Technical Region Director Official Nominee

Portrait of David Noyce - a man wearing a suit smiling at the camera

Vision statement

My vision – ASCE must lead and expedite the transformation in perception and understanding of the Civil Engineering profession.

Why should I be considered for this opportunity?

I have the privilege of serving as Executive Associate Dean in the College of Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Prior to this role, I served for nearly five years as Chair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. My current and past roles in academia include welcoming and supporting the 5,000 undergraduate students in the College of Engineering and the 450 students who choose Civil Engineering as their major. I also collaborate with academic leaders at all peer institutions and ASCE’s Civil Engineering Department Head group. In my 38-year career, I have enjoyed employment with a state Department of Transportation and several large consulting engineering firms in addition to my 28 years in academics. My experiences in each of the core professions within civil engineering has illuminated a consistent theme – the perception and awareness of innovations in civil engineering is not evolving at a rate necessary to stimulate professional demand and properly support the “Future World Vision” ASCE has so effectively initiated.

Each day, along with many academic leaders in engineering, I work to accommodate and manage the explosion in student demand in Mechanical, Electrical, Computer, and Biomedical Engineering, while at the same time work to increase the interest and student demand in Civil Engineering (CE). The College of Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has been fortunate to maintain our annual CE enrollment numbers, unlike many universities across the country who have seen their CE enrollment numbers fall. A dean colleague and friend at a flagship university went as far as removing ‘civil’ from the department name for reasons that included the need to rebrand the discipline to increase demand. Granted, my view may be singular, but what does this mean for ASCE?

I will bring an academic leadership perspective to the Board built on my frontline experiences and “finger on the pulse” in recruiting and developing our civil engineers and ASCE members of the future. We are currently losing the battle to other engineering professions but there is still time to win the war. CE has many inspiring impacts, leading technologies, and transformative innovations that are not being reflected in the common perception and understanding of CE. Yes, concrete, steel, soil, and water are essential components of our CE infrastructure and should be celebrated, and governmental public works is foundational in supporting many areas of human need, but CE is so much more. We must advocate, energize, accelerate, magnify, communicate, and ultimately deliver a worldwide window to CE that holistically exposes this wonderful profession. ASCE can in fact be the ‘drivers of change’. With every positive step in this direction, the society’s strategic shifts/objectives and desire to increase interest and grow a diverse membership, at all levels, will follow.

I thoroughly enjoyed my recent service as President of ASCE’s Transportation & Development Institute and am very excited about ASCE’s “Future World Vision” (FWV) initiative and the ‘drive’ to show future engineers the many reasons why CE is where they want to be. FWV highlights the many technological advances that have or will become civil engineering – in many cases the same topics and technologies that have created demand for other areas of engineering and are not perceived to be part of CE. I will work tirelessly with the Board and ASCE leadership to amplify ASCE’s strategic mission and open our CE window to the world. With our CE students and society members of the future, we can create this transformation.

Biographical statement

Education

  • Ph.D., Civil Engineering (Transportation), Texas A&M University, 1999
  • M.S., Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1995
  • B.S., Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1984
  • MBA, Business Administration (coursework), University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, 1989-1994

Work experience

  • University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI
    • Executive Associate Dean, 2019-present
    • Chair, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 2015-2019
    • Arthur F. Hawnn Professor of Transportation Engineering, 2015-present
    • Professor, 2011-2015
    • Associate Professor, 2007-2011
    • Assistant Professor, 2002-2007
    • Director, Traffic Operations and Safety Laboratory, 2003-present
    • Director, Wisconsin Driving Simulator Laboratory, 2007-present
  • University of Massachusetts-Amherst, Amherst, MA, Assistant Professor, 1998-2002
  • Texas A&M University, Texas Transportation Institute, Assistant Lecturer, Research Assistant, 1995-1999
  • University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, Research Assistant, 1994-1995
  • Barrientos & Associates, Consulting Engineers, Madison, WI, Highway/ Transportation/Civil-Site Engineering Group Manager, 1992-1994
  • Warzyn/EWI/Woodward-Clyde, Consulting Engineers, Middleton, WI, Transportation Engineering Manager, 1989-1992
  • Crispell-Snyder, Consulting Engineers, Elkhorn, WI, Senior Project Engineer, 1986-1989
  • Illinois Department of Transportation, Ottawa, IL, Civil Engineer II, 1984-1986

