As we write this, it’s mid-August and all is relatively calm on the political front—“relatively” being the operative term, after a July marked by one seismic political event after another. We’re now looking ahead to fall and a Donald Trump versus Kamala Harris general election that as of today is a coin flip.
ACEC was on the ground in Milwaukee and Chicago for the Republican and Democratic National Conventions, meeting with lawmakers and making the case for the essentiality of engineering. With both the White House and Congress at stake in November, we’re leaving nothing to chance (see here).
Outside of the Washington political bubble, the business of engineering goes on. This summer, we launched our Market Intelligence Committee, which is charged with tracking and identifying key market trends in the public and private sectors. We also formalized the Engineering Workforce Consortium, a federation of the nation’s leading engineering organizations working together to tackle our industry’s continued labor shortage. A key component of the Consortium’s work is attracting young talent. To that end, the ACEC Research Institute announced in July that nearly 100 scholarships had been awarded to outstanding engineering students.
These initiatives all represent ways we continue to move the ball, independent of politics.
Our Engineering Inc. cover feature spotlights this year’s presidential election and details where Trump and Harris stand on various business issues of importance to our industry (see here). We also discuss how ACEC’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging Committee is helping member firm employees take their leadership paths to the next level (see here).
In June, the Engineering and Public Works Roadshow stopped in South Jordan, Utah, to highlight the Pure SoJo water recycling demonstration project, an innovative water purification facility that cleans reclaimed water so it meets drinking water standards and removes so-called forever chemicals (see here).
By the time you read this, our Fall Conference in New Orleans will have wrapped. We’re going to make the not-at-all bold prediction that it was a fantastic event and that it was great to see everyone in the Big Easy. Thank you to everyone who joined us. We may set the stage for these conferences, but it’s your input and participation that really drive the show.
Dr. Gary W. Raba, PEACEC Chair
Linda Bauer DarrACEC President & CEO
