Last week, David A. Vilbig, PE, RPLS and Barbara J. Vilbig, PE toured the American Spiral Weld Pipe plant in Paris, Texas with the Northeast Texas Chapter of the Texas Society of Professional Engineers. Below is a gallery of pictures from the tour.
Video of steel pipe moving at the American Spiral Weld Pipe Plant in Paris, Texas
The Texas Society of Professional Engineers, one of the largest state societies in the United States, was founded in 1936 to serve the interests of the individual engineer in Texas across all branches of engineering. Composed of 24 local chapters and eight student chapters, TSPE is the only active, established organization devoting its entire effort to the professional, ethical, economic, social and political aspects of engineering in Texas.
Our mission is to promote and enhance the profession and licensed practice of engineering.
About Northeast Texas Chapter of the Texas Society of Professional Engineers
The Northeast Texas – Texas Society of Professional Engineers is a local chapter of the state society, see more below. The NE Texas TSPE Chapter meets monthly in various locations the the Grayson County area. The meetings are typically held on the second Thursday of the month. For more information and to be added to the chapter’s e-mail list, please send and e-mail to NE.TEXAS.TSPE@gmail.com.
About AMERICAN PLANT
American Spiral Weld Pipe is a division of American Cast Iron Pipe Co. In addition to American Ductile Iron Pipe, American Darling and Waterous Valves and Fire Hydrants, they manufacture steel pipe per AWWA C200. The location in Paris, Texas, expanded operations in May of 2021, opening a steel pipe plant.
Jennifer Vilbig Lawson, PE, has been named the 2021 Young Engineer of the Year by Society of Military Engineers (SAME) – Dallas Post. The award recognizes younger members of the profession who have made outstanding contributions to the society and profession.
Ms. Lawson received her Bachelor of Science Civil Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology in 2007. She began her career in Dallas working for an international design firm on oil and gas and federal projects. She joined Vilbig & Associates in 2013 and progressed from a design engineer to her current role as a project manager.
“I am honored to be recognized as the 2021 Young Engineer of the Year for the Society of American Military Engineers, Dallas Post. I am very passionate about giving back to my community and advocating both for my country and profession.” Said Ms. Lawson.
Ms. Lawson currently serves as the SAME Dallas Post secretary. In addition, Ms. Lawson is the past president of the Dallas Section of the Society of Women Engineers, is a member of the Texas Society of Professional Engineers (TSPE) and serves on the state committee for young engineers for TSPE.
“Jennifer is an accomplished project engineer with a wealth of experience ideally suited to help grow and develop young engineers and architects. In a very short time, Jennifer has made a lasting and positive impact on the post’s K-12 STEM program. She has also strengthened our relationship with local university engineering programs, she is a true inspiration to young people interested in STEM careers.” stated SAME Post President/Member of the Year Noelle Ibrahim
Learn more about Ms. Lawson’s journey to become an engineer, SAME and Vilbig & Associates in the video.
https://vimeo.com/666549327
Ms. Lawson enjoys leisure time with her husband Paul and long runs with her favorite running companion, Sadie, a Jack Russell terrier.
Ms. Lawson was honored at the annual TSPE Engineers Week annual awards luncheon in February. A gallery of pictures from the event is below.
David A. Vilbig, PE, RPLS, Barbara J. Vilbig, PE, Jennifer Vilbig Lawson, PE and Tommy Vilbig, PENoelle Ibrahim, PE and Jennifer Vilbig Lawson, PE All the 2020 and 2021 honorees at the TSPE Engineers Week luncheon in Plano, Texas. The event was well attended. Jennifer Vilbig Lawson, PE and her husband, Paul LawsonThe Vilbig & Associates engineering team. Jennifer Vilbig Lawson, PE Named 2021 Young Engineer of the Year by SAME Dallas Post
About SAME
Founded in 1920, the Society of American Military Engineers builds leaders and leads collaboration among government and industry to develop multi-disciplined solutions to national security infrastructure challenges. With a National Office in Alexandria, Va., and more than 100 Posts and Field Chapters around the world, the Society unites public and private sector individuals and organizations from across the architecture, engineering, construction, environmental and facility management, cyber security, and contracting and acquisition disciplines. Through a vision to serve our nation as the foremost integrator for leadership development and technical collaboration within the A/E/C profession, SAME is committed to strengthening industry-government engagement and developing and sustaining the human capital needed to maintain America’s engineering capabilities throughout the 21st century.
