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Florida West Coast Section of ASME International

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    ASME Networking Meeting

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    JUNE ASME FWCS
    ANNUAL HONORS AND AWARDS MEETING
    With Special Guest Speaker: 
    Mr. Bradley J. Carlson
    National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
    Tampa, FL

    Please join us for the last meeting of our Program Year as we honor those who have donated their time and efforts to our section.  Don’t miss this opportunity to show your appreciation for the hard work demonstrated by the section’s host of volunteers and those in industry who contributed to our success.

    In addition, we will have an outstanding guest speaker at this year's event!  Mr. Bradley Carlson will be discussing what NASA has been doing to Return To Flight, the next step in human space exploration (specifically the Crew Exploration Vehicle), and what NASA needs to do to prepare to send people to Mars.

    Mr. Bradley J. Carlson works on Space Shuttle propulsion integration for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Marshall Space Flight Center's Resident Office at Kennedy Space Center.  He completed his bachelor degree in physics at the University of Texas at Arlington in 1993 and earned a master of business administration degree in 1999.

    Mr. Carlson has worked as an engineer for an independent test house designing and running thermal vacuum chambers doing space simulation testing, for Boeing doing major modifications and maintenance to the space shuttle fleet in Palmdale, California, and the Air Force Research Lab on Edwards AFB testing the RS-68 rocket engine that powers Boeing's new Delta IV rockets.  He worked at Jacobs-Sverdrup Technology as a NASA contractor, at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center doing thermal and stress testing and analysis on some of the material that had been proposed for the Next Generation Space Shuttles. In March 2002, he transferred to Marshall Space Flight Center where he worked on advanced propulsion systems for the Next Generation Launch Technology Program.

    Mr. Carlson is currently working in the Marshall Space Flight Center's Resident Management Office at Kennedy Space Center supporting Safety and Mission Assurance for Space Shuttle propulsion integration.

    Date:         Wednesday, June 8, 2005
    Location:   Radisson Bay Harbor Hotel, 7700 Courtney Campbell Causeway, Tampa
    Time:         Social at 6:00 pm, Dinner at 6:30, program immediately following
    Menu:       Chicken Parmesan - Fettuccini, Vegetable Medley, Tossed Salad, Rolls, Carrot Cake, Iced Tea and Coffee
    Price:         Members and guests $20.00 per person. ASME Student Members $10.00
    Reservations and cancellations are required by noon on Monday, June 6, 2005.  Reservations can be made online at www.weiquality.com/asme .  For those who do not have internet access, please call Helen Prince at 727-734-5546.  All checks should be made payable to ASME-FWCS and mailed to Helen Prince, 1515 Ruth Road, Dunedin, FL 34698-4416. All ASME dinner meetings are open to the general public. Please make your reservation before sending your check. If you make a reservation & do not cancel by noon, June 6th, you will be billed.

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    Past Meetings

    October 2004

    On October 2nd, 55 ASME members and guests were treated to a tour of the United States Coast Guard Station in St. Petersburg.  We toured 2 cutters, the Hawk and the Knight Island and received in-depth tours of their engine rooms.  We also saw their maintenance facility and quick launch area. Everyone we met was enthusiastic and showed their professionalism and pride as they informed us about their specific area of responsibility.

    The Coast Guard Station at St. Petersburg is responsible for the Florida coastline from the bend to Fort Myers/Naples.  Additionally, they provide support for our troops in Iraq, clean-up in the Caribbean, drug interdiction and search-and-rescue.  They are a busy bunch of people and are dedicated to their work and the safety of our nation's citizens.  We are extremely
    grateful for all they do and for hosting a tour of their facility.

    We also want to thank Peter Grotsky for helping arrange for this tour.  His connections and hard work
    made this possible.
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    November 2004

    Rapid Prototyping & Tooling and the Future of Direct Digital Manufacturing”
    by Michael Siemer, CEO Mydea Technologies Corporation

    Time to market is a crucial competitive advantage.  For some companies, a one day delay in getting a product to market costs millions of dollars.  Including rapid prototyping early in the design process allows you to identify potential problems with your design before you get too far down the development path.  Some of those potential problems have to do with manufacturability, ergonomics, and fit.  Identifying these problems early in the development cycle will reduce your time to market and allow you have a better product when it does get to market.  Learn about rapid prototyping and how you can take advantage of this useful technology.

