Global Link – International Activities
Summer 2023
ASCE post-disaster team explores earthquake damage in Turkey
In mid-May, an eight-member ASCE field investigation team traveled to Turkey to study the effects of the deadly, devastating 7.8-level earthquake and aftershocks on Feb. 6. Led by the Coasts, Oceans, Ports and Rivers Institute, the team also included members of the Structural Engineering Institute and the Geo-Institute. Their focus was on ports and surrounding areas, and as they examined conditions, they filed field reports to ASCE’s Civil Engineering Source. See photos and read their first-person accounts.
ACECC executive committee meets, welcomes Sri Lanka society as 17th member
The Asian Civil Engineering Coordinating Council’s executive committee gathered in April for its 44th meeting in Jeju, South Korea, where among other actions it approved an application by the Institution of Engineers Sri Lanka to join ACECC. Council Secretary General Udai P. Singh, Ph.D., M.ASCE, led the proceedings aided by ACECC administrator Laura Champion. ASCE serves as ACECC’s secretariat.
Civil engineering’s future in Asia and how to address potential challenges also was a major topic, discussed in a strategic planning session with Korean Society of Civil Engineers President Jun-Haeng Heo, Japan Society of Civil Engineers President Tamon Ueda, and ASCE Region 10 Director April Lander.
IESL President Kamal Laksiri, also an ASCE Region 10 governor, submitted the application, making the Sri Lanka society ACECC’s 17th member. Other ACECC executive committee actions included creating a technical committee on sustainable infrastructure capacity building, chaired by ASCE member Cris B. Liban. Lander also took part in a technical committee session on interdisciplinarity in strategic foresight for infrastructure.
ASCE members join UN forum on meeting Sustainable Development Goals
At United Nations headquarters in New York City, Kancheepuram Gunalan, ASCE’s 2020 president, chairs a meeting to enable connections between the UN and sustainable development stakeholders.
Accelerating applications of science, technology, innovation, and engineering to achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, and how to build back after the pandemic, brought stakeholders together for the eighth annual STI Forum at UN headquarters. ASCE 2020 President Kancheepuram Gunalan currently serves as co-chair of the UN science and technology major group and moderated a discussion that included representatives of the World Federation of Engineering Organizations and the UN Economic and Social Council. Learn more about the outcomes of the STI Forum, and watch the session chaired by Gunalan.
India Section – Southern Region co-hosts expo on construction materials
ASCE Region 10 immediate past director Brett Phillips, center, receives a token of appreciation as chief guest of honor at the 2023 International Conference on Advancements in Construction Materials.
How can the latest advancements in construction materials benefit the Indo-African nations? That was the focus of an event bringing together ASCE’s India Section – Southern Region, Copperbelt University of Kitwe, Zambia, Mattu University of Metu, Ethiopia, the Indian Concrete Institute, and Vidya Jyothi Institute of Technology in Hyderabad for the 2023 International Conference on Advancements in Construction Materials, held at VJIT. ASCE Region 10 immediate past director Brett C. Phillips served as the conference’s guest of honor, and in his keynote presentation excited attendees with a look at ASCE’s Future World Vision.
G20 leaders to get brief from ASCE urging action on resilience
Nations need to act now and encourage investments in climate- and disaster-resilient infrastructure, according to a policy brief that world leaders will receive at the G20 summit in New Delhi in September. ASCE, the Institution of Engineers (India), and the World Federation of Engineering Organizations worked together on the policy brief, which recently received approval for summit inclusion. Read the policy brief.
Join ASCE India for conference in conjunction with G20
Key infrastructure stakeholders will get together to explore how they can break down traditional silos to improve outcomes in a one-day international conference hosted by the ASCE India Section, coming to New Delhi in September, the day before the G20 summit. Participants will include professionals involved in every facet of infrastructure from planning, finance, and design to construction, maintenance, and closure. Joining in the conference will be the World Federation of Engineering Organizations, the Asian Development Bank, the Asian Civil Engineering Coordinating Council, the India Chapter of American Concrete Institute, and other groups. Make plans to attend Friday, Sept. 8. Learn more and register.
Indian engineer poised to become CEO of a Texas company dies at 26
Aishwarya Thatikonda, a project manager at Perfect General Contractors LLC, in Frisco, Texas, who was set to be named chief executive officer, has died at 26. She came to the United States from India to earn a master’s degree at Eastern Michigan University in 2020, and very quickly established a reputation for hard work. She was one of eight victims of a mass shooting at an outlet mall in Allen, Texas, near Dallas, on May 6. Learn more about Ms. Thatikonda.
ASCE provides English-language translation and editing of journal papers
Now you can produce polished English-language papers that meet the rigorous style standards of academic journals, including ASCE’s. A new partnership with Editage offers language editing and translation services for authors. ASCE members receive a 15% discount. Learn how it works.
Join fellow international members in discussions at ASCE Collaborate
ASCE Collaborate is an exclusive forum where Society members from the United States and around the world engage in lively, timely discussions about issues they confront daily on the job. Virtually any topic is welcome and open to discussion. Start or join a conversation now!
UPCOMING EVENTS
Submit your item for a future Global Link
Do you have news or an announcement for ASCE international members that might be worthy of an item in Global Link? Submit it to Civil Engineering Source associate editor John Marston at jmarston@asce.org.