Aspen is a place for leaders to lift their sights above the possessions which possess them. To confront their own nature as human beings, to regain control over their own humanity by becoming more self-aware, more self-correcting, and hence more self-fulfilling.
Walter P. Paepcke, Aspen Institute Co-Founder
Aspen Institute
The Blueprint: Engineering for the People
Note: This is a past event, additional resources may be available below.
Understanding and connecting STEM and social justice to solve community problems is at the core of Our Future Is Science initiatives. In an November 29th, 2023 talk, Meagan Williams and Dr. Millard McElwee discuss engineering for the people.
Meagan Williams is a registered Professional Engineer and Civil Engineer, and serves as the Urban Water Program Manager at the City of New Orleans Office of Resilience and Sustainability. In this role, she spearheads the master planning and execution of stormwater management and green infrastructure practices, policies, and initiatives across the New Orleans Area. Meagan commenced her career with the City of New Orleans in 2016 as a roadway and drainage engineer in the Department of Public Works, swiftly transitioning to the management, design, and implementation of green infrastructure projects. As the liaison between Public Works, Sewerage and Water Board, and other sectors, Meagan prioritizes community needs and education in every stormwater management implementation. Meagan also hold a Master’s degree in civil engineering with a Water Resources focus from the University of New Orleans.
Millard McElwee is an associate engineer at RAND. With over a decade of experience as a systems engineer with a focus on community decisions support tools for electrical utilities, offshore mooring, and large-scale transportation systems, he also holds a contractor’s license from the Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors in Highways, Roads, and Bridge construction. McElwee’s expertise includes risk management, multi-hazard risk analysis, apparent cause evaluation, and root cause analysis. He is an adjunct faculty member at Santa Clara University and teaches summer STEM programs at Carnegie Mellon University and Rice University. As a consultant, he has served as a trusted advisor and subject matter expert for a major northern California utility while driving completion on projects ranging from $500K to $100M. Previously, McElwee was a fellow in Community Resilience division at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) from 2016-2018. His research interests lie at the intersection of environmental justice, transportation simulation, natural hazards, and machine learning.
McElwee holds a BS in civil engineering from Carnegie Mellon University and a Ph.D. in systems engineering from the University of California, Berkeley.
The Community Talk Series is a platform to expose individuals to diverse careers, as well as information, insights, and perspectives on the intersections of STEM disciplines and social justice issues.
For the benefit of workers, businesses, and our society, we need to build workplace heat safety into our culture, policies, and practices if we are to adapt to our warming planet. Join the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program on Wednesday, July 30, at 1:30 p.m. Eastern time, on Zoom to learn about how the warming climate is affecting workers, and what policymakers, businesses, and labor are doing to keep workers safe. This event is part of EOP’s Opportunity in America conversation series.
