I am honored to be your incoming President and am grateful for the leadership provided by Alfredo Rodriguez this past year. I welcome returning board members, Nate Willbur as Vice President, Sameer Ambare as Treasurer, and Francina Gil as our new Secretary. As the Central Florida Chapter President, I will advance our chapter’s mission to promote the engineering industry, partner with our legislators/government agencies, and advance STEM learning opportunities through our K-12 outreach programs. 

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We had an outstanding turnout for our annual induction ceremony on June 11, 2024 at The Porch in Winter Park! Florida’s Turnpike Transportation Development Director, Alison Stettner, officiated our vows for both the incoming Central Florida chapter board and the incoming UCF board members. Our new Florida Professional Engineers in Government (FPEG) state liaison, Jamison Edwards; FES statewide president-elect, Dr. Charles Davis, Jr.; and CFL State Director, Eric McAra, and several past chapter presidents were in attendance as well. All in all, nearly 50 people attended our event this year!!

 

To get the full value of your FES membership, get involved! Our chapter offers numerous opportunities to participate in committees, social networking activities, and community service events. Increase your technical expertise and gain personal satisfaction from helping others, mentoring young professionals, and motivating future engineers.

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We have exciting networking events lined up this year, including the annual conference in Miami, the Fall Bowling Event, industry luncheons, and our annual Golf Tournament. We are also planning many community service and STEM outreach activities throughout the year. While we are one of the largest chapters in the state, we have room to grow our ranks and need your support to make this year another success.

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Some of our outstanding achievements last year included launching a new corporate sponsorship program led by Francina Gil. This program has provided us with a budget surplus that will allow us to improve our scholarship packages, participate with the FELI Class of 2024’s AASHTO STEM box distribution project, and hold industry forums/luncheons during the year. We encourage our corporate engineering partners to participate in supporting our chapter goals and take advantage of the benefits we will include in this program. Thanks to all the volunteers and committee leaders for their hard work.

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As a reminder, our UCF student chapter is up and running, thanks to Clint Pletzer and last year’s President, Alexandra Jimenez. This year’s board induction included the UCF chapter board as well and I look forward to working with them to promote their development. This year’s UCF Chapter board members are:

·         President- Jillian Malavet

·         Vice President- Londy Jean

·         Secretary- Dylan Smith

·         Treasurer- Justin Pope

·         Director of Marketing- Zarif Karim

 

Please give them your support and time when they schedule events throughout the year. These students are our next generation of engineers and they will greatly appreciate your mentorship.

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Thank you for the privilege of serving as your president this year. Together, we can achieve all our goals and continue to succeed. Your support makes it possible.