Spring President's Message

It is my honor to serve as Minnesota ASCE Section President for 2022-2023. I've been part of this amazing organization since college, and have got to meet people along the way with so much drive and passion for our built environment. PEOPLE are the center of our civil engineering oath to protect public health, safety and welfare.

While it is only March, the leadership board pauses activities at the end of May, resuming with a summer planning meeting, and then again full strength in September with the next round of elections. So, time is flying by! I encourage you to join me at one of the following events/activities this spring:

Thank you board members for volunteering your time to this non-profit organization of the profession!

Follow ASCE-MN activities at ascemn.org or on LinkedIn.

Ariel Christenson, PE (MN, IN, NC, VA, WI), 2022-2023 ASCE-MN President

ASCE-MN Sponsors the 2023 Future City Competition

And the ASCE special award goes to… Team Rayon Del Miel from Mounds Park Academy!

Our #ascemn judges Sofia Puerto, Griffin Dempsey, Logan Pfaltzgraff, and Jeff Weisensel gave the Best Infrastructure Award to the team because of their City’s “bike wellness, raising bridges, hexagon design. Innovative solutions that positively affected residents. Multi-faceted. Researched. Solutions affected many layers.”

#ascemn President Ariel Christenson was a judge in the finals. The winning team VAXA represented Minnesota at the National Future City Competition in Washington, DC this past weekend.

Great job, students! You are the future of civil engineering!

Minnesota  - Future City® Competition

Report Card Presentation at the MN Senate

#ascemn Section President Ariel Christenson and Report Card Committee Chair Katie Zadrozny, P.E. presented to the State Senate Capital Investment Committee on January 17. We were honored to offer ourselves as experts in our built environment with the tool of the 2022 MN #Infrastructure Report Card. Our systems are aging! Let's get these overdue projects off the shelf TODAY.

Honoring Professor Emeritus Ted Galambos

On October 28th, Professor Emeritus Ted Galambos is being honored with the 2022 American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) Specification being dedicated in his honor. The department is hosting a technical seminar followed by a reception that is hosted by LeJeune Steel. I am forwarding you this message as a reminder in case you have not already responded, to invite you to participate in this event through attendance on the 28th of October and/or through providing a comment to Ted to be included in a memory book to be presented to Ted that evening. For further information or to contribute your comment, please click on the link provided in the message below, and I will do my best to ensure that your comments are included. If you have a photo to share, you can send it to me via e-mail at cfrench@umn.edu.

Celebrate with us!

You are invited to an Oct. 28 seminar outlining the new AISC specification which will be followed by a special dedication and reception honoring Ted.

Honoring Professor Emeritus Theodore V. Galambos
“Getting Up-to-date with the 2022 AISC Specification for Structural Steel Buildings”

Friday, Oct. 28, 2022
Civil Engineering Building, Room 210
500 Pillsbury Dr. SE
University of Minnesota

4-5:15 p.m.—Seminar (featuring Jim Malley and Cynthia Duncan)
5:15-6 p.m.—Special dedication and reception
Special thanks to LeJeune Steel for sponsoring this event.

Space is limited and registration by Oct. 17 is required.

About the presenters:

Jim Malley, is COO, Senior Principal of Degenkolb, and Chair of the AISC Committee on Specifications. Malley has over 30 years of experience in the seismic design, evaluation and rehabilitation of building structures. He was responsible for the analytical and testing investigations performed as part of the SAC Steel Project in response to the 1994 Northridge earthquake damage. Jim was also one of the authors of the PEER Tall Buildings Institute “Guidelines for the Performance-Based Seismic Design of Tall Buildings” and is heavily involved in the seismic peer review of numerous tall building projects in areas of high seismic risk including some of the tallest buildings on the West Coast. Jim has also done consulting work for the Department of Veterans for almost 30 years, acting as the Structural Engineer of Record on well over $2 Billion of construction on new construction and seismic retrofit projects.

Cynthia Duncan is Senior Director of Engineering at AISC. Ms. Duncan oversees the planning and development of AISC technical publications, including standards, manuals, and design guides. Having been at AISC for most of her career, she works with technical committees involving volunteer educators, consulting engineers, and industry representatives to develop AISC standards and manuals; most notable are the Specification for Structural Steel Buildings and the Steel Construction Manual. Her involvement began with the 1st edition Load and Resistance Factor Design Manual of Steel Construction and includes the 16th edition Steel Construction Manual.

Send congratulations!
You are invited to help us celebrate this incredible moment in Ted’s career. Our department is gathering short messages and/or photos from Ted’s former students, colleagues, collaborators, and friends like you. These messages and photos will be gathered into a memory book to be presented to Ted. To have your message included, please complete this form by Oct. 17.

Make a gift to the Theodore V. Galambos Scholarship Fund


If desired, you may also make a contribution in support of the Theodore V. Galambos Scholarship Fund in his honor. The Galambos Scholarship is a fitting tribute to his extraordinary legacy of teaching and research. We look forward to sharing news of your gift with Ted, so please make your gift before Oct. 17.

Thank you for joining with us to honor Ted’s exceptional leadership.

2022-2023 Board Election Results

Congratulations to all of our new officers for 2022-2023 and thank you to everyone that voted.

Ariel Christenson President

Alysa Johnson President Elect

Andrew Nordseth First Past-President

Lauren Linderman Secretary

Riley Dvorak Treasurer

Hannah Albertus-Benham Director of Communications

Tumer Akakin Director of Awards

Meredith Lis Director of Outreach

Danielle Nielsen Director of Events

ASCE tours the new Schoenecker Center at the University of St. Thomas

On September 29th, members of ASCE and civil engineering students from the University of St. Thomas spent a few hours learning about the construction of the new STEAM building and visiting the construction site at the University’s engineering campus! This event was hosted by civil engineering staff at the University and McGough Construction, with a presentation by the lead structural engineer, Swami Palanisami, P.E. This tour and presentation focused on the unique strong wall/ strong floor design being utilized in the construction of this five-story, 130,000 sq. ft., LEED certified education center. The building is anticipated to be open for the spring semester of 2024.

Elections are Coming - Update Your Contact Info

Not getting our emails? Switched jobs? Moved? Here’s how to update your contact information on file with ASCE MN.

  • Go to www.asce.org

  • Click “Login” in the top right corner

  • Log in with username & password

  • In the upper right corner in the drop down under your name, click “Manage my Account”

  • Your account page will then pop up, where you can update email, mailing address, subscriptions, communication preferences, etc.

This is your one-stop shop! Any changes made will automatically get updated at the local level (ASCE MN communicates via email). Still having issues? Email communications@ascemn.org.