PE Matters – September 2024

Thank you to Judi Harrison, Peter Skaredoff, and Tom Conway for representing VSPE in Raleigh, North Carolina, for NSPECon24! Members can access photos of the event here.

Judi is our Director of Membership and Outreach with newly assigned duties as Executive Director. She will join other Southeast Region “Execs” each month to share ideas for member engagement and benefit opportunities. Peter is our NSPE House of Delegates representative, a member of our Board of Directors, and serves as the VSPE Tidewater Chapter Treasurer. He participated in the NSPE State Leadership Summit during NSPECon. Tom is our Vice President and along with our President, Rick Tyler, has made NSPECon a regular event for many years.

The recent NSPE State Leadership Summit allowed our representatives to discuss a request that we have formally made to NSPE to adjust our current membership tier level. This adjustment will allow us to provide greater member opportunities and benefits. Our current tier level provides about 60% of our operating expenses and we consider this to be an “unsustainable expense/business model,” since we must make up the shortfall each year with drawdowns from our investment account. Most importantly, we have really stepped up our game with member benefits since the tier levels were established through a performance Rubric scored in 2018.

We are proud of our progress and excited about our future!

The National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES) signed a mutual recognition agreement (MRA) with the Engineering Council-UK in August. This agreement provides a direct path for licensed engineers in the United States and the United Kingdom to practice in each nation without compromising professional standards.

Built upon the framework of the International Professional Engineers Agreement (IPEA), the MRA upholds discipline-specific and jurisdictional requirements for those seeking to practice internationally. The benefits of the agreement include a simplified path for professional engineers in participating states to obtain the CEng title and expanded professional mobility to work in the UK.

Professional engineers in the US who would like to become licensed in the UK through this agreement must be a member of the NCEES International Registry for Professional Engineers (IRPE). This program assists US-based professional engineers who are seeking recognition to practice in another country. Read more.

Greenhouse gas methane escapes capture in some cases, not due to deficiencies in capture technology but because of gaps in monitoring and interagency coordination, according to Virginia Democratic Representative Don Beyer.

Beyer and Representative Doug Lamborn (R-CO) recently introduced legislation to address those issues, The Center Square reports. “Innovative technologies are available to mitigate or capture methane leakage, but a primary challenge is finding and tracking those leaks,” Beyer said. “Our legislation would facilitate the identification of methane leaks, and ensure timely and effective mitigation efforts.”

Methane is the “second-largest contributor to global warming after carbon dioxide,” according to the Climate and Clean Air Coalition – but there’s much more of the latter. While carbon dioxide accounts for about 76% of manmade global greenhouse gas emissions, methane comprises just 16%, according to the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions. Agriculture and fossil fuels are the largest anthropogenic (human-influenced) sources of methane.

The Methane Monitoring Science Act authorizes $1.8 million to NASA to develop a federal strategy for the large-scale monitoring of methane. NASA is to work with other government agencies to ensure a cohesive, maximally efficient, government-wide strategy and can employ satellites, ground-based and airborne devices to detect and track methane emissions.

Beyer was also part of a congressional coalition for another environmental cause. He and several others led a letter from 66 members of Congress that petitioned the Biden administration to finalize rules for a clean hydrogen tax credit that they believe will reduce emissions.

“The 45V tax credit is a key part of the [Inflation Reduction Act], which will help decarbonize hard-to-abate industrial sections. Treasury’s proposed rules for 45V remain critical to ensuring that 45V does not increase net carbon pollution, and we urge Treasury to finalize rules consistent with its proposal,” the lawmakers wrote. Read more.

The Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI) has launched the first phase of its Smart City test bed located near the university’s Northern Virginia Center in Falls Church.

This initial technology implementation involves modernizing the city’s traffic control systems to provide a foundation onto which additional “smart” technologies may be applied. The upgraded traffic control systems aim to help improve pedestrian safety, reduce conflicts between cars and bike/foot traffic, improve traffic flow, and save the municipality money through better energy and maintenance efficiency, according to Virginia Tech News.

“VTTI is proud to be working hand in hand with the City of Falls Church, VDOT [Virginia Department of Transportation], and our industry partners to bring modern traffic signal control technologies to the area,” said Mike Mollenhauer, the institute’s principal investigator on the project. “These systems will allow for more intelligent intersection control that will improve safety and traffic flow through the city’s main corridors. We look forward to continued cooperation with Falls Church as we help them deploy adaptive lighting, smart parking, and other smart cities technologies in the near future.”

Originally announced in 2021, the collaboration with VDOT also includes $10 million in support from the state budget. The project includes a new road that bisects the Falls Church campus, connecting Virginia Route 7 to the West Falls Church Washington Metro Area Transit Authority site. Read more.

Honoring the commitment of federal engineers to innovation and service is the hallmark of the Federal Engineer of the Year Award (FEYA). Nominations for the award are open until November 22. Access nomination information .

The FEYA ceremony is scheduled for February 21, 2025, at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. Tickets will be available for sale in January.

Capt. Stephen B. Martin, Jr., Ph.D., P.E., was named the 2024 Federal Engineer of the Year. He is a renowned expert in ventilation, engineering controls, and airborne infectious disease transmission that focused his expertise on mitigating the global COVID-19 pandemic. Learn more about Capt. Martin’s contributions.

It’s time to start planning Engineers Week (February 16-22, 2025)! On October 23 (12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. ET), a webinar will provide information about the Engineers Week theme, brand new resources, and outreach grants. Attend this free and informative webinar to get ideas you can start using right away.

The NSPE Emerging Leaders Program is seeking the next group of engineering change-makers. The Emerging Leaders Program (ELP) is an intensive national five-month program with guided instruction and mentorship. The application deadline is extended to Tuesday, October 15. Prior to applying for the program, please review the 2025 ELP syllabus and related time-commitments.

The Ideal ELP Candidate
Candidates for the ELP have 5–8 years of professional experience in the engineering field and are prepared to think strategically about their career and begin taking on leadership roles are invited to apply. Selected participants come from a variety of firms with a range of engineering expertise. There are no age restrictions on participation in the program.