    Michael Siemer’s total rapid prototyping (RP) experience spans a period of almost 10 years.  His initial RP exposure started at the University of Central Florida where he helped commission UCF's rapid prototyping laboratory.  He earned his BS in Aerospace Engineering and MS in Mechanical Engineering from UCF and is a registered professional engineer.  Since 1995, Michael has worked at the Walt Disney World Co. in several areas of design and production where he helped engineer new rides and shows.  He also worked on new technology implementation at Disney for air-launched fireworks, audio-animatronics and the development of advanced CAD/CAM technology integration into Disney processes.  While at Disney, he became a local champion for RP technologies and helped educate engineering and manufacturing staff on advancements and application.

    He is a member of SME’s RTAM Technical Community (formerly the rapid prototyping association) and has been a conference advisor for SME's RP&M Conference for five years.  Michael's industry involvement also includes moderating and speaking at conferences worldwide and contributing to such magazines as Machine Design and Time Compression Technologies.  Michael serves on the SME RTAM Steering Committee and is a representative for the Tech Watch Committee of SME’s new Education Community.  He is also 1 of 11 Certified Master Level RP professionals.

    Michael left Disney in 2003 to found Mydea Technologies as part of the UCF Technology Incubator.  His company is providing product development services in the Central Florida area with an emphasis on rapid prototyping, tooling and manufacturing technology.  Mydea is also working closely with professors from UCF to develop next generation tools for product development.  His vision is to compress the product development cycle to one step, where any individual consumer can design, customize and produce their own products.

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    December 2004
    FWCS Holiday Social

    Approximately 20 FWC Section Memebers & Spouses met for an enjoyable Holiday Social Dinner.  Those who missed the dinner missed out on a great evening of fun.

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    Januray 2005
    The New Engineering

         On Wednesday, January 19th, nearly 40 members and student members of our FWCS of the ASME were able to enjoy a delicious dinner at the Radisson Hotel in Tampa, followed by a very enlightening seminar on “The New Engineering.” This brief (one hour plus), but information-packed seminar was presented Eugene F. Adiutori who has more than 40 years experience in the industrial world, primarily in the fields of nuclear energy and gas turbines.  He is the inventor of record on 8 patents held by General Electric and Babcock and Wilcox.  He authored The New Engineering published by Ventuno Press, and The New Heat Transfer published in English by Ventuno Press.  Attendees reported that this approach to engineering is a radical departure from what we learned in engineering school, but it could be the wave of the future.

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    February 2005

    CELEBRATE ENGINEERING BANQUET 2005


    Celebrate Engineering 2005 Banquet achieved another very successful National Engineers' Week milestone on Friday, February 18, at the elegant Wyndham Westshore Hotel in Tampa. Celebrate Engineering is the hallmark annual event of the Tampa Bay Engineering Alliance.  Composed of AFE, ASHRAE, ASME, IEEE and SOLE engineering societies in West Florida, Alliance members honor their selected Engineers of the Year, in a grand public event.  Moreover, outstanding teachers in pre-college education of Mathematics and Science, one each, from Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas Counties were recognized for their superb efforts in motivating students to careers in science and engineering. The Lignell Awards, named in honor of Kim Lignell, a past Chair of IEEE, who had the insight of honoring public school teachers who find, develop and motivate students toward careers in Engineering.  These awards are sponsored by Honeywell International and Seminole Electric Cooperative in a prestigious ceremony, a highlight of the evening.
    The awardees were: Jeremy Lynch, Durant High School, (Hillsborough), Debra Miller, River Ridge Middle School  (Pasco), and Barbara Feguson, Osceola High School (Pinellas).

    Other sponsors include: Chromalloy Castings Tampa Corp, Custom Manufacturing & Engineering, Mustang Engineering, Sargent and Lundy, LLC, Tampa Electric Company, and York International Corporation.
    Numerous other sponsors included Arrow Zeus Electronics, Belimo Aircontrols,Inc., Carrier of West Florida, Carroll Air Systems, Data Device Corporation, Engineering and Manufacturing Services, Inc., Hudson Pump & Equipment, Integritech Group, Mariner Group, Megaway, QREP, Inc. Solid Advice Engineering, Thermal Tech, Inc., Tom Barrow Company, Trak Microwave, and Tyco Simplex Grinnell.  Now, that is sturdy industry support to our Societies.  Please patronize these supporters of the Engineering Profession.

    Enough? We also had donations of many gifts, including dinner Gift Cards, Fire Extinguishers from Tyco, and special wines. The Grand prize in the ticket drawing was donated by Best Buy, at 1725 N. Dale Mabry, Tampa--which was a Sony P-93 Digital Camera with 5.1 Mega pixel resolution, special camera bag and a 256 MB memory card. (That costs $399.99 in the store + tax!!)  We also received Dinner Tickets from Outback Steakhouses totaling $200 a $50 Gift card from Lee Roy Selmon's and a $59 gift card from the Signature Room Grille, plus more. (Sorry, Not enough room to list them all!!)

