More than 1,000 members attended ACEC’s Fall Conference in New Orleans in October. The four-day event was packed with business education sessions and networking opportunities, and it featured leading-edge keynote speakers.
Two former members of Congress, John Katko (R-N.Y.) and Cheri Bustos (D-Ill.), offered their perspectives on the presidential election. At the time, they believed it would be a close race.
In her Board of Directors report, ACEC President and CEO Linda Bauer Darr recognized the ACEC Louisiana team for their hugely successful Engineering and Public Works Roadshow event, held at the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway West Closure Complex in the New Orleans metropolitan area the day before the conference. She noted the topicality of the project, which serves as a barrier to help protect low-lying areas around New Orleans from the impacts of catastrophic weather events. Pointing to the horrific scenes that have dominated airwaves in the aftermath of Hurricanes Helene and Milton, Darr stated that the engineering industry will play a critical role in rebuilding those ravaged communities and creating solutions that will save lives and property in the future.
“That’s what our industry does,” she said. “Roadshow events like the one yesterday enable us to tell that story, to tell your story.”
More Conference highlights follow.
The ACEC Research Institute unveiled the findings of its 2024 Economic Assessment of the Engineering and Design Services Industry. Now in its fifth year, this report—and its accompanying forecast—is produced to highlight the outsized role the engineering industry plays in the overall U.S. economy.
The industry added $656 billion to the U.S. GDP in 2023, sup ported well over 5 million jobs directly or indirectly, and con tributed nearly $92 billion to federal tax coffers and almost $44 billion in state and local taxes.
The event was moderated by Institute Chair Mike Carragher. Senior Research Consultant Joe Bates and Jon Gray with Rockport Analytics unveiled the results, which pointed to continued steady growth for the industry. The engineering and design services industry has continued to build on its year-over-year post- COVID-19 gains, growing 5.5 percent in 2023 to $436 billion, with much of that growth driven by infrastructure proj ects. The forecast points to an average annual growth of 3.6 percent per year through 2029 (click Institute for more information).
Astrophysicist and former Space Science Education Lead Dr. Hakeem Oluseyi greeted the roomful of engineering professionals with, “Good morning, fellow nerds,” setting the stage for an address that was equal parts inspirational and hilarious. He began with a metaphor about quantum physics, namely that initial conditions don’t define outcome. It’s widely accepted social science that economic and educational factors surrounding children determine their future prospects. But, Oluseyi declared, it’s not necessarily so. Demography doesn’t always have to be destiny.
The internationally renowned scientist then began his life story. Raised in deep poverty, Oluseyi moved every year for a decade, each time to one of the most economically ravaged parts of the Deep South. By the time he landed in rural Mississippi, two sets of circumstances had converged. The first was that Oluseyi had become more deeply involved in his father’s “business,” about which he joked that his late parent would be “happy to know is now legal in 35 states.”
The second was that he “fell in love with nature.” Oluseyi joked that he was “born a nerd” and that his love of books began at an early age.
Oluseyi continued to lead a double life—relaxing after a day spent packaging drugs by reading the entire collection of World Book encyclopedias. When he reached the letter “E,” that’s when life began to change. “I ran into this dude,” Oluseyi said, pointing to a photo on the screen. That “dude” was Albert Einstein, whose work inspired the 10-year-old Oluseyi to “master relativity.”
From that moment, a new trajectory was created, helped along by what he called “hustle, hope, and help.” The first in his family to graduate high school, Oluseyi found himself at Tougaloo College in Jackson, Mississippi. Homeless for his first two summers, he began working as a research assistant at the University of Georgia in Athens. Recognizing his brilliance, a series of mentors steered Oluseyi toward graduate school. The kid from the worst high school in the poorest part of the poorest state in America was accepted to Stanford University.
For more than a decade, Didem Ün Ates has been at the forefront of the creation of generative AI. At the same time, she has been one of the industry’s most forceful and passionate voices in favor of the technology being used and applied responsibly.
Ün Ates began her presentation with an overview of AI: what it is, how it came about, and how it continues to evolve.
But artificial generative AI is a whole other ballgame, as algorithms become more intelligent and begin to mimic more closely human cognitive and creative abilities. On the question of when—not whether, but when—generative AI will surpass humans, Ün Ates said, “We used to say around 2040. I think it’s closer—more like a couple of years. That’s why there’s no way to go back.”
She said the most important takeaway for attendees is to prepare their workforces to navigate this changed AI-driven landscape. It’s a nearly universal oversight among businesses, she said. “Very few [companies] are doing something with talent, which to me is very scary.”
By 2030, it is expected that 30 percent of hours worked will be automated. The future will belong to those who learn to leverage AI, and who take advantage of that extra time to reskill and upskill.
“Blocking employees from AI is not a strategy for survival. Look at talent transformation,” she said, “And start with yourself.”
