One of the special annual events within the world of ASCE is the Western Region's Multi-Region Leadership Conference. This conference is hosted by a different city every year and brings together student, Younger Member, Branch, Section, Region, and Society level leaders from the 10 western state into one place. This year's conference was held on January 16 to 18, 2025 in the beautiful Mission Bay of San Diego. Orange County was very well represented with a total of 23 attendees from all levels of ASCE.
Attendees from Orange County
Well, what happens at this conference, you might ask, and why is it special? Attendees have the opportunity to network and have brainstorming sessions with some of the brightest and most involved individuals within the civil engineering community. They can take a technical tour of one of the prominent projects in the host city. They can learn more about what ASCE is up to as a Society and the future initiatives from ASCE Staff and the Society leadership, including the Society's Presidential Officers and Executive Director. They also have multiple opportunities to ask the same Society leadership any questions they might have. Conferencegoers had the opportunity to attend professional development and leader training sessions led by prominent speakers.
WRYMC Attendees
Attendees also had the opportunity to for a question-and-answer session with the two candidates to be the next ASCE Society President-Elect. One of those individuals is Orange County's own Ken Rosenfield who is a Past President of the Orange County Branch (2008/2009). It would be a unique opportunity for Orange County to be represented by such an important position. Society elections are open to ASCE members and will be held from April 30 to June 1. So please don't forget to vote.
Another aspect that makes this conference special is that so many attendees come back year after year due to the strong connections and friendships that are met with others from different Branches and YMFs. After each conference day is finished, everyone spends the night away socializing at the hot spots of the host city.
Finally, the conference ends with a bang at the Awards Banquet. ASCE Orange County Branch was honored with the 2024 Outstanding Section and Branch Website Award.
The YMF was honored with four awards! Esmeralda Aguirre was awarded for Outstanding Younger Member in JEDI Activities. Marionne Lapitan was awarded for Outstanding Younger Member in Community Activities. Natalie Luna was awarded the Outstanding Young Civil Engineer in the Public Sector award. The ASCE Orange County University Outreach Committee was awarded for the sixth year in a row for Outstanding Support of a Student Chapter.
Next year's conference will be held in Reno, Nevada, on February 26 to 28, 2026.
ASCE Orange County Award Winners
About the Author:
Nestor Godinez is a Senior Engineer at SLR International Corporation. He is currently the ASCE OC Branch President. Nestor can be contacted via email at ngodinez@slrconsulting.com.
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