Los Angeles Section Younger Member Forum Newsletter Metropolitan Los

Los Angeles Section Younger Member Forum Newsletter Metropolitan Los Angeles Orange County San Bernardino/Riverside County Santa Barbara/Ventura County San Joaquin 2009 Winter Issue Editor: Rocio Duran 2009 Western Regional Younger Member Council By: Marlon Calderon, P.E., M. ASCE Monthly YMF Board Meetings • MLAB– Every third Wednesday • OC– Every third Tuesday • SB\RC– Every first Monday • SB\VC– Every first Wednesday • SSJ– Every other third Tuesday The San Francisco Younger Member Forum hosted the 30 th Western Regional Younger Member Council (WRYMC) Region 8 and 9 MultiRegion Leadership Conference on January 23-24, at the Golden Gateway Holiday Inn in San Francisco. The Los Angeles Section Younger Member Forums were well represented at the conference. MLAB, OC, and SB/RC taking a group picture on the famous Alcatraz Island. The program began on Friday with a welcome address and general introductions that kicked off the morning sessions, followed by an overview of the organizational structure of ASCE, breakout sessions by region, and the 2009 Business Meeting. The Business Meeting featured quick speeches by candidates for the ASCE President-Elect Position. The day concluded with a Sustainability Forum. The Forum explored what sustainability is, what it is not, and how we achieve it; four speakers presented differing views of sustainability which concluded with a panel discussion and questions from the audience. The Saturday program started with an informal coffee session to get to know the ASCE President-Elect candidates. Breakfast followed with a vision statement from President-Elect Leonard and subsequent sessions to provide feedback on ASCE’s website, and how to get updated information on Raising the Bar. The morning concluded with a professional development session that provided attendees with tips for effective project management. The President’s Lunch followed and featured a CEO Forum. Attendees then took a tour of Alcatraz Island and learned about the seismic retrofit program that is underway to ensure the longevity of the landmark. Inside this issue: President’s Message Community Outreach Events Social Events 3 2-3 8 OC YMF Happy Hour @ BJ’s Technical Field Trips Upcoming Events YMF Board Members List Calendars 12 10 9 9 By: Andrew Pham and Yvette Abdelmalek On Thursday December 4th, OC YMF hosted a happy hour at BJ’s Brewery in the Tustin Marketplace. It was a perfect time to relax after a long day of work and to catch up with fellow civil engineers. We had an amazing turnout, nearly 30 members came out to join us in the festivities. The event lasted for 3 fun filled hours, with everyone enjoying every minute of it. We’d like to thank everyone that came to this event and we hope you had a great time. Please keep your eyes and ears open for upcoming events! OC YMF having a happy time at BJ’s. Page 2 President’s Message Orange County YMF President’s Message When January 1st rolls around every year, people start acting on their New Year’s resolutions. At OC-YMF, we are also carrying the momentum of the New Year and moving forward on the goals that we set out to complete in 2009. At our Officer Retreat this past November in Big Bear, our board laid out their goals and discussed how they would achieve them. In December, we also held an Officer Banquet, where veteran YMF board members talked with the current board about their experiences and how to make the most of YMF. The Western Regional Younger Member Council (WRYMC) Conference this past January in San Francisco also provided our members in attendance with an opportunity to interact with other Young Member Groups around the western U.S. Since then, our board has continued to unselfishly commit their time to make progress on several fronts: Josue Vaglienty, P.E OC YMF President We recently established new relationships with two great volunteer organizations: Orange County Rescue Mission (OCRM) and Corazon. This past December, several members volunteered for OCRM to collect non-perishable food items at local grocery stores. Combined we collected over 1200 lbs of goods that low-income and homeless families desperately need. Ben Stanphill and Bill De Jong are also leading an effort for OC-YMF and EWB-OC to coordinate with Corazon to plan a home-building event for a deserving family in Mexico, sometime in late spring. Chao Yang and Grace Lee (our K-12 Outreach Chairs) are coordinating with MLAB to make sure everything runs smoothly at this year’s Annual Popsicle Stick Bridge Competition at UCLA. We definitely know what is in store for MLAB this coming Engineer’s Week. OCYMF will be at this year’s event to volunteer just as MLAB supported our efforts last year. Our University Outreach has also continued to maintain a strong relationship with our local universities. Marie Trinh, our Student Activities Coordinator, has provided guidance and served as a spokesperson for their students’ efforts to fly their team and equipment to the Pacific Southwest Regional Conference (PSWRC) in Hawaii this April. Our Programs’ Committee has also presented their first Speaker Series event of the year entitled “How to Survive a Recession – Part II”, where guest panelists, from public and private backgrounds, held an interactive session with our members discussing strategies to make it through this economic downturn. Thanks to Brandon Park, Rafael Anaya, Vijay Pampara, and Brian Smolke for their contribution to making this a successful event! We have also seen many new faces at many of the events hosted by our Social Activities Chairs Yvette Abdelmalek and Andrew Pham. Before the end of the year we had an amazing turnout with both our YMF Wine Tasting event in Temecula in November and a happy hour at BJ’s Restaurant in December. Apart from the ever-popular YMF Mammoth Ski-Trip, Andrew and Yvette are also putting together a happy hour/bowling event at Strike in March. Politically, OC-YMF is committed to support ASCE for this year’s Legislative Fly-In event in Sacramento. Rob Henderson, Jeannette Lindemann, and other LA-Section ASCE volunteers will be participating in speaking appointments with members of State Assembly and Senate to convey the importance of investing in our public infrastructure. Hopefully they get a chance to meet the Governator! As always, OC-YMF is looking for individuals to become active in YMF. It is