Date: September 5, 2008
RE: 2008 PSPE Philadelphia Chapter - Outstanding Engineering Achievement Award
Sir/Madam:
The Pennsylvania Society of Professional Engineers (PSPE) solicits your help in seeking nominations for projects for the Outstanding Engineering Achievement Awards Program held at the PSPE Philadelphia Chapter Meeting on Thursday, December 4, 2008. Award winners will receive special recognition during the observation of National Engineer's Week in the Delaware Valley from Friday, February 13 through Saturday, February 21, 2009. Nominations are due November 15, 2008.
The Outstanding Engineering Achievement Awards Program strives to recognize projects, regardless of engineering discipline, that demonstrate engineering challenges and innovative solutions, communicate the importance of the Engineering Profession to society, and provide a clear and tangible benefit to the Delaware Valley Region. This year’s program will follow this same principle, in that the Outstanding Award will be presented to one project that best meets these criteria as determined by our panel of judges, typically comprised of the presidents of the five chapters in the southeast region of Pennsylvania. PSPE Philadelphia invites applications from all engineering disciplines as it is our goal to recognize the importance of all engineering disciplines in the Outstanding Engineering Achievement Awards Program.
Nominated projects will be short-listed and presentations will be held on Thursday, December 4, 2008 at the PSPE Philadelphia Chapter Meeting to be held at the McCall Golf & Country Club in Upper Darby (directions click here.) Enclosed are guidelines outlining the requirements for project nominations and presentations.
The Delaware Valley Engineer’s Week Council and the Philadelphia Business Journal are preparing a supplement to be included in the weekly edition of the Journal circulated on February 13, 2009. The Outstanding Engineering Achievement Award winner, and runner-up winners will be featured in the Supplement.
Your assistance in this search is greatly appreciated and will result in a diversified field from which the judges can make their selection. Please call me at (215) 885-3733 or send email to OEA@fplotnick.com if you have any questions or comments.
Very truly yours,
Fredric L. Plotnick,
Ph.D., Esq., P.E.
Chairman, Outstanding
Engineering Achievement Awards Program
PSPE, Philadelphia Chapter
PSPE Philadelphia Chapter
Outstanding
Engineering Achievement Award Committee
Award
Program Guidelines
1. The nomination description must focus specifically on the engineering aspects of the project and demonstrate how the project meets the selection criteria. The selection criteria, in order of importance are:
1) Demonstrate engineering
challenges and innovative solutions
2) Demonstrate the importance of the engineering profession to society
3) Demonstrate a clear and tangible benefit to the Delaware Valley Region
2. Project must be designed, manufactured or constructed in the Delaware Valley Region. The Delaware Valley Region consists of the following counties.
Pennsylvania:
Philadelphia,
Delaware,
Chester, Montgomery, and Bucks
New Jersey:
Mercer,
Burlington,
Camden, Gloucester, and Salem.
3. Project design or construction must be substantially completed, or manufacture started in 2008. In the event that the entry is for a component of a larger project, only the component design or construction need be substantially complete in 2008.
4. Projects may only be entered once. No project may be re-entered in following years.
5. There is a limit of one nomination per engineering discipline by any one submitting entity (such as an owner, engineer or contractor.)
6. Nomination applications are limited to the one page form, and two pages maximum of addition description. All supporting information must be unbound/unstapled, and easily reproducible on a standard photocopier. It is requested that the entire file (of application and supporting information) also be provided in a PDF format to facilitate review by the judges during the short-listing review.
7. Nomination forms shall be completed and returned no later than November 15, 2008 (the date identified on the Nomination Form.)
8. Selected projects, if physically located locally, are requested to be available for a site tour in the spring of 2009.
9. Selected projects agree to support the Delaware Valley Engineers' Week Council in public relation efforts, including but not limited to submission of project write ups and project photographs suitable for press.
10. Firms that nominate projects for this program will be notified, by email, as to whether their projects were short-listed. At that time, information will be provided as to the agenda for the PSPE December Meeting. Notification of short-listed projects will be provided so as to allow sufficient time for presenters to prepare, and is anticipated to be on or before November 21, 2008.
11. Adequate time will be allotted for short-listed teams to present their projects. The actual length of presentation will be not less than 10-minutes, with additional time to allow for set-up and breakdown of projectors and/or other A/V aids, and for distribution of any handouts. It is recommended that PowerPoint, or a similar product should be utilized in the presentations. Presenters are requested to bring a copy of your presentation, as well as two JPG file photos of your project suitable for an immediate press release, on a flash drive.
12. A panel of judges, provided by the five chapters of PSPE in the Delaware Valley region, will determine projects that will receive the Outstanding Engineering Achievement Award, and awards for individual disciplines. Additional or substitution of judges may be made by PSPE.
13. Firms representing award winning projects will be asked to display their projects at the Proclamation Luncheon* on February 13, and the Engineer’s Week Banquet* on February 21, 2009. Organizations are asked to show their support by participating in Engineer’s Week Activities. This may include attendance by employees of firms representing each project at the Luncheon and Banquet.
* The Proclamation Luncheon and Banquet are hosted by the Delaware Valley Engineers' Week Council. Tickets to these events may entail an additional fee.