A senior legislative aide from Capitol Hill will brief members on whats happening in Congress with respect to pension reform, and
its implications for chemical engineers. Also, Brian Dougherty, AIChEs Government Outreach Director, in Washington, DC, will
discuss the work of AIChEs Government Relations Office and how member communication with elected officials takes place
through the Catalyst grassroots advocacy program and local section Government Interaction Committees.
Jets Program: Since our last newsletter, NCS has
represented AIChE in the JETS (Junior Engineers Technical
Society) conference at George Washington University. Your
Executive Committee has decided to pursue our involvement
with the JETS as an integral part of our youth outreach
program. Several local schools have been targeted for visits in
the upcoming school year; general arrangements have already
been made with Thomas Jefferson High School in Virginia.
Student Awards: Student awards have been reinstated by the
Section, and the first two recipients have been chosen for
awards in 1998. Awards Committee Chair, Bob Lutz, reports
more on these below.
Website: Dont forget to visit our Website at
www.ench.umd.edu/NatCapAIChE. Upcoming Newsletter
Editor Ray Adomaitis has promised to integrate the website
and newsletter in a fashion that will enable fast, clear hard
copies of the newsletter to be downloaded and printed from
the website. Our site has been registered with AIChE in New
York and a hot-link from AIChEs site to the NCS is
forthcoming.
Coming Year: This coming year marks the beginning of a
new era for our Section. We will be operating under a new set
of by-laws, including three additional elected officials. Good
news, though, next year there will be four individuals to elect
instead of three, affording greater opportunity for the
membership to participate in NCS organization. As Past
Chair, it is my pleasure to fill these posts with a minimum of
eight candidates, so dont be surprised if you hear from me
very soon.
Incoming Chair: Our incoming Chair, Maria Burka, has a
most impressive plan for the coming year. I trust that she will
receive the same support throughout her year of tenure as I
have received. I cannot express my gratitude for the
assistance I have received from so many members throughout
my year as Chair.
Tom Wallen, Section Chair
John F. Bobalek
This award is given to a student enrolled in the chemical
engineering curriculum who has demonstrated significant
achievements both in and out of the classroom. The award
was established to recognize contributions in an academic and
also a societal environment. The 1998 recipients have
demonstrated attributes as students that provide high promise
for their becoming good practicing engineers and contributing
members of our society.
Tracey Squires received a Bachelor of Arts degree in History
at the University of Maryland in 1994. While serving as a
substitute teacher in Maryland's Prince George's County
public schools from 1995 to 1997, she returned to the
University of Maryland to pursue a new challenge in
obtaining a chemical engineering degree. She has been a
softball coach at the Bowie Boy's and Girl's Club where she
also counseled girls on pursuing careers, especially in
engineering. While attending school, Ms. Squires worked in
the family business, volunteered at the Tulip Grove
Elementary School, tutored in chemistry and mentored young
engineering students, all the while maintaining an excellent
grade point average. She is a member of the AIChE Student
Chapter at the University of Maryland, the Society of Women
Engineers, Omega Chi Chemical Engineering Honor Society,
and served as Secretary of the Alpha Chi Omega chemistry
fraternity.
Leshawanda Larkin received her Bachelor of Science in
Chemical Engineering in May 1998 at Howard University.
She was a member of the Howard University Marching Band,
was Secretary of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, and served
as Vice President of the AIChE Student Chapter at Howard.
Ms. Larkin has served as a tutor at the Gage Elementary
School and Banneker High School in Washington, DC. She
participated in the Capital Area Food Bank Drive, the AIDS
Walk 97, and the American Red Cross Bone Marrow Drive at
the Congressional Black Caucus. In addition to her excellent
grades in school, Ms. Larkin is an accomplished pianist and
flutist and she has performed with the Cleveland Orchestra.
The NCS was pleased to honor these two students who serve
as outstanding role models for chemical engineering students.
They are to be congratulated for their fine performances in
and out of class.
A 90th Anniversary Committee, chaired by Barry Tarmy of
TBD Technology in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey, is
planning a celebration culminating at the 1998 AIChE Annual
Meeting in Miami Beach this November. As part of the
festivities, local sections¾their history and impact¾will be
prominently featured through displays, publications, and
discussions. These reminiscences, anecdotes, and historical
perspectives will be key in constructing a comprehensive
picture of each local section.
To help promote the pivotal role local sections have played,
the 90th Anniversary Committee will work with all 109 local
sections to collect written histories. Now is the time for
members who have a long history and connection to section
activities to come forward with their stories of life as chemical
engineers and AIChE section members.
Members are asked to contribute anecdotes describing:
SEPTEMBER MEETING Advance Notice
Our first meeting for the 1998/99 program year is tentatively arranged as an evening meeting to be held on Wednesday, September
23, 1998, at a place to be determined. The topic for discussion will be How Will Pending Legislation Impact Your Retirement
Security? Retirement income issues ranked at the top of public policy concerns in a recent poll of AIChE local sections. Current
workforce trends suggest an increasing number of engineers are changing jobs more frequently and moving into temporary, contract,
and self-employment. This mobility and so-called nontraditional employment is impacting the pension coverage, portability, asset
accumulation, and security of engineers.
From Our Chair:
Thanks to Members: As another administration prepares to
assume office, I wish to take this opportunity to thank the
membership for entrusting me to steer the ship. You may be
assured that this year has been a very rewarding experience
for me, particularly in view of the many acquaintances I have
made during this and my previous year as Vice Chair.
ELECTION RESULTS 1998
All new officers (listed below) begin their duties on July 1,
1998, and serve through June 30, 1999. I am also forwarding
a copy of this note to Victoria Guvanasen for insertion in the
June 1998 NCS News.
1998 OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
The NCS presented the "1998 Outstanding Achievement
Award for a Chemical Engineering Student" to two students
this spring, Tracy Squires, a junior at the University of
Maryland and Leshawanda Larkin, a graduating senior from
Howard University.
Member Input Needed for AIChE'S 90TH Anniversary
Celebration
The AIChE is asking section officers and long-time members
to help give the Institute a grand 90th anniversary celebration.
To assist those sections that do not have access to archival
data, the 90th Anniversary Committee will help sections
reconstructing basic information about the sections founders
and early history, including the technical activities and
industry of the time. The Committee is preparing a worksheet
that will help those sections report known history and append
commentary and other contributions from members. AIChE
headquarters will assist by providing available background
information.
For more information about the celebration, contact Angelo
Perna, a professor at the New Jersey Institute of Technology,
and coordinator of the local section celebration, at 973-596-
3568.
EMPLOYMENT NOTICE
Position Available - Reference 98-2: Consulting Engineer,
Veritech Inc., Northern Virginia Area. Veritech Inc. is a
growing engineering consulting firm providing industrial
clients with a comprehensive approach to energy system
analysis. Duties of position include development of site
energy system models, execution of process integration
studies and identification of economic project opportunities.
Veritech is interested in chemical engineers with 5 to10 years
of experience and a track record in providing creative
solutions to complex problems. A working knowledge of
spreadsheet based application development using Visual
BASIC is required. Experience in process design and
energy system design and analysis is desirable. Please submit
résumé to Veritech, Inc., 11100 Lakespray Way, Reston, VA
20191.
Newsletter Author
Victoria M. Guvanasen, P.E.
HydroGeoLogic, Inc.
1155 Herndon Parkway, Suite 900
Herndon, VA 20170
Translated to html by
Raymond A. Adomaitis
Department of Chemical Engineering
University of Maryland
Colege Park, MD 20742