with the energy and commitment of younger members that we keep the momentum going for the rest of 2009. “Architects and engineers are among the most fortunate of men since they build their own monuments with public consent, public approval and often public money” John Prebble 2009 Winter Issue Page 3 San Bernardino & Riverside County YMF President’s Message Ready! Set! Go, 2009! Hello, everyone, and welcome to an exciting year. Our dedicated YMF board has been working hard to plan and organize a wide range of events for YOU, our members. We are committed to the YMF goal of encouraging participation, providing extra room for networking, and creating a stronger link between college students, young engineers, and experienced professionals. Last quarter we began warming up with a PE Booth and Happy Hour Event, an RCP Manufacturing Plant Tour, and now, we are heading at full speed. In January, we had our first general meeting, and also our first joint meeting with the Inland Empire Chapter of Engineers Without Borders. Six Board members, including myself, also had the opportunity to attend WRYMC in San Francisco, cheers to all those who attended! Finally, the month ended with a student outreach event at Ramona High School in Riverside. Around the corner many events are approaching, including a Hockey Night at the newly-built Ontario Arena, a day of Paintball with Cal Poly Pomona students, a tour of Seven Oaks Dam, and much more. Once again, I urge all members to get involved and make new contacts, which one day can become useful in your civil engineering career. So, stay tuned and be on the lookout for our event flyers! Edwin Quinonez, P.E. SB\RC YMF President San Barbara & Ventura County YMF President’s Message With the start of the New Year, we are given an opportunity to reflect on the year past and develop new goals for the months to come. Santa Barbara-Ventura YMF has had an excellent YMF year so far despite the loss of two past officers and original YMF members that moved out of the area at the end of summer. With only two officers remaining, we had to call upon our members for help. Three new officers and one remaining have stepped up to the plate I would like to thank them now for all of their help and leadership they have contributed so far: Vice President - James Winslow, City of Santa Barbara Secretary - Jamie Hutchins, Fugro West Treasurer - Sujin Beck, AECOM First Officer - Adam Hendel, City of Santa Barbara With a new group of officers, we managed to hold a 2-day Camping Trip at Sycamore Campground in late summer. Several members joined the officers for campfires, S’mores, and stories. A fellow YMF officer from LA also spent Saturday night at camp and we exchanged some great ideas and advice for recruitment and gaining support for YMF. We officially kickedoff the Fall season with a very successful general meeting in Carpentaria filled with new faces and fresh new ideas. At that meeting, we unveiled our awesome new T-shirts, which were given away as prizes to the winning team a very competitive Trivia Match. As the year wrapped up, we held several successful events including a Santa Barbara verses Ventura bowling night in Goleta (spring re-match planned for this spring at Golf N’ Stuff) and the annual Holiday Party at the Palms. Four of the five officers just got back from an incredible weekend in San Francisco at the 2009 WRYMC conference. We mingled with other YMF members and brought back great ideas for member recruitment and future events. Now back in So Cal, SBV-YMF is busy getting ready for Engineer’s Week in late February and a Joint YMF Meeting with the other Los Angeles Section Officers to be held in Santa Barbara. YMF has some great outreach activities planned for this spring. Several members have volunteered to present at the Carpentaria High School Career Fair and also to judge both middle and high school level projects at the Ventura County Science Fair. “A good scientist is a person with original ideas. A good engineer is a person who makes a design that works with as few original ideas as possible.” -Freeman Dyson Loree Berry, P.E. SBV-YMF President Page 4 President’s Message Cont. Metropolitan Los Angeles YMF President’s Message This is the first newsletter of 2009 and the Los Angeles Younger Member Forum has a lot to report to our members. The Board of Directors has been hard at work planning K12 outreach events, social and sporting events, and the university student night. The Board also partnered with the Construction Institute to bring their Regional conference to the west coast for the first time. Notable events from the previous quarter include; Diana Turlik, K-12 Outreach Chair hosted a high school outreach presentation to 400 students at Helen Bernstein High School where her panel introduced the students to civil engineering; the MLAB YMF Board partnered with the Construction Institute Younger Member Directorate to plan and host the 2009 Regional Forum in Los Angeles this past January. Read more about the events in this newsletter. Marlon Calderon, P.E MLAB YMF President “I believe that if you show people the problems and you show them the solutions they will be moved to act” -Bill Gates Some events that the Board of Directors has been preparing for the 1st quarter of 2009 include: Francisco Aragon, Popsicle Stick Bridge Competition Chair is diligently working with his committee to host the 15th annual High School competition at UCLA a week prior to e-week; Jose Cruz, Social and Sports Chair coordinated the annual joint younger member trip to Mammoth Lakes for a weekend of skiing and snowboarding; Julie Kentosh and Erik Hoffman, Student Night & Job Fair Co-Chairs are coordinating and planning the student night event for March 6th at the Omni Hotel in downtown Los Angeles; and Lorena Arce, Membership Chair is planning the next General Meeting at ESPN Zone in LA Live on February 12th. Check our website (www.mlab-ymf.org) to find out more about these and other upcoming events. For younger members, this year is unlike any other. For starters, we’re in tough economic times and fellow engineers may be unemployed or concerned about their job security and their future. Secondly, President Obama was elected into office and has repeatedly been quoted to support ASCE’s recommendation to invest in the nation’s infrastructure. Lastly, the $825 billion infrastructure stimulus package recently allocated