CELEBRATE LICENSURE. CELEBRATE THE PROFESSION.
Engineering Students and Professionals Mix at VSPE’s Spring 2026 Engineering Seminar
More than 50 students from the University of Virginia School of Engineering attended our March educational seminar in Charlottesville. Students were joined by a number of area professionals, all of whom were eligible for two professional development hours.
Dr. James Groves, associate professor at UVA and Channing Blackwell, president of The Blackwell Group, were presenters. Their ethics discussion centered around the proliferation of data centers in Virginia and the accompanying issues related to infrastructure resources, real estate development, land use, and public opinion.
The seminar was co-hosted by Cardinal Education, a consortium of six public universities offering online masters degrees in engineering and computer science.
Dixon Tucker Joins VSPE Board
Dixon W. Tucker has been elected director and NSPE House of Delegates representative alternate for the Virginia Society of Professional Engineers, and trustee of the VSPE Educational Fund.
Dixon retired as district engineer, Office of Drinking Water (ODW), Virginia Department of Health. He is a Fellow in the American Society of Civil Engineers.
Dixon holds an ME in environmental engineering from Old Dominion University and a BS in civil engineering from Virginia Military Institute.
At its March 31 meeting, the APELSCIDLA Board voted to adopt the language of Virginia Administrative Code Section 18VAC10-20-270 Licensed by Endorsement, Section B, International Endorsement, allowing mobility agreements for international applicants who hold a valid license in a country that is a signatory to the International Engineering Alliance (IEA) in order to qualify for comity or endorsement in Virginia.
This proposed amendment has generated significant debate due to opposition from VSPE and other professional organizations. Licensed engineers and other critics have cited concerns over lower independent verification of standards, and voiced a preference for utilizing the established NCEES records program over foreign regulatory systems.
We appreciate those PEs who formally stated their opposition to the proposed language, and we assure you we will continue to advocate on behalf of our members. Contact our APELSCIDLA representative Rebecca (Becky) Golden with any comments or questions.
New VSPE Student Membership Advisor Position Created
Pamela Grace Dogbe-Semanou has joined VSPE as the newly appointed student membership advisor. Pamela is an engineering student at Northern Virginia Community College and plans to transfer to a four-year university to complete her degree.
Pamela is leading the charge to set up a statewide virtual chapter connecting students from all corners of the Commonwealth. Her goal is to assist students with resources for their education, career, and school-life balance. She looks forward to hearing from students who are interested in joining the virtual chapter.
Let’s Make a Strong Showing from VA at this Year’s Conference
Tom Conway Serves as 2026 Future City Competition Judge
Tom Conway, VSPE Vice President and Pallavi Raviprakash, Certification Program Development Manager at NICET, were two of the judges for the DiscoverE 2026 Future City Competition which took place February 14-18 in Washington, D.C.
In its 34th year, The Future City competition challenges middle and high school students to solve real-world sustainability and engineering problems. This year, model cities were to include a system that completely eliminated food waste from the farm to the fork.
Over 85,000 students worldwide registered for the competition —the highest number in the program’s history. Even more notable, a 50/50 gender split among participants was reported, a rare milestone in STEM programming.
View the competition winners HERE.
VSPE Continues to Advocate for all PEs in the Commonwealth
The VSPE Board of Directors meets bi-monthly, actively acting on behalf of our society. Advocacy for issues related to the professional engineering occupation, licensing, and project requirements in the Commonwealth are an ongoing concern. Consequently, VSPE board member Rebecca (Becky) Golden will present two items at the APELSCIDLA meeting on February 11, 2026:
- Clarification Regarding Inspection Requirements for Wastewater Projects (on behalf of VSPE)
- License PE Required by Local Ordinance to Obtain Third-Party Over-site Inspection (on behalf of NSPE)
Email Becky with any questions or comments regarding these issues.