Vol. 10 Issue 8 August 2010 Committee Spotlight Resources
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ACEC/CO Visits Outlying Areas
Over the last couple of weeks, ACEC/CO leadership has visited with Ft. Collins, Colorado Springs, Vail and Glenwood Springs members to discuss the issues they are confronting as well as hearing what ACEC/CO is doing on their behalf.
- In Colorado Springs, we heard a fascinating and informative presentation by URS on the Woodmen/Academy Intersection, and learned of the concerns about stormwater discharge regulations that members are facing. ACEC/CO plans to bring these concerns to CDPHE and EPA at our next meetings with them. The next Southern Colorado meeting will be mid-October.
- Ft. Collins area members are addressing sustainability topics. Their next meeting will be Tuesday, August 17th at 11:30 a.m. at Tetra Tech in Ft. Collins. ACEC/CO attended Ft. Collins’ Water Innovation Cluster meeting to see if ACEC/CO should participate on this coalition that will develop a northern region water sustainability plan. Read More..
Committee Spotlight
Scholarship Committee
Informing accredited engineering schools about financial opportunities for its students is an important job that the ACEC/CO Scholarship Committee does not take lightly. In fact, it is one of the committee’s biggest challenges.
“One of the issues that the committee needs to address is how to make the pool of scholarship money available to more applicants,” 2009-10 Scholarship Committee Chair Murray McBride said, “The question is ‘How do universities and colleges with accredited engineering programs better present/disseminate scholarship information to their students?’”
Every fall, Scholarship Committee members spread out and visit several schools around the state to inform deans and educators of scholarship opportunities available for their students. Read More...
In the News
Top Team Takes ACEC/CO Golf Tournament
ACEC/CO hosted another successful golf tournament Monday, August 9 at Perry Park Golf Course. Over 100 ACEC/CO members and guests showed up for a day of fun and to support the ACEC/CO scholarship fund. First place team included Ridley Moorman and Bill Byrne, both of David Evans and Associates, Inc., and their guests Gregg Teets and Bill McDonnell. Second place went to Jeremy Hahn of Felsburg Holt & Ullevig, Scott Epstein of Pinyon Environmental, Inc., Seth Young and Bret Duvall both of Wells Fargo Bank. Thank you to all of those who participated this year!
DOE Announces $30 Million for Small Business Clean Energy Technologies
DOE announced on July 14 that $30 million in funding will be made available to qualified small businesses to support the commercialization of promising new clean energy technologies. This initiative builds on efforts by DOE's existing Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Program to develop near-term clean energy technologies and to support American small businesses. Small companies previously awarded Phase II grants through SBIR or STTR are eligible for funding. Read More..
Deadline Extended to Enter the Colorado Sustainable Design Awards
The deadline for entry forms for the Colorado Sustainable Design Awards has been extended to August 16. CSDA is open to architecture, landscape architecture, and planning firms, builders and developers doing business in Colorado, as well as state or local governments, planning agencies, environmental agencies, engineering firms or others submitting on behalf of Colorado firms. Forms and information can be found here.
Regional Department Code Changes
Pikes Peak Regional Building Dept (PPRBD) is in the final stages of updating to the new 2009 International Building Code (IBC). The other codes with the local amendments have already been reviewed and approved by the Technical Committees. The proposed local amendments for chapters one through ten of the IBC have been drafted and available for review on the PPRBD web site at www.pprbd.org. Click on PLAN REVIEW - PROPOSED CODE CHANGES - IBC. The amendments are listed, as are comments developed during the previous review stages. The Building Committee plans to approve the code with the amendments by its meeting on October 6.
News from National
President's Report
From ACEC's President Dave Raymond on the latest developments of ACEC's government affairs on your behalf. Read more..
ACEC BIT Survey Shows Member Satisfaction Increasing
ACEC Business Insurance Trust (BIT) recently learned that member satisfaction and loyalty is increasing. The ACEC BIT Insurance Program rated 6.27 out of 7 on the midyear ACEC BIT Customer Satisfaction/ Loyalty Survey. Results improved in every category. View the summarized results. More than 325 firms, an outstanding 35 percent of participants, responded. Congratulations to the BIT/Marsh Team for these positive results.
Marsh's new presentation has proven to be a great educational piece and a valuable sales tool. View a sample. The newly formatted presentation typifies ACEC's never-ending commitment to improving the value of the ACEC Business Insurance Program to members. Another key will be the Member Firm Benefit Program; the BIT legal counsel is poring over state laws to ensure that this concept can indeed become a reality. ACEC will be unveiling it at the NAECE meeting in Puerto Rico this fall.
