Tim Fleming, Past President, 1995—96

Our February Past President’s Dinner and General Meeting was very dynamic with an excellent turn out by many of our past presidents who had the opportunity to share some thoughts and perspective on their experiences as president. Their commentaries were inspiring with a nice mix of humor. We were also honored to welcome Sue Fleming, who joined us for this year’s presentation of the Tim Fleming Memorial Scholarship which helps to support a deserving student’s pursuit of a degree in engineering.

Lori Moss, Director, City of Sacramento CDD

Our guest speaker for the meeting was Lori Moss, Director of the Community Development Department for Sacramento County. Lori filled us in on many of the new programs and activities that her department is implementing to improve and integrate the related Department divisions of Planning and Environmental Review, Building Permits and Inspection, Engineering and Surveying, and Code Enforcement. Examples included working with neighborhoods and homeowners to correct code violations in advance of public works projects that are designed to enhance the livability of their neighborhoods, as well as operational improvements including bringing all Department divisions under one roof in a “one stop shop,” opening additional regional offices, and implementing electronic submittal and review of engineering and architectural drawings. We look forward to welcoming Lori back to a future meeting to update our membership as her department works though these and other progressive changes.

Mr. Brent Meyer, a Principal Civil Engineer/City Engineer for the City of Woodland, Community Development Department, is our featured speaker for the March Meeting.

Brent graduated from UC Davis in 1991. He worked for Dokken Engineering in the 1990’s and then worked for Caltrans prior to coming to the City of Woodland in 2005. While in Woodland, Brent initially served as the City Traffic Engineer and now currently serves as the City Engineer in charge of all engineering functions. In addition to being a licensed Civil Engineer, Brent is also a registered Structural Engineer and Traffic Engineer.

He will be discussing current and upcoming capital improvement projects in the City of Woodland.

Several weeks ago I had the pleasure of representing the Sierra Chapter at the San Joaquin Engineers Council (SJEC) Annual Engineers Week Banquet. For the last three years, the Sierra Chapter has been a sponsor of this event to the tune of $1,500 each year. Ron Heinzen with Kleinfelder initially put in the request to the Board of Directors and pointed out that the money would go toward scholarships to graduating high school students interested in studying engineering in college. Based on Ron’s request we have generously donated to this event without any question or much debate.

This year; however, there was indeed discussion at the Board meeting. Questions such as “What exactly is the money for? Is it going to students out of our Chapter’s jurisdiction? Should we be focused on a Chapter scholarship of our own?” All terrific questions. So, I volunteered to attend the event to actually witness what it was all about.

Down to Stockton I trekked on a Thursday night to attend the banquet at the University of Pacific. First of all, what a beautiful campus! I immediately felt as if I had been transported to an Ivy League campus on the East Coast. Once I found the banquet hall I was warmly greeted by past Sierra Chapter President Stephen Sinnock, with KSN, Ron Heinzen, and Tony Martin with TerraCon. They were all very excited to see a “Sacramento guy” attending their event down in the southern reaches of our Chapter boundaries. Of course it only took about three minutes before I was informed that I would be introducing one of the recipients on behalf of the ACEC Sierra Chapter! Thanks for the advanced warning guys!!

Well, let me be the first to tell you that our money is very well spent. The quality of the scholarship recipients was outstanding. But what really hit me was the unbridled enthusiasm that these young aspiring engineers have for engineering! They aren’t mired in battles over contracts, managing tight deadlines with miserly budgets, fighting with public employee unions, or Quality Based Selection. Au contraire! They all exuded confidence and inspirational comments about the study, and more importantly, the implementation of engineering.

All of these well-spoken, high achieving, young women and men spoke of their love of engineering from a young age. Their recollection of their desire to see things being built, tinkering with mechanical objects, and striving for pushing the limits beyond the unknown was truly inspiring. The student I had the pleasure of introducing, Alex Powaser from Lodi High School, aspires to not only study aeronautical engineering, but plans to continue with an advanced degree in Space Exploration.

Literally, the sky is the unlimited at their age, and that is what allows our profession to push the envelope and develop technology. Without engineers we wouldn’t have clean water; wastewater treatment; multiple modes of transportation including bikes, ships, trains, cars, and airplanes; telecommunications; and computer technology. Urbanization and globalization would not be possible without folks like us. These inspirational student engineers reminded me that we have a very important role to fulfill in society. Let us not forget to remind ourselves (and our clients) of that on a daily basis.

I was very proud to represent ACEC at this event. I encourage future Boards to continue to support these students without question. And I thank all of our San Joaquin brethren for reminding me that engineering does not stop at Elk Grove. Special thanks to Ron Heinzen for encouraging our support of the SJEC and you’ve got my vote hereafter!