February

KSPE
Eastern Chapter News
Volume 15 Issue 6
February 2014
President’s Message
Here are a couple of National Society
newsworthy items that I thought I could
pass along.
If you haven’t heard, last October, NSPE
sent a letter asking the U.S. Office of
Personnel Management (OPM) to
improve their requirements for federal
professional engineering positions. This
was in response to the OPM issuing a
proposed draft revision adding ABETaccredited engineering technology
bachelor degrees as qualifying for
professional engineering positions.
More recently NSPE endorsed S. 1579,
the SCRA Enhancement and
Improvement Act of 2013. S.1579
acknowledges the need to protect
professionally licensed uniformed
services members. Section 104 of the
legislation delays the expiration of a
professional license by 180 days during
periods in which the licensed service
member is eligible for hostile fire or
imminent danger special pay. Section
104 also addresses a delay for continuing
education requirements.
NSPE is not just a good resource for
news about our profession. They offer
great member benefits, including
advocacy, free PDHs, and networking.
NSPE also offers resources and support
for individuals, state, regional, and
student chapters. You can find out more
information on current issues and other
benefits by visiting the NSPE website:
www.nspe.org.
By: Brian Scovill, P.E.
Inside This Issue:
presentation from KDOT and HNTB on
the South Lawrence Trafficway project.
President’s Message
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Event Information
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As you now know, the weather is causing
disruption for a couple of our student
activities. Both the Model Bridge Building
Contest and the MATHCOUNTS
Competition have been postponed. Due
to the short notice of rescheduling we
know we will lose some volunteers.
Please check your schedule and consider
helping us provide a great experience for
these young competitors. Revised event
information is provided on page 6 for both
events.
Meeting Minutes
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Treasurers Report
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Professional Directory
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Several KSPE representatives had the
pleasure to visit the Governor at the
statehouse as he signed an E-week
Proclamation. The proclamation helps
recognize the importance of the Engineer
to humanity. Final details are being
worked out for our annual E-week
luncheon. The luncheon will still be held
at the downtown Marriott but was moved
to the Count Basie Ballroom.
Speaking of the statehouse, the Eastern
Chapter annual legislative luncheon with
the Johnson County Delegation will be
scheduled for April.
Our awards banquet will also be in April.
Please submit your nominations by
March 17th to Cliff Speegle at
cspeegle@affinis.us.
KSPE EC Website
The website will be updated on
the 1st of each month or as
needed should there be time
sensitive information.
Check it out…
www.kansasengineer.org/
Chapters/Eastern.aspx
Our last KSPE EC meeting was held with
MSPE WC at Manny’s downtown and
included an interesting presentation
about the 96” JCW Mill Creek Effluent
Tunnel. Our next chapter meeting will be
with ASCE and is scheduled for
Wednesday, February 12 at Cinzetti’s in
Overland Park. We will hear a
If you have photos taken at
KSPE events, please submit
them to Cheri Schoenhals,
cschoenhals@gbateam.com, for
inclusion in the newsletter.
Presentation at January Chapter meeting.
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KSPE Eastern Chapter News
February 2014
Event Information
Upcoming Chapter Meeting Announcement
February Lunch Meeting
Joint meeting with ASCE
Jonathan Marburger, KDOT
Ryan Robinson, HNTB
Overview of the South Lawrence Trafficway
Date:
Wednesday, February 12th
Venue:
Cinzetti’s Italian Buffet
7201 W. 91st St.
Overland Park, KS 66212
Menu:
Fancy sandwich buffet, pasta salads, desserts and drinks
Cost:
$15
Agenda:
11:30 a.m.:
Registration/Social
12:00 p.m.:
Lunch
12:30 p.m.:
Presentation
Board Meeting to follow
E-Week Luncheon
Feb. 20, 2014
Make your plans to Celebrate
Engineers Week 2014. This year’s
luncheon will be Thursday, Feb.
20. Booth set-up begins at 10:00 with
exhibits open at 10:30. The event
space has changed and we will be in
the KC Downtown Marriott Hotel (not
Muehlebach tower) with parking in
either the Barney Allis Plaza Central
Garage or the Marriott Hotel
Garage. (Please carpool where
possible.)
Registration is available at http://
eweek.mspe-wc.org.
Sponsorships, booths, and tickets all
available. Awards presentation will be
followed by Keynote Speaker Tom
Roberts, P.E., Assistant Dean KSU
College of Engineering. Direct
luncheon questions to Bill Anthony at
williamr.anthony@gmail.com or 913894-6381.
