Illinois Section Technical Group Receives ASCE-EWRI Section & Branch Council Award
The Illinois Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers' Environmental Engineering and Water Resources Technical Group was recognized at the EWRI Congress as the first recipient of the ASCE-EWRI Section & Branch Council Outstanding Technical Group/Institute Chapter Award. The purpose of this award is to honor outstanding ASCE Section or Branch Environmental and/or Water Resources Technical Group or EWRI Chapter based on their activities of community service or philanthropic nature, co-sponsoring activities with other engineering or non-engineering groups, having a high percentage of local environmental and water resources engineering employees participating, and various other components. Andrew Deitchman, the past chair of the Technical Group, attended the EWRI Congress and awards luncheon to accept the award in June.
The members of this Section's Technical Group are truly winners in every sense of the word for the vast array of activities that they put on and regularly participate in. The group holds monthly planning sessions where on average 10-20 members attend. Over the past year the Technical Group has sponsored three computer modeling training courses with a total of 80 attendees. They also participated in a number of other activities such as clean-ups for local rivers and beaches, section dinners, zone conferences, and education outreach. Recently, the group cosponsored a two-day conference with Kane County Environmental Management on the topics of dam modifications and river restoration practices and concepts.
This Technical Group has taken strides in working with younger and student members through a variety of programs. The Technical Group sponsors two scholarships for local engineering students paid for bythe proceeds from the seminars the Grouphosts in addition to volunteering their time to be mentors and judges for the junior high-school level Future Cities Competition, in which they sponsor two awards. The Technical Group also donated money to local student ASCE chapters for their participation in events such as the concrete canoe-building contest.
The members of this Section's Technical Group are truly making their mark in the environmental and water resources field and you can to! If you are interested in working with the EWRI's Section & Branch Council or are interested in getting involved with your local environmental water resources professionals, contact Dennis Richards at drichards@westconsultants.com or Karen Kabbes at KCKabbes@kabbesengineering.comEnvironmental Engineering and Water Resources Group Illinois Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers.