T H E V O I C E O F T E N N E S S E E ’ S E N G I N E E R I N G C O M P A N I E S

What Do You Want To Be When YouGrow Up?

The J U N E 2 0 1 3

by: Preston Elliott, Senior Principal Planner,RPM Transportation Consultants

Chances are that when you were in highschool the best insight into this question

was when your school held career day andvarious professionalscame to tell you whatthey did for a living.Fast-forward to todayand that question is metwith an amazingly differ-ent response, as highschool students across theUnited States and Ten-nessee are starting path-

ways to careers their freshmen year in highschool.

In addition to students in Tennessee learn-ing the basics (reading, writing, math, sci-ence, social studies, and history), the State’sCareer and Technical Education Programsare offering young students an opportunityto gain the knowledge and skills in 16 broadoccupational career paths. The two thatsupport our industry most are the careerclusters of Architecture & Construction andSTEM (Science, Technology, Engineering,and Math).

Under each career cluster, students takefour 9-week classes per grade level withcourse work focused on a set of industry-related skills. As they advance from basiccoursework, they progress to more advancedapplications. For example, under the careercluster of Architecture & Construction, stu-

dents start with basic drafting (i.e. doinghand-drawn sketches) and progress to classesincluding the use of AutoCAD (i.e. learningadvanced two-dimensional and three-dimen-sional concepts of scale drawings and ortho-graphic projections).

Highlighting Success

While there are many schools across thestate offering career and technical tracks thatsupport the engineering industry, CentennialHigh School in Williamson County providesgreat insight into what many of Tennessee’spublic school systems are doing to give

(continued on page 2)Preston Elliott

Pre-engineering students at Centennial HighSchool in Franklin pose with their near-perfectreplica of the Franklin Public Square. Pictured left to right (back) are Ryan Conway,PoChang Wu, Kevin Hyun, Allison Bruning, andCaleb Jackson. Front row: Ellisa Heckman, MollyLeasure, and Aniket Ghare.

AMERICAN COUNCIL OF ENGINEERING

COMPANIES OF TENNESSEE

Tennessee Engineering Center • 800 Fort Negley Boulevard • Nashville, TN 37203 • T 615.242.2486 • E-mail ctoler@tnec.org • www.acectn.org

A C E C O F

T E N N E S S E E

P A R T N E R S

These companies

provide Tennessee

engineering firms with

products and services and

support the activities

of ACEC of Tennessee

through participation in

the Partners Program.

Additional information about

these Partner Program

participants is available

at www.acectn.org.

Crow Friedman Group, LLC

Lellyett & Rogers Company

Jacobs Technology

ACEC Business Insurance Trust

ACEC Life/Health InsuranceTrust

AE Guidance, LLC

Concrete Paving Association

Ryan Search & Consulting

Sherman-Dixie Concrete Industries

Smith Cashion & Orr, PLC

Tennessee Concrete Association

The Crom Corporation

United Structural Systems, Inc.

by Steven Field, PEPresident, ACEC of Tennessee

The U.S. Presidency. Governors. Mayors.ACEC of Tennessee. What do they have in

common? The peaceful transfer of leadership. Inabout a month, my term as president will beover and there will again be a change in leader-

ship of the Council inTennessee.

So today I am tasked withwriting my last newsletterarticle. As I reflect on thepast year, I am pleased withthe direction the Council isheading, the continued vigi-lance it provides for engi-neering businesses in

Tennessee, the accomplishments and recognitionof our member firms, and the new leadershiptaking the reins. President-elect David Harrellhas already shown leadership in many ways andhas been very active in the association over thepast 5+ years. The continued dedication ofCandy Toler and Judy Logue is astounding. Theycontinue to be the driving force of the Council,while also organizing and planning events, lob-

bying on business issues on our behalf, and amyriad of other day-to-day issues.

As for the accomplishments of the past year,ACEC of Tennessee once again led the charge toprovide active and meaningful interaction withfederal, state, and local legislators on variousissues that impact our industry. Additionally, theCouncil recognized and promoted the work ofour firms through the Engineering ExcellenceAwards program, and started the development ofa proactive campaign aimed at educating Ten-nesseans on the importance of infrastructure.

We planned another successful Annual Meet-ing, which for the first time brought togetherthree associations - TSPE, ASCE and ACEC ofTN, and once again met the monetary goals forboth our state TPE PAC and our contribution tothe federal ACEC PAC. This last item is ofutmost importance as we continue to be the lead-ing association representing the interests of engi-neering companies across Tennessee and theUnited States.

As I close out my term, I want to thank every-one for the support you give to the Council andask that you continue your efforts to recruit newmember firms and new volunteers. With yoursupport, ACEC of Tennessee will remain theleading voice for Tennessee’s engineers.

