Public Speaking

Public Speaking

Steve Ressler is an accomplished public speaker who engages audiences with presentations on engineering, architecture, history, ethics, and professionalism. His presentations are characterized by enthusiastic delivery, high-quality visuals, and extensive use of physical models and demonstrations.

To arrange a speaking engagement, please contact Steve.

Recent Speaking Engagements

  • “Engineering the Panama Canal” – Four-part lecture series presented aboard “New York Times Journeys”–a Holland America cruise through the Panama Canal, sponsored by Insight Cruises (February 16-March 1, 2020)
  • “Roman Aqueducts” – Keynote speech for the Tennessee Tech Living and Learning Villages Legacy Series (October 28, 2019)
  • “Washing the Unwashed Masses: The Roman Bath as Social Institution & Technological System” –  Marblestone Memorial Lecture (October 24, 2019)
  • “Public Speaking & Soft Skills” – Presentation to the ASCE Student Chapter, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA (April 17, 2019)
  • “History of the Suspension Bridge: An Engineering Perspective” – Presentation to the Pennsylvania Society of Professional Engineers (PSPE), Bethlehem, PA (April 9, 2019)
  • “My Brief Career as an Engineering Nerd TV Star” – Keynote speech at the annual banquet of the Fritz Engineering Research Society, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA (February 7, 2019)
  • “Reflections on the Greatest Generation” – Keynote speech at the Lehigh University Veteran’s Day Luncheon, Bethlehem, PA (November 9, 2018)
  • “Amazing Engineering Achievements of the Ancient Romans” – Keynote presentation at the annual conference of the Structural Engineers Association of North Carolina, Raleigh, NC (October 11, 2018)
  • “Nervi’s Great Domes: A Marriage of Form, Function, and Structure” – Public presentation at the National Museum of Industrial History, Bethlehem, PA (May 20, 2018)
  • “Engineering the Panama Canal” – Four-part lecture series presented aboard “Bright Horizons 34”–a Holland America cruise through the Panama Canal, sponsored by Insight Cruises (January 20-February 4, 2018)
  • “Great Engineering Works of the Adriatic from Antiquity to the Renaissance” – Five-part lecture series presented aboard “Bright Horizons 33”–a Holland America cruise of the Adriatic Sea, sponsored by Insight Cruises (October 2-14, 2017)
  • “Civil Engineering Education for Afghanistan” – Keynote address at he Lehigh Valley ASCE Annual Holiday Banquet (December 8, 2016)
  • “Engineering in the Ancient World” – Five-part lecture series presented aboard “Bright Horizons 29”–a Holland America cruise of the eastern Mediterranean, sponsored by Insight Cruises (May 6-18, 2016)
  • “Building in Stone: The Greek Temple” – Invited seminar presentation at the Fellowship retirement community in Whitehall, Pennsylvania (April 15, 2016)
  • “Reconstructing the Trireme” – Invited seminar presentation at the Senior Monday program, DaVinci Science Center, in Allentown, Pennsylvania (February 8, 2016)
  • “The Sociology of Professions and Engineering Ethics” – Invited presentation at “Do the Right Thing: How to Encourage Ethical Behavior and Practice,” a conference at the University of Wisconsin – Madison (September 24-25, 2015)
  • “Seeing Structure in Architecture” – Five-part lecture series presented aboard “Bright Horizons 26”–a Holland America cruise to Norway and Iceland, sponsored by Insight Cruises (August 1-15, 2015)
  • “The Arch” – Invited seminar presentation at the Senior Monday program, DaVinci Science Center in Allentown, Pennsylvania (November 10, 2014)
  • “Conceptual Models of the Professions and Professionalism:  Application to Civil Engineering” – Presentation to the Board of Direction, American Society of Civil Engineers in Stowe, Vermont (July 12, 2014)
  • “When the Drums Begin to Roll” – Keynote address at the Hanover Township, PA, Armed Forces Day commemoration (May 22, 2014)
  • “Seeing Structure in Architecture” – Four-part lecture series presented during the inaugural Great Courses Cruise, developed in collaboration with Insight Cruises (November 4-17, 2013)
  • “The Greek Temple” – Presentation to 50 attendees at the Stonebridge retirement community in Princeton, New Jersey (October 19, 2013)
  • “Engineering Education at West Point” – Presentation to the Rotary Club of White Plains, New York (April 15, 2013)
  • “The Quebec Bridge Failure: A Case Study in Engineering Ethics” – Keynote address at the Order of the Engineer Initiation Ceremony, West Point, New York (April 25, 2013)
  • “Using Questioning to Enhance Student Engagement” – Keynote address at “Shaking the Foundations of Geotechnical Engineering,” a conference of the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering in Galway, Ireland (July 5, 2011).

“The general principles of any study you may learn by books at home; but the detail, the color, the tone, the air, the life which makes it live in us, you must catch all these from those in whom it already lives.”

~John Henry Newman

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