The Rochester Engineer December 2024

This edition Using AI to advance child development and learning Pg. 11

New liquid biopsy method offers avenue to quick, affordable cancer diagnosis Pg. 16

Corporate Members of the Rochester Engineering Society

ENTERPRISE LEVEL

CHAMPION LEVEL

SUSTAINING LEVEL

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About RES RES Mission Statement: The RES will become the lead organization for improving the image and influence of the engineering community in the greater Rochester area by: Demonstrating a comprehensive knowledge of the region’s engineering and technical capabilities; Providing the best clerical support and public relations assistance to our affiliates; Continually communicating the engineering and technical accomplishments to both the engineering and technical community and the public; Providing regular forums and networking opportunities for the exchange of ideas and discussion of issues; and, Providing programs that identify career opportunities to the region’s youth and develop the skills of the practicing engineer.

The deadline is the 10th day of the month prior to the issue. Unless otherwise stated, opinions expressed in this publication are those of contributors, not of the Rochester Society, Inc. Advertising information may be obtained by contacting the office of the Rochester Engineering Society or going to the website at www.roceng.org.

Published every month but July. You can purchase individual copies directly from ISSUU. 2,500+ Monthly Circulation (11 issues electronically) ISSN 0035-7405 Go to www.roceng.org to join the Rochester Engineering Society. Click on the individual membership and you can submit your application on-line.

News items and articles are invited. Materials should be submitted to e-mail: therochesterengineer@gmail.com www.roceng.org.

Stay up to date with the Rochester Engineering Society & their affiliates events by going to: https://roceng.org/Calendar

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Table of Contents News of the...

1

Cover Page

2

Corporate Members of RES

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About RES

4

Table of Contents

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Board of Directors

21, 22 December 2024 Newsletter

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President’s Message

Terra

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Letters to the Editor Note

8

Rochester History

ASPE

10

Member Profile- Christopher Devries

24 President’s Message

11

Campus News UofR: Using AI to advance child development and learning

RPE

16

Campus News UofR: New liquid biopsy method offers avenue to quick, affordable cancer diagnosis

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Affiliated Societies of the Rochester Engineering Society

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Final Page

Business Services: 15, 17, 18

ASHRAE 20 Letter from the Chapter President

IEEE

23 Mentoring & Advising Opportunities

25 Rochester Plant Engineers Holiday Party

Click to go back to table of contents

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Board of Directors: Executive Board President DENNIS ROOTE, PE CDE Engineering & Environment, PLLC dennis.roote@cde-pllc.com

First Vice President DAWN LaPIETRA L3Harris Corporation dawnlapietra@gmail.com

Treasurer / Imm. Past President MICHELLE SOMMERMAN, PE Colliers Engineering Michelle.Sommerman@collierseng.com

Second Vice President MIKE KURDZIEL, PhD L3Harris Corporation mike.kurdziel@L3harris.com

Directors HOWARD RESSEL, PE Popli Design Group (retired NYSATE) ressel@frontiernet.net

STEVEN W. DAY, PhD Rochester Institute of Technology swdeme@rit.edu

RICHARD E. RICE Erdman Anthony rricesquash@gmail.com

NOAH KELLY NAM Products Services Manager, Alstom noah.kelly@alstomgroup.com

BRETT ELIASZ, PE Colliers Engineering Brett.Eliasz@collierseng.com

JESSICA SHANG, PHD Associate Professor, University of Rochester j.k.shang@rochester.edu

KENTON G. HINES Merrill Lynch Kenton.Hines@ml.com KELLY ROBINSON, PE, PHD Founder, Electrostatic Answers kelly.robinson@electrostaticanswers.com JESSIE COCQUYT Administrative Director Builders Exchange of Rochester res@frontiernet.net

YVETTE LaBOMBARD, PE Director Gas Engineering, RG&E yvette_labombard@rge.com SHEILA RANSBOTTOM, PE Senior Transportation Engineer, Wendel sransbottom@wendelcompanies.com

