President’s Message   November ‘10

By Meg Adams, P.E., LEED AP, Branch President

Welcome to the New Orleans Branch of ASCE. After a short summer break, on September 22-23, the New Orleans Branch co-hosted the 20th Annual Louisiana Civil Engineering Conference and Show with the New Orleans Chapter of ACI. The keynote speaker, Garret Graves, the Executive Assistant to the Governor on Coastal Activities, gave a very interesting overview of the current state of the coast, and the recent efforts to alleviate the oil spill damage and coastal erosion. Over 550 professionals from around the state attended the show.

The first branch luncheon was held November 10th at Five Happiness. Ms. Tonja Koob, Ph.D., P.E., MBA, CFM, LEED AP, Treasurer of the New Orleans Chapter of Engineers Without Borders, discussed Water and Sanitation Improvements in Amayo, Nicaragua. Several years ago, the New Orleans Chapter of EWB adopted the village of Amayo, Nicaragua in an effort to improve the public health of the community through education and basic water and waste facilities.  Amayo is a community of about 60 homes, most with no electricity. Over 95% of villagers do not have access to latrines and use grassy areas as bathroom facilities. The New Orleans Chapter has visited Amayo and  constructed  several latrines utilizing all local materials. Another visit is planned for early 2001. A $500 donation was made by the ASCE New Orleans Branch, and N-Y Associates’ Frank Nicoladais matched the donation. More information can be found on their website at ewbnola.wordpress.com .

Our annual Awards banquet was held in August. The following individuals were honored for their outstanding support of ASCE:

Outstanding Young Civil Engineer: Nathan Junius, P.E.
Outstanding Government Civil Engineer: Joseph Buller, P.E.
Lifetime Achievement: Frank Dalia, PhD, P.E.
Wall of Fame Nominee: Joseph Sullivan
Outstanding Civil Engineer: Anthony Goodgion, P.E.
Outreach: Meg Adams, P.E.
Educator of the Year: Mysore Nataraj, PhD. P.E.

The following Life Members were also recognized:
Om Dixit P.E., Engin Egeseli, PhD, William Cromartie, David Wagner, Gerald Bragg, P.E., James Legendre, P.E., Donald Pertuit, P.E., Nelson Conover, and Jagdish Bansal, PhD. P.E.

We have a new Younger Member Chairman, Daniel Bobeck. Thanks to Jenna Addis for chairing this committee last year. Daniel has plans for many fun events for the upcoming year, and hopes to participate with the UNO Student Chapter, which is off to a great start this year with over 60 members!

Please visit www.asceneworleans.org for upcoming events and news.
As always the board is interested in hearing from our members and encourages your input. You can always contact me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with any questions, comments or ideas how we can better serve our members.