Ben Cody
Eustis Engineering L.L.C.’s work in the greater New Orleans area helps ensure solid foundations for various structures, but one team member, Benjamin M. Cody, P.E., will be recognized this month for his work in helping to build solid foundations for the youth of the area.
Cody, who has worked for Eustis Engineering for nearly 15 years, will receive the Outreach Award from the American Society of Civil Engineering, New Orleans Branch, during a special banquet at 11:30 a.m. on 29 July 2016 at the Southern Yacht Club in New Orleans.
“It is nice to be nominated,” Cody said. “Of various outreach activities, my participation in MATHCOUNTS® has been the most personally meaningful. I have volunteered for the local competition every year since 2002. My mother's best friend, Dr. Suzanne McGill, who passed away in 2014, was part of my motivation. She was a teacher and the head of the math department at the University of South Alabama for over 20 years, and she was a big part of the reason I pursued engineering for a career.”
Cody has also helped area children by serving as a judge for the greater New Orleans area science fair for multiple years, as well as participating in the Outreach 2010 New Orleans Solutions Summit at Tulane University, during which more than 200 adults shared their career stores with inner city youth.
But Cody’s attention has not only been focused on youth. He has also done a great deal to help those attempting to follow his own career path.
Cody explained that he was especially proud of a letter writing campaign he spearheaded during the 2009-10 school year when the University of New Orleans (UNO) engineering department was in danger of losing funding to state budget cuts, specifically the civil engineering department’s ability to stay accredited.
“We were able to marshal enough support from the greater New Orleans civil engineering community to help prevent cuts to faculty and staff in the civil and environmental engineering department by UNO officials,” Cody said. “Not all cuts, but enough to protect the department's accreditation.”
He has also served on the steering committee for the Louisiana Civil Engineering Conference and Show from 2008 to present, which has included his serving as the committee chair from 2012 to 2014 and as the treasurer from 2014 to present.
Cody has been a member of ASCE since 1994. He served as a New Orleans Board member from 2002 to 2011 and as president for the year for 2009/10. He also served as practitioner advisor for the Tulane student chapter of ASCE from 2003 to 2006.