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President’s

Message

Artificial Intelligence (AI) By the time you read this, RES will have already presented a webinar series on Artificial Intelligence. Because of deadlines, I am writing this before the webinar series is presented, so I cannot comment on the actual presentations. The New York State Society of Professional Engineers (NYSSPE), through their training provider, presented a webinar on November 25 entitled "Engineering Ethics for Professional Engineers: Ethical Dilemma, Moral Disengagement and AI”. In December, RES will tentatively present a one-hour webinar on the ethics of AI. Admittedly, I know very little about AI, but I do know something about engineering judgement. Engineering judgement is based on trust – the engineer has a degree of trust for the data presented to them; the procedures/codes/regulations they follow, the technology used for implementation; and the resultant engineering product. The engineer also has a degree of trust that those whom they are working with have a sound sense of engineering judgement and appreciation for their profession. I have a friend, an electrical engineer, and I asked him what he knew about AI. His response was, in summary, “not much, but it scares the hell out of me”. A healthy distrust of AI or any technology is not a bad thing if it results in greater diligence in the engineering process; a broader understanding of how and where the technology is used; respects the limitations of it; and finally, if the engineer uses it appropriately. What do you think?

Before we highlight this month’s content, I need to remind you of a few changes going forward: · As stated last month, the Rochester Engineer will be published quarterly beginning in January 2025.

Publication months will be January, April, July, and October. · During the off months when there is no magazine RES will publish a bi-monthly newsletter, formatted as an email newsletter. · I would like to give a huge thank you to our First Vice President, Dawn LaPietra, who oversaw what is likely the biggest change to the RES communication strategy that many of us have seen. Dawn worked alongside the ROBEX team, our magazine chair, and others to devise this new way of communicating with our members and readers. Finally, a special thank you goes to Jessie Cocquyt who worked to upgrade our social media presence.

Now, a few highlights in this month’s magazine: · AI is the topic of the month, with our Campus News article from the University of Rochester focusing on AI as it relates to child development and learning. The article begins on page 16. · Our member profile this month is Chris Devries. Chris is a mechanical engineer working in robotics and automation in renewable energy projects and has been an RES member since 2023. He is actively involved in NPSE and was the chair of thed Engineering Symposium of Rochester Planning Committee for many years. and has been an integral member of the for many years. We are honored to have him as a member of RES. These are just a few highlights about the happenings in the Rochester Engineering community. For more information, please check out the RES website (https://www.roceng.org/) As always, if you see anything the magazine that interests you, or have any suggestions, please feel free to contact RES at res@frontiernet.net.

Thanks again!

Dennis R. Roote, P.E. President, Rochester Engineering Society

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The Rochester Engineer Now features a Letter’s to the Editor section. Do you have something you would like to ask our editor? Do you have questions about RES? Do you have questions about local Engineering Firms?

Send your letters to res@frontiernet.net to be included in next months magazine.

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A Sampling from the Archives of the Rochester Engineering Society...1897 - 1978

By Lee M. Loomis Continuing with the historical sampling of the earlier writings on behalf of the Rochester Engineering Society, the years following "The Great War", into and through the “Great Depression”, continued to be a time of reaching out for the maturing Society, both locally and nationally. The meeting minutes describe a series of technical discussions and presentations intended to broaden the technical horizons of the membership (especially the CE's, ME's and EE's). The RES affiliated itself with a number of National technical societies, adopted local Affiliated Societies, frequently held joint meetings with them and continued taking action on a growing list of public matters. Certain issues of standardization, some crucial to public safety, became the responsibility of the RES and its affiliates. In the pervasive economic downturn of the “Great Depression”, the magazine offered classified advertising for unemployed engineers, technicians and draftsmen and took other steps to try to deal with the crisis. Still, it continued its effort to shape the function, focus and infrastructure of the City of Rochester, and beyond. World War, again affected the Society, taking away many of its leaders while providing opportunities for others to step forward to fill these vacancies. In an effort to provide even greater perspective on the happenings and concerns of the day, a synopsis, featuring selected items from "The Rochester Engineer" has become an integral part of this series. The Second World War, the Korean Conflict, and the Vietnam War are now history. These experiences have changed the face of and will, no doubt, influence the future of the community. The Rochester municipal leadership and the industrial community have become immersed in the coldwar, growth economy.

