FWEA South Chapter: Back in Business!

Melody Gonzalez

The South Florida Chapter was established in 2017 to serve FWEA members located in Miami-Dade and Monroe counties. Last year was certainly an amazing year for the chapter, due to the enthusiastic support and determination from our members to get together again in person and leave the pandemic behind. This

2022 Chapter Events

Under the leadership of Layla Llewellyn, past chapter chair, and Arturo Burbano, current chair, the Steering Committee worked diligently to organize events that promoted member engagement, public awareness and outreach, and professional development in pursuit of FWEA’s vision to provide a clean and sustainable water environment for future

The chapter has been very successful in bringing the industry together, even more so in a year where there was strong interest in reconnecting and increasing collaboration with clients and partners.

Accordingly, the first in-person event was on March 31 and featured Roy Coley, director of Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Department, and copresenter Marisela Aranguiz-Cueto, deputy director. The speakers shared the department’s vision with the presentation, “Building for the Future in Terms of Water Infrastructure.” It was a great event to finalize the activities of the chapter’s 2021 Steering Committee and transition to the 2022 committee. It was a very enjoyable evening for networking and socializing with friends and colleagues.

The chapter later hosted a Member Appreciation Social Event on July 21 to take advantage of the summer season to bring our members together. This event had nearly 100 attendees from multiple areas in the water sector, including government employees, students, consultants, and vendors. The event was held at one of the small venues in Coral Gables to help promote the economy and our small businesses in the community.

We continued the trend of successful events with our Speaker Series Dinner on November 3, featuring Nelson Perez-Jacome, P.E., assistant director of engineering and construction at Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Department, as speaker. He provided an engaging presentation titled, “Securing a Resilient Future for the Water Supply of Miami-Dade County.” This event had a record attendance of over 120. The presentation was followed by a happy hour that allowed for additional interaction with the speaker and networking among the attendees.

The chapter closed out the year’s activities with our Annual Joint Engineering Holiday Party. The attendees enjoyed a splendid night of celebration at the Coral Gables Museum on December 7, where they could all enjoy the current exhibition, including a selection of photographs by Raúl de Molina, who gained fame in the 1980s as “The Miami Paparazzi” before becoming a TV anchor.

In cooperation with the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), Florida Engineering Society (FES), Cuban American Association of Civil Engineers (CAACE), and Florida Section of the American Water Works Association (FSAWWA), our chapter collected over 200 new toys for the children in our community. The toys were picked up by Toys for Tots, a program run by the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, which distributed them to children whose parents couldn’t afford to buy gifts during the holiday season.

Get Involved With Your Section!

The chapter is planning more events for 2023, and we are looking forward to sharing the details very soon. If you would like to get involved and volunteer with us, please feel free to reach out to Arturo Burbano, 20222023 chapter chair, at BurbanoA@bv.com.

Melody Gonzalez, E.I., is a project engineer with Black & Veatch. She serves as the FWEA Member Relationships Committee chair and treasurer/contact for the FWEA South Florida Chapter. S