New Leadership, Same Vision

F R O M T H E P R E S I D E N T

Steven Field

MEMBERNEWS

• Steve Hays, PE, CIH,FAIHA, was recentlyinducted into theVanderbilt UniversitySchool of Engineering’sprestigious Academy ofDistinguished Alumni.

• Barge Waggoner Sumnerand Cannon, Inc. hasnamed Cendy Dodd, CPA,as Chief Financial Officer.

• Gresham Smith andPartners has added KevinLong, PE, and Cecil“Buddy”Sherrill to itstransportation division.Alan Sullivan has beennamed senior vice presi-dent of health care ser-vices.

• Ashraf Elsayed, Ph.D.,PE, Geotechnology Inc.,has been honored with theprestigious designation ofDiplomate by theAcademy of Geo-Professionals, one of thehighest honors in the Geo-Engineering profession.

What Do You Want To Be (continued from page 1)

young minds a head start in the engineering profession. For more than 14years, Tim Sawyer has led the Advanced CAD/Pre-Engineering Programat Centennial High School. When he started with the program, they had28 students with two of the students being female. Today, the programhas more than 275 students with almost 30 percent being female. Heestimates that nearly 1,700 students have gone thru the program duringthat time period with nearly 50 percent going on to become engineers.

According to Mr. Sawyer, the program has not only grown in numbersover the years, but also in the use of technology. Students in Centennial’sprogram are exposed to a variety of skill-building courses, starting withthe basics of drawing and culminating with a set of beginner andadvanced AutoCAD classes. Students have individual portfolios as well asteam assignments. The latest addition to Centennial’s program has beena 3-D printer that has given students the amazing ability to producethree-dimensional solid objects of virtually any shape from a digitalmodel.

This year, 16 of his advanced students, including some of his up-and-coming students, jumped at the chance to use what they have learned inthe program to recreate a near-perfect replica of the Franklin PublicSquare monuments to scale, using everything from AutoCAD to the class-room’s 3-D printer. The students divvied up portions of the monument,calculating to scale everything from the cannon balls to the soldier’s hat,which was chipped when the statue was erected in 1899 to commemoratethe Battle of Franklin.

Learn more about Centennial’s Advanced CAD/Pre-EngineeringProgram by viewing a short video on their program(http://tinyurl.com/bx3vlgd) and see how Tennessee’s public high schoolsare creating career paths in engineering.

Board of Directors

PresidentSteven Field, PEStantec Consulting

Services, Inc., Nashville

President-ElectDavid Harrell, PE Vaughn & Melton

Consulting Engineers,Inc., Knoxville

First Vice PresidentChuck Saunders, PEFisher & Arnold, Inc.,

Nashville

Second VicePresident

John Wimberly, PEI.C. Thomasson

Associates, Inc.,Nashville

SecretaryJohn Kenny, PEFacility Systems

Consultants, Knoxville

Treasurer Joseph A. Ledford, PEBarge, Waggoner,

Sumner & Cannon, Inc.,Knoxville

Director at Large Tim Verner, PEFisher & Arnold, Inc.,

Memphis

ACEC NationalDirector

Steve Lane, PESmith Seckman Reid, Inc.,

Nashville

Past PresidentMike Pohlman, PE Pickering Firm, Inc.,

Memphis

East TennesseeChapter President

Mike Stomer, PGS & ME, Knoxville

Memphis ChapterPresident

Harvey Matheny, PEKimley-Horn and

Associates, Inc.,Memphis

Nashville ChapterPresident

Mickey Sullivan, PEGresham, Smith and

Partners, Nashville

Southeast TennesseeChapter President

Eddie Wade, PELamar Dunn & Associates,

Chattanooga

ACEC StaffCandy TolerExecutive Director

Judy LogueManager of Member

Services

CALENDAR

JUNE

19ACEC of TN

PR Committee MeetingTN Engineering Center

JUNE

27EEA Committee

MeetingTN Engineering Center

11:30 a.m.More information:

Judy Logue(jlogue@tnec.org)

JULY

4ACEC of TN/TSPE

Office ClosedIndependence Day

JULY

11ACEC of TN

Board MeetingTN Engineering Center

SEPTEMBER

2ACEC of TN/TSPE

Offices ClosedLabor Day

SEPTEMBER

12-13TSPE/ACEC/ASCE

Annual MeetingEmbassy SuitesMufreesboro

OCTOBER

27-30ACEC Fall Conference

Scottsdale, AZ

Annual Meeting Offers Professional Development,Networking Opportunities

David Bradford, Memphis Chapter President-Elect,Smith Seckman Reid; Heather Kraus, MemphisChapter Treasurer, Kimley-Horn and Associates;Mark Luttrell, Shelby County Mayor

Harvey Matheny, Memphis Chapter President,Kimley-Horn and Associates; and Mark Luttrell,Shelby County Mayor

ACEC of Tennessee will once again joinforces with the Tennessee Society of Profes-

sional Engineers, and the Tennessee Section ofthe American Society of Civil Engineers to holdits annual meeting September 12-13, 2013. Themeeting will be held at Embassy Suites inMurfreesboro, and will provide ample opportu-nities for education, networking, and growth.Individuals who participate in all of the semi-nars can earn more than twelve professionaldevelopment hours (PDH), including ethics.That makes this an extremely easy, cost-effectiveway to meet the PDH requirement.