approximately 5% to the nation’s infrastructure. In the midst of all these life changing events ASCE released the 2009 Report Card for America’s Infrastructures which assigned an overall grade of D to the nation’s infrastructure. What do all these occurrences mean to us as younger members? This can potentially create career building opportunities for those engineers who are prepared. Now, more than ever, because of the challenges and opportunities that lay ahead it is important for you to be involved and connected as a member of ASCE. For MLAB YMF this is not a typical year, per se, we’re striving to keep involved in our profession, community and in local politics. We do not want to be caught unprepared when opportunity knocks. Community Outreach Events Orange County Rescue Mission By: BenStanphill On December 6 , members of the Orange County Young Members Forum woke up early on a Saturday to help collect food for the Orange County Rescue Mission. The Rescue Mission is a resource for the homeless in Orange County. It offers transitional housing for entire families at the Village of Hope in Tustin, emotional support for youth and vocational training at their Mustard Seed Ranch near Warner Springs. OC-YMF was there for a food drive to help supply the Village of Hope. We got to the Village of Hope at 8:30, where the staff issued us fliers and bags to pass out to people as they went into grocery stores around Orange County. Inside the stores, people filled the bags with groceries and as they left they dropped them off with us. We were able to cover two stores, an Albertsons in Santa Ana and a Ralphs in Irvine. It started out kind of slow, as we waited for people to finish shopping, but after the (Continued on page 5) th 2009 Winter Issue Page 5 Orange County Rescue Mission cont. (Continued from page 4) first hour, the pace really picked up. We were amazed at people’s generosity! One woman came up with a whole shopping cart full, said, “Here you go,” and walked off. By then end of three hours we had collected eleven shopping carts full of groceries. Tom, the photographer/ graphic designer from OCRM, came by and snapped some photos of us for their newsletter, so if you check out http://www.rescuemission.org/ you might see us on the internet. Ben Stanphill, Leah Larson and Josue We were all done at the stores by noon, and by Vaglienty helping out. 12:30 we had dropped off our donations at the Rescue Mission. They were really appreciative, but I think that we got more out of it than they did. They got some food, but we got the chance to connect with those less fortunate than us right here in our own county. We’ll be having more community service events throughout the year, but if you have a suggestion, feel free to e-mail me at Ben.Stanphill@gmail.com. If you would like more information about the Orange County Rescue Mission, check out http://www.rescuemission.org for ways to get involved. “Recession is when a neighbor loses his job. Depression is when you lose yours.” -Ronald Regan AVID High School Presentation By: Edwin Quinonez On Friday, January 30, 2009, SB/R YMF members visited Ramona High School to encourage students to attend college and to promote the civil engineering profession. The Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) program is designed to help and increase the number of students who enroll in 4-year colleges, especially those to be the first in their family to attend college. The program features guest speakers from a variety of professions throughout the year and ASCE YMF has become one of the program's regular presenters. YMF members talked about their college experience, why they chose a career in Edwin (Pres.) and Robert (V-Pres) with civil engineering and also gave an overview of the students from AVID High School. type of work they perform as civil engineers. Students were also encouraged to become involved in career related associations, such as ASCE, and why that involvement becomes and important aspect of the college experience. Towards the end of the presentations students had the opportunity to ask general questions about financial aid, scholarships, engineering programs, and much more. Throughout the day we had the chance to present to about 600 students in the AVID program, and we were overwhelmed by the high level of motivation shown by the students. Speaking to high school students is a great way to give back to the community and to promote civil engineering. I strongly urge you to join us and come share your experience on our next AVID event. Students from AVID High School paying close attention to Komy presentation. Page 6 Community Outreach Events cont. YMF Goes Back to High School By: Diana Turlik On Friday, November 14th, the Metropolitan Los Angeles Branch Younger Member Forum hosted this year’s first high school outreach event at Helen Bernstein High School in Hollywood! Helen Bernstein High School is a public school in LAUSD opened in the fall of 2008 as part of the Urban Education Partnership, an organization helping high schools improve academic programs and achievements by developing partnerships with teachers, students, parents and local communities. Helen Bernstein High School is a part of the Urban Education Partnership’s Career Academics, an academic program developed to expose students to specialized careers including, engineering, art, finance, business and more. Marlon Calderon, Francisco Aragon, Julian Garcia, Jinny Huang, Whitman Lam, Heren Molina, Cesar Moran, and Diana Turlik delivered a two and a half hour presentation and trivia game to 400+ junior level students. The presentation focused on Civil Engineering as a profession, highlighting the history and many disciplines of civil engineering. The students were especially intrigued by the construction of the Millau Viaduct of France and the engineering efforts needed to achieve the highest bridge in the world. The event was concluded with a brief summary of job opportunities and skills needed to further educate this young crowd on the possibilities offered in the civil engineering field. We’re sure the students spent their weekend further pursuing their new found interest in civil engineering! “Jobs are disappearing from every sector of the economy, from engineering to health care workers, forcing hundreds of thousands of families into unemployment and low-paying jobs.” -Jerry Costello Elementary Outreach with a Little