Engineers should be proud of the work that we accomplish and the steps we take to improve the life for others in this world. We must educate the public on our profession and all that we do. We are taking small steps in our Branch with the addition of our new Public Relations Officer Malcolm McEwen. He has been able to reach out to the media and provide them with information pertaining to our engineering profession and our monthly meetings.

There are also things that each of you, as engineers can do as well. National Engineer’s Week is February 17th through February 23rd, 2008. The American Society of Civil Engineers has been a long time supporter of National Engineer’s Week. National Engineer’s Week is a coalition comprised of more than 75 engineering, professional, and technical societies and more than 50 corporations and government agencies. Founded by the National Society of Professional Engineers, the coalition is dedicated to sustaining and growing a dynamic engineering profession by ensuring a diverse and well-educated future engineering workforce, increasing understanding of and interest in engineering and technology careers among young students, and promoting pre-college literacy in math and science. Among the oldest of America’s professional outreach efforts, Engineers Week also raises public understanding and appreciation of engineering contributions to society through year-round innovative programming and celebration.

National Engineer’s Week is a great time to get involved with the local schools and provide the students with a lesson on engineering. There are great fun and exciting lessons available on the National Engineer’s Week website (http://www.eweek.org). I encourage all of you to volunteer an hour of your time to visit a school and possibly inspire a future engineer.

Remember National Engineer’s Week is February 17th through February 23rd.

Robert grew up in Pleasanton where he attended Las Positas JC. At Las Positas he studied computer science and engineering but quickly learned his niche would need to be found in a field with more physical applications. In 1993 Rob transferred into Civil Engineering at Cal Poly where he met back up with his brother Mike, a professor of Construction Management at Cal Poly.

After graduation, he started working immediately at the Humann Company in the Bay Area. A comparably small engineering firm to what Robert would later see, the seven people at Humann allowed him to work on all aspects of a project. He advanced his engineering abilities through land surveying, hillside grading, and infrastructure design primarily on multi-million dollar estate residences. Humann provided a broad perspective of the CE field and allowed Robert to decide on a direction for his focus.

He found that he enjoyed and excelled at grading and drainage aspects and followed his abilities to another firm in San Diego where he took work as a Design Manager for Project Design Consultants. The move proved challenging as Robert went from working at a fairly small company to working at the second largest design firm in San Diego, managing large scale master planned projects such as the Kelly Ranch in Carlsbad. With PDC Robert was able to contribute to the design of the Padres’ PETCO Park, although he admits he is not much of a baseball fan.

After PDC Robert worked with K. Hovnanian Homes in Ontario. As Land Development Manager for Hovnanian he dealt with many disciplines outside of civil engineering, managing their land development process for many large scale residential developments. At one point Rob recalls working with dynamite. “We had to ultimately implement seismic soil testing to determine the size and location of blue and white granite below the ground surface.” Prior to performing any grading activity, Robert and his team were able to successfully quantify how much dynamite would be needed to break up the rock during grading and how much rock would need to be removed from the site. After Hovnanian, he applied his expertise in grading and drainage at Centex Homes when he moved back to San Luis Obispo where he worked on such projects as Dove Creek in Atascadero.

Rob has been working for RRM Design Group for almost two years, “I am currently overseeing multidiscipline teams of Landscape Architects, Architects, Planners and Civil Engineers to provide a full-service product.” His work has seen a move in a more green direction through his work at RRM. As manager of Engineering Services, Robert has overseen such projects as the Santa Anna River Trail construction, the Stratford City Master Plan, and the Santa Margarita Low Impact Development project which included several bioswales and a wetland enhancement.

Rob Joined ASCE after he began work at RRM. He enjoys ASCE for the networking aspects, and recommends it to recent grads since he feels its education on new careers and technology can provide a valuable alternative to blindly searching for a career path. Outside of Engineering, Rob enjoys golfing and playing the guitar.

At this months luncheon, Randy Ellison and Jesse Brady of RRM Design Group will discuss the changes they have seen and the newest emerging tools. As part of the new technology, they will demonstrate the Leica Scanstation 3-D laser scanner, explain its uses, and how it compares to traditional survey.

J. Randy Ellison is the manager of RRM Design Group’s Survey professionals and is a licensed surveyor with 20 years of experience in land surveying for both public and private sectors. Jesse Brady, trained in Leica Geosystems HDS, has been working in the surveying field for nearly ten years and has kept a keen eye on its emerging technology.