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December 2003 News

Last updated 12/01/2003

Articles


December Event: Project Management Professional Training Seminar

Date:

Friday, December 12, 2003

Time:
1:00 AM - 4:30 PM
Location:

Pittsburgh Project Management Center
634 Alpha Drive - R.I.D.C Park
Pittsburgh, PA 15238

Parking:

Free

Cost:


Cost is $50.00 for ASME members, $60.00 for all others.

Contact:

For registration or more information, contact:
Al Bouvy
(412) 967-1900

RSVP:

By December 10, 2003.
SPACE IS LIMITED to the first 18 people
Reservations are a MUST

Building Professionalism in Project Management:

This practical and informative seminar addresses the importance of modern project management in today's economy and the explosive growth of the Project Management Institute (PMI®) and it's Project Management Professional (PMP®) certification program. Drawing from his experience in the profession and involvement in PMI, the world's largest and leading professional association in project management, Walter Bowman ties the benefits and best practices of project management to the success of projects and the development of project management into a professional discipline. After attending this seminar, you will have a better understanding of some of the basic principles involved in successful project management and the credentialing process of the Project Management Professional within the Project Management Institute.

Biographical Information:

Walter Bowman, PMP, has over 30 years experience in project and executive management of high technology and business projects in industry and academia. His experience spans software system development and implementation, placing cameras on the moon, building and modifying nuclear power plants, process control system design and construction, engineering services and development and administration of educational programs.

A certified Project Management Professional through the Project Management Institute, he is the Executive Director of the Pittsburgh Project Management Center and has practiced, taught, and spoken extensively in all areas of project management. An active member of PMI since 1979, he is one of the founders of the Pittsburgh Chapter and has served in various chapter positions including President. Within the international PMI organization, he was one of the developers of PMI's initial project management standard; "The Project Management Body of Knowledge," served on PMI's Certification Committee, was a member of PMI's Board of Directors for three years and President of PMI's Education Foundation for two years.

Walt received his BME degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology and MSBA degree from Robert Morris University and is a Life Member of ASME. He resides in Oakmont with his spouse, Dr. Martha Robbins of the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary.

PMI and PMP are registered marks of the Project Management Institute, Four Campus Boulevard, Newtown Square, PA 19073 USA. For more information, visit www.pmi.org.

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Latest Tour Update !!!

We have added another Fuel Cell Tour at Siemens Westinghouse on January 14!!!

Details to follow soon!!

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Message from the Chair

Dear members,

This month marks our last printed newsletter. We are discontinuing the printed version due to rising printing and postage costs, to disseminate information in a timelier manner, and to take advantage of web links and multimedia presentations. We will still produce a newsletter and electronically publish it to our website in Adobe Acrobat format at: http://www.asme.org/sections/pgh/#newsletter. You can download the free acrobat reader at http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html, if you do not already have it. We will also continue accepting sponsorship of the newsletter, which will be enhanced by the web presence. The newsletter can be read on line or printed as a hard copy and posted. In addition, we will send an email to you each month with the highlights and a link to the newsletter. If you have not been receiving emails from us, then either you have not listed your email address with ASME or you have elected not to receive emails from your local section. You can update your contact information at: http://members.asme.org/myasme/login/myasme.cfm or by calling ASME-International at 1-800-843-2763. Free web access can be found at most libraries and free personal email accounts can be created at http://www.hotmail.com or http://www.yahoo.com among many other choices.

