Many of ASCE’s local sections and branches have been around for a century. For any institution to have lasted that long, there has to have been generations of commitment by the people who have underpinned that institution. At ASCE, many of those people are the members who have been active at the section and branch level.
In 2021, the Buffalo Section, Central Ohio Section, Nashville Branch, and Kansas City Section mark their centennials. Kansas City members even created a film as part of their celebration. It introduces you to a cross-section of today’s acclaimed Kansas City engineers and why they are passionate about what they do – and why they appreciate belonging to ASCE.
“I think my legacy is, I went to work every day, and I provided things that while most people don’t have any clue who did it, why they did it, how they did it – they’re using it, and it’s helping them get through their lives every day,” said Jay Burress, P.E., ENV SP, F.ASCE, a project manager at McClure and a former ASCE Board of Direction member from 2014-2016, in the film.
Mike Winckler, P.E., M.ASCE, city engineer of Independence, Missouri, and the Kansas City Section’s history and heritage chair, said the film began as an idea about two years ago. Burress suggested that it should “focus on the stories of individuals and their achievements while they are still with us,” Winckler said.
The concept evolved.
“Something that would celebrate the centennial and have life beyond the centennial, partly as a tool for recruitment,” Winckler continued. “Engineers pointing out projects they are especially proud of. We wanted to show that these individuals have had an impact in their lives through the projects they have created.”
And the video successfully captures that. Here are a few of the engineers themselves, from the video:
“One of the things I really appreciate about ASCE is not only the leadership it takes in representing our profession of civil engineers, but also the model it brings us for engineering ethics and how we’re to behave in civil engineering,” said Ben Biller, P.E., M.ASCE, a retired transportation general manager for Burns and McDonnell, in the video.
“Engineering is more than a set of plans, or a bridge, or a project – it’s a lifestyle,” said Alysen M. Abel, P.E., MPA, M.ASCE, public works director of Parkville, Missouri, in the video. “Going out there and problem-solving and being part of the solution.”
Watch the film at https://www.kcengineers.org/section-centennial
