ASCE SF YMF President

Structural Project Engineer (Brown and Caldwell)

I started working at Brown and Caldwell in July 2018, so I have been a full-time engineer for about 2.5 years. I have been a licensed California PE for 1 year.

I love meeting like-minded peers and learning about what they do for their profession. ASCE has one of the largest network of passionate engineers, and being involved is one of the best ways to meet new folks and gain new insights into our engineering industry!.

My main goal is to have another fun and eventful year with ASCE SF YMF! This means meeting at least a handful of new faces at ASCE events and finding also a handful of creative ways to socialize with each other. So far, I am on track to meet this goal!

My involvement with ASCE has helped me become a more effective and confident communicator, which is especially important now when we are all working remotely. I get to lead meetings, contribute to important decisions, and make sure my team members are in the loop as well. These experiences carry over to my career, and I am glad I got an early taste through ASCE.

I am most proud of my SF YMF FY21 team members, who make SF YMF the most fun group for young engineers! This year, we had to be creative with our events to maintain the activity of years past. Given all the unique events we have had so far, including a mixology class and a "beta" version of a fantasy league based on the TV show "The Bachelors", I think the entire team deserves a pat on the back!

My most memorable ASCE experience has to be my time with the UCLA student chapter during my college years. I had lots of fun being involved with projects like the Concrete Canoe and attending various competitions. And let's not forget about all the free food that I got throughout all these years!

I got a professional camera more than a year ago, and I am trying to take better photos. I am into taking portrait shots.

I enjoying solving challenging problems with really smart people. I get to be creative and learn a lot from my peers. Plus, being in the water and wastewater treatment industry, our solutions can greatly help small and large communities, and it is awesome to make positive impacts!

Stay inquisitive, keep asking questions, and please don't be annoyed if I ask too much!

I look forward to hopefully having in-person interaction again!

by Richard Markuson, Region 9 Legislative Advocate

by Fred Blickle, P.E., F. ASCE, President, San Francisco Section, ASCE

The San Francisco Chapter of EWRI has been in existence since 2009. Currently, it has a strong and active Board which comprises Chair/President Rupeet Malhotra, Treasurer Annette Tardiff, Secretary Hugo Velasquez, Marketing Chair Juan Alejandre, Past Chair/Board Member Fred Blickle and Board Member Walter Grayman. See the attached Zoom picture from the last Board Meeting.

Since its inception, the Chapter has engaged with the San Francisco Bay Area water resources and environmental sciences professionals through dinner meetings and presentations hosted in Oakland, San Francisco or Walnut Creek, and tours such as the Silicon Valley Second Stage Water Recycling Plant. Previous dinner meeting have included presentations by experts on topics such as Lead in Water by Richard Sakaji and Susan Teefy, EBMUD; Biodiesel production; CA Water issues by ACWA Executive Director Tim Quinn; Water and the California Dream by author David Carle; Water, More or Less by author Rita Schmidt Sudman and artist Stephanie Taylor; Engineers Without Boarders presentations by the Honduras Team, Nicaragua Team and the Kenya Team; Hydraulic fracturing by Earl Hagstrom, Esq.; Challenges & Trends In Meeting Water Demands by James Brezack; Micro-Plastic Pollution by Kevin Prochnow, to name a few. Presentations were always followed by specific questions and spirited discussions on the important, contemporary topics.

Due to restrictions on in-person meetings that are imposed on us by the Covid-19 pandemic, the Chapter has been hosting Zoom webinars of interest regarding environmental and water issues in California and sometimes nationally. For example, last year the SF Chapter organized a national presentation on recently changed rules on Waters of the US (WOTUS) presented by Drew Silton, Esq. of Beveridge & Diamond, and is hosting an upcoming presentation on Asset Management for Water Infrastructure.

Arbitrators do not have to be lawyers. In fact, even though the purpose of an arbitration may be to determination of the rights of the parties under a contract, an arbitrator may decide the issues with no knowledge of the legal principals that would govern in a trial before a judge or jury.

Arbitration awards sometimes violate the rules of law and would be overturned on appeal if they were the result of a court or jury trial. Unless the arbitration agreement of the parties specifically provides for judicial review for errors of law, arbitration awards may be vacated, only upon very limited grounds. The grounds include, (1) that the award was procured by corruption, fraud or other undue means; (2) that there was corruption in any of the arbitrators; (3) that the rights of a party were substantially prejudiced by misconduct of a neutral arbitrator; (4) that the arbitrators exceeded their powers and the award cannot be corrected without affecting the merits of the decision upon the controversy submitted; or (5) that the rights of a party were substantially prejudiced by the refusal of the arbitrators to postpone the hearing upon sufficient cause being shown therefor or by the refusal of the arbitrators to hear evidence material to the controversy or by other conduct of the arbitrators contrary to arbitration statutes laws of the state; (6) An arbitrator making the award either failed to disclose within the time required for disclosure a ground for disqualification of which the arbitrator was then aware or was subject to disqualification upon grounds specified by law but failed upon receipt of timely demand to disqualify himself or herself as required. In addition, an award may be corrected if the court determines that there was an evident miscalculation of figures or an evident mistake in the description of any person, thing or property referred to in the award.