PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

Almost 50 people attended the Chapter’s Engineers Week Banquet at Gulf Harbour on February 25th. Lee County Commissioner John Albion brought greetings from the Board of County Commissioners for Engineers Week and we recognized and honored this year’s chapter award recipients for their dedication and contributions to our profession and our communities - Patrick C. Jennings, PE - Engineer of the Year, Nicole C. Maxey, PE - Young Engineer of the Year, Vladimir A. Ryziw, PE - Government Engineer of the Year, Fermin A. Diaz, PE - Outstanding Services to the Profession, and Frederick T. “Rick” Barber, PE - Outstanding Technical Achievement. Roxanne Gause, PE provided a recap of the MathCOUNTS competition which was held this year at FGCU on February 21st and we presented a special recognition award to Dr. Charles Lindsey for his tireless assistance to the chapter in planning and conducting the annual MathCOUNTS competition. Dr. Lindsey is Associate Professor of Mathematics and Associate Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences at FGCU. Congratulations to all! To round out the evening, we heard some very interesting comments and opinions from Ken van Assenderp, Esq. regarding the history and future of the education system in Florida and its impact on the future of this state.

Speaking of tireless efforts, Roxanne Gause, PE has just completed her third year as Chair of our MathCOUNTS competition. She will be stepping down as chair (but not involvement) after this year and handing the reins over to Morgan Dickinson, PE. On behalf of the Calusa Chapter, Roxanne, thank you so much for three great years. We couldn’t have done it without you.

Scholarship committee chair, Tommy Perry, PE reports that we have received 16 applications for our annual Chapter scholarship. The scholarship committee will be reviewing the applicants over the next few months and we will present this year’s recipient at our June dinner meeting.

Our March dinner meeting will be held on Wednesday, March 17th at Stoneybrook (Corkscrews). Our program speaker will be Bob Matthews, PE who, in addition to his position at Camp, Dresser & McKee, is Chairman of the Florida Board of Professional Engineers. Bob will give us a brief update on the complaint process involving licensed and unlicensed activities and will provide as many answers as he can to your questions regarding Florida laws and rules for professional engineering. Should be an interesting session.

Finally, last call for renewals. If you haven’t paid your annual dues yet, you will be dropped from the membership rolls after March 31st. If you’re on that list, resolve to get that done as soon as possible. We don’t want to lose you!

As always, I’m looking forward to seeing many of you at our dinner meeting on the 17th. Please join us.

Walter F. Gilcher, PE
President - Calusa Chapter

Save That Date!

Calusa Chapter Meeting

Wednesday, March 17th
6:00PM – 9:00PM
Stoneybrook Clubhouse

Scroll down for more details.

MathCOUNTS Stats

We had 23 official teams, one home schooler and one unofficial team show up for the event. A total of one hundred and seventy-one 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students competed in our local contest this year at the Florida Gulf Coast University in Estero. The top ten winning teams and the top individual scorers are:

We will all be heading to Orlando for the March 26, 2004 statewide competition. The Radisson Plaza and the Orlando Arena will be the site of the 2004 State MathCOUNTS Competition. The oral rounds will be held on Friday afternoon at the Orlando Arena and the competitors, alternates and coaches will receive a ticket to attend the Orlando Magic basketball game on Friday evening.

The MathCOUNTS Committee would like to thank:

Special thanks to:Mike Liggins who, again, single-handedly purchased, delivered, set-up, fed and cleaned up breakfast and lunch for close to 250 people.

• Jean Gilcher for personally designing the MathCOUNTS t-shirts and Farzaneh Kazemi for providing a very nice discount for our MathCOUNTS t-shirts.
• John English and Dan Waters for again bringing in a team of proctors. Thanks to the proctors.
• Kim Peterson Hoskins who computed every test score in the scoring room. And Mr. T Rankin Terry, an attorney in Fort Myers, who again oversaw the scoring room and also contributed as a sponsor.
• Kevin Higginson for acting as moderator again this year and for making the afternoon event a success.
• And Morgan Dickinson for all his help as co-chair and soon to be the new chairman of next year’s MathCOUNTS.

New Member Recruitment

The end of National Engineers Week should not mean the end of new member recruitment. The future of FES and the engineering profession is in the hands of the young engineers in your office, the Society, and community. As a new professional, they need an environment to meet other young engineers, be social and learn from the other generations of members. Personally inviting a young engineer to a FES event is the most influential recruitment method to use. Talking about how being part of FES has improved your career makes an impact of new employees. Next time you attend a FES event, invite a new employee or member.

Ask a young engineer to participate on the Student Professional Development Committee or MATHCOUNTS committee. A majority of the younger FES members participated in MATHCOUNTS as a kid or were involved in the student chapter while in college. Asking them to get involved in these committees offers a tie to something they were involved in at a younger age. This is also a first step to being on a committee, chapter board, and other leadership roles.

For information about getting young engineers involved, contact Kate Robinson at (850) 224-7121 or krobinson@fleng.org.

March Calusa Chapter Dinner Meeting

Guest Speaker
Bob Matthews
Member – Florida Board of Professional Engineers (FBPE)

Topic
The Complaint Process for Licensed and Unlicensed Activities

Wednesday, March 17, 2004
Stoneybrook Clubhouse (I-75, Exit 123)
½ Mile East on Corkscrew Road
Social Hour at 6:00PM – Dinner at 7:00PM
Program Immediately Following Dinner

As Always, Spouses and Guests Are Welcome!
$20.00 Per Person

Call (649-4040), fax (643-5716) or email (johnenglish@wilsonmiller.com) your RSVP to John English, PE
by 12 noon on February 24th:

___________________________________________ YES, I will be attending
                                (Name)

     ___ Chicken Piccata
     ___ Prime Rib
     ___ Broiled Filet of Grouper

Spouse/Guest _________________________________
                                     (Name)

     ___ Chicken Piccata
     ___ Prime Rib
     ___ Broiled Filet of Grouper

Meatless meals available on request

UPDATE: Southwest Florida Regional Engineering Conference

The first annual Regional Engineering Conference scheduled in Punta Gorda for March 24, 2004 has been POSTPONED. This program will be rescheduled for Fall 2004. Watch as details unfold in future Calusa Chapter Newsletters.

UPCOMING ACTIVITIES CALENDAR

* For additional information on these and other seminars offered through FES, visit www.fleng.org/seminars.cfm.

Members are encouraged to contact John English, PE at (239) 649-4040 or email: johnenglish@wilsonmiller.com to request additional information or to suggest a future program or event.

QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS

If you have any questions or comments regarding the content of the newsletter – or if you would like something included in the monthly publication – please feel free to contact Dave Romano, P.E. at davidromano@holemontes.com, or by telephone at (239) 985-1200.