In other news, we had three good events in October - a joint meeting with ASQ (tour of Accutrex), a tour of Respironics, and the Greater Pittsburgh Engineering Exposition. Many thanks to those who participated and helped to make these events successful. By the time you read this, we will likely also have also had our meeting in celebration of 100 years of flight with ESWP by featuring Dr. Rubin Battino and his presentation: "The Genius of the Wright Brothers and the Construction of an Accurate Full-scale Replica of the 1903 Flyer." Future events to alert you to are a Project Management Professional Training seminar on Friday, December 12th, 2003. We will also have a professional development seminar on finite element analysis sponsored by Algor, Inc. in mid March. Please contact Mr. Al Bouvy (412-967-1900, abouvy@atsengineers.com) if you are interested in either of these seminars, which will offer great value for a continuing education class. Early 2004 programs include a tour of Kennametal in January and a tour of the Otis-Spunkmeyer factory in February with free cookies! Geneva College will host a mock Regional Student Conference (RSC) for students to practice before competing in the real RSC. In March we will tour Cutler-Hammer and we will sponsor a talk on microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) in April followed by our awards banquet, where we recognize the engineer of the year, the industry of the year, and winners from the regional science fair. If you are aware of outstanding colleagues or mechanical engineering businesses, particularly if they have been active in promoting the activities of our society, please forward your nominations to me. We hope you can take time from your busy schedules to attend some of these events that we have put together for you.

With Best Regards,

Jeff Vipperman, Chair
jsv@pitt.edu

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CMU Offers Seminar Series

Carnegie Mellon Department of Mechanical Engineering is offering the Distinguishing Seminar Series for Fall '03. Exciting topics include: "Why There Is No Perfect Design", "A Theory of Complexity and Applications", and “Observations of New Particle Formation and Growth Rates in the Atmosphere”. Visit this link to read about each presentation.

For more information, contact:

Lauren Blair
Development Coordinator, ME Dept.
412-268-2503 or at lblair@andrew.cmu.edu

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Would You Like To Be A Pittsburgh Section Sponsor?

If you sponsor ASME Pittsburgh, we will feature your company's products and services in our newsletter and capture the attention of 1500+ members to inform them of your company, or on this site and be on the WWW. For more information click here or contact anyone on the Executive Committee.

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November Newsletter

Read the latest ASME Pittsburgh Newsletter here (.pdf format - may take some time to load - please be patient)

This month's featured articles include:

*November Program Details
*Message From the Chair
*Project Management Seminar
*CMU Seminar Series
*2004 Program Schedule
*Rube Goldberg Machine Contest

Download Adobe's free Acrobat Reader to view PDF files.


**The monthly Newsletter is posted here in advance of the mailed copy, and will be published from September thru November**

***Look for the all-electronic Newsletter beginning in January !! ***

In an effort to bring you the latest information and events in the most timely and cost effective way, ASME Pittsburgh will have our monthly newsletter in an all-electronic format beginning in January.

If we have your e-mail address, you will have an abbreviated newsletter automatically sent to you. If not, then we highly encourage you to submit your e-mail address to receive the newsletter and latest information from us (see the next article below). Additionally, the newsletter is currently published well ahead of the delivered copy here on this website. All you have to do is browse our website at your convenience, and unlike the soon to be discontinued paper newsletter you received in the mail, you can find it here anytime. Previous newsletters will still be available on the Archives page. If you would like to have the newsletter in printed form, you can simply open the above link and use the print option on your browser.

In addition to the newsletter, this website will continue to have the latest information on monthly events, tours, news, contact information, job postings, resources, archives, and a host of other information to keep you informed.

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Your E-Mail Address - The Key to ASME International

Did you know that your e-mail address is the key to what's happening at ASME? By providing us with your current e-mail address, you can learn about events taking place in your local section, such as professional development courses, industry tours, section meetings, lectures, networking opportunities, and technical conferences.

Updating your e-mail address online only takes a few minutes. To access your membership information, go to www.asme.org. Click on the "Members Only" tab to log onto this site. Be sure to have your member number on hand. After logging on to Members Only, select the "Change of Address and Information" link, located on the upper right-hand side of your screen. From this screen, you will be able to update your primary contact information.

So don't miss out on all that ASME has to offer! If you have any questions about your membership information, contact InfoCentral at infocentral@asme.org.

