Engineering Pittsburgh Lecture Series

Join us in celebrating the history of civil engineering in Pittsburgh. The authors for the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Pittsburgh Section’s 2018 Centennial Publication, Engineering Pittsburgh—A History of Roads, Rails, Canals, Bridges and More, are partnering with Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation (PHLF) to bring you monthly lectures telling the story of how civil engineers transformed the natural environment into the developed and livable city that we know and love.

The Transformation of Civil Engineering from a Craft to a Profession
Tuesday, February 18
6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Landmarks Preservation Resource Center
744 Rebecca Avenue, Wilkinsburg, PA 15221

Two hundred years ago, there were no engineering degrees in the United States of America; 150 years ago, there were no engineering schools in Western Pennsylvania; 100 years ago, Pittsburgh-area civil engineers were just forming their first local professional societies. Yet, 50 years ago civil engineers were designing much of the civil engineering infrastructure that Pittsburgh still uses. Today, the ASCE Pittsburgh Section is one of the top professional societies in the nation, winning four national commendations in the past six years. How did the profession develop? What might the future hold? Join us to find out.

For our inaugural February lecture, we will answer one of the most common questions: “How many bridges are there in Pittsburgh?”  We will discuss the complexities of what an engineer defines as a bridge, versus what a non-engineer may consider a bridge, and we will see if we can build a consensus to arrive at the final count. We look forward to taking additional questions to explore in upcoming presentations.

We hope you can join us for this monthly series on Pittsburgh’s engineering legacy!

About the presenters:

Catherine Bazán-Arias, PhD, PE, D.GE, PMP, F.ASCE, is a senior engineer with DiGioia, Gray & Associates. She has served as president of the Pittsburgh Section  of ASCE and the at-large director of the ASCE National Board of Direction. She chaired the ASCE Pittsburgh Section’s 100th Anniversary Task Committee tasked with creating the section’s centennial publication. In 2015, the Engineers’ Society of Western Pennsylvania bestowed its Engineer of the Year Award on Cathy.

Gregory F. Scott, PE, is currently serving on the Environmental Water Resources Institute (EWRI) Governing Board. He served two terms as a Region 2 ASCE governor from 2006 until 2012 representing civil engineers from Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and the District of Columbia. He is the lead author of Engineering Pittsburgh’s “Pennsylvania’s Borders” and “Drinking Water” chapters (which will be covered in upcoming lectures).

Todd Wilson, MBA, PE, is serving as the History and Heritage Chair of the ASCE Pittsburgh Section and Trustee of PHLF. Mr. Wilson is an award-winning transportation engineer at Homestead-based GAI Consultants. He co-authored Images of America Pittsburgh’s Bridges, Arcadia Publishing, 2015, and wrote the Engineering Pittsburgh bridge chapter. Mr. Wilson has been named a national New Face of Engineering by ASCE (2010) and has been named to the Pittsburgh 40 Under 40 list (2011). He has visited and photographed thousands of bridges, including at least in every US state and in 25 countries.

This lecture is FREE to PHLF Members and members of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
Non-members: $15

RSVPs are appreciated. Contact Mary Lu Denny: marylu@phlf.org or 412-471-5808 ext. 527