Help from Curious George By: Roxanne Acosta, CSULA Student Introducing second graders to engineering concepts may not seem like an easy task, but ASCE volunteers from MLAB YMF as well as students from CSULA set off on a mission to do just that. With a little help from the cartoon series of Curious George, volunteers are able to come up with fun and interactive activities for the students to partake in. Curious George’s inquisitiveness of everyday happenings often lead him to a little exploration followed by investigation and mischief, but his adventures always end with a gain of new discoveries and knowledge. On November 21, 2008, we visited Clover Elementary School in West LA. The activity “grouping and graphing” tailored to the Curious George episode “Dog Counter” . Students were put into groups of about six or seven including an ASCE volunteer. The goal for each group was to group and graph as many things possible based on different object characteristics. This included things like their shoes, clothing, likes, dislikes, etc. One of the important objectives of this short lesson was to emphasize the fact that sometimes providing concrete representation of objects may be difficult, so alternative methods such as providing graphs is usually more practical and less troublesome; much like in the case of Curious George. MLAB YMF and CSULA students are on a mission to expose young minds to the world of engineering, and so they plan to continue their mission one classroom at a time. The next Curious George Elementary Outreach event is scheduled to take place in February, so be sure to join us next time. SB\RC YMF Joint Meeting with EWB– Inland Empire Chapter By: Marlin Cruz The January meeting had a great turnout. It was a joint meeting hosted by AECOM (previously known as DMJM+Harris) at their Ontario office. Our speaker, Andrew Bui a Junior Roadway Engineer at AECOM gave an overview of the Engineers Without Borders (EWB) organization in which he’s an active member. He focused on the newly-established Inland Empire Chapter which was launched early last year (2008). He went on to explain that EWB is a non-profit humanitarian organization established to partner with developing (Continued on page 7) 2009 Winter Issue Page 7 SB\RC YMF Joint Meeting with EWB– Inland Empire Chapter cont. (Continued from page 6) communities worldwide in order to improve their quality of life. Project focus is given to implementing sustainability. Equally important EWB provides training to international as well as local national engineering students. One of their international projects is based in Guatemala, Central America. The focal point of this project is to provide the community adequate drinking water, to increase water supply during shortage seasons and finally to find alternative means of water acquisition. EWB – Inland Empire has a deadline to submit their project application this January. They also have a project site assessment early in the summer and their goal is for the project implementation to be carried out in winter of 2009. The main purpose of this meeting was to reach out to the members of ASCE – YMF by educating them on what EWB stands for and what their goals are and hopefully entice other engineers to want to join and become involved with this humanitarian organization. “A good exercise for the heart is to bend down and help another up.” -Anonymous YMF Takes a HomeWalk Around Exposition Park By: Alejandro Moreno On November 15, 2008, the United Way of Greater Los Angeles hosted the 2nd Annual HomeWalk. HomeWalk is a fundraising campaign to prevent and end homelessness in Los Angeles County by hosting a 5K sponsored walk. In HomeWalk08, more than 4,000 walkers participated and raised $500,000. HomeWalk commenced at Exposition Park and it continued around the area. This year’s HomeWalk speakers and participants included: Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky. Liz Cordova, Marlon Calderon and Alex Moreno were fellow YMF’ers that also participated in the event. Liz said, “I thought it was very inspirational to see so many young kids involved and participating in such a great event”. Alex mentioned that it was his first time seeing the Mayor and it was very rewarding to contribute and participate. He wishes more YMF’ers can take part of this amazing event next year. INFRASTRUCTURE WINS ON ELECTION DAY By: Philip D. Johnson, E.I.T., A.M.ASCE Campaigning for Infrastructure The Metro Los Angeles Branch (MLAB) and MLAB YMF Government Affairs Committee, at their October board meeting, discussed several ways to get involved to quickly take advantage of the recent election. Serge Haddad, P.E., M.ASCE suggested a grassroots campaign effort aimed at a local precinct to get the word out for the two largest infrastructure issues on the ballot, Measure R and Proposition 1A. Erik Hoffman, P.E., M.ASCE, Alex Geyer, P.E. M.ASCE and I, along with Serge, created flyers and banners to grab the public’s attention. The flyers were stuck in pocket-sized 2005 Report Card for Los Angeles County Infrastructure. The four of us stood outside of a City of Los Angeles polling location and handed them out to anyone willing to take a look. We received a warm response and several questions about the issues. It is my humble opinion that we changed a few minds right then and there, and seeing how close the results came, I’m certainly glad we were there to make a difference. Measure R The first issue brought to the Government Affairs Committee’s attention was Measure R, the (Continued on page 12) Philip D. Johnson, Serge Haddad, Alex Geyer and Eric Hoffman supporting Measure R and Prop. 1A. Page 8 Conferences 138th Annual Civil Engineering Conference By: Herendira Molina 13 MLAB YMF members and one lucky Cal State LA student (sponsored by MLAB, OC and SB/R YMF) set out on November 5, 2008 to arrive in time for the 138th Annual Civil Engineering Conference that took place in Pittsburgh, PA. With three days filled with workshops, meetings, presentations, networking and social activities there was hardly any time for boredom. The conference took place in the first and largest certified “green” convention center in the world and is the only meeting venue to be awarded the Gold LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) by the U.S. Green Building Council. Thursday morning began bright and early with a 15 minute walk from our hotel to the convention