(Photo | Courtesy of Century West Engineering)
Since 2017’s record-setting conference attendance in Sunriver, the Professional Engineers of Oregon (PEO) had been looking forward to the 2020 annual event’s return to the picturesque community nestled among Central Oregon’s Ponderosa pines. As with all conferences, the planning of the April 30-May 1, 2020, event began immediately on the heels of the 2019 annual meeting. Thoughts of brewery tours, golf and star-gazing had engineers across the state excitedly planning throughout a year of board meetings. By now we’re all familiar with the narrative, so suffice it to say that two months prior to the conference, the global coronavirus pandemic shuttered the much-anticipated gathering.
In the days following the cancellation of 2020’s event, the statewide PEO leadership considered options. The most straightforward decision was to simply cancel the conference for the year, returning on the scheduled rotation in 2022. Fortunately, once a group of engineers gets together in a video-conferenced “room,” solutions begin to outweigh problems. The statewide organization, founded on the premise that licensed Professional Engineers are ethically bound to the protection of the public’s health, safety and welfare, decided to shift its conference to a live webinar format.
PEO’s Executive Director, Belinda Rasmussen of Association Business Management, and Ralph Cohen, PE, PEO, vice president from the Columbia Chapter in Portland, shared their collective knowledge of the Zoom Videoconferencing platform to lead the technical aspects of hosting the webinar. The conference committee quickly contacted a select group of presenters who had previously agreed to participate in the in-person conference; the group enthusiastically accepted the webinar invitation. Promotion pivoted to encourage engineers across the state to strengthen their connection to their peers during challenging times, all while earning the Professional Development Hours (PDHs) required to maintain Professional Engineering licensure in the State of Oregon. Registration numbers began to climb.
The annual conference has long been the largest fundraiser for the state MATHCOUNTS Foundation, PEO’s Education Foundation and Central Oregon’s Engineering Scholarship Fund, all of which encourage students toward STEM education and engineering careers. Conference Co-Chair, Lisa Splitter, PE, of The Wallace Group suggested that $10 of every registration fee go to the attendee’s choice of the foundations associated with PEO. Immediately, this was promoted as a means of helping the organization further its educational aims during uncertain financial times. The modest goal of 40 attendees was quickly surpassed, as the group proved to itself once again that creativity is the key to adapting.
Under the banner of the original conference theme, Engineering 2020: People, Progress, Planet, the morning of May 1 saw the participant count including presenters approach 90. As attendees settled in from their devices across the state, PEO State President, David Etchart, PE, made his welcoming remarks. Much like PEO’s in-person conferences, the presentations offered broad appeal to engineers from multiple disciplines. As a timely opener, the first presentation by Mark Buckley, PhD with ECONorthwest was “Planning for Continuity of Operations — Economic implications of disasters and disruptions, and resiliency planning for continuity of operations.” Presentations followed by Assistant Director of ODOT, Travis Brouwer, who provided an update on the I-5/Columbia River Replacement Bridge project, as well as talks focusing on post-earthquake reconnaissance and Oregon’s growing electric vehicle infrastructure. The conference capstone remarks, Engineering a Bright Future, were provided by OSU-Cascades’ Associate Dean of Academics, Dr. Andrew Ketsdever as encouragement for all attendees to remember that we’re all still collectively working toward a brighter future.
Midway through webinar, David Martini, the president of the National Society of Professional Engineers, conducted the ceremony for the installation of new state officers. As conference co-chair, I was handed the virtual gavel of State President by David Etchart. I gave a brief talk connecting the conference theme with each of the presentations, and highlighting the fact that the group’s adaptability through challenging times proved the strength of the engineering community.
Attendees and organizers alike realized that, by successfully conducting the webinar conference event, PEO directly improved its ability to provide value to its membership. The organization strives to support all licensed Professional Engineers across the state through opportunities for learning, licensure and leadership, yet travel requirements have long discouraged members from attending events. In the face of the COVID-19 challenges, the Professional Engineers of Oregon made a collective decision to not only maintain the conference planning momentum already in place, but also to strengthen the connection with members from across the state through a live videoconference platform. Engineers are duty-bound to protect the public’s health, safety and welfare. Strong community connection, through good times and bad, is a foundation of that effort.
Tom Headley, PE, CWRE is the Bend Office Supervisor for Century West Engineering and President of the Professional Engineers of Oregon.
