March/April 2001

2001 Award Nomination Forms Now Available!

Nomination forms for the Washington, Ellet, Landmark, and Chanute Awards are now available for download in Acrobat PDF format. If you don't have Acrobat Reader (free for download at the Adobe website) please download it by clicking on the Acrobat logo above. It's a great utility to have, not only for this but for many other uses.

Know someone worthy of the high honor of the Washington Award, Ellet Award, or the Landmark Award? Want to enter a paper for consideration for the Chanute Award? Click below to get your copy of the nomination forms now.

• 2001 Washington Award nomination form
• 2001 Ellet Award nomination form
• 2001 Landmark Award nomination form
• 2001 Octave Chanute Award nomination form

Panama Canal Trip

Note from Editor: As we go to press, the Western Society of Engineers is planning a trip to Panama. Plan now to join your WSE friends and colleagues next fall for a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Panama complete with an exclusive engineering tour of the Canal. Hosted by the Panama Canal Authority and the Canal Dredging Company, the trip will begin October 13 and run through October 19. 2001. The tour package includes world class accommodations, breakfast daily, three lunches, two dinners, and round-trip airfare (via Houston). Prices range from $2,340 to $2,590 per person based on double occupancy. A deposit of $275.00 per person is required.

The itinerary is as follows:

• Saturday, October 13 Morning departure from O'Hare on Continental Airlines. Stop in Houston. Evening arrival in Panama City. Transfer to Miramar Inter-continental Hotel. Welcome reception at hotel.
• Sunday, October 14 After breakfast learn about Panama's history with a half-day city tour. Visit the colonial city, the old city, and the modern city. After lunch visit Miramar Locks to see the above ground operation. Late afternoon and evening at leisure. Overnight at Miramar Inter-continental.
• Monday, October 15 After breakfast check out of hotel. Half canal transit through two of the Canal's three locks. Arrive at Gamboa Rainforest Resort. Late afternoon at leisure. Dinner included at Gamboa. Overnight at Gamboa Rainforest Resort.
• Tuesday, October 16 Special engineering tour of the Canal. Visit the tunnels beneath the Canal and learn about emergency operations. Optional eco-tour alternatives for nonengineers. Overnight at Gamboa Rainforest Resort.
• Wednesday, October 17 Day at leisure. Participate in optional eco-tours or golf. Overnight at Gamboa Rainforest Resort.
• Thursday, October 18 Special canal dredging tour or optional eco-tours. Farewell dinner. Overnight at Gamboa Rainforest Resort.
• Friday, October 19 Early breakfast and departure for Panama City airport. Return to O'Hare on Continental Airlines via Houston.

For more information or to register, see registration form on page 13 of Midwest Engineer or contact WSE office at [email protected], 312/ 913-1730.

WSE's 24th invitational golf outing

Mark your calendars for July 23, 2001, to participate in WSE's 24th annual invitational golf outing. Itasca Country Club will host the outing; registration and luncheon at noon, tee time 1:30 pm. Early Bird fee $460.00 per foursome, if received by June 1, 2001; regular fee $125 per person, $500.00 per foursome. This is a sellout event, so get your reservation in early. Contact the WSE office at 312/913-1730 or [email protected].

WSE get-together

WSE members are long overdue for a get-together. Come and get reacquainted on March 15 at the WSE Happy Hour at Coogan's Pub, 180 N. Wacker, beginning at 5:00 pm. Join the fun!

A long distance relationship you can feel good about

The Western Society of Engineers is pleased to offer its members savings on long distance calls through myassociation.com and MCI. State-to-state rates are just 5.9 cents per minute. You can even get a toll-free number for the same low rate. This is a great savings and a good way to make every call count because 4 percent of your long distance bill goes to support the Western Society of Engineers. To sign up, go to www.wsechicago.myassociation.com and click the Telecom link to complete the online application.

WSE announces new member benefit

WSE members now have an opportunity to purchase individual disability income insurance at a significant savings from individual purchase rates. Unfortunately, disability can happen to anyone, any time, anywhere. No one plans to become disabled, but if the unforeseeable happens, only proper planning will protect your lifestyle.

If you were suddenly unable to work, would you be able to cover your expenses? Personal savings, Social Security, or employer-sponsored disability plans, such as Group Long Term Disability, often leave you with less that you would expect or need. WSE's new disability income insurance offers members an appropriate level of disability insurance that is fully portable.

The insurance is offered through MassMutual, which is rated by A.M. Best Co. as A++ (superior) and Standard & Poor's as AAA (extremely strong). MassMutual is offering this coverage to WSE members at a significant discount. If you would like to be contacted by WSE's plan representatives, please contact the WSE office at 312/913-1730 or [email protected].

Chicago team wins Engineers Week Future City Competition

A floating city of the future built on a platform ship five miles square, "Maropolis," designed by students from St. Barnabas Catholic School in Chicago has won first place in the national finals of Engineers Weeks Future City Competition^TM . After winning the Chicago Regional competition, the St. Barnabas team competed in the national finals in Washington DC during National Engineers Week.

The students, Dan Cullina, Meredith Messerle, and Katherine Durham, teamed with their teacher Jeanne Conway and engineer mentor Tim Cullina, a mechanical engineer at Van Leer Containers in Alsip. The team (students, teacher, and engineer mentor) has won a trip to U.S. space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama. IBM, a co-chair of the competition, awarded each of the students a new Thinkpad.

Washington Award honoree wins top engineering award

The 1996 Washington Award recipient, Wilson Greatbatch, has received the Fritz J. and Dolores H. Russ Prize for the invention of the heart pacemaker.

