ASME section puts a new spin on banquet

On Saturday, Feb. 17, about 155 engineers and guests gathered at the Ramada Airport Inn in

Tampa, Fla., to celebrate the 20th century as the Century of Engineering, a century of innovative progress giving the world greater living comforts and necessities than had been achieved since the beginning of time.

The founders of this new "Celebration" — ASME and IEEE, joined by AFE and SOLE — presented a fresh way to be proud of what engineers, technicians, businesses and others contributed to a broad spectrum of innovations and applications.

At the reception, guests mingled, listened to live music, were entertained by a master magician and viewed colorful posters provided through ASME's Public Information Department, showing 10 of the 20 greatest achievements during the 20th century, including the automobile, aviation, agri-mechanization, electrification, electronics, public transportation and water supplies.

The keynote speaker, Win Phillips, vice president for graduate studies at the University of Florida and a past president of ASME, gave a riveting talk, projecting likely demands on engineers in the future. He used a number of contemporary slides to emphasize that engineers must embrace change as a way of life.

After dinner and the awards, Michael Labonge, who is a senior mechanical engineer at Walt Disney World, talked about "Engineering the Magic." He showed that Newton's Laws were still viable.

In a significant departure from past banquets, each Society selected its own Engineer of the Year, or Logistician of the Year, thus honoring the best in their field, by their own knowledgeable peers. Barry Lubin, AFE; Al Kurzenhauser, ASME; Alexander Nauda, IEEE; Thomas Jarlinski, SOLE; and Nancie Nichols, Logistician, were honored.

As with past protocol, ASME honored a Student Engineer of the Year, Scott P. Dukes, and IEEE honored Daniel Faria. All of the Societies presented the Lignell Awards to one outstanding high school science or math teacher from each county: Hillsborough County, Alina D. Mills (Science); Pinellas County, Mary Kindinger (Science); and Pasco County, Darlene Cooper (Mathematics).

The solid accomplishments of the new engineers' celebration were many.

This was a lively and entertaining evening overall, for 155-plus participants, enhancing engineers' pride, importance to themselves and the greater society.

The banquet cost $20 inclusive, affordable for the young engineer ($40 last year). (Industry sponsors and vendors helped with support this year.)

More engineers were honored, by their peers and by those who motivate their careers.

There was far greater participation this year (ASME: 80 vs. 24 last year; IEEE: 50 vs. 20 last year). AFE and SOLE joined to participate for the first time.

All of these factors combined to produce an exceptionally successful event.

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