March 2024
In this issue…
Welcome to Our New VSPE Educational Fund Trustee
VSPE Participates in Celebrate Engineering Ingenuity (CEI) Day
The December Membership Drive and Appreciation Month Was a Success!
MATHCOUNTS Activities Ramp Up for VSPE
In Memoriam: Cecil Ronald Hamblin, P.E., MBA
NSPE’s Job Board
WORKability Wednesdays
EJCDC® Releases New Teaming and Joint Venture Documents
Welcome to Our New VSPE Educational Fund Trustee
David D. Welter, P.E., MS, PMP, has joined our team as a VSPE Educational Fund trustee. Dave has been an active VSPE member since 1979 and involved in MATHCOUNTS since the early 1990s. He earned two bachelor’s degrees from University of New Mexico in electrical engineering and physics, and a master’s degree from that same institution in nuclear engineering. He obtained a master’s degree in computer science from Polytechnic University of New York.
Dave achieved Commander rank during his career in the US Navy in his career, and in Dave’s words, it was “a most unusual engineering duty career.” His final job prior to retirement in 2016 was program manager at Salient Federal Solutions supporting Defense Logistics Agency Subsistence Programs. We welcome him to our team and appreciate his contributions!
VSPE Participates in Celebrate Engineering Ingenuity (CEI) Day
Becky Golden and Judi Harrison set up an activity table with a STEM word search and coloring graphic. Participants received gifts from the Science Museum’s gift shop – water-applied tattoos of butterflies, insects, and animals. What a big hit!
VSPE recently participated in Celebrate Engineering Ingenuity (CEI) Day at the Dewey Gottwald Center at the Science Museum of Virginia in Richmond during Engineers Week. CEI is an annual event offering students a venue to learn about engineering careers and the educational opportunities available to them in the field of science and engineering. There are also two competitions for middle school and high school students, an egg-drop or popsicle stick bridge, during this event.
The event was sponsored by the Richmond Joint Engineering Council (RJEC), an all-volunteer coalition of engineering, scientific and technical societies in the Richmond / Petersburg Metropolitan Areas of Virginia. RJEC promotes engineering education and provides a vehicle to disseminate knowledge and information relating to the art and science of engineering to its member societies and the general public. The council provides speakers to Central Virginia schools and educational associations for classroom discussions on technical subjects related to engineering and what engineers do.
The December Membership Drive and Appreciation Month Was a Success!
VSPE Members and recently licensed PEs and EITs received a postcard mailer in December highlighting our annual membership rebate and appreciation for them.
Many of those who received the renewal rebate chose to donate those funds to MATHCOUNTS or a great scholarship fund, the Rick Bartsch PE Exam Fund. The fund was established in 2000 by Rick’s friends and coworkers to honor him upon his retirement after 37 years of service to the citizens of the Commonwealth as a public health engineer with the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) in the Office of Water Programs. He steadfastly defended the practice of hiring qualified engineers for VDH’s engineering positions and placing only licensed engineers in positions of responsible charge.
MATHCOUNTS Activities Ramp Up for VSPE
Chapter MATHCOUNTS events were held across Virginia during February and the State Competition was held March 2 at the Germanna Community College Workforce and Technology Center in Fredericksburg. Nearly 700 mathletes competed and were able to advance over 70 mathletes at the state event. We offer a big Thank You to our coordinators, and the coaches and parents who made these events possible. We look forward to the national competition that will take place May 13 in Washington, DC.
In Memoriam: Cecil Ronald Hamblin, P.E., MBA
VSPE lost a Life Member and good friend in August – Cecil Ronald (Ron) Hamblin, P.E., MBA. Ron was an electrical engineer for the Old Dominion Power Company for over 34 years and served as a member of Norton Employer Advisory Committee of Virginia Employment Commission.
Ron joined VSPE in 1977 and was a licensed engineer in Virginia and Kentucky. He earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Kentucky and obtained a master’s in business administration from East Tennessee State University.
He was a member of the National Society of Professional Electrical Engineers and the Mountain Empire Chapter of the Virginia Society of Professional Electrical Engineers. He was also a member and past president of the Norton Kiwanis Club, a member of Suther’s Lodge AF & AM #259, and a member of the First Baptist Church in Norton.
Ron is survived by his wife, Sharon Thomas Hamblin of Norton, Virginia; two sons, Christopher Hamblin of Wise, Virginia, Patrick Hamblin and his wife Abbey of Wise, Virginia; two grandchildren, Mia Brooke Hamblin and Chase Christopher Hamblin; two brothers, Rex Hamblin and his wife Faye of Sparta, Tennessee, and Vernon Hamblin of Rockford, Illinois; a sister, Sue Price of Ortonville, Michigan; several nieces and nephews.
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:
Structural Engineer
Lynchburg, VA
Engineer Senior Structure & Bridge
Colonial Heights, VA
Contracts Executive Director
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
NSPE offers a live webinar series free to members—“Workability Wednesdays”—to support members with their professional development goals. The first webinars of the spring season will take place on April 3— NSPE’s Board of Ethical Review Presents: The Duty to Act ; April 17— Second Best Protection Against Risk ; and May 1— Enhancing Building Safety: Mitigating Risks of Slip, Trips, and Falls(Celebration of National Building Safety Month).
Additional presentations will take place in May and June. Register now at NSPE’s PE Institute and invite a colleague to attend.
NSPECon24 Sponsorships and Exhibitor Opportunities
Put your company or organization in front of senior executives and other decision-makers from across the engineering industry attending the 2024 Professional Engineers Conference (NSPECon24) August 7-9, in Raleigh, North Carolina.
NSPE offers a variety of sponsorship packages to meet specific goals and budgets. A special exhibitor discount is being offered to Research Triangle-based businesses. Learn more about these opportunities in the Sponsor and Exhibitor section of the conference website .
Welcome to Our 2024 Sponsors!
EJCDC® Releases New Teaming and Joint Venture Documents
The Engineers Joint Contract Documents Committee has released new documents – EJCDC® E-580, Teaming Agreement to Pursue Joint Professional Services Opportunity and EJCDC® E-590, Joint Venture Agreement for Professional Services (2024 editions). NSPE members will receive a 50% discount on the EJCDC documents .
The E-580, Teaming Agreement to Pursue Joint Professional Services Opportunity is intended for a collaboration between two design firms that have decided to join together to pursue an opportunity to obtain work. The E-590, Joint Venture Agreement for Professional Services is a contract document in which two or more design firms agree to join together to provide specific professional services to a third party.