Dear ASCE Members:

December is my favorite month of the year. We celebrate the Holidays, in my case “Christmas,” when there is time to gather with friends and family, sometimes those that are distant from us and to exchange gifts, memories and give thanks for all we have and are. It is an extension of November with the extra of exchanging gifts, the beauty of the decorations, cordial spirits regardless of where you go, and the air is filled with a special love full of spices and splendorous colors. It is time for giving and gathering! Again, as we did in November, in the spirit of giving, I would like to thank every one of you for your dedication to ASCE, for what you do to enhance our profession and the quality of life of humankind. I encourage you to get more involved, to dedicate at least two hours each month to do something for your industry or to do something for your community on behalf of ASCE. Following this spirit, I pray to God for the enrichment of our professional lives, for the security and welfare of our Country, and for the prosperity of our Industry. I ask God to keep our Military safe, to give the strength and hope to their families through the holiday season and heal all that returned wounded and disabled. Creating a better world around us also means giving back to our community and helping those less fortunate.

By now all the exam results from the EIT and the PE have been received. Congratulations to everyone that has conquered this milestone on behalf of the Miami Dade Branch! Now that you may have more time available you may want to communicate with one of our board members or call me to volunteer in one of our activities. We need your time and talents!

I would also like to thank all of you that participated in the November WATER Conservation Roundatble, especially Diana and Barton for putting it all together and developing it to a great conclusion. We would like to diversify our monthly presentations, therefore, please feel free to provide us with topics of interest. Encourage colleagues to participate, and employers and vendors to be sponsors. Also, thanks to all who attended the joint Holiday Party with the FES on December 9th, where we collected and donated toys, as we have done in the past, bringing joy to a needy child!

As the Co-chair for the 2011-2012 Florida Report Card I am proud to inform you that white papers have been completed and we are in the process of giving final touches to all the reports. There has been great involvement across the State and the results will be used in many effective ways, especially to raise the bar on awareness on the state of our infrastructure, to show the needs and to create jobs that are so much in need in our industry. Get involved; it is not too late to become active in it. Be an advocate!

We have our “employment opportunities” section on our web site and newsletter and I urge everyone to contact us if you have a job opening or are looking for a job. This is a courtesy service of the Miami Dade ASCE to all our members. We must help others in the industry.

Come and join Miami Dade ASCE at:
· Florida Region Competition for “Future City, on January 21st at the FIU, Engineering Center, Panther Pit.
· Our luncheon on January 25th at the 94th Aero Squadron. The topic will be “NW 25th Street Viaduct Lessons Learned."
· Our Mini Golf Tournament- an event to be remembered! On January 28th at Zoo Miami, with great times, surprises and fun for the entire family!

Please feel free to send in an e-mail or call me at any time. My contact information is provided below. Let us invite you to a board meeting, or simply share your thoughts…this is your family away from home and we welcome you at the Miami Dade ASCE!

May you and all your loved ones have a joyful and venturous “Holiday Season.” May 2012 bring us peace, joy, health, lots of laughter, great camaraderie, good times and much prosperity! Peace on Earth!

Sincerely,

Dear ASCE Members:

I cannot believe that we are in the fall of 2011.  I know that for many of the non-native Floridian members you may perceive to be living in a constant summer in Florida.  For the rest of us, we can see the fall, the difference in the colors, temperature and its typical afternoon rains in Miami. But, it is the Sunshine state and the sun always shines after each afternoon rain!

I feel that the same brilliant rays are making the Miami Dade ASCE family shine.  We are growing in many ways; the Miami-Dade ASCE family size grew by 25 members this month and we welcome you all.  I like to extend a question to all the members: What can the Miami-Dade ASCE Branch do to attract new members and to increase the benefits that the Society can provide to you?

In September, it was back to our regularly scheduled lunch meetings after a 2-month hiatus for the Florida Section Annual Meeting and the Miami-Dade Branch Awards Dinner. Our first lunch meeting of the 2011-2012 year featured the VP of Ballpark Development for the Marlins, Claude Delorme, who spoke about the ongoing stadium construction and the effects that the Marlins organization, as well as Miami-Dade County, expects to have on the local economy and culture.

During September, the Miami-Dade Branch was also a co-sponsor for the Trenchless Technology, SSES and Buried Asset Management seminar hosted by the Southeast Society for Trenchless Technology.

In September 18th & 19th I had the pleasure to attend the Governors and Presidents Forum hosted by the National ASCE in Reston Virginia.  A real exposure to all of the different faces of the ASCE, a wonderful tour of the Headquarters’ building (here on the left is a picture at the lobby) and marvelous exchange of experiences with other colleagues and Society best practices throughout the nation. It was a very energizing experience that I truly recommend to all members and specially those planning going up in the chain of command.  I must add that I was honored and delighted to share the same working table with our Florida Section President Steven Goldstein.  We thank Steven once more for his continued dedication to the society and we are so proud to have one of our Branch members representing the Florida Section as our President! Thumbs up for Steve!

