Ross Brazzale
Ross is an Associate Civil Engineer at the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT). He works as a project engineer for study, design, and construction projects, and also on retrofits and assessments of existing structures. He has a passion in understanding how structures behave; "the structure usually tells a historical tale!"
He is from a small suburb of Chicago, and attended the Illinois Institute of Technology where he attained his B.S. in Civil Engineering, and his Masters of Engineering in Structural Engineering. He first joined ASCE during his undergraduate studies, and has become a familiar face at different Seattle YMF events. He currently serves as the WAsafe coordinator for ASCE Seattle Section.
Besides admiring structures, Ross builds furniture & other useful things. He enjoys hiking, backpacking, and travelling. He recently returned from a trip with his wife in Puerto Vallarta & Mexico City. Lastly, him and his wife are avid cooks. When you see him at the next ASCE event, ask him for his paleo chicken wings recipe!
On civil engineering...
"There is a lot of work to do! The ASCE Infrastructure Report Card paints a picture of the scale of our work over the coming decades. A particularly challenging but critical part of that is educating the public - the basis of our job is ultimately communication, otherwise nothing gets built!"
On the 'Big One'...
"I'm serving as the WAsafe coordinator for the ASCE Seattle Section. WAsafe is a post-disaster inspection and building assessment volunteer program here in Washington. In the event of a disaster, municipalities and building departments can call up volunteers and deputize them to serve officially for said agency. This will be absolutely critical when Seattle sees another sizable earthquake!
An 8 hour class is required to be registered as a volunteer, and while the program is open to anyone, licensed civil engineers (of all disciplines) are a huge asset to the program. In the future, myself and others would like WAsafe to start incorporating infrastructure inspection and assessment training, to allow volunteers to serve as volunteers for a wider spectrum of agencies."