Katie Swanson, PE, Project Manager – Water Resources Engineer, CDM Smith
I joined BSCES just shy of a decade ago, when I moved back to the Boston area after completing my master’s degree at UMass Amherst. I was actively involved with the Graduate Women in STEM (GWIS) group while there and had been previously active with the Tufts ASCE student group as an undergraduate, so BSCES felt like a good fit. I didn’t know what to expect when I walked into The Engineering Center for a committee meeting after a coworker connected me to the EWRI chair at the time (who later became a BSCES President, Ron Burns), but I can guarantee you that I did not think I would be here almost 10 years later writing my first President’s Report for BSCESNews. It has been quite a journey, during which I’ve participated in numerous board and committee meetings, attended local and national ASCE events, and engaged with BSCES members at all levels. Through it all, I have been amazed and inspired by all that is accomplished by our members, especially those who step up to volunteer their time to help steward this organization. It is the collective effort of all who make BSCES great.
I am honored to serve as BSCES President in its 178th year. To all members, thank you for electing me into this role and for trusting me with the stewardship of BSCES. I’d also like to thank all current BSCES Board of Government members and volunteers for their commitment to the organization, without you very little of this would be possible. Finally, I’d like to thank Chris Hersey for his leadership as president last year. He laid a very strong foundation for my tenure after an extremely productive year and provided skilled guidance and support throughout his many years serving BSCES. He joins a stalwart group of past presidents, to whom I also extend my gratitude.
I have many goals for this year, which I’ll get into detail as we progress through the year, but I’d like to start this first newsletter with one: foster and continue to develop community engagement. I’ve witnessed monumental change as this organization (and the world) weathered the pandemic and feel that BSCES is really hitting its stride again. It seems to me that people are ready to “get back out there” and connect, and what better way than to engage with our civil engineering community in the Commonwealth and beyond with BSCES. We have a jam-packed slate of fall events (check out our online calendar for a full list) and a strong cohort of volunteer-members who are actively working on more. I am immensely proud of what our organization has accomplished recently and is setting out to do for this term, and encourage all readers who are not currently engaged to jump in with us.
Don’t know where to start? Join us for one of our committee meetings (several of which you can register for through the BSCES events calendar), register to attend one of our events, volunteer to help with one of our K-12 educational events, write an article for BSCESNews, or simply send me an email ([email protected]) and I’ll make sure we find you a good fit. I hope that this leads to your own journey with BSCES (be it ongoing, rejuvenated, or just starting) and that you too find it to be a rewarding experience.