ENGINEERING FLORIDA
To borrow a quote from Henry Ford, “Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success.” It sounds simple but when you really think about what the words mean, you get a look at the future of our organization.
Florida Engineering Society members may recall a publication called the Journal. Most importantly, many may not remember too much about the publication because it became smaller over the years. And it sometimes gave information that was not consistent between engineering professionals.
Having a unified voice when informing the public, and perhaps more importantly informing Legislative leadership in Tallahassee, can have profound consequences. This happened recently with our assembly of the Surfside Working Group, which brought together engineers and building industry professionals from Florida Engineering Society (FES), American Council of Engineering Companies of Florida (ACEC Florida), American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), Florida Structural Engineers Association (FSEA), American Institute of Architects (AIA), Building Officials Association of Florida (BOAF) and International Concrete Repair Institute (ICRI). This group worked through their differences and agreed on steps the building industry in Florida needed to take to prevent another collapse such as what occurred with the Champlain Towers in 2021. The work group’s consensus recommendations from “the Florida Building Professionals” became the basis for Florida’s Condo Inspection passed in 2022.
Communication is critical not only to the legislative process, but to make the public aware of the contributions of engineers and the issues we face daily throughout the state. Most engineering associations have public advocacy as one of their top goals, and it’s a goal that each organization mostly approaches in their own unique ways. This no longer has to be the case and is why we are pleased and excited to introduce Engineering Florida – the new and improved official publication of Florida’s engineering community!
One of the most noticeable aspects of Engineering Florida is our mutual and joint approach to gathering, sorting and sharing information statewide for Florida’s multi-faceted engineering industry. Engineering Florida is a new quarterly publication by the Florida Engineering Society (FES), the American Council of Engineering Companies of Florida (ACEC Florida), the American Society of Civil Engineers Florida Section (FLASCE), the American Society of Highway Engineers (ASHE), the Florida Structural Engineers Association (FSEA), the Society for Marketing Professional Services (SMPS) Florida Chapters, and the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE Region XII). The magazine provides engaging, non-technical content that is of interest to engineers, legislators, and industry officials alike.
Engineering Florida is designed to amplify Florida’s engineering voices by keeping the engineering community informed of changes to state regulations; continuing education; legislative issues; technological advances within the industry; and the positive contributions engineers make to every aspect of life in the state of Florida.
By keeping you informed with a unity in our voice, Engineering Florida simultaneously informs the public and those at a Legislative level charged with using our knowledge and skills for the betterment of their constituents. By keeping the information in Engineering Florida in an engaging and not-too-technical format, we are making news about our engineering community palatable to a much wider audience.
Please make this resource a way for professional engineers to come together, stay together, and work together for success!