Our October meeting was another great success - 32 people attended the meeting which is 55% higher than the average in 1996-1997. This high attendance is made possible, among other things, by having a good program, timely publication of the newsletter, announcing the program announcements in both Trane’s newsletter and Tyler newspaper, and having members calling members. Many thanks to our chairs as well as those who helped, especially, Sheri McClain at Trane, for contributing their time and effort to our Chapter.

I am very impressed with the progress that the School of Engineering, under the leadership of Dr. Hale, has accomplished in such a short period of time. I believe that some of us may become engineering students at the University of Texas at Tyler in the near future.

Our Tyler Junior College student chapter is well established and attracts new members each year. Thanks to Professor Gene Branum for sponsoring a student chapter of ASHRAE for the past 10 years. In the October meeting, our membership and Student Activity chairs Jay Field and Bert McJimsey have pointed out the benefits of being an ASHRAE member. I am convinced that many student members must have realized those benefits since one TJC graduate who is now an engineering student at UTT asked me how to continue his membership. As far as I know, he can become a student member of ASHRAE as soon as a UTT faculty member sponsors a student chapter. We hope it will happen soon.

Our November program provides a great opportunity for us to learn more about plastic application. Hope you will take advantage of it to enhance your professional skills.

See you soon.

Steve Chen

The Board of Governors meeting opened with Bert McJimsey, Robert Helt, Tom Kennedy, Jay Field, Steve Hancock, Joe Hague, Richard Kilgo, Steve Chen, Russ Cude, Gene Branum, and Dick Cawley in attendance.

The September minutes, as published in the Slipstick, were approved.

Robert Helt will investgate establishing an East Texas ASHRAE website for publication of club news and information. He will need to find a host, a designer and a publisher to maintain the website.

We are trying to include a PAOE points status report in the Slipstick. Toward this end, committee chairs should forward their points status to the Slipstick editor.

President Chen suggested adding a program to report on the ASHRAE national winter meeting for the benefit of members unable to attend. Program Chair Cude agrees that this would be a worthwhile program. March would be a good month since it will be the first meeting after the ASHRAE national meeting.

Jim Crawford can speak on energy efficiency issues to fulfill the presidential program requirement. We could also invite architectural society to this meeting for an additional 400 PAOE points.

Education Chair, Bert McJimsey reported that we get PAOE points for sponsoring our TJC scholarships. He also has learned that UTT students can't join the TJC chapter, and thus should establish their own. Finally, Bert reminded us that Gene Branum, our TJC liason, has a class 11-11:50 Mondays & every other Tuesday morning @ 7:00 where practicing engineers are invited to speak. Not only will this increase visibility of our chapter and our profession, but we’ll also pick-up a few PAOE points.

Gene Branum reported on the first Joint Engineers Banquet Selection Committee meeting. Bill Stiles is the leading, though unconfirmed, candidate to represent our ASHRAE chapter.

Steve Hancock

The general meeting opened with 32 attendees including 4 guests and 4 students.

Jay Field, our membership Chair gave a brief presentation on ASHRAE membership. He opened with the established purposes of ASHRAE and moved-on to describe the benefits of national and local ASHRAE membership. A few of the mentioned benefits were a local HVAC "support group", technical information and training, and the establishment of standards for building and testing.

Our Education Chair, Bert McJimsey spoke briefly on his ASHRAE responsibilities. Not only does ASHRAE provide students with access to HVAC profesionals and exposure to their industry, we also disseminate information on HVAC carreers and even sponsor a couple of scholarships. Student membership is important to ASHRAE because a large part of the overall ASHRAE membership joined as students.

Gene Branum, our TJC Liaison added to Bert’s comments. He stated that TJC appreciates ASHRAE support of student engineering. We are the only local society that supports his student engineering group.

Steve Hancock

Dr. Leonard Hale, Dean of the University of Texas at Tyler Engineering School gave us a presentation on the school’s new engineering program. Engineering is new to UT Tyler, but in the two years since the program was authorized, they have acquired a facility, two faculty staffs (electrical and mechanical), and program approval for BSME, BSEE, MS of Engineering degrees. Their complex task has been further complicated by the recent decision to change the program from 2 year to 4 year.

In establishing which engineering disciplines to offer, Dr. Hale and his associates thoroughly researched demands in the region. In this investigation, mechanical engineering skills were clearly most in demand. The second program to offer was not as clear as there is local demand for both electrical and civil engineers. When a larger region including Dallas and Austin was considered, however, demand for electrical skills outstriped that for civil.

The engineering building was completed last summer. Its 2 classrooms and 2 labs are adequate for the 36 students enrolled; but much more construction is planned for the next 12 months with the school’s program expanding from 2 to 4 years and its enrollment expected to increase tenfold over the next ten years.

The admission standards are about the same as they are for UT Arlington. The faculty, averaging 14 years of industrial experience and 10 years of teaching, places less emphasis on fundamental science of engineering and more emphasis on getting the job done. In this regard, UT Tyler is following a nation-wide trend.

Student tuition is about $1100 per semester. Many scholarships are available including 4 sponsored by Trane.

Steve Hancock

President Steve Chen...........636-4252 Arrangements Robert Helt 581-3651

President Elect. Russ Cude 581-9155 CRC Delegate Russ Cude 581-9155

Secretary Steve Hancock 581-3068 Alternate Steve Hancock 581-3068

Treasurer Bill Stiles 597-3442 Education Bert McJimsey 581-3332

Technical, Energy, and

November 20 HVAC Plastics Application by Dr. Jay Field of the Trane Co.

January 15 Scroll Technology by Joe Kinnenger of the Copeland Corp.

February Joint Engineer’s Week

March 19 International Environmental Issues by Jim Crawford of the Trane Co.

April 16 Frost Accumulation by Dr. Dennis O’Neil of Texas A&M

May 21 Statistics and HVAC by Arlo Hendrickson of the Trane Co.

The SLIPSTICK is published monthly from September through May (excluding December) by the East Texas Chapter of ASHRAE. Statements made in the SLIPSTICK are not expressions of the Society or of the Chapter, and may not be reproduced without the special permission of the Chapter.

 

 

 

The SLIPSTICK

East Texas Chapter of ASHRAE

C/O The Trane Co.

6200 Troup Hwy.

Tyler, TX 75711