CEE welcomed our first guest speaker for the Leslie A. and Dennis J. Drag Distinguished Lecture Series in Civil Engineering, ASCE President Kristina Swallow. Held on Friday, November 17, 2017 in 3400 Boelter Hall, President Swallow presented an inspiring lecture on Engineering the Future. With an expanding global population, we must take care of aging infrastructure to meet current needs, and at the same time, move it into the future with new technologies and capabilities that will enable us to combat the problems of tomorrow. In this presentation, President Swallow shared how we need to prepare future civil engineers to meet these challenges.

The lecture was followed by a reception, where Professor and Chair Jonathan Stewart presented an update on the CEE department. Leslie and Dennis Drag, the sponsors for the lecture series, joined Stewart in presenting a plaque to President Swallow. Finally, Dean Jayathi Murthy gave remarks to conclude the event.

As the oldest engineering society in the United States, ASCE represents 150,000 members in 177 countries. ASCE stands at the forefront of a profession that plans, designs, constructs, and operates society’s economic and social engine – the built environment – while protecting and restoring the natural environment.

President Kristina Swallow explained the leading role of ASCE in advancing the civil engineering profession. She also touched on the following strategic focus areas of ASCE:

Sustainable Infrastructure– Maintain and modernize America’s deteriorating infrastructure as well as make our communities sustainable

ASCE Grand Challenge– Significantly enhance the performance and value of infrastructure projects over their life cycles by 2025 and optimize investments

Raise the Bar– Increase education requirements for engineering licensure to better protect the public in the future