December 2023
In this issue…
Fall VSPE/Cardinal Education Engineering Seminar at Virginia Tech a Huge Success!
Wow! The Dominion Energy Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Construction and Planning Overview Virtual Lunch and Learn Was Off the Charts
Save the Date! Spring VSPE – Cardinal Education Engineering Seminar
From Virginia to North Carolina, How Passenger Rail Will be Transformed in the Next Decade
Report: VA Could Incentivize Methane Capture from Coal Mines
NSPE’s Job Board
Share Your Expertise: NSPECon24 Presentations
NSPE Member Benefit: On-Demand Webinars
Enterprise Membership – Elevate Your Engineering Team
Fall VSPE/Cardinal Education Engineering Seminar at Virginia Tech a Huge Success!
Thank you to members, speakers, and guests who attended our fall engineering seminar. Over 20 attended the day’s sessions held at the Inn at Virginia Tech and Skelton Conference Center in Blacksburg. The topics and speakers included AI’s Role in Materials Research and Education: Current Trends / Outlook (Luke E. K. Achenie, PhD and Sanket Deshmuk, Ph.D.); From Alchemy to AI: Engineering Materials toward Sustainability (Hongliang Xin, Ph.D.); Methods in a Meaningful Engineering Root Cause Failure Analysis (Jerry Davis, P.E.); and Professional Development Opportunities for the Commonwealth’s Engineers (Bob Bailey).
Just about everyone enjoyed the tour of the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute’s Smart Roads Facility and Test Bed that afternoon. Our sincere appreciation goes out to VTTI staff for allowing us to meet them and see firsthand the state-of-the-art human behavior and infrastructure technologies deployed in real-world settings. Their work saves lives and improves the mobility and resiliency of our systems for decades to come.
Bob Bailey, program director, Cardinal Education (left) and Georg Dahl, P.E., VSPE Board of Directors, VSPE Educational Fund president, APELSCIDLA representative and NSPE Life Member.
Wow! The Dominion Energy Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Construction and Planning Overview Virtual Lunch and Learn Was Off the Charts
More than 40 attendees joined VSPE and Dominion Energy for our November virtual lunch and learn event with Dominion Energy’s Christopher A Nunn, P.E., director of engineering and onshore construction – CVOW.
Did you know that Dominion Energy is currently powering up to 3,000 homes with their CVOW Pilot that went into operation in 2020 with two 6-megawatt wind turbines located about 27 miles off the cost of Virginia Beach? Building on the success of the two-test turbine pilot project, the largest offshore wind project under development in the US will be completed in 2026 and power up to 660,000 homes with a 2.6-gigawatt capacity using 176 turbines that are even larger at 14.7 megawatts each.
Stay tuned for future virtual lunch and learn events with Dominion Energy. Small nuclear reactors and hydrogen energy are possible subjects and we’ll be sure to let you know once we know more. Access the presentation.
Save the Date! Spring VSPE – Cardinal Education Engineering Seminar
We are pleased to announce a spring engineering seminar to be held in the Northern Virginia area in the spring of 2024. Hard to believe 2023 is almost over. We are extremely grateful for your membership and your hard work to protect the citizens, infrastructure, and environment of the Commonwealth.
Access VSPE’s LinkedIn for updates and to engage with other VSPE members.
From Virginia to North Carolina, How Passenger Rail Will be Transformed in the Next Decade
Virginia will break ground on several long-awaited rail projects next year and has started to announce construction partners.
Virginia’s investment in its passenger rail infrastructure aims to reduce chronic traffic, decrease its carbon footprint and catch up to states with a competitive state-run passenger rail service, such as New York and Illinois. The new focus on investment comes after decades of neglect, The Virginian-Pilot reports.
Flash back to a late March afternoon at Alexandria Station in 2021. US Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg sits masked on stage as then-Governor Ralph Northam announces a $3.7 billion investment in the state’s passenger rail over a 10-year span.
Flash forward two years, and 9 of the initial 15 projects overseen by the Virginia Passenger Rail Authority will soon leave the station. Read more.
