A "Greener" Water Bottle

When I was in Washington, DC in April at the Engineering Public Policy Symposium, I noticed something different in the Rayburn House Building. No there hadn't been any major renovations or redecorating done since I'd last been there; instead, the typical plast water bottle had been replaced. By what, you ask? By this: http://www.natureworksllc.com/. It's a biopolymer that's compostable. I thought it was uber-cool, and definitely a step in the right direction. It's (obviously) not as eco-friendly as using a non-disposable water bottle such as those made by Nalgene or Sigg, but as you can see here - http://www.greenerdesign.com/news/2008/10/01/corn-based-water-bottles - the House actually composts them instead of sending them to a landfill, which is kind of neat.

ECE Opportunities

See below for a recent post on ASME PeerLink's Young Engineer Correspondents site (http://peerlink.asme.org/COP/YECorrespondent/Forum/FullThread.fusion?ThreadID=3285):

ASME offers early career engineers (0-10 years out of college) the opportunity to get involved at the national level. Please take a moment to review the following upcoming opportunities (with mid-January deadlines) for yourself and/or to forward to other colleagues that might be interested. It’s a great way to gain professional development skills and network with other engineers.

* ECLIPSE is seeking interns (2009-2010)http://www.asme.org/Governance/Volunteer/Early_Career_Leadership.cfm Funded travel and leadership lessons from the top.Application deadline: January 11, 2009)

* Young Engineer Correspondents are seeking a Vice-Chair Electhttp://www.asme.org/Communities/EarlyCareer/Young_Engineer_Correspondents.cfm Practice your leadership skills. (Application Deadline: January 12, 2009)

* Leadership Training Conference (LTC) is seeking Early Career Delegateshttp://www.asme.org/Communities/EarlyCareer/Leadership_Training_2.cfm Intensive training opportunity. (Application Deadline: January 16, 2009)

* CL&D’s Committee on Internship Program (manages ECLIPSE) is seeking 2 new members (2009-2010)http://volunteer.asme.org/vobb/VolunteerPositions.cfmBegin a leadership path.(Positions to be filled ASAP)

Happy Thanksgiving!

To all of you in the US, Happy Thanksgiving today! And to those of you outside the US, Happy Thursday!

2008 ASME ECLIPSE Interns

My, oh my, where has the time flown? It’s November, which means the ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress & Exposition has arrived. If you haven’t met them yet, I wanted to introduce you to this year’s bumper crop of ASME ECLIPSE Interns. They are a phenomenal bunch, as always, and come from all over. Shane McGoldrick is the ECLIPSE intern for Strategic Management, and hails from Dunedin, FL. Annmarie Connor is the ECLIPSE intern for the Board of Governors, and is from Orlando, FL. Jenn Dandrea-Spadafora is serving on the Center for Leadership and Diversity Board, and she lives in Seattle, Washington. The Knowledge & Community (K&C) Global Communities ECLIPSE intern is Hieu Nguyen from the Houston, TX metropolis. Garrett Herning is the ECLIPSE intern for the Institutes sector, working on EMCI, and lives in Sussex, WI, right outside Milwaukee. And finally, the sixth member of the 2008 group is Michael Moore, the K&C Programs and Activities ECLIPSE intern.

If you’re interested in serving ASME at the international level, or want to find out what really goes in a specific board or sector, I highly encourage you to apply to be an ECLIPSE intern. This year’s applications are due January 15th, and the application can be found on ASME’s website: (http://www.asme.org/Governance/Volunteer/Early_Career_Leadership.cfm). If you’ve got questions about the program, feel free to contact the co-directors of the ECLIPSE program, Larry Dickinson and Karma Snyder.




L to R: Michael Moore, Shane McGolderick, Annmarie Connor, Jenn Dandrea-Spadafora, Hieu Nguyen, Garrett Herning

EYE in Germany

Cathedral (or Dom, as the locals call it) in Koln

As I sit on yet another airplane this week, I’ve got a few moments to reflect on last week’s trip to attend the European Young Engineers (EYE) Conference in Dusseldorf, Germany. In ASME’s effort to reach out and collaborate with engineers and engineering societies worldwide, two other ASME-ers, Tom Perry and Eduardo Barrientos, and I crossed the Atlantic to see what our brethren in Europe are doing. There we met an incredible group of people, who were extremely gracious in showing us North and South Americans some German and European hospitality and culture.

The EYE conference is a biannual event, held in May and October, with the conferences held in various member countries. For more information on EYE, see their website: (http://www.e-y-e.eu/). The conference is a two-and-a-half-day event, which began on Friday with tours and a gala, followed with a keynote panel and workshop on Saturday, a dinner cruise on Saturday evening, and the EYE Council meeting and closing session on Sunday. The conference drew attendees from all over Europe, and had the sponsorship support of local and multinational companies.

