UNO Hosts First Engineering Forum
The conference takes place next month at the Lindy C. Boggs Conference Center on campus and will bring together alumni for an award ceremony.
The UNO College of Engineering and Southeast Symposium for Contemporary Engineering will co-sponsor the event, which offers five parallel tracks for participants. Faculty from participating universities and industry representatives will cover topics in engineering education, energy, electric power systems, student projects and civil, coastal and environmental engineering.
Joseph Becker, general superintendent of the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans, will give the key note address: "Role of Engineers in the Rebirth of the City of New Orleans."
Becker has worked for the S&WB for 26 years and served as superintendent since September 2008. He is the sixth person to hold the role of superintendent in the water board's 115-year history. As superintendent, Becker serves as the S&WB's chief technical officer and is responsible for the direction, management and supervision of pumping operations, water and wastewater treatment, engineering, facility maintenance, plumbing, environmental and field maintenance.
Becker is also a UNO alumnus. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering from the University in 1985.
The SSCET, now in its fourth year, promises to bring a broad range of industry sponsors, practicing engineers, faculty and students from participating universities and UNO Engineering alumni for presentations, student and practicing engineer interactions, exhibitions and well-known keynote and lunch speakers. The forum emphasis is on current industry trends, major implementations, complex IT business systems, regulatory impact assessments,
Patrons include: Entergy, Shell Oil Company, Siemens, American Society of Civil Engineers, Laitram, Mahl and Associates, Inc. Consulting Engineers, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and the UNO International Alumni Association.
One of the luncheon speakers will be U.S. Air Force Retired Major General James O. Poss, who is the director of strategic initiatives at Mississippi State University, based at MSU's Stennis Space Center campus. Poss works across the university to interface and coordinate with the Department of Defense, the Intelligence Community, other federal agencies, state and commercial entities on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), cyber defense, remote sensing applications and critical infrastructure protection research. He is a 30-year US Air Force veteran with combat experience in four wars and was the Air Force's senior career intelligence officer at his transition from active service in November 2012.
