 A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
Sandra Smith, P.E
Broward Chapter President, 2001/2002
June 2002 - Farewell Message
For this final President’s message of the 2001-2002 Chapter year, I wish to
thank the board members for their support and dedication. Without them, your Chapter would not be able to claim the successes it has achieved . . . and it
also would not have been possible without you, the members. Your companies have supported our causes, financially, and each of you has supported us with your time.
Time is something so valuable. In the private consulting firms, we often sell our services as billable
hours, or in lump sum work, by striving to accomplish the same quantity and quality with less hours (i.e. less cost.) It is the latter principal by which so much of our Chapter work is accomplished, the
time we can offer to our Chapter is limited by so many other factors that we must accomplish more with less time put into the equation. Other commitments such as work, family, and hopefully some
fun as well, are important and cannot be sacrificed for the additional commitments, like FES.
But a new factor has been introduced recently . . . the required CEU’s for renewal of our licenses.
FES will continue, more so than ever, to provide the necessary courses and seminars for each of you to remain current in your licensure. But participation in a board position will also give you credit
toward this goal. I anticipate the competition for these board positions will see an increase in the coming years as a result. We, as your current board, welcome this competition, since your
involvement on committees will likely need to increase if you are to be considered for one of the board positions.
Your commitment to the Chapter will be no less important or no less appreciated if it is this ulterior
motive that drives you to make the commitment. It would be hard to believe that anyone would make such a commitment only to obtain a couple extra CEU’s. I suspect that it will be more often
the case that the involvement in FES and the Chapter will only be something you have previously wanted to commit to, but ranked a little lower on your priorities in the past. Whatever the reason, it
is a time we look forward to when more members are approaching the board members asking what it will take to get on the board.
That is what makes the commitment your current board has made so very special. It was a
commitment made with far less to gain by it than the effort that had to be put in to accomplish it. For that I am grateful to each of you for making that commitment, and standing by it. Tery, Tim,
Jim, and Ben, I thank you for your commitment and look forward to your continued successes in leading this Chapter. Peter, we welcome you aboard and look forward to the continued commitment
you have shown to the Chapter. And Steve, for having led us in the past, and stayed involved this past year, I hope that you and other Past Presidents will continue to do so in the future, as well.
Again, I thank the board, and all the members, for your support and commitment. It has been a pleasure.
Thank you,
Sandra Smith, P.E., President
Broward Chapter
Florida Engineering Society
May 2002
As the Broward Chapter of the Florida Engineering Society moves toward the close of our year, a look back
at some of the planned activities for the year shows that we have met most of our goals for the year.
Our annual golf tournament had a great turnout! While enough money was raised to fund this year’s $2500 scholarship, and while it appeared enough was also raised to meet our goal of depositing
$1000 into our Florida Engineering Foundation endowment fund, our country experienced signs of a recession requiring us to consider postponing this contribution for next year. As our final numbers
are tabulated for the year, it will be close, but so far it looks as if we’ll have succeeded in acheiving this goal! (As a side note: With how busy so many of us seem to be, it’s hard to believe this may
have been a recession, but we hope those members of our chapter that were impacted find their new successes just on the horizon, and wish them luck in their endeavors.)
We are also very proud of the “build a playground” project for Lauderdale Manors Park. Assisting
the City by raising the funds to match their contribution, followed by the donation of time made by the FES members as well as the members of the firms that contributed, helped our chapter reach a
goal of increasing the public awareness of engineers in our communities. Other contributions were made to this effort include our continued role in the MathCounts competitions, the Discovering
Engineering program that was launched last year, and the donation of our time and money to the Waterway Cleanup Program. (Another side note is to congratulate the leaders involved in the
Waterway Cleanup Program for Broward County, which celebrated its 25th year this year.)
A goal for the year was to increase attendance at our monthly meetings to an average of 30 people,
about a 20% increase over the typical attendance of last year. So far we’ve been successful at achieving that goal for each meeting this year and we look forward to exceeding that goal with our
final meetings of the year. You can help us reach that goal for these final meetings by coming to the meeting to show your support of the chapter.
Each of these goals, while achieved so far for this year, require continued efforts in the years to
come so our chapter can continue to grow and prosper. Continue to be a part of our success . . .
