The first speaker of the year will grace us with his presence on Wednesday. Christopher R. Byrum, PhD, PE and Senior Project Consultant for Soil and Materials Engineers will be speaking about geotechnical engineering. His presentation will include discussion about theories along with what field tests show. He received his B.S. at Michigan Tech and his M.S. and PhD at University of Michigan. Christopher has experience at MDOT as a geotechnical engineer for bridges, walls, and embankments along with research experience for the past nine years in pavements, embankments, walls and bridges.

Got Concrete?

Don’t Worry, We Got More on Concrete…

On October 1, a group of nine ASCE members took off the afternoon to head out to Illinois Concrete Company. They took a tour lead by alumnus Mike Johnson, P.E. Students saw all phases of concrete beam production in the prestressing beds located on the site. Field trippers also learned about the differences in precast and prestressed concrete along with ideas on patching. Illinois Concrete also had a masonry plant on site that everyone got to check out, and overall it was a great real world experience. Be on the lookout for future field trip opportunities!

Where’s your shadow?

Winter Break is sooner than you think, so head to the ASCE website and make your reservations now! Follow the website links to sign up to shadow an engineer for a day and gain experience for the future. Many students in the past have received interviews and internships through their shadows. Don’t waste any more time!

It’s time to grab the newest ASCE t-shirt… baseball shirts with an ASCE logo are now available in orange and blue. Get one for the bar crawl later in the semester and to wear right now just to look cool. You also will be the first invited to the ice cream social and t-shirt distribution. A date for the next ice cream social will be set once the delivery date on shirts is established. Check out the website for more info on how to order. All shirts will cost $10.