The Rochester Engineer August 2024

This edition

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...

Business Services: 14, 27, 31, 33

AIA 34

AIA Rochester 2024 Scholarship Recipients Announced

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AIA Rochester Announces 2024 Design Excellence Awards

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Cover Page

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Corporate Members of RES

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About RES

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Table of Contents

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Board of Directors

IEEE

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President’s Message

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Annual RES Meeting

INCOSE Finger Lakes

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Lynne’s Retirement Reception

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Meet our new Administrative Director, Jessie Cocquyt

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Letters to the Editor Note

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RES Technical Corner

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Rochester History

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RES Affiliate Profile: Rochester Plant Engineers

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RES Tutoring- Celebrating Dr. Walter Cooper – A Rochester Legend

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Campus News UofR: Allison Lopatkin named 2024 Pew Scholar in Biomedical Sciences

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Campus News UofR: Team building through bot building

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Campus News RIT: Engineering researchers receive NSF funding to develop computational tools to monitor ablation therapy on cardiac tissue

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Campus News RIT: Engineering faculty and cardiologist collaborate to design heart pump assessment prototype

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Cover Article: Managing Polymer Concrete Slurry in New York State

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Featured Article: Navigating the Depths: The Crucial Role of Hydrographic and Bathymetric Surveys in New York’s Coastal Understanding and Safety Featured Article: Innovative Nano-Pocket Membranes for Enhanced Particle Filtration based on size

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ASHRAE 37

Letter from the Chapter President

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ASHRAE & RPE Fall Clambake & BBQ

August 2024 Newsletter

Annual Hybrid Meeting Announcement

Terra 41

Fair Winner Announcement

Electrical Association 42

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Professional Firm News: CHA Names Jeff Netland as Chief Digital Officer

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Affiliated Societies of the Rochester Engineering Society

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Final Page

100th Anniversary Gala Flyer

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

YVETTE LaBOMBARD, PE Director Gas Engineering, RG&E yvette_labombard@rge.com

KELLY ROBINSON, PE, PHD Founder, Electrostatic Answers kelly.robinson@electrostaticanswers.com

SHEILA RANSBOTTOM, PE Senior Transportation Engineer, Wendel anumrich@wendelcompanies.com

JESSIE COCQUYT Administrative Director Builders Exchange of Rochester res@frontiernet.net

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President’s

Message

Welcome Back!

The Dog Days of Summer are winding down. Relaxing by beaches, pools; on patios, porches, and decks.

Outdoor activities. Enjoying the wonders and recreational opportunities that a western New York summer brings.

Volume 103, Number 1, August 2024 of the Rochester Engineer is different. Brett Eliaz, a director on the RES Board and chairman of the magazine committee, has worked closely with the staff at the Builders Exchange of Rochester (ROBEX), RES’s new association management partner to bring about newer, updated layout to the Rochester Engineer. Take a good look at the magazine. A fresher, brighter feel. Smart placement of advertising.

Visually appealing headlines and titles. Relevant, in-depth information suited for more detailed articles. And Brett and his team are not done yet. This is just the beginning, and not the final “look” of the Rochester Engineer. Starting in September, RES will include a “Letters to the Editor” section. This is an opportunity for you, the engineering community, to tell us what is on your mind, what issues concern you, and what articles/information you want to see. We want to hear from you – not through a survey or phone call, but rather from you on your timeframe about topics that are important to you. As always, feel free to contact us with questions, concerns, and suggestions.

Now, a few highlights in this month’s magazine: • Lee Loomis continues his fascinating series on the history of Rochester engineering as reported by the Rochester Engineering Society. In June 1978, RES approved Richard Rice as President, and Lee Loomis as Second Vice President – 2 people who are still heavily involved in RES. • We say good-by to Lynne Irwin, RES’s long time administrative director. Lynne, you helped many in RES in so many ways and gave us – the RES leadership – the stability we needed to navigate RES through all our highs and lows.

• We introduce Jessie Cocquyt, our new administrative director (appointed by ROBEX). Jessie is an experienced administrator who has extensive involvement with non-profit organizations and experience in the construction sector. Coupled with a host of ideas and enthusiasm for this position, Jessie is a great fit for RES. Welcome!

• In Campus News, U of R celebrates Allison Lopatkin as a PEW Scholar in Biomedical Sciences and reports on undergraduate engineers participating in NASA’s Lunabotics Challenge. RIT highlights research in the biomedical engineering field.

• Electrical Engineering Technical Corner, Polymer Concrete Slurry, Bathymetric Surveys, and Nano-Pocket Membranes for Enhanced Particle Filtration round out this month’s technical articles.

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 and enjoy the rest of the summer!

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

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RES Annual Meeting We had a great annual meeting in June! A time for members to reconnect, take a look back at the past year of RES activities, and look ahead at the upcoming year! Very excited for the new slate of Officers & Directors and our new partnership with Robex!

Business Meeting @ RMSC Bausch Auditorium.

Michelle Sommerman (President) 2022-2024 & Lee Loomis (Tutoring Team Leader 2024-2024)

Thanking our sponsors

Howard Ressel (BOD & member of EDC committee) & Mark Schrader (member of Scholarship Committee)

School of the Arts Jazz Band Mike Witkiewitz, Director Greg Gdowski (President) 2020-2022 & Michelle Sommerman (President) 2022-2024

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Lynne’s Retirement Reception After the Business Meeting...we celebrated Lynne's retirement after 42 years with RES!!!

She has gotten to know such a variety of people over her years with RES, I'm sure she has many stories! It was great to recognize her (as she was often in the background just getting things done). As seems to be typical, I hear she is even busier in retirement!

rwin L yn n e I & n a er m n to n e Somm OD Ke B y b Michell e ad la q ue m with a p Hines.