. . . if you don’t usually attend meetings, plan to do so for at least one meeting per year
. . . if you do usually attend, plan to take it one step farther and make a commitment to become a part of one of the committees.
I trust that each of you will continue to give the support with which you’ve aided in our success this year, and for that we say thanks!
Thank you,
Sandra Smith, P.E., President
Broward Chapter
Florida Engineering Society
April 2002
Last month I focused on the many events that took place over the first part of 2002. Now it is
already time to begin looking forward to the next year.
As we move toward the final months of this FES year, we are looking for nominations for the
Secretary position for next year. Some of the responsibilities include attendance at the majority of monthly meetings and board of director’s meetings, taking and issuing minutes of the board of
director’s meetings, preparing and distributing the newsletter (with input from the rest of the board, of course). This may sound like a lot of work, but we’ve streamlined much of the process . . . like
the newsletters which are now distributed to nearly 2/3 of the membership via email! The candidate must be a P.E. in the State of Florida, a member of our FES Chapter and interested in accepting
this rewarding position.
Tery will also be looking for volunteers for next year’s committees. The state level committees need
to be filled by June, so please contact Tery if you are interested. Some of the available committees include MathCounts, Scholarship, Annual Meeting Steering Committee, Charter and Bylaws
Committee. We are looking for members willing to make the commitment and that have been attending some of our local events and meetings or have served on a local committee. As a
member of the state committee you will also be responsible for keeping the board informed of the issues involved/actions taken by the state committee. Or volunteer to serve on one of our local
committees. You can get more information on the committees from the FES web site (www.fleng.org) or by contacting any board member.
Each commitment you make to the society helps us achieve one of our goals. Whether that be our
goal of achieving an average meeting attendance of 30 or to increase the awareness of the Engineering profession, it is not possible without you – the members!
Thank you,
Sandra Smith, P.E., President
Broward Chapter
Florida Engineering Society
March 2002
As February is coming to a close, I am sitting here at my computer preparing to type this and had
to begin by breathing a sigh of relief. February has, once again, been a very busy month. We had many great successes, but they would not have been possible without a lot of hard work and
dedication from the members and so many other people that provided their support. I couldn’t possibly list all of them here, so I will start by stating this giant THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU!!! to
everyone that participated in the activities of the past month. There are, of course, a few individuals that I must individually thank, and have done so below, for their contributions went above and
beyond anything I could have hoped for . . .
Thank you to the volunteers who spent their Saturday helping with the MathCounts competition on
February 9, 2002 at New River Middle School. And, I repeat from last month’s message, my thanks to Rob VanCott for stepping up as the chair of this important committee after the departure of the
previous chair. Also thanks to Steve Bailey for the great job as the proctor for the event!
The “build a playground” project for Lauderdale Manors in the City of Fort Lauderdale was not only a
success, it was a lot of fun. Volunteers participated in the construction of the playground on Friday, February 15 and Saturday, February 16. In addition to each of the volunteers, who braved the rain to
come out and dig the holes, assemble the playground equipment, mix concrete, etc., our thanks go out to CDM, CH2MHill, Chen & Associates, Hazen & Sawyer, and Keith & Schnars whose
donations helped make this project possible by cutting the cost to the city by approximately half. Thanks to Shooters Waterfront Café and the Parrot Lounge for donating lunch. Also, thank you
Peter Sheridan, for not just presenting the opportunity to FES for our participation, but also for spearheading the effort. It would not have been possible without your leadership and vision!
Thank you to all the volunteers making “Discovering Engineering” presentations to the high schools
of Broward County during February to help celebrate E-Week. I’ll also thank, in advance, those who are continuing the effort into the months ahead as we strive to make the presentations to all the
public high schools of Broward County (and some of the private high schools).