center, followed by registration, a nice continental breakfast and the Younger Member Leadership Symposium (YMLS). The YMLS is a program filled with opportunities for younger members to enhance their professional and interpersonal skills through a variety of workshops, ice breakers, team exercises and presentations. It also includes the Committee on Younger Members year in review, a presentation of the award winning Daniel W. Mead Paper and the opportunity for younger members across the nation to come together to share experiences, and learn from each other. Friday, was filled with sessions such as: K-12 Engineering Education, Engineering Outreach Programs, Engineering Leadership, Risk-Based Future in Civil Engineering, etc. These sessions were then followed by an amazing and inspiring key note speaker, Jason Jennings, Author, Thing BIG-Act Small and a very interesting presentation in Robotics in Civil Engineering by William L. Whittaker, Ph.D, Director, Field Robotics Program, Carnegie Mellon University. Saturday was dedicated to serving the Pittsburgh community. Every year, MLAB YMF makes this a “must attend” event and this year was no exception. We had the opportunity to visit the Bradley Center. The Bradley Center is a behavioral healthcare and child welfare organization that provides comprehensive and caring services to children, youth, and families. Here we helped with a few projects that enhanced and/or improved the condition of the center. This event marked the end of this year’s conference and we could not have asked for a more rewarding way to end yet another amazing conference. Next year’s conference will take place Kansas City, Missouri. “A successful project also results in a stronger utility” -Nancy Woo, Region 9, EPA MLAB YMF Gives Back at ASCE National Conference By: Jose Cruz The ASCE National Conference was more than a learning and networking environment, it was also a place to give back to the community and show that engineers can do more than work in an office. During this conference a group of individuals from around the country got together to share and experience the joy of giving. Approximately 30 volunteers took a bus trip from the city and spent a day at the “Bradley Center,” a housing community dedicated to teaching and caring for children. Upon arrival at the Bradley Center, the volunteers were split into six groups, each with a separate task to improve the children’s daily lives. One of the groups focused on picnic tables. They took apart the existing picnic tables and then reassembled them with new wood, and a fresh coat of paint. One of the facilitators mentioned the children had encountered a watermelon plant growing. So to help them grow different plants, a second group prepared several planting areas. In this same area, an existing gazebo stood. The plan for this gazebo (Continued on page 9) 2009 Winter Issue (Continued from page 8) Page 9 was to remove it in the near future, but in the meantime it was given a small facelift. Bird feeders were painted, and then hung high along with wind chimes. The fourth group brought their construction skills to help in turning one room into a storage room. Several cabinets were installed, and at the end of the day, a new storage room was ready for use. Although each activity was fascinating, the most memorable was the mural. One group took a blank wall inside the building, and turned it into a reflection of Pittsburgh. It looked as though it had taken days to draw and paint, but it was all done in a matter of hours. Finally, the last group was able to interact with the children. Throughout the day different groups of kids were brought in to learn several engineering aspects. Some activities discussed chemistry, while others incorporated structural engineering. This is only a small overview of everyone’s participation. At the end of the day as we drove away from the children’s center, we had only one thing in mind; we had made an impact on someone’s life. One day they would take the time to use their newly painted tables or begin to plant watermelons. We can only imagine the positive impact ASCE had. We, as engineers, took the time to make these improvements; we had taken the time to make a difference. Construction Institute Conference–Leadership for the 21st Century On January 15th and 16th, several members of Los Angeles ASCE Younger Member Forum attended the Construction Institute’s Leadership for the 21st Century seminar hosted at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Los Angeles. The first day of the conference began with a two-hour Q&A with four distinguished members of the Construction institute, Robert Alger, President of The Lane Construction Corporation; Tom Draeger, President of Betchel Construction Operations; Stephen Shive, President of Parsons Construction Group; and Larry Smith, Area Engineer for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer Sacramento District. These four leaders provided insight on how they were able to have distinguished careers in the construction industry and advice to the young engineers in attendance. The lunch program was followed by three additional presentations, Pitfalls of Emails & Field Journals, Schedule Delay Analysis, and P.E. Exam Changes. The day’s true highlight was a job site tour of the Ritz Carlton Hotel at L.A. Live. The tour was given by Webcor Builders, Inc., and included a grand view of downtown LA as observed from the 53rd floor. The attendees also heard from Ryan Wilkerson, who represented the structural engineer of record, Nabih Youssef & Associates. Mr. Wilkerson explained the challenges of design, peer review, and construction of the vertical and horizontal force resisting systems of the structure. The day’s event concluded with a social event at Lucky Strike where attendees were treated to four hours of bowling, food & drink. The second day of the conference began with a detailed presentation of the impact the financial crisis is having on the construction industry by Robert W. Frentzel, Managing Director of The Private Bank. The presentation gave a historical review of the current & past recession of the US Economy. Although the future may seem grim, the reality is that much was accomplished by the previous administration to mitigate the situation and avoid a depression. The presentation was followed by quick presentations on BIM Technology, Open Communications on