NEWSLETTER Anthracite-LV Website Home Page =
www.asme.org/sections/a-lv/index.html
NEWSLETTER Anthracite-LV Website Home Page =
www.asme.org/sections/a-lv/index.html
MARCH 2004 ISSUE
2003 – 2004 Meeting Schedule
September 2003 Delaware River / Easton Area Green Knight Power Plant
October 2003 Allentown Yuengling Brewery
November 2003 Happy Thanksgiving
December 2003 Scranton / Anthracite Area Flowserve Manufacturing
January 2004 Winter Break
February 2004 Hotel Bethlehem Engineers Week Banquet
March 31, 2004 Wilkes-Barre / Wilkes Univ. Student Night
April 21, 2004 Bethlehem Conectiv Power Plant
May 2004 Social Event TBD
Newsletter Editor’s Comments
Winter appears to be over and your Executive Committee has been busy planning spring meetings. On March 31st we will be joining the Student Section at Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, PA for Student Night. The students have arranged for an interesting presentation on Technology and Entrepreneurship: Planning for Risk, and Reward. There will also be time for us to interact with the students over pizza and soda. Please plan to attend and share your experiences with the next generation of engineers. Details are contained in the meeting announcement, which appears below.
April’s meeting will be a tour of Conectiv’s Cogeneration Power Plant in Bethlehem, PA on Wednesday, April 21st. Power plant tours are always interesting and popular so save the date and mark your calendar.
Other items in this month’s Newsletter include: a recap of February’s meeting which was the Engineers’ Week Banquet in Bethlehem hosted by the Lehigh Valley Engineering Council, Members Seeking Employment, Members Forum, and an invitation to participate in the discussions on Continuity and Change at the Regional Administrative Conference.
Frank Proske, Tom Reilly and Cliff O’Hearne provided input for this month’s Members’ Forum. Be sure to read their comments. Frank talks about his ementoring experience (sign up for the ASME Ementoring Program at https://secure.asme.org/signin/ementoring.cfm ) and comments on ASME’s new logo. Tom describes his experience working with young children at the Discovery Center in Bethlehem. Cliff comments on a benefit that used to be available to ASME members and suggests reinstating variation of it. If you have comments you want to share with your fellow members and the ASME leadership sent them to me at merzr@asme.org and I will put them in the Newsletter.
If there is a position open with your organization be sure to check the Members Seeking Employment section of the Newsletter and consider your fellow members. Networking is one of the main benefits of ASME membership, so let’s help each other out. If you are
unemployed and would like to have a short piece placed in the Newsletter which describes your background and the type of position you are looking for, send me about 100 words and I will publish it.
ASME’s Continuity and Change initiative is continuing. Check the ASME web site at http://www.asme.org/change for the latest information. Ken Kroos, our Regional Vice President, has called for our input to this process and has invited us all to participate at the Regional Administrative Conference in April where we will begin to formulate a plan for the future of our sections and region. Be sure to read his message below in the Continuity and Change section of the Newsletter and consider attending the meeting. Check the Region III web site at http://www.asme.org/regions/regioniii for details and contact Doug Robertson at robertsond@asme.org if you want to attend.
I hope to see you at Wilkes University on March 31, 2004 in Wilkes-Barre, PA and the tour of the Conectiv Cogeneration Power Plant on April 21, 2004 in Bethlehem, PA.
Anyone not receiving a hardcopy that wants one needs to notify me at merzr@asme.org . Please keep ASME up-to-date with your preferred email at https://www.asmeny.org/memberaddr/html/security.htm .
Richard Merz, Newsletter Editor
Members Seeking Employment
John Cox: seeking employment in Project Management / Project Engineering / Consulting
Project Manager / Project Engineer with over 20 years of successful domestic and international projects, often leading more than one project at a time. When not functioning as a Project Manager / Engineer, I have been a Proposal Manager, which required and utilized most of the same skills. Advanced skills in planning, technical oversight, problem analysis and solutions, mentoring, client interface, and vendor coordination and management. Licensed Professional Engineer. MSME, New Jersey Institute of Technology.
Contact: John Cox, (610) 317-6310, jfcox6310@aol.com
Gary L. Dreibelbis: BS, Plastics Engineering Technology, The Pennsylvania State University at Erie, The Behrend College, BS, Mechanical Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University at University Park. Multi-year experience in plastic and metal product design and manufacture. Proficient with multiple 3-D CAD packages. Contributed to the new Teleflex Inc. generic pedal system development effort. Designed the new seizureless connector product line for Amphenol Corp., Times Fiber Communications Division. Took the new MicroTouch Systems, Inc. (proxy for Intermec Technologies Corp., Norand Mobile Systems Division) touchpen from concept to preproduction in 5 weeks. Designed the new EDC cable connector family for Augat-LRC Electronics, Inc.