2024 DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARDS
Lisa Brothers, Nitsch Engineering, Boston
Lauren Evans, Pinyon Engineering, Lakewood, Colorado
2024 NEW COLLEGE OF FELLOWS INDUCTEES
Ed D. Alizadeh, UES, St. Louis
Doug R. Alvine, Alvine Engineering, Omaha, Nebraska
Terry Atkins, Lamp Rynearson, Inc., Omaha, Nebraska
Eric Burke, Moffatt & Nichol, Richmond, Virginia
Robert Burkholder, Clark Nexsen, Virginia Beach, Virginia
Matt Crafton, Crafton Tull, Rogers, Arkansas
Shahin Hekmat, Chen Moore and Associates, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
John Kissinger, GRAEF, Milwaukee
Daniel Larson, AET, Inc., St. Paul, Minnesota
Daniel Meckes, Crawford, Murphy & Tilly, Inc., St. Louis
Jeffrey D. Meiter, Valued Engineering, Inc., Upland, California
Jeffrey S. Mulliken, Carolina Transportation Engineers & Associates, PC, Easley, South Carolina
James K. O’Connor, JMT, Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina
Karlene Thomas, Pinyon Environmental Inc., Lakewood, Colorado
2024 COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD
Michael P. Senger, HEAPY Engineering, Inc., Dayton, Ohio
2024 COALITIONS AWARD
Dave Mykins, Lynch Mykins Structural Engineers (DMW Engineering, PLLC), Raleigh, North Carolina
2024 ACEC YOUNG PROFESSIONAL OF THE YEAR AWARDS
(Click here to read more about this year’s Young Pros)
Sarah Carroll, Creighton Manning, a GAI Company, Syracuse, New York
Alison Love, STV, Boston
Samantha Miller, CHA Consulting, Inc., Syracuse, New York
Melissa Pennington, Halff, Tallahassee, Florida
Tevis Holzer (Named Young Professional of the Year), Banner Associates, Brookings, South Dakota
2024 QBS AWARD WINNERS
City of San Diego
Lester Fukuda, Kaula AE LLC (Retired), Honolulu
John Dugan, Haley & Aldrich (Retired), Hartford, Connecticut
2024 ACEC RESEARCH INSTITUTE SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS
Scan the following QR code to see the complete list of 2024 scholarship recipients, who embody academic excellence and represent engineering’s future leaders.
ACEC/PAC FALL CONFERENCE SWEEPSTAKES WINNERS
The $10,000 sweepstakes winner is Sri Chakravarthy, Kimley-Horn, Los Angeles. The winner of $7,500 is Dylan Douglas, JT Engineering, Hobart, Wisconsin. The following individuals won $5,000: Michael Bougher, Stantec, Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania; David Rancman, H2R Corp., Pinellas Park, Florida; and Sandy Brodahl, HWA GeoSciences, Inc., Bothell, Washington.
The following individuals were winners of $2,500: Helena Murvosh, CA Group, Las Vegas; Gregory DeSart, Geotechnical and Environmental Services (GES), Las Vegas; and Lora Rinaldi, HVEA, Chestnut Ridge, New York.
Ten members were winners of $1,000: Joshua Grenzsund, DOWL, Redmond, Washington; Michael Garrison, BGE, Inc., Frisco, Texas; John Paul Cunningham, HDR, White Plains, New York; Bryan Bross, Klingner & Associates, Burlington, Iowa; Andrew Haines, Jacobs, Phoenix; Whitney Stevens, Black & Veatch, Riverview, Florida; Monica Silver, Cobb, Fendley & Associates, Houston; Matthew Richards, Strand Associates, Madison, Wisconsin; Ralph Guida, GUIDA, Irvine, California; and JW Hunter, Chen Moore and Associates, Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
The sudden death of Sebastian Terry’s closest childhood friend at the age of 25 created a grief so profound that he looked for something—anything—that would help ease his pain. From that grief came a list of 100 things Terry wanted to do before he died: the ultimate bucket list. This movement changed his life and has changed countless other lives as well.
Terry realized that while his late friend had lived a life full of purpose and absent of regret, he could not say the same of his own life. Within this list were 100 tasks and experiences—some deeply personal, some silly—that he decided were, for him, the building blocks of a purposeful existence. In so doing, he also created a movement driven by purpose, connection, expression, and agency. In giving voice to our dreams, he said, we make them real. But what is most important is remembering that we don’t have to wait.
The financial collapse of 2008 cost American households an estimated $16 trillion in wealth; one-quarter of U.S. households lost at least 75 percent of their net worth. James Lawrence, the record smashing extreme endurance athlete, delivered a presentation on how losing it all as a mortgage broker led him to a new path that was completely different—and far more rewarding—than anything he’d done before.
Raised in Calgary, Alberta, Lawrence’s first foray into pursuing records was in his 20s during the Calgary Stampede. This was a time when he was trying to figure out his life and took on the challenge of sitting on a Ferris wheel throughout the entire 10-day stampede. Lawrence watched others attempt the challenge but leave because “They weren’t comfortable having conversations with themselves.” That was a revelation: that mental toughness matters and that it’s a muscle that can be built like any other. Lawrence won the contest—but learned that he’d been fired from his job.
Lawrence would go on to begin intensive training to break records and raise money for causes important to him. One challenge was to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa. At a base camp, he met a group of veterans and mentioned how badly his legs were hurting. It was only after he said it that he realized one of the veterans was missing a leg. From that moment, he decided to keep a smile on his face until he reached the summit.
Lawrence’s lesson—in sport and in life—is to get out of both our comfort zones and our own heads. “Say ‘yes’ to things that are uncomfortable. Find your passion. Don’t wait for it to find you.”
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