President's Message January 2012
Happy New Year! This year’s legislative session looks like it will be another interesting one as the State tries to close a budget shortfall of about $2 Billion dollars. In addition, state lawmakers will have to race to adopt the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) numeric nutrient criteria to prevent the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from stepping in and regulating stormwater discharges in Florida. Despite the failure of last year’s attempts to weaken the Consultant’s Competitive Negotiation Act (CCNA) this year will likely bring a fresh round of attacks. FES will continue to monitor this and other issues of importance to the Engineering Profession.
This year’s joint FES/ASCE Holiday Party was held at the scenic Red Fish Grill overlooking Biscayne Bay. Check out pictures at the FES Miami Chapter website http://www.fesmiami.org/photo-gallery.html. The event was well attended and we collected over 40 toys for the Angel Tree Program, which provides toys to children whose parents are incarcerated. A special thanks goes out to Dave Clarke P.E. for coordinating the toy drive. This month, we are honored to host Mr. Ammad Riaz, P.E.; Acting Chief of Aviation Planning for the Miami-Dade County Aviation Department. The luncheon is Thursday January 19th 2012. Click Here to register. The Future City Regional Competition will be held this month at the Florida International University (FIU) Engineering Campus on January 21st, 2012 (Saturday). We still need judges for the final round, which takes places shortly after lunch. Please contact Sam Gonzalez, P.E. to find out how you can help. Looking ahead to February, we plan to once again host the MathCounts Regional Competition. The general competition will be held on Saturday February 25th 2012 at the Miami Dade College Campus in Kendall. Please click here for additional information. For those unable to participate in the general competition, a special competition will be held on Thursday February 9th 2012 at the Center for Advancement of Jewish Education (CAJE). We need scorers and proctors for both dates. Please contact Lin Li, P.E. to find out how you can help. I encourage you to get involved and support the Miami Chapter of FES. If you have a suggestion for future events or meeting topics, please feel free to contact me. Sincerely, Tomas Ruiz, PE, CFM, LEED AP Chapter President, Florida Engineering Society (FES) Miami Chapter, www.fesmiami.org , www.fleng.org | Photo Gallery
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