September 2022
In this issue…
Good VSPE Membership Trends!
The VSPE Educational Fund Supports the Profession
We Took VSPE Volunteers Out to the Ballgame!
In Memoriam: Honoring Our VSPE Members
NSPE Job Board
Moving the Society Closer to Our Vision
Nominations Open: Federal Engineer of the Year
Access Free WORKability Wednesdays Webinars
Good VSPE Membership Trends!
We wanted to share some encouraging news on our membership trends. VSPE provides Life Member status to members with 40 years or more of continuous members. After informing members who qualify for this status about their eligibility, our Life Member numbers have increased over 20%. It appears that members with 25 years of continuous membership are still working in our profession, therefore our Retired Member status numbers have remained about the same.
Judi Harrison, our director of membership and outreach, also reached out to the commonwealth’s engineering schools. She advised them of a new program to pay for the first year of NSPE membership when student members graduate, along with other great benefits that free student membership to NSPE provides. This increased our student members from 8 to 51-Wow!
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The VSPE Educational Fund Supports the Profession
We are encouraging members to donate to the VSPE Educational Fund since those contributions are tax deductible.
The “Ed Fund” pays for MATHCOUNTS events and several scholarships. This includes the Eric H “Rick” Bartsch PE Exam Fund that reimburses the exam fee cost to Virginia Department of Health Office of Drinking Water staff who obtain their PE license. Recently, Nyibe Smith P.E., a department deputy field director, achieved this career milestone- congratulations, Nyibe!
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We Took VSPE Volunteers Out to the Ballgame!
While ticket sales to the three ballgames located in the cities of VSPE chapters wasn’t as robust as we had expected, our tickets went to good use. We sent the ballgame tickets to our active VSPE and MATHCOUNTS volunteers to show our appreciation. They were also free to share the tickets with family, work colleagues, and friends.
Without each of you and your hard work, VSPE wouldn’t be able to achieve the great work to protect the health, safety, and welfare of Virginia’s citizens.
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In Memoriam: Honoring Our VSPE Members
We are humbled and saddened by the loss of our VSPE members. They were great friends and valuable contributors to making a difference in the profession and in the world. This is a reminder that we should treat every day as a treasure and gift.
Since January, the following VSPE members have passed away.
- Hasan A Hasan, P.E.
- John J Contarino, P.E.
- Sidney O Dewberry, P.E.
- Elisha J Evans, Jr., P.E.
- Sheldon J. Leavitt, P.E., AIA
- Joseph Norman, P.E.
- Aldelmo Ruiz, P.E.
- M L Cannon, P.E.
- James C Dean, P.E.
- Gilbert L Faison, P.E.
- L N Ford, P.E.
- Z Greene Hollowell, P.E.
- Robert A Kinsey, P.E.
- John W Knapp, P.E.
- James M Morgan, P.E.
- Daniel J Spigai, P.E.
- R S Spratley, P.E.
- J K Timmons, P.E.
- Edward C Trexler, Jr., P.E.
- Donald G Weinert, P.E., F.NSPE
- I N Koontz, P.E.
- J A Willett, P.E.
- F D Robertson, P.E.
- J V MacNaughton, P.E.
- George W Swift, P.E.
Click HERE to see our full “In Memory” listing for VSPE members….
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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.
NSPE provides the tools PEs need to keep current in the profession and advance their careers.
Featured Jobs
Engineer III – Virginia Beach, VA
Transportation Project Manager – Chantilly, 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.
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Moving the Society Closer to Our Vision
By Britt Smith, P.E., F.NSPE, President 2022-2023
What does NSPE mean to you? I’d like to try to tell you what it means to me. I began my career with a small civil engineering firm with a focus on municipal engineering. After a few years, I moved to the public works department in Jefferson City, Missouri. This is the same city where my wife and I have raised our three children. As a result, I’ve had the privilege of working for the community that I have called home most of my career.
Like many of you, I was approached by another engineer early in my career and asked to join NSPE. I have moved through various leadership and volunteer roles at the chapter, state, and national levels. I could not be more humbled to be the president of NSPE. I never dreamed that I would be in this position. As I got involved with NSPE, I met and built friendships with many wonderful engineers within my community, around the state, and across this great country. Each time I get involved and want to give back, I seem to receive so much more than I give. Our founder David Steinman probably had similar thoughts. Steinman understood that the technical problems of the various engineering disciplines are different, but the interests of the profession are shared. He founded NSPE to unite the profession around those common interests. NSPE was created, and continues today, to be the single national professional society, with solidarity of purpose and concentration of strength, to provide for the professional interests of the engineering profession.
NSPE has adopted as our vision: A world where the public can be confident that the engineering decisions affecting their lives are made by qualified and ethically accountable professionals. Our vision statement is a simple statement, but a very powerful message. I heard once that the average engineer holds the lives of more people in their hands than any doctor could see in a lifetime. As I considered that statement, I couldn’t help but think about the awesome responsibility we carry. NSPE was created and continues today to help all members of our profession fulfill that responsibility.
Read more.
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Nominations Open: Federal Engineer of the Year
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, 2023, at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. Tickets will be available for sale in January. Apply or nominate a worthy engineer.
The 2022 Federal Engineer of the Year
Robert Zueck, Ph.D., P.E., was named NSPE’s 2022 Federal Engineer of the Year for his discoveries and contributions in the engineering field during a virtual awards event in February.
Prior to retirement, Zueck worked in the US Department of the Navy’s Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFAC), Expeditionary Warfare Center at Port Hueneme, California. He is heralded for applying his vibration research to military defense projects for which engineers can now design beyond the speed, agility, and stealth limitations of many military sensors, weapons, and platforms. Find out more about Zueck in a PE article.
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Access Free WORKability Wednesdays Webinars
The reviews of the Engineering: Addressing Unintended Consequences as a Professional webinar are excellent. “Applicable to all engineering disciplines,” says one attendee.
If you were busy this summer and missed it, there is time to watch this thought-provoking webinar at NSPE’s PE Institute. All webinars in the spring series are available free to members. Watch for more information soon about what to expect in the fall series lineup!
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