Lastly, on September 24th, the Miami-Dade Branch participated in the Inaugural Miami Children’s Hospital 5k. Several of our members attended, and we helped to raise funds for the Miami Children’s Hospital Foundation, which is a non-profit organization whose sole mission is to create awareness and generate funds for Miami Children’s Hospital, the only licensed specialty hospital in South Florida exclusively for children.  The Foundation’s guiding principle is to ensure that all children have access to state-of-the-art pediatric care.

I proudly inform you that white papers have been completed towards the delivery of our 2011-2012 Florida Report Card and that it’s not too late to become active in it.

We have some new job openings posted on our web site and newsletter and I urge everyone to contact us if you have a job opening or are looking for a job. This is a courtesy service of the Miami-Dade ASCE Branch to all our members. We must help others in the industry.

I will see you at our October luncheon on October 20th at the 94th Aero Squadron at 11:30am. Mr. Pedro Garcia, Miami Dade County Property Appraiser, will be presenting very interesting topics about the state of our real estate taxes.
We look forward to more events like these for the rest of the 2011-2012 year!  We also want to hear from you about diversified topics of interest for future events, please feel free to send in an e-mail or call me at any time.  My contact information is provided below.

Sincerely,

Maria Fernandez Porrata, A.M.ASCE
President
ASCE Miami-Dade Branch
president@miamidade-asce.org

Dear ASCE Members:

I am honored to be the new President of Miami Dade ASCE and I look forward to engaging with members and other readers of our newsletter. Everyone is welcome to our Miami Dade ASCE Family and all comments will be read and answered. We have planned a great series of diverse events for the upcoming year, and I hope that you can join us and be part of them. I’m really looking forward to my year as President and working with you to move on to the next step.

It seems like yesterday when I was installed on August 25th, 2011, at the Sofitel Hotel in Miami. There were about 170 people in the room and the energy was high, especially from all our board members and awardees. The camaraderie and enthusiasm was at a high level and it was contagious! In my speech that night, I mentioned how we need to take on the challenges of our Branch, Section, Nation and World together: making our world a better world for everyone! Some initiatives during my Presidency will be to try to provide greater services to our member with diversified events compiling all of the different disciplines within our profession. To organize and develop “Habitat for Humanity,” to continue our work with the “Florida’s Infrastructure Report Card,” to engage in mentoring from K to 12, in our local university classrooms, in our graduate university programs, to participate in “Future City,” to give back to our community and teach our younger professionals as much as we know of the world that surrounds us.

As we face one of the most difficult economic times in the last five decades, we must also try to help those less fortunate, those that are looking for a job. The Miami Dade ASCE web site will be happy to advertise any announcements about new positions or colleagues within specific disciplines that are looking for a job. We must bring together our “fellows,” academia and our “Younger Member Group.” That seasoned professional can be the guiding light for the new comers and we must try to maintain a line of communication between our societies, the government, and the private sector together with our elected and appointed officials. We can learn, inspire, discover, recommend and build with innovation and safety for a better tomorrow! ASCE offers to all of us a rich opportunity to use, grow your skills, time and talents inside and outside your profession to make a difference. It is within each of us to engage and to therefore elevate not only our profession but the health, economic welfare, safety and happiness of the very communities we serve. We must engage with our profession, our vision, with ASCE and more importantly, we must engage with those outside our profession.

Thanks to my predecessors and the dedication of their boards and voluntarism, who built behind our strategic initiatives and set a solid foundation and way into the future. I’ll stand and add on this foundation, especially regarding infrastructure, hope, motivation to attract new members, retain our membership, sustainability, competency, and leadership development.

Lastly, we are all witnesses of our nation’s economy, the condition and special needs of our infrastructure, the need of a national bank for infrastructure development by “Americans for America,” and a lack of political will to make tough decisions, are huge challenges today, but, as any adversity in life, this also represents a world of opportunities ahead. We have the opportunity to reshape our future and create a new era where civil engineers serve as respectful, visible, and determined leaders who shape public policy and encounter innovative, safe and sustainable solutions.

“ASCE’s Vision for Civil Engineering in 2025 embodies what each of us has a duty to strive for, as champions and leaders of sustainable development of the built and the natural environment, fearless integrators of innovation, managers of risk, and prominence in public policy.”

May good health, peace and good fortune be always with us! Thank you for your commitment to the ASCE!

Feel free to send in comments and ideas and let me know how we can improve our services to you! You may contact me at 305-345-6946 or e-mail me at president@miamidade-asce.org.

Maria Fernandez-Porrata
President
Miami-Dade Branch ASCE

Dear ASCE Members:

This is my last message as your ASCE Miami-Dade Branch President and I take this opportunity to thank all of our members who have volunteered and attended our activities this past year. My term, although it passed rapidly, was satisfying and rewarding. I met new professionals and shared meaningful time with all members that were part of our events.

