News

NSPE and the Oklahoma Society of Professional Engineers have joined forces to oppose separate structural engineering licensure requirements included in Oklahoma House Bill 1282. In a joint letter to the Oklahoma Speaker of the House and the Senate president pro tempore, NSPE and OSPE urged them to rescind all language pertaining to structural engineering in the bill. NSPE President Kodi Jean Verhalen, P.E., Esq., F.NSPE, and OSPE President Brian Kennell, P.E., stated, “Efforts to weaken engineering licensure by carving particular niches within the profession undermine a system of laws designed to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the public. The obligation to stay current and practice in one’s own field is the bedrock of PE licensure and is not limited to or required by separate discipline-specific licensure.”

H.B. 1282 defines a professional structural engineer as “an individual who has been duly licensed as a professional engineer by the Board, and who has been further authorized by the Board to use the title Professional Structural Engineer, P.E., S.E. or S.E. and perform structural engineering analysis and design services for ‘significant structures’, as defined by Board rule.” Currently, the Oklahoma State Board of Licensure for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors does not define “structural engineering” or “significant structures,” which creates alarming regulatory ambiguity, both for professional engineers and for the public. This proposed legislation, wrote Verhalen and Kennell, “raises major concerns about its impact on professional engineers in Oklahoma who currently perform structural engineering (as we assume it may be defined, but given the fact that ‘structural engineering’ and ‘significant structures’ are not defined in the State of Oklahoma, regulatory ambiguity persists), competently and successfully, but have not taken the 16-hour SE exam. It is important to note that the NCEES 16-hour Structural Engineering exam has only been offered since 2011.”

 

The SDES 2017 Annual Conference is scheduled for April 26-28, 2017, to be held at the Spearfish Holiday Inn Convention Center.  Mark your calendars and make plans to attend and support SDES! 

Check Out the NEW Trimble UX5 HP &  Trimble ZX5 in Action!
Please see the link for details.

June 15 in Sioux Falls; June 17 in Rapid City

 

You are invited to the AGC Golf Tournament. 

Please click on this link for details.

The South Dakota Office of Emergency Management would like to remind potential applicants of the FEMA Public Assistance (PA) program, Pre-Disaster Mitigation (PDM) grant or the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, of the free training taught by FEMA procurement specialists discussing Federal standards for procurement. The information will enable participants to successfully participate in the (PA) program under a disaster declaration of the Stafford Act. This training is also useful for applicants of the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program or any other sub-recipient of a Federal grant.

Local and tribal governments and private non-profit organizations must use their documented procurement procedures that reflect applicable state, tribal and local government laws and regulations, provided that the procurements conform to applicable Federal law and standards. The South Dakota Department of Legislative Audit will also be present to discuss applicable South Dakota Law related to procurement.

These trainings will be offered in Sioux Falls on April 19^th at 1:00pm CT and Rapid City on April 21^st at 1:00pm MT. If you would like to attended this class please register using one of the links below. If you have any questions regarding the class contact Tyler Steen at 605-773-3231.

Sioux Falls-https://www.eventbrite.com/e/fema-grants-procurement-training-sioux-falls-tickets-23450787938

Rapid City-https://www.eventbrite.com/e/fema-grants-procurement-training-rapid-city-tickets-23451303480

Tyler Steen

Disaster Closeout Coordinator

SD Office of Emergency Management

118 West Capitol Ave.

Pierre, SD 57501

605.773.6424

Fax  605.773.3580

tyler.steen@state.sd.us

 

 

For Immediate Release

Contact: Jesse Morris, PE – (605) 391-6449

Students Win State Math Competition

Pierre, SD – March 12, 2016 — A team of middle school Mathletes^® from Mickelson Middle School in Brookings won the state MATHCOUNTS competition. The top individual was Serena An from Mickelson Middle School.

Members of the winning team are: Donovan Kreul, Serena An, Samyok Nepal and Jason Min, coached by Shannon Renkly.

The second and third place teams are from Edison Middle School of Sioux Falls and Selby Area Middle School of Selby, respectively.

The top four individuals from the State Competition will represent South Dakota at the 2016 Raytheon MATHCOUNTS National Competition in Washington D.C., May 7-10. The four team members are Serena An (Mickelson Middle School – Brookings), Donovan Kreul (Mickelson Middle School – Brookings), Isaac Sarbacker (Edison Middle School – Sioux Falls) and Samyok Nepal (Mickelson Middle School – Brookings). The coach for South Dakota’s team going on to compete at the national competition is Shannon Renkly (Mickelson Middle School – Brookings).

In our increasingly technological society, those students who do not begin developing strong problem-solving, logical thinking and analytical abilities in middle school will face an uphill battle later in life if they wish to pursue a medical, scientific, mathematical, engineering or technical career. As a national math enrichment, coaching and competition program designed to improve math skills among U.S. students, MATHCOUNTS prepares students for future career opportunities and success. More than 6 million students across the U.S. have participated in MATHCOUNTS programs.

