What It Means To Be A Member of the NCS Board

For this special feature we had asked NCS Board members, "What has it meant to you to be a member of the NCS Board?" The universal theme from the feedback you will discover below was “personal and professional development.” The specific themes that each focused on for development however were unique:

  • Giving back to community and profession;
  • Writing in a way that engages the reader;
  • Exposure to fiscal management;
  • Broadening of horizons;
  • Lasting friendships; and
  • Sense of pride in serving the needs of fellow professionals.

If you are or have been an NCS Board member, I encourage you to share your story with our members. Write a few paragraphs about your experience, include a biographical note and a photograph and email Ranjit Sahai so we can include the narrative about your experience here.

Board Member Feature

Dean Westman, President (2007-08)

Like most on the Board of Directors (BOD), I was asked to help out and I assumed more responsibility for ASCE over time. The more responsibilities I received, the happier I was to be able to contribute, in any way, to the contin- ued success of the NCS.

Membership on the BOD gave me the opportunity to make suggestions (and sometimes implement them) for bet- tering the ASCE–NCS experience for all members.  I was able to contribute on everything from Section monthly dinner speakers to the type of week- end events we support such as care of the Federal City Boundary Stones and selecting the sister organizations and events we support such as Engineers Without Borders. I’m particularly happy that our Section is able to give out Professional Development Hours at our monthly meetings, a decision that was made while I was on the BOD.

I am proud to be part of the long line of engineers stretching back 100 years and into the future who have contrib- uted to the NCS.

Dean received his Bachelor of Civil Engineering in 1981 and has worked in consulting engineering since graduation. He is currently an Associate at Whitman, Requardt & Associates, specializing in utility projects in their Fairfax, VA office.  He is a registered professional engineer in Virginia and Massachusetts.