Infrastructure resilience is in a very enticing spot here in 2026.

It’s arguably never been more important to ensure that your community’s infrastructure remains resilient.

But the good news, meanwhile, is that you could make the case that it’s never been easier to make your infrastructure resilient.

Technology is developing at such a rapid pace, and those new developments have made resilience far more accessible and affordable than ever.

A new white paper – written by ASCE in partnership with Duke University’s Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment, and Sustainabilty, Bentley Systems, AECOM, and Microsoft – maps a path for smaller and mid-size municipalities to build more resilient infrastructure systems.

“Built to Endure: A Smart Guide for U.S. Cities to Build Resilient Infrastructure that Lasts” is available now as a free download.

And in episode 191 of ASCE Plot Points, two of the papers authors – Bentley’s Rory Linehan and Duke’s Elizabeth Losos – talk about the new technology making resilient infrastructure more accessible than ever and cite some of the paper’s case studies where these new ideas and innovations are already being put into practice.

Earth Day 2026 finds the ASCE Plot Points podcast celebrating with a conversation between Xavi Fonoll Almansa, an assistant professor of environmental Engineering at the University of Texas, at Austin, and guest host Kuang Zhu of the ASCE Environmental and Water Resources Institute’s Environmental Health and Water Quality Committee. In episode 190 of ASCE Plot Points, they discuss resource recovery, future technologies and processes, and Fonoll Almansa’s cutting edge research right now into hydrothermal liquefaction, converting organic waste into biocrude.

Infrastructure is risky business. The money is big. The stakes are high. And it’s not something that always gets talked about, but issues of risk mitigation can be some of the most important aspects of a civil engineer’s career – learning how to navigate potential pitfalls and start the right conversations at the right time. Part of that skillset starts with having the proper risk mitigation tools at your disposal. Jerry Cavaluzzi and Dan Harpstead, members of the ASCE Committee on Claims Reduction Management, recently wrote an article for Civil Engineering Source about project management tools that you can use to help mitigate risk. In episode 181 of ASCE Plot Points, Cavaluzzi and Harpstead bring that article to life in podcast form, discussing risk mitigation tools and why they’re essential to making any infrastructure project work.

Civil engineering is a tricky balancing act between relying on what has worked for infrastructure in the past and predicting what infrastructure will need decades into the future.

A new book prepared by the ASCE Task Committee on Future Weather and Climate Extremes, Impacts of Future Weather and Climate Extremes on United States Infrastructure: Assessing and Prioritizing Adaptation Actions, helps civil engineers thread that needle.

On episode 91 of ASCE Plot Points, co-authors Jason Giovannettone, Ph.D., A.M.ASCE, and Mari Tye, Ph.D., C.Eng, M.ASCE, talk about their new book and how it can help civil engineers make intelligent infrastructure decisions for the future.

Claudia Gunsch is the Theodore S. Kennedy Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Duke University, where she also serves as the associate dean of research and infrastructure for the Pratt School of Engineering. She says her favorite part of engineering is "defining the problem, solving the problem." In a sense, it's the same process she's applied to finding the right career path of her.

On episode 90 of ASCE Plot Points, Gunsch speaks with Brianne Duncan and Lauren Redfern of the EWRI Environmental Health and Water Quality Committee.

Katie Bowman, P.E., M.ASCE, is a graduate research assistant at the University of Memphis, vice president of the ASCE West Tennessee Branch, and a newly elected governor-at-large for Region 4.

None of it has come easily, though.

On episode 89 of ASCE Plot Points, Bowman talks about the twists and turns that have led her to career happiness.

One of the most useful aspects of ASCE’s Report Card for America’s Infrastructure is the way it takes in a lot of complex information and turns it into a very simple, easy-to-understand grade.

So for instance, the rail category received a grade of B on the 2021 edition of the report card.

But of course as with anything, it’s important to dig a little deeper. On episode 88 of ASCE Plot Points, Ian Jefferies, president and CEO of the Association of American Railroads, helps to break down the nuance behind that grade.

The nation turns its attention to Capitol Hill this week, as the House of Representatives reconvenes for what may be one of the busiest weeks of legislative work in recent memory. Meanwhile, the focus of Capitol Hill’s attention turns to infrastructure with the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is slated for a vote this Thursday.

Regardless of the result this week, it’s a huge step forward for ASCE and its decades of advocacy for infrastructure investment.

