January 2018 President's Report

President's Report
by Malek A. Al-Khatib, Vice President, Louis Berger

Dear Members,

It is with great honor that I report that BSCES has won the 2017 ASCE Outstanding Section and Branch Award for Very Large Sections and Branches. We appreciate BSCES Vice President Charlie Roberts of Childs Engineering for working hard to assemble and submit the ASCE nomination form. I am deeply proud to report that BSCES won this award for the seventh consecutive year. Thank you to all our technical group, institute chapter, and committee members and leaders who work hard every year and make our Society the winner of this prestigious award, which recognizes all the criteria that distinguishes our organization as offering the most value to its members.

Also, I am very pleased to report that BSCES just received a $10,000 grant to support BSCES Future City competition activities. On behalf of the BSCES Board, I would like to extend BSCES’s gratitude to Tufts Health Plan for their generous grant and investment. Thanks to Olivia Richards of Gill Engineering and Public Awareness & Outreach Committee members for their efforts and quantitative results.

Donations and sponsorships are lifelines for our organization. Our programs and activities remain viable with this important financial support. I’d like to once again thank our Society Sponsors and Program Sponsors for their commitment to our programing.

Please take pride in your membership in this 169th year of BSCES. Take a leadership role and thank your company for supporting the profession through BSCES, or ask them to support BSCES with sponsorship if they are not sponsors. I am available to assist you if you need more information to take this step. Also, your individual donation will be highly appreciated and thank you for your support.

It is the time of year again to start planning for our next fiscal year. We will be looking for volunteers to lead our organization next year in a variety of positions. The BSCES Nominating Committee will be soliciting nominations for the 2018-2019 BSCES Board of Government and Nominating Committee. Please contact me at president@bsces.org or Ali Touran the chair of the Nominating Committee at atouran@coe.neu.edu to nominate yourself or others.

Also, the Awards Committee will be soliciting nominations for a variety of awards. This is an excellent opportunity to recognize people who have made significant contributions to the civil engineering profession and their communities. The following BSCES Annual Awards:

• The Citizen Engineer Award. This award is presented to a BSCES member or registered professional engineer for outstanding public involvement in local or national legislation, education (at any level), non-profit volunteer organizations, community activities, or similar activities improving the image of ASCE, BSCES and the civil engineering profession.
• Lester Gaynor Award. This award is presented to a BSCES member or registered professional engineer for part-time elected or appointed service as a city or town official, whose reimbursement for this service has not been more than an honorarium.
• The Government Civil Engineer Award. This award is presented to a BSCES member who is serving as a paid public sector engineer at a federal, state, or municipal agency, department, or authority in Massachusetts. 
• The Clemens Herschel Award. This award recognizes an individual who has published papers that “have been useful, commendable, and worthy of grateful acknowledgment. If nominating for the Clemens Herschel Award, please attach the name of the paper and names of all authors, if co-authored.
• The Ralph Horne Award. This award is presented to an individual who is a BSCES member or registered professional engineer for unpaid public service in a municipal, state, or federal elected or appointed post for philanthropic activities in the public interest.
• The BSCES Journalism Award. This award is presented annually to a member of the media who reports on engineering topics, particularly civil engineering, in a manner that benefits the profession. The Public Awareness & Outreach Committee reviews these nominations and recommends the recipient to the Board.
• BSCES Pre-College Educator Award. This award is presented to a member of the K-12 educational community who integrates engineering topics, particularly civil engineering, in a manner that benefits the profession and may promote students to pursue an engineering career. The Public Awareness & Outreach Committee reviews these nominations and recommends the recipient to the Board.
• Technical Group Awards. This award is given for papers which have been presented at a technical group or institute chapter meeting or for papers that were submitted to a technical group or institute chapter for review and recommended for publication by its executive committee. Each paper should be original (i.e., not contributed or published elsewhere). This award is open to all BSCES members.
• The BSCES Younger Member Award was established by the Board for a member who is 35 years old or younger and has made an outstanding contribution to the Society. 
• BSCES Employer Recognition Awards. The BSCES Board of Government created this award to recognize and honor organizations that encourage their engineers to actively participate in ASCE and BSCES activities; allow engineers time off to attend Society meetings and seminars; support and encourage technical and professional growth; encourage engineers to prepare articles for publication in Society professional and technical journals; and, assist in the payment of Society dues. There are two types of employee recognition awards:
• The Small Employer Recognition Award that is given to deserving organizations with less than 50 employees.
• The Large Employer Recognition Award to organizations with more than 50 employees.

Please consider nominating your company or fellow engineer, co-worker, friend, or someone who you think deserves special recognition for these awards. The nominations deadline is Monday, March 15, 2018. Nomination forms are included as inserts at the end of this newsletter. For additional information, please contact me or Charlie Roberts the chair of the Awards Committee at Vice.President2@BSCES.ORG

BSCES success throughout all these years could only be achieved by the diligence of fellow engineers working hard on their daily jobs and devoting time and effort to lead our organization to its prominent level nationwide. I invite you to join the leadership of this organization. I am humbled being the president of such a great organization and thank all the leaders for their active role working with me and working together for the good of our organization and our profession.