CREATE 2023

Ariya Vaishnavi receives the $2000 Sierra Chapter scholarship check from Erik Fanselau at the CREATE awards luncheon.

On December 11th, I was pleased to attend the CREATE awards luncheon along with Donald Blackburn and hand out our scholarship to this year’s winner, Ariya Vaishnavi, from Folsom High School. Ariya has a 4.2 GPA and is planning to pursue an engineering degree in either the CSU or UC system. Your Chapter has been supporting CREATE for the past three years and I have also been serving as a mentor. The CREATE (Construction, Re-Development, Engineering, Architecture, Trades, Education) program is run by the Construction Industry Education Foundation in partnership with the Sacramento Regional Builders Exchange.

Students at Rio Americano High School work on their CREATE projects.

The goal of CREATE is to “educate and inspire students to pursue pathways which create the built environment.” This program includes over 75 high schools all over California and over 10,000 students have participated since its inception.  The program pairs mentors from the design and construction industry with high school junior and senior students to complete a semester students to complete a semester long project that includes planning and design. Each class had a semester-long project that included site design, drainage and water quality, parking layout, utilities, landscaping, ADA requirements, sketches, calculations, RFIs, and cost estimating.

We met with the students weekly and provided guidance on the planning and design process. At the end of semester each group competes against other schools in the region. In previous years I was assigned to Whitney High School and Granite Bay High School and this semester I mentored students at Rio Americano High School. I can definitely say that I found this experience rewarding.  Helping young people learn more about our profession is just one way we can give back to all of the mentors that have influenced each of our careers.

By Erik Fanselau, President

2023 Tim Fleming Memorial Scholarship Winners Selected

We are happy to announce that the Tim Fleming Memorial Scholarship, now in its 13th year, has awarded two more $5,000 scholarships! This year’s winners are Emma Docto from Sac State and Mason Koyama from UOP. Congratulations to both of them!

The Tim Fleming Memorial Scholarship was established in 2011 after the untimely passing of Tim Fleming in 2010. Tim was a Sierra Chapter Past President and served many years on the board. He was a graduate of the University of the Pacific and Stanford University and served our industry tirelessly as a leader and colleague. This scholarship honors his legacy and reminds us all that life is precious.

Emma and Mason will receive their scholarship checks at our ACEC Sierra Chapter Past President’s Dinner to be held on February 21st, 2024.

The Tim Fleming Memorial Scholarship is administered by the California Transportation Foundation (CTF) and is open to Junior, Senior and Graduate Civil Engineering/Transportation majors at California State University Sacramento, University of California Davis, and the University of the Pacific. Want more information? Contact Marco Palilla at Marco.Palilla@hdrinc.com

By Marco Palilla, Director

Welcome New Members!

Firm

Month/Yr. Joined

Member Type

City

TRC 03/2023 Engineering Roseville
Ultieg 06/2023 Engineering Rancho Cordova
IronOrbit 08/2023 Affiliate Anaheim Hills
Aerial Zeus 08/2023 Affiliate Sacramento
Jackson & Sands Engineering, Inc. 09/2023 Engineering Grass Valley
West Yost 11/2023 Engineering Davis

New Affiliate Membership Program

Our new Affiliate Membership is available to non-professional service companies such as vendors and contractors.  Please let us know if you would like to find out more information.  Please contact Donald Blackburn 530-305-0686 or donaldb@blackburnconsulting.com for more information.

Did you know that individual members that help to bring a new state ACEC California member can take advantage of the Member-Get-a-Member Recruitment Program that entitles recruiters to a $100 VISA Gift Card? If you know a firm that may be interested in joining ACEC California, please reach out to Donald Blackburn, donaldb@blackburnconsulting.com.