December 20, 1978 (Board Meeting, University Club) RES Treasurer, Daniel Turner, reported that the current balance in the RES checking account exceeded $5,000, and that, unlike the previous year (1977) it would not be necessary to sell any securities to meet current expenses. The Board heard a report from RES Internal Affairs Committee Chair, Douglas Marshall, recommending that Dr. Rudolph Kingslake of the U of R Optics Dept. be named “RES 1978 Engineer of the Year”. This report was followed by a unanimous vote. RES Executive Director, Joseph Campbell, reported on RES Membership; Regular Members – 464, Associate Members – 13, Junior Members – 33, Student Members – 9, Non-Resident Members – 23, Sustaining Members – 19, Retired Members – 2, Emeritus Members – 44, Honorary Members – 5, Total RES Membership – 612. The Board approved two new Regular Members and one Associate Member. Under Old Business, President Dick Rice nominated RES Director, James Sterlace, to the newly created position of RES Third Vice President. This was followed by a unanimous vote. RES Second Vice President, Lee Loomis then proposed that RES Director, Peter Oppelt, replace James Sterlace as the RES Director-Member of the RES Executive Committee. The Board approved this, unanimously.

“The Rochester Engineer” (December 1978) This issue featured a comprehensive article, “Pretreatment of Industrial Wastes” by RES Member Mary Elizabeth Ford, Legal Assistant to the Environmental Dept. of Nixon, Hargrave, Devans & Doyle. She describes current challenges in “closing the liquid loop” in industrial processes, wherein industries are forced to choose between treating liquid industrial wastes themselves, “direct discharge”, or disposing of them via a municipal sewerage system, “indirect discharge”.

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With the advent and implementation of the 1972 Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA), calling for the issuing of industrial pretreatment standards, local standards have often been minimal or non-existent. The results of this were subsequent amendments to the FWPCA in 1977, now known as the Clean Water Act (CWA). Ms. Ford’s description of pretreatment standards, implementation time constraints, and sludge disposal regulations, forecasted the impending struggle of industries to achieve compliance within existing budgets. She stated that, “meeting the pretreatment standards under the CWA will require large investments of time and money by industries wishing to discharge into municipal treatment systems is going to require cooperation between Publicly-Owned Treatment Works (POTW) and their industrial dischargers.” This issue of “The Rochester Engineer” recounts the birth (November, 1922) and the vision of this fifty-eight year old RES publication, “The Rochester Engineer”, and the many RES Member events it has hosted, among them a 1928 tour of the F.E. Reed Glass Co. local producers of glass bottles, 1938 Christmas luncheon at Christ Episcopal Church, 1948 election of James E. Gleason to RES Honorary Membership, 1968 RES new Member Colby Chandler, Asst. Mgr. Color Print & Processing at Eastman Kodak Co. A new feature of “The Rochester Engineer” this month was a “Letters to the Editor” section; this month’s items included Congressman Barber B. Conable’s response to an RES Member’s inquiry about impending Federal retirement savings legislation.

The Congressman described his current effort to get the Revenue Act of 1978 passed, a law wherein employers would be allowed to contribute up to $7,500/year, with a 15% match by employees, to a “retirement savings plan” Editor’s Note: This would later become an authorization of the “401k Plan” we have all come to know and appreciate.

RES Member, James Y. Oldshue, was elected President of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE).

Editor’s Note: Dr. Oldshue would become the “1980 RES Engineer of the Year”.

