ASCE November Lunch & Learn

ASCE November Lunch & Learn

Thursday, November 21, 2024 - 11:30 AM

Join us at our November Lunch and Learn!

Presenter: Dr. Yilin Zhuang, PhD in Civil Engineering, Master in Environmental Engineering

Florida Well Owner Network: An Extension Outreach To Improve Private Well Water Quality And Stewardship

Description: An estimated 2.5 million Floridians rely on private wells for home consumption. Different from public water systems, private wells are not regulated and private well users control the management and protection of their wells. Limited public data exist on how many well users regularly test their water or drink from contaminated wells. To meet the needs of private well users, UF/IFAS Extension developed the Florida Well Owner Network (FWON), a drinking water quality and septic system education program. Our goals are to educate residents about well water quality and best management practices to ensure well and groundwater protection as well as facilitate access to regular well water testing and testing after extreme weather events. To successfully achieve these goals at state and local levels, FWON has brought in multi-level partnerships and collaborations. These include internal and external state specialists, county extension agents, local health departments, water management districts, and state-certified water quality testing labs. Since 2017, over 2,000 well users have been educated about private well management through FWON and 458 people have submitted water samples for bacteria testing. Bacterial contamination was detected in 19% samples during the routine water sampling events and in 38% samples after storms and hurricanes. Annual bacteria testing is recommended, but about 65% participants reported never testing their water, mainly because they did not know where to test it and what to test for. This Extension program not only increases well owners’ knowledge of best practices for well management and groundwater protection, but also provides easy access for them to test well water quality to help ensure the safety of their drinking water.

Yilin Zhuang is the Water Resources Regional Specialized Agent in the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Extension Central District. Her Extension areas of specialization focus on integrated water resources management, with an emphasis on on-site wastewater treatment and disposal systems, private well water systems, and water conservation in agricultural and urban environments. She received her PhD in Civil Engineering from the University of South Florida. She is a LEED® accredited professional with a building design and construction specialty and a Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (sUAS) pilot.

 

Location: Hurricane BTW

8181 NW 39th Ave, Gainesville, FL 32606

Register for the lunch and learn using this link:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/asce-gainesville-branch-november-2024-lunch-learn-tickets-1082604783049?aff=oddtdtcreator

We look forward to seeing you there!

ASCE June Lunch and Learn

ASCE June Lunch and Learn

Thursday, June 20, 2024 - 11:30 AM

Join us and Huesker, Inc at our June Lunch and Learn to talk about Innovative and Sustainable Geosynthetics!

We will cover sustainability, application area, polymer deign considerations, and flexible geogrid reinforcement mechanics.

 

Speaker: Randy Thomas, P.E., M.ASCE

Randy is a graduate of Drexel University where he graduated with his B.S. and M.S. in Civil Engineering. Randy is a Geosynthetics Consultant with Huesker, Inc. Formerly, Randy was the South Regional Engineer and one of the founding partners of ACF Environmental (Atlantic Construction Fabrics, Inc.). He has over 40 years of experience in the geosynthetics products industry. Randy provides technical assistance, technical presentations and training in the proper design, selection and installation of geosynthetic materials. Randy has authored several published technical papers and articles on geosynthetics.

 

Location: Hurricane BTW (8181 NW 39th Avenue, Gainesville, Florida, 32606)

Registration Coming Soon!

ASCE & AWWA Joint Lunch and Learn: Suspended Ion Exchange

ASCE & AWWA Joint Lunch and Learn: Suspended Ion Exchange

Thursday, January 11, 2024 - 11:30 AM

The City of Tampa’s (City) Water Department owns and operates the 120-mgd David L. Tippin Water Treatment Facility (DLTWTF) located in Tampa, Florida. The Hillsborough River, DLTWTF’s primary source of water, experiences high seasonal variability, in particular raw water total organic carbon (TOC) ranging from 3 to 30 mg/L, and it is challenging to maintain high-quality finished water under the wide range of influent water quality conditions throughout the year. Given the DLTWTF’s existing water quality challenges, need for expansion, and extensive chemical use and solids generation, a detailed alternatives analysis of treatment alternatives was completed as part of master planning efforts. A pilot study was recently completed demonstrating a new suspended ion exchange (SIX) process, which is the first of its kind the United States, as a promising new technology to help overcome the City’s challenges.

 

Speaker: Melanie Pickett, Carollo

Location: Blue Gill Quality Foods, 1310 SW 13th Street, Gainesville, Florida

Register Here!