The state program is sponsored by the South Dakota Engineering Society and the 3M Gives Foundation. Leadership at the local levels of the MATHCOUNTS Competition Series is provided by members of the South Dakota Engineering Society of the National Society of Professional Engineers.

The National Sponsors of MATHCOUNTS are Raytheon Company, Northrop Grumman Foundation, U.S. Department of Defense, National Society of Professional Engineers, CNA Foundation, Phillips 66, Texas Instruments Incorporated, 3Mgives, Art of Problem Solving and NextThought. MATHCOUNTS was founded by the National Society of Professional Engineers, National Council of Teachers of Mathematics and CNA Foundation.

Additional information on MATHCOUNTS is available at www.mathcounts.org.

 

Southeast Tech Training Solutions Institute is offering an AutoCAD Civil 3D training to be held in Sioux Falls, SD on April 25 -29.  Please see the attached details and registration sheets for information on the class.  Be sure to notice that there are special discounts offered for multiple attendees. A caveat: the class size must have at least 7 registrations by April 1 or the class will not be given.

 

About the Class
Registration Form

Please see the attached  PDF for the most current TLN Presentations.  There are some courses that are not open for registration yet even though a date has been confirmed.  The purpose of the attached document is to let you know what courses will be offered.  Course information can be found on the TLN Learning Management System when it is available.

 

TLN Presentation Table 

  

Stacy Ann Froelich Selected as Bureau of Reclamation's 2016 Engineer of the Year

Froelich is recognized for her work for assisting Tribes and non-tribal rural water projects in South Dakota

Media Contact: Peter Soeth, 303-445-3615

For Release: February 26, 2016

Commissioner Estevan López with Stacy Ann Froelich, P.E., Reclamation's Engineer of the Year.

WASHINGTON - Stacy Ann Froelich, P.E., is the Bureau of Reclamation's Engineer of the Year for 2016. Froelich, a civil engineer, is being recognized for her contribution toward overseeing and supporting several rural water contracts including tribal construction and operation and maintenance contracts with the Oglala, Rosebud and Lower Brule Sioux Tribes, plus construction of the non-tribal rural water system, West River/Lyman-Jones.

Froelich, who works at Reclamation's field office in Pierre, South Dakota, is also a top ten finalist for the National Society of Professional Engineers’ Federal Engineer of the Year Award for 2016. She will be honored with her peers at a luncheon ceremony on Friday, February 26, at the National Press Club, in Washington, District of Columbia, as part of National Engineers Week.

"Ensuring that Native American communities have a sustainable water supply is one of the most important things that Reclamation does," Commissioner Estevan López said. "Stacy’s work helps Reclamation fulfill its mission to deliver safe and reliable water supplies to a number of communities across Indian Country."

Froelich conducted research as part of her job supporting the rural water projects. She co-authored a study on the service-life of asbestos-cement pipe used in a significant portion of tribal community water systems to determine eventual distribution pipe replacement. She is also administering a research study into nitrosamine that is a suspected cancer-causing disinfection-by-product of water treatment and will be potentially regulated in the future. Phase II starts soon and will explore treatment options to reduce its formation.

She received a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering in 2002, and a Master of Science in Technology Management in 2010, both with the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. She is a registered professional engineer in South Dakota and is a member of the National Society of Professional Engineers and South Dakota Engineering Society. Froelich was selected as the South Dakota Engineering Society, Central Chapter, Young Engineer of the Year in 2007.

Reclamation would also like to recognize its 2015 Engineer of the Year regional winners:

• Brandon Hilliard, P.E., computer engineer at Hoover Dam, Nevada (Lower Colorado Region)
• Bau Yang Chang, electrical engineer at the Central Valley Operations Office in California (Mid-Pacific Region)
• Gwendolyn Christensen, P.E., technical projects manager at Columbia-Cascades Area Office in Washington (Pacific Northwest Region)
• Jay W. Bytheway, supervisory civil engineer at Upper Colorado Regional Office in Utah (Upper Colorado Region)

Each of the five regions nominate one candidate for consideration as Reclamation's Engineer of the Year. The final selection represents Reclamation's nominee for the National Society of Professional Engineers’ Federal Engineer of the Year Award.

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Reclamation is the largest wholesale water supplier and the second largest producer of hydroelectric power in the United States, with operations and facilities in the 17 Western States. Its facilities also provide substantial flood control, recreation, and fish and wildlife benefits. Visit our website at www.usbr.gov and follow us on Twitter @USBR.

Thanks to the Bureau of Reclamation for press release

 

The Notice of Funding Opportunity has been recently released by FEMA. Attached is the fact sheet pertaining to the Pre-Disaster Mitigation (PDM) Grant and Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) Grant.  Application deadline to our office will be May 27, 2016 at 5:00 p.m.  We will begin to accept applications today and only complete applications will be considered.

If there are any questions pertaining project eligibility or the applications process, please contact Jim Poppen at jim.poppen@state.sd.us or 605-773-3231.