Nominations Needed!!
RSVP deadline, Monday, February 10th to
hƩp://events.constantcontact.com/register/event?
llr=nj4vwaoab&oeidk=a07e8tqz65m39d07b11
Or to
cschoenhals@gbateam.com
No-Shows will be billed
RSVP:
The KSPE Eastern Chapter award
nominations are due no later than
March 17, 2014. Nomination forms
can be found at the KSPE website
http://www.kansasengineer.org.
Please submit your nomination to
Cliff Speegle at
cspeegle@affinis.us. The Eastern
Chapter award recipients will also
be submitted on April 4th to KSPE
for state awards.
Award Categories
 Outstanding Citizen
 Outstanding Engineering
Achievement
 Government Engineer of the
Year
 Intern Engineer of the Year
 KSPE Award
 Professional Development
 Outstanding Teacher
 Young Engineer of the Year
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KSPE Eastern Chapter News
February 2014
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KSPE Eastern Chapter News
February 2014
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KSPE Eastern Chapter News
February 2014
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KSPE Eastern Chapter News
February 2014
Event Information
Upcoming Events
Bridge Building
The Eastern Chapter’s 31st Annual Model Bridge Building Contest will be held at 10:00 AM on Saturday, February
15, 2014 at the University of Kansas Edwards Campus in Overland Park, Kansas. Students in grades 9 through 12
within the Eastern Chapter’s region are eligible to compete in the Model Bridge Contest.
The contest encourages students to get involved in a challenging and
fun engineering project. The students each design and construct their
own model bridge made entirely of basswood sticks and glue. The
model bridges are then loaded to failure to determine the bridge’s
structural efficiency (total mass supported divided by the mass of the
bridge). The bridge with the highest structural efficiency wins. The top
three finishers will be recognized at the Engineers Week luncheon in
Kansas City, MO. The first and second place contestants are eligible to
win an expense assisted trip to compete at the 2014 International
Bridge Building Contest in Chicago, IL.
Volunteers are always needed to assist students with testing of their
bridges. If you are interested in helping with the contest, contact Mark Johnston at 816.841.8754
(mjohnston@hwlochner.com).
MATHCOUNTS
Due to the inclement weather, MATHCOUNTS, has been rescheduled to Saturday, February 15, 2014. It will be
held at the Indian Woods Middle School (9700 Woodson, Overland Park, KS 66207).
We need volunteers to help grade, register schools, monitor tests, and help with the awards presentation. Positions
are needed for the following times:
Grade & Monitor Tests (majority of people): 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Set up: 7:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.
Registration: 8:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.
Countdown Round & Awards: 1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.
Lunch will be provided for all volunteers.
If you would like to volunteer for more than one task, please feel free to stick around as much as you like throughout
the day.
If you are able and willing to help out with the competition or if you have any questions, please contact Tony Rome at
(913) 895-6001 or by email at tony.rome@opkansas.org.
Save the Date
Annual Legislative Luncheon
Eastern Chapter will have the Annual Lunch Meeting with the Johnson County Legislative Delegation on Wednesday,
April 2, 2014. Please mark your calendar and plan to take advantage of this opportunity to talk with our lawmakers.
More details will be available in the next newsletter.
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February 2014
KSPE Eastern Chapter News
Event Information
Engineers Week Proclamation
Governor’s Proclamation Signing Ceremony designating February 16-22, 2014 as Engineers’ Week.
Left to right: John Ourada, PE, Smoky Valley Chapter Director; Wayne Nelson, PE, KSPE
Secretary; Ken Lee, PE, KSPE President; Forrest Erickson, PE, KSBTP Chair; Larry Graham,
PE, LS, KSBTP Board; Dick Hayter, PE, KSBTP; Adam Stodola, PE, KSPE 1st Vice President;
and Ron Gaches, KSPE Executive Director
Seated: Governor Sam Brownback
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February 2014
KSPE Eastern Chapter News
January Meeting Minutes
Monthly Board Meeting
Date: 1/23/2014
Time: 1:00 p.m. Location: Manny’s Restaurante
Attendees: Cliff Speegle, Keith Schmidtberger, Ryan DaMetz, Rod Holcomb, Brian Scovill, Charlie Love, Tony
Rome, Cindy McCann, Kiel Johnson, Justin Nickel
Call to Order:
The meeting was called to order by Mr. Scovill at 1:25 p.m.
Reports:
The minutes from the November meeting were approved.