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    March 2005

    USF Student Papers Night

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    April 2005

    Tampa Electric Bayside Tour
    35 ASME Members and Student Members Toured the Tampa Electric Re-Powered Bayside Plant on Saturday April 16th.  The plant produces some of the cleanest fuel produced power in the country.   Bayside Power Station is a Combined Cycle power plant with 7 combustion turbine generators and 2 steam turbine generators. These new units, fueled with natural gas, produce 1,750 megawatts, which is enough electricity to serve 875,000 homes, and will help meet customer energy needs for the next 20 years.  "This is a great step in fulfilling our commitment to making our system one of the cleanest in the country while providing reliable, affordable electricity to our customers," said Tampa Electric President John Ramil.  Tampa Electric first announced plans in 1999 to repower the 1,200-megawatt Gannon Power Station by converting from coal to natural gas.

    The Bayside project integrates seven new combustion turbines and seven heat recovery steam generators with two of the Gannon plants' existing steam turbines to reliably and cost-effectively produce 1,750 megawatts of clean power.
    The decision to reconfigure and repower Gannon Station and switch to natural gas was based on several factors, including:

    •    Strong customer growth resulting in greater demand for reliable electricity;
    •    Ability to meet more stringent environmental compliance regulations;
    •    Cost-effective use of plant infrastructure, existing substations and transmission facilities;
    •    Availability of natural gas from area pipelines;
    •    Enhanced fuels diversity;
    •    Establishing certainty for future generation planning and environmental compliance.

    By using natural gas at the new Bayside Power Station along with high efficiency, state-of-the-art emissions controls at our other coal-fired plants, Tampa Electric has further significantly reduced emissions. Repowering with natural gas has reduced Bayside's nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide emissions by more than 97 percent each and will reduce particulate matter emissions by 2005 by more than 88 percent from 1998 levels.

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    May 2005

    RECAP OF MAY MEETING  

    On May 11th, approximately twenty ASME members attended a lecture by John T. Bozewicz, a Division Head at the Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC), in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is responsible for the Machinery Information, Sensors and Control Systems Division at his organization. Mr. Bozewicz”s lecture was entitled “From Engineer to Manager: A Roadmap for a Successful Transition,” and was a practical look at some of the key elements in preparing for a successful transition from technical professional to manager.  The dinner and lecture took place at Radisson Bay Harbor Hotel on the Courtney Campbell Causeway in Tampa, and was well received by all the attendees.

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    September 2003

    RECAP OF SEPTEMBER TOUR OF DESALINATION PLANT

    On Wednesday, September 10th, nearly 70 members of the FWCS’s of ASME and IEEE were treated to a tour of the Tampa Bay Water Desalination Plant in Apollo Beach.  This public/private partnership facility covers over 8 acres, adjacent to the TECO power plant, and uses the plant’s cooling water outflow for feed water, thus not requiring a permit to withdraw water from Tampa Bay.  Lynn Stevens, the Facility Manager gave an hour-long PowerPoint presentation showing how the process of desalination is carried out at this 25 MGD plant, the largest in the Northern Hemisphere.  She discussed pretreatment, filtering, and the desalination process itself which takes place at more than 600 PSI, using special pumps.  An energy recovery turbine system recovers energy from the pressurized water for greater energy efficiency.  After a question and answer session, Leo Brand of Tampa Bay Water, and Mike Nagy of Jacobs led plant tours in two separate groups.  Once the tour was over, everyone went over to the Alpha Restaurant in Apollo Beach for a fine Italian dinner.

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    October 2003

    RECAP OF OCTOBER TOUR OF SOUTH CROSS BAYOU WATER RECLAMATION FACILITY

    On Wednesday, October 8th, about 40 members of the FWCS of ASME participated in a tour of the South Cross Bayou Water Reclamation Facility in St. Petersburg.  This facility, which is owned by Pinellas County Utilities, processes biosolids in a contained building to reduce odors, and is also treating the air emissions from the plant to allow for a “good neighbor” relationship with the surrounding residential areas.  These biosolids are ultimately converted into a Grade A Fertilizer product, which is distributed by a private company for residential and commercial use.  The facility also produces 30 million gallons per day of reclaimed water for use throughout the county.  Jan Tracy, of the Facility, gave a presentation showing how the process is carried out. Then we all boarded a trolley, and she drove us around the plant site to see the lagoons, pumps, and so forth. One of our stops was at the pelletizing plant, where Clyde Harris, the Pelletizing Plant Manager, gave a talk on the operation of the plant and showed us samples of the pellets, after which we had an opportunity to go into the plant and observe the dryer in operation.  This pelletizing plant is operated by Synagro at the South Cross Bayou facility.  After the tour was over, a sandwich buffet was served in the community room of the facility.

