ASIE Invites Mayor Zimmerman for Technical Seminar on Hurricane Harvey

By Dinesh D. Shah

HOUSTON: American Society of Indian Engineers and Architects (ASIE), a Houston based organization for engineers, architects, designers, and engineering technicians, organizes monthly technical seminar to enhance the knowledge of their members. This month ASIE held a luncheon at Mayuri Restaurant and invited Mayor Joe Zimmerman of Sugar Land as a speaker. The event was generously sponsored by KIT Professionals and ARKK Engineers. In the full house capacity of the room, almost hundred professional members attended the seminar on Hurricane Harvey.

ASIE President Dinesh D. Shah said that there is only one sentence require to introduce Mayor Joe R. Zimmerman and it is like a slogan – “Joe knows Engineering, Business, and Houston, Sugar Land & Fort Bend. And Engineers, businessmen, and Community knows Joe.” He further added about Mayor that “Education, Experience, and Entrepreneurship result into success and promote a person to the most prestigious position.”

Chetan Vyas with KIT Professionals and Vice President of ASIE introduced the speaker in more details. Joe Zimmerman is a Civil Engineer from U of H, a Professional Licensed Engineer of State of Texas, and MBA in Finance, accounting and Economics from HBU. Zimmerman has shown his leadership ability in various roles as an engineer. He is currently the Director of Development for Cobb Fendley & Associate. Prior to this prestigious position, he also served as CEO of Eco Resources for a period of time. He has also held senior management positions in a number of Industries including engineering, water and wastewater operations, land acquisition and development, homebuilding, as well as an international assignment in Libya. He has directed land development activities for residential, commercial and industrial tracts including land planning, environmental, engineering & architectural design, special studies and construction for five (5) subdivisions within the 10,500 acre master-planned community of Clear Lake City. For another assignment, his management and financial responsibility generated 2006 revenue of $381M on closings of 2,818 units and a staff of approximately 380. As a home builder, he managed production and warranty operations for Village Builders West Side which closed 250 units in three master-planned communities and generated approximately $38M in revenue.

With this wealth of engineering and business management experience and education and with his remarkable accomplishments in his professional carrier, he has become a popular public servant. He is the 10th Mayor of City of Sugar Land. He served as a Chairman of the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission and also city’s Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee. Zimmerman has supported and was involved to oversee the development of the state-of-the-art live entertainment venue called as Performing Arts Center. He was also involved in the expansion of Sugar Land Airport and development of Baseball Skeeters Stadium. His additional public service includes serving as member of the Fort Bend County Toll Road Authority; member of the Fort Bend Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors; chairman of the Chamber’s Government Relations Division. He was named a member of the University of Houston Academy of Distinguished Civil and Environmental Engineers in 2014 and was awarded the “Service to the People Award” by the Texas Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers in 2015.

With his knowledge and experience of engineering and business management, Zimmerman wonderfully presented a technically crafted seminar on Hurricane Harvey, recently affected in Sugar Land, Houston and some parts of Texas. The twenty two slides power point presentation was covered with facts and figures, design criteria, graphs, and photos. He said that Harvey was record storm and most extreme rain event in US History. He added and explained that though there was very little impact in the Sugar Land and Fort bend County, by sharing the overview of City’s drainage design system with relation to the 100 year of flood level records of Oyster Creek and Brazos River. From the city’s management point of view, he also briefed how the engineering and public works department was on alert to protect the city and citizens. At the end, he briefed the professionals about the future vision and ongoing efforts for the improvements based on the Harvey experience. This presentation was concluded with interesting Q and A session and concluded with interesting Q & A session.

The seminar was concluded with presentation of Certificate of Appreciation to Yadagiri Reddy of Mayuri Restaurant for supporting many ASIE events. The vote of thanks was given by Board Member Archana Sharma. The sponsors Sudhakar Kalaga and Madhu Kilambi and Board of Directors presented ASIE Mug and the Certificate of Appreciation to Mayor Joe Zimmerman. This complimentary seminar was well received by members and they earned one PDH Hour Certificate towards as a part of their continuing education requirements.

For more details about the presentation and information about ASIE, please visit the www.asiehouston.org.