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The section wrapped up 2011 with two Toys for Tots events this year!  Thank you to everyone who donated toys.  On Tuesday, December 6^th about 40 people attended the event that was held at Brown’s Brewing Company in Troy.  With the help of the RPI Student Chapter, well over 200 toys were collected at this event.  On Thursday, December 8^th, over 75 people gathered at Bentley’s Tavern in Malta and brought over 250 toys.  In total, the ASCE Mohawk-Hudson Section was able to contribute almost 500 toys to the annual Marines Toys for Tots program.  Staff Sergeant Bolen, Toys for Tots Coordinator, was extremely grateful for the toys and is looking forward to working with us in the future.  Many thanks to section member Ed Larkin, P.E., M.ASCE for planning two extremely successful events!

The section’s geotechnical technical group hosted the 2011 Geosymposium at Hudson Valley Community College on Friday, November 18^th.  There were about 80 attendees at the event.  Thank you to Gary Dale, P.E., M.ASCE, Carsten Floess, Ph.D., P.E., F.ASCE, and Andrew Jensen, A.M.ASCE for all their hard working in coordinating the event.

The section is anticipating that 2012 will be a very busy year!  Here is a list of some upcoming events.

• Section member Jeffrey Marx, P.E., M.ASCE has been hard at work again this year chairing the committee for the Capital Districts celebration of Engineers Week.  This year’s celebration will be held on Thursday, February 16^th and Friday, February 17^th at the Albany Marriott.  Attached to the December newsletter is a schedule of events and information on how to register for the event.
• Dave Emerich, P.E., M. ASCE will soon be sending out letters to high schools within our section with information on how high schools students can apply for the section’s annual scholarship award.  The section chooses one high school student who will be pursuing a degree in civil engineering to receive $1,000 a year for four years.  If you know a student that may be interested in applying for this award please contact Dave Emerich.  The deadline for applying will be in April.  The chosen student and their family are invited to the section’s annual dinner where the award is presented.
• Save the date! The section’s board is in the process of planning this year’s annual dinner meeting.  The section’s 74^th annual dinner meeting will be held on Wednesday, May 16^th at the Century House in Latham.  Chris Lesher, P.E., M.ASCE is coordinating a great speaker for the event.  Additional details will follow in next month’s newsletter an on the section’s website.

Did you know that the section’s Transportation and Geotechnical Technical Groups and the Structural Engineering Institute meet on a regular basis?  The Transportation Technical Group generally meets the last Thursday of every month at 7:30 a.m. at Professor Java’s on Wolf Road in Albany.  Their next meeting is January 26^th.  The Geotechnical Technical meets at a different location each month with this month’s meeting being held at Wolf’s 1-11 on January 19^th at 5:30 p.m.  The Structural Engineering Institute generally meets the last Tuesday of each month at the offices of Greenman Pedersen located on Wolf Road in Albany.  Please feel free to contact any of the group chairs for additional information.

Just another quick reminder, sponsorship letters have been mailed out to firms who are currently sponsors or have in the past been sponsors of our section’s newsletter and website. The deadline for inclusion in the 2012 newsletters and website update was January 15^th.  We have received a handful of responses so far.  If your firm has not received a letter and would like to be a sponsor please contact me.

The next section board meeting will be held on Wednesday, February 1^st at Wolf’s 1-11.  Board meetings are open to all section members so please feel free to join us!