The E-Week banquet on Saturday, February 23, at the Westin Hotel in Fort Lauderdale was a
celebration of the birthday of a great engineer and land surveyor – George Washington. In this time of “recession” we had concerns that our original budget for the chapter would not be met. However,
through the contributions of each of our sponsors for this event, and a few adjustments
to the budget to reflect the actual expenses and revenues of the earlier events of the year, it looks
like we will still be able to call this year a success, financially. We certainly consider it a success from the position of how much has been accomplished, and we’re only just entering March. In
addition to thanking each of our sponsors and attendees, thank you also to Kathy Hui for helpiing out on the committee and to Pat Legue of my office for coordinating so much for the event. And,
finally, thanks to the volunteers who participated in the Waterway Cleanup on March 2.
Our goal of making Engineers more visible is destined for success with all the effort our members
are putting forth at these events. Good job and thanks!
Thank you,
Sandra Smith, P.E., President
Broward Chapter
Florida Engineering Society
January / February 2002
Another year has ended, and a new one begins. For the FES Broward Chapter, the start of the
New Year is always a very busy time, and this year is no different. As a matter of fact, we will be busier than ever!
Final details are being wrapped up for scheduling the “build a playground” project for an
underprivileged neighborhood in the City of Fort Lauderdale. Volunteers will be needed to assist in the actual construction of the playground, which is anticipated to take place on Friday February 15
and Saturday February 16 of this year. Please contact Peter Sheridan, or any board member, if you’d like to participate.
MathCounts is scheduled for February 9, 2002 at New River Middle School. Volunteers are needed
and should contact Rob VanCott at 828-5087 or robertv@ci.ftlaud.fl.us. A special thanks to Rob for stepping up as the chair of this important committee after the departure of the previous chair.
(Goodbye to Eric Czerniejewski, and best of luck in your new adventures in St. Louis! We’ll miss you, but are glad to know that MathCounts is being left in good hands!)
We will bring our “Discovering Engineering” presentation to all the public high schools and many of
the private high schools of Broward County during February to help celebrate E-Week. This was a rewarding experience for the presenters and the students of the Fort Lauderdale high schools last
year, so we look forward to the increased participation this year.
The E-Week banquet is scheduled for Saturday, February 23, at the Westin Hotel in Fort
Lauderdale. This year we will celebrate the birthday of a great engineer and land surveyor – George Washington. Did you know that he was an engineer? That is why E-Week is always scheduled for
the week in February that includes February 22, his birthday. Patriotic attire is welcome, so break out that American Flag tie or if you are really bold, the powdered wig and “wooden” teeth! Contact
Sandra Smith at 436-7909 x209 or ssmith@millerlegg.com to make your reservation or arrange your sponsorship.
And, we plan to participate in the Waterway Cleanup again this year. That will be scheduled for some time in the spring.
As long as I haven’t missed any, that covers my favorite aspects of each of the events coming up.
I’m looking forward to working with each of you that will volunteer for these events.
Please read more about the details of the events that are coming up elsewhere in the newsletter.
Thank you,
Sandra Smith, P.E., President
Broward Chapter
Florida Engineering Society
December 2001
As the holidays approach we here so much about the “spirit of giving”, but it is too often embedded
in an advertisement that tries to convince you that it is necessary to spend a lot of money to fulfill that “spirit”. Don’t get me wrong, all that spending is good for our economy. But don’t forget that
the best gift you can give is your time: time spent with your families and friends, and time donated to worthy causes, too.
The FES Broward Chapter has some of these opportunities for you to give a bit of your time to
worthy causes. The easiest of these is to combine a bit of that spending with an evening out with family and friends. . . the FES Joint Holiday Gathering with ASCE. Bring your spouse to the
meeting and also bring a new unwrapped toy to be donated to Kids-in-Distress. We look forward to seeing you there!
Also, progress continues on organizing the “build a playground” project for an underprivileged
neighborhood in the City of Fort Lauderdale. The City Commission gave their support for this partnership at their November 20, 2001 City Commission Conference Meeting. Volunteers will be
needed to assist in the actual construction of the playground, which is anticipated to take place in January 2002. Please contact Peter, or any board member if you’d like to participate.
