Chattanooga Engineers Club

Monday, December 21 - NO MEETING – Christmas Holidays

Monday, December 28 - NO MEETING – Christmas Holidays

Monday, January 4 - NO MEETING – New’s Years Holiday

NEXT MEETING____________________________

Monday, January 11 – Noon – DOUBLETREE HOTEL, Inspiration Room (407 Chestnut Street, Chattanooga, TN 37402)

"The Future Ain't What it Used to Be" - Dr. Sam Weaver

Dr. Sam Weaver will present the enormity of the world energy problem and discuss renewable energy approaches to the problem. Meeting energy demands is probably the largest business opportunity in history.

Dr. Weaver, a metallurgical engineer and serial entrepreneur of 39 years, currently has 5 active companies. Two of his companies, Proton Power, Inc. and Cool Energy, Inc. are focused on renewable green energy production utilizing novel technologies.

FUTURE MEETINGS________________________

Monday, January 18 - To be determined.

Monday, January 25 - To be determined.

PREVIOUS MEETING_______________________

Jim Schwall reviewed the history of the Chattanooga Engineer's Club (CEC) over the past 85 years. The present CEC was organized as the result of a letter written on February 14, 1924 by O.J. Miller, Hydraulic Engineer of the Tennessee Electric Power Company, to a number of engineers in the city.

An organizational meeting was held at the Park Hotel on March 14, 1924, at which time a committee was appointed to prepare a Constitution and By-Laws for the first meeting on March 24, 1924. The Constitution and By-Laws were adopted in this meeting.

The original 18-person membership grew to 70 in the 1st year, 97 in the 2nd year, and 320 in 1996. Frank M. Robbins, President of Ross Meehan Foundry, and TC Thompson, Mayor of Chattanooga, presented programs in 1924. Meeting locations for the Club have included the Park Hotel, Patten Hotel, Town and Country Restaurant, YMCA, the Cellar Restaurant and the Chattanooga Convention and Trade Center.

The 1970’s were interesting years for the Club. At the first meeting in January 1970, Miss Sandra Lynn Powell, Mrs. Martha B. Lee, Mrs. Marguerite K. Gray, and Mrs. Virginia Harrell Simpson became the first female members of the Club. During the early 70’s, former President Gerald Ford and 3 astronauts provided exciting programs for the Club. Throughout the decade, the CEC Education Committee toured several area colleges and promoted an engineering education program at UC/UTC.

Jim recognized CEC members with various lengths of membership: Myron McCay, 61 years; William Massa, 62 years; Paul George, 62 years; and Charles Cissna, 63 years.

The Engineering Scholarship Fund was established in 1972. Donations made to the fund in lieu of flowers for funerals from members or anyone else are welcome. The future of the CEC is in promoting education in the Chattanooga area. Tax Deductible Donations to Engineering Scholarships should be through checks payable to: Community Foundation of Greater Chattanooga Inc., 1270 Market St. Chattanooga, TN 37402 with the fund name ENGINEERS CLUB SCHOLARSHIP FUND on the memo line of the check.

Ed Chapin reviewed the formation and success of the Lego League program sponsored by the CEC. Dean Kamen created FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) to inspire young people to be science and technology leaders by engaging them in exciting mentor-based programs that build science, engineering and technology skills, that inspire innovation, and that foster well-rounded life capabilities including self-confidence, communication, and leadership. Young people are encouraged to assemble robots and compete in robot events. Dean holds more than 400 patents and probably is best known for the Segway invention. The FIRST robot events required about $15,000 each year for each team. First Lego League was introduced several years later, because it could be funded with less than $1000 annually for each team. League participation now includes more than 6000 teams in the U.S.

13 teams from Chattanooga participated in the Cookeville event this year. Our teams won 12 awards and took 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in the Research Program. Our rapid growth was made possible by the TVA Partners-In-Education program, headed by Charles Spencer of TVA. We appreciate TVA’s financial support for funding this year 5 teams in the FIRST Lego League and 1 team in the FIRST Tech Challenge (Howard High), which serves high school age groups. The joint team effort will provide robot education to more than 400 local students.

A participant in the robot competition showed a video of an actual 2-1/2 minute mission exercise. Each team builds a robot and programs it to solve unique challenges. The theme this year, “Smart Move”, addressed problems in transportation.

ITEMS OF INTEREST_______________________

The Chattanooga Engineer's Club meets at the DOUBLETREE HOTEL, CHATTANOOGA, Inspiration Room (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. Plan to arrive at about 11:30 a.m., if you intend to park in the limited space available. No additional parking is available in the pit east of the Hotel on Chestnut Street.

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

QUESTIONS and SUGGESTIONS______________

If you have any questions, items that would be of interest to the Chattanooga Engineers Club, or suggestions for future 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.