So what did I take away from this? A reinforcement of how crucial social and networking events are at early career functions and events. How many times does our enjoyment of something stem from the interactions with other people? For me, it is just as important for me to connect with other people in peer and build relationships as it is to learn a new technical skill or improve my business acumen. I also came away somewhat in awe of what a fantastic job EYE does at securing sponsorships and corporate support. The cost of the conference was highly subsidized, and the bang for your buck was phenomenal – I mean really, a dinner cruise on the Rhein River complete with DJ and bar at no added charge? What’s to complain about that – almost nothing (the almost comes from the fact that I heard many of the attendees lamenting that 1 am was too early for the cruise to end). Finally, Eduardo, Tom and I made some incredible new friends, and opened the door for future collaborations between ASME and EYE. Who knows, maybe in the future we’ll see some joint conferences, webcasts, or other events with our peers across the “pond.”

Jeroen Van Liempd (ASME Brussels Office), Eduardo Barrientos, Jen Jewers, Bertrand Mbiaffie (ASME Brussels Office), and Tom Perry

Eduardo, Jen, and some of our new friends

Proof that Tom hit the dance floor

LTC Recap

So I got back from the ASME Leadership Training Conference in Atlanta Sunday evening after three hours of sleep on Saturday night, a delayed flight out of Atlanta causing me to miss my original connection flight from Chicago, and then a delayed later flight out of Chicago. But I finally made it home safe and sound. But enough about me.

I had a wonderful time seeing old friends and meeting new friends at the ASME LTC. There were fifteen early career engineers (ECEs) in attendance who submitted essays and were chosen as LTC Early Career Delegates, as well as numerous other ECEs who were representatives from their sections, divisions, etc. Then, there were students from around the globe representing student sections and districts as the Student District Operating Boards had training sessions. All in all, there was quite a contingent of ASME volunteers under the age of 35.

Thanks to the LTC Committee for the fabulous job they did on the conference! If anyone is interested in helping out next year, they are always looking for additional committee members. For more information on volunteering or information on this year's LTC, see the website: http://www.asmeconferences.org/ltc08/

Pics from the LTC:

Jenn Dandrea Spadafora, Ed Buchanan, and Elizabeth Schwartz

Jessica Sanfilippo and Mandy Brogdon

A dinner for SDOB Participants

ASME's New Face of Engineering for 2008

So I finally met face-to-face Annmarie Connor, the ASME New Face of Engineering for 2008, this past weekend at the ASME Leadership Training Conference in Atlanta, GA. We've been working on a project team together for months now, but hadn't officially met yet. And I must say, she's as awesome in person as she is on the phone and in paper. For those of you who haven't met Annmarie yet, or see the article on her, below is the news release that's currently posted in Late-Breaking News for ASME (http://www.asmenews.org/latebrk/latebrk.html).



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Annmarie Connor has been selected to represent ASME as its New Face of Engineering for 2008. Connor, an ASME member from Orlando, Fla., was one of 14 early career engineers nominated by the various engineering associations for the New Faces of Engineering program, which highlights the interesting and important work of young engineers and the resulting impact on society.

Each year, the National Engineers Week Foundation, a coalition of engineering societies, major corporations and government agencies, asks its members to nominate colleagues 30 years old and younger who have shown outstanding abilities and leadership. The names of the honorees then selected by the foundation are announced during Engineers Week.

As a mechanical design engineer in the Launch Site Design Engineering directorate at United Space Alliance at the Kennedy Space Center, Connor supports design efforts for the Space Shuttle's Orbiter and External Tank Ground Support Equipment. Connor, 28, is also the system design engineer for Orbiter Access and Multi-Use Ground Handling Equipment. In that role, she will lead and organize design projects which include cost estimates, researching and selecting equipment and materials, preparing engineering analyses and drawings, and certifying modifications and new designs. Previously at United Space Alliance, Connor was a reliability engineer responsible for guaranteeing a safer Space Shuttle mission by performing criticality assessments and failure modes and effects analyses to identify risk to personnel, damage to flight hardware, and loss of life for the Space Shuttle program.

For Connor's full New Face of Engineering bio, visit www.eweek.org/site/Engineers/newfaces2008/first_tier_bios.shtml#Connor.

To read about the other New Faces of Engineering for 2008, visit www.eweek.org/site/Engineers/newfaces2008/index.shtml.For more about Engineers Week, visit http://www.eweek.org/.