Rural Transportation in New England: A research program by NETI
Matt Coogan, Director of the New England Transportation Institute

Mr. Coogan will be presenting information about the new three-year NETI program to investigate rural transportation in New England. The Institute will be examining; 1) Issues of rural mobility, 2) Issues of connectivity of the system for rural residents, 3) Issues of rural transportation safety, and 4) the role of transportation infrastructure in rural settlement patterns. This research has received a grant from SAFETEA-LU, a federal government sponsored bill for transportation in the United States.

NATIONAL ENGINEERS WEEK FEBRUARY 18-24, 2007 Here is a perfect way to get involved with EWeek this year. The engineering Education Service Center (http://www.engineeringedu.com/) has some terrific resources that can be used at the middle school and high school level to get students interested in Engineer. Also available is a series called “Is it in you?”. These are perfect for anyone considering a career in engineering or engineering technology. Students can get on the path to a challenging, rewarding, and prosperous career as an engineer, technologist or technician by getting inside each discipline, learning the differences and making educated choices. Great for counseling offices, career centers, schools and individuals. More information is available at http://www.engineeringedu.com

President’s Message I would like to take this opportunity to say hello and thank you to all of our ASCE members for participating in this exciting engineering society focused on our unique career choice. There is such a diversity of directions we can wander in this profession, which makes it really wonderful to track the variety of impressive designs that are taking place throughout our lovely State of Vermont! Over the years, I’ve found that attending the monthly professional dinner meetings hosted by VT ASCE, as well as other professional societies, is a fantastic way to hear about these projects, and even better to hear about the design and construction issues that made them significant!

I would also like to call your attention to the new face of VTASCE! We have created a new VT ASCE logo and we created a new website which we hope you’ll find is more attractive and easy to navigate. The first thing I noticed on this new website was the list of professional meetings hosted by ASCE beginning as early as 1980! It’s fascinating to see what the topics have been over the years! We owe a great deal of thanks to Shawn Kelley, our societies current Secretary and President Elect, for launching these changes and putting them into affect, which was no small task! So go ahead and browse the new website at http://sections.asce.org/vermont on Monday, November 20, 2006 for the official launching of the site, and hopefully I’ll see each of you at an upcoming VTASCE meeting!

Thanks,
Chantal Louise Beliveau, P.E., President VT ASCE