If you’ve read this column before, you know I teach senior civil engineering college students in their Senior Project Design class. These students are only months away from graduation and the start of their careers, so while they’re relieved to be close…
From the Editor: Engineers’ Concerns Have Only Multiplied Since the Pandemic
Two years ago, I asked the following question in the February 2020 issue of Informed Infrastructure: “How will engineers respond to alternative…
From the Editor: Finally! An Infrastructure Bill Passes!
“It always seems impossible until it is done.” That’s the quote from Nelson Mandela the The New York Times chose for its article about the infrastructure…
From the Editor: Be Proud To Be a Civil Engineer
Take pride in what you have accomplished, and then let others know what civil engineers do.
From The Editor: Climate Change Now Is ‘The Issue’
My October 2020 column was titled “Engineers Need to Lead the Way on Climate Change Mitigation,” and I tried to make the point that our profession has a responsibility to maintain an environment that’s best for the world, and we need to do more…
From the Editor: Personal and Mass-Media Stories Highlight the Importance of Inspections
During my career, I’ve performed inspections on hundreds of bridges. The inspections varied in detail depending on the reasons for looking at them. Some were cursory inspections to determine whether or not to include particular bridges in the INDOT…
From the Editor: Open Mic Night at ‘The Engineer’s Lounge’
I recently completed two semesters teaching senior civil engineers at my alma mater, Valparaiso University. It was a pleasure and honor to be part of their education—something I took very seriously. But it was a different type of year, as we all know.…
From the Editor: Smart Engineering Urgently Needed to Improve Our Infrastructure
The American Society for Civil Engineers (ASCE) recently published its “report card” for America’s infrastructure. I read through the summary, and this is what I learned: We received an overall grade of C-. That’s an improvement from D+ in 2017,…
From the Editor: Engineering Allows You To Be Part of History
The COVID-19 pandemic has created blocks of time that we didn’t previously have. For some of us, it’s the time we used to spend commuting. For others, it’s the time we spent shopping or attending cultural events. For me, it has created time to catch…
From the Editor: Engineers Need To Find Their Voice in 2021
What if you inspected a bridge and found severe rust deterioration of a fracture-critical steel member, and you reviewed previous inspection reports that documented the progression of this condition? And what if you took this information back to the office,…
