Lehigh Valley Engineering Council Meeting
Meeting Minutes for October 9, 2008
Council Meeting Held at Packard Lab 324 – Lehigh University
________________________________________________________________________
1. Elizabeth H. called meeting to order at 6:05 PM
2. Roll Call of Attendees:
3. Approve Minutes from the last meeting, September 4, 2008.
Motion Bob Walp to approve minutes, second by Mike Basta
4. Engineers Week 2009:
a. Theme – “Engineers Make It Work”
b. Date – Friday February 20, 2009
b. Banquet Location
a. Holiday Inn Route 100/78 approved for banquet location
b. Agreed on $35 per plate
c. Daryl to look into audio and projector setup at Holiday Inn
d. Motion by Mike and second by Agnes to approve location and price
d. Speaker
Initially RSI was interested and council suggested I talk with them about a presentation that would include carbon footprint – offset of Carbon emissions, costs of materials, new process compared to existing and a global view prospective of using this new process.
RSI Silicon Products speaker fell through they will be in middle of plant startup and don’t think their engineering manager will be available. Other speaker suggestions included:
Green Initiative – Mike
Nuclear Talk – Dave
Green Knight – Keith
Suggestions will be discussed at next meeting.
e. LINcream – should be able to do no update, Holiday Inn fine with bringing in.
f. Sponsorship criteria:
a. Council agreed on keeping sponsor fees same as last year
i. $100 for Silver provides table and 60 words on website
ii. $450 for Gold includes table, 8 seats at banquet, logo and 100 words of text on website
iii. $+450 for Platinum same as Gold with top placement on website
iv. Ken to send Elizabeth sample sponsor letter from ISA show
v. Bernie suggests Council members send sponsor letter to contacts in their sphere of influence
3. Activities for the Upcoming Year:
a. January: Future City – Keith update
Engineers needed as volunteer mentors for national 7-8th grade Future City Competition starting now and running through January. Regional Finals are in January at Villanova, National Finals in Washington during Engineers Week. For full competition details check the web site www.futurecity.org/
There are forty regions, regional winners and mentors get an all expenses paid 3-4 day trip to D.C. for the finals. For local details see below (and if can’t mentor then try being a judge one Sat. in January!):
Greetings from Future City Philadelphia! The school year is underway and so far 31 schools are signed up. Here is the current list of schools that need mentors:
Blair Christian Academy Philadelphia (Mt. Airy)
Feltonville School of Arts and Science Philadelphia (Feltonville)
GA Stetson Middle School West Chester, PA
Girard College Middle School Philadelphia (Girard at 20th St)
Holy Child Catholic School Philadelphia (Roxborough)
JT Lambert Intermediate School East Stroudsburg, PA
Mariana Bracetti Academy Philadelphia (Kensington)
New Hope – Solebury Middle School New Hope, PA
Raub Middle School Allentown, PA
St. Lucy Day School
for Visual Impairments Philadelphia (Juaniata Park)
Wissahickon Charter School Philadelphia (Wissahickon Ave.
at Roosevelt Blvd)
Our greatest need at this stage of the competition is for mentors. We cannot stress enough how much help someone with real world experience can be to the student teams. Just 1 or 2 hours a week can make a huge difference in how students approach the problem and how they start to address it. Please let me know if you are interested in working with any of the schools above, I will get you in touch with the team's teacher. If you'd like to be a mentor but don't see a school in your area, send me an e-mail and I'll keep you posted as schools register.
Spotlight on – St. Lucy. St. Lucy is new to the competition but has a motivated teacher and a team that has already started working together. This team needs a mentor who can handle the challenges of visually impaired students and can commit to helping out through the competition’s end. Visit www.slds.org for more information on St. Lucy.
Please visit our website at www.futurecityphilly.org and click on Volunteer pportunities, then On-line Volunteer Sign Up. There you can register to be a mentor, judge, or general volunteer. You can also see the complete list of registered schools. Anyone that has been involved in the competition before knows how it simply cannot be run without dedicated volunteers - so sign up now and start the year off right!
Any questions please contact me via e-mail or phone. Please feel free to forward this e-mail to your friends, co-workers, and technical society members. Thanks. Jennifer Philadelphia Regional Volunteer Coordinator
c. STEM (Science Technology Engineering Mathematics) – is being planned for Nov 15, 2008 in the Rauch Business Center at Lehigh. Keith has following STEM status concerning papers still needs attendees.
STEM’08 Status as at October 9, 2008
Authors & Titles (to 10/9)
Garg, Anisha = The Effect of UV Radiation on Survival Rate of Yeast
Governale, Michael A. & Vasko, Francis J. = Math Programming takes the fun out of SUDOKU Puzzles
Kastango, Nicholas = Lehigh Engineers Without Borders Honduras Project
Marlin, Joseph = Robotic Sensor Vision
Nakasone, David = Bethlehem Going Green – Environmental Matters
Schlags, Melissa = Ascorbic Acid's Role as a Photostabilizer on Natural Dyed Silk
Song, Kai = Abnormal Grain Growth in Superalloy IN100
Srinivasan, Sophia = Effects of Environmental pH on the Growth of Pseudomonas fluorescens
Stillson, Edward & Luke A. Yoder = Lehigh University: Land Yacht Speed Record Attempt
Possible:
Gardiner, Keith = Globalization – Impact on Education for Manufacturing
SAE – BAJA Car Competition Presentation and paper requested – ackn. awaited
IE334 possibilities – presentations about organizational planning and control etc.:
Issues with the Power Grid Global Water Resources
Hormones and the Food Supply Biodiesel – Impact on Food Supply
Hybrid & Electric Cars Dietary Supplements
Algae-based Fuels Organics Foods Production
Pickens Renewable Energy Plan Nuclear Power
Power for Rotating Skyscrapers Solar Power
The Crisis of Rising Food Prices
These team studies may not necessarily all be available, just one or two may be.
d. PA Jr. Academy Science Fair Lehigh Valley
Money and Judges needed, Keith passed out judge registration form and copy included at end of minutes.
e. Lehigh Valley Science Fair - scheduled for Saturday, March 14th. 2009 – on LVEC website
4. Treasurer’s Report – T. Reilly
LVEC has balance of $8848.55 in bank. Tom has $100 invoice from Myers Insurance, Keith motioned to pay with second by Ken.
Tom will look into $1,500 - $2,000 CD to invest some of the funds on short term and will bring in some suggestions for next meeting. Agnes suggested looking into E-Checking at American Bank.
Meal cost spreadsheet handed out by Tom and reviewed by council to help in discussion on cost per plate for banquet. Expected cost is $38 per plate and will cover meal, audio equipment, tax, service charges and bartender. With this information council decided to stay with $35 per plate. It was agreed that free meals will be given to speaker and politicians that come to banquet.
5. Website Update – A. Muranyi
Website is updated and will continue to be updated. Agnes requests council to review and continue to send her updates. Bernie made motion to double budget from $300 to $600 and Keith seconded with unanimous approval by council.
6. New Business
Keith brought up past donations to PA Jr. Academy by LVEC. Agnes motioned we donate $250 for PA Jr. Academy and Keith 2nd with unanimous approval by council.
Daryl handed Elizabeth letter of thanks from EWB for donation. Elizabeth will scan and send out to members and Agnes to post on website. Hillside follow up by Bernie to check and see how they used donation. Tom to check and see if he has a letter of thanks.
7. Next meeting – Thursday November 6, 2008 at Lehigh University, Packard Lab, Room 324. Meeting concluded at 7:15 PM