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Announcements

Volunteers Needed for 2004 Future City Competition

Across America, thousands of engineers annually volunteer to serve as mentors for students in the National Engineers Week Future City Competition(TM). A good number of these volunteers were from Western Pennsylvania, participating in the 2003 Pittsburgh Regional Future City Competition. Past as well as new volunteers are needed again for the 2004 competition. Join in to help students get a better view of the world of engineering, to give something back to the community. Take that first step by volunteering some of your time to help the youth that may become tomorrow's engineer. Read the following release for more information.


Submit Your Nominations

The Nominating Committee is looking for nominations from you for future Section Chair and Directors. Any nomination from the Membership accompanied by a petition signed by 25 or more members of the Section will be listed on a future ballot. All nominations must be received by December 10.

Please contact the Nominating Committee: Al Bouvy, Al Selz, Marilyn Reeder.


ASME PGH Announces 2003-2004 Officers

The ASME Pittsburgh Section is proud to announce the incoming officers for the July 2003-June 2004 Session. Congratulations to all!

Chair:
Jeffrey Vipperman, Ph.D
Mechanical Engineering Dept.
University of Pittsburgh
531 Benedum Hall
Pittsburgh, PA 15261
412-624-1643
jsv@pitt.edu

Vice Chair:
Douglas Koebler
Automated Cell, Inc,
390 William Pitt Way
Pittsburgh, PA 15238
koeblerd1@asme.org

Secretary:
Lori Rankin
Union Switch & Signal
1000 Technology Drive
Pittsburgh, PA 15219
412-688-2093
larankin@switch.com

Treasurer:
William Spohn
Testo, Inc.
5353 Hardt Road
Gibsonia, PA 15044
724-443-7700
spohnw@asme.org

A special thanks to those officers who served during the 2002-2003 Session.

For more information on the Executive Committee visit our Committee page.

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Notices

***Look for the all-electronic Newsletter beginning in January !! ***

Dear Members:

In an effort to bring you the latest information and events in the most timely and cost effective way, ASME Pittsburgh will have our monthly newsletter in an all-electronic format beginning in January.

If we have your e-mail address, you will have an abbreviated newsletter automatically sent to you. If not, then we highly encourage you to submit your e-mail address to receive the newsletter and latest information from us (see the article above). Additionally, the newsletter is currently published well ahead of the delivered copy here on this website. All you have to do is browse our website at your convenience, and unlike the soon to be discontinued paper newsletter you received in the mail, you can find it here anytime. Previous newsletters will still be available on the Archives page. If you would like to have the newsletter in printed form, you can simply open the link and use the print option on your browser.

In addition to the newsletter, this website will continue to have the latest information on monthly events, tours, news, contact information, job postings, resources, archives, and a host of other information to keep you informed.

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In the News

 

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Upcoming Meetings

The next Executive Committee meeting will be in January 9, 2004 at 7:30 AM in Denny's Restaurant (map), 3980 Wm Penn Hwy, Monroeville, and is open to anyone interested. If you wish to attend, please contact Jeff Vipperman at 412-624-1643 or any member of the Executive Committee. (Meet some of the gang!)

See the Calendar page for this year's programs.

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Business Calendar

The Pittsburgh Business Calendar publishes a calendar of events for the Pittsburgh business community. Click on the link for the full calendar of events. (http://www.businesscalendar.org/)

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The Value of Your Membership Just Increased!!

Take advantage of the New Discounted Dues Structure. If you have earned a baccalaureate degree or an advanced degree and have been out of school 4 years or less you can can save up to 60% on Member Dues. Check out the current member dues rates available at http://www.asme.org/member/info.html.

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ASME International News

The Online Newspaper of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers
http://www.asmenews.org/

Mechanical Engineering - the magazine of the ASME
http://www.memagazine.org/

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Articles of Interest

 


Brainteasers !

A monthly mechanical engineering problem to test your knowledge or try your luck. A new problem every month. The possibilities are endless - kinematics, fluid mechanics, physics......! You never know what we'll throw at you next!

Here is a problem that is relevant to all of us weekly.