ASCE involvement

Society level

  • Transportation & Development Institute (T&DI) Board of Governors
    • Past President, 2022-present
    • President, 2021-2022
    • Vice President, 2020-2021
    • Treasurer, 2019-2020
    • Member, 2002-present
  • Co-Chair, International Conference on Transportation and Development, 2018-2019
  • Associate Editor, ASCE Journal of Transportation Engineering

Local level

  • ASCE Wisconsin Section, Southwest Branch, 1994-present

Other volunteer activities

  • Transportation Research Board, National Academy of Sciences
    • Member, IDEA Program Committee, 2022-present
    • Panel Chair, NCHRP 03-61, Communicating Changes in Horizontal Alignment, 2000-2005
    • Panel Chair, NCHRP 22-26, Identifying Factors Related to Serious Injury and Fatal Motorcycle Crashes into Traffic Barriers, 2008-2020
    • Member, Traffic Control Devices Committee (ACP55), 2003-present
    • Chair, Traffic Control Devices Committee (AHB50), 2007-2013
    • Member, Freeway Operations Committee (AHB20), 2012-2022
    • Member, Safety Data Analysis and Evaluation Committee (ANB20), 2014-present
    • TRB University Representative, 2003-present
  • Institute of Transportation Engineers
    • Chair, Pedestrian and Bicycle Council, 2001-2004
    • Secretary, Transportation Education Council, 1999-2002
    • University of Wisconsin Student Chapter Advisor, 2002-present
  • Eno Transportation Foundation, 1997 Fellow
  • American Society for Engineering Education, 2000-present
  • National Committee on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, 2001-2017
  • Athens Institute for Education and Research, Athens, Greece, 2018-present
  • Board of Directors, Joint Research Institute on the Internet of Mobility, Southeast University, Nanjing, China, 2017-present
  • Wisconsin Automated Vehicle External Advisory Committee for Wisconsin Department of Transportation, 2020-present

Awards

  • Fellow, American Society of Civil Engineers, 2017
  • Faculty Recognition Award, Leaders in Engineering Excellence & Diversity, College of Engineering, UW-Madison, 2016
  • Professorship, Dr. Arthur F. Hawnn Professor of Transportation Engineering, College of Engineering, UW-Madison, 2015-present
  • Patricia F. Waller Award, Best Paper in Highway Safety, “Secondary Crash Identification on a Large-Scale Highway System”, Transportation Research Board, 2014
  • Outstanding Paper Award, “Secondary Crash Identification on a Large-Scale Highway System”, Transportation Research Board, 2014
  • Outstanding Reviewer Award, American Society of Civil Engineers, 2012
  • Best Paper Award, “Simulation Study of Access Management at Modern Roundabouts: Pedestrian Crosswalk Treatments”, Transportation Research Board, 2010
  • Outstanding Reviewer Award, American Society of Civil Engineers, 2010
  • Ragnar E. Onstad Service to Society Award, College of Engineering, UW-Madison, 2010
  • Outstanding Paper Award. “Determination of Pedestrian Pushbutton Activation Duration at Typical Signalized Intersections”, Transportation Research Board, 2005
  • Coordinating Council Award, Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE), 2003
  • D. Grant Mickle Award, “Drivers’ Understanding of Simultaneous Traffic Signal Indications in Protected Left-Turns”, best paper in Operations, Safety and Maintenance, Transportation Research Board, 2002
  • Robert Herman Award, Outstanding Graduate Student Award, U.S. Department of Transportation, 1998
  • Eno Foundation, Center for Transportation Leadership Fellow, 1997
  • Young Engineer of the Year, Wisconsin Society of Professional Engineers, 1993