Lynne with her

mother.

Michelle & Lynne with Ly

nne's family in the background.

ynne from Gift to L owski .

Greg Gd

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Meet our new Administrative Director, Jessie Cocquyt.

Our new Administrative Director brings a wealth of experience in management, business, and administration.

When RES chose to contract with the Builder’s Exchange of Rochester (ROBEX), Kim Gaylord, the President of ROBEX, gave RES a gift. She designated Jessie Cocquyt, a Rochester native, a graduate of SUNY Brockport, and an experienced administrator, as Rochester Engineering Society’s new administrative director.

Jessie joined the Builders Exchange of Rochester in May 2024, bringing over 15 years of administrative experience in construction, retail, and industry associations. While in college, she interned at LeChase Construction and at Barnes & Noble, which led to her first job after graduation as an assistant manager at the college bookstore on the St. John Fisher College. From there, she worked for DDS Companies, which brought her back into the construction industry. She then worked for Victor Excavating and Villager Construction prior to joining the staff at ROBEX. She has been involved with Junior Builder’s Exchange where she was the Executive Board secretary.

Jessie has a strong passion for community service, fueled by the example of her father, who volunteers and is heavily involved with the Al Sigl. She accompanied him on various events and volunteering opportunities. One opportunity was Sit-Ski, an adaptive ski system where people of all ages with mobility issues are able to enjoy the sport of skiing. Upon experiencing the positive impact it had on people’s lives, Jessie was hooked and knew she had to be a part of Al Sigl Center. Her passion for helping others led to her involvement in the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Her involvement with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation led her into the Cystic Fibrosis Finest program, a leadership training and fundraising program in which participants pair up with a family experiencing CF. While there, she met an 18-year-old with CF, an experience that further sharpened her passion for community service. The young man is now an adult, working in medical sales. It is no surprise that Jessie’s philosophy for life is, “Be Kind. It's a lot harder to be mean.”

With her extensive experience in construction and nonprofits, Jessie brings fresh eyes, fresh ideas, and the enthusiasm that goes along with them. In her office hangs a sign that states: “The most damaging phrase in the language is ‘We’ve always done it this way.’”

She sees the ROBEX/RES relationship as a long-term partnership and has stated: “I'm really excited to see where it (RES) is in a year from now.”

At the core, Jessie has a desire to help people become a bigger part of something – be it the construction industry, the non-profit arena, or the engineering community. Her eagerness to share her ideas and experiences with the Rochester Engineering Society includes a life lesson about rushing things too quickly. She wishes that “...current me could’ve had more consideration for future me .”

When Jessie is not helping RES achieve its potential, she enjoys traveling and reading Elin Hilderbrand romance novels; an ideal vacation would be at an all-inclusive beach resort with a cocktail and a book on the beach.

As RES steers into the future, we can count on Jessie and the ROBEX team to provide support that includes the experience, advice, and passion needed to help RES grow and serve Rochester’s engineering community well into the future.

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Beginning in September The Rochester Engineer will start to feature 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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TECHNICAL CORNER ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING FOCUS

The purpose of this article is to help avoid the common service design error that we often see even after the phase conductors have been properly sized. Namely, what does each filled conduit need to include and what should it not include?

In the June 2024 article, we established that two parallel sets of #500 kcmil are sufficient to feed an 800A service. This assumes 75C lugs (a good assumption for new installations) and copper conductors.

In each of the two utilized conduits in our 3-phase, 4-wire, 800A service, make sure to specify a total of four 500 kcmil copper conductors: one for each of the three phases (the ungrounded service conductors) and one grounded service conductor. The grounded service conductor carries the unbalanced current and the ground fault currents back to the utility transformer, and it is always correct to size it equal to the ungrounded service conductors.

Do not include a fifth conductor in the service conduits. If we incorrectly call out a 5-wire, 800A equipment feeder between the utility transformer and the service board, we are asking the contractor to provide two differently sized grounded conductors in parallel to carry the sum of the unbalanced and ground fault currents back to the source, which is a violation of NEC 310.10(G)(2)(3), a potentially dangerous condition, extra copper, and completely unnecessary.

Do not confuse service feeders with equipment feeders, since they have different requirements. If we incorrectly specify a 4-wire, 800A equipment feeder between the utility transformer and the service board, the grounded conductor will be undersized in this example, because grounded conductors and equipment grounding conductors are defined in separate NEC Tables 250.102(C)(1) and 250.122, respectively.

Instead, please specify four equally-sized conductors in each service conduit.

Reference Material: NEC 2020 and real-life, third-party single line diagrams Feel free to provide any comments and follow-up questions to me at bpeters@cscos.com. Thank you for reading!

Bart Peters, PE, LEED AP Senior Project Engineer C&S Engineers, Inc.

Brett Eliasz, P.E., LEED AP BD+C , RES Director

Hopefully this article finds you well and can be used as a reference for your project needs. If anyone would like to contribute to the RES magazine and add an article or would like to request information on a specific topic (not limited to Electrical) just email me at Brett.Eliasz@collierseng.com. As always, any comments are appreciated…!

Thank you for reading.

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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.

