ACEC/A
Welcome
The American Council of Engineering Companies of Arkansas (ACEC/A) provides executives of private engineering firms with the tools and educational opportunities to be better business owners and managers.  As a state chapter of the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) ACEC/A presents a strong, cohesive voice for the profession in local and national legislative and policy debates to ensure that firms can compete fairly in an increasingly aggressive world market.

ACEC is the largest national organization of engineers engaged in the independent practice of consulting engineering.  ACEC's Strategic Plan calls for the strengthening of the business environment and image of member firms, and focusing on quality professional services in a competitive global marketplace.

The American Council of Engineering Companies will be the organization leading the business interests of firms providing independent professional knowledge and services for the built environment.

- ACEC Vision Statement
 
Notice to Engineering Firms


Comprehensive Update of Arkansas Water Plan

Arkansas Natural Resources Commission (ANRC) will engage an engineering firm or firms to assist in the comprehensive revision of the Arkansas Water Plan (AWP). Selection will start in January 2012. Work is scheduled to begin in March 2012. Issue identification, recommendations, and a draft plan to be submitted for rulemaking under the Ark. Admin. Procedure Act will be complete by November 2014.

The Request for Qualifications, including a complete Scope of Work is posted at www.anrc.arkansas.gov.

Updating the AWP will include initial process scoping, resource assessments of surface and ground water supplies, water demand assessments, identification of data needs, projection of future water needs and challenges, identification of new or alternative water sources, and integration of input from the public, interested groups, and state and federal agencies in recommending management responses.

Respondents will be evaluated based on written submissions and interviews on their knowledge of water supply, demand, quality, conservation, and infrastructure policy; state water planning experience; familiarity with Ark. water agencies; and stakeholder involvement integration experience.


Interested firms must submit the following documents to ANRC by 4:30 PM, Monday, January 23, 2012:


1. Letter of Interest. A letter of interest displaying a clear understanding of the project, including a positive commitment to complete the work in the specified time-period, and briefly summarizing why the respondent should be selected. Address and contact information for each party in a proposed joint venture must be included.


2. Statement of Qualifications. Statement of qualifications documenting the relevant qualifications of the firm or firms, as well as information summarizing the relevant qualifications of the personnel involved as follows:


a. Qualifications, Experience and Competence of Respondent: Information must be included summarizing and documenting the qualifications, experience and competence of the firm or firms in relation to the contractual services anticipated. Examples, summaries, or lists of previous water resource planning work will be helpful to the Commission.


b. Personnel Qualifications and Availability: Respondents must identify and summarize the relevant experience of personnel that would actually provide the anticipated contractual services. The Commission will consider the qualifications of these individuals when ranking the Respondents.


Interested firms must file the information described above by postal mail (not electronic mail) or hand delivery by 4:30 PM, Monday, January 23, 2012 to:


Arkansas Natural Resources Commission
Attention: Edward Swaim
101 East Capitol Avenue, Suite 350
Little Rock, Arkansas 72201


Inquiries: 501-682-3979 and This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Commission website: www.anrc.arkansas.gov


Pursuant to Ark. Code 22-9-203, the State encourages all small, minority, and women business enterprises to submit bids for capital improvements. Encouragement is also made to all general contractors that in the event they subcontract portions of their work, consideration is given to the identified groups.

 
LEGO League

Greetings!

It’s that time of year again! Time to look forward to another FIRST LEGO League Season!

Things will be a bit different this year. We will have a series of 3 qualifying tournaments, culminating with the Arkansas State Championship tournament. On December 3, 2011 the first qualifier will be held in Mountain Home. A second qualifier will be held in Little Rock on January 21, 2012, with the final qualifier held in Hot Springs on January 28, 2012. The Twelfth annual FIRST LEGO League Challenge (FLL) Arkansas State Tournament, sponsored by the Science and Technology Group, will be held at the Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock, Arkansas, on February 25, 2012. We would like to invite you to participate in our FIRST LEGO League season by serving as an official Judge to any (or all!) of these events.

FLL was developed by the FIRST organization (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology). The program was created for young people, ages 9 to 14, for the purpose of inspiring curiosity in science and technology, while forming a correlation between classroom work and real-world problems. Very simply, the program motivates kids to think, and has been received very well by students, teachers, and communities.

Each year, a new challenge is issued that is designed to emulate a scientific, engineering, or technological challenge facing the world. Over a period of 8 weeks, teams of 10 or less students build, program, and test their own fully autonomous robot, which will be used to complete various missions. The number of solutions to the challenge is limited only by the team’s creative use of scientific and mathematic principles!

In past, we have seen students motivated and inspired as they tackled such challenges as Power Puzzle, or Mission to Mars. In this year's challenge, FLL teams will be watching what they eat in the FOOD FACTOR challenge. You can follow the link below to see a full description of the challenge.

http://www.firstlegoleague.org/challenge/thechallenge

FIRST LEGO League advocates that everyone can be a winner. To this end, the award categories identified in this competition represent a wide spectrum of team building, project presentation quality, and design performance criteria. Your role as an official Judge will be to determine the recipients of FIRST LEGO League awards by talking with team members, listening to a presentation from each team which explains the team’s scientific theory of the challenge, and observing the team’s problem solving skills and teamwork in action.

If you are willing to consider judging at one of our events, please contact me by November 21, 2011, and advise which event(s) would work best for you. If you would like additional information about this program, I will be happy to provide it. I look forward to hearing from you soon, and sincerely hope you will be a part of this exciting season!

Best Regards, Sandy Norwick

(870) 404-4728

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

 
State Agency Forum

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