ASCE Lunch and Learn: Preparing the Kennedy Space Center's LC-39 Crawlerway for Artemis

ASCE Lunch and Learn: Preparing the Kennedy Space Center's LC-39 Crawlerway for Artemis

Thursday, December 14, 2023 - 11:30 AM

NASA’s Artemis program will return American astronauts to the moon in 2025. These astronauts and the spacecraft that will carry them to the moon will be launched into space aboard a powerful Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. The first four miles of the SLS/Orion journey to the moon will be aboard NASA’s large Crawler Transporter along a gravel crawlerway that connects the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) to the launch pad. This journey created many interesting geotechnical engineering challenges. The assembled SLS rocket, new mobile launcher, and the recently refurbished crawler transporter will weigh over 25 million pounds. This is almost 40% heavier than previous rollouts for the Apollo and Space Launch System (Space Shuttle) missions, causing maneuverability and stability concerns for the Crawler Transporter as it traverses the crawlerway to the launch pad. We will discuss some of the interesting investigations and actions that NASA’s engineers, operations staff, and their consultants performed to assure a safe trip to the launch pad.

 

Speaker: Steven Laux, P.E., Professor of Practice 

Steven Laux is a Professor of Practice in the Engineering School of Sustainable Infrastructure and Environment (ESSIE) at the University of Florida. He received Bachelor and Master of Engineering degrees from the University of Florida and joined UF in January 2017 after a 32-year career as a practicing civil engineer. His primary areas of practice were in the planning, design, and construction of solid waste management facilities, and in the development and rehabilitation of infrastructure for the aerospace industry. Over his career, he served as a project engineer, project manager, senior engineer/consultant, vice president and principal at the consulting firm Jones Edmunds & Associates. He was involved in the development of many privately and publicly owned solid waste management facilities in Florida and at other locations in the US. He also led Jones Edmunds’ efforts to establish and maintain a 32-year presence serving the aerospace industry for public and private clients at Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, and Vandenberg Air Force Base. He worked on major infrastructure at Kennedy Space Center, including three launch pads, the Vehicle Assembly Building, Shuttle Landing Facility, Launch Control Center, and many support buildings, structures, roadways, bridges, and utilities.

At UF, Mr. Laux teaches undergraduate and graduate level courses in design and professional practice to civil and environmental engineers. He also assists Dr. Timothy Townsend with his research program at the Sustainable Materials Management Research Laboratory. This research has focused on beneficial use of municipal solid waste incinerator ash as aggregates in the construction of road base, asphalt and concrete, post-consumer glass as a cost-effective supplementary cementitious material, recycling and end-of-life management of various materials, and numerous municipal solid waste landfill topics.

 

Location: Blue Gill Quality Food

Register Here!

ASCE Lunch and Learn: New River Renewable Natural Gas Facility

ASCE Lunch and Learn: New River Renewable Natural Gas Facility

Wednesday, November 15, 2023 - 11:30 AM

Since its inception in 1992, the New River Solid Waste Association (NRSWA), Florida's first publicly owned, multi-county solid waste management facility formed by Baker, Bradford, and Union Counties, has been committed to providing excellent services to its customers and to using innovative industry-leading practices to optimize operations and maximize environmental protection. The New River Regional Landfill (NRRL) consists of an active 99-acre lined Class I Landfill and supporting infrastructure. NRSWA collaborates on research projects and pilot programs with the University of Florida's leading solid waste and sustainable materials management expert, Timothy Townsend, Ph.D., PE.

NRSWA's Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) project is the most recent example of its commitment to innovation and contribution to waste conversion and energy recovery. This project is the first in Florida to convert landfill gas (LFG) into pipeline-quality natural gas. It is also the first landfill to interconnect to the Florida Gas Transmission's interstate pipeline and inject processed LFG. New River's LFG is treated to meet the strict pipeline-gas specifications before being transmitted via six miles of high-pressure pipe from the landfill to the pipeline interconnect.
 

Speaker: Joel Woolsey, Director of the New River Solid Waste Association 

He has over 26 years of experience in the Solid Waste industry. Before he was in his current position, he served as a Project Manager and Client Manager in the Solid Waste Department at Jones Edmunds & Associates, Inc., in Gainesville, Florida. He specializes in landfill gas collection and control system design, landfill design, solid waste permitting, and GIS and CADD applications. He has extensive experience in Florida investigating landfill gas utilization and beneficial use including carbon credit marketing. Mr. Woolsey has also managed a variety of projects including gas collection and control system designs, solid waste operations and construction permit applications, and landfill master planning. Mr. Woolsey is certified by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection as a Class I, Class III, and C&DD Landfill Manager.