“The Rochester Engineer” (May 1978) (continued) In his article, “Highways: Which Way to the Future”, Federal Highway Administrator (U.S. DOT), William M. Cox, describes some of the challenges to completing the final 10% of the Federal highway system. At the end of a twenty-year program that had completed the first 90%, these included completing the vast array of corridor connectors, re-focusing on proper methods of roadway maintenance, and developing new sources of roadway pavement materials. All of this would have to happen under the new, stricter Interstate Highway Standards developed by Congress. In particular, this included the requirement that ALL Interstate Highways must be four-lane roadways. He explained that the greatest challenge would be the growing concern for the environment, and that this would result in a more careful taking of public land for any public works reason, and the recycling of roadway waste into reusable asphaltic materials. As he explained, “The byword for the future will be conservation: conservation of money, energy and materials.” He went on to describe a recent new experiment involving “hot-mix” recycling of four inches of asphalt pavement on a one-mile segment of Interstate Route 15, near Las Vegas, NV. He also described other experiments utilizing incinerator residue, and old asphaltic concrete, in roadway aggregates. He estimated that reusing some 50 million tons of old concrete could save 700 million gallons of liquid asphalt, 30 million tons of well-graded crushed aggregates and 17 million tons of sand, annually. The Rochester Section of IEEE

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announced that the theme presentation, by Dr. Portia Isaacson of the Micro-Store in Richardson, TX, its annual dinner would be “Personal Computing”, and that the door prize, that evening, would be a personal computer.

The New York State Police announced that their recent, seven-county, Central-New York, study involving some 6,000 citizens-band (CB) radio operators, resulted in over 30,000 reports of traffic accidents and potential crime activity. The stated objective of the study was to evaluate the potential effectiveness of a CB link between State Police and the motoring public. During the test period, the motoring public had been invited into a network, linking them to 150 CBequipped State Police cars.

June 2, 1978 (RES Annual Meeting, University Club) The following slate of RES Officers was presented to/approved by the Society’s Membership: President – Richard E. Rice, 1st Vice President – George Landberg, 2nd Vice President, Lee M. Loomis, Treasurer – Daniel Turner, Directors: James Sterlace (1yr), James Row (2yrs), Virender Saigal (3yrs), Richard Van Meter (4yrs). Continuing in office as RES Directors will be Douglas M. Marshall (’79) and Peter C. Oppelt (’80). President John M. Robertson then handed the gavel to in-coming President, Dick Rice. President Rice then presented an inscribed plaque to Past-President Robertson, “For his dedicated guidance and leadership in furthering the goals of the Society”. The speaker for the evening, Dr. Robert Johnston, Dean of the College of Fine and Applied Arts, RIT, gave a presentation on his recent trip to China. The evening continued with dancing to “The Flotillas”.

“The Rochester Engineer” (June 1978) Editor’s Note: June 9, 1778, is the date on which General George Washington issued a general order creating a “School of Sappers”, as a School of Engineering within the Continental Army. While this has been but a footnote in American history, is has been seen, by engineering scholars, as an act by Washington recognizing the importance of engineering education to meet the needs of an independent and sovereign nation.

From this act, engineering education in the United States has grown to the point where, by its two hundredth anniversary (1978), there were nearly 300,000 graduate and undergraduate students studying engineering on a full-time basis, and an additional 50,000 students studying part-time at 289 institutions of engineering. In his book, “The Making of an Engineer”, author Lawrence P. Grayson (1839-1916), describes the origins of engineering education in American in the context of the circumstances in the Continental Army of 1778…The lack of a sufficient number of engineers in the army persisted throughout the Revolutionary War. Almost all of those who served under George Washington as engineering officers were of foreign birth and education. It was recognized that most of these men would return to their native countries when the war ended. American required engineers, not only for the immediate military needs, but also to meet the future requirements of a civilian population, when the nation would be independent and developing. Such were the conditions and sentiments of the times when the army established winter quarters at Valley Forge, PA, in December of 1777. While the primary focus of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, established in 1794, was engineering (mainly of military fortifications), it wouldn’t be until 1818, when Acting Superintendent of West Point, Alden Partridge, the first person to actually hold the title of Professor of Engineering, resigned. He soon established the American Literary, Scientific and Military Academy at Norwich, VT, later to become Norwich University. Established in 1824, the Renesselaer School, now Renesselaer Polytechnic Institute RPI), in Troy, NY, would eventually

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(in 1835) grant the degree of Civil Engineer, for the first time ever, in America.

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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100 S. Clinton Ave, Suite 2700, Rochester (585) 325-90940 | www.cscos.com

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RES AFFILIATE PROFILE The Rochester Engineering Society appreciates our affiliates which are the backbone of our organization. Most professional engineering organizations offer networking, technical guidance, access to references and standards and much more. Many are affiliated with a national organization that provides services to its members and supports the greater benefit of the profession and of their specialty. Some organizations even set national and international standards.

We hope you find this occasional series helpful and informative. Feel free to check out the affiliates local and/or national web sites for more information.

This Month’s Featured Affiliate:

Rochester Plant Engineers About The Rochester Plant Engineers is a not-for-profit group which was formed to give people the networking power to build Facilities personnel and Facilities support communities bringing the Rochester and the surrounding areas closer together. Through our networking group, plant tours, learning new innovative solutions problem solving and offering scholarships to local college students, we plan to drive the importance of Facilities to younger generations.

Mission Promoting technical innovation and ingenuity for operating and maintaining sustainable facilities across our Greater Rochester community through education and networking.

Brief History The Rochester Chapter was established in 1996 Major activities of the local affiliate Training/education Plant tours Golf event Clam bake Holiday happy hour Governance Local Board of Directors

Contact information Mark Ramsdell, Membership: MRamsdell@haleyaldrich.com Brian Laurer, President: BLaurer@coopervision.com Learn more: www.rochesterplantengineers.com

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Celebrating Dr. Walter Cooper – A Rochester Legend With the impending closure of Dr. Walter Cooper Academy by the Rochester City School District, at the end of this school year, it’s time to reflect upon the history and accomplishments of Dr. Walter Cooper…

Dr. Walter Cooper has been an advocate for the education of children, all of his life. As a two-term Regent for the State of New York, he served as Chair of the Elementary, Middle, and Secondary Education Committee. He also served on subcommittees on Quality, State Aid and Low Performing Schools. He also was selected to serve as the New York State representative to the Interstate Migrant Education Council.

