Six new LDI interns are selected, as program achieves 10-year status

The six new Leadership Development Initiative (LDI) interns were chosen last month from 20 applicants.

Selected from a pool of younger, more recent members of ASME who want to learn more about Society operations, the LDI interns will begin working with one of the Society's five councils or with the Board of Governors (BOG) in June at the Summer Annual Meeting.

The LDI program has reached a milestone with the selection of its 10th class. Begun in 1990 as a Development Fund project, the LDI program continues to fulfill its charge of identifying and cultivating highly motivated younger members to encourage their active involvement in ASME International.

The Council on Codes and Standards' LDI will be Boris Bolf. A graduate of New Mexico State University who holds a bachelor's degree, Bolf currently works as a mechanical maintenance engineer at Arizona Public Service. He is also the secretary of ASME's Arizona Section.

Connie Lausten will spend her 12-month term as an LDI working with the Council on Public Affairs. She has just completed serving as an ASME Congressional Fellow, assisting Rep. Cal Dooley.

Before she became a Congressional Fellow, Lausten was a senior engineer at Bechtel Power. She graduated from the University of Minnesota with bachelor's and master's degrees in mechanical engineering.

The LDI for the Council on Education is Dale Lemon. An independent contractor for the Santa Barbara Electric Transportation Institute, Lemon is the chair of ASME's Channel Islands Section. He obtained his B.S. in mechanical engineering from the University of Arizona.

Wai Lee will be the LDI for the Board of Governors. He works as an assistant senior engineer at Matsushita Electronics. Lee is a graduate of Monash University in Australia. He is the current chair of the Singapore Section's Membership Committee.

Mark Powell is the LDI for the Council on Member Affairs. He is a research engineer at ExxonMobil Upstream Research. He earned his bachelor's degree at Texas Tech and his master's degree at Penn State. He is expected to obtain a master of business degree from Houston Baptist University.

In ASME's South Texas Section, Powell is the current chair of the section's Honors/Awards Committee.

The LDI for the Council on Engineering is Michael Rynearson. He is employed as a principal engineer for the Department of Energy in Idaho. He graduated from the Colorado School of Mines with a bachelor's degree and a master of engineering degree.

Rynearson is active in the Idaho Section, where he is the treasurer and the representative for college relations and industry relations.

For more information about the Leadership Development Initiative program, visit www.asme.org/youngengineers or call Warren Leonard at (212) 591-7846.

back to news & features