About SAME Dallas Post
The Dallas Post of SAME builds upon the national organization to strengthen collaboration locally between government and industry. The Posts hosts monthly professional development and networking lunches, holds several annual summits and forums, awards scholarships and supports K-12 STEM outreach.
About Vilbig & Associates, PLLC
Founded in 1983, Vilbig and Associates, PLLC (VA) is a professional services firm specializing in the design and delivery of consulting civil engineering, land planning, construction management and surveying services. We serve our clients in the north Texas area and surrounding states for both the public and private sectors. We are a certified Woman Owned Small Business (WOSB) providing services for NAICS 541330, Engineering Services and 541370, Surveying & Mapping. Our Cage Code is 8KH40 and Duns is 117494418. Our office is located in Denison, Grayson County, Texas; we are well-positioned to provide services to the Dallas-Fort Worth mextroplex and south central states with several team members based in Collin County.
We are continuing the Vilbig tradition of building our communities while serving our clients, profession and country since 1886.
On Monday, November 22nd, Jennifer Vilbig Lawson, PE spoke to about 20 engineering students at the University of North Texas. The UNT Society of Women Engineers invited her to speak about leadership and team building for the joint meeting with the UNT Association of Construction Engineering Technology.
Special thanks goes to the Dallas Post of the Society of American Military Engineers for sponsoring the food for the meeting.
We also raffled off several goodies including one $25 Starbucks gift card!
Bulletin Board at UNT with the flier on the bottom right
Flier created by the students for the meeting!
Ugly sweater competitors!
Thank you notes
Group picture of everyone in attendance!
Additionally, we announced to the students that we are looking to hire a graduate and interns for next summer. Interested applicants can find more information on the employment section of our website.
We are HIRING!
Calling all 2022 Graduates and current engineering students looking for a summer of 2022 internship!
On Thursday, December 9th 2021, Vilbig & Associates hosted the Northeast Texas Chapter of the Texas Society of Professional Engineers, TSPE, annual holiday party and dessert competition.
We enjoyed a fajita buffet catered by Denison’s own Rustico’s, an ethics discussion and the always popular dessert competition. The competition field was smaller than in years past with only six entrants, but the competition was TOUGH. The first round of votes resulted in a four way tie for first place! Eliminating the runners up, the second round of voting yielded a winner, Tom Pruitt, PE with his almond joy cake!
The ethics discussion was very thought provoking and provided all engineers in attendance the required 1 hour of ethics continuing education credit. We discussed several recent cases from the National Society of Professional Engineers Board of Ethical Review.
Congratulations to Tom Pruitt, PE with the City of Sherman for winning the dessert competition! The ethics discussion included a bit of Dilbert humor.
The 17th Annual Salute to America’s Veterans event was held November 10th – 11:30am – 1:15pm at the Frontiers of Flight Museum in Dallas with Ross Perot Jr as the Keynote Speaker.
David A. Vilbig, PE, RPLS volunteered with the Rotary Club of Dallas to coordinate the event. Below are some pictures of him volunteering during setup and as a greeter at the door for all the veterans and attendees.
David A. Vilbig, PE, RPLS has been a member and volunteer of the Rotary Club of Dallas for more than 35 years.
About The Rotary Club of Dallas
The Rotary Club of Dallas was founded on April 20, 1911. With more than 250 members quickly joining, it became the first Rotary club in Texas and the 39th club in Rotary International. During the next 100 years, many of the city’s civic and business leaders joined the club, meeting weekly for lunch and making a commitment to serve others. Names of Rotary Club of Dallas members such as Stemmons, Miller and Thornton can be found throughout the city on the commercial buildings, hospitals, roads, bridges and schools that attest to their roles in making Dallas the great city it is today. Beyond the weekly meetings, these Rotarians did a world of good for the city and the world around them. They founded and funded a myriad of projects, programs, scholarships and initiatives, on their own and in concert with other groups and organizations. They also reached out to help launch many new Rotary Clubs locally and internationally spreading Rotary values throughout Texas and the world.
Today, November 11, 2021, we hosted the Denison Youth Leadership Academy at our office!
We began with a tour of, spoke about our work, showed a set of civil engineering plans from a project in Denison and described the education requirements to be an engineer. Finally, we challenged the students to design and construct a tower in 45 minutes.
