Eric Embick, P.E.

I liked the line "Until the industry starts valuing engineers as people rather than billable hour machines I'm afraid the "labor shortage" will only get worse". Civil Engineers are considered as on bailable warrant, with a prior condition of ready to work on stipulated standards, need not to put any extra thinking on ground, which could lead to take huge risk, may cause the cancellation of the bail. Therefore it requires more of an autocratic fulfillment of a target, else, delay may cause huge money loss. Water resource developmental activities have been the biggest examples of such poor construction management. Being on a multi disciplinary platform, bringing all stake holders on a consensus decision, remained unsolvable required tribunal interference, in countries with high population density. Therefore what civil engineers learn in class rooms are the source codes for good adopters of boss, software and machination, less of philosophical thinkers of the subject area. When a trade runs without a must skill being developed in the institutions, it's value remain only in the beginning of the social development. With time, generalization of the trade on ground reduces the value of specialization and its advancements, so as to reduce the job openings and salary, to create less interests among the intakes.

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You always have a choice my BIM friend. Every decision you make shapes your destiny. You always have a choice. CRY has 3 letters, but so does JOY. PAIN has 4 letters, but so does HEAL. RISK has 4 letters, but so does SAFE. LOSS has 4 letters, but so does GAIN. LAZY has 4 letters, but so does BUSY. HATE has 4 letters, but so does LOVE. RUDE has 4 letters, but so does KIND. HURT has 4 letters, but so does CARE. GUILT has 5 letters, but so does PRIDE. LYING has 5 letters, but so does TRUTH. ANGER has 5 letters, but so does PEACE. ENEMIES has 7 letters, but so does FRIENDS. FAILURE has 7 letters, but so does SUCCESS. NEGATIVITY has 10 letters, but so does POSITIVITY. You always have a choice. Choose the better side of it. And never forget that failure is the catalyst of growth. If this resonates with you, share ♻️ it to spread the word. Have a wonderful day, friends! ❤️ P.S. How do you turn failure into growth?

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Madam President? That's me! Today is the first day of my 1-year volunteer President's term for ASCE's Structural Engineering Institute (SEI). I am the first woman to hold this position, which is something I never thought I would write because there are SO MANY inspiring woman structural engineers out there, including the incredible Tanya de Hoog, President of I Struct E (who is in the photo with myself and SEI's immediate Past President Jerome Hajjar). As I reflect on what brought me here, #mentors and #allyship immediately come to mind. Hard work is a prerequisite to becoming an engineer, but it's the people that really make the difference. I chose architectural engineering as my major because I am fascinated by the intersections of art and STEM, and wanted to make a difference in the world. But, the moments where that choice was made come down to people. To Brian Keefer, PE, LC, who introduced me to the major (which I didn't know existed at the time), and the fire that was lit within after my first structural engineering classes at #PSU with Louis Geschwindner and Linda Hanagan. There was the helpful guidance of thesis advisor M. Kevin Parfitt, and former classmate, coworker and fellow business owner Natalie Williams Bird, who introduced me to my first employer. I would not be writing this post if those interactions had not happened. During my 15 years in structural engineering consulting, there were too many impactful interactions to count (or at least....too many to share with you before I hit the LinkedIn post word limit). But the thing I saw emphasized over and over again was the human element of engineering. You can only build something significant and sustainable (including the commercial building structures I designed) with an incredible amount of collaborative effort. That lesson stuck, and I started my own leadership and communications consulting firm serving the STEM community in 2018. And again, the people - in this case, those I found within SEI - played a big part. I volunteered and applied to join an SEI committee, and Joe DiPompeo and Steve Wilkerson were the first - and definitely not the last - to help a struggling young structural engineer find her way in our profession, and develop the courage to branch out on her own. And again, I would not be writing this post if those interactions had not happened. Fast forward to today, and I have learned so much from the guidance and inspiration of SEI volunteer leaders, especially Glenn Bell, David Odeh, Marc Hoit, Daniel Linzell (he/him/his), Robin A. Kemper, Don Scott, P.E., S.E., F.SEI, F.ASCE, Emily Guglielmo, Victor Van Santen, PE, SE, F.SEI, F.ASCE. and immediate past president Jerome Hajjar. I am both grateful and hyper-aware of the responsibility of leading SEI's 30,000 members for the next year. But for today, I'm going to celebrate being Madam President.🎉

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Attention Civil Engineers: This is a desperate plea to ask that we definitely sharpen our social perceptiveness skills, because social perceptiveness is the number one most recession-proof skill. We failed to make the “150 best recession-proof jobs” list. The lead Fresno County Traffic Engineer bills out at a measley $125/hr vs. $450/hr by a typical Lawyer in that same county. I have 4 PE licenses in 3 states. I have more than a quarter century of experience. I got the ASCE awards for outstanding leader and outstanding engineer in legislative activities. I have experienced numerous layoffs and prolonged periods of unemployment. Guess what? I live in a trailer part. It’s our profession’s inadequacies in social perceptiveness that causes these challenges. Therefore let’s sharpen our social n perceptiveness skills. Thank you.

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Three of HDR's rail and modeling heavyweights, Matt Van Hattem, Catherine Dobbs, and Scott Peterson, teamed up to share how to make an exceptional service development plan through new ridership data. This commentary in Railway Age is helpful for anyone looking to build or extend a passenger rail line. Read it here: https://lnkd.in/db-Fgebf #Transportation #FreightRail #Transit

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Three cheers for our bridges & structures team on another #1 ranking in ENR's list of the top 25 bridge design firms. Innovation and exceeding client expectations keeps HDR at the top! https://lnkd.in/gDwF4snZ Not only is HDR #1 of the top 25 Bridge Design Firms, we are also ranked by ENR at #5 of the top 25 in Mass Transit & Rail Design, Highways Design, and Transportation Design! There's a lot to celebrate! #Transportation

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