Utility, Engineering + Surveying - Summer 2019 - 5

UESI is holding its second election for open
slots on the Board of Governors and for president-elect during fiscal year 2020 (Oct. 1,
2019 to Sept. 30, 2020).
The UESI Nominations and Elections
Committee selected two candidates for each
opening from a pool of potential nominees
who submitted online applications or were
nominated by a Division Executive Committee (ExCom).
Board of Governors candidates:
* Lawrence Arcand, P.Eng, M.ASCE
* Daniel Gillins, Ph.D., P.L.S., M.ASCE
UESI President-elec candidates:
* Graham E.C. Bell, Ph.D., P.E.,
FNACE, F.ASCE
* John Patrick Campbell, P.E., M.ASCE
The UESI election website is open until
August 14. Voting credentials were emailed
to those who qualify, including UESI Institute Only members and ASCE members with
UESI designated as one of their institutes.
If you have questions, please contact UESI
Director Diane Swecker: dswecker@asce.org.

Inaugural Texas Chapter
Conference Exceeds Goals

An idea proposed in October last year, just a
few months after UESI Texas Chapter was established in July, recently came to light. The
chapter held a conference at the University
of Texas at Arlington (UTA), March 11-12.

news

Election slated for FY 2020
Board of Governors

Thanks to the leadership and hard work
of UESI Texas Chapter officers and members, UTA's Center for Underground Infrastructure Research & Education (CUIRE)
leaders and student volunteers, and support
from 19 exhibitors and 21 sponsors, the
event was an outstanding success. A total
registration of 250 people-maximum capacity of the venue-far surpassed the original goal of at least 100 attendees.
The day-and-a-half conference kicked off
Monday evening with a reception and officially opened at a Tuesday morning ceremony featuring several speakers and a keynote
address delivered by "Godfather of UESI"
Jim Anspach.
During four educational tracks-two
on utility engineering/coordination, one
on surveying and one on pipelines-presentations and discussions covered a variety of relevant topics. Attendees, including
representatives from Texas Department of
Transportation, utility companies and consultants, and UESI national leadership representatives, also enjoyed the Exhibits Hall
and plenty of networking opportunities.
Moving forward, UESI Texas Chapter
intends to make this an annual conference,
hosting it in different cities, as part of ongoing efforts to advance the industry at both
the state and national levels.

challenges in "reading" through subsurface
environments. Berntsen's newly patented
technology boosts UHF RFID performance
through mediums, such as soil or concrete,
beyond the capabilities of RFID-enabled
products on the market today.
"This is important because ultra-high-frequency RFID is a driver of an Internet-of-Things world overall, and our work
extends the benefits of IoT to infrastructure
management," said Mike Klonsinski, president of Berntsen.
Based in Madison, Wisc., and a UESI
Organizational Member, Berntsen provides
marking products and solutions to the land
survey, utility and construction industries.

Berntsen Receives U.S. Patent
for UHF RFID Technology

Participants complete surveying tasks in a
previous, Ohio Valley Student Competition.

Berntsen International Inc. has received a
U.S. patent for its Ultra-High Frequency
(UHF) RFID technology in marking products for underground utility management,
the latest evolution of the company's UHF
RFID, the centerpiece of its connected infrastructure locating and asset management
solutions.
UHF RFID, the global standard for product tracking in retail and manufacturing, has
had slower adoption for underground utility
marking products because of its perceived

New Initiatives Added
to 2020 Surveying and
Geomatics Conference

The 2020 Surveying and Geomatics Conference will take place May 30 to June 2, 2020,
in coordination with Cincinnati State University, at the state-of-the-art Lawrenceburg
Event Center, in nearby Lawrenceburg, Ind.
Building on the momentum from the
successful 2018 Surveying and Geomatics
Conference, planning for the 2020 event is
well underway, with the call for abstract submissions open until Sept. 26, and plans for
adding new initiatives.
One is the first national-level ASCE/UESI
Student Surveying Competition. On the Saturday before the conference, the winning regional teams will compete against each other
in completing four surveying tasks on the
varied terrain of the Cincinnati area.
Another addition is the Public Sector
Scholarship. As an extension of the program
offered at the annual Pipelines Conference,
the scholarship includes a free registration
and enhanced networking opportunities.
Applications for the Public Sector Scholarship will be available this fall.
Visit the conference website
for more information and updates:
www.surveyingconference.org.
SUMMER 2019 Utility Engineering + Surveying

http://www.surveyingconference.org

Utility, Engineering + Surveying - Summer 2019

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