Chattanooga Engineers Club

www.ChattanoogaEngineersClub.org

 

Great Programs, Great Food and Free Parking

 

NEXT MEETING___________________________

Monday, June 15, 2009 - Noon - DOUBLETREE HOTEL, Second Floor (407 Chestnut St., Chattanooga, TN 37402)

"Growing a technical workforce in Chattanooga" - Tim McGhee

According to the U.S. Department of Labor / Bureau of Labor Statistics, job opportunities in the construction industry are expected to be excellent, especially for workers with training and experience in construction occupations.

In response to this growing opportunity, Chattanooga State has created the Building and Construction Institute of the Southeast, an educational and training partnership with a multitude of construction industries. The Institute provides a central location for educational programs from the various industries named to prepare workers for the jobs that are available in the local and regional construction companies. 

Tim McGhee will discuss how the focus on quality training and education plus strong partnerships with local construction industry leaders has helped workers succeed in finding good jobs and meeting the needs of the industry.  Mr. McGhee will describe how some of the local companies are currently partnered with the Institute, including Volkswagen, TVA, Alstom, Westinghouse, Wrigley, and DuPont.

Mr. McGhee is the Department Head of Engineering Technology at Chattanooga State and is Director of the Building & Construction Institute of the Southeast.

 

FUTURE MEETINGS________________________

Monday, June 22 – Noon – “Wastewater in Chattanooga – Past, Present and Future”

Speaker: Jerry Stewart, Department of Public Works, City of Chattanooga, Waste Resources Division

Meeting Place: DOUBLETREE HOTEL

Monday, June 29 – Noon – PLANT TOUR & PRESENTATION: BlueCross BlueShield “Cameron Hill Campus”

Speakers: Bob Worthington, Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer for BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, and Dan Jacobson, Vice President Properties & Corporate Services Division for BlueCross BlueShield

Meeting Place: Cameron Hill Campus, Reception Hall, 1 Cameron Hill Circle, Chattanooga, TN 37402

Thirty persons maximum may participate. First-come first-served, based upon reservation. Most slots are already full. Please RSVP before Noon on Wednesday, June 24th, to Misty Walker by e-mail at mwalker@robbinsbohr.com or by phone at 423-756-4430 ext. 138. In the event that someone needs to cancel a reservation, please let Misty know so others may have an opportunity to come.

Monday, July 6 - Noon - “Engineering: The Enterprise Network”

Speaker: Chuck Chamberlin, Director of Telephone & Network Systems, Chattanooga State

Meeting Place:  DOUBLETREE HOTEL

 

PREVIOUS MEETING_______________________

Dr. Tricia Thomas presented a ‘30,000-foot’ view of Algae Based Biodiesel fuel development. 

Biofuels may be harvested from corn, sugar cane, switch grass, wood residue, soybeans, rapeseed, and algae.  Only algae is able to meet 50% of U.S. transportation fuel needs with a very small environmental footprint, requiring less than 2% of existing cropland.  The technology, however, is not economical today. Current algae production cost is $2.95 per kilogram of oil, which exceeds the cost of either petroleum based fuel or crude palm oil.

Production of fuel from algae requires the following steps:  cultivation, harvesting, oil extraction, biodiesel reaction, product separation, glycerol purification, and biodiesel purification.  Today, we know very little about optimizing the first few steps, but we understand the later steps fairly well.

UTC is working with Loyola University to optimize the biodiesel reaction, using micro –reactors on silicon discs.  These discs will use a fixed catalyst, which improves the economics of the process and simplifies the downstream separation and purification steps. Micro-scale reactors may also enable smaller systems to be more cost competitive.

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Linda Allen reviewed the ACE Mentor Program, a free after-school program for high school students who wish to learn more about careers in architecture, construction and engineering. Created in 1994, the national program now exists in 80 cities in the United States and is funded by large corporations and organizations.  The locally based ACE Mentor Program gives students an understanding of the building design and construction industry.

 

ITEMS OF INTEREST_______________________

The Chattanooga Engineer's Club meets at the DOUBLETREE HOTEL, CHATTANOOGA (407 Chestnut St., Chattanooga, TN 37402). Free parking is available in the gated parking lot on the south side of the Hotel. The gate will be open from 11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. There is additional free parking east of the Hotel on Chestnut Street in the paved parking pit.

Looking for details on a local society meeting? Links to local engineering societies are available to you at: http://www.chattanoogaengineersclub.org/engineer

Click on the following link to view Chattanooga State’s Summer Enrichment program for Teens, http://www.chattanoogastate.edu/continuinged/busmwksp.asp

 

QUESTIONS and SUGGESTIONS______________

If you have any questions, items of interest to the Chattanooga Engineers Club, or suggestions for 2009 programs, please contact Joe Robbins by e-mail at jrobbins@robbinsbohr.com or by phone at 423-756-4430. You can find membership application forms, references to future programs, historical data, and other info at: http://www.ChattanoogaEngineersClub.org. To receive future meeting announcements by email, join the Chattanooga Technology Organization mailing list at: http://www.ChattanoogaEngineersClub.org/email