Construction Projects: Best Practices for the RFI Process, The Link & Impact of Issue Resolutions and Trust on Major Construction projects, Using Technology to Reduce Project Risk. Each of the foregoing presentations provided much insight into the construction industry and what each of us can do or learn in order to become better construction managers and engineers in general. “Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it” -Dwight D. Eisenhower Page Social Events Wine Tasting in Temecula By: Andrew Pham On November 15th 2008, a group of 38 Orange County and Riverside YMF members took a trip to the wineries in Temecula. Our first stop was at Callaway Vineyard & Winery where we tried exotic wines from their exclusive winery. Their large tasting room was perfect to facilitate our large group in comfort. After sampling wines at Callaway, we headed over to Ponte. At Ponte, we tried their wines while munching on their complimentary pita chips. Both Ponte and Callaway are new wineries that our ASCE group did not visit last year and based on the responses, it seem like everyone enjoyed both wineries. For Lunch, we had Maurice Car’rie Winery’s signature bread. We had to get 10 big loaves to feed a hungry crowd of 38 starving wine tasters. After a big meal it was on to wine tasting again. After sampling the wines at Maurice Car’rie, he headed over to Longshadow. We all enjoyed the “barnyard” feel of Longshadow as we observed the barn animals and listened to the barn music. Once we left Longshadow to head home from a wonderful day of wine tasting, our bus adventure began. The Corona and Brea wildfires closed the 91 and 57 freeways. After dropping of the Riverside group in Corona, we were essential puzzled for a route home. We ended up taking the 71 to the 60 to the 605 to the 405 to get back to Irvine. What was supposed to be a 45 minute drive took over 4 hours in bumper to bumper traffic. Some took this long bus ride to be a great networking opportunity, others took it as a way to catch up on their sleep. Even with the long bus ride home, we are confident to say that this trip was overall a fun trip. Thank you to all of you that attended this event. All you guys made it a fun trip! To those that did not attend this year’s trip, we hope to see you next year! “Wine is constant proof that God loves us and loves to see us happy” -Benjamin Franklin OC and LA YMF HOLIDAY BOAT PARADE POTLUCK By: Jeannette Lindemann On Saturday December 20, 2008 approximately 18 OC and LA YMF members, friends and family gathered at ASCE Life Member Forum members Ted and Ruth McConville’s house, in Balboa Island to enjoy the 9th YMF Newport Beach Holiday Boat Parade Potluck. This was also the 100th anniversary of the parade which added to the celebration. It was a clear, chilly night filled with a fantastic display of lights, plenty of festive food and camaraderie; which was a great start of a holiday break for many in the group. Unwrapped toys were collected for “Toys for Tots” and were donated to a local fire house to help spread the holiday cheer to underprivileged children. 2009 Winter Issue Page 11 Rialto Concrete Products Manufacturing Plant Tour By: Edwin Quinonez On Friday, December 12, 2008, members of the San Bernardino and Riverside Counties YMF toured the manufacturing plant owned and operated by Rialto Concrete Products, in Rialto, CA. The tour provided an excellent opportunity to get a first-hand look at the manufacturing process for reinforced concrete pipes (RCP) and precast box culverts (RCB). The tour began with the construction of an RCB section, as shown in the photo below. The prefabricated reinforcing steel cage first sits on a plate, which is then covered with the steel box form and transported to the concrete pouring station. Fresh concrete is poured into the box form using a mechanical arm with a conveyor belt attached to transfer the concrete from the mixing station. After the concrete pouring, the box is transferred back to its original location and the box form is lifted. The finished surface of the box then undergoes minor touch-ups and the box is finally set aside to cure. The next stop on the tour was the fabrication of RCP sections, beginning with the slicing and welding of rolled-up reinforcing steel mesh. The cylindrical reinforcing cages are then placed inside the pipe outer form. Concrete is fed into the form and compressed radically using a revolving mechanism. Once the pipe is complete the form is immediately stripped and the pipe section is moved to the side for curing. Our last stop was the pipe D-load testing equipment which essential to the plant’s quality control program. The D-load test is used to determine the strength of the pipe by testing it under strenuous loading conditions where there is no bedding and no lateral support. Finally, the D-load test was performed and there were no visible cracks, as expected. Thanks Rialto Concrete Products for the excellent tour! Congratulations to Mario Lomeli for winning the Young Engineer of the Year Award -OC Branch LA Kings Hockey Night By: Jose Cruz, E.I.T. On December 29, 2008, MLAB YMF brought twenty individuals together to enjoy a game of hockey. The team we rooted for; the Los Angeles Kings. There is nothing more exciting than the atmosphere of a sports game in person. The fans make the event more enjoyable. Each person was there for a different purpose. Some were dedicated fans, others wanted to enjoy the company of friends and others were there solely for the excitement of the sport. One thing is sure, all who were there enjoyed the game. The first two quarters kept everyone in suspense. The scored remained 0-0. It wasn't until the third quarter when the opposing team, the Bluejackets, scored their first goal. The Kings fought back but after a power play was awarded to the Bluejackets, the score was now 0-2. For those of you that follow sports, hope was not lost. The Kings fans and all 20 people of our group cheered and waited for their team to make a dramatic comeback. The Los Angeles Kings made a substitution and removed the goalie for a better chance at scoring, but it failed, and a third goal was scored by the Bluejackets. Although the team we cheered for did not win, our group enjoyed the game. Everyone walked out of the game disappointed in the loss, but happy as they were satisfied with an enjoyable time. We expect to do it again, and continue to bring