From an early age Dr. Cooper realized the importance of education, which led him to earn his Doctorate in Physical Chemistry from the University of Rochester. He was the first African-American to receive a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Rochester. He went on to a successful career at Eastman Kodak Company, earning three US Patents.

The Rochester Community has also benefitted from Dr. Cooper’s knowledge, insight and compassion.

He is a founding member of Rochester’s Urban League and of Action for a Better Community. He was also Associate Director of the Rochester-Monros County Anti-Poverty Program.

At the June 21st, final “Rights of Achievement Day” at #10 School, Dr. Walter Cooper witnessed the entire student body’s celebration of him and the legacy he leaves with these “Cooper Scholars”.

In his parting remarks that morning, he emphasized, “Each of you has a choice, the classroom or the street….be sure to choose wisely!”

With the closing of Dr. Walter Cooper Academy (RCSD School #10), our “Cooper Scholars” have been dispersed throughout the RCSD, to schools of their parents’ choosing. The facility at 353 Congress Ave. will be renamed the “Dr. Walter Cooper Campus”, and another RCSD elementary school (RCSD School #53), with a unique Montessori-Learning protocol, will be placed there. For now, the future of the RES Tutoring Team is uncertain, and therefore doubtful.

It was Marci’s and my pleasure to be with Dr. Cooper as he gave his farewell address to his Cooper Scholars

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Campus News U of R

Allison Lopatkin named 2024 Pew Scholar in Biomedical Sciences Luke Auburn June 18, 2024

LATEST PEW SCHOLAR: The award will allow assistant professor Allison Lopatkin ’13 to explore the growing problem of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

(University of Rochester photo / Matt Wittmeyer)

Lopatkin is one of 22 early-career scientists selected nationwide to explore some of the most pressing questions in human health and medicine.

Allison Lopatkin ’13, an assistant professor of chemical engineering, biomedical engineering, and microbiology and immunology at the University of Rochester, is one of 22 scientists selected to join the Pew Scholars Program in the Biomedical Sciences this year. The program provides early-career scientists four years of funding to explore some of the most pressing questions in human health and medicine.

The funding will help Lopatkin’s lab explore how changes in bacterial metabolism contribute to the development of antibiotic resistance. She says that decades of antibiotic overuse—in both clinical and agricultural settings—have led to an alarming rise in bacterial strains that are resistant to antibiotics, contributing to a major public health concern.

“Currently, the study of antibiotic resistance mechanisms focuses mostly on a small handful of highly conserved intracellular targets that reduce antibiotic-target binding,” says Lopatkin. “However, as a postdoctoral fellow, I discovered that many bacteria can also escape the effects of these drugs by amassing widely diverse mutations that interfere with their metabolism.”

Using a suite of sophisticated tools integrating microbiology, biochemistry, and quantitative and computational biology techniques, Lopatkin’s lab will identify the drug-resistance mutations that arise in bacteria as they adapt to combinations of different antibiotics and metabolism-altering chemicals.

“These insights will allow us to determine how microbial metabolism contributes to the development of antibiotic resistance in real-world clinical contexts,” says Lopatkin. “This work will facilitate the development of improved diagnostic and prognostic tests for assessing antibiotic susceptibility, as well as novel classes of infection-fighting drugs.”

Lopatkin joins a community of more than 1,000 scientists who have received awards from Pew since 1985. She was chosen from 198 applicants nominated by leading academic institutions and researchers across the United States.

Prior to Lopatkin, the University’s most recent Pew Scholar in Biological Sciences were Edward Brown (2007), associate professor of biomedical engineering and neuroscience, and Laura Calvi (2005), the SKAWA Foundation’s Professor of Medicine in the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism and Vice Chair for Basic & Translational Science for the Department of Medicine.

For a complete list of this year’s scholars, go to the Pew Charitable Trusts website.

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Campus News U of R

Team building through bot building Jim Mandelaro | Communications Officer, the College and Student Life July 1, 2024

Rochester undergraduates gained crucial systems engineering experience constructing a lunar rover for NASA’s Lunabotics Challenge.

Melbot V3 stands just two and a half feet tall and is made primarily of aluminum and plastic, held together with nuts and bolts. It can successfully complete its target tasks: to drive, dig, and deposit.

The silver mini robot was built in Rettner Hall on the River Campus by about 20 University of Rochester engineering majors who are members of the student organization UR Robotics.

“Melbot was a total team effort,” says Alex Saunders ’25, a mechanical engineering major from Calais, Vermont.

“We’re very proud of our robot.”

The students began designing Melbot V3 last September for an annual spring competition called the Lunabotics Challenge, a university-based, yearlong event run and sponsored by NASA. Robots are tasked with driving, digging, and depositing regolith—the fragmented rock material that covers the moon’s surface—in a lunar simulant at the University of Central Florida (UCF) in Orlando.

The Rochester students finished 19th of the 43 teams invited to showcase their robotic rovers. Ten finalists made the short trip to the Kennedy Space Center for the two-day final round, with Iowa State University and the University of Alabama tying for first.

Lunabotics is in its 15th year, and Rochester joined in 2022. The “V3” in Melbot’s name is a nod to the third year of competition for the team.