ACEC's 2010 Design & Construction Industry Trends Survey Report on Sale Through August
Save 25 percent on ACEC's Industry Trends Survey now through August 31, 2010. The discount is already applied to the price on ACEC's web site. Click here to for more information and to purchase the survey.
Membership Notices and
Engineers in the News
Membership Notices for new and prospective members and other membership changes.
Engineers in the News from our members and member firms.
ACEC/CO Events and Professional Development
Register online, by calling 303-832-2200, or by e-mail for ACEC/CO programs.
- Webinar - "Responding to Fee Discount Requests: Weigh Options, Know Legalities"
ACEC/CO will be hosting this ACEC National Webinar Wednesday, August 18, 11:15 a.m. Read More..
- Wake-up Call Breakfast Series
It's that time of year again to begin our monthly ACEC/CO Wake-up Call Breakfast Series. We will be kicking off the new series Wednesday, September 1, 7:30 a.m. at the Sunrise Sunset Restaurant in Lakewood. Bob Arentz of Ball Aerospace Technologies Corporation will be presenting.
- ACEC Regional Conference
The Regional Conference for ACEC Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada and Utah will be September 16 -18, 2010 in Park City Utah. Click here to view the brochure and more details.
- September General Meeting - "The Great Debate"
Save the date for our September General Meeting scheduled for Tuesday, September 28, 11:30 a.m. Ballot Initiatives 60, 61 and Proposition 101 will be discussed. Check back for more details!
- 2010 Green Building Summit & Expo
October 7, 2010. This will be Colorado’s largest commercial green building conference of the year, with an anticipated attendance of more than 500. Read More..
Additional Professional Development
Opportunities and Events
- SMPS Upcoming Events:
Check out the upcoming events for the Society for Marketing Professional Services (SMPS) Read More..
- 2010 DBIA Rocky Mountain Regional Conference Read More..
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Over the last couple of weeks, ACEC/CO leadership has visited with Ft. Collins, Colorado Springs, Vail and Glenwood Springs members to discuss the issues they are confronting as well as hearing what ACEC/CO is doing on their behalf.
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Scholarship Committee
Informing accredited engineering schools about financial opportunities for its students is an important job that the ACEC/CO Scholarship Committee does not take lightly. In fact, it is one of the committee’s biggest challenges.
“One of the issues that the committee needs to address is how to make the pool of scholarship money available to more applicants,” 2009-10 Scholarship Committee Chair Murray McBride said, “The question is ‘How do universities and colleges with accredited engineering programs better present/disseminate scholarship information to their students?’”
Every fall, Scholarship Committee members spread out and visit several schools around the state to inform deans and educators of scholarship opportunities available for their students. McBride said that in the past most scholarship applications the committee receives come from the same two schools. He would like to see more applicants come in from other schools as well, meaning that more engineering students are getting access to these opportunities and being encouraged to go forward with the profession.
“Having more college students enrolled in the engineering programs is paramount to the succession of our profession,” McBride said.
The primary goal for the Scholarship Committee is to provide as much financial aid as possible for engineering students enrolled in Colorado universities. Last year the committee distributed a total of $33,000 in scholarship money to students.
McBride said to do this every year requires support from member firms, other programs and committees such as the golf tournament, and fostering relationships with organizations like APWA and UD&FCD. McBride said everyone on the committee assists in maintaining and promoting these relationships.
The Scholarship Committee will meet on August 24 to start planning the upcoming year and designate schools to be visited by members. Then in February, when the applications start coming in, the committee will meet again to decide who they want to interview and eventually grant the ACEC/CO scholarships to. Finally, in April a reception will be held to celebrate those students who received the scholarships.
“The most rewarding aspect (of being on the committee) is interviewing the shortlisted students who will be receiving the scholarships and telling them so,” McBride said. “The reception is also a lot of fun and you really get a feel for how appreciative the students are for receiving scholarships.”
This year the Scholarship Committee needs two more members to join for the term.
“It’s a fun committee. They only meet a few times a year and all the members love it.” said Jennifer Shaw, ACEC/CO Programs Coordinator and member of the committee. “They love meeting future engineers and awarding money to deserving students.”
If you are an individual member of ACEC/CO and are interested in joining the Scholarship Committee, please contact Jennifer at Jennifer@acec-co.org or at 303-832-2200.
DOE Announces $30 Million for Small Business Clean Energy Technologies
DOE announced on July 14 that $30 million in funding will be made available to qualified small businesses to support the commercialization of promising new clean energy technologies. This initiative builds on efforts by DOE's existing Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Program to develop near-term clean energy technologies and to support American small businesses. Small companies previously awarded Phase II grants through SBIR or STTR are eligible for funding.