Volunteer efforts that give our engineering profession the opportunity to “give back to the
community” are a great approach to increasing the positive recognition of engineers in our society. It helps to offset the impression some people have that engineers are responsible for paving over
America’s landscape or displacing America’s wildlife. It is so important for people to realize that the work we do is as “problem solvers” and is important to their everyday life, that we make it
possible for them to have safe drinking water, electricity, safer vehicles, and so many other things that they may take for granted. When one of our projects “paves over” the existing landscape, it is
at the request of the consumers and end users who are typically non-engineers looking for a solution to their problem. Engineers are also involved in many of the solutions to the problems
these projects otherwise might not address (like finding cleaner fuel sources or designing water-conservation friendly facilities.)
So if you do not participate in the “build a playground” project, please join us in one of the other
upcoming volunteer efforts. We will bring our “Discovering Engineering” presentation to the high schools of Broward County during February to help celebrate E-Week and we plan to participate in
the Waterway Cleanup again that will be scheduled for some time in the spring. Or take advantage of one of the many other volunteer efforts that are scheduled within our communities. Most
importantly, don’t lose the “spirit of giving” after the holidays have passed.
Happy Holidays!
Sandra Smith, P.E., President
Broward Chapter
Florida Engineering Societ
November 2001
In spite of the tragedy that struck our country in September and the continued uncertainty that
lingers since that day, we must continue to do the things we would have done prior to that date, or the terrorists will have won. The Broward Chapter of the Florida Engineering Society has continued
our planned activities for the year in an effort to meet our goals for the year. We are proud to announce some of our recent successes.
Our annual golf tournament had a great turnout of nearly 100 golfers! Please accept our thanks for
helping us exceed our goal on this important scholarship fund-raising event. Not only was enough money raised to fund this year’s $2500 scholarship, but enough was also raised to meet our goal of
depositing $1000 into our Florida Engineering Foundation endowment fund. This is a fund that is intended to eventually be able to sustain our yearly scholarship commitment based upon the
interest it earns, in case future years do not experience the same level of successful fund-raising that you have assisted us with for the golf tournament this year. It was a fun day, with beautiful
weather, good friends and good food. Also, each golfer received an FES Broward golf shirt. Jim Thompson did a great job organizing the event; Jim, THANK YOU!!! We hope that everyone that
participated enjoyed the day as much as the board members did.
We are also very excited to mention the progress being made on organizing a “build a playground”
project. Peter Sheridan is heading up the committee and has received commitments from five firms, each willing to donate $2500, to purchase the playground equipment (through a joint funding
agreement with the City of Fort Lauderdale) for an underprivileged neighborhood. Volunteers will be needed to assist in the actual construction of the playground, which is anticipated to take place in
January 2002. Please contact Peter, or any board member if you’d like to participate. One of our other goals for the year is to increase attendance at our monthly meetings to an average of 30
people, about a 20% increase over the typical attendance of last year. So far we’ve been successful at achieving that goal for each meeting this year and we look forward to exceeding that goal with
Richard Tornese for Broward County Engineering Division making a presentation at the next meeting. Please plan to attend.
Finally, in honor of the thousands of casualties of the September 11th attacks on our country, I will
repeat mention of two of the requests made in the president’s message last month:
Please become an organ donor (Go to www.organdonor.gov) and please donate blood frequently
(Go to www.redcross.org or contact 1-800-GIVE-LIFE.) You can make a difference!
Thank you,
Sandra Smith, P.E., President
Broward Chapter
Florida Engineering Societ
October 2001
Last month, a tragedy struck our country that went beyond anything we would have ever previously
imagined. Since elsewhere on this site, and in the newsletter, you’ll find information about the Florida Engineering Society’s upcoming Broward Chapter activities, I will not repeat mention of them
here. Rather, I offer you the following comments following the tragedy that we have recently experienced.
Many of us have been left with the feeling that “if only there were something I could do to help”.
Well there are a number of things we can each do.
