APWA AZ Newsletter 2022 October
Public works are the services and infrastructure required to sustain quality community life. |
UPCOMING EVENTS October 13, 2022
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Helping in Our Communities: Natural Disasters, such as Hurricane Ian, quickly show how public works agencies and individuals jump into action and support their communities and neighbors in times of need, showing strength and unity. Thinking about this, I began to compare APWA and how it is like its own working community (of course, in a less severe situation and without lives being lost). Sure, it is a public works agency; but it is a large professional community made up of agencies/companies represented by individuals all working together to support each other. Let’s take a quick walk through our APWA Community to familiarize ourselves with the structure. APWA is a national community made up of more than 30,300 members. The Arizona Chapter has 800+ members and two branches (Northern and Southern). There are nine regions, Arizona being in region seven, along with our sister chapters, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. Now, you are probably wondering what my point is! Well, it is this….our neighbors are struggling and need our help and support!! Our Northern branch needs members to participate and a facility or conference room to meet in. Currently, they are trying to meet every other month, and we will provide information on the website so you can plan on attending. Our Southern Branch holds regular meetings and has scheduled the Top Golf Event after the first of the year. This event was rescheduled from the statewide conference, and we want to ensure that everyone knows about it and can show support by attending. Let’s not forget about our sister chapter in New Mexico. After the pandemic, they have been struggling to regain their leadership and membership. David Fabiano, our Regional Director, has requested that Arizona firms with contacts or branch offices in New Mexico help to encourage them to support APWA New Mexico by participating and attending. Efforts to support and strengthen these branches and Chapters are not limited to APWA but reach far into our communities. Our support helps to re-energize and grow young professionals and public works. Let us unite and show our support!! Future events will be posted on our website and in this newsletter so that you can be sure to attend. If you have questions or can provide support, please email me at sschepis@ethosengineers.com.
New Members
All it takes is to reach out to Joseph Blackman, joe@vitendo.us.
Click, Listen & Learn Webinars & Talking Top Tech Webinars APWA Educational Calendar. To register, click here: Calendar (apwa.net) Calibrating Winter Operations: October 27, 2022 Find these and other opportunities on the APWA CALENDAR.
Kaeli's Sustainability Tip of the Month:
2022 AZ APWA Scholarship Recipients Submitted by: Amanda McGennis, Sr. VP - AZAGC This year I had the honor as serving in the role of Scholarship Chair for the Arizona Chapter. I wasn’t sure what sort of response we might receive as we begin to climb our way out of depths of the pandemic. I was pleasantly surprised by our applicants and want to remind those who read this article the scholarships are open to chapter members (including their family members) who are pursuing careers in public works.
Gabriel G. Geffen - 2022 U of A Recipient “My interest in public works began when I took my first transportation engineering class entitled Transportation Engineering and Highway Design. I quickly fell in love with the field as it was my first chance as a student to see how my coursework applies to real-world scenarios that affect everyone.”
“The past two summers I had an internship working in stormwater management. I had the opportunity to contribute to many projects from trail restoration, Penn DOT’s MS-4 program and surveying clear zones to minimize vegetation loss along I-80 corridor in PA. These projects gave me hands on experience in making communities sustainable through a lens of stormwater management. My lifetime goals are directly influenced by my passion to improve my community. I look forward to creating a career in sustainable infrastructure.”
George W. Saphir - 2022 U of A Recipient “I came to the U of A as an undeclared major hoping to find a niche that would combine my love of critical thinking, sustainability and elaborate manmade structures. It didn’t take long for me to discover Civil Engineering (CE), the major that seemed to have been designed with me in mind. The exposure to so many different fields within CE (such as structures, transportation, sustainability) continued to thrill me. The thought that one day I might drive over a complex bridge that I designed seems unreal but very achievable thanks to the expansive diversity that is public works."
Angel Cobb “I believe that Angel Cobb is a great representative of the values of APWA. She is a dedicated public works professional and is committed to continuing her impact upon the City of Phoenix within the field of public works. Over the years I have observed that Angel’s leadership qualities in the role of project manager have played an integral part in the success of many projects within the City of Phoenix including winning an ACEC Engineering Excellence award. Angel leads with passion, professionalism and humor. There is no doubt she will continue to influence the future of public works in Arizona.” Kelly Kaysonepheth, Aztec Engineering on behalf of 2022 Recipient, Angel Cobb.
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Public works are the services and infrastructure required to sustain quality community life. |
