President's message

Greg Gdowski, PhD University of Rochester Incoming RES President June 1, 2020 - May 31, 2022

Dear Colleagues,

I am honored to be taking on the role of President of the RES. The RES has a long history of remarkable Past Presidents dating back to 1897. I am humbled to be among some of the most accomplished engineers within Rochester area over this time period. I am also grateful to those that have preceded me, especially Joe Dombowski (2018-20), Mike Triassi (2017-18), and Jon Kriegel (2016-17). They have been instrumental in setting the stage for the continued success of the RES.

I am very fortunate to have an extremely talented set of officers in navigating the RES forward including Michelle Sommerman (1st Vice President), Dennis Roote (2nd Vice President), Andrew Hirsch (Treasurer), and Lynne Irwin (Administrative Director). The Board of Directors also provides extraordinary depth in expertise that guides RES activities and endeavors. These individuals include Joe Dombrowski (Immediate Past President), Kenton Hines, Richard Rice, Neal Illenberg, Stephen Day, Brett C. Eliasz, Mike Kurdziel, and the newly added members Dan Weaver and Nancy Crawford. It is with great sadness that Michael V. Triassi, and Lee Loomis will be departing from their roles on the Board. Their guidance and help will have a lasting impact on the RES and will look forward to engaging them on future special projects.

As I look forward, the RES is rapidly approaching its 125th Anniversary. It is hard for me to imagine what Rochester must have been like in 1897 when seventeen engineers came together to begin the RES. Kodak was in its infancy, electricity had been just introduced, and the first Ford model-T had yet to be invented. It is remarkable to me that the first RES President, Edwin Fisher, likely personally knew Frederick Douglass and Susan B. Anthony. While we have made strides since that time in eliminating racism and establishing equal rights, clearly the recent incidents resulting in the death of

George Floyd illustrate that we as a society in Rochester must aggressively continue the work of our most celebrated historical figures. Like you, I am angered and saddened by the recent incidents in our country. Violence is not the solution. Frederick Douglass once said: “I prayed for twenty years but received no answer until I prayed with my legs.” It is time for us to take a more pro-active role within the community to move us closer to the United States originally envisioned by Douglass and Anthony.

How can you help make a difference?

We have tried to make this easy for engineers at the RES by facilitating engagements in important community STEM-related activities such as: E3, Stem-Bridges, and the Terra Science Fairs. One activity where we need your help is in providing tutoring for the Walter Cooper Academy, School #10. With the help of Lee Loomis, the RES established the Tutoring Team Project in 2012 at School #10. A school named in honor of Dr. Walter Cooper (1996 RES Engineer of the Year). In 2019, the RES Tutoring Team included more than 20 tutors, providing over 100 hours of support to the scholars and their teachers, each month. They were making a difference in the lives of many students. Your help is needed more now than ever! School #10 experienced layoffs and was closed for the Covid-19 crisis. The new school is slated to be completed shortly and we are hoping to continue our efforts in tutoring in the upcoming year. Please contact me or Lynne Irwin if you are interested in helping with this effort. If you do not have the time to help with tutoring, please consider giving a charitable donation to this effort. Your sponsorship will greatly help us to continue to support tutoring and other stem-related activities such as Science Fairs.

All my best, Greg Gdowski

Outgoing President’s Message

Joseph Dombrowski, PE Retired M/E Engineering Outgoing RES President 2018 - 2020

It is the beginning of May as I write this it looks like spring has arrived. Sheltering in place because of Corona virus is not much different than retirement! There have been many cancellations; PLEASE VERIFY IF EVENTS ARE ON OR OFF WITH THE OFFICIAL SOURCE BEFORE ATTENDING!

Please have no doubt that the RES will continue on in this time of crisis. We are exploring our options to keep open, but I believe we have things well in hand. Our monthly board meetings are now virtual (thank you Greg!) as will be the annual meeting on 5/27/20.

The Gala scheduled for 4/18/20 was cancelled for this year due to Corona virus fears. The Engineer of the Year, Young Engineer of the Year, Finalists for Young Engineer of the Year, Engineers of Distinction, and our high school and college scholarships selections will be honored virtually at our annual meeting on May 27, 2020. More details will follow. Many of our Gala sponsors generously let us keep their sponsorship dollars to meet our ongoing expenses. They will be also be honored at the annual meeting.

The Engineering Symposium (PDH Fest) was rescheduled to September 22, 2020 from April 28, 2020 also due to Corona virus fears. The re-planning effort is already underway (thank you Chris DeVries). We will have sponsors but no venders this year at the Riverside Convention Center. And always, parking will be free, and 7 PDHs and a free lunch are available at a very modest fee. Help is always appreciated but we will especially need registration volunteers on 4 | The ROCHESTER ENGINEER JUNE 2020

September 22 nd . Registration is planned to re-open August 1, 2020. Details regarding the rescheduled event will follow.

As part of the year-end process, we were looking for nominations for our Board of Directors! Thank you to those who have joined the RES and volunteered to be directors.

Our tutoring and Science Fair effort at Dr. Walter Cooper Academy were thrown into a tizzy with the Corona virus and recent layoffs instituted by the Rochester City School District; an effort to get it back on track in the fall is ongoing unless the virus interferes.

If you have any concerns or input, or feel the need to volunteer for anything or to help us out, feel free to contact the RES via the website at www.roceng.org or me directly at jdombrowski3@rochester.rr.com. As always, I hope to see you at one of our RES events, the 2021 Gala, or the Symposium on 9/22/20.

As this is my outgoing message, I would like to thank the board, both past and incoming and especially Lynne, for making my job much easier than it could have been. Times have been unusual to say the least, but with all of your help, RES will come through it successfully and better than it ever has been!

Joe Dombrowski Outgoing RES President

res news - outgoing president’s message