Engineering societies have traditionally promoted safety in technology by facilitating the development and promulgation of engineering knowledge, thereby giving us the capability of building safer structures, systems and devices. The societies have also played an important role in developing and enforcing safety standards. Engineering ethics codes and related educational activities are another way in which the organizations help to eliminate dangerous situations, indirectly, in this case, by contributing to the development of safety consciousness among engineers. Active support must be provided for engineers who come into conflict with management over issues involving engineering ethics.

Artificial intelligence (AI) may be the key to the fate of civilization as we know it, a mind‐boggling concept which, if realized in practice, would change the human condition far more than all previous developments of five millenia of human history. Civil engineers need to monitor the problems and opportunities that may arise in order to avoid becoming victims of changes that now seem inevitable. In this paper, the computer basis and educational needs of the AI era are addressed from a civil engineering standpoint.

Ethics and professional principles can be measured as part of the licensing process. Although they seem vague in comparison with technical principles, ethics and professional principles can be examined with means common to the humanities. In order to institute this type of examination in the PE licensing procedure, it is necessary that professional societies formulate clear statements of principle, that the statements be publicized, that programs be developed to integrate the statements into educational curricula, and that an essay format exam for the PE license examination be devised to test for candidates' knowledge of these principles. It is feasible to test engineering candidates for a PE on their grasp of ethical and professional principles if clear expectations are set and if candidates are given the intellectual means to meet them.

The requirements for an engineering education are different from those of science and the humanities. University administrations do not seem to realize this. ASCE must convince them of this uniqueness. Competency in practice must be on a par with research and development in the hiring and promotion of civil engineering faculty. The MSCE degree must be required in the near future as the minimum education for entrance into the professional stem of civil engineering. Humanities are an important part of the education of the civil engineer, but much must come from being taught by broadly read civil engineering professors. Preparation for the practice of civil engineering is the main purpose of civil engineering education. Motivation ori the part of the student is the important factor in the development of a competent civil engineer. The catalytic agent necessary for the continued improvement of civil engineering education is the enthusiasm for and a belief in the profession of civil engineering as demonstrated by both professors and practitioners in all phases of their lives.

The writer just completed a six‐yr term as the manager of an office for one of the large and very active sections of ASCE. At the request of several ASCE directors who were aware of some of the more successful activities in our section, a review of our local activities is presented. Added benefits from ASCE membership exist for those who participate in an active local branch and/or section. Branches and sections have developed traditions of local activities in the form of meetings, seminars, student support, and social functions. Local activities within ASCE components offer an opportunity for members to develop professionally through fellowship with other civil engineers and subsequent service to themselves and to the Society in a local ASCE committee or office.

Benefits that can be realized by active participation in professional societies are described. These benefits are reviewed from the perspective of the individual engineer, the employer, the engineering profession, and the public welfare. The professional society enables the individual to develop his own professional and technical capabilities. Society contacts and activities offer engineering firms opportunities for development of useful relationships with current and prospective clients. Societies provide a means of exchanging information on new developments, conditions of practice, and problems of practice. A constructive relationship between a professional society and the public helps to establish an understanding of what the consequences of various programs will be as far as the public welfare is concerned.

An engineer's education needs to contain more than just technical courses if he or she is to function as an educated person in today's complex society. Several of these peripheral areas of knowledge are presented. The consequences of neglecting the liberal arts are considered with regard to the graduate, the engineering profession, and society. Finally, several alternatives used in providing for the liberal arts are brought forth.

Computer aided instruction (CAI) offers numerous advantages for education and training when properly designed and implemented. Recent computer developments in hardware and software enhance the effectiveness and reduce the cost of CAI. We review recent developments, using CAI programs designed and developed by the writers as examples. Experience with the use of CAI in a large general contracting and construction management firm is also reported. Our survey concludes that CAI can now be widely adopted for training and education supplements in civil engineering.

This paper presents the writer's views on the obligations and responsibilities of the civil engineer as a member of a learned profession developed by experience, observation, and reflection during 60 yrs of practice. Included are discussions of the individual practitioner's responsibilities to the public, his employer, the profession, and himself. The special responsibilities of the consulting engineer are explored, The concluding section considers the current problem of professional liability claims and suggests some ways consultants may minimize exposure to liability suits.

A major source of funding for infrastructure and other important construction programs is threatened by provisions in the proposed tax reform bill that sharply curtail the use of tax‐exempt bonds. The bill would prohibit the use of tax‐exempt bonds for certain types of facilities, and would subject many other categories to stringent caps which would drastically reduce the funding heretofore available from this source. ASCE has adopted a policy statement expressing firm opposition to the drastic cutbacks required by the bill, which would result in reduced funding or higher interest costs for many essential programs while raising only a relatively small amount toward the Federal budget deficit.

Advancement in the technical or managerial side of the engineering business can be enhanced for the young engineer by a well though out and positively structured plan, a so‐called “corporate game plan”: A series of actions by which the young engineer will improve his chances for advancement by becoming more useful to his employer through technical and attitudinal improvements.