ASCE Los Angeles Section 2024 Awards & Officer Installation
We look forward to hosting you at the ASCE Los Angeles Section 2024 Awards Event and Officer Installation on Saturday, September 28th from 11:00am-2:00pm at City Club LA in beautiful Los Angeles! ASCE is honored to award the best projects and individuals from our profession throughout the LA Section covering over 8,000 Civil Engineers and 7 Counties! Join us for a memorable awards banquet. Complimentary professional headshots will be included.
Keynote Speaker:
Crystal Lee, Deputy Executive Director, LAWA
Crystal Lee has worked for the City of Los Angeles for over 17 years. She currently leads The Development Group’s Shared Services team at Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA). Prior to joining LAWA, she worked at the Bureau of Engineering and was the first female District Engineer at the Department. After her promotions to Harbor District Office, she launched into the position of Deputy City Engineer, over the Development Services and Permits Program. Lee was the youngest female Deputy Engineer to hold the position.
During her City of L.A. tenure, Lee also worked for the Harbor Department, as a project manager overseeing multi-million-dollar programs. In this role, she mentored student engineers and young associates.
Miss Lee is enthusiastic about coaching young individuals and encouraging enthusiastic, up-and-coming engineers to give a realistic view of life in the professional industry. She embraces both a large-scale strategic view, as well as being attentive to the detailed elements. She considers technical and soft skill perspective to be a successful, well-rounded engineer. Miss Lee attended University of California, Irvine, California State University at Long Beach, and Loyola Marymount University, to obtain her bachelors and Master’s in Civil Engineering. In addition to her Professional Engineering license and Master’s degree, she is S.H.R.M certified, ENV-SP certified, PMP trained, and aims to continue learning. She participates in several community groups, professional societies and technical programs to develop and share professional development and wisdom, with the hopes of bettering the community.
Closing Speaker:
Evelyn Cortez-Davis, Chief of Staff for the Water System. Los Angeles Department of Water and Power
Evelyn Cortez-Davis, P.E., BCEE is the Chief of Staff for the Water System at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, the largest municipal utility in the USA. She has over 30 years of water industry experience in the areas of engineering design, planning, pipeline construction, asset management, water operations, recycled water, water supply, conservation, groundwater remediation, and environmental compliance. As Chief of Staff supporting LADWP’s Chief Executive Officer and Chief Engineer, Evelyn supports Department-wide strategic initiatives, including enterprise performance management, process improvements, sustainability initiatives, equity strategies, and culture management. In her most recent prior role, she was the first Latina to serve as LADWP Director of Water Engineering, overseeing the planning, design, and delivery of major infrastructure projects to supply reliable water to the 4 million people of the City of Los Angeles. She has also served as the Assistant Director of Water Resources and was the first woman to serve as Assistant Director of Water Operations. She has served on the Colorado River Board of California, on the Board of Directors of the National Water Research Institute, and on the Board of Trustees of WateReuse California. A first-generation immigrant from El Salvador, Evelyn earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Civil Engineering from UCLA. She is a registered Civil Engineer in California and is a Board Certified Environmental Engineer.
Date & Time:
Saturday, September 28, 2024
11:00am-2:00pm
Location:
City Club LA
555 Flower Street #51st Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90071
Registration:
Become a Sponsor:
https://www.ascelasection.org/sponsorships
Welcome from the ASCE Los Angeles Section Board
Having returned from the ASCE Convention held in Chicago October 18-21st, I feel INSPIRED to continue to lead efforts as your 2023-24 ASCE LA Section President to support the needs of membership. The entire spectrum of ASCE LA Section members from students to life members were well represented at the Convention. Conversations with attendees from other parts of California, Seattle, St. Louis, Washington DC, Tucson, New York, and even Vienna, Austria were focused on topics such as workforce challenges and solutions, resiliency of existing and future infrastructure, and integrating the internet of things (IoT) in construction.