“The first year was a lot of growing pains, learning what it was like to make a budget, keep to a schedule, put a robot together, and bring it down to Florida,” says Thomas Howard, an associate professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the UR Robotics advisor.

GLOW UP: Melbot V3 was fabricated in Rettner Hall by a group of undergraduate engineering majors for NASA’s 2024 Lunabotics Challenge.

“Melbot was a total team effort,” says Alex Saunders ’25. (Images courtesy of UR Robotics)

“Last year was a virtual competition that involved a local demonstration of digging capabilities. This was the first year our students completed all three tasks, driving, digging, and depositing, at a formal competition.”

Students say that combining the lessons learned in their engineering classes with real-life engineering challenges was invaluable. Howard teaches a course on mechatronics each year along with a rotating schedule of advanced electives that concern different aspects of autonomous robots.

“The most useful direct learning comes from Professor Howard’s robotics courses,” says Saunders, who was the team captain and design lead. “But the main takeaway is developing team skills and ways of approaching an engineering problem.”

HOT WHEELS: Melbot V3 successfully drove across the surface of a lunar simulant at the University of Central Florida. (Media courtesy of UR Robotics)

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Campus News U of R

Team building through bot building Jim Mandelaro | Communications Officer, the College and Student Life July 1, 2024

Creating a robot in six months By late March of the 2023–24 academic year, the students had designed and built Melbot V3 using the basic system engineering principles outlined by NASA. “We worked hard going from conceptual ideas to designing in CAD (computer-aided design) and manufacturing our robot,” says Bridgit Nguyen ’26, a mechanical engineering major from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. “We were constantly troubleshooting. It was stressful but satisfying to finally figure it out.”

Saunders estimates he spent about 300 hours on the project—everything from administrative tasks, CAD work, design reviews, machining, assembling, testing, outreach, and writing to meet all the requirements for the competition.”

“It’s the most complex problem, engineering or otherwise, I’ve worked on and it truly required a multidisciplinary approach,” Saunders says. “If the mechanical, electrical, or software sides aren’t working together, we won’t get anywhere.”

ON A ROLL: Design capstone projects like this one, a mobilized tick collection system, are a culminating experience for students in the Hajim School of Engineering & Applied Sciences at Rochester. (University of Rochester photo / J. Adam Fenster)

Experiential learning was biggest prize for students Experiential learning is a hallmark of an undergraduate education at Rochester, with many engineering students participating in senior design projects. Yet such immersive opportunities are not limited just to graduating seniors.

“One of the things our students ask for year after year is more engineering and design opportunities,” Howard says. “UR Robotics club gives students an opportunity to do this every academic year.”

The complex technological challenges of a fully autonomous robot required breaking the project into multiple tasks, assigning each task to a sub-team, and then coordinating across sub-teams.

“Building a functional robot as a stand-alone task can be easy, but when coupled with limited physical requirements, budget, committed time to the project, and manufacturing options, the challenge becomes ten times harder,” says Hesham Elshafey ’25, an electrical and computer engineering major from Tanta, Egypt.

“And that’s what is great about it!”

Unexpected issues made for innovative solutions.

“Down at UCF, we didn’t bring the dust cover we had made for our electric box,” Nguyen says, “so we improvised one from a tablecloth and used the leftover cloth to make sure the washers—which weren’t the perfect size—were secured on our drivetrain’s shafts.”

THEY SEE ME ROLLIN’: Josh Choi ’25 tests Melbot V3 on an outdoor volleyball court on the River Campus. (Photo provided by UR Robotics)

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Campus News U of R

Team building through bot building Jim Mandelaro | Communications Officer, the College and Student Life July 1, 2024

Hisashi Lonske ’25, a mechanical engineering major from Boston, joined the UR Robotics club looking for a tangible project that revolved around design and problem solving.

“I got exactly what I was looking for,” Lonske says.

“While I was able to apply the math and concepts I learned in class to the creation of the robot, the problemsolving and critical thinking elements are the core of the Lunabotics project.”

Most of all was the joy of being part of a team working with a common purpose.

“Even though the club was split into sub-teams to work on various parts of the robot, those sub-teams would frequently talk with members of other sub-teams to bounce ideas off each other,” Lonske says. “The experience of collaborating in a team setting to achieve a single goal is particularly important for us future engineers. These kinds of experiences await us en masse beyond our time at Rochester.”

Josh Choi ’25, an electrical and computer engineering major from Long Island, performed much of the electronics, control, and software work for the project.

He says the challenges and sleepless nights were worth it.

“It’s undoubtedly the highlight of my time at Rochester,” he says. “Having the opportunity to build a fully functioning robot from scratch while working alongside our team of awesome engineers was an invaluable experience I’ll always carry with me and will be crucial in my career going forward.”

LUNAR RANGE ROVER: A team of University of Rochester undergraduates designed Melbot V3 for the Lunabotics Challenge, a university-based, yearlong event run and sponsored by NASA. (Media courtesy of the 2024 University of Rochester Lunabotics Challenge team)

ROBOT ROADTRIP: Melbot V3 debuted at the Hajim School’s annual Design Day, when engineering students showcase their capstone projects, before being packed up and shipped on a freight truck to Florida for the 2024 Lunabotics Challenge. (University of Rochester photo / J. Adam Fenster)

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Campus News RIT

Engineering researchers receive NSF funding to develop computational tools to monitor ablation therapy on cardiac tissue Data-driven platform being developed is needed to assess, guide and offer better visualizations of tissue response to thermal therapies Michelle Cometa, Sr. News Specialist at Rochester Institute of Technology

Researchers at Rochester Institute of Technology are developing non-invasive technology that will better assess cardiac tissue response to thermal energy, a common therapy approach for both cancer and cardiac arrhythmia treatments.

