A New Year a New Beginning

Welcome back, I hope that you and your families had a happy and joyous holiday season. It is hard to believe that 2010 is all ready here. With that comes another year of business that sure to make this a very promising year.

 

As we begin the 2010, Society will be faced with many new challenges.   

Let’s be constructive as a group and address those challenges to the best of our ability. 

Everyone’s goal should be is to help make ASPE the best organization that it can be.  There will also be many opportunities presented to us this coming year.  When an opportunity is presented, let’s take advantage of it.  We may never get the chance again

The Board of Directors to meet in Chicago

 

The Board of Directors will hold their quarterly meeting on January 22 and 23 in Chicago, Illinois in preparation for the upcoming year. This will be the first time the Board of Directors will meet in the new location. I have had the opportunity to visit the office for the Finance Committee Meeting back in December and all I say is Wow. The space is 1000 times better than the old digs.

And I am looking forward to seeing everyone’s reaction to the space. You just cannot imagine the cramp conditions staff was operating under let alone have an additional 12 Board of Directors show up on there doorstep to conduct a board meeting every quarter. We were literately sitting on top of each other.

We now have a conference room that will accommodate the board and guess without sitting elbow to elbow so to speak.

So if you are in the neighborhood on the evening of January 22, 2010 please plan on attending the open house following the quarterly ASPE board of directors meeting.

Snow or no snow, we promise good food, something hot to drink, and some great friendship.

What is going on with your chapter?

I am looking for feedback from the local level as far as what has been going on, what new programs have you done, what old programs have you continued with or what are you doing to elevate your chapter to another level.

Drop me a quick e-mail with some of the significant events and fun facts that your chapter has experienced in the last year and I will include it my newsletter so everyone can see what you have been doing.

Membership Retention

As of today, ASPE’s membership count is just over 6600 members. Currently the membership total stands at 1024 for the Region.

I would like to see if Region 3 could reach 1200 members by Technical Symposium. Is it achievable? You bet it is but it cannot be done without your help. All it would take is an additional 97 new members by October.

Region 3 Presidents Meeting

The Region 3 Presidents meeting is scheduled for June 4 & 5, 2010 hosted by the Raleigh Chapter. Chapter President Leif Lindahl and his committee have been hard at work to ensure everyone has a wonderful outing when in Raleigh.

As details become available, I will forward them on to everyone.

Chapter Annual Reports

Yes just like the dreaded IRS April 15 tax filing deadline, the ASPE Annual Chapter Report deadline is just around the corner, well to be exact 6 months and counting.

Nevertheless, we cannot stress the critical nature of preparing and assembling of your chapter annual report in a timely manner.

Here it goes again.

One suggestion I would recommend is that you start preparing for it. Try to fill out the report as the year goes on. This way you are less likely to forget things that you have done over the past year when trying to complete the report. One other item that seems to slip by is the Chapter Award of Merit. Several chapters realize that they would have qualified for the Award of Merit if they had included all of the events.

Moreover, the Board would like the chapters to provide a detailed summary of what has transpired over the year. It seems that many of the reports were sparse with little or no information. What we would suggest is to look at last years report from Philadelphia Chapter as a guideline and model your report similar to Philadelphia’s. If you need a copy, please let me know and I will send it to you. I know many of you are thinking we said that we wanted less and yes, that may have been true from the previous boards, but times have changed. The current board would like to understand what, when and where of the chapter, and become more in tune with the chapters. Providing a greater detailed Annual Report will enable us to do so.

CDP Exam

Registration for the 2010 CPD Exam is now open. The 2010 Certified in Plumbing Design exam will be held April 16 or 17, 2010 depending on the test taker's chosen location.

Certified in Plumbing Design (CPD)

The Certified in Plumbing Design (CPD) program is an international certification program for engineers and designers of plumbing systems. Completion of the CPD program and examination confers upon the successful candidate the designation Certified in Plumbing Design (CPD). The certification program provides the profession, the plumbing industry, and the general public with a single, comprehensive qualification of professional competence for engineers and designers of plumbing systems.

The CPD, which is the only international credential program in the plumbing engineering field, sets the standards for leadership within the industry and provides formal recognition of outstanding professionals with advanced skills in the design and specification of plumbing systems.

Eligibility

To be eligible to take the CPD examination, a candidate must possess:

• A minimum of four years of practical experience in a position of responsibility for the design of plumbing systems and possess a baccalaureate degree in a field related to engineering

• In lieu of an accredited degree, a candidate may substitute up to an additional four years of practical experience in the design of plumbing systems, for a total of eight years, or be granted a credit of one-half year of practical experience for each full year of education in an accredited curriculum related to plumbing engineering.

Central Florida Chapter of ASPE to Conduct a CPD Review Class

On Tuesday January 12th the Central Florida of ASPE will be conducting a CPD Review class from 6.30-8.30 pm at RLF, Inc.’s Engineering Office Building Located at 201 N. NY Ave, Winter Park

If you are interested in attending please email Chris Farr at crf@rlfae.com to confirm your attendance. Chris will be able to provide more information as well.

There is no cost to ASPE members for this review class.

Grassroots Meeting & Web Cast

The Grassroots meeting is scheduled for sometime in March 2010. Please check the ASPE web site for updates as to time and date.

As you know, this meeting will be held live at ASPE Headquarters in Chicago, and via the internet for those wishing to participate remotely.

In the mean time, mark your calendars and plan to have your Board listen and look in on what should be an informative telecast.

If you have any questions, please contact ASPE Headquarters.

ASPE Reorganizes Its Staff to Focus on Education

Cliff Reis is now ASPE's director of meetings and education, as well as the managing director. Working with Cliff are Jinnie Yoo, our new meetings coordinator, and Pam Newman, who has joined ASPE as our education coordinator.

Alfred Steele Scholarship Deadline Is January 31

This scholarship is limited to ASPE members and their immediate families who have a GPA of 3.0 or higher who are in or plan to attend a college, university, or technical school on a full-time basis (minimum 12 credit hours), enrolled in an engineering program. Contact ASPE's Director of Membership Stacey Kidd for additional information.

REMINDER: You May Not Use the Designation CIPE

Certified in Plumbing Engineering (CIPE) is a trademark owned by ASPE, and the Society no longer permits its use. Certified in Plumbing Design (CPD) has replaced CIPE in all cases. Please don't force ASPE to take you to court over four letters.

You’re Comments

We want to hear from you from time to time. Feel free to contact any Board of Director at any time. No matter what reason, concern, interest or problem, please do not hesitate to e-mail or call us.