A "Greener" Water Bottle

When I was in Washington, DC in April at the Engineering Public Policy Symposium, I noticed something different in the Rayburn House Building. No there hadn't been any major renovations or redecorating done since I'd last been there; instead, the typical plast water bottle had been replaced. By what, you ask? By this: http://www.natureworksllc.com/. It's a biopolymer that's compostable. I thought it was uber-cool, and definitely a step in the right direction. It's (obviously) not as eco-friendly as using a non-disposable water bottle such as those made by Nalgene or Sigg, but as you can see here - http://www.greenerdesign.com/news/2008/10/01/corn-based-water-bottles - the House actually composts them instead of sending them to a landfill, which is kind of neat.

ECE Opportunities

See below for a recent post on ASME PeerLink's Young Engineer Correspondents site (http://peerlink.asme.org/COP/YECorrespondent/Forum/FullThread.fusion?ThreadID=3285):

ASME offers early career engineers (0-10 years out of college) the opportunity to get involved at the national level. Please take a moment to review the following upcoming opportunities (with mid-January deadlines) for yourself and/or to forward to other colleagues that might be interested. It’s a great way to gain professional development skills and network with other engineers.

* ECLIPSE is seeking interns (2009-2010)http://www.asme.org/Governance/Volunteer/Early_Career_Leadership.cfm Funded travel and leadership lessons from the top.Application deadline: January 11, 2009)

* Young Engineer Correspondents are seeking a Vice-Chair Electhttp://www.asme.org/Communities/EarlyCareer/Young_Engineer_Correspondents.cfm Practice your leadership skills. (Application Deadline: January 12, 2009)

* Leadership Training Conference (LTC) is seeking Early Career Delegateshttp://www.asme.org/Communities/EarlyCareer/Leadership_Training_2.cfm Intensive training opportunity. (Application Deadline: January 16, 2009)

* CL&D’s Committee on Internship Program (manages ECLIPSE) is seeking 2 new members (2009-2010)http://volunteer.asme.org/vobb/VolunteerPositions.cfmBegin a leadership path.(Positions to be filled ASAP)

Happy Thanksgiving!

To all of you in the US, Happy Thanksgiving today! And to those of you outside the US, Happy Thursday!

2008 ASME ECLIPSE Interns

My, oh my, where has the time flown? It’s November, which means the ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress & Exposition has arrived. If you haven’t met them yet, I wanted to introduce you to this year’s bumper crop of ASME ECLIPSE Interns. They are a phenomenal bunch, as always, and come from all over. Shane McGoldrick is the ECLIPSE intern for Strategic Management, and hails from Dunedin, FL. Annmarie Connor is the ECLIPSE intern for the Board of Governors, and is from Orlando, FL. Jenn Dandrea-Spadafora is serving on the Center for Leadership and Diversity Board, and she lives in Seattle, Washington. The Knowledge & Community (K&C) Global Communities ECLIPSE intern is Hieu Nguyen from the Houston, TX metropolis. Garrett Herning is the ECLIPSE intern for the Institutes sector, working on EMCI, and lives in Sussex, WI, right outside Milwaukee. And finally, the sixth member of the 2008 group is Michael Moore, the K&C Programs and Activities ECLIPSE intern.

If you’re interested in serving ASME at the international level, or want to find out what really goes in a specific board or sector, I highly encourage you to apply to be an ECLIPSE intern. This year’s applications are due January 15th, and the application can be found on ASME’s website: (http://www.asme.org/Governance/Volunteer/Early_Career_Leadership.cfm). If you’ve got questions about the program, feel free to contact the co-directors of the ECLIPSE program, Larry Dickinson and Karma Snyder.




L to R: Michael Moore, Shane McGolderick, Annmarie Connor, Jenn Dandrea-Spadafora, Hieu Nguyen, Garrett Herning

EYE in Germany

Cathedral (or Dom, as the locals call it) in Koln

As I sit on yet another airplane this week, I’ve got a few moments to reflect on last week’s trip to attend the European Young Engineers (EYE) Conference in Dusseldorf, Germany. In ASME’s effort to reach out and collaborate with engineers and engineering societies worldwide, two other ASME-ers, Tom Perry and Eduardo Barrientos, and I crossed the Atlantic to see what our brethren in Europe are doing. There we met an incredible group of people, who were extremely gracious in showing us North and South Americans some German and European hospitality and culture.

The EYE conference is a biannual event, held in May and October, with the conferences held in various member countries. For more information on EYE, see their website: (http://www.e-y-e.eu/). The conference is a two-and-a-half-day event, which began on Friday with tours and a gala, followed with a keynote panel and workshop on Saturday, a dinner cruise on Saturday evening, and the EYE Council meeting and closing session on Sunday. The conference drew attendees from all over Europe, and had the sponsorship support of local and multinational companies.

So what did I take away from this? A reinforcement of how crucial social and networking events are at early career functions and events. How many times does our enjoyment of something stem from the interactions with other people? For me, it is just as important for me to connect with other people in peer and build relationships as it is to learn a new technical skill or improve my business acumen. I also came away somewhat in awe of what a fantastic job EYE does at securing sponsorships and corporate support. The cost of the conference was highly subsidized, and the bang for your buck was phenomenal – I mean really, a dinner cruise on the Rhein River complete with DJ and bar at no added charge? What’s to complain about that – almost nothing (the almost comes from the fact that I heard many of the attendees lamenting that 1 am was too early for the cruise to end). Finally, Eduardo, Tom and I made some incredible new friends, and opened the door for future collaborations between ASME and EYE. Who knows, maybe in the future we’ll see some joint conferences, webcasts, or other events with our peers across the “pond.”

Jeroen Van Liempd (ASME Brussels Office), Eduardo Barrientos, Jen Jewers, Bertrand Mbiaffie (ASME Brussels Office), and Tom Perry

Eduardo, Jen, and some of our new friends

Proof that Tom hit the dance floor