Cristian Linte, a professor of biomedical engineering, is leading a cross-disciplinary team that was recently awarded National Science Foundation Collaborative Research funding to further develop an interactive, computing platform to characterize and monitor thermal cardiac tissue ablation therapy.

Ablation is a medical technique using heat, extreme cold, or chemical interventions to destroy abnormally functioning, diseased tissues. While effective, understanding how ablation affects healthy surrounding tissue has had limited study.

RIT biomedical engineering professor Cristian Linte. Credit: RIT Photography

“Understanding thermal effects on biological tissues is crucial for many biological applications, including thermal therapies aimed at destroying pathological cells while preserving surrounding healthy tissue. However, there are no feasible means to monitor tissue response to thermal energy to characterize and visualize ablation patterns to ensure reversible injury and avoid incomplete ablation,” said Linte, an expert in medical imaging and image-guided technologies in RIT’s Kate Gleason College of Engineering.

Modern, minimally invasive ablative treatments for some cancers or heart rhythm disorders rely on the use of heat delivered to tissue in the form of radiofrequency energy to destroy a cancerous tumor or diseased tissue in the heart that causes rhythm abnormalities. The process blocks irregular heart signals and is a means to restore standard heartbeat patterns. Ablation provides an effective and less invasive option, but as many as 50 percent of ablation patients experience disease recurrence due to incomplete tissue ablation, Linte explained.

“Successful treatment requires continuous ablation patterns that induce permanent thermal damage to the tissue. However, temperature measurements inside the heart are invasive and unfeasible,” he said. “Unfortunately, routine medical imaging provides no quantitative appraisal of the induced thermal damage. Traditional computational tools used to study ablation are prohibitive for intra-operative use. There are no effective means to quantify heat transfer in biological tissue to interactively characterize and visualize thermal ablation lesions.”

RIT mechanical engineering professor Satish Kandlikar. Credit: RIT Photography

As part of the research team, Linte will be joined by Satish Kandlikar, RIT professor of mechanical engineering, and Suzanne Shontz, professor of electrical engineering and computer science at the University of Kansas, experts in heat transfer and computational bioengineering respectively.

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Campus News RIT

Engineering researchers receive NSF funding to develop computational tools to monitor ablation therapy on cardiac tissue Data-driven platform being developed is needed to assess, guide and offer better visualizations of tissue response to thermal therapies Michelle Cometa, Sr. News Specialist at Rochester Institute of Technology

Combining a cross-disciplinary approach, the team will explore heat transfer theory, image computing and visualization, biomedical modeling and simulation to build, model and quantify tissue response to thermal energy.

“Experimental validation is essential to confirm analytical and numerical models, especially in biological systems,” said Kandlikar who leads RIT’s Thermal Analysis and Microfluidics Lab. He will focus on the propagation of thermal energy and provide a temperature map of tissue during the ablation process in simulated tissue material that mimics biological tissue at the cardiac wall. The experimental data will be used to further refine the models developed during this study.

RIT engineering researchers are studying the effects of thermal ablation therapy on cardiac tissue to improve arrhythmia treatments. Credit: RIT Photography

“Since knowledge of tissue temperature distribution is critical to accurately predict thermal effects, computationally efficient models that integrate engineering heat transport mechanisms alongside tissue pathophysiology are needed to quantify thermal energy effects on tissues and interactively characterize, visualize, and monitor induced thermal injury,” said Shontz, who also serves as the University of Kansas associate dean of research.

Shontz and Linte have collaborated on an earlier diagnostic project, also funded by the NSF, and similar in its development of computing and engineering models to appraise biomechanical heart functions.

This current project is already contributing new knowledge in scientific computing, engineering, and physiological modeling by helping to characterize thermal injury delivered to heart tissue during therapy.

“This research has the potential to reshape biological, engineering and material science applications that involve heat transfer modeling and heat flow characterization by enabling, for the first time, intra-operative, quantitative monitoring of heat transfer and thermal effects,” said Linte.

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Campus News RIT

Engineering faculty and cardiologist collaborate to design heart pump assessment prototype Use of AI and improved sensor technology could better identify implanted device state-of health

Researchers at Rochester Institute of Technology are developing technology that will be able to determine the lifespan of a heart valve with more precision.

“It’s almost like a check engine light on your car,” said Jason Kolodziej, an associate professor of mechanical engineering. Kolodziej recently received a National Institutes of Health grant to develop a non-invasive monitor to evaluate the state of health of ventricular assist devices (VADs), lifesaving heart pumps used to maintain heart function for individuals living with heart failure. These pumps can extend survival for many years.

The three-year project consists of a multidisciplinary team of cardiology, computer science, and engineering experts. They are working toward developing an advanced stethoscope equipped with more sophisticated sensors and diagnostic tools that can use machine learning to both assess VAD performance as well as act as an indicator for a patient’s health. VADs are most commonly implanted in the left ventricular area of the heart to assist with blood flow. It was developed as a “bridge” for patients awaiting heart transplants, though many receive a VAD as lifelong therapy.

Jason Kolodziej, a mechanical engineering facultyresearcher, will work with a multidisciplinary team to improve heart pump state-of-health through AI and advanced sensors.

Credit: Michelle Cometa

“The devices have become so good that they don’t just use them to keep patients alive until the heart transplant —which could be days, weeks, months—to the point where I think they may use just the VAD as their treatment,” said Kolodziej. “Now you have this device, a mechanical pump, that is inside the heart for a longer amount of time.”