Mr. Woolsey has extensive presentation experience, having presented at local, regional, and national conferences over the past 20 years on a variety of topics related to the Solid Waste industry including GPS-controlled heavy equipment, GIS, innovative landfill gas system designs, and landfill mining. He was honored to be awarded the best presentation at the second annual Global Waste Management Symposium in 2010. Mr. Woolsey has also been a guest lecturer at the University of Florida for Dr. Timothy Townsend, PhD, PE; his lectures focused on landfill design and permitting, and cost estimating.


 

Location: Blue Gill Quality Foods - 1310 SW 13th Street, Gainesville FL 32608

Register Here!

Trail Clean Up: Ring Park

Trail Clean Up: Ring Park

Saturday, October 14, 2023 - 09:00 AM

Come join us at Ring Park in partnership with the City of Gainesville to help remove invasive plants along our trails!

Flyer for the Trail Clean Up Event, more details can be found on the page.

 

Ring Park, 1801 NW 23rd Boulevard, Gainesville, FL 32605

Register Here!

Important: Registration will be limited to 15 people.

Lunch & Learn: Fast Track Design of PFAS Treatment at a Surface Water Treatment Plant

Lunch & Learn: Fast Track Design of PFAS Treatment at a Surface Water Treatment Plant

Thursday, October 12, 2023 - 11:30 AM

The Mill Pond WTP is a surface WTP with a maximum treatment capacity of 3.0 MGD. PFAS was discovered in Mill Pond exceeding 50 ppb, above the state MCL of 20 ppb for the six regulated PFAS compounds. MassDEP required Burlington to take immediate steps in addressing the PFAS issue. As a result, the town had to quickly plan, design, and construct treatment improvements for the removal of PFAS. This presentation will discuss the efforts, techniques, and engineering design used to implement the fast-track 18-month schedule to complete the treatment improvements to treat for PFAS and protect the public water supply. 

0.1 CEU / 1.0 PDH available

Speaker: Dennis Davis, Wright-Pierce

Location: Blue Gill Quality Food, 1310 SW 13th Street, Gainesville, FL

Register Here

Recent Developments in Coastal Geotechnics

Recent Developments in Coastal Geotechnics

Thursday, September 14, 2023 - 11:30 AM

Nina received a Diploma (MSc) in Geophysics in 2007 from the Westphalian Wilhelms University of Muenster, Germany, and her PhD in Marine Geotechnics in 2011 from MARUM-Center for Marine and Environmental Sciences at the University of Bremen, Germany where she worked on the “Geotechnical investigation of sediment remobilization processes using dynamic penetrometers”. She was a postdoctoral fellow in 2011 in the marine geotechnics group at MARUM and from 2012-2013, in the physical oceanography group at Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada, before being appointed assistant professor in the Charles E. Via, Jr., Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Virginia Tech in Fall 2013. She was appointed associate professor in 2019. In August 2023, she joined the University of Florida’s Engineering School for Sustainable Infrastructure and Environment as associate professor. Her research focuses on coastal and marine geotechnics including instrument and method development, the geotechnical investigation of subaqueous sediment dynamics and coastal erosion, beach dynamics and coastal evolution in the context of climate change, navigation channel deepening and maintenance, beach trafficability, and geotechnical site characterization in coastal environments for naval applications and energy harvesting developments. 

Speaker: Nina Stark, PhD - University of Florida

Location: Blue Gill Quality Food -1310 SW 13th Street, Gainesville, FL 32608

Register Here!

Board Positions

Want to join? Email us at [email protected]

President

The President shall be the authorized leader of the Branch, as well as represent the Branch before the public.  The President shall preside at all meetings of the Branch and the Executive Board. The President shall appoint the chairs of all committees, with the approval of the Executive Board. The President shall authorize the signing of the checks by the Treasurer. The President shall coordinate all activities and execute the business and policies of the branch between meetings.
Responsibilities of the President include:

  • Represent the Branch as a member of the Florida Section Board of Directors at quarterly meetings held throughout the State. 
  • Verify a quorum is present at Executive Board Meetings
  • Act as an officer contact for Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, and Chairs
  • Present a progress report at the Executive Board meetings for committees under his/her supervision if a representative from the committee is unable to attend
  • Solicit volunteers to join
  • Provide assistance and support to each Board Position as needed
  • Prepare annual report to National/Section
  • Perform any other duties and assume any other responsibilities assigned by the President and Executive Board or generally associated with the office of the Secretary
  • Partner with the Treasurer to prepare an annual budget and submit it to the Executive Board

Past President (Awards)

The Past President Position shall be held by the previous year’s President. The Past President will be responsible for the coordination of all awards (Branch, Section, and National Level). The Past President shall also assist and support the President on any needs necessary. 