Contact: Gary L. Dreibelbis, (610) 562-4115, dreibelbisg@asme.org
Michael Schanewolf: seeking employment in M.E.P. firm or HVAC design related company. Almost 10 years of engineering experience in piping and HVAC related fields, including three years of design experience as a junior level engineer assisting senior engineers in design of HVAC systems for schools, churches and township facilities. Basic working knowledge of AutoCAD 2000 and Elite CHVAC load calculation software. BSME - Penn State University; EIT certification.
Contact: Michael Schanewolf, (610) 559-0829, jm2938@hotmail.com
Gordon Yerry: seeking an Engineering position that makes use of skills in Mechanical Engineering and Project Management. The ideal position would involve either field engineering or reengineering of manufacturing or business processes. In my position as a Project Manager I developed, implemented and managed numerous plant improvements and modifications. I consistently made significant contributions to corporate goals for business growth and profits. As a Mechanical Engineer I developed a computer based valve maintenance program and a remote radiation monitoring system. In addition, I analyzed data and developed set-up calculations in support of company outages.
Contact: Gordon Yerry, (610) 837-0917, gyerry15@rcn.com
Members’ Forum:
Frank Proske wrote on his ementoring experience and the new ASME Logo:
I did have some good early going chats with my mentee but things have tailed off. Last I heard he wanted to go to Iraq with his company and make big bucks on infrastructure projects. I'll keep working on it. The new logo is more modern but can't say it is very inspiring. It looks like any number of other corporate logos. At least the cloverleaf was distinguishable.
(Editor’s Note: Be sure to see Frank’s Letter to the Editor on page 10 of the March 2004 issue of Mechanical Engineering. He comments on the state of our domestic infrastructure and the lack of attention to maintaining it)
Tom Reilly wrote about his experiences with imagination and simplicity:
I had the pleasure of volunteering for a SWE/ASME joint venture called Mysterious Mechanisms on Feb. 21st. It was organized by Kathy Kinsey (Air Products and SWE/ASME member) to provide a presentation called "Introduce a Child to Engineering" at the Discovery Center, Bethlehem, PA. Kathy came up with a simple, but effective way to teach kids about mechanisms. The kids used construction paper, a hole punch, and clips to make basic slider cranks and four bar linkages. She also displayed examples of household mechanism such as nail clippers, tweezers, etc.
She had the kids create pop up heads, a foot kicking a soccer ball and two heads kissing (or knocking together as one boy put it). My daughter, Emily, made Ariel (the Disney mermaid for those of you without kids between 3 and 9 years old). You pushed her tail like a lever and her head would extend up or down. Like the rest of the kids, her favorite part was coloring and decorating her mechanism.
Fellow ASME member, John Cox, and his wife, Beverly, attended and you could tell that they had children (and grandchildren) because they were much more adept at the arts and crafts than I was. We were pretty occupied as children and parents continually strolled in. At one point, a tour group looking for the theater rumbled through and we almost panicked.
Kathy thanked me for coming out, but I had to thank her. Sometimes the best way to teach is the simplest way and to use one’s imagination. I think this is very applicable for engineers because I would have never thought of making a mermaid, but my Emily did. It still has a place on our refrigerator door.
Cliff O’Hearne wrote about a past ASME benefit:
Mike Hopstock’s remarks in the Member Forum on ASME benefits put me in mind of a benefit that was discontinued some time ago. With each membership renewal, there was a book of tickets returned with the membership card. Each ticket paid for a published society technical paper of the user’s choice. In the pre-Internet days, the papers were printed on good stock, and they were sent by U.S. Mail. That was costly. In that era, I would obtain papers each year based on title alone or title and abstract. More often than not, the papers were less than I anticipated. Well, actually my anticipation was moderated by experience with that sort of thing. Every now and then, there would be a gem, and there was no felt loss with the (to me) irrelevant others. Nowadays, I would want to see a paper reviewed before I paid for it myself (or, in rare cases, paid with company funds). The opportunity to find a review is limited too (unless one wishes to spring for AMR - Applied Mechanics Reviews). I suggest that ASME grant members a number of free downloads of proceedings papers. Or, as for me, just one survey paper per volume of AMR. There could also be a site for readers to submit reviews. The authors, too, would benefit from that.
