RESTON, VA – The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) 2021 Convention will take place this Wednesday, October 6, 2021 from 10:45 am – 5:45 pm, Thursday, October 7 from 11 am – 6 pm; and Friday, October 8 from 10:30 am – 7:15 pm (all times Eastern). Originally scheduled to take place in Chicago, IL, this year’s convention is being held virtually due to the ongoing risks associated with in-person gatherings.
On October 6th attendees will hear from leaders in the field including U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg and Siemens Corp. CEO Barbara Humpton. After remarks from Secretary Buttigieg, Humpton joins ASCE President Jean-Louis Briaud to discuss the future of energy and sustainability, and the impact of potentially historic federal levels of investment in the energy grid if infrastructure legislation passes in Congress.
Events on October 7th include the Industry Leaders Forum on the topic of “Social Equity Reflected in Infrastructure and the Built Environment” and the Blue Sky Innovation Contest Finals. The goal of the Blue Sky Innovation Contest is to connect the best of our industry’s thinkers and futurists to the best students in the ASCE community. The Society hopes the contest will prove to be a celebration of innovation, and an opportunity to connect with future innovators. To learn more visit https://www.futureworldvision.org.
On October 8th, the convention wraps up with a closing keynote from Dr. Moogega Cooper, a “Planetary Protection Engineer” at NASA. On February 18, 2021, Dr. Moogega helped make history when the Mars Perseverance Rover successfully landed on the Red Planet. Part of the famed Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) team, she is blazing a trail as a real life ‘Guardian of the Galaxy’ holding the awesome responsibility of keeping the Red Planet safe from Earth’s contaminants. Her work with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory is integral to the ongoing mission to discern whether Mars could be habitable for humans and that we don’t harm what’s already there—a job she has been working up to for most of her life. After graduating from high school at 16, Cooper studied physics as an undergraduate, received a master's degree and went on to earn her Ph.D. in mechanical engineering at 24 years old with a dissertation on spacecraft materials.
Now Cooper is sharing leadership lessons learned from her inspirational journey to the top of a male-dominated field—space exploration, and insights on how perseverance pays off and how diversity makes her team even greater.
The convention will conclude on Friday night at 6:00 pm with the announcement of the three 2021 Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement (OCEA) Award winners at ASCE’s annual OPAL Awards Gala. The OCEA Award, which recognizes exemplary civil engineering projects around the country, honors projects which exemplify state-of-the-art engineering skill and provide considerable contributions to local and regional communities, in addition to advancements of the civil engineering profession.
The full convention agenda can be found online at https://convention.asce.org/. Members of the media are invited to register for the convention for no charge. Please contact Cathy Gillen to register or with questions at [email protected] or 202/789-7853.