Greatbatch shares the prize along with $500,000 with Earl Bakken, who founded Medtronic, a company that manufactures medical therapeutic devices, including pacemakers.

Greatbatch began developing the implantable pacemaker while at Taber Instrument Corp. His pacemaker was licensed to Medtronic, where it quickly achieved clinical acceptance in the medical world. Today Greatbatch advances research in the areas of genetics, nuclear power generation, and MRI-compatible pacemakers.

The Russ Prize was established in 1999 to recognize outstanding achievement in an engineering field that is of critical importance and that contributes to the advancement of science and engineering. The achievement must improve the quality of life and have widespread application or use. Endowed by the Russes through Ohio University, the biennial prize is being presented for the first time this year.

Teng project wins national honor award

Teng & Associates' design of the Old Plank Road Trail Bridge in Frankfort, Illinois, has won a national honor award in the American Consulting Engineers Council's 2001 Engineering Excellence Awards competition.

Teng & Associates also announces that David B. Yandel, former WSE president (1999), has joined the firm.

Patrick Engineering Inc. adds transportation advisor

Patrick Engineering Inc. announces that Ronald E. Havel, PE, has joined its staff as a Transportation Projects Advisor. Havel's more than 40 years of experience in engineering design and construction includes such projects as Union Pacific Railroad extension from Geneva to Elburn, expansion of the Oak Park Metra Reconstruction Center, IDOT Jacksonville bypass, IDOT Alton bypass, construction of the Mannheim Bridge over the Proviso railyard, resurfacing the Dan Ryan expressway, and reconstruction of the Cicero Avenue/I-294 interchange.

Patrick Engineering Inc. has also appointed Scott L. Brady to the position of Vice President of Finance and Strategic Planning. Since joining Patrick in early 2000, Brady has played a major role in the continued growth, expansion, and profitability of the firm. Under his leadership the firm financed the expansion of the Lisle office campus with the issuance of industrial revenue bonds.

Graef, Anhalt, Schloemer & Associates, newest sustaining member, expands resources

Western Society of Engineers welcomes Graef, Anhalt, Schloemer & Associates as a new sustaining member. Ron Jankauskas, Vice President, is the membership representative.

Graef, Anhalt, Schloemer & Associates announces the acquisition of Beer Gorski & Graff, Ltd., a structural engineering firm with a strong private sector client base including architects, developers, and private owners. This acquisition complements Graef, Anhalt, Schloemer & Associates' staff that primarily serves public sector clients.

Graef, Anhalt, Schloemer & Associates has also formed a strategic alliance with Arc Design Resources, Inc. of Rockford, Illinois. The two firms have agreed to jointly pursue civil engineering projects in targeted regions of Illinois. The combined efforts will initially focus on transportation work and municipal water and wastewater services with options to pursue additional types of projects as they occur.

World Filtration Congress coming to the United States

The American Filtration and Separations (AFS) Society has been selected to host the 9th World Filtration Congress (WFC9) at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in New Orleans April 19 to 23, 2004.

A World Filtration Congress is convened once every three to four years, and in 2004 this event will be held in conjunction with the AFS Annual Technical Conference and Exposition. This will be the first time since 1982 that the United States has hosted the World Filtration Congress. Past Congresses have been held in France, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Japan, and Hungary.

The American Filtration and Separations Society was established in 1987 to serve the needs of engineers, scientists, and technologists interested in all aspects of fluid-particle separation. For more information, go to www.afssociety.org.

Scholarships and grants

Several organizations have announced scholarship and grant competitions for engineers and scientists:

• First Bridge Design Awards Competition, sponsored by the Portland Cement Association awards excellence in concrete bridge design and aims to strengthen concrete's presence in structural engineering curricula. All engineering undergraduate or graduate students enrolled in U.S. or Canadian universities are eligible to enter. Entries are due May 31, 2001. First prize is $2,500. For more information, contact Shri Bhide, Program Manager, Bridges, at 847/966-6200, [email protected]. Entry forms can be downloaded from http://www.portcement.org/pdf_files/stubridge.pdf
• Society for Women Engineers offers scholarships to freshmen women and women who have been out of the engineering workforce and out of school for at least two years prior to reentry. Awards range from $1,000 to more than $5,000 per year. Deadline for freshmen and reentry submissions is May 15, 2001. For more information, go to http://www.swe.org
• National Research Council administers the Postdoctoral Research Associateship Program for 30 federal laboratories and NASA research centers at more than 100 U.S. and overseas locations. These programs provide awards to doctorate level scientists and engineers in the early or senior stages of their careers who can bring special knowledge and research talents to areas of interest to themselves and the host laboratories and research centers. Deadline for submission is April 15, 2001. For more information, go to http://www.national-academies.org/rap
• The American Astronomical Society (AAS) offers small research grants to PhD astronomers in the range of $500 to $5,000 to cover costs associated with any type of astronomical research. The program is funded by a grant from NASA, by income from the AAS operating reserve fund, and in some cases by the Gaposchkins' Research Fund. Graduate students are not eligible. Astronomers from smaller, less endowed institutions will be given priority, but proposals will be accepted from individuals not associated with an institution. Deadlines are May 4 and December 7, 2001. For more information, see http://www.aas.org

Correction

In the last issue of Midwest Engineer George Tesar, a donor to the WSE Life Member Fund, was listed as being associated with the University of Sweden. He is Emeritus Professor of Marketing at University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and is teaching this year at Umea University in Sweden.