Join the SAME Rock Island Post and ASCE Quad Cities Section for the 23rd Annual Engineering Symposium, a two-day professional development and networking event featuring engineering professionals from government, industry, academia, and the local community.
The symposium begins Thursday afternoon with a tour, networking social, and ethics presentation, followed by a full day of technical sessions Friday. The technical conference features five concurrent tracks: Municipal, General Civil, Structural, Mechanical, and Electrical Engineering.
The SAME–ASCE Engineering Symposium has grown from a small, single-track training event into a five-track, multi-day engineering conference covering municipal, civil, structural, mechanical, and electrical engineering. Organizers anticipate approximately 200 attendees, with the event providing approximately 1,100 professional development hours across the region while raising approximately $20,000 for scholarships for local students.
Thursday, October 15 — Tour, Social & Ethics
Iron Tee | 6909 Iron Tee Way, Bettendorf, IA
4:00–5:00 PM — Tour of Bettendorf’s Gateway Bridge
5:00–7:00 PM — Appetizers & Networking Social at Iron Tee
6:00–7:00 PM — Ethics Presentation: Ethical Decision Making Panel
Friday Technical Conference
St. Ambrose University – Rogalski Center | 518 W. Locust Street, Davenport, IA
7:15–8:00 AM — Registration & Continental Breakfast
8:00–8:10 AM — Welcome
8:10–9:10 AM — Technical Session 1
Municipal: Galena PL84-99 Project
General Civil: Great Lakes Coastal Analysis / Castle Rock Dam CFD
Structural: FRP Bulkhead Design
Mechanical: VBCD of VFD Motors
Electrical: Aesthetic Lighting for Signature Span Bridges
9:10–9:20 AM — Break
9:20–10:20 AM — Technical Session 2
Municipal: Nature Based Solutions
General Civil: St. Mary Siphon
Structural: Finite Element Modeling to Predict Fatigue
Mechanical: Energetics Facilities Design
Electrical: Topic TBD
10:20–10:30 AM — Break
10:30–11:30 AM — Technical Session 3
Municipal: Breaking Down the Funding Ecosystem
General Civil: Enhancing Public Safety and Connectivity through Dam Removal and Rehabilitation: Feasibility Study of the Sears and Steel Dams on the Lower Rock River
Structural: Gateway Bridge Structural Design
Mechanical: Historic Clock Tower Renovations
Electrical: Lighting Controls
11:30–11:40 AM — Break
11:40 AM–1:00 PM — Luncheon & Keynote
515 Walnut Tower – Iowa’s Tallest Residential Tower
Presented by Neumann Monson
1:00–1:10 PM — Break
1:10–2:10 PM — Technical Session 4
Municipal: USACE Levee Support
General Civil: Demystifying Large Language Models: How AI Is Transforming Data and Decision-Making in Civil Engineering and Construction
Structural: Lansing Bridge Replacement
Mechanical: Ductwork Ionization
Electrical: Medium Voltage Switchgears
2:10–2:20 PM — Break
2:20–3:20 PM — Technical Session 5
Municipal: Cedar Rapids Levee System Update
General Civil: Attempting to Mitigate the Juneau, AK – Mendenhall Glacier Lake Outflow Event
Structural: AI in Structural Engineering
Mechanical: Drops of Jupiter
Electrical: Illinois Laws & Regulations
3:20–3:30 PM — Break
3:30–4:30 PM — Technical Session 6
Municipal: Autonomous Flood Barrier Deployment
General Civil: Source Water Impacts to Central Iowa Water Works
Structural: TBD
Mechanical: SAME Sponsored Robotics League
Electrical: RIA Microgrid