January 17, 1979 (Board Meeting, University Club) RES Director, Peter Oppelt announced that US Senator Jacob Javits would be the keynote speaker at the February 20, 1978, RES Engineers Joint Dinner. RES Director, Peter Oppelt presented a motion to accept the Human Factors Society as the newest RES Affiliate Society. This motion was passed. Reporting for the Nominating Committee, RES Past President, John Robertson proposed that Ronald Salzman, PE, be elected an RES Director, to replace James Sterlace who was recently elected as RES Third Vice President. The Board provided its unanimous approval. Under New Business, RES Director Dr. Brian Thompson moved that. “The Rowe T. Soule Memorial Fund (#162), the O.L. Angevine Memorial Fund (#163), and the RES Interest Account (#161), be combined to become The Rochester Engineering Society Scholarship Fund, and that it be further resolved that the interest from this new account be used for scholarship purposes, with the principle remaining intact.”

Subsequent articles in this series will describe the RES' continuing outreach to other technical societies as it considered its role in this and the larger community. It will feature more of the activities of the RES as it moved to be of greater service to its membership, as the Society adopted a greater role in shaping the future of the City and its environs. Noted also, will be the contributions made by RES members in the struggle to meet the challenges coming out of World War II, the Korean Conflict and the Vietnam War, as well as a hoped-for period of post-war growth and prosperity. These articles will also feature an impressive array of RES activities in support of post-war re-emergence of Rochester area industry, and the continuing prosperity of the second-half of the 20th Century.

We welcome your questions and comments on this series

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Member Profile

Christopher Devries Joined May 2023

Education Experience 30+ years in the automation industry Mechanical design of robotic automation equipment Applications Engineering and quoting for a wide array of automation projects Skilled machinist with a CNC programming background Machine builder and team leader, installing systems all over the world

BSME, Mechanical Engineering, Rochester Institute of Technology AAS Manufacturing Technology, Automation and Robotics

Organizations & Groups RES NSPE The National Academy of Forensic Engineers

Professional Highlight A highlight of my career was bringing a team of operators and engineers from Texas to Singapore for two weeks to bring a new assembly system online.

Many had never left the State of Texas, and were traveling internationally for the first time. Our flight connected through Moscow, Russia at the same time as a spy was caught sneaking radioactive material through the airport…Delays and extra inspections ensued! We were able to make it through, and the project was very successful. Adventures were had by all!

Interests & Hobbies Boxing Hiking International Traveling House Renovations

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Campus News U of R

Using AI to advance child development and learning Luke Auburn, November 14, 2024

CHILD’S PLAY: University of Rochester graduate student Yifan Li (left) and undergraduate Wenyao Gao ’26 test the Tabletop Interactive Play System (TIPS), which uses augmented reality and artificial intelligence to help parents learn American Sign Language as they interact with their deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) children. (University of Rochester photo / J. Adam Fenster)

Computer scientist Zhen Bai develops technology to help kids benefit from and learn about artificial intelligence.

Can artificial intelligence-powered tools help enrich child development and learning?

That question is the crux of a series of research projects led by Zhen Bai, an assistant professor of computer science at the University of Rochester and the Biggar Family Fellow in Data Science at the Goergen Institute for Data Science. From tools to help parents of deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) children learn American Sign Language (ASL) to interactive games that demystify machine learning, Bai aims to help children benefit from AI and understand how it is impacting them.

Bai, an expert in human-computer interaction, believes that, despite all the concern and angst about AI, the technology has tremendous potential for good. She believes children are especially primed to benefit.

“Over the years, I’ve seen how kids get interested whenever we present technology like a conversational agent,” says Bai. “I feel like it would be a missed opportunity if we don’t prepare the next generation to know more about AI so they can feel empowered in using the technology and are informed about the ethical issues surrounding it.”

“Over the years, I’ve seen how kids get interested whenever we present technology like a conversational agent,” says Bai. “I feel like it would be a missed opportunity if we don’t prepare the next generation to know more about AI so they can feel empowered in using the technology and are informed about the ethical issues surrounding it.”

