September 2024
In this issue…
VSPE Board of Directors Advocacy Efforts Underway
Governor’s Executive Order #39 – Promoting Transparency and Efficiency in Permitting and Licensing
Another Huge Success: VSPE/Cardinal Education Fall Engineering Seminar & Tour
Virginia to Host World’s First Fusion Power Plant
NSPE Job Board
Call for Nominations: NSPE Vice President and Treasurer
NSPECon25 – Call for Presentations Now Open
2025 Engineers Week—Design Your Future
VSPE Board of Directors Advocacy Efforts Underway
We want to thank and give credit to members of our VSPE Board of Directors that are dedicated to protecting PE licensure and improving and streamlining Virginia’s regulations.
Channing Blackwell, P.E., president of the Blackwell Grp, LLC, is the VSPE committee representative for the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality’s (VDEQ) Technical Review Committee (TRC) to amend and update their Virginia Stormwater Management Handbook. Rebecca Golden, P.E., is the TRC committee alternate.
Rebecca Golden is also the VSPE representative on VDEQ’s Sewage Collection and Treatment (SCAT) Advisory Committee for amendments to the SCAT Regulations (9VAC25-790). The function of the committee is to meet, discuss issues, and make recommendations regulating sewerage systems and treatment works. Representatives on the SCAT Advisory Committee include those from the Virginia Association of Municipal Wastewater Agencies (VAMWA), VSPE, Sewerage Systems and Treatment Works Owners, Consulting Engineers Council of Virginia, state universities, and college faculty. Jeff McBride, P.E., of Black & Veatch, is VSPE’s SCAT Advisory Committee alternate.
Georg Dahl, P.E., is certainly one hard working member of the VSPE BOD! Georg serves as the president of the VSPE Educational Fund, while also representing VSPE at all APELSCIDLA meetings at the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation (DPOR) (including meetings of the PE and Surveyors Section committees). Recently, the DPOR proposed draft legislation to amend regulations for licensure of internationally qualified individuals. The proposed bill would develop regulations to provide a pathway to licensure for individuals with “equivalent qualifications” from another country. We are not satisfied that the bill’s draft language adequately protects the life, health, safety, and welfare of the Commonwealth’s citizens, infrastructure and environment, as it would “make use of professional credential verification services” to validate an applicant’s education, experience, and qualifications.
We have voiced our concerns to DPOR and have alerted NSPE’s Senior Manager, Government Relations and Advocacy, Phil Giles, of this important issue. In person attendance at each APELSCIDLA meeting and subcommittees provides VSPE members with strong, immediate and credible feedback to regulators and lawmakers. We are extremely proud of Georg for the years he has served in this capacity.
Governor’s Executive Order #39 – Promoting Transparency and Efficiency in Permitting and Licensing
VSPE members received a news blast in October from our Director of Membership and Outreach, Judi Harrison, announcing Governor Glenn Youngkin’s Executive Order #39: Promoting Transparency and Efficiency in Permitting and Licensing. The order streamlines regulatory, permitting, and licensing processes.
Executive Order #39 directs agencies to do the following:
- Eliminate obsolete approvals;
- Include approvals involving multiple steps on the Virginia Permit Transparency (VPT) online dashboard;
- Reduce approval processing times through streamlining; and
- Digitize and enhance the user experience for the approval application process.
Another Huge Success: VSPE/Cardinal Education Fall Engineering Seminar & Tour
We had a great turnout for our VSPE/Cardinal Education Engineering Seminar & Tour at the Commonwealth Center for Advanced Manufacturing (CCAM) in Disputanta Virginia, in October. CCAM is an innovation campus where industry, academia, and government solve advanced manufacturing challenges and grow a qualified manufacturing workforce ecosystem. Member companies are industry leaders, from aerospace to automotive to shipbuilding, and from milling to metalworking to industrial controls.
