Christopher P. Hersey, Project Executive, Suffolk Construction
It has been an honor to serve as president of BSCES this last year. I could not be more proud of what we have done for our members and the engineering community as a whole. I would like to give special thanks to the members of the 2024-2025 BSCES Board of Government, the committee chairs, and TECET Board members and employees who worked incredibly hard this past year to make it a success.
I would like to thank those who attended the BSCES Awards Dinner on June 3, it was a huge success. Congratulations to BSCES Honorary Members William P. Konicki, PE, retired from Simpson Gumpertz & Heger and Owen O’Riordan, Deputy City Manager of the City of Cambridge, MA. Also, UMass Amherst student Claire Delaney was the winner of the Casagrande Scholarship, well done! As we round the year out, I would like to highlight some of the memorable BSCES events, scholarships, grants & developments over the last year.
- Hosted 32 events through the various groups and committees.
- Awarded eight grants to local ASCE student chapters to support their activities.
- Hosted the New England Regional Future City and BSCES Model Bridge Competitions. The Outreach Committee and regional winners also attended the National Future City.
- Applied for a $20,000 NCEES Grant to support the Outreach Committee under the stewardship of Reed Brockman.
- Held Executive Committee meetings at Northeastern and Tufts; student chapter members presented on their activities and met BSCES leadership over dinner. (Special shout out to
- Northeastern for receiving the ASCE Student Chapter Award this year)
- YMG hosted the Student Caucus at Jacobs with Executive Committee members
- Accepted applications for and awarded the $10,000 Francis M. Keville Memorial Scholarship, the Leo Casagrande Memorial Scholarship, and two (2) Eagleson Scholarships worth $20,000 over two years.
- Began development of the first ever Massachusetts Infrastructure Report Card.
- Published 9 newsletters and published the Winter 2025 edition of Civil Engineering Practice journal.
- Held annual fundraising programs which include our Annual Society and Program Sponsorships and STEM Outreach Program Sponsorship drives and an end of year appeal for donations from our past and current leaders. It is never too late to donate!
- Expanded out Continuing Education Committee FHWA-NHI Safety Inspection of In-Service Bridges (with 3 more courses later this year 2 to 3 more in 2026). We laid the groundwork for an updated PE Refresher course we are looking to roll out in fall/winter of 2025.
- Updated the Special Fund Policy to allow for scholarships and grants that are right sized for current fiscal demands.
- Further developed the Massachusetts State Infrastructure Report Card through the Government Affairs and Professional Practice Committee.
- Hosted a Legislative Fellow on Beacon Hill.
I would like to personally wish the best of luck to Katherine Swanson as 2025-2026 BSCES President. She has been a strong fixture on the Executive Committee, and I look forward to seeing her leadership and stewardship supporting the growth of BSCES over the upcoming year.
We have the following articles in this newsletter:
- Massport’s Resiliency Initiative by Kathleen Ledoux, Senior Resiliency Manager at Massport, the sponsor of this issue of BSCESNews.
- An update from Coasts, Oceans, Ports & Rivers Institute Boston Chapter chair, Dan Robbins
- An update from Utility Engineering & Surveying Institute Boston Chapter chair, Cory Cormier
- Transforming Trash into a Renewable Resource: The Evolution of Landfills and a Case Study at Juniper Ridge by David Hogue from Kleinfelder
- Town of Canton Sewer Rehabilitation Program by Jill Rossini from Kleinfelder
- CI Day 2025: Powering the Future of Construction in New England by Construction Institute Boston Chapter chair Ed Breed from Skanska USA Civil
- Freeman Lecture Centennial by John R. Freeman Committee chair Karen Kelley from CDM Smith
- BSCES Supports Increased Water Infrastructure Investment by BSCES Past President Michael Cunningham from Kleinfelder
- Empowering Communities: Accelerating Flood Resilience through Local Leadership by Derek Anderson and Anna Beheshti-Rhodes from Arup