Responsibilities of the Past President include: 

  • Responsible for creating and setting guidelines for the annual awards nominations for the Branch. Awards are listed as the following but can be updated each year accordingly: 
  • Project of the Year
  • Government Engineer of the Year
  • Engineer of the Year
  • Young Engineer of the Year
  • Student of the Year
  • Responsible for coordinating with the Education Chair on the preparation of annual scholarships
  • Responsible for promoting and advertising annual Branch awards and scholarships
  • Responsible for coordinating with the Executive Board on the selection of Award and Scholarship winners
  • Responsible for coordinating all applications for Section/National Level Awards
  • Perform any other duties and assume any other responsibilities assigned by the President and Executive Board or generally associated with the office of the Secretary
  • Provide assistance and support to each Board Position as needed

Vice President

The Vice President is primarily responsible for coordinating and arranging the monthly Branch General Meetings as well as providing necessary support to the President.  The monthly meetings are typically held on the 1st Thursday of the month. The dates are adjustable to accommodate joint meetings with other professional organizations. Each meeting is a technical presentation, therefore a technical speaker will be needed for each meeting.   Speakers can be found by personal contacts, the Florida Section also has information on people who have given presentations at the annual meetings, or other board members will have contacts.  The recipient of the Gainesville Branch Project of the Year will be requested to give a presentation on their project.  Along with arranging the meeting place and time, a projector, laptop, and screen should be available to all presenters at meetings. 
Responsibilities of the Vice President include:

  • Perform all duties of the President in his/her absence or at his/her request
  • Perform any other duties assigned by the Executive Board
  • Succeed to the office of the President if there is a vacancy in that office
  • Attend monthly Executive Board Meetings
  • Coordinate and arrange all Gainesville Branch General Meetings in conjunction with the Technical Institute Chair
  • Act as an officer contact 
  • Present a progress report at the Executive Board Meetings 
  • Solicit volunteers to join 
  • Perform any other duties and assume any other responsibilities assigned by the President and Executive Board or generally associated with the office of the Vice President

Secretary

The Secretary shall record, prepare, maintain, and distribute as directed the minutes of each Executive Board meeting.  In addition, the Secretary shall organize Branch correspondence as requested by the President of the Executive Board.
Responsibilities of the Secretary include:

  • Prepare and send ballots for the nominating board members
  • Act as an officer contact 
  • Solicit volunteers to join 
  • Perform any other duties and assume any other responsibilities assigned by the President and Executive Board or generally associated with the office of the Secretary
  • Prepare monthly Executive Board meeting agendas and document meeting minutes
  • Prepare email campaigns to advertise upcoming events to Branch members 
  • Create registration links for members for upcoming events

Treasurer 

Responsibilities of the Treasurer include:

  • Facilitate financial activities of ASCE Gainesville Branch
  • Request proposed budgets during August Executive Board meeting and finalize budget for September Executive Board meeting 
  • Prepare annual Branchbudget, with assistance and input from Executive Board
  • Present financial report at monthly Executive Board meetings
  • Coordinate with President and other Officers for purchases
  • Maintain financial records (in hardcopy and/or electronic files)
  • Balance checkbook
  • Records of sponsorship donations
  • Records of purchases
  • Keeper of petty cash, checkbook, and received checks
  • Prepare year-end financial report
  • Perform banking needs with local bank
  • Deposit checks
  • Apply for checks, as needed
  • Receive and file bank account statements

Technical Institute Chair

The Technical Institute Chair shall assist in increasing awareness of each specialization within the broad profession of civil engineering. The Technical Institute Chair shall foster and coordinate activities of a technical nature with the aim of promoting the technical engineering competence of the Branch Members. In conjunction with the Vice President the Technical Institute Chair shall assist in hosting Lunch and Learns and field trips, as well as provide updates on the latest Section/National Technical Programs and publications. Ultimately, the goal of the Chair is to promote the formation of the Institute Groups within the Gainesville Branch. 
Responsibilities of the Technical Institute Chair include: 

  • Coordinate with the Vice President on the coordination and planning of Monthly Lunch and Learns
  • Obtain and share information with the Executive Board regarding the latest Section/National Technical Programs and publications.
  • Perform any other duties and assume any other responsibilities assigned by the President and Executive Board 
  • Create and oversee a Technical Institute Committee comprised of members associated with each discipline of civil engineering.
  • Host various other technical events covering each civil engineering discipline including, but not limited to: 
    • Field Trips
    • Evening Technical Seminars
    • Webinars

