ASCE Plot Points Podcast

Infrastructure is risky business. The money is big. The stakes are high. And it’s not something that always gets talked about, but issues of risk mitigation can be some of the most important aspects of a civil engineer’s career – learning how to navigate potential pitfalls and start the right conversations at the right time. Part of that skillset starts with having the proper risk mitigation tools at your disposal. Jerry Cavaluzzi and Dan Harpstead, members of the ASCE Committee on Claims Reduction Management, recently wrote an article for Civil Engineering Source about project management tools that you can use to help mitigate risk. In episode 181 of ASCE Plot Points, Cavaluzzi and Harpstead bring that article to life in podcast form, discussing risk mitigation tools and why they’re essential to making any infrastructure project work.

There are a lot of ways to get your message out to the masses in 2025. Social media, videos, podcasts. But not everyone can say they’ve shared their love for community and civil engineering with a mural. Akhtar Zaman did exactly that. Born and raised in Bangladesh, Zaman found a home in northwest Indiana. He’s a principal engineer for Advanced Engineering Services in Hammond, Indiana – just outside Chicago. And when the company moved into a new building with a parking lot that bordered a blank wall, Zaman had an idea. In episode 179 of ASCE Plot Points, Zaman talks about his community, his profession, and how he brought this mural to life.

Isamar Escobar joined ASCE as a student several years ago. And since then, she not been a member in name only. She’s ranked among the most active of active ASCE members, planning this event, chairing that committee. So much so that even as a younger member she joined the ASCE Board of Direction as an at-large director. With ASCE Election season nearly here (voting opens May 1), Escobar talked on the ASCE Plot Points podcast about all her community engagement, how it’s helped her, and why your engagement as an ASCE member and participating in the ASCE Election go hand in hand.

ASCE members know Rossana D’Antonio as a member of the Society’s Board of Direction. She is the executive director for NV5, a global consulting firm. Prior to that, she was the deputy director of the Los Angeles Department of Public Works. And she’s been very active throughout ASCE - especially in sustainability and advocacy efforts. But what you might not know is the tragedy that struck her family nearly two decades ago when her brother - a professional pilot - died in a plane crash. D’Antonio found purpose in her grief. She spent years investigating the crash, learning about the aviation industry, and working to ensure similar accidents never happen again. And now she’s telling her story in a book. ”26 Seconds: Grief and Blame in the Aftermath of Losing My Brother in a Plane Crash” publishes on May 12 and is available for pre-order today through Simon & Schuster. In episode 175 of ASCE Plot Points, D’Antonio talks about brother, the book, and what we need to know about aviation safety.

The ASCE member mother-daughter team of Minerva Rodriguez and Isabella Salgado celebrated buying a new house last June in the very nice Altadena neighborhood of Los Angeles. Rodriguez, P.E., PMP, M.ASCE, the mentorship chair for the ASCE Metropolitan Los Angeles Branch; Salgado, A.M.ASCE, the social chair. Both professional civil engineers. It was a storybook situation. Until last week. The Eaton Fire – part of a devastating series of wildfires in Los Angeles County – forced the family to leave their home abruptly last Tuesday night. Salgado shared her story with ASCE over the phone Saturday morning from a hotel room where the family was camped out for the time being. And in episode 173 of ASCE Plot Points, Salgado talks about what it’s been like to reckon with wildfires way closer to home than she ever imagined.

This ASCE Day – coming up next week, Nov. 5 – will mark ASCE’s 172nd anniversary. And that’s a very long time. For an organization to last for so many years, it needs great leadership and great leaders who give back. Jean-Louis Briaud and Knut Eriksen are two such leaders. Each is a member of the ASCE Foundation’s 1852 Society, a very select group of people who have generously given more than $100,000 to the Foundation during their lifetimes. In episode 171 of the ASCE Plot Points podcast, Briaud and Eriksen talk about their career trajectories and how they came to find that giving back was the best way forward.

Artificial intelligence is changing the way civil engineering gets done. Ayanna Howard, Ph.D., serves as the dean of The Ohio State University College of Engineering and has been on the cutting edge of AI research for more than three decades. Named one of the most powerful women engineers in the world by Business Insider and a top 50 woman in tech by Forbes, Howard also will deliver the keynote at the ASCE 2024 Convention Oct. 6-9 in Tampa, Florida. In episode 169 of the ASCE Plot Points podcast, Howard talks about her history researching AI and what civil engineers can expect from the technology now and into the future.

May in Washington D.C., means United For Infrastructure Week. ASCE marked the occasion by releasing a new economic study called Bridging the Gap, analyzing the additional potential costs to both the U.S. GDP and the American taxpayer if IIJA levels of infrastructure investment aren’t continued beyond 2026. Infrastructure Week also is a great opportunity for collaboration. Case in point: ASCE and the Global Infrastructure Investor Association, an organization representing the private sector on a global scale. In episode 167 of ASCE Plot Points, ASCE President Marsia Geldert-Murphey talks with Jon Phillips, CEO of GIIA, about the effects of IIJA on America’s infrastructure and where the United States stands on the global stage in terms of attracting private investment dollars.