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Campus News U of R

Using AI to advance child development and learning Luke Auburn, November 14, 2024

Rochester, reportedly home to the country’s largest population of DHH people per capita, is a uniquely rich setting for researching assistive technologies for the Deaf community.

Minimizing language deprivation in deaf and hard-of-hearing children During one of Bai’s earliest experiences at the University, she met a key collaborator who led her to a new avenue of research. At a new faculty orientation breakfast, she happened to sit next to Wyatte Hall, a Deaf researcher and assistant professor at the University of Rochester Medical Center’s Department of Public Health Services. The two bonded over a shared interest in childhood development and learning.

Hall explained some of the unique challenges children who are deaf and hard-of-hearing face in cognitive and social development.

More than 90 percent of DHH children are born to hearing parents, and often the very first deaf person that parents meet is their own baby. In early human development, there’s a neurocritical period of language acquisition—approximately the first five years of a child’s life—in which children need to acquire a first language foundation. Having parents who do not know a signed language, and the limits of technology such as the cochlear implant and hearing aids, increases the risk of DHH children experiencing negative developmental outcomes associated with language deprivation.

“I learned a lot from Dr. Hall about this concept of language deprivation and became fascinated with the idea of how technology could play a role to make life easier,” says Bai. “I wanted to explore how to help facilitate this very intimate bonding from day one between parents and their kids.”

Bai and Hall began collaborating on a project called the Tabletop Interactive Play System (TIPS) to help parents learn ASL in a natural setting. The system uses a camera and microphone to observe the parent and child interacting, and then uses a projector to present videos of relevant signs retrieved via artificial intelligence from multiple ASL libraries.

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Campus News U of R

Using AI to advance child development and learning Luke Auburn, November 14, 2024

NEXT GEN ED: Zhen Bai, an expert in human-computer interaction, believes that technology like AI has tremendous potential for good—and that children are especially primed to benefit.

(University of Rochester photo / J. Adam Fenster)

In addition to a tabletop version, Bai has been developing versions for tablets, smart watches, and smart glasses, together with her team of undergraduate and graduate students with backgrounds in computer science, data science, and neuroscience. She has also collaborated with student fellows from the Rochester Bridges to the Doctorate program and other researchers from the Deaf community such as Athena Willis, a scholar in the Rochester Postdoctoral Partnership from the University’s Department of Neuroscience.

Rochester, reportedly home to the country’s largest population of DHH people per capita, is a uniquely rich setting for researching assistive technologies for the Deaf community. Hall says Bai’s willingness to learn from and collaborate with the Deaf community has helped improve the effectiveness of the tool.

“Often we’ve seen hearing people, hearing researchers become involved in Deaf-related things, they learn something interesting about Deaf people and want to run with it for their own work. Even with the best of intentions, that can go awry very quickly if they are not collaborating with Deaf people and the community at all or in the right way,” says Hall. “My experience with Dr. Bai, though, she really started with a good foundation and kept collaborating with me in a very positive way, so it’s been a great partnership from the very beginning.”

Demystifying machine learning

As AI provides more recommendations to kids about the books they read, shows they watch, or toys they buy, Bai wants to provide learning opportunities so kids can use the technology and understand how it works to make it less of a “black box.” She earned a prestigious Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award from the National Science Foundation to develop technologies that help K–12 students demystify machine learning, an integral aspect of current approaches to AI.

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Campus News U of R

Using AI to advance child development and learning Luke Auburn, November 14, 2024

Partnering with researchers from the Department of Computer Science, including Albert Arendt Hopeman Professor Jiebo Luo, and from the Warner School of Education—including Frederica Warner Professor Raffaella Borasi, Associate Professor Michael Daley, and Associate Professor April Luehmann—her team developed visualization tools that help K–12 students and their teachers use machine learning to make sense of data and pursue scientific discovery, even if they do not have programming skills.