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    RECAP OF NOVEMBER 2003 MEETING:  Mr. Frank Dlouhy

    On Wednesday, November 19th, Mr. Frank Dlouhy of Omega Power Systems, treated nearly 40 members of the FWCS’s of ASME and IEEE to an outstanding presentation.  This intense look into the impact of lightning and electrical surge in the “Lightning Capital of the World” was both enlightening and sobering.  The resounding message presented by Mr. Dlouhy was that surge suppression cannot be over emphasized when designing, or refurbishing, your facilities and equipment.  Mr. Dlouhy’s presentation was actually an abbreviated version of his half-day seminars that he conducts throughout the southeast.  Any ASME members who are interested in this more comprehensive look at the importance of surge suppression can contact Mr. Dlouhy at Omega Power Systems, (561) 997-0663

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    December 03
    A MESSAGE FROM THE FWCS CHAIR

    The New Year has begun and our programs so far have been quite successful.  The Holiday social, held December 10th at Malio’s Steak House in Tampa, was a lot of fun for me.  I had the opportunity to present Earl Bage, a new FWCS member, with a distinguished service award for service as the Missouri State Government Coordinator.  Giving awards is one of the perks the chair gets to enjoy.  The evening was relaxed and presented time to get to know each other, which is difficult at our business and technical program meetings.  The dinner conversations were diverse and generally unrelated to engineering.

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    January 2004
    RECAP OF JANUARY DINNER - High Performance Presentation Skills for Technical Professionals

         On Wednesday, January 14th, nearly 50 members and student members of our FWCS of the ASME were able to enjoy a delicious dinner at the Radisson Hotel in Clearwater, followed by a very enlightening seminar on communication skills.  This brief (one hour plus), but information-packed seminar was presented Mr. Mark Wiskup of Wiskup Communications.
         Mark showed us that much of what we say is often not only misunderstood, but also misinterpreted.  Even though we may not be aware of it, this is happening to us everyday.  The question is, how can we make it better?  Mark is ready, willing, and able to help by teaching us to “Stop Talking, and Start Communicating.”
         Mark’s seminar had a lot of useful tips, which won’t be repeated here, but it was such good information that most of the attendees were taking notes.  Mark’s methods will teach you to “get good fast” in every business, networking, and social opportunity:
         Mark’s been a student of winning communication skills for 25-years.  He founded and ran a multi-million dollar video and live event production company in Tampa, Florida and has been a television reporter and anchor in Colorado, Florida, Minnesota and Arkansas.   Mark has an undergraduate degree from UCLA in political science and a Master’s Degree in broadcast journalism from Northwestern University.  For further information on Mark’s company, visit www.wiskupcommunications.com.

    February 2004
    RECAP OF CELEBRATE ENGINEERING BANQUET

         On Friday, February 13th, the ASME FWCS and 5 other participating local engineering societies celebrated the prestigious 4th annual Celebrate Engineering Banquet, in honor of National Engineers Week.  Many society members, teachers and students were recognized with awards for their achievements. 320 members and guests attended one of the most outstanding engineering events ever held in the Tampa Bay area, at the elegant A La Carte Pavilion in Tampa.
    Keynote Speaker Dr. Robin Murphy, USF Professor, provided a dynamic and enlightening talk and live demonstration of the use of small robots for search and rescue operations, with discussion and actual video clips of use of these robots for the rescue mission during 9/11 in New York.  What a wonderful example of the contribution of engineering technology to our society!
    Dick Crippen, famous local sports broadcaster and current spokesman for the Devil Rays Foundation, entertained us throughout the evening as the Master of Ceremonies.  Did you know that his son is an engineer!  Local musicians serenaded us with eloquent and soothing harp and flute sonatas throughout the reception and dinner.  Caricaturists were present to draw and capture our worst possible features highlighted on paper!
    The most important and real highlight of the evening was recognition of our Heroes in engineering – members, students and local teachers who have made such a significant contribution to the engineering profession and engineering education.  Here are the ASME Award Recipients!

