About the Topic

This session will review the ASCE Code of Ethics as applied to real life cases drawn from ASCE’s case file or other engineering sources. The presentation will explore common themes that lead to ethical failure and will discuss how individuals can contribute to an ethical culture in their professional workplace.

About the Speaker

Tara Hoke is General Counsel at the American Society of Civil Engineers and a member of the Virginia Bar. She is a 2005 graduate of Georgetown Law and served as Assistant General Counsel for nine years prior to her promotion in January 2015. In addition to serving as ASCE's legal counsel, Tara oversees ASCE's professional conduct committee and writes a bimonthly column "A Question of Ethics", which is published in Civil Engineering magazine.

About the Topic

Maryland SHA Administrator Will Pines will discuss State Highway Administration’s new strategic plan Northbound 2.0, and how it is impacting SHA’s projects, processes, and people. SHA describes the strategic plan as follows: "Starting in early 2024, the Maryland State Highway Administration kicked off an employee-driven and grassroots focused strategic planning effort to reimagine how we can most effectively meet the needs of our internal and external customers. Northbound 2.0 represents the best of SHA and our team’s commitment to our employees, communities, and customers that depend on us to deliver safe, reliable, and accessible transportation facilities. This plan was developed to reflect the dynamic opportunities, goals, and objectives we will pursue every day to position our team to navigate the modern-day challenges we will face in all areas of the organization."

About the Speaker

William Pines, P.E., serves as​ the Maryland State Highway Administrator. He is responsible for leading a team of nearly 3,000 transportation professionals at facilities across Maryland. These include the headquarters complex in Baltimore City, the Hanover complex in Anne Arundel County, seven districts, 26 offices and 28 maintenance shops. Working together, this team owns, operates and maintains roughly 18,000 lane miles of non-toll roads and more than 2,500 bridges across the state.

Will is focused on advancing safety statewide, leveraging every available federal dollar, promoting organizational efficiency and collaborating with partners across public, private and government sectors.

Will has served Maryland for nearly 20 years, from serving as an SHA intern during his college years to his current post as Administrator. In 2023, he returned to SHA after serving in various leadership roles at the Maryland Transportation Authority, including as Chief Engineer, Chief Operating Officer and, ultimately, as the agency’s Executive Director.

Will holds numerous professional credentials, including as a licensed professional engineer, a project management professional, a certified construction manager and a certified customer experience professional. He is a graduate of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) National Transportation Leadership Institute. He was selected by the Design Build Institute of America for its 2020 Distinguished Leadership Award and also received the 2023 President’s Award from the American Council of Engineering Companies of Maryland (ACEC/MD)​.​

​ ​Will obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Maryland College Park and a Master of S​cience degree in Management from the University of Maryland Global Campus.​