Each group received $5.00, a tablet of paper for their design schematic and a list of supplies with prices. With 15 minutes left, a surprise challenge was announced! The tower had to withstand a hurricane (fan)!
Discussions during the schematic design phase. The completed towers!
Thank you, Josh Massey, for asking us to participate in the construction day for the academy. We had fun hosting the students!
The proposed development is called Travis Heights. The 160-acre lot would consist of 400 single family homes. The city is calling it the largest residential expansion Sherman has seen.
“The growth in Sherman doesn’t seem to be slowing anytime soon,” city spokesperson Nate Strauch said. “Moving from building 300, 400, 500 homes a year to moving that into thousands of homes a year.”
We’re celebrating Barbara J. Vilbig, PE, David A. Vilbig, PE, Jennifer Vilbig Lawson, PE and Tommy Vilbig, PE as licensed professional engineers! Today, August 4th, 2021 is the 6th annual Professional Engineers Day. We’re also celebrating Matthew Fusselman, EIT as a licensed engineer in training!
Jennifer Vilbig Lawson baked homemade cupcakes to celebrate at our office today! The co-branded cupcakes featured an edible image with chocolate cake and buttercream icing.
Barbara Vilbig, PE revealing the cupcakes!
The “mothership,” also know as, cake carrier, arriving at our office.
About Professional Engineers Day
“On August 8, 1907, the first professional engineering license was issued to Charles Bellamy in Wyoming. Since that time, licensure has expanded and professional engineers across the U.S. have made the commitment to protect the public health, safety, and welfare. NSPE is celebrating licensed professional engineers with the sixth annual Professional Engineers Day on Wednesday, August 4, 2021. Join us as we raise awareness about what it means to be a PE, recognize licensed PEs, and show appreciation for the work they do each and every day.”
Last week, Jennifer Vilbig Lawson, PE and Tommy Vilbig, PE, attended the TSPE Conference & 85th Annual Meeting at the Star in Frisco, Texas. The conference was a great opportunity for networking with other professional engineers while earning professional development hours.
Vilbig & Associates, PLLC sponsored the conference and is proud to support our profession.
As a bonus, dinner one night was held at the Dallas Cowboys Training Table and included a tour of the Star aka the Dallas Cowboys World Headquarters. Pictures from the tour are below.
The Texas Society of Professional Engineers, one of the largest state societies in the United States, was founded in 1936 to serve the interests of the individual engineer in Texas across all branches of engineering. Composed of 24 local chapters and eight student chapters, TSPE is the only active, established organization devoting its entire effort to the professional, ethical, economic, social and political aspects of engineering in Texas.
Our mission is to promote and enhance the profession and licensed practice of engineering.
Over the last year, Jennifer Vilbig Lawson, has been learning more about the Denison community with a group of leaders though the Denison Chamber of Commerce. Learn more about the program below.
Congratulations, Jennifer, and the rest of the 2021 Class. Read more about the rest of the class and their project.
Jennifer Vilbig Lawson graduates from Leadership Denison. From left to right: Joey Gunn -Denison Chamber Board Chair, Janet Gott- Mayor of Denison, Jennifer Vilbig Lawson-Denison Leadership Graduate, Diana Theall – Denison Chamber President.
Congratulations to the entire 2021 Leadership Denison Class of 2021!
The 2021 Leadership Denison Class project was a Battle of the Bands event held May 1st at the RailYard Food Hall. The event benefited CASA of Grayson County and the Denison Boys and Girls Club. Vilbig & Associates was a table sponsor.
Vilbig & Associates – Battle of the Bands Table Sponsors
Leadership Denison was established to ensure the continuing vitality of the Denison community by providing a solid source of motivated leaders who are educated about Denison and its issues, as well as prepared to accept future leadership roles in Denison, Grayson County or the State of Texas.
The annual Leadership Denison program informs participants about critical issues facing Denison, Grayson County and the State of Texas, and provides opportunities to engage in organizations that resolve these issues. The program focuses on information, education and discussion of local and regional assets, challenges and opportunities.
Founded in 1983 as a program of the Denison Area Chamber of Commerce, the program has graduated more than 450 alumni who provide leadership in Denison’s business community, as well as in private, public and non-profit organizations.
Sessions are held September through May with a graduation and recognition event held in May.