This is the first time DOE has offered Phase III awards under these small business programs. The money will come from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and FY2010 budget appropriations.
Projects that include developed technologies with a strong potential for commercialization and impact on U.S. manufacturing and job creation are encouraged to apply. Among the technology areas of interest are biomass technologies for algal biofuels production, buildings technologies for organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) and solid state lighting OLEDs, advanced materials and bio-fueled solid oxide fuel cells, and high temperature tools and sensors for geothermal technologies. Other areas of inquiry include industrial technologies ranging from sensors and controls to advanced materials, solar technologies aimed at lowering the cost of photovoltaics, vehicle technologies focused on internal heating in DC bus capacitors as well as magnetic materials for motors. Also considered will be lightweight vehicle materials, advanced wind power technologies, electricity delivery and energy reliability such as smart grid technologies, and superconducting and advanced materials for energy storage. Successful applicants may receive up to $3 million over 3 years to research, develop, and deploy new technologies. See the DOE press release, the funding opportunity announcement, and the DOE SBIR/STTR Web site. Download Adobe Reader.
General
- ACEC/Indiana won a landmark court case – with support of the Minuteman Fund – barring “economic loss” claims against design firms based on alleged negligence.
- ACEC, APWA, ASCE collaborative effort on an Infrastructure Sustainability Project Rating System received input from government agencies toward pilot testing by October and a special session at ACEC's Fall Conference in Puerto Rico to introduce the rating system.
- Thanks to ACEC/Louisiana leadership for hosting a first-hand look at oil clean-up efforts conducted by member firms (See July/August Engineering Inc. story and update in Last Word August 5, 2010).
Government Affairs
- Hosted the head of the Federal Government’s Procurement Policy Office, Dan Gordon, for an important discussion on strengthening the acquisition workforce and the importance of qualifications in procurement of engineering services.
- Promoted adoption of FAR-based procurement and audit rules at AASHTO Audit Subcommittee Conference in Montgomery, Alabama.
- Opposed the DISCLOSE legislation in Congress which is slanted toward union and anti-business interests.
- Collaborating with AGC and ABC in urging passage of legislation limiting liability of firms that worked at Ground Zero after 9/11.
Institute for Business Management
- Collaborated with the U.S. Green Buildings Council in co-sponsorship of USGBC’s online LEED certification preparatory course for ACEC members.
By Dave Raymond, ACEC President
Membership NoticesProspective Individual Members: Welcome Individual Members: Bryant Walters, Collins Engineers, Inc. 4875 Pearl East Circle, Suite 201, Boulder CO 80301. 303-447-0090 bwalters@collinsengr.com. Bryant is a graduate of University of Colorado at Denver with a B.S. degree in Civil Engineering. Recommendations came from Duane Jansen, Tom Jansen, and Paul Hause. Transfer: |
Drexel, Barrell & Co recently promoted Ann T. Bowers and James Brzostowicz to associates.
Olsson Associates named Clint Carney a project scientist for its geology and hydrogeology team.
Wayne Thompson recently joined CTL/Thompson where he will oversee the firm's Longmont and Boulder operations.
Stanley Consultants Inc. promoted Kenneth Moriarty to vice president.
Erin Pasold of Beaudin Ganze Consulting Engineers Inc. and Ryan Walsh of Lakewood's Richard P. Arber Associates recently obtained their professional engineering licenses from the state of Colorado. Corey Rhodes of Beaudin Ganze has been promoted to project manager.
The RMH Group recently added six new employees to its staff: Tracey Fischer, E.I.T., Brett Lee, P.E., Don Cherry, P.E., Jerad Meidinger, E.I.T, Amy Laabs and Dave McClellan, C.I.P.E.
In Memory
Fred Lee Zook, an ACEC Certified Expert Witness and Consulting Engineer, died August 4, 2010 at the age of 68. Fred was a self-employed consulting forensic engineer for Fred Zook Engineer Inc. He was one of the founders of Coalition of Professional Engineers, (COPE). A celebration of Fred's life will be Thursday, August 12, 4:00 p.m., Zaragoza Hall, 1339 E. Routt, Pueblo.
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Additional Professional Development Opportunities and Events
2010 DBIA Rocky Mountain Regional Conference
Design/Build and IPD: Who Should be Involved?
Understanding the Evolving Roles of Owners, Designers, Contractors and Subcontractors and How it Affects Your Bottom Line. The conference is Wednesday, September 15, 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the PPA Event Center, 2105 Decatur St., Denver. For information on registration or sponsorship opportunities, call (303) 337-4881.