ENVISIONING THE FUTURE ASCE’s Role in Civil Engineering Research Blaine D. Leonard, P.E., D.GE., F.ASCE - ASCE 2009 President-elect - Utah Dept. of Transportation Research Division May 27, 2009 ASCE Department Heads Council

“Change is constant, but, on an absolute basis, our world has changed more in the last one hundred years than in all those preceding. “ The Engineer of 2020, National Academy of Engineering And, what kind of change have we seen?

Broadly speaking, there are only two futures for civil engineering: the one the profession creates for itself or, in the void, the one others create for civil engineering. - The Vision for Civil Engineering in 2025 - ASCE One is about choice, and the other is about chance. We must act, in order to express our preference for choice over chance.

THE CIVIL ENGINEER OF 2025 VISION STATEMENT: Entrusted by society to create a sustainable world and enhance the global quality of life, civil engineers serve competently, collaboratively, and ethically as: Master builders, Environmental stewards, Innovators and integrators, Managers of risk and uncertainty , and Leaders in shaping public policy. Is this even close to what we do now?

ACHIEVING THE VISION Numerous steps to achieve the outcomes outlined in the Vision Major trends within those steps: Education Innovation Environment Public Policy / Leadership

Where do these trends apply to current ASCE initiatives? With that background, what are the challenges we now face?

INFRASTRUCTURE Overall Grade: D Aviation D Bridges C Dams D Drinking Water D- Energy D+ Hazardous Waste D Inland Waterways D- Levees D- Public Parks & Recreation C- Rail C- Roads D- Schools D Solid Waste C+ Transit D Wastewater D-

INFRASTRUCTURE Severe highway bottlenecks have increased by 40% during the past five years Americans spend 4.2 billion hours per year stuck in traffic at a cost of $79.2 billion in wasted time and fuel

INFRASTRUCTURE 27% of the 590,750 bridges nationwide are structurally deficient or obsolete Blocked or broken pipes result in 10 billion gallons of raw sewage flowing into US surface waters annually

INFRASTRUCTURE A five year investment of $2.2 trillion is needed to remedy our current infrastructure condition Only 45% of that is currently in the federal, state, and local budget now 2009 Infrastructure Report Card, ASCE

INFRASTRUCTURE “You cannot solve a problem with the same sort of thinking that created the problem” - Albert Einstein

INFRASTRUCTURE New Technology & Innovations Nanomaterials Larger Bandwidths / Wireless Technology Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) Radio-frequency Identification (RFID) 3-D & 4-D Modeling Advanced Sensing Cloud Computing

GRAND CHALLENGES OF ENGINEERING Develop carbon sequestration methods Advance health informatics Engineer better medicines Prevent nuclear terror Secure cyberspace Enhance virtual reality Manage the nitrogen cycle Make solar energy economical Provide energy from fusion Provide access to clean water Reverse-engineer the brain Advance personalized learning Restore and improve urban infrastructure Engineer the tools of scientific discovery

NSF RESEARCH DIRECTION WORKSHOP Focus Areas: Renewal, Management and Protection of Complex Systems Sustainability Global Impacts Energy Urgent need for leadership and expansion of research in these four areas, among others Final Report: Workshop on Frontier Research Directions in Civil and Environmental Engineering (2007)

INDUSTRY LEADERS COUNCIL (ILC) The entity previously known as CERF (roughly) Priority Issues: Infrastructure (no. 1) Project Delivery Improvements (no. 3) Climate Change (no. 4)

SUSTAINABILITY ASCE’s Vision: Become educated and educate others on environmental and resource issues Take the lead on sustainable solutions Incorporate renewable materials and practices into our projects

SUSTAINABILITY ASCE Task Committee on Sustainable Design Five key objectives: Define role of ASCE in advancing sustainability Define sustainability in terms appropriate for civil engineering Evaluate existing certification programs Determine if sustainable civil engineering certification is viable and needed Develop an action plan for ASCE

RESILIENCE Critical Infrastructure Research Areas: Risk Assessment / Management System-wide Evaluation and Design Performance Monitoring / Metrics Relationship between Maintenance & Performance

DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION Trends: Increasing pressure to construct faster Innovative Contracting Need to reduce impact on the public Context Sensitive Issues Sustainable and resilient design Reuse of materials on site Hardening (to natural & manmade disaster) Asset Management

DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION Accelerated Bridge Construction

THE CHALLENGE “Sustain and strengthen the nation’s traditional commitment to long-term basic research that has the potential to be transformational to maintain the flow of new ideas” Rising Above the Gathering Storm, National Academy of Sciences

THE CHALLENGE “The period from 2004 to 2007 may represent the first continuous decline in federal investment and basic R&D in universities in the past 25 years.” - Arden Bement, Director, NSF in Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Two Years Later, National Academy of Sciences

THE CHALLENGE “There will never again be a shortage of engineers in America to perform routine engineering functions. Such work will simply be shipped abroad . . . to the hordes of engineers now being produced in several other countries . . . But, there will always be demand for superbly educated engineers who are capable of performing in an innovative, creative, and entrepreneurial fashion.” Norman R. Augustine, former CEO, Lockheed Martin, Prism Magazine, Feb 2009

THE CHALLENGE Innovation: Take a leadership role in encouraging research and implementation Expand cooperation in research Aggressively envision innovative techniques Improve adoption of innovation Implement “smart” applications in construction and maintenance Integrate risk management into our practice

THE PROMISE “We are not at the beginning of the end, but at the end of the beginning.” Shane Robison, VP Hewlett Packard

THE PROMISE “I am here today to set this goal: we will devote more than three percent of our GDP to research and development. We will exceed the level achieved at the height of the space race, . . . in basic and applied research, . . . To promote breakthroughs in energy and medicine, and improve education in math and science.” - Pres. Barack Obama Apr 27, 2009 to the Nat’l Academy of Sciences

“Destiny is not a matter of chance; it is a matter of choice.” -- Statesman William Jennings Bryan