others to not only hockey games but other sporting events as well, as Los Angeles presents itself as a world-class arena for several professional sports teams. Los Angeles Kings vs. Columbus Blue Jackets Page Upcoming Events (Continued from page 7) “-little glory is given to those whose take care of infrastructure business” -Gerry Galloway- half-cent sales tax increase proposed by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) to bring much needed funding to Los Angeles County infrastructure projects. Metro set forth five goals to achieve with the funding brought by Measure R: expansion of Metro’s rail systems, completion of street improvement programs, reduction of traffic, continued and expanded public transportation, and to positively impact the quality of life of Los Angeles County. Thirteen rail projects and fifteen highway improvement projects will benefit from Measure R, as well as a host of other transportation infrastructure programs proposed by Metro. Metro also boasts an increase in jobs due to the implementation of Measure R. To achieve funding for its goals, Measure R authorizes Metro to levy all retail transactions and use tax (sales tax) of one-half of one percent (0.5 cents on the dollar) for 30 years beginning the first day of the first calendar quarter after adoption. This tax is in addition to all other taxes currently levied. Funds obtained by the tax will be independently audited and carry public disclosures and review of its expenditures. Proposition 1A Proposition 1A, The Safe, Reliable High-Speed Train Bond Act, is the next step toward making the visions of the California High Speed Rail Authority a reality. The goal of the act is to provide long-distance commuters with a sensible alternative transportation solution to driving or flying. In doing so, the demand for highway capacity is reduced as well as capacity demand at California airports. And by pulling cars off the road and cutting regional flights, emissions by these vehicles is reduced while also helping to reduce the dependence of Californians on foreign oil. Proposition 1A allows the State to issue General Obligation (GO) bonds in the amount of $9.95 billion to establish a high-speed train network linking the San Francisco Bay and Sacramento/San Joaquin Valley at the northern end to Southern California counties. The GO bonds will be repaid from the State’s General Fund at an estimated annual cost of $647 million over 30 years. Los Angeles County Election Results With 100 percent of precincts reporting, the County of Los Angeles Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk Election Results show that 1,922,453 of 4,111,642 ballots were cast in support of Measure R, squeaking by the required 66.67 percent (two-thirds) by 0.84 percent, or 34,538 votes. Support for Proposition 1A was sounder with 1,594,943 ballots cast in support (55.16 percent). State of California Election Results Also reporting 100 percent of precincts, the Secretary of State’s office reports that 6,135,229 ballots were cast in support of Proposition 1A, or 52.4 percent. Proposition 3 (Children’s Hospital Bond Act. Grant Program. Initiative Statue.) was another infrastructure initiative on the ballot, and was approved with 6,394,197 votes, or 54.9 percent A Brighter Future for Infrastructure Measure R will bring much needed transportation infrastructure to all Los Angeles County residents, and to those from around the world that come to visit. We are coming closer to advancing the mobility and The County’s funding for transportation infrastructure projects is now secure, able to generate an estimated $40 billion over 30 years at an annual cost per person of a paltry $25. Proposition 1A will push California to the future with a sensible alternative for long commutes, create jobs, and reduce our carbon footprint. Monies from the State’s General Fund will be used to pay for the project, leaving revenues from the gasoline tax to be used for other critical transportation infrastructure projects. Thanks to the Government Affairs Committee’s efforts to bring infrastructure to the doorstep of the general public, Los Angeles County and the State of California will be able to usher in a new era of infrastructure for ourselves and our posterity. Resources County of Los Angeles Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk Elections Results Webpage accessed via the Internet November 18, 2008 at http://rrccmain.co.la.ca.us/ Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) Measure R Information Guide accessed via the Internet November 18, 2008 at http://www.metro.net/measurer/images/ information_guide.pdf State of California Official Voter Information Guide for the Tuesday, November 4, 2008 General Election accessed via the Internet November 18, 2008 at http://www.voterguide.sos.ca.gov/ State of California Secretary of State Election Results Webpage accessed via the Internet November 18, 2008 at http://vote.sos.ca.gov/ 2009 Winter Issue Page 13 Student Night Job Fair By: Eric Hoffman Ladies and gentlemen, knock that dust off of your finest attire and join MLAB YMF for what is to be the most remarkable soiree of the year. Annually we reserve one special evening to honor the finest students found anywhere at our Student Night Job Fair. This year the event will once again be held in the vibrant heart of Southern California - Downtown Los Angeles. The Omni Hotel will be the locale, and the event is scheduled to run from 4:30 pm to 9:00 pm on March 6, 2009, so block out the time on your Outlook/Blackberry/Google/Paper(do they still exist?) calendar's) and plan to attend. This leads to the most critical aspect of the evening, which is YOU! Without you and your company’s or agency’s involvement, none of this would be possible. The success of this noble cause is completely reliant on the sponsorship of the civil engineering community, whose benevolence drew us to the industry in the first place. Even in hard times, we know the engineering spirit will persevere; it has to, the United States of America depends upon it. New light has come in an infrastructure heavy stimulus package, and the students we honor on the 6th will be the project managers of your companies tomorrow. Please visit our website, www.mlabymf.org for more information on how to register and details of the event. Please feel free to contact me (erik.hoffman@hmcc.us) with any questions and I look forward