Texas Section Officer Election

Instructions

Please read through the nominees below, then cast your vote between June 1 – 30 using the form at the bottom of the page.

All Texas section members in good standing at the grade of distinguished member, fellow, member, associate, or affiliate member are eligible to vote. While login is not required, you will be asked to provide your ASCE Member ID to verify your Texas Section dues status is current. If you would like to vote via paper ballot, please contact [email protected].

Due to contested positions on the ballot, per the ASCE Texas Section Rules of Operation, Board-approved election rules are in place. All candidates, members, and organizational entities should adhere to these guidelines before, during, and after the election.

• View the Election Guidelines (including campaigning rules)
• View the President Elect Forum recording from May 30, 2024
  • Passcode: tW5wa?uE

2024-2025 Nominees

(listed in alphabetical order by position)

President Elect Candidate
Ron Reichert

Ron Reichert Candidate Info Sheet

After graduating from Drexel University with a BS in Civil Engineering, Ron was employed as a Geotechnical Engineer. He then became involved with mass transit projects in Washington, DC, Baltimore, Los Angeles and ultimately Dallas, which is what brought Ron to Texas in 1992. Upon completion of the DART project, Ron headed to Corpus Christi to manage a construction equipment operation. Ron relocated to the Houston area in 1999, where he became heavily involved in ASCE and the Houston Branch. His involvement with ASCE grew with his participation on the Section Meeting and CECON planning committees from 2004 – 2023, serving as Chair or Co-Chair four of those years. Ron is employed in Technical Marketing with AmeriTex Pipe & Products and was Chairman of the Texas Concrete Pipe Association in 2016 and 2017. Extensive travel allows participation in ASCE activities at multiple Branches and Universities.

President Elect Candidate
Russell Carter PE

Russell Carter Candidate Info Sheet

Russell Carter PE is a professional engineer in Texas focused on structural design and forensic engineering. He graduated from Texas Tech University with a bachelor’s in architecture and civil engineering and his master’s in civil engineering. He has over 25 years of research, design, and construction experience. Mr. Carter has worked for several regional architecture and engineering firms in West Texas. He currently works for MWM Architects and consults through Carter Consulting & Engineering. He has been an Instructor for the Civil, Environmental, and Construction Engineering Department at Texas Tech University for over 12 years, often serving as the structural expert for the senior capstone design course.

Early in his career, Mr. Carter worked as a researcher and principal investigator with the Wind Engineering Research Center (WERC) at Texas Tech University designing and constructing laboratories and equipment to study debris impact and full-scale structural testing.  He led teams performing damage investigations of tornadoes and hurricanes as part of WERC and the Florida Costal Monitoring Program with Clemson University.  He was part of the design and development team for FEMA Publication 320, FEMA Publican 361, and International Code Council ICC-500 providing guidance for the design of storm shelters.

Mr. Carter is very active with ASCE. He is the Practitioner Advisor to the ASCE Texas Tech Student Chapter. He has been the Caprock Branch President and Section Director.  For the Texas Section he has served as Vice President for Educational Affairs, Chair of the Student Activities Committee, and serves on numerous committees. At the ASCE Global level, he is on the Committee for Student Conferences and Competitions and the Timber Strong Design Build Committee.

VP for Educational Affairs Elect Candidate
Eva Reynal EIT

Eva Reynal Candidate Info Sheet

Eva (Schexnider) Reynal EIT is an Engineer in the Transportation Systems Department at BGE, Inc. She has five years of experience in hydraulics and hydrology in Houston and the surrounding areas. Eva has been active in ASCE since college, having served in multiple roles at the student chapter level, and even earned the national ASCE Student Leadership Award in 2019. She currently serves as the ASCE Texas Section Student Activities Committee Chair, and oversaw the coordination of student chapters hosting and participating in the annual Region 6 Student Symposium. Eva graduated from Texas Tech University with a Bachelor’s degree (2019) and Master of Science degree (2021) in Civil Engineering.

Eva has been involved with the Texas Section Student Activities Committee since 2016, and she became the chair of the committee in 2022. This has provided her the opportunity to work closely with the past VP Educations. Eva has also served on the Texas Section Strategic Planning Committee in both 2016 and 2021, bringing her voice and perspective to the table. Her experience on the committee has given her insight into the needs and vision of the Texas Section. She was recently invited to sit on the ASCE Student Engagement Summit Planning Committee in Summer 2024 as a corresponding member. In her spare time, Eva enjoys participating in community events with her husband, Wesley. They are on the Saint Arnold Bike Team and have fundraised for and participated in the Texas MS150 and Galveston Bay Foundation’s Bike Around the Bay.