Younger Members Group (YMG) Chair/Board

The YMG is a group within the ASCE-Gainesville Branch open to members 35 years of age and younger (as well as others that show an interest). The YMG  provides an opportunity for younger engineers in the professional community to get together to develop professionally via a mix of technical presentations, community service, student outreach, and social activities. This group serves as a training ground for future Branch leaders.  This group has the opportunity to assist other younger members in building a network of peers that are also in the early stages of their careers.
The Younger Member Group Board will be responsible for all Younger Member (35 years or younger) activities of the Branch. The YMG chair shall be appointed by the Executive Board.
Responsibilities of the YMG Board/Chair include:

  • Arranging events and meetings of the Younger Members of the Gainesville Branch
  • Coordinating Younger Member activities of the Branch with those of the Society , Region 5, and the Florida Section
  • Including the annual “Skill-up with YMG Webinars” which include hosting a webinar series with other local Florida Section YMG’s each month on soft skills. 
  • Facilitate the exchange of information from the Younger Member Group to and from the Society, Region 5, Florida Section, and the Gainesville Branch
  • Prepare a budget for the Younger Members group and submit it to the Executive Board 
  • Send a representative to the Region 5 Younger Members Forum and Multi-Regional Leadership Conference
  • Include the student Chapter at the University of Florida in YMG activities
  • Younger Member Group chair shall be present at monthly Executive Board meetings, or if unable to attend, provide a report to supervising officer 
  • Prepare annual report and submit to the Florida Section
  • Assist the Webmaster and Secretary on advertisements of YMG events via emails, newsletters, website, social media, and more.
  • Advise the Executive Board on younger member areas of interest

Education (Student Activities) Chair

The Education Chair should be chaired by one of the Student Chapter Practitioner Advisors or recent UF Alumni. There are 2 Practitioner Advisors registered with ASCE.  The purpose of the Chair is to allow the Branch to keep an open line of communication and to assist the University of Florida ASCE Student Chapter in any way necessary. 
Responsibilities of the Education Chair include:

  • Communication with the UF ASCE chapter
  • Attendance at UF Student Chapter General Meetings as often as possible
  • Support and assist students, as appropriate 
  • Coordination with UF Faculty Advisor on Student Chapter needs
  • Coordinating with UF ASCE Chapter on updates/attendance for monthly Executive Board Meetings
  • Coordinate with UF ASCE Chapter on “quota” on attendance/involvement from the students for annual sponsorship
  • Coordination with Awards chair on the selection of Student of the Year award and other scholarships
  • Attend monthly Executive Board meetings and report on committee activities, if unable to attend, provide a report to the supervising officer
  • Outreach Chair (Membership/Community Service Chair)
  • The Outreach Chair promotes volunteer efforts by ASCE members (including coordination of the Bridge Florida Event) and also coordinates recruitment efforts and membership of the Branch.
  • Responsibilities of the Outreach Chair include: 
  • Plan Community Service events throughout the year (at least 2 events)
  • Including Community Service activities of the Gainesville Branch with those of The Society, Region 5, Florida Section, and the student chapter at the University of Florida
  • Coordinate & plan all Engineering Outreach activities
  • Oversee and act as a resource contact for the following programs:
    • Bridge Florida Competition
    • Solicit volunteers to join the Engineering Outreach Committee and/or each program
    • Actively recruit new members.
    • Encourage membership retention by surveying members to gain input to increase satisfaction and growth.  Send planning and volunteer surveys to members (with ballots)
    • Maintain membership database which includes the following duties:
    • Encourage graduating students to join a Branch or YMG
  • Prepare the outreach column in the newsletter
  • Attend Executive Board meetings or, if unable to attend, provide supervising officer (Secretary) with report

Webmaster

The Webmaster shall maintain all social media platforms and the website of the Branch/YMG. The Webmaster shall also be responsible for all marketing material including flyers for upcoming events and merchandise. 
Responsibilities of the Webmaster include: 

  • Responsible for maintaining and updating the website with the latest Branch information.
  • Responsible for updating all social media platforms such as Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook. This includes, but is not limited to, the following:
  • Create social media posts within two days after each event is completed to include event photos and thank the participants.
  • Maintain an active social media presence across all platforms.
  • Ensure all messages received on the social media platforms are addressed.
  • Lead engaging social media efforts such as providing local news, infrastructure highlights, professional and personal development advice, interactive posts, etc.
  • Work with the President and Vice President to create all marketing items. This includes but is not limited to, the following:
  • Promotional items such as shirts, hats, pens, banners, etc.
  • Obtain quotes for marketing items from various vendors.
  • Advertisement items such as event flyers, social media images, etc.
  • Event items such as presentations, tri-folds, etc.
  • Support other board members as needed.

Want to join? Email us at [email protected]

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