You go to the gas station for a fill-up and top off your tank. Now suppose that your gas tank (made of sheet Iron) holds 20-gallons of gas and you don't completely tighten the cap. Your car then sits in the sun from morning (at 40 °F) until mid-afternoon (at 85 °F).

Are you losing money from possible spillage due to expansion, and if so, how much if gas costs $1.50 per gallon?

Hint: Coefficients of volume expansion are as follows:
Gas: 900 * 10.0 ^-6 C°^-1
Iron: 36 * 10.0 ^-6 C°^-1

Solution and a new problem next month. Have fun!

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Recognizing our Fellow Members

The Fellow Grade is the highest elected grade of membership within ASME, the attainment of which recognizes exceptional engineering achievements and contributions to the engineering profession.

 Did you know there are 53 members in our Section who are Fellows? If you know any of them, please congratulate them on their achievement!

 Adnan Akay, Harvey Allen, Cristina Amon, Edmund Appleby, John Barsom, Donald Burnham, Jonathan Cagan, Norman Chigier, Minking Chyu, Ronald Coffield, Maria Comninou, Arthur Croll, Ellison Davison, James Di Perna, David Dietrich, W. Doty, L. Ike Ezekoye, Martin Falk, Jerry Griffin, Donald Griffin, Gus Holabeck, Charles Jones, Wilbur Kennicott, William Lankford, Jack Maurer, Bertram Milleville, Jack Moore, William O’Donnell, Leighton Orr, Fletcher Osterle, Sam Palusamy, William Purcell, David Purdy, Arthur Rathbun, Stephen Roth, Wilfred Rouleau, Sunil Saigal, George Saxon Sr.,Stanley Schaffer, Allen Selz, Patrick Smolinski, Alfred Snow, Paul Steif, Theodore Stern, Remco Waszink, John Wesner, Jonathan Wickert, Donald Wiebe, Bernard Winer, Savio Woo, Tse Chien Woo, Shi-Chune Yao, Campbell Yates.

 If you would like to know what it takes to become a Fellow grade member, visit http://www.asme.org/member/fellow/index.html.

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Voices of Innovation

A new daily public radio program, "Voices of Innovation," launched by the American Association of Engineering Societies with generous support from ASME, features some 200 engineers in 2-minute programs that explore and celebrate the world of engineering. The program began airing in April 2002. To be considered for one of the programs, engineers need to submit a story idea form, which is available at www.voicesofinnovation.org.

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E-Mentoring Program to Expand to Young Engineers

The success of last year's program and the enthusiastic response of members wanting to become mentors has fueled the expansion of the e-Mentoring program. This program for student members is expanding to include mentoring services for engineers who have recently (5 years or less) graduated from engineering school. Young engineers can now benefit from the career advice of more seasoned engineers in their particular field of interest. Recent graduates may get even more benefit from a mentoring relationship, since they have some experience and may have more specific career questions.

How does the program work? Students and young engineers (mentees) seeking a mentor choose from a database of names, which gives information about the mentor's background, experience and engineering specialty. Mentees are then asked to fill out an online application indicating their top three choices for mentors. The mentor requests are evaluated by ASME and matched on a first come, first served basis. Only members are eligible to participate in this program as a mentor or mentee. Anyone wishing to find a mentor or to volunteer to become a mentor for a student or young engineer member should visit the website at www.asme.org/ementoring. Volunteers can choose to mentor a student, a young engineer or both.

Questions about the program should be addressed to Deidra Hackley, at hackleyd@asme.org.

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Member Get a Member

2003-2004 Member-Get-A-Member Campaign - Invest in the Future of Mechanical Engineering!

Recommend a paid new member during the 2003-2004 Member-Get-A-Member (MGAM) campaign and ASME will contribute 50% of their first year dues to scholarships for student members. Personally inviting a friend or colleague is straightforward and simple.

