ASHE Central Ohio President Mike Raubenolt

In May the Central Ohio Section of ASHE chose me as President. It was a tremendous honor to follow in the footsteps of so many inspiring ASHE leaders. As a member of our board, I’ve been proud of the improvements we’ve made to our Section, and I want to see us continue that success and build our momentum in the coming year.

My career in engineering began at Ohio University. I completed my engineering internship in Chicago, where I moved to join my wife, Amy, who was pursuing her graduate degree at the Art Institute of Chicago.  Once she obtained her degree, we returned to Central Ohio. Hard to believe that was 13 years ago. I’ve been working in transportation engineering ever since. I have been a longtime member of ASHE, but three years ago I decided I wanted to contribute in a more active way to the growth and success of our Section.

I was immediately impressed by the board members’ dedication to and passion for our profession. That level of effort is truly remarkable in an all-volunteer organization, and it has yielded big results for our members. Our events are stronger and our membership is growing every year. Their dedication inspired me to contribute to that mission.

This year I’d like to focus on broadening our membership base. I see real potential for us in the relationships we could build if our Section included more members from ODOT, counties, municipalities, public agencies, MPOs, contractors, vendors and manufacturers. Every member of our Section is an ambassador for us with these individuals and organizations. Membership in ASHE would benefit them, just as it benefits us, and a broader membership base would strengthen our organization throughout the Central Ohio region. Our progress in expanding membership in this direction has been slow, but I know that if we make this a centerpiece of our goals this year we can see real growth in this initiative.

As Section President and fellow engineer, I’d love to hear your ideas on how we can make our organization—and our profession—stronger. I welcome discussions of our shared goals and interests, feedback on events and initiatives, and suggestions for improvements. I hope you will contribute to our momentum and get involved with ASHE on some level. Ideas can come from anywhere, at any time, and sometimes they come from the most unlikely situations. Keep your eyes open to the opportunities for new ideas and for ways to be an advocate for our profession and Section.

Finally, I would like to thank Ron Mattox for his leadership of ASHE, Central Ohio Section last year. Ron’s strong sense of leadership through service inspired all of us to look for ways to improve benefits to the membership and to give back to our communities. I hope to continue Ron’s mission of service as we move forward into an exciting year within the Central Ohio Section of ASHE.