The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Metropolitan Section held its 17th Annual Conference at Vaughn College on Wednesday, April 9, 2014.

Vaughn President Dr. John C. Fitzpatrick welcomed the crowd to the event and then turned the microphone over to the morning session speakers to cover an industry overview and future market outlook, followed by an airline panel discussion.

The keynote speaker of the day Jack Buchsbaum, PE is the chief of design, engineering department of the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey. Buchsbaum reviewed what happened to various Port sites post-Sandy and the restoration plans that were put into effect after the storm.  In speaking about the future he noted that “climate change cannot be ignored,” and what was learned from this storm might require changes to the current FEMA flood protection measures.

Afternoon sessions consisted of discussions around security and technology issues, ongoing projects and lessons learned and an update on the Port’s capital plan. Five Vaughn students, Patrick Batey ’17, Stephanie Correa ’15, Cory Clark ’15, Daniel Dukin ’16 and Sunny Poon ’17 attended the event on ASCE conference scholarships and were accompanied by Professor Ted Kleiner.

The program was co-sponsored by Vaughn College, the Transportation and Development Institute (T&DI) of ASCE, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and the ASCE Metropolitan Section.  Money raised from the conference registration fee goes directly to benefit the New York Chapter ASCE scholarship fund, which helps deserving college-bound students to pursue a career in engineering.

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Left: Buchsbaum addresses the audience; at right, morning speakers gather with conference chairman Bill Fife for a photo.