At the same time, you will receive a Recognition for Volunteerism certificate of appreciation for 2 or more paid new members signifying your support of the mechanical engineering profession and its future.

It's easy to recommend membership to your colleagues! New members will experience the benefits of ASME membership - technology transfer, access to a network of engineering experts, assistance with career advancement, leadership opportunities, and much more.

For complete program details including a downloadable membership application, log onto http://www.asme.org/membershipdrive

Your continued support of the Member-Get-A-Member Campaign is important to its success and we appreciate your time and dedication.

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Nominations Needed for Young Engineers Award

ASME International wants to give $5,000 plus a prepaid life membership to a young ASME member that has done an outstanding job in their profession, community, and the work of ASME. If you know someone who deserves to win this award, please nominate a young engineer for the Old Guard Young Engineers Award today!

For more information, visit http://www.asme.org/cma/og/youngengineer.html .

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Professional Development

ASME PE & FE Review

ASME offers an array of convenient resources you can use to prepare for the Fall 2003 PE and FE exams including:

*Online review courses (instructor-led or at your convenience)
*Interactive self-study programs for your PC, DVD, PDA, VHS, or online.

To download a demo, or for complete details on any PE or FE resource, visit http://www.asme.org/education/disted/examprep.htm


Professional Education Courses:

Two new products are at the ASME PE and FE Exam Review Center. New FE Workbook and CD-Rom and the PE Exam Review on DVD
http://www.asme.org/education/disted/esamprep.htm.

ASME Online Short Courses:

New titles include Project Management and Advanced GD&T.
http://elearn.asme.org/courses/courselist.htm. Many new courses will be added for the fall. http://www.asme.org/education/disted/library.htm.

Prefer training on CD-Rom?

Go to http://www.asme.org/education/disted/computer.htm.

New ASME Corporate Online Training Library:

Meet all your mechanical engineering training needs in one economical package tailored to your company. Go to http://www.asme.org/education/disted/library.htm.


Please continue responding to the online survey at http://www.asme.org/sections/pgh/pdsurvey.html. Future topics will be selected based on member input.

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Public Affairs

What's going on in Washington D.C.? Visit Government Relations , a weekly review of the latest legislative,regulatory, pollicies, and issues from Washington.

 

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Updates

Section E-mail List Moved

The Section E-mail list has been moved from Listbot to YahooGroups. The Listbot service is no longer available.

If you'd like to receive timely news from ASME International, job opportunities, events, etc., consider joining the Section e-mail list (simply send an e-mail to asmepghnews-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. Instructions are also on http://www.asme.org/sections/pgh/joinlist.html)?

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* SECTION *
CALENDAR

December 12, 2003:
Project Management Professional Training Seminar

December 23, 2003:
Christmas Social (by invitation only)

January 14, 2004
Siemens Westinghouse Fuel Cell Tour

January 24, 2004:
Future Cities Competition

January 27, 2004:
Kennametal Tour

February 17, 2004:
Otis Spunkmeyer Tour

February 20-21, 2004:
National Engineers Week


Did You Remember To...

Renew your membership?

Add your program ideas for next year? Send them to Jeff Vipperman.

Consider getting involved with any of our activities? There are many ways, such as Industry Relations, Engineer's Week, Science Fair, Awards Banquet, web site, discussion list. Contact Jeff Vipperman .

Consider signing up to be an e-Mentor?

Make sure that your contact information is up to date? We will increasingly use electronic means to contact our members so please be sure your e-mail and fax numbers are accurate.

Set up your e-mail alias? You can have a yourname@asme.org address that you can conveniently manage yourself. People will always be able to locate you, regardless of your work situation.

Download your ASME screensaver?

Show your interest in a Professional Development course by taking the survey?

Think about articles, tips, brain teasers, news, how-to's, etc. you can contribute to our newsletter?

Consider joining the Section e-mail list?

Consider getting involved with the Executive Committee? You can get involved in any capacity. If you can contribute only one hour a week, we would be grateful for your time. Contact anyone in the committee.