From July 17 through 20, 2007, the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) hosted the 2007 AASHTO Value Engineering Conference at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in downtown Seattle. The conference was widely attended, including participants from over 20 U.S. states, Japan, South Korea, Trinidad/Tobago, and Canada. Hosting the conference in Seattle made it possible for approximately 40 WSDOT employees who are involved with the Value Engineering Program statewide to attend.
This conference, sponsored by the AASHTO Value Engineering Technical Committee and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), is hosted in a different region of the country every two years. WSDOT hosted it for the first time this year, under the direction of Adele McCormick from the Headquarters Design Office. Over 170 participants were treated to 3 session tracks, including Value Engineering Case Studies, Advanced Tools and Techniques, and Starting and Maintaining a Value Engineering Program. Speakers from WSDOT and around the country presented 27 regular sessions on a variety of topics related to value engineering. The conference included a one-day condensation of the National Highway Institute’s (NHI’s) class on Risk Management, taught by John Buxton. Two panel discussions convened on the final day of the conference, focusing on what departments of transportation expect from value engineering consultants and, conversely, what value engineering consultants expect from transportation departments. All of the sessions were well attended and well received.
Keynote speakers included Anthony Kane, AASHTO Director of Engineering and Technical Services; Dwight Horne, FHWA Director of the Office of Program Administration; and Paula Hammond, Interim Secretary of the Washington State Department of Transportation. Paula Hammond’s speech was well received, and many attendees were impressed with the level of executive management support WSDOT’s Value Engineering Program enjoys.
Anthony Kane's Keynote Presentation
Dr. Bonnie Dunbar, President and CEO of Seattle’s Museum of Flight, spoke during lunch on Thursday, July 18. Dr. Dunbar is a NASA Mission Specialist astronaut and veteran of 5 space flights, who has logged more than 50 days in space. She has served as the Payload Commander on 2 flights, including the first Space Shuttle docking mission to the Russian Space Station Mir. Dr. Dunbar inspired the audience, taking the topic of transportation to new heights.
The 2007 AASHTO Value Engineering Conference was a unique opportunity to learn more about value engineering, hone value engineering skills, and network with other value engineering professionals. It was an honor for WSDOT to host the conference and a pleasure to be able to show off our state and its transportation system to participants from across the nation and around the world.