    ASME FWCS Engineer of the Year - Dr. Ronald L. Mann

    After retiring from an illustrious industrial career with General Electric, Dr. Ronald L. Mann began a second career teaching mechanical engineering courses at the Syracuse University.    Dr. Mann received his Masters Degree (1968) and Ph.D. (1978) in Mechanical Engineering from Syracuse University and has been an active member of ASME for over 20 years. -  As a student, Dr. Mann excelled academically earning membership in Tau Beta Pi, Sigma XI, and Pi Tau Sigma honor societies.  He began his engineering career as a design engineer for GE in Syracuse, N.Y. while continuing his work toward advanced degrees.   While at GE, Dr. Mann authored numerous technical papers, taught company technical courses, consulted, and was recognized with a patent (co-authored by a future ASME President, Nancy Fitzroy).  After retiring from GE, Dr. Mann relocated to the Tampa Bay area and became an Adjunct Professor in the Mechanical Engineering department at USF in 1996.  For the past several years he has also served as Faculty Advisor to the USF ASME Student Section.  Under his guidance the USF ASME Student Section has grown in size and prominence as an outstanding group of student engineers in the Southeast Region of the U.S., winning numerous Regional Awards and having several students compete for National Awards.  Dr. Mann is well respected by his peers and students in the Mechanical Engineering field not only for his technical excellence and devotion to the engineering profession but also for his leadership and motivational skills.  Dr. Mann’s technical excellence and volunteer service has often been recognized by ASME, having received the “Distinguished Service Award” and the “Jack Shortall Award” for Outstanding Faculty Advisor in the Southeast Region of the U.S. - Throughout his career, not only has Dr. Mann excelled in his profession but he has also devoted countless hours in service to various community and neighborhood activity groups of which he was a member and a volunteer.  In recognition of his contributions to the engineering profession, the University of South Florida, and our community, the Florida West Coast Section of ASME is proud to honor Dr. Ronald L. Mann as their “Engineer of the Year”. 


    ASME FWCS Student Engineer of the Year - Mr. Dennis Watkins

    Mr. Dennis Watkins is a senior in Mechanical Engineering at the University of South Florida. Dennis is a member of the USF Student Section of ASME and is presently serving as “Activities Chairman”. Dennis has demonstrated extraordinary organization, and leadership skill in planning, promoting and motivating students to participate in a variety of programs. Dennis has planned and participated in ten tours since last summer. High on his list for engineering student involvement is community service. Dennis has organized work teams to support Habitat for Humanity projects in the Tampa Bay area. He setup and attended the food drive contest “Charit-a –Bull” during homecoming week and participated in the “American Heart Walk”. The FWCS is proud to honor Dennis Watkins as “ASME USF Mechanical Engineering Student of the Year”.


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    March 2004

    Details of the March  meeting will be posted soon, please check back.

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    April 2004
    RECAP OF APRIL MEETING 
    By Tim Hunt

    We had a very interesting and educational meeting at the Radisson, on the 7th of April.  Approximately 25 ASME FWCS members and guests enjoyed a very good meal and presentations.  Mr. Dennis Koopman, from UltraPure Group gave us a very informative presentation on Successful Process Automation and the importance of the up front communication between designers and engineers.  UltraPure designs and builds Pharmaceutical Water and Steam generating machinery and have been successful with their automation protocols.  This moved very well to the main body of the evening's presentation concerning Underwriters Laboratories: who they are and what they do.  Mr. Harry Forsha from UL gave us an overview of who UL is and what they do.  He stressed that more and more industries are requiring third party inspections, and UL business is growing because of this requirement.  We then got into the meat and potatoes (also what we had for dinner) of the requirements for control panels for industrial machinery, UL's specification 508A.  We discussed the field evaluation scenarios and the components that are needed to get equipment to pass UL certification.  Mr. Eric Boettcher and Mr. Robert Sly of UL made the presentation and answered numerous questions from the attendees.  Meeting ended at approximately 9:30.  Thanks for everyone's involvement.


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    May 2004
    RECAP OF MAY MEETING 
    By Paul Stevenson

    On May 12th, thirty ASME members were treated to a tour of the Ball Metal Beverage Container Facility in northeast Tampa.  Our tour guides, Wagner Ramsey (Plant Manager), Mike Weir (Production Manager), and Lee Payne (Engineering Manager) gave us a behind the scenes look at this amazing process.  The specific line they showed us runs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and produces approximately 2000 beverage containers per minute.  That is an unbelievable 2.8 million cans per day!  They have two other lines running simultaneously, for a total of three in the plant.  All totaled, they produce 2.8 Billion cans per year.  Some of the many processes witnessed where stamping, drawing, printing, forming, coating, and testing.  The last step before palletizing is a computerized optical inspection that takes pictures of each can, looks for anomalies in the can, then rejects it microseconds later if any are found.  It was truly an amazing tour, and we are extremely grateful to our tour guides and Ball Metal Beverage Container Operations for their outstanding hospitality.

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    Last updated May 31, 2005 by Robert Andrew