Last year, John Pepper, P.E. was a guest speaker at one of our monthly meetings. He spoke
about the Urban Search and Rescue Florida Task Force One, a specialized group that responds to disasters. This has included natural disasters such as major earthquakes as well as those
disasters that are the result of terrorists such as was the case at the World Trade Center. As an engineer on the team in New York, John assisted in the evaluation of the stability, or lack thereof, of
the structures at the disaster scene and in the design of shoring of the site needed prior to the entrance of additional rescue workers. The incredible loss of life in New York of rescuers rushing to
aid the victims of the initial attacks reminded us of how important the expertise is that John provides. If you think you may be able to volunteer in this capacity, please contact John for more information at pepper@pegroup.com
Not all of us have the same expertise as John so here are a few suggestions for those of us that cannot join a specialized team like that:
One of the greatest gifts any of us can give is to become an organ donor. Go to www.organdonor.gov to register as an organ donor or have it listed on your driver’s license. Also, be
sure to let your family know that, in the unfortunate circumstances where this may be applicable, it is your wish to give this important gift which can save or enhance the lives of up to 50 other people!
Another wonderful, simple gift to give is to frequently donate blood. It is virtually painless and
doesn’t take very long, but is a gift that helps to save another person’s life, nonetheless. Giving this gift doesn’t cost anything to the donor, but may be worth its weight in gold to the recipient. Go to
www.redcross.org or contact 1-800-GIVE-LIFE or your local hospital for locations and schedules of the nearest blood bank.
Many other countries do not allow their citizens the rights that we have. . . the right to express
ourselves, the right to worship as we choose, and the right to truly be free, just naming a few. Be proud to be an American. Continue to display your American flag; it represents all of these
wonderful rights. This tragedy has reminded us that we live in a free country, where we have the right to keep the Stars and Stripes flying high throughout the year. Don’t put it away to only display
on holidays such as July 4th and Veteran’s Day.
Finally, show that we are united in all of our daily correspondence. Just as we would in
international correspondence, include these three simple letters below the usual address information:
U. S. A.
Have it added to your company letterhead and envelopes, and everywhere else you list an address,
and pass the suggestion on to anyone else you know to do the same. This is the United States of America, we are proud to be citizens of this great nation, and we should show our pride, not just in
times of tragedy, but always.
Long after the dust has settled and the news coverage has faded, we can continue to remember the
victims of September 11, 2001, and honor them with each correspondence we send, because we are free to do so, and nothing, and no one, is going to destroy that freedom.
Thank you,
Sandra Smith, P.E., President
Broward Chapter
Florida Engineering Society
September 2001
Welcome back to the FES Broward Web Page. We are glad you’ve chosen to make time in your
busy schedule to visit this page and we encourage you to make comments on how we can improve both the page and our Chapter.
In July we kicked off the new year with a summer planning meeting held at my home. I announced a slogan for the year:
“Follow me . . . I’m Right Behind You.”
I believe that this slogan has two important applications for our Chapter. First, in our overall efforts
to develop the engineering profession, we are asking students to follow us into this great profession and, through our scholarship program, we are behind them in their endeavors with our support,
financial and otherwise. Second, as board members and committee chairs, it is important that the members are encouraged to follow us in giving a bit of their own time to helping to promote the
profession and for them to know that we are there to support them by guiding them in the right direction in these efforts. If we lead, instead, by being in front all the time, we only succeed in
dragging the members along. If we lead by the principals of this new slogan we will have successfully challenged each of the members to become the leaders we need to continue to gain
positive recognition of the Florida Engineering Society and our engineering profession.
At our summer planning meeting, fifteen members, including the members of the board, worked on
setting the goals for this year and began organizing the committees. Once approved by the board the goals for this year will be posted on the web page.
If you are interested in participating in one of the Chapter’s committees, it is not too late to get
involved! Please contact the committee chair directly or any board member for more information. Our success depends on the participation of all our members.
In August the board attended the FES Annual Meeting at Marco Island where the Chapter received
the Award for Chapter Excellence (ACE Award) for our “Discovering Engineering” program. Please visit the pages of this web site dedicated to “Discovering Engineering”. Congratulations to everyone
involved in preparing and presenting the program last year!! We look forward to reaching even more students this year with this exciting program and welcome you to volunteer to help us bring the
presentation to more schools during E-Week this year.
As your President, I challenge each of you to get involved this year. There are many opportunities
to help promote the engineering profession, so if you have any suggestions for our Chapter’s success or would like to join a committee, please do not hesitate to contact me at (954) 436-7000,
ext. 209, or via E-mail at ssmith@millerlegg.com
Thank you,
Sandra Smith, P.E., President
Broward Chapter
Florida Engineering Society
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