February Meeting Report– Engineers’ Week Banquet:
The Lehigh Valley Engineering Council sponsored another successful banquet promoting National Engineer’s Week, Feb. 23-27. The event was held at the Radisson Hotel Bethlehem on Feb. 20th. It featured essay winners from St. Elizabeth Regional School (3-5th grades) and Emmaus High School (9-10th Grades). The Young Engineer of the Year award was presented to William L. Brantley, P.E. of Alfred Benesch & Company. The Engineer of the Year award was presented to Keith Gardiner, P.E. of Lehigh University.
The evening’s guest speaker was Thomas L. Koch, Ph.D. of Lehigh University. He spoke on Optical Technologies in the New Millennium that highlighted past achievements of the industry and potential advances to new and different technologies.
The ASME was represented by Jeff Daniels (PPL), Richard Merz (Lafayette
College), Mike Hopstock (Lafarge Corp.), Dave Wenner (Boesch Rexroth), John
Cox, and Tom Reilly.
April Meeting Preview - Conectiv Cogeneration Plant, Bethlehem, PA
On Wednesday April 21st at 5:00 PM, the Anthracite-Lehigh Valley section will be touring the Conectiv Cogeneration Plant, Bethlehem, PA. Reservations and your company information will be required. Dinner and meeting will follow the tour. Final details will be announced in the April newsletter.
Mid-merit power plants are those that can quickly come on line and produce electricity when demand increases above base levels. Conectiv is a major player in that market through its successful combustion turbine/combined-cycle power plants at the Hay Road Plant in Delaware and Bethlehem Plant in Pennsylvania.
Combined cycle plants burn fuel to power combustion turbine generators that direct their exhaust into heat recovery steam generators. High and low pressure steam is created in the steam generators and utilized to power a steam turbine providing additional electric power from what would otherwise be wasted heat.
The Bethlehem Plant consists of two combined cycle "blocks" of generation. Each block contains three Siemens V84.2 combustion turbine generators, three Vogt heat recovery steam generators, and one Alstom Power steam turbine generator. Each block has a rated generating capacity of 530 MW. The combustion turbines are fueled most of the year by natural gas but also burn kerosene when pricing makes it more economical to do so.
Continuity and Change at ASME – Invitation to Participate:
Last month Ken Kroos our Regional vice President wrote:
" … the structure for the lower levels of ASME, the sections, regions, technical divisions, etc, will be developed by the existing councils; specifically the Council on Member Affairs and the Council on Engineering. This work will take place over the next year and a half with a final plan to be developed by the Summer of 2005. … it is extremely important that ASME members and volunteers have input on the restructuring of ASME."
An excellent opportunity to provide input will occur at the Regional Administrative Conference (RAC) in Rochester, NY on April 1-3, 2004. The agenda includes a discussion of how "Continuity and Change" will affect the restructuring of ASME, especially at the section level. ASME volunteers will be very involved in designing and implementing the changes we need to make in ASME to insure that we are providing the best technical and professional support for our members. Details about the conference can be found at http://www.asme.org/regions/regioniii . If you are interested in attending contact our Section Chair, Doug Robertson, at robertsond@asme.org . Financial support for attending the meeting is available.
(Editor’s Note: Last month’s hardcopy of the Newsletter indicated that the meeting described above was to occur in February. The date of the meeting was changed after the hardcopy went to press. I apologize for the misinformation.)
ASME March 2004 Meeting Announcement
5:00 PM, Wednesday, March 31, 2004
ASME Student Night
Wilkes University, Stark Learning Center 166
The Wilkes University ASME student section will join with the Senior Engineering
Project Teams for a presentation by Mr. Chris Haran, CEO of the Great Valley
Technology Institute.
The topic of his presentation is Technology and Entrepreneurship: Planning
for Risk, and Reward. The meeting will be held in SLC166 River Street,
and parking is available behind the Student Union at the corner of River
and South Streets (84 W. South Street, if you are using MapQuest). Pizza
and soft drinks will be severed. Please contact Tom Reilly by 3/28/04 so
we can provide accordingly.
Members: $5 Students/Retirees: Free
Reservation contact: Tom Reilly Telephone: 908-479-0162 reillyt1@asme.org
Directions:
The easiest way to campus from I-81 is as follows:
The campus map is at: http://www.wilkes.edu/about/campus/map_campus.asp
Meeting in Building 11 – Stark Learning Center Use Parking Lot H behind
Building 28