Bai has been piloting the web-based tool her team developed, GroupIt, with K–12 teachers to see how she can help the next generation make sense of big data. She says working with teachers has been crucial because they are on the frontlines of helping children make sense of AI. “Teachers play such a critical role in integrating AI education in the STEM classroom, but it’s so new for them both technologically and pedagogically,” says Bai. “We want to empower teachers with easyto-use tools so they can create more authentic learning activities that integrate data into their classroom, whether they’re teaching hard sciences or social sciences.”

To help K–12 students understand how AI is affecting them, Bai and her students also developed an augmented reality game. The game uses bee-pollinating flowers as an analogy for AI-powered recommendation systems, illustrating how the preference selection process works. Called BeeTrap, the game shows how choosing to pollinate certain types of flowers can reduce the overall biodiversity of the flowers in the environment.

AI MEETS AR: Research assistant Yi Zhang adjusts OptiDot. When paired with augmented reality, the 3D-printed optical device is designed to help children understand how artificial intelligence is used in preference selection. (University of Rochester photo / J. Adam Fenster)

TABLETOP TECH: “We want to empower teachers with easy-to-use tools so they can create more authentic learning activities that integrate data into their classroom,” says Rochester computer scientist Zhen Bai. (University of Rochester photo / J. Adam Fenster)

GAME ON: A scene from the augmented reality game BeeTrap, developed by Bai and her students.

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Campus News U of R

Using AI to advance child development and learning Luke Auburn, November 14, 2024

“BeeTrap explains the mechanism that makes recommendations more or less relevant and diverse to a person,” says Bai. “The goal is to help children realize the value of information and how things are being selectively recommended to people based on previous choices they made and other personal information.”

Bai says this is especially important for marginalized groups, who can be impacted by inherent biases in AI systems related to race, ethnicity, gender, and other factors. Bai has introduced the BeeTrap game to students in various summer camps including the Upward Bound pre-college program by the David T. Kearns Center at the University, and the Freedom Scholars Learning Center in the city of Rochester.

The team is also creating more tangible representations of AI. Her group created OptiDot, a 3D-printed optical device that shows how AI might suggest different food choices based on your preference for sweet or salty snacks or fatty or healthy options.

Ultimately, Bai thinks it will take a multifaceted approach to help students harness the power of AI, but she is excited to develop tools that can help them get there.

“There is a lot more work to be done to improve the learning experiences and make AI accessible and relatable for students,” says Bai. “We’re happy to play a role in helping to make that happen.”

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Campus News U of R

New liquid biopsy method offers avenue to quick, affordable cancer diagnosis Luke Auburn, October 28, 2024

CATCH SOME EVs: A team of researchers at the University of Rochester has developed ultrathin membranes with pores sized perfectly to catch and display extracellular vesicles (EVs), tiny packets of cellular material that can provide important information about the status of the body.

(University of Rochester illustration / Erik Patak)

The method uses ultrathin membranes to capture tiny packets of cellular material called extracellular vesicles.

There are billions of tiny packets of cellular material called extracellular vesicles (EVs) that are produced by cells and released into each person’s blood, saliva, and other bodily fluids. EVs contain invaluable information, such as proteins and genetic material, from their original cell, which can provide insight about the status of the body. Scientists have been trying to leverage EVs for their diagnostic and therapeutic potential but have struggled to do so in a fast and cost-effective way.

In a study published in Small, researchers at the University of Rochester outline a new method for using ultrathin membranes to easily identify EVs for rapid liquid biopsies. The method, called catch and display for liquid biopsy (CAD-LB), holds promise for diagnosing cancer quickly and affordably, and assessing the progress of therapies used to treat diseases.

“By searching samples of blood or other bodily fluids for these extracellular vesicles and the biomarkers they carry, you can find important clues that something is amiss in the body,” says James McGrath, the William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Biomedical Engineering and leader of the study. “The idea has been around for a while, but previously it required many purification steps to isolate the EVs away from other components of the biofluid. CAD-LB is much simpler and faster, which gives it the potential for clinical use that more complex methods lack.”