VP for Educational Affairs Elect Candidate
Joe Alvarez

Joe Alvarez has been active in ASCE since his freshman year at Texas A&M University-Kingsville. While in school, he was on the steel bridge team that qualified for nationals in Salt Lake City, as well as a member of the concrete canoe team and eventually served as Student Chapter President. In 2008 and 2009, he helped the Corpus Christi Branch and Rio Grande Valley Branch as they hosted the Spring Section Meetings. He served under Keith McBride and coordinated all registration and secured all facilities associated with the concrete canoe competitions that occurred during and in conjunction with those Section Meetings. In addition, he served in a similar role for the 2013 Spring Section Meeting and Centennial Celebration. Upon graduation, he has served the Corpus Christi Branch in various roles and is currently part of the Texas Section the Younger Members Committee and the Section Director for the Corpus Christi Branch. Joe is currently employed with the Texas Department of Transportation. In his spare time, Joe serves in roles for other civic organizations in the South Texas area.

VP for Professional Affairs Elect
Michael Bloom PE

Since 1991, I have helped to restore environmentally impacted sites, planned and designed resilient public infrastructure facilities, and assisted communities deliver projects with enhanced economic, social, and environmental (triple bottom line) project outcomes. I help clients use nature-based solutions for environmental mitigation, resilience, sustainability, and stormwater management. As an expert in the Envision Sustainable Infrastructure Framework, which is a scoring system for horizontal public infrastructure projects, I help clients identify, plan, and deliver infrastructure projects with enhanced social, environmental, and economic outcomes. I obtained my Envision Sustainability Professional credential in 2013. In 2016, the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure (ISI) retained me to verify Envision projects. In 2019 I became an Envision Trainer. In 2022 ISI appointed Michael to their Envision Review Board. I am a registered professional engineer in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Texas. I recently became a Certified Planner, by the American Institute of Certified Planners. I participate in the West Houston Association’s Sustainable Infrastructure Committee activities and chair the Public Affairs Committee of the Houston Branch of the American Society of Civil Engineers.

VP for Technical Affairs Elect
Patricia Frayre PE

Ms. Frayre, founding principal of Frayre Engineering & Consulting, has experience in the management of private and public sector clients for site development and public works projects. Ms. Frayre has more than 28 years of experience in the general civil engineering professional services industry. Her experience includes high-profile and standard site development projects and major/minor public works infrastructure projects. Project management experience for Ms. Frayre include multi-phase parks and green spaces construction, street reconstruction projects, new roadway construction, pedestrian realm improvements on transit corridors, shared-use pedestrian and bicycle trails, stormwater drainage improvements, and water main and wastewater collection system improvements.

Director at Large, First Year
Colton Gill PE

Colton Gill PE is a transportation engineer with BGE, Inc in Frisco, Texas. He is a licensed Professional Engineer in the states of Texas and Arkansas. Colton has 7 years of experience on various schematic and PS&E transportation projects in the greater DFW area. Colton’s projects vary from large interstate schematics to PS&E design of local city streets. Colton holds a Bachelor of Science (2016) in Civil Engineering from Texas Tech University. He has been involved with the American Society of Civil Engineers since 2016. Since graduation, he served in various roles at the ASCE Dallas Branch including Newsletter Editor from 2016-2018, Younger Member Chair in 2018, MRLC Planning Board in 2019, and Secretary in 2019. He is also involved in other local professional organizations.

Director at Large, First Year
Siang Zhou PhD

Dr. Siang Zhou is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV), leading active research in bridge engineering, structural design and analysis, and infrastructure structural resilience. Dr. Zhou received her Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and has strong academic records in analyzing steel structural behavior through field testing, structural laboratory testing, and large-scale numerical simulation. Dr. Zhou has been involved in multiple projects with U.S. transportation agencies and has excellent records of publications, including various ASCE journals, such as Journal of Bridge Engineering, Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities, and Practice Periodical on Structural Design and Construction. In addition, Dr. Zhou has made several impactful presentations at the International Bridge Conference that brought practical impacts to the civil engineering, structural engineering, and transportation community. After starting a faculty position in UTRGV, Dr. Zhou has also been devoted to education. She is teaching Structural Steel Design and will be teaching Mechanics of Material, which are both core ABET courses. Dr. Zhou is actively involved in student activities, including serving as the faculty advisor for ASCE Bridge Competition.

Treasurer
Anna Leija-Olveda 

Anna Olveda is the VP of Engineering at Wafflemat™ located in Southlake, TX. She has more than 9 years of experience in designing diverse structures across commercial, industrial, multifamily, and residential sectors. Her current focus revolves around optimizing the efficiency and environmental sustainability of shallow foundations, applied to projects spanning the country and various soil conditions. Anna’s engagement with ASCE commenced in 2012 as a student member and has since held various roles within the Texas Section.  She notably served as the President of the San Antonio Branch before her relocation to the DFW area. Throughout her career and ASCE involvement, Mrs. Olveda has actively engaged in outreach initiatives, inspiring students of all ages to pursue STEM-related fields. Her contributions extend to numerous authored publications and presentations, highlighting her research in foundation design, soil-structure interaction, and finite element modeling. Anna holds a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering with a minor in Mathematics from Texas A&M University in Kingsville, TX, and furthered her education with a Master of Science in Civil Engineering from TAMUK, specializing in Structure Design. Beyond her professional pursuits, Anna finds solace in exploring the world alongside her supportive and patient husband when she’s not deeply engrossed in work, continuous learning, or volunteering.