to seeing you there. Page 10 2008-2009 Executive Board Members & Committee Chairs Metropolitan Los Angeles Branch YMF Position President Name Marlon Calderon, P.E. Cesar Moran, P.E. Herendira Molina Amber Girard Chen-Min (George) Huang Jinny Huang Jose Cruz Paul Garcia Lorena Arce, P.E. Van Truong Lizbeth Cordova, P.E. Julie Kentosh Erik Hoffman Edith Flores Alex Moreno Julia Moye Diana Turlik Jeff Girard Francisco Aragon, P.E. Darwin Vargar Company City of LA. Bureau of Engineering Psomas E-mail Marlon.calderon@lacity.org Cmoran@psomas.com Phone 213-473-6233 310-954-3774 323-256-2600 310-491-0810 213-202-5589 626-568-6076 818-251-1200 213-228-8264 918-459-1869 626-458-7824 626-458-4921 310-458-9916 213-859-3430 626-340-9608 310-648-6192 213-978-2072 818-227-2790 818-808-7326 213-389-2052 805-379-9247 For more information check out the MLAB YMF website!!! Past-President LA Section Liaison President-Elect Vice President PPC Construction, Inc. Heren.molina@ppcco.net CH2M HILL City of LA, Bureau of Engineering MWH Hall & Foreman, Inc. CH2M HILL Hilti, Inc. LA County Depart of Public LA County Depart of Public Fehr & Peers Hoffman Management & Construction Co Civil Engineering Consultant City of LA, Bureau of Engineering City of LA, Bureau of Engineering Kimley-Horn & Associates, Inc. NDS, Inc. HNTB/LAUSD Caltrans agirard@ch2m.com George.huang@lacity.org Jinny.c.huang@mwhglobal.com jcruz@hfinc.com Paul.Garcia@ch2m.com Lorena Arce@hilti.com Vtruong@ladpw.gov lcordova@ladpw.gov J.kentosh@fehrandpeers.com Erik.hoffman@hmcc.us eflores25@yahoo.com Alejandro.moreno@lacity.org Julia.moye@lacity.org Diana.turlik@kimley-horn.com jeffgirard@ndspro.com Francisco.aragon@lausd.net Darwin.vargas@dot.ca.gov www.mlab-ymf.org Secretary Treasurer Social & Sport Chair For more information check out the OC YMF website!!! University Outreach Membership Chair Historian www.oc-ymf.org PERC Chair SN/JF Co-Chair For more information check out the SB/RC YMF website!!! SN/JF Co-Chair Community Service Community Service www.asce-sbrymf.org Scholarship K-12 For more information check out the SB/VC YMF website!!! Government Affairs Popsicle Stick Bridge Prof. Association Liaison www.sbvasce-ymf.org President Vice President Secretary Treasurer Social Director San Barbara\Ventura Branch YMF Loree Berry James Winslow Jamie Hutchins Sujin Beck Adam Hendel Fugro West, Inc. City of Santa Barbara Fugro West, Inc. AECOM City of Santa Barbara lberry@fugro.com jwinslow@santabarbaraca.gov jhutchins@furgo.com Sujin.beck@aecom.com ahendel@santabarbaraca.gov 805-650-7000 805-564-5371 805-650-7000 Southern San Joaquin Branch YMF President Vice President Past President Secretary Amanda Bucio David Horwath Roderick Marcia Josh Champlin Kennedy/Jenks Co. Stantenc Consulting AECOM Stantec Consulting 2009 Winter Issue Page 15 Orange County Branch YMF Position President Past-President LA Section Liaison Vice President Student Activities Secretary SWE LIaison Treasurer Social Co-Chairs Sport Co-Chair Membership Chair Website Chair Programs Chair Fundraising Chair P.E. Review Course Community Service K-12 EWB Liaison Name Josue Vaglienty, P.E. Mario Lomeli Marie Trinh Jeannette Lindemann Brian Smolke, P.E. Andrew Pham Yvette Abdelmalek Tyler Whaley Jessica Cassman Brandon Park, P.E. Tori Yokoyama, P.E. Rob Henderson, P.E. Edelyne Miguel Ben Stanphill Chao-Chun Yang Grace Lee Bill De Jong Company RBF Consulting Jacobs Engineering Jacobs Engineering Engineering Consultant OCTA City of Irvine HNTB Kimley-Horn & Associates RBF Consulting Jacobs Engineering RBF Consulting CH2MHill CH2MHill LFR Penco Engineering Jacobs Engineering RBF Consulting San Bernardino\Riverside Branch YMF President President-Elect Past President Webmaster Vice President Secretary Treasurer SB/RC Newsletter Editor Activities Chair Historian Recruiting Officer Practitioner Advisor #1 Practitioner Advisor #2 Event Coordinator Community Service Chair Technical Tour Advisor Temecula Area YMF Field Representative Edwin Quinonez, P.E. Scott Petersen Komy Ghods, P.E. Robert Vasquez Cristina Duran Helio Takano Marlin Cruz Miguel Gaytan Rosendo Saldivar Mai Son Hilal Elhaddad Julianna Gonzalez Cassie Cerin Albert Martinez, P.E. Mark Doty Riverside County Flood Adams Streeter Civil Eng Riverside County Flood Control Riverside County Flood DMJM Harris Riverside County Flood DMJM Harris Albert A Webb Assoc Albert A. Webb Assoc Riverside County Flood Albert A. Webb Assoc. Riverside County Flood eequinonez@rcflood.org spetersen@adams-streeter.com krghods@rcflood.org revasquez@rcflood.org Cristina.duran@jmjmharris.com hkatano@rcflood.org marlinc124@yahoo.com Miguel.gaytan@webbassociates.com 951-955-1917 951-352-4100 951-955-1326 951-955-8438 909-291-8150 951-955-1348 714-567-2501 951-686-1071 Rosendo.saldivar@webbassociates.com 951-686-1071 mtson@rcflood.org Hilal.Elhaddad@webbassociates.com juliannagonzalez@rcflood.org 951-955-5418 951-686-1071 951-955-8064 951-782-0941 951-955-2511 951-676-8042 Kimley-Horn & Associates Cassie.cerin@kimley-horn.com Riverside County Flood RBF Consulting amart@rcflood.org mdoty@rbf.com Calendars February Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 MLAB YMF– General Meeting @ ESPN ZONE 13 15th Annual Popsicle Stick Bridge Contest @UCLA 14 15 16 17 OC YMF-Board Mtg @ RBF 6pm Irvine 18 MLAB YMF-Board Mtg @ LADPW 6:30-8:30pm 19 OC Annual Awards Dinner @ Costa Mesa Hilton 6-9pm 20 21 OC-YMF Community Service @ Santiago Park 9am-Noon 22 23 24 25 26 27 SB/RC-YMF Hockey Night @ Ontario at 7pm 28 March Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1 2 SB/RC YMF-Board Mtg 3 4 5 6 Student Night & Job Fair @ OMNI Hotel 4:30-9pm 7Life Member Bruch 11am-2pm SB/RC YMF Paintball @ SC Village at 7:30am-3:30pm 14 8 9 10 11 12 13 15 16 17 OC YMF-Board Mtg @ RBF 6pm Irvine 18 MLAB YMF-Board Mtg @ LADPW 6:30-8:30pm 19 OC-YMF Happy Hour @ The Strike Tustin @ 6pm 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 April Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1 2 3 4 5 6 SB/RC YMF-Board Mtg 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 OC YMF-Board Mtg @ RBF 6pm Irvine 15 MLAB YMF-Board Mtg @ LADPW 6:30-8:30pm 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 PE EXAM 25 PE & EIT EXAM For extended calendar of events, please visit the ASCE Los Angeles Section website at www.ascelasection.org To advertise with us please contact Rocio Duran at rduran129@hotmail.com, or 714-614-0727