On July 15th and 16th, we had the 2011 Florida Section ASCE Annual Meeting. This meeting was filled with varied topics in our field. Attendees earned Professional Development Hours, including four hours of Laws and Rules acceptable to the Board of Professional Engineers for PE license renewal. More than 100 professionals took advantage of this ASCE benefit.

I encourage you to attend our award ceremony and the 2011-2012 Officers Installation Dinner that will be held on August 25th, 2011 at the Sofitel Hotel in Miami. Please join us to honor the award recipient and welcome our 2011 – 2012 Board Members and officers.

I wish to express my appreciation to the ASCE Miami-Dade Branch Board of Directors and Officers for their unselfish dedication to our profession and helping me direct this organization this past year. Thanks to everyone and best wishes to the new Board.

Once again, it has been my pleasure to serve as your Branch President the past year and I look forward to seeing many of you at future ASCE events.

Sergio Alfonso, Jr., PE, F.ASCE
President
Miami-Dade Branch ASCE

At the June Member’s Meeting we offered a presentation on Rehabilitation of Storm and Sewer Pipes. At this workshop more than 30 professional engineers were awarded one PDH’s acceptable to the Board of Professional Engineers for PE renewal.

During July we will not have member’s meeting; instead, we will have the ASCE Florida Section annual Conference. We at the Miami-Dade Branch are happy and proud to have the first Florida Section President from our Branch. This will be on July 15th and 16th at the Renaissance World Golf Village Resort in Saint Augustine, Florida. For registration information, please see our web site. www.miamidade-asce.org

Later this month you will be receiving the ballots for the new ASCE Miami-Dade Branch 2011-2012 Board of Director. I encourage you to participate and vote. Take part on the direction of his society. If you have any desire to participate and work for the Board at any capacity or any committee, please contact any of the present Board members.

On August 25th we are having our award presentation and the new 2011-2012 Board of Director Installation. This event will be at the Sofitel Hotel, I encourage you to attend, it will be an evening filled with excitement and the opportunity to share time with friend and colleagues.

If you have any questions regarding the activities, please feel free to contact any of our Board Members or myself.

I look forward to seeing you at the State Conference.

On May 13th, we had the “State of South Florida Infrastructure” at Long Key Nature Center, in Davie Florida. This was an all day, tri-branch effort, to bring prominent guest speakers. This was a great success where we had prominent guest speaker from the tri-county area. The presentation from each of the speakers is available at our web page. www.miamidade-asce.org.

Our “State of South Florida Infrastructure,” a tri-branch effort held May 13 at Long Key Nature Center in Davie Florida, featured prominent guest speakers from the tri-county area and was a great success. Each speaker’s presentation can be viewed at our website: www.miamidade-asce.org.

At the Miami-Dade Branch’s May meeting, we welcomed Mr. Javier Rodriguez, PE, MDX Executive Director. He presented the state of current projects and future plans for the Expressway Authority. The event was well attended and those present left with good information.

For the June meeting, we are having a presentation on “Structural Rehabilitation of Storm and Sewer Pipe by the Spin Cast Method” that will earn each attendee one Professional Development Hour (PDH), suitable for PE license renewal requirement.

The ASCE Florida Section will meet at the Renaissance World Golf Village Resort in St. Augustine, Florida, to have its annual conference on July 15th and 16th. This conference presents an excellent opportunity to meet with colleague and friends while earning continuing education credit. Saturday the 16th Laws and Rules workshop will be available for PDH’s requirement. For information and registration visit; http://www.fla-asce.org/

If you have any questions regarding the activities, please feel free to contact any of our Board Members or myself. I look forward to seeing you at the State Conference.

The April ASCE meeting, a joint effort with the Cuban-American Association of Civil Engineers (CAACE), featured Mr. George Navarrete of Miami-Dade County Office of Capital Improvement presenting: “Doing Business with Miami-Dade and Projects Coming up” We thank CAACE for uniting with us to bring Mr. Navarrete for his informative presentation at this past month’s Branch meeting. Those of you who did not attend missed a great program.

This month, the Younger Members Forum was busy with the Social Hour where young professionals enjoyed a meet and greet in a relaxed atmosphere. They also conducted a road clean up along SW 104 Street for the Adopt-a-Road program.

We welcome the following individuals who have joined the ASCE-Miami-Dade Branch:

Rebecca Dahdah, Darío Gerszuny, Dawn Taylor, David E. Balladares, Ernesto A. Perez, and Gabriel Delgado. Congratulations to these fine professionals on your decision to join us. I look forward to seeing you at future events and I encourage you to become active members in our Branch.

For our monthly meeting scheduled for Wednesday, May 18th, we are hosting Mr. Javier Rodriguez, the Executive Director of the Miami-Dade Expressway Authority. On May 13th, we are having the “State of South Florida Infrastructure” at Long Key Nature Center, in Davie Florida. This is a free program to those who pre-register at: http://asceinfrastructure.eventbrite.com/

If you have any questions regarding the activities, please feel free to contact any of our Board Members or myself.