October also kicked off a new year for the Section’s new 2023-24 Section Executive Officers. Joining me this year are:
Ruwanka Purasinghe – President-Elect
Kelsie Anderson – Treasurer
Jorge Vanegas-Moran – Secretary
Melissa Barbosa – Past-President
Although our respective positions did not officially begin until October 1st, we hit the ground running with planning for our annual ASCE Los Angeles Awards & Officer Installation held in Newport Beach on September 30th. By our account, it was great success as we celebrated the accomplishments of many Individual and Project Awards. Several of the award recipients will be major contenders for the Region 9 Awards, and possibly the Opal Awards (the Oscar Awards for civil engineering)! Our keynote speaker, and fellow civil engineer, Caltrans Director Tony Tavares also delivered some insights for the future of the civil engineering profession.
This year, the ASCE LA Section Board of Directors will be focusing on key initiatives including the following:
“Showing Face” – Post-pandemic, our goal is to attend more events in-person throughout our geographic region and to engage more frequently with Branch, Younger Member Forum, Life Member Forum, Student Chapter, and Technical Group leadership to offer support. From San Luis Obispo to Southern San Joaquin Valley to the Inland Empire and all points in between, we aim to see you more this upcoming year.
Hospitality – there is no better way to increase our membership than by inviting your friend and/or fellow colleague to an ASCE meeting or event. An invitation to a Student Chapter, YMF, LMF, Branch, or Section event goes a long way with a genuine and personal “ask”. But it doesn’t just end there. If there’s a welcoming smile from (insert your most hospitable member in your ASCE group here) accompanied with an introduction to an officer or other member, that prospective member is more likely to return.
Strategizing for Years Ahead – the LA Section is also thinking about where we want to be five, ten, 20+ years from now. One example is to be ready for events that require longer lead times such as the ASCE Region 9 California Infrastructure Symposium which we are hosting in 2025. Another example is reaching out to prospective universities to consider creating or expanding their engineering programs to include Civil Engineering. Finally, our Board will also be pursuing strategic partnerships with other professional organizations to leverage our common voice on infrastructure needs.
The ASCE Los Angles Section is also giving a warm welcome to our new ASCE Society and Region 9 leadership. Yaz Emrani, is our incoming ASCE Region 9 Director, John Rogers, ASCE Region 9 Governor for the Los Angeles Area, and Rossana D’ Antonio who is continuing her term as ASCE Society Director at Large. The Section would also like to sincerely thank outgoing ASCE Region 9 Director Ken Rosenfield and Director at Large Elizabeth Ruedas for their efforts at the Society Board of Directors.
Finally, please keep an eye out for upcoming events through our weekly “In the Moment” online newsletter.
Share Your Thoughts with Us: Do you have a suggestion, comment, or ideas for the ASCE LA Section? Please submit them to our Section administrator, Gayle Stewart at gstewart@gsecorp.org.
Join us on LinkedIn: ASCE Los Angeles Section on LinkedIn
Kind Regards,
Josue Vaglienty, P.E., M.ASCE (he/his/him)
2023 - 2024 President
American Society of Civil Engineers Los Angeles Section
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jvaglienty
Gayle Stewart, Section Administrator
Mailing Address:
ASCE LA Section
360 E. 1st Street, #992
Tustin, CA 92780
Phone: 714-258-8306
Email: gstewart@gsecorp.org
Bi-Monthly Board Meetings
Day: Held on 1st Thursday in February, April, June, August (Board Meeting & Leadership Meeting, typically on a Friday), October, and December.
Time: 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
December 7, 2023 (Virtual via Zoom)
February 1, 2024 (In Person) at LA DWP
April 4, 2024 (In Person) in Camarillo hosted by Santa Barbara/Ventura Branch
June 22, 2024 (In Person) in Ventura
August 16, 2024 (In Person) Board Meeting & Leadership Meeting; Location TBD
Everyone is welcome!
For the Board Meetings that are held via Zoom, please email Gayle Stewart at gstewart@gsecorp.org for the join link if you would like to attend.
About Us
ASCE in one of the largest Section in the nation. Learn more about who we are and what we do.
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Each year, the Los Angeles Section presents Project and Individual Awards at the Section Annual Meeting and Awards Dinner Ceremony. These Awards are selected from nominations. Learn more about ASCE LA Section Awards
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