Patients living with VADs have frequent check-ups and testing to ensure the VAD and heart are functioning properly. If heart health is declining, it may require invasive procedures to determine if the symptoms might be due to reduced pump performance.

Karl Schwartz, MD, University of Rochester Medical Center, Credit: Michelle Cometa

The team’s solution is to use advanced signal processing technologies with machine learning to classify the health status of both the patient and the VAD. They will also build into the system data analysis processes, specifically forward predictions applications, to anticipate the need for early interventions.

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Campus News RIT

Engineering faculty and cardiologist collaborate to design heart pump assessment prototype Use of AI and improved sensor technology could better identify implanted device state-of health

“The device is going to be processing and taking in measurements, data of the health condition of the patient, and then training the system through machine learning on forward predictions that can provide indicators such as pump capacity, graft occlusions, or other conditions,” said Kolodziej.

Kolodziej is working with Steven Day, professor of biomedical engineering in RIT’s Kate Gleason College of Engineering and Linwei Wang, professor of computing and information sciences in the university’s Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences. All are associates in RIT’s Personalized Health Care Technology signature research area; Wang is director of the initiative. Karl Schwarz, cardiologist in the Department of Medicine, professor, and researcher at the University of Rochester Medical Center, has been a longtime partner and collaborator with the group, leading research on the integration of healthcare and technology.

The team has started testing a prototype system using baseline patient data and looking long term at how the device can be designed to allow real-time bedside diagnostics with smartphone integration. This advance can improve outpatient care and may help ease overcrowding in hospitals and emergency room visits.

Steven Day, Biomedical Engineering, Credit: Michelle Cometa

Rochester Institute of Technology is home to leading creators, entrepreneurs, innovators, and researchers.

Founded in 1829, RIT enrolls 20,500 students in more than 200 career oriented and professional programs, making it among the largest private universities in the U.S. With 145,000 alumni worldwide, the university is internationally recognized and ranked for its leadership in technology, the arts, and design. RIT also offers unparalleled support services for deaf and hard-of-hearing students. The cooperative education program is one of the oldest and largest in the nation. Global partnerships include campuses in China, Croatia, Dubai, and Kosovo. For the latest news, go to rit.edu/news. To follow RIT on social media, go to rit.edu/socialmedia Rochester Institute of Technology, University Communications, Brown Hall 125 Tech Park Drive, Rochester, N.Y. 14623-5608 United States For more information, contact Michelle Cometa at 585-475-4954 or michelle.cometa@rit.edu

Linwei Wang, Computing and Information Sciences, Credit: Michelle Cometa

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MANAGING POLYMER CONCRETE SLURRY IN NEW YORK STATE Jonathan Bass, Gregory Andrus, James I. Driscall

Typical Concrete Deck Diamond Grinding Equipment Set-Up Including Grinder and Water Tanker/Slurry Recovery Truck

Over the past several years, multiple state and municipal transportation departments across the US have begun installing polymer concrete overlays on selected bridges and culverts to extend deck life where feasible, based on concrete condition and cost effectiveness. Two types of polymer-based products being applied in New York State (NYS) are Polyester Polymer Concrete (PPC) and more recently Hybrid Composite Synthetic Concrete (HCSC).

Following mechanical and/or hydro preparation of the deck surface a ¾ inch layer of the polymer concrete is typically applied. As part of the bridge resurfacing process associated with restoring rideability, the overlay is then diamond ground ¼ inch and shoulder grooves are cut in. During the diamond grinding and groove cutting, a tanker truck provides water to the process for both equipment cooling and dust control. The same tanker truck vacuum-recovers the waste from this process as a “slurry” which is comprised of ~85% - 90% water and ~10% - 15% solids. The solids consist of approximately 95% sand, stone, and aggregate along with 5% of the hardened polymer cement.

Unlike Portland Concrete Cement (PCC) slurry which is currently allowed to be managed and placed within appropriate NYS transportation corridor rights-of-way or recycled back into material supplier washout systems, polymer concrete slurry must be contained, characterized and disposed of at NYSDEC permitted waste facilities. Typically, the slurry is divided into two separate waste streams. Dried polymer slurry that passes a paint filter test is generally approved for disposal as a non-hazardous solid waste. Because of trace dissolved chemicals in the slurry water, excess liquid meeting minimum solids percentage (less than 3 percent) is typically disposed of as a non-hazardous petroleum-affected liquid waste.

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During the current 2024 construction season Lu Engineers, acting as a subconsultant to Hunt-EAS on a NYSDOT Hazardous Materials Term Contract, performed polymer slurry waste sampling and laboratory analysis. The sampling and analyses were completed for disposal acceptance by a municipal landfill of diamond grinding and grooving slurry generated from two NYS bridges that were applied with HCSC. These two bridges were part of a three-bridge overlay contract in Herkimer and Oneida Counties.

The slurry was temporarily stored in open-top, 20 cubic yard dumpsters lined with 10 mil polyethylene.

As an alternative to decanting the impacted water and disposing as a non-hazardous liquid waste, the contractor on this contract opted to utilize a bentonite-based slurry solidifier as a means to eliminate the liquid waste stream and meet the landfill acceptance criteria as a solid waste. Since a recognized standard characterization associated with waste facility acceptance parameters for the polymer concrete slurry in NYS has not been established, each bridge site requires landfill analytical prior to acceptance.