Festivities begin on Thursday morning, Sep-tember 12th, with a 2-hour Ethics session. TheTennessee Engineering Foundation luncheonwill be at noon. Later, a Welcome Reception isplanned for 6 p.m. On the morning of Friday,September 13th, there will be additional oppor-tunities for professional development as well asthe chance to peruse the exhibition area beforethe ACEC of TN, TSPE, and ASCE awards lun-cheon begins at noon.

Registration, sponsorship and exhibitoropportunities are now available athttp://www.acectn.org/Events.htm or contactJudy Logue at 615-242-2486 (jlogue@tnec.org)

or Tom Lawrence at 901-237-4819 (tom-lawrence@bellsouth.net). More details on activi-ties, educational offerings, and speakers are stilldeveloping, so look for additional informationin the coming weeks!

ACEC Involved WithSeveral State Agencieson ProjectsTom Roberts, Parsons Brinckerhoff, is repre-senting ACEC on the Underground UtilityDamage Prevention Advisory Committee. Thecommittee represents stake holders who havebeen charged with preparing a report thataddresses Tennessee’s compliance issues withcurrent and proposed federal regulationsregarding underground utility damage preven-tion.

Don Yarbrough, Ross Bryan Associates, hasbeen representing ACEC in meetings with theState Fire Marshal on legislation which pro-posed to allow local government exemptionfrom minimum statewide building construc-tion safety standards. The stake holders willmeet on July 10 to discuss possible modifica-tions on structural seismic resistance require-ments for residential construction.

Memphis Chapter HostsCounty Mayor

Tennessee Engineering Center800 Fort Negley Boulevard

Nashville, TN 37203

Return Service Requested

PRESORTEDSTANDARD

U.S. POSTAGE PAIDNashville, TN

Permit No. 1078

JUNE 2013

I N S I D E

• EngineeringEducation – page 1

• Memphis CChapterMeeting PPhotos– page 3

• Annual MMeeting PPlans– page 3

Welcome, NewMember!

Hazen and Sawyer, P.C.

227 French Landing Drive,Ste. 420

Nashville, TN 37228

(615) 783-1515

www.hazenandsawyer.com

Key Contact:

Scott Woodard, PE

swoodard@hazenandsawyer.com

Hazen and Sawyerspecializes in constructionmanagement andwater/wastewater services,providing clients with safedrinking water whilecontrolling water pollutionand its effects on theenvironment.

by Candy TolerExecutive Director, ACEC of Tennessee

Although the General Assembly has adjourneduntil next January, things have not slowed

down for ACEC of Tennessee. I enjoyed talkingwith the Memphis Chapter last month about thelegislative session and issues on the horizon, includ-

ing the seismic provisions inthe IBC Code and efforts toimprove the process of work-ing on state projects.

State Architect Bob Oglesbyhas resurrected the Quality inConstruction (QIC) taskforces of several years ago.These include engineers, archi-tects and contractors who arereviewing the delivery meth-

ods being utilized on state projects. It has beenvery informative to have the state procurementagencies involved.

While that work continues, the State Architecthas also taken a proactive approach to reviewingthe processes and documents for state projects andasked ACEC, AIA, the contractors, design and con-struction attorneys, insurance types, and the QICgroups to discuss “general subject area issues andcomments” for a variety of things. These include

the contractor selection process, the designer man-ual, the owner/designer agreement, terms and con-ditions, the owner/contractor agreement, andgeneral conditions. These should be on the StateBuilding Commission’s agenda this year, so staytuned.

Also on the horizon are revisions to the sustain-able design guidelines and a BIM workshop onAugust 14.

If you have not visited the State Architect’s web-site lately, I encourage you to do so(http://www.tn.gov/finance/OSA/). Some of themore recent additions include:

• new Building Information Modeling (BIM)standards

• the revised designer selection process• an explanation of the Design-Build 1 method,

which is being used in limited circumstances.On the website you are also able to watch the

video of State Building Commission meetings andreview its policies and those of the Office of theState Architect. Under Events and Presentationsyou can watch videos of several presentations.

The State’s website has a veritable plethora ofinformation available to those who take the time tocheck it out. It is a great resource to stay up todate on changes being made for State verticalconstruction.

State of Tennessee Initiatives

Candy Toler

F R O M T H E E X E C U T I V E D I R E C T O R