Report: VA Could Incentivize Methane Capture from Coal Mines
A new report says Virginia could create financial incentives for coal mines to capture and use methane, one of the most potent greenhouse gases, as a way to reduce emissions, but environmental groups are wary about further incentivizing coal mining, the Virginia Mercury reports.
The report is a result of 2023 legislation that initially sought to classify coal-mine methane as a renewable source of energy under the Virginia Clean Economy Act, a 2020 law that seeks to transition the state’s electric grid away from fossil fuels by midcentury.
But lawmakers balked at the definition and instead scaled the measure back to say Virginia should “encourage” the use of captured coal mine methane, or CMM. The final legislation also created the workgroup that produced the report, which details how capturing and using methane in Virginia could be beneficial.
Methane is 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere. Scientists say the resulting temperature increases are causing more intense rainfall and sea level rise, among other climate impacts.
Methane captured from coal mines can be burned through a process known as flaring or converted to natural gas. The methane can also be used for electricity generation, transportation fuel and foodware and apparel manufacturing.
“Coal mine methane is a highly potent greenhouse gas that is venting into the atmosphere at high volumes from active mines through degasification for miner safety and from abandoned mines where it escapes over time from the mined-out areas,” the report states. 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.
NSPE provides the tools PEs need to keep current in the profession and advance their careers.
Featured Jobs
Mechanical Engineer (PE)
Reston, VA
Rail Deputy Program Manager – Design
Alexandria, VA
District Traffic Engineer
Lynchburg, 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 .
Share Your Expertise: NSPECon24 Presentations
NSPE seeks speakers willing to elevate the profession by providing interesting, relevant, and timely education to colleagues attending the 2024 Professional Engineers Conference (NSPECon24) August 7-9 in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Proposals may address a number of topics in three key conference tracks that include leadership, issues and trends, and career assistance. Please consider sharing your expertise and insights by submitting a presentation proposal by midnight, January 10.
To learn more about potential topic areas, how to prepare a submission, and the benefits of being selected to present, click HERE.
NSPE Member Benefit: On-Demand Webinars
The WORKability Wednesdays fall series wrapped up in November. Recordings of the presentations are available in the PE Institute. Past webinars are also available for viewing in the On-Demand Webinars section of the website.
NSPE is always seeking great content and speakers. Those interested in presenting can submit ideas using the online Call for Webinars form.
Enterprise Membership – Elevate Your Engineering Team
Is your organization looking to bring together a team of engineers, each committed to professional growth and staying up to date with the ever-evolving field of engineering? Consider launching your NSPE Enterprise Membership!
In today’s rapidly changing engineering landscape, having a group of experts with diverse skills is essential. To rise to the challenges of this environment, engineers must commit to continuous upskilling and lifelong learning. The skills demanded by the profession in 2024 include critical thinking, problem-solving, active learning, resilience, stress tolerance, and flexibility.
“NSPE Enterprise Membership has proven to be a valuable program for our engineering team at Huitt-Zollars. It streamlines our membership process; the ability to make a single payment for multiple employees simplifies our administrative tasks and reduces time. Our engineers appreciate the continuous learning/professional development and networking opportunities provided by NSPE throughout the year.” — John Ho, P.E., F.NSPE, Vice President, Huitt-Zollars
Key Advantages of NSPE Enterprise Membership
- Unite Your Engineering Team: NSPE Enterprise Membership brings together five or more individuals from your organization into one cohesive group.
- Streamlined Billing: Enjoy unparalleled member benefits and simplify the billing process with a single consolidated invoice and one payment for the entire group.
- Gain Access: Reach a wide network of multidisciplinary engineers across local chapters, state societies, and NSPE.
- Dedicated Member Services: Access customized member services through a single point of contact at NSPE for membership servicing and any questions your team may have.
- Enjoy Discounts with Benefit Partners: NSPE membership entitles your employees to deep discounts on a wide variety of publications, tech, office needs, test prep, insurance, and more.