Rebecca Shelton is one of the real champions of that advocacy work, as a co-chair of the Georgia Infrastructure Report Card and is a member of the ASCE Committee for America’s Infrastructure.

On episode 87 of ASCE Plot Points, Shelton talks about her work and what a potential infrastructure bill would mean for civil engineers.

Hurricane Ida hit the United States earlier in the month to tragic effect – damage, displacement, and even death. Today, on episode 86 of ASCE Plot Points, Jim Heeren, a senior associate and environmental engineer for Dewberry and president of ASCE’s North Jersey Branch, and Ronnie Schumann, vice president of quality engineering and technical services for Integrated Logistical Support Inc. in New Orleans and a governor-at-large for ASCE Region 5, talk about how Ida has affected their communities and their profession. This episode of ASCE Plot Points is supported by Maplesoft. Visit maplesoft.com/mapleflow.

Paul Mlaker is an ASCE Distinguished Member with more than 40 years of service with the United State Army Corps of Engineers, now in the role of Engineer Emeritus for the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center.

And 20 years ago, he led the ASCE team investigating the damage done by the Sept. 11 attack at the Pentagon.

In episode 85 of ASCE Plot Points, Mlakar looks back on that investigation, Sept. 11, and how the profession has changed.

This episode of ASCE Plot Points is supported by Maplesoft. Visit maplesoft.com/mapleflow.

Listen to the episode above, and subscribe to the show wherever you listen to podcasts.

SUBSCRIBE IN APPLE PODCASTS

SUBSCRIBE IN SPOTIFY

SUBSCRIBE IN STITCHER

It's difficult to believe that it’s been 20 years since the tragic attacks of Sept. 11. For the people who lost loved ones, it’s a story of unimaginable grief. For the country, and our collective conscience, it’s a story of fundamental change. And of course, amid all the hurt and hope and resilience and loss, it’s a civil engineering story too.

Nothing provides optimism quite like the next generation of civil engineers

ASCE PLOT POINTS SEASON 4 EPISODE 11 Wanting to help save the world is an admirable goal. Figuring out just how you can plug that mission into your career path is the first step. Marjorie Bedessem is a senior engineer for Tri Hydro and the vice-president of ASCE’s Environmental and Water Resources Institute. And she’s excellent case study in navigating different career tracks to maximize

Anna Lisonbee is a water resources professional engineer in training for Hansen, Allen, and Luce in Sandy, Utah. And while she is admittedly still early in her career, Lisonbee is not simply passing time waiting until she’s much older so she can assert herself as a leader. She’s doing so right now – at work, among staff, on projects, and with ASCE. Lisonbee is the president-elect of the Utah Section and has become a front-facing leader among younger members in the entire organization. In episode 180 of ASCE Plot Points, Lisonbee talks about her perspective on leadership, how standing front-and-center wasn’t necessarily part of her original career vision, and why she’s come to see passivity when it comes to leadership as not an option for her.

Season 4, Episode 10: Burçin Becerik-Gerber, a professor in the civil and environmental engineering department at the University of Southern California and director of CENTIENTS (Center for Intelligent Environment),

ASCE Plot Points Season 4 Episode 9: It’s amazing to think that even in the oldest professional in the world, civil engineering, there remain new boundaries to push. Erica Fischer is doing just that in the field of structural fire engineering design.

ASCE Plot Points Season 4 Episode 8: Are civil engineers doing enough to combat climate change? It’s a simple question with a complicated answer. Or maybe it’s a complicated question with a simple answer. Either way, Emily Grubert,

ASCE Plot Points Season 4 Episode 7: Cybersecurity is a hot topic these days – and one that most people would agree is important for our modern society to regulate and prioritize. But is cybersecurity something civil engineers need to concern themselve...

ASCE Plot Points Season 4 Episode 6: Avery Bang is probably most familiar to civil engineers for her star turn in the ASCE movie Dream Big. But by day, she’s the president and CEO of Bridges to Prosperity, an organization that collaborates with industr...

ASCE Plot Points Season 4 Episode 5: Mathew Picardal does a little bit of everything when it comes to popular civil engineering communication. He works as a structural project manager for DCI Engineers. He’s also started a YouTube channel called the St...

