A Message From FES President Ronald Colas
Dear fellow FES members,
I hope that you are enjoying the summer with your families. As you know, I am approaching the end of my term as FES President, and I have been reflecting on the successes and challenges we continue to face.
I will share with you our top five successes:
1) We completed the first year of Engineering Florida, our new statewide magazine, and published it digitally (for FES membership).
2) We completed the first year of Engineer Interns Recruitment (resulting in 15 new paid EI memberships).
3) We executed our Memorandum of Understanding with the Colegio of Ingenerios y Agrimensores de Puerto Rico (College of Engineers and Land Surveyors of Puerto Rico). This MOU was developed between the two organizations to collaborate on educational activities, knowledge transfer, membership, and licensure reciprocity. I am happy to report that:
- We completed two joint CIAPR events, including a visit to the Orlando International Airport $4.2B New Terminal C and a tour of the Haskell Steel Shop in Jacksonville.
- On June 21, we had our first joint Order of the Engineer Ceremony with members of the CIAPR. Many thanks to our President-Elect, Dr. Charles Davis, PhD, and the Board of the CIAPR Florida Chapter.
4) We raised membership dues to align with FES policy and voted and approved to make the FES Directory digital.
5) FES gained two new student chapters – Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and Florida Polytechnic University. Both were approved at the November 15, 2023 Board meeting.
Challenges: Our organization continues to face a lot of challenges. To enumerate a couple of them:
1) Our membership is critical to our existence. We gained new members but lost some members who did not renew.
2) The future pipeline of engineers: There is a decline in the number of students who desire to study engineering. In fact, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) completed a study that revealed a current shortage of 83,000 engineers.
So, here are my two Calls to Action for all of you:
1) Continue encouraging members to renew their membership and to actively participate in your chapter’s activities.
2) Continue to remain engaged and volunteer for our STEM and MATHCOUNTS® program and encourage all levels of students to study Science and Mathematics.
Looking ahead: Our FES | ACEC Florida Annual Conference will be held from July 24th to July 27th at the JW Marriott Turnberry. We are pleased to announce that Brightline has offered to provide transportation to our members traveling from Orlando at a discount with the following booking information details:
- Promo Code: FESACEC
- SMART Business Class: 15% Off
- Booking Dates: Now through July 27th
- Travel Dates: July 23rd through July 27th
The train will travel from the Orlando station to the Aventura station in Miami, which is closest to the hotel. Those who wish to take advantage of ridesharing can do so through Brightline’s website or the Uber or Lyft apps directly.
I look forward to seeing you all at the conference.
Ronald M. Colas, P.E. S.I., FES Fellow | Jacobs | Vice President
FLPR Transportation Strategic Growth and Business Development Manager
Ronald.Colas@jacobs.com