PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

In February we held our Engineer’s Week Banquet at Germain Arena. Our guest speaker was Dr. Susan Blanchard, the Founding Director of the newly established engineering degree program at FGCU. Dr. Blanchard’s presentation was well done and very informative. A key issue that emerged was that the initial degree program did not include a degree in civil engineering. Given the rapid pace of growth in Southwest Florida and the demand for civil engineers in the area should make this an issue of interest with our membership, as many of our member firms are civil engineering consulting firms. Additionally we handed out our annual awards to an outstanding group of Engineers.

Prior to the Engineer’s Week Banquet, we held our annual Mathcounts Competition at Florida Gulf Coast University. This competition has grown tremendously in size, with around 200 local students. This year’s event was, in my opinion, our best yet. FGCU provided new accommodations to us that helped the competition run very well. My compliments and thanks to our Mathcounts Co-Chairs Roxanne Gause, PE, Elizabeth Fountain, PE and Rebecca King, EI for coordinating a great competition.

The March dinner meeting will be on March 24th at The Strand Clubhouse in Naples. Our speaker will be Janet Starnes with the South Florida Water Management District. She will be speaking to us about the District’s Everglades Restoration Program. This is an opportunity to hear about a very large project, right here in our back yard. I hope to see many of you there.

Thank you, and I look forward to seeing you at the March dinner meeting.

John English, PE
President - Calusa Chapter

Welcome to our new members:

Arnold Kenly, PE, AKDM Design Group (reinstated)
Dennis Robertson, PE, Vanasse Daylor (Sponsor: John Musser, PE)
Brendan Sloan, AS, Avalon Engineering (Sponsor: Walt Gilcher, PE)
Samuel Updike, Jr., EI, AIM Engineering (Sponsor: Lawrence Updike, EI)

Save That Date!

FES March Dinner

Thursday, March 24th

The Clubhouse at the Strand in Naples

Scroll down for more details.

Calusa Chapter March Dinner Meeting

Speaker
Janet Starnes
Lead Project Manager – CERP & Federal Projects
South Florida Water Management District
Program: Everglades Restoration

Thursday, March 24th, 2005
The Clubhouse at the Strand
5840 Strand Boulevard, Naples, FL 34110

Social Hour at 6:00PM — Dinner at 7:00PM
Program Immediately Following Dinner

As Always, Spouses and Guests Are Welcome!
$25.00 Per Person

________________________________________
YES, I will be attending.
(Name)

________________________________________
Spouse/Guest
(Name)

Meatless meals are available on request

MATHCOUNTS STATS

We had 22 official teams, and one home schooler show up for the event. A total of one hundred and 146 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 11, 2005 statewide competition. The Radisson Plaza and the Orlando Arena will be the site of the 2005 State MathCOUNTS Competition. The oral rounds will be held on Friday afternoon at the TD Waterhouse Centre and the competitors, alternates and coaches will receive a ticket to attend the Orlando Magic basketball game on Friday evening.

UPCOMING ACTIVITIES CALENDAR

Members are encouraged to contact David Romano, PE at (239) 985-1200 or email: davidromano@holemontes.com to request additional information or to suggest a future program or event.