November 2025 Luncheon

#asceSTL is proud to partner with the Missouri Society of Professional Engineers St. Louis Chapter (MSPE STL) to host Michael T. Buechter at our upcoming Section Luncheon. He will present on Engineering Ethics, focusing on the nature of engineering problem solving!

Michael T. Buechter, P.E., BC.WRE, F.EWRI

Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District (MSD)

Michael T. Buechter is a Program Manager at the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District (MSD) where he manages a diverse and talented team responsible for the preparation of construction documents for small to mid-sized projects, administration of several Consulting Engineering contracts, and administration of MSD’s Small Contractor Program.  These tasks all contribute to the MSD’s continued success in meeting the terms of the 2012 Consent Decree. 

Michael received his B.S. Civil Engineering and M.S. Engineering Management degrees from Missouri S&T (Rolla), as well as his M.S. Civil Engineering (Water Resources) from Oklahoma State University. He served as 2016 Section President of ASCE STL. He has also served as a Past Chair of EWRI St. Louis Chapter, past member of the EWRI Governing Board (Society Level), and Past-Chair of EWRI Member Services Executive Committee (Society Level).  He has served as 2018-2020 President of the St. Louis Chapter of MSPE. He currently serves as 2026 President of MSPE (State level). 

Presentation Description:

Please join us for a discussion of Engineering Ethics focusing on the nature of engineering problem solving. This study begins with Eugene Ferguson’s text Engineering and the Mind’s Eye (1992) which outlines the application of visual thinking. Ferguson argues that any system of problem solving that ignores Engineering’s heritage of visual thinking will produce not only technicians ignorant of how the real-world works but failures of their projects. The application of visual thinking is useful to us all and best explained by example.

Examples covered include first James Buchanan Eads (1820-1887) and his role in constructing the St. Louis Bridge (Eads Bridge). Though Eads was never formally educated as a civil engineer his years of experience as a river salvage captain helped him amass the knowledge needed to construct the bridge. Secondly, by today’s standards, the earthmoving operation used during construction of the Panama Canal was carried out by primitive methods involving steam powered trains. The intricate arrangement of specialized trains represented practical problem solving that could likely not be improved upon to this day. Finally discussed is David Steinman’s, the founder of NSPE, work on the Mackinac Bridge where to avoid the effect of aerodynamic forces on the suspension bridge, he managed “the creation of a new science,” representing practical problem solving.