The event speaker lineup included John Duke, Ph.D., (Virginia Tech) – Achieving Structural Integrity: Applications of Non-Destructive Evaluation; Radhika Barua, Ph.D., (Virginia Commonwealth University) – Additive Manufacturing of Functional Materials for Energy Sector Applications; and Chris Burger (Virginia Economic Development Partnership) – State of Manufacturing in Virginia. The day concluded with a tour of the CCAM facility.
We’ll be back in early 2025 with details about our next engineering seminar in the spring season.
Virginia to Host World’s First Fusion Power Plant
Virginia could soon make history as the home of the world’s first nuclear fusion power plant, state officials and private sector leaders announced on December 17, the Virginia Mercury reports.
Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS), a fusion power company founded in 2018 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, unveiled plans to build the groundbreaking facility on a 100-acre site at James River Industrial Park in Chesterfield County. The plant, expected to generate 400 megawatts of electricity – enough to power 150,000 homes – could be operational by the early 2030s.
“Commonwealth Fusion Systems plans on building the world’s first grid scale commercial fusion power plant in the world, full stop, and it’s going to be right here in the Commonwealth of Virginia,” Governor Glenn Youngkin said at a presentation of the undertaking at Richmond’s Patrick Henry Building.
Unlike traditional nuclear power plants that rely on fission, fusion replicates the energy-producing process of the sun, offering a cleaner and more sustainable power source. The project, which would occupy about 25 acres of the site, signals Virginia’s growing role in shaping future energy solutions.
The announcement comes as Virginia’s energy needs are surging, driven by the rapid growth of data centers that power big tech operations. These facilities consume enormous amounts of electricity and water to process and cool computer systems. Read more.
NSPE’s Job Board is your one-stop resource for professional engineering employment. Whether you are on the hunt for your next career move or looking for today’s top engineering leaders and talent, you will find it here.
Featured Jobs
Senior Utilities Engineer
Charlottesville, VA
Chief of Transportation Design Division (Transportation Division Chief)
Fairfax, VA
Find more job openings or reach the right employees on the NSPE Job Board.
Stay up to date on legislative issues through the NSPE Advocacy Center .
Call for Nominations: NSPE Vice President and Treasurer
NSPE is seeking nominees for two key positions on the Board of Directors – Vice President and Treasurer. The Vice President serves four consecutive years as 2025-26 Vice President, 2026-27 President-Elect, 2027-28 President, and 2028-29 Immediate Past President. The Treasurer serves a two-year term, 2025-2027, with eligibility to run for a consecutive two-year term.
To learn more about qualifications, time and financial commitments, and the nominations process, view the call for nominations packet in the leadership toolbox. Nominations are due to the NSPE Secretary at executive@nspe.org by January 6, 2025.
NSPECon25 – Call for Presentations Now Open
NSPECon25 is being held in Kansas City, Missouri, August 6-8, and NSPE needs your help to get the momentum started with a roundup of can’t-miss sessions. This is your opportunity to share your expertise, innovative ideas, and research with a diverse audience of professional engineers.
We welcome presentation proposals in the areas of career development, leadership, and industry issues and trends. The deadline to submit a presentation is January 6.
2025 Engineers Week—Design Your Future
Founded by NSPE in 1951, Engineers Week (February 16–22, 2025) is dedicated to ensuring a diverse and well-educated future engineering workforce. This year’s Engineers Week theme “Design Your Future” is about celebrating engineers and engaging students! As we celebrate the accomplishments of engineers, past and present, who have designed the future we currently live in, we also look to the next generation and how we can inspire kids to pursue engineering careers that will be focused on designing our future! Access more information and promotional resources.
Register for Upcoming Engineers Week Webinars
Are you looking for inspiration, ideas or advice for Engineers Week and Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day 2025 activities? DiscoverE will host two webinars in January to help you to increase engagement and plan successful events – Engaging Kids in Engineering (January 22) and Celebrating Engineers & Promotion Tips (January 29).