Will Orange County's Infrastructure Make the Grade? Civil Engineers Assess State of County's Infrastructure.

UCI Henry Samueli School of Engineering:

WHAT:  The release of the 2005 Report Card for Orange County's
       Infrastructure by the American Society of Civil Engineers
       (ASCE) Orange County Branch and the UC Irvine Civil and
       Environmental Engineering Affiliates will examine the trends
       affecting the region's infrastructure: aviation,
       parks/recreation, school facilities, solid waste,
       transportation, urban runoff/flood control, drinking water, and
       wastewater. The report will assess the progress of Orange
       County's infrastructure since it received an overall grade of
       "C" by these two groups in 2002.


WHO:   UC Irvine Civil and Environmental Engineering Affiliates
       ASCE Orange County Branch

       Stan Oftelie, Former President and CEO, Orange County Business
       Council
       "The Significance of Infrastructure for Our Quality of Life"

       Curt Pringle, Mayor, City of Anaheim
       "Infrastructure Challenges - A Local Perspective"

       Chris Norby, Supervisor, 4th District, Orange County Board of
       Supervisors
       "Funding Infrastructure Improvements: Who Will Pay?"

       Blake Anderson, P.E., General Manager, Orange County Sanitation
       District
       Closing Remarks


WHEN & Friday, Oct. 21, 2005, 7:30 - 11:30 a.m.
WHERE: The Arnold and Mabel Beckman Center of the National Academies
       100 Academy
       Irvine, CA 92617

       The event is free and open to the public and members of the
       news media. Reservations can be made online at
       www.eng.uci.edu/ocreportcard. Questions and reservations may
       also be directed to: Jayne Hess, [e-mail], 949-824-4757


WHY:   Both above ground and below, Orange County's aging
       infrastructure is struggling to meet population demands,
       threatening to adversely impact our quality of life.

       With new grades for the first time since 2002, the
       Infrastructure Report Card will assess the progress - or
       decline - of Orange County's infrastructure. Are we making
       significant strides or has our infrastructure deteriorated
       further? The experts will tell us, and answer the question on
       everyone's mind ... if improvements are needed, who will pay?

About The Henry Samueli School of Engineering: The Henry Samueli School of Engineering is one of the nation's fastest-growing engineering schools, attracting talented engineering faculty and students from across the nation and abroad. The school consists of five departments: biomedical engineering, chemical engineering and materials science, civil and environmental engineering, electrical engineering and computer science, and mechanical and aerospace engineering. The school is home to numerous research centers, including the Integrated Nanosystems Research Facility, the National Fuel Cell Research Center, the Center for Embedded Computer Systems, and the Center for Pervasive Communications and Computing. Additionally, it is a major participant in the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology, Calit2. Further, more than a third of the school's 95 faculty members are fellows in professional societies and seven have been elected into the National Academy of Engineering. For more information, please visit www.eng.uci.edu.