Treasurer’s Report: $1,000 was deposited in the EFK fund while $700 was given out leaving a balance of $500.
The KSPE portion of the revenue from the 2013 E-Week luncheon as well as income from the Bridge Building
competition were deposited while expenses included MATHCOUNTS trophies, EFK expenses, and the Executive
Secretary Salary.
Committee Reports
Legislative
Charlie is planning the Spring event. He is waiting to here back from Ron to get a date set. In addition,
Overland Park is holding legislative events. Check their website for further details.
MathCounts
The competition is February 4th (weather pending). Tony is looking into possible backup plans as snow is
currently forecast for the day. Should any of the schools cancel school that day, the event will be
rescheduled. Suggestions for backup locations are welcome. There are currently plenty of volunteers, but
anyone is welcome to participate.
Model Bridge Building
The competition is February 1st. There are plenty of volunteers, but anyone is welcome to attend. Mark has
sent out initial media notices and will send another one this week. KSU inquired about setting up a booth at
the event. It is our recommendation they ask KU for permission and details should they allow it. 103 bridge
kits have been sent out, and approximately 70 students are expected to show up to the event. Olathe
Northwest did not participate again this year, and they have brought 30-35 students in the past. Mark speak
with their sponsor to see if there is a way to get their involvement again in the future.
Fundraising
Rod has collected $1,000 in donations and sent out thank you letters to all participants. He will review the list
of participating companies and methods in order to expand fundraising opportunities in the future.
Membership
Mark Williams had a recruitment event at HNTB to recruit new members. We had a few non-members attend
today’s meeting due to that and hope to see membership increase.
Awards
Tawn Nugent has been nominated for Engineer of the Year. The nomination form will be emailed to the
Board and a vote will take place via email. We need to start looking at nominations for other awards to
present at the May meeting.
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KSPE Eastern Chapter News
February 2014
January Meeting Minutes cont’d
Young Engineers
Keith is looking into ideas for the Spring event (BBQ, Buffalo Wildwings Social, etc.) and hopes to have the
details finalized in order to have a flyer ready by the March Meeting. The event will most likely occur
sometime in April.
Engineering Prep
Tawn received another request for $1,000 for the Blue Valley CAPS program. The funds would be used to
help pay expenses to compete in two FIRST Robotics competitions (Kansas City Regional & Oklahoma City
Regional). Being that there is currently only $500 in the EFK fund, the Board approved awarding $500 to the
program.
In addition, JCCC is starting an Engineering Club and is looking into possibly starting a student chapter of
KSPE. Brian and Tawn are going to discuss with them how KSPE might be able to support their club via
speakers, mentors, etc. and will report back with further details.
Engineer’s week
25 articles were submitted from 20 different sources for the E-Week publication. There are 12 ads so far, and
we estimate that the publication will be 16 pages in length. The split in revenue between KSPE & MSPE for
the event is still being discussed between the two organizations. There are already many people signed up,
and the expected turnout is optimistic.
Advertising
No report.
State Director
No report.
Community Service
Anne is looking into two options for the Spring event. Overland Park holds a Stream Clean event, and the
Arboretum has an Adopt-a-Garden program. We will discuss these options at the February meeting.
Chapter Meetings
February 12, 2014 – Joint meeting with ASCE at Cinzetti’s at 91st & Metcalf to discuss the South Lawrence
Trafficway. Tickets will be $15.
Old Business
Our policy on members wishing to attend an event but not request a meal will remain the same as in the past –
attending an event requires the full admission price regardless of the inclusion of a meal.
New Business
Justin Nickel is on the Communications Task Force. The Task Force is looking into ways to effectively
communicate using social media. Ideas are welcome.
Meeting Adjourned at: 2:30 p.m.
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KSPE Eastern Chapter News
February 2014
Treasurer’s Report
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KSPE Eastern Chapter News
February 2014
Professional Directory
As you know KSPE includes business advertisements in our monthly newsletter but we also include job postings. The job posting is fee is
nominal. If interested you may contact Cheri Schoenhals at (913) 577-8329 or Kristen Leathers at (913) 239-1122.
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KSPE Eastern Chapter News
February 2014
Professional Directory
creating remarkable solutions for a higher quality of life
9801 Renner Blvd Lenexa, KS 66219 913.492.0400 gbateam.com
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KSPE Eastern Chapter News
February 2014
Professional Directory
If your company would like to be included in the professional directory, please contact Kristen Leathers at kleathers@affinis.us
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