RES President's Message

Dear Fellow Engineers,

Sadly, I announce the passing of Salvatore A. LaBella. Sal was a recipient of the Engineer of the Year Award in 1999. He also served as the RES President from 2001-2002. There are few individuals who have had such impact on the RES and the Rochester community. He will be sorely missed, but his impact in the community will never be forgotten. The RES would not be where it is today without his support. LaBella Associates has been an Enterprise Level Corporate Member, helped with the Tutoring Team and has supported the annual Gala for many years.

The biggest community news is the announcement of numerous acquisitions and partnerships of RES Corporate members. Bergmann Associates announced that it has entered into an agreement to partner with Colliers Engineering & Design, a leading national multi-discipline engineering design firm. Erdman Anthony has acquired Dwyer Engineering a mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and refrigeration engineering firm that serves the food store, restaurant, retail, and office building markets from offices in Leesburg, Virginia, and Columbia, Maryland. Finally, Re:Build Manufacturing announced the acquisition of Optimation Technology significantly expanding and adding capabilities to their Total Production Solutions group. Congratulations to Bergmann Associates, Erdman Anthony, and Optimation Technology! All have been long-standing supporters of the RES. I wish them the best of luck in the future endeavors, and I look forward to working with their new expanded groups!

Are you looking to have more impact in the community? We are beginning to assemble our Tutoring Team for the 2021-22 school year at the Walter Cooper Academy (pg. 9). Consider serving as a tutor. Even just two hours a week can have an enormous impact in the life of an Academy Scholar.

Time is running out for students to apply to the engineering scholarships! There are several $1,500 scholarships that are available to college engineering students (pg 10). The David Fergusson, Susan Costa, Joseph Campbell, and Keith Amish scholarships are a few of the awards that we provide for current undergraduate students. Many of these recipients have gone on to become remarkable engineers.

Please encourage deserving individuals to apply for our scholarship program. All recipients will be recognized at the 125th RES Gala in April! This month we are starting another new column that highlights Alumni of our Scholarship programs. In this first article (pg. 18), we highlight Bradley Potter, the recipient of the 2011 Joseph Campbell Memorial Scholarship.

Don’t forget to mark your calendar for the 118th Annual RES Gala on April 2nd, 2022. This will be our 125th anniversary! Join us to celebrate the recipients of the professional engineering awards and scholarships!

Finally, we are always looking for interesting articles for the Rochester Engineer. Do you have something to say? If so, please contact us to discuss how you can contribute!

All my best, Greg Gdowski, PhD President, RES

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