This ASCE Day – coming up next week, Nov. 5 – will mark ASCE’s 172nd anniversary.

And that’s a very long time.

For an organization to last for so many years, it needs great leadership and great leaders who give back.

Jean-Louis Briaud and Knut Eriksen are two such leaders.

Each is a member of the ASCE Foundation’s 1852 Society, a very select group of people who have generously given more than $100,000 to the Foundation during their lifetimes.

In episode 171 of the ASCE Plot Points podcast, Briaud and Eriksen talk about their career trajectories and how they came to find that giving back was the best way forward.

A new school year is upon us.

That is a very exciting proposition for civil engineering students worldwide, for ASCE, and for everyone lucky enough to use and enjoy the infrastructure these young engineers will design and build in the future.

But what’s it like being a civil engineering student in 2024? What’s the most exciting part?

“Being a civil engineering student at any time had to be amazing, but being a student, particularly in 2024, is fantastic because of all the new opportunities and technology out there,” said Maxwell Fletcher, a third-year civil engineering student at the University of Florida.

“We try to push the boundaries of what’s possible with what we know. So being able to use new technology, new modeling software, and even AI to improve our work is truly incredible.”

Fletcher is one of 27 ASCE Student Ambassadors this school year, ready to share with the world all the coolest parts about being a civil engineering student in 2024. ASCE Student Ambassadors represent ASCE on their campuses and through social media, promoting Society events and resources that can help their fellow students advance their careers.

It’s an exciting group of future leaders and an exciting time to be a civil engineering student.

“We’re in an age where civil engineering is, honestly, boundless,” Fletcher said. “I’m very excited for what the future holds for my career and everyone else I’m in school with.”

Fletcher joined fellow ASCE Student Ambassadors Mariana Vega, a civil engineering and surveying student at New Mexico State University, and Cing Kim, a civil engineering student at Illinois Tech, on the ASCE Plot Points podcast to discuss their favorite aspects of 2024 civil engineering student life.

Artificial intelligence is changing the way civil engineering gets done. Ayanna Howard, Ph.D., serves as the dean of The Ohio State University College of Engineering and has been on the cutting edge of AI research for more than three decades. Named one of the most powerful women engineers in the world by Business Insider and a top 50 woman in tech by Forbes, Howard also will deliver the keynote at the ASCE 2024 Convention Oct. 6-9 in Tampa, Florida. In episode 169 of the ASCE Plot Points podcast, Howard talks about her history researching AI and what civil engineers can expect from the technology now and into the future.