ASCE Plot Points Season 4 Episode 4: Melissa Fischer is a supervising engineer for the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts. But lately, she’s probably better known as a novelist. Her novel, “The Advocacy,” has earned rave reviews – Kirkus Reviews called the protagonist, Louisa Lehmann “a delightful, complicated character” and the Southern Literary Review called the book “profound.” Fischer talks about the novel, why it

ASCE Plot Points Season 4 Episode 3: S&C Associates is a small engineering firm in Sun Valley, Idaho, providing an array of essential services to the community. Sherri Newland, principal engineer and owner,

ASCE Plot Points Season 4 Episode 2: Transportation is a lot different in 2020 than it was in 2019, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. The key question now is what changes wrought by the coronavirus will still be affecting transit systems next year and i...

ASCE Plot Points Season 4 Episode 1: Work looks a little bit different these days. Especially for those civil engineers who are balancing their jobs with their duties as parents, often working from home with their children one room over.

There are a lot of ways to get your message out to the masses in 2025. Social media, videos, podcasts. But not everyone can say they’ve shared their love for community and civil engineering with a mural. Akhtar Zaman did exactly that. Born and raised in Bangladesh, Zaman found a home in northwest Indiana. He’s a principal engineer for Advanced Engineering Services in Hammond, Indiana – just outside Chicago. And when the company moved into a new building with a parking lot that bordered a blank wall, Zaman had an idea. In episode 179 of ASCE Plot Points, Zaman talks about his community, his profession, and how he brought this mural to life.

ASCE Plot Points wraps up the “Engineering a Culture of Inclusion” series, talking with civil engineers impacted by the current sociopolitical climate, sharing their experiences within and insights about the civil engineering profession,

ASCE Plot Points continues it series called “Engineering a Culture of Inclusion,” talking with civil engineers impacted by the current sociopolitical climate, sharing their experiences within and insights about the civil engineering profession,

ASCE Plot Points continues it series called “Engineering a Culture of Inclusion,” talking with civil engineers impacted by the current sociopolitical climate, sharing their experiences within and insights about the civil engineering profession,

Today on ASCE Plot Points marks the start of a new series called “Engineering a Culture of Inclusion,” talking with civil engineers impacted by the current sociopolitical climate, who will share their experiences within and insights about the civil eng...

Today on ASCE Plot Points marks the start of a new series called “Engineering a Culture of Inclusion,” talking with civil engineers impacted by the current sociopolitical climate, who will share their experiences within and insights about the civil eng...

Every day in April, ASCE Plot Points is calling a different civil engineer from around the world to find out how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting their life, their community, their work and the civil engineering profession. Thirty days. Thirty phone calls. Plus an extra three. Community Call 33 closes the series, and fittingly it features ASCE President K.N. “Guna” Gunalan. The president discusses his

Every day in April, ASCE Plot Points is calling a different civil engineer from around the world to find out how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting their life, their community, their work and the civil engineering profession. Thirty days. Thirty phone calls. Plus an extra three. Community Call 32 reaches out to David Wieller, president of ASCE’s Lehigh Valley Section and the water and municipal regional

Every day in April, ASCE Plot Points is calling a different civil engineer from around the world to find out how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting their life, their community, their work and the civil engineering profession. Thirty days.

Every day in April, ASCE Plot Points is calling a different civil engineer from around the world to find out how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting their life, their community, their work and the civil engineering profession. Thirty days. Thirty phone calls. Community Call 30 takes us into non-lockdown mode in Nebraska. Marie Stamm, P.E., M.ASCE, is a civil engineer for Schemmer Associates in Omaha,

Every day in April, ASCE Plot Points is calling a different civil engineer from around the world to find out how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting their life, their community, their work and the civil engineering profession. Thirty days. Thirty phone calls. Community Call 29 brings us to the northern part of Italy, battered by the coronavirus in March and still very much in recovery

Rod Jones is a project manager for Holder Construction in Ashburn, Virginia.

But even as he is progressing in his own career – ENR named him a Top 20 Under 40 in 2024 – he’s acutely aware of attracting more people to the profession and helping others follow his path.

He’s an adjunct professor at his alma mater, Morgan State University, and his online “Rod the Builder” lifestyle brand – through YouTube and social media – inspires young professionals and students to find their passion in the STEM fields too.

In episode 178 of ASCE Plot Points, Jones talks about how he found his way into construction management and why it’s so important to him to share that story with others.