The team developed ultrathin membranes with pores sized perfectly to catch EVs. Once a sample of blood is taken, it is quickly processed, injected with a pipette onto a membrane, and directly analyzed under a microscope. By counting the number of pores that glow with the biomarker for the disease being assessed, users can get a quick estimation of how prevalent the disease is within the body.

In addition to outlining the CAD-LB method, the study demonstrated the method’s ability to identify critical immune modulatory proteins on EVs. These proteins play an important role in helping the body fight tumors and can predict how well a patient might respond to immunotherapies.

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Campus News U of R

New liquid biopsy method offers avenue to quick, affordable cancer diagnosis Luke Auburn, October 28, 2024

“CAD-LB is currently sensitive enough to detect some cancers at a curable stage of their development, suggesting the technology’s potential for cancer screening,” says co-author Jonathan Flax, a research assistant professor at the University of Rochester Medical Center’s Department of Urology. “It may also be utilized to predict the patient-specific selection of immunotherapies, the treatment that directs the immune system to target and eliminate cancer cells.”

McGrath credited first author and biomedical engineering PhD student Samuel Walker for his leadership on the study, as well as the Wilmot Cancer Institute and UR Ventures’ Technology Development Fund for providing key financial support.

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December 2024 Newsletter Officers & Societies CHAIR Kelly Robinson VICE-CHAIR Emmett Ientilucci TREASURER Lyle Tague SECRETARY Eric Zeise AES & COMSOC Cristiano Tapparello CS & CIS Bo Yuan EDS & CSS Sean Rommel EMBS Cristian Linte GRSS Emmett Ientilucci LIFE Jean Kendrick APS & MTTS Danielle Walters PHOTONICS Parsian K. Mohseni PES & IAS Kelly Robinson Jean Kendrick SPS Eric Zeise TEMS Paul Lee YOUNG PROF. Eric Brown STUDENT CHAP. Univ. of Rochester Ming-Lun Lee RIT Jamison Heard AWARDS Jean Kendrick COMMUNICATION Christine Frayda Howard Bussey NEWSLETTER Mark Schrader PACE Bruce Rubin HISTORIAN Ram Dhurjaty CS/CIS RES LIASON Greg Gdowski

Message from the Chair

Our IEEE Rochester Section Signal Processing Chapter (https://signalprocessingsociety.org/) hosted the Western New York Image and Signal Processing Workshop in November. One key focus was artificial intelligence applied to image processing. I thank Dr. Eric Zeise and his team for organizing this fine event. See the next page for photos from the workshop. What topics would draw you to an IEEE event?

This is a great opportunity to learn new things, meet interesting people, support our vibrant Rochester technical community, elevate the practice of engineering, and enrich the experience of your colleagues. Let us know what topics interest you. Our IEEE Rochester Section Executive Committee meets monthly to organize events. Our next meeting will be over lunch on Tuesday, January 7th, from 12:00 PM to 1:30 pm. Please feel free to register for in-person or virtual (Zoom) attendance using this link:

https://events.vtools.ieee.org/m/445275 I look forward to working with you!

Regards, Kelly Robinson, PE, PhD Chair, IEEE Rochester Section IEEE Region R1R2 Historian and Former Section Chair Gives Keynote Address

2024 Western New York Image and Signal Processing Workshop (WNYISPW) The WNYISPW was an all-day conference held on November 8 at the Rochester Institute of Technology. There were numerous invited talks, student talks, and an informative poster session. Topics included animated motion pictures, analyzing political speech, and K-12 education of AI concepts in social media and physics. The talks ranged from highly technical applications such as medical diagnostics to a historical perspective of Generative AI. Pictures of some of the speakers are shown below.

