Jonathan Deason, Ph.D., P.E., NCS Past President (1990-91)
Jonathan Deason is a Professor and Director of the Environmental and Energy Management program at the George Washington University, where he has been since August 1996. Prior to joining GW, Deason was Vice President for Environmental and Educational Affairs (1994-1996) at the American Road and Transportation Builders Association, a federation of 5,000 planning, design and construction organizations. Before that, he served six years as Director, Office of Environmental Policy and Compliance (1988-1994) at the U.S. Department of the Interior, where he managed nine regional offices across the nation and seven staff divisions in Washington, D.C.
Deason holds a Ph.D. degree in environmental systems from the University of Virginia, an M.S. degree in environmental engineering from the Johns Hopkins University, an M.B.A. degree in management from Golden Gate University, and a B.S. degree in engineering from the U.S. Military Academy. He has served as a member of the national Boards of Directors of the American Water Resources Association and the Renewable Natural Resources Foundation, and as President of the National Capital Section, American Society of Civil Engineers.
Deason has received a number of awards including the 1984 Arthur S. Flemming Award for work related to improving the nation's water resources, the 1992 Founder's Medal of the National Society of Professional Engineers as the Federal Engineer of the Year, the 1993 Engineering Achievement Award of the Virginia Engineering Foundation, a 1993 Executive Rank Award from the President of the United States, and designation in 2003 as a Research Policy Scholar by the George Washington Institute for Public Policy.
Ranjit Sahai, PE, F.ASCE (NCS President, 2013-14)
On New Year's Day in 1983, Ranjit and his wife looked through the airplane's porthole as it prepared to land at Houston International airport. He held her hand and observed, pointing to the cityscape that showcased a marvelous view of skyscrapers and highway interchanges he had never seen before. "Isn't this the paradise that mankind has been searching for? Human potential unleased, to dream and build, unfettered by constraints of traditional norms. Thank you for choosing me as your husband as I join you in our life together in the United States of America." He was thinking of two books that have influenced his life, the books his college roommate had suggested he read.
Over the course of his life on campus at the Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi, he read all available books by the author of the books his roommate had suggested. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in civil engineering and a master's degree in Structural Engineering. He went on to finish a master's in mechanical engineering from the University of Houston, Downtown campus in 1984.
The two books that sparked his journey to the US were the 1943 novel (and 1949 movie starring Gary Cooper and Patricia O'Neal) The Fountainhead and a collection of non-fiction articles in book form titled, Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal. Both, written by Ayn Rand.
He authored five books and wrote hundreds of articles in computer magazines from 1987 to 1999. His fifth book titled Teach Yourself MicroStation/J became his most successful book of its time, published on January 26 in 1999. To get a glimpse of what the book meant to its readers, feel free to browse through its Reader Feedback.
He starts work on his sixth book on April 28, 2024, titled Infrastructure: It's Future, and Past to Present. Its anticipated date of release is January 26, 2028. You are welcome to share his journey to authoring Infrastructure: It's Future, Present, and Past in an upcoming Bentley User Communities group titled Infrastructure: Its Future, Present and Past.
Should you be interested in having your employer submit details of their most innovative projects in the Gallery of Projects section of the book's introduction, have them reach out to
Thanks for stopping by.
Excerpts from an interview with Ranjit
Tell us about your involvement with ASCE.
"In 1984, when I was a student at UHD, I joined ASCE. Economic conditions in Texas were bad at that time, to put it mildly. In search of a new job, I took advantage of its free listing for job seekers. This led to a job in New York. Structural engineers worked in the back backrooms of the building, and the sky-high rents prompted me to post another job-seeker ad in Civil Engineering magazine. This led to the move to Northern Virginia, where I have been since 1987."
Tell us how you became the longest serving webmaster for ASCE-NCS.
"I never let my membership to ASCE lapse. I became an ASCE Life Member a couple of years ago. I had been a "lurker" within the organization since joining ASCE. That changed in 2009. I attended a few ASCE-NCS meetings to network and offered to revamp its Website when Fady Afif was the Section's President, who supported the idea. I have been webmaster since. When I was President of ASCE-NCS, in 2013-14, the Section's Website was awarded the best in the nation for the Section size category we competed in. I was proud to accept the award on behalf of the Section."
How did you, as a civil engineer, learn to do websites?
"I fell in love with computer software in 1984. That passion continues to this day. I wrote five books and hundreds of articles in magazines, including ASCE's journal of computing on CAD between 1987 and 1999. I make it a point to read at least a dozen books each year on software development and related topics, and keep a pulse on the industry. This year, in 2024, I am shutting down the engineering services side of my business to focus attention to what interests me most, the transformative power of software in the engineering industry."