Every day in April, ASCE Plot Points is calling a different civil engineer from around the world to find out how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting their life, their community, their work and the civil engineering profession. Thirty days. Thirty phone calls. Community Call 28 takes us to Georgia, one of the states moving to start reopening certain parts of its economy. Kelly Farabee is

Every day in April, ASCE Plot Points is calling a different civil engineer from around the world to find out how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting their life, their community, their work and the civil engineering profession. Thirty days. Thirty phone calls. Community Call 27 goes to Seattle, one of the first areas in the United States to grapple with a coronavirus outbreak. Geotechincal engineer

Every day in April, ASCE Plot Points is calling a different civil engineer from around the world to find out how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting their life, their community, their work and the civil engineering profession. Thirty days. Thirty phone calls. Community Call 26 considers the ongoing ASCE work (even during a pandemic) to grade America’s infrastructure. Jacob Forrester talks about his work chairing

Every day in April, ASCE Plot Points is calling a different civil engineer from around the world to find out how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting their life, their community, their work and the civil engineering profession. Thirty days. Thirty phone calls. Community Call 25 closes our mini-series talking with young civil engineers working in Los Angeles. Mario Martinez is a field engineer for the

Every day in April, ASCE Plot Points is calling a different civil engineer from around the world to find out how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting their life, their community, their work and the civil engineering profession. Thirty days. Thirty phone calls. Community Call 24 continues our City of Dreams mini-series, talking to three young civil engineers working in Los Angeles. Jeena Jayamon is a

Every day in April, ASCE Plot Points is calling a different civil engineer from around the world to find out how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting their life, their community, their work and the civil engineering profession. Thirty days. Thirty phone calls. Community Call 23 begins a mini-series within the series, reaching out to three young engineers working in the Los Angeles area. Today we

Every day in April, ASCE Plot Points is calling a different civil engineer from around the world to find out how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting their life, their community, their work and the civil engineering profession. Thirty days. Thirty phone calls. Community Call 22 goes to David Totman, past-president of ASCE’s Utility Engineering and Surveying Institute. He’s the vice president of asset management for

Every day in April, ASCE Plot Points is calling a different civil engineer from around the world to find out how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting their life, their community, their work and the civil engineering profession. Thirty days. Thirty phone calls. Community Call 21 goes to Joe DiPompeo, president-elect of ASCE’s Structural Engineering Institute. DiPompeo founded Structural Workshop LLC in 2004 – a structural

Every day in April, ASCE Plot Points is calling a different civil engineer from around the world to find out how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting their life, their community, their work and the civil engineering profession. Thirty days. Thirty phone calls. Community Call 20 goes to Chicago, where Adam Blumstein is a staff civil engineer for Burns & McDonnell. He and his team have

Every day in April, ASCE Plot Points is calling a different civil engineer from around the world to find out how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting their life, their community, their work and the civil engineering profession. Thirty days. Thirty phone calls. Community Call 19 finds us talking with Chad Morrison, president-elect of the ASCE Rhode Island Section. Morrison has a heavy workload, with the

Isamar Escobar joined ASCE as a student several years ago. And since then, she not been a member in name only. She’s ranked among the most active of active ASCE members, planning this event, chairing that committee.  So much so that even as a younger member she joined the ASCE Board of Direction as an at-large director. With ASCE Election season nearly here (voting opens May 1), Escobar talked on the ASCE Plot Points podcast about all her community engagement, how it’s helped her, and why your engagement as an ASCE member and participating in the ASCE Election go hand in hand.

Every day in April, ASCE Plot Points is calling a different civil engineer from around the world to find out how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting their life, their community, their work and the civil engineering profession. Thirty days. Thirty phone calls. Community Call 18 goes to Alfredo Falcon, a project manager for the LUSEO Group in Miami and the Structural Engineering Institute chair for

Every day in April, ASCE Plot Points is calling a different civil engineer from around the world to find out how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting their life, their community, their work and the civil engineering profession. Thirty days. Thirty phone calls. Community Call 17 reaches out to ASCE’s 2018 president Kristina Swallow, now serving as the director of the Nevada Department of Transportation, to

Every day in April, ASCE Plot Points is calling a different civil engineer from around the world to find out how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting their life, their community, their work and the civil engineering profession. Thirty days. Thirty phone calls. Community Call 16 goes to Region 10 Director Elias Boutros Sayah. Based in the United Arab Emirates, he was visiting the United States