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December 2024 Newsletter

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President/: DAVE JERECKOS IBC Engineering, PC 3445 Winton Place Suite 219 Rochester, NY 14623 585-292-1590 Vice President Technical: LUKE LAWATSCH Labella Associates 300 State Street Suite 201 Rochester, NY 14614 585-454-6110 Vice President Legislative: TREVOR SAX IBC Engineering, PC 3445 Winton Place Suite 219 Rochester, NY 14623 585292-1590

Vice President Membership: REBECCA KOLSTAD Kolstad Associates 40 Harrison Street Rochester, NY 14605 Treasurer / Education Chair: JENNIFER WENGENDER, P.E., CPD CPL 255 Woodcliff Drive, Suite 200 Fairport, NY 14450 585-454-7600 Administrative Secretary: ADAM KRAMER M/E Engineering 300 Trolley Boulevard Rochester, NY 14606 585-288-5590 Newsletter Editor: NADIA THOMPSON Turner Engineering 359 West Commercial St, Ste 2190 East Rochester NY 14445 (585) 381-3360 Affiliate Liaison: EMILY MILLER WMS Sales 9580 County Rd. Clarence Center, NY 14032 (716) 741-9575 Rochester Chapter Website:

www.aspe.org/rochester

President's Message Happy Holidays everyone!

Well Holiday well wishes to everyone! As we continue into the season of ASPE we will be working very hard to continue with our giveaway program. As mentioned in previous meetings this year we are looking into providing our members that attend 4 meetings this season (non-consecutive) we will provide them with a ASPE Rochester backpack. Please make sure if you are a member that you are in good standing with ASPE and most importantly that you sign in at every meeting you attend so we can keep track.

We have 85 Members with consisting of 50 Full, 20 Associate and 15 Affiliate members. In that group of 85 members we have 19 PE’s and 9 CPDs. Of the those that attend meetings, about half are Members. If you attend meetings but are not a member, we are always glad to see you but please consider joining the Rochester Chapter of ASPE. We will be for our monthly meetings at Three Heads for the new season and will continue through May of 2025 for another exciting year! I hope everyone is having a good Holiday season. I am looking forward to seeing folks at the December meeting!

Dave Jereckos, Chapter President

(Chapters are not authorized to speak for the Society)

Meeting Notice – Save the Date Topic:

Water Conservation Technology

Sponsor: Davenport Associates – Courtney Matrix Location:

Three Heads Brewery: 186 Atlantic Ave, Rochester, NY 14607

Date:

Wednesday, December 18, 2024, 12:00 PM

RSVP:

llawatsch@labellapc.com

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Rochester Plant Engineers Holiday Party Where: Fairport Brewing Company 1044 University Ave Rochester, NY 14607 When: December 10, 2024 @ 4:00 pm till

Drinks, party food, networking and fun time We will have an Ugly Sweater & Best Dressed Contest Friends and Family welcome Cost: $25 per person Sign Up BY 12/06/24: online link at https://rochesterplantengineers.com/event/holiday-happy-hour-2/ Questions

Matt Agnello, agnellom@starktech.com (585) 721-4146

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Affiliated Societies of the Rochester Engineering Society

American Consulting Engineering, Companies of New York

Electrical Association

Monroe Professional Engineers Society

American Public Works Association Monroe County/Genesee Valley Branch

Genesee Valley Land Surveyors Association

New York State Association of Transportation Engineers, Section 4

American Society of Civil Engineers, Rochester Section

Illuminating Engineering Society of North America Inc., Rochester Section

American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Rochester Chapter

American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Rochester Section

American Society of Plumbing Engineers, Rochester NY Chapter

Imaging Science & Technology, Rochester Chapter

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Rochester Section

Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers, Rochester Chapter

Rochester Plant Engineers

Association for Bridge Construction and Design

Society of Plastics Engineers, Rochester Section

Terra Rochester Finger Lakes Science & Engineering Fair

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From Plans to REALITY

Advertising Rates and Membership Applications are Available at www.roceng.org

Rochester | Buffalo | Syracuse | Capital District www.meengineering.com

November 2024 edition

The Rochester Engineer Published by Builders Exchange of Rochester 180 Linden Oaks, Suite 100 Rochester, NY 14625 (585)586-8030

Missed last month’s issue? Click here to see other editions.

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