Illinois) is studying industrial engineering at Purdue University. Robert Schneider (West Coxsackie, New York) is studying civil engineering at Clarkson University. Annabel Sharnowski (Novi, Michigan) is studying mechanical engineering with a minor in electrical engineering at the University of Michigan. Noah Struck (Alexandria, Minnesota) is studying civil engineering at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. Jacob Witlin (Ellicott City, Maryland) is studying fire protection at the University of Maryland.
From left to right: Michael Kadus, Robert Schneider, Annabel Sharnowski, Noah Struck and Jacob Witlin
Nominations Open for Federal Engineer of the Year Award
Honoring the commitment of federal engineers to innovation and service is the hallmark of the Federal Engineer of the Year Award. Nominations for the award, which attracts participation from more than a dozen federal agencies, are open until October 31.
The FEYA ceremony is scheduled for February 24, 2022, at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. Tickets will be available for sale in January. Apply or nominate a worthy engineer.
The 2021 Federal Engineer of the Year
Major Monica Pickenpaugh, Ph.D., P.E., of the US Air Force, was named NSPE’s 2021 Federal Engineer of the Year Award winner during a virtual awards event in February. As US Forces Korea’s chief of construction, she directed $5.7 billion of funded construction in the Republic of Korea. As part of a sharing agreement with the US, the construction program supports USFK commanders’ defense efforts through critical projects.