Chattanooga Engineers Club

NEXT MEETING________________________

Monday, February 8 – Noon – Noon – DOUBLETREE HOTEL, Inspiration Room
(407 Chestnut Street, Chattanooga, TN 37402)

“Protecting the New Orleans Inner Harbor from Hurricane Flooding”

Maurice Bandy, Vice President at Arcadis US, has had a lead role in developing projects to protect the New Orleans Inner Harbor from storm surge damages such as occurred during hurricane Katrina in 2005. He will discuss two projects: one being constructed near the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet and the Gulf Intercostals Waterway, another being planned north of New Orleans near Lake Pontchartrain.

Bandy has a BS in Civil Engineering from Tennessee Technological University. He began his career with the US Army Corps of Engineers. He has been with Arcadis for 35 years, often working on flood control projects for the Corps of Engineers.

Monday, February 15 – 11:30 AM to 1:00 PM — E-Week Kick-Off Luncheon

UTC University Center, Chattanooga Room, Speaker, Ralph Jakobs, General Manager of VW Research and Development.

The E-Week Kick-Off Luncheon is an opportunity for Chattanooga's engineering organizations to come together at the start of National Engineers Week, a week set aside for cultivating and celebrating the engineering profession. For more information about E-Week, go to http://www.chattanoogaengineersweek.com/?Events

Monday, February 22 – Noon – “Sustainability for Enterprises”

Speaker: Brad McAlister, WAP Sustainability

Monday, March 1 – Noon – “Estimating Rainfall from Weather Radar”

Speaker: Dr. Larry Carey, Earth System Science Center, University of Alabama in Huntsville

PREVIOUS MEETING____________________________

Rob Manning, TVA’s Executive VP of Power System Operations, described three policy initiatives that will significantly change the electric system in North America. One of these was the Energy Policy Act of 2005. Another is the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009. A third initiative is regulation of greenhouse gases. This third initiative is currently stalled, but some form of regulation appears to be inevitable in the next few years.

Each of the above initiatives has provided additional impetus for implementing the ‘smart grid’. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 transformed reliability ‘best practices’ into legal requirements enforced by large penalties. The ARRA provided $4 billion in Federal stimulus money, (along with $4 billion in matching funds) toward the implementation of the smart grid. Greenhouse gas policies will increase our reliance on intermittent wind and expensive solar power. Smart grid technology will enable utilities to stabilize the grid despite the intermittent supply. Decisions and analyses that had required minutes will then require only seconds. This same technology can enable customers to reduce costs through energy conservation and participation in demand-response programs.

The smart grid has many definitions, but is generally agreed to involve implementing well known information and communications technology to manage the electric grid. Although some will argue that smart grid is too expensive, the combination of readily available proven technology, government incentives, and customer demand will probably succeed in driving large scale implementation, and fundamentally change the generation and delivery of electric power.

MEETING LOGISTICS_______________________

The Chattanooga Engineer's Club meets at the DOUBLETREE HOTEL, 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.

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 Ralph Boroughs by e-mail at rdboroughs@gmail.com or by phone at 423-227-0412. 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.

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