Post Slurry Solidification Within Temporary Containment and Sampling

Typical Polymer Concrete Slurry Temporary Containment Consisting of Open-top Dumpster and 10 Mil Polyethylene Liner Following introduction and mixing of the solidifier into the contained slurry, the bulk material (waste) was analyzed for waste characterization by Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP) RCRA 8 metals, herbicides and pesticides, Methods 8260 and 8270 for VOC and SVOCs respectively, full TCL list compounds, Reactivity, % solids and pH. TCLP results for both bridges were found to be within acceptable criteria thresholds. The solidified slurry waste also passed 2540G Total Percent Solids, and Paint Filter analysis. Waste materials generated from both bridges passed the testing and as a result, the solidified material was accepted by the municipal solid waste landfill.

As state and municipal transportation departments continue to experiment with these polymer concrete bridge deck overlays and contractors continue to move toward use of slurry solidifiers as an alternative to disposing of the liquids separately as a non-hazardous petroleum-affected waste, it is possible that non-hazardous solid waste landfills may at some point start to re-think their acceptance criteria for this material. The consistency of the solidified slurry is not highly desirable from a landfill placement and compaction standpoint. Currently the number and size of the polymer bridge deck projects being done around the state is limited and therefore taking up little municipal landfill space. For now, landfills in NYS do not seem to have any concerns provided that the waste meets their current acceptance criteria. However, if faced with significantly larger quantities of this solidified slurry in the future, the landfills may start to limit the amount that would be accepted or outright reject it. Thus far, there have not been any known refusals by municipal or private disposal facilities since this type of concrete and slurry started being generated in New York.

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If disposal limitations and/or rejections were to happen at some point in the future based on increased use of these polymers, they would likely vary by landfill and directly affect project transport and handling/disposal costs for solidified slurry. Contractors may end up needing to transport material to longer distance landfills or go back to handling the excess water separately and disposing of as a non-hazardous petroleum-affected liquid waste.

As state and municipal transportation agency bridge and culvert deck programs continue to increase the use of these polymer product overlays, they will need to maintain a working relationship with their environmental consultants and state regulators on acceptable slurry treatment, handling and disposal methods. Accordingly, if landfill acceptance criteria are revised or otherwise continue to develop over time, specifications will need to be updated to be reflective of those changes in a timely manner so that contractors understand what is and is not allowable prior to bidding these types of projects.

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About Lu Engineers and Hunt-EAS Joseph C. Lu Engineering, P.C., (DBA Lu Engineers), established in 1980, includes over 90 professionals specializing in environmental, transportation, structural, and civil engineering. Serving federal, state, and local governments, as well as many private clients and non-profit organizations, Lu is a New York State Certified Minority and Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (M/DBE), Veteran owned Professional Corporation. The firm’s headquarters are located in Rochester, NY, with additional offices in Buffalo, Syracuse, Albany, Binghamton, and New York City.

Lu Engineers’ team includes a diverse group of exceptional personnel educated and trained in a broad range of engineering disciplines. Their project managers, professional engineers, scientists, inspectors, designers, estimators, technicians, and specialists possess the range of skills and experience needed to progress engineering services on infrastructure and other municipal projects from concept through design and construction. The firm and employees are active in several professional organizations covering the spectrum of civil, transportation, and environmental engineering disciplines to ensure they remain current with industry standards, trends and regulations.

Lu Engineers delivers professional engineering services inclusive of asbestos assessment, abatement design and air/project monitoring, bridge design, highway design, bridge condition inspection, construction inspection, environmental investigation/remediation, hazardous materials management, municipal engineering, natural resources, site development, stormwater management, structural engineering and water/wastewater design.

Lu’s commitment to excellence is built on the experience, professionalism, and results-oriented focus of their staff. Lu Engineers is dedicated to delivering quality, cost-efficient and innovative engineering solutions to each of their clients on every project assignment.

HUNT Engineers, Architects, Land Surveyors & Landscape Architect, DPC (HUNT) is a multi-disciplinary architectural and engineering firm with New York State-based offices in Albany, Binghamton, Horseheads, and Rochester, and an office in Towanda, Pennsylvania. The staff totals 187 employees and ten seasonal construction inspectors. Hunt has 56 licensed professionals and 14 Principals, led by CEO, Christopher Bond, PE. Founded by Bob Hunt in 1973 in the Southern Tier of NY, HUNT's mission continues to act as “entrusted partners providing fullservice expertise that is inspired by innovation, practical by design, and community-focused.” HUNT offers a broad range of services, including architectural design, interior design, landscape architecture, MEP engineering, site/civil engineering, transportation engineering, construction management, environmental sciences, water resources, geomatics, infrastructure systems, information technology, and grant funding assistance. They are dedicated to taking a personal approach to projects and have long partnered with local K-12 districts throughout the region, providing cost-effective, full-service expertise. They also have an expansive municipal and private development portfolio which includes site and civil engineering, architectural design, land surveying, and planning services. Clients include local municipalities, county and state agencies, and commercial and residential development. HUNT's commitment to the corporate vision of "building vibrant communities by empowering creativity and partnership" is reflected in their long-standing client relationships and dedication to delivering highquality design and service to communities throughout the region.

This collaboration was the result of the firms working together under the NYSDOT Hazardous Materials Assessment & Remediation Term Contract in Regions 1, 2, 7 & 9.

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Co-Authors/Contributor Bio’s Jonathan Bass, Senior Environmental Specialist, Lu Engineers Mr. Bass graduated from SUNY Fredonia with a Bachelor Degree of Science in Special Studies – Environmental.

He pursued specialty training at Harvard School of Public Health in the field of Industrial Hygiene. Mr. Bass recently joined Lu Engineers’ Regulated Building Materials Group, bringing 38 years of experience to the team.

Throughout his career in the private sector and at the New York State Department of Transportation, he provided his expertise for a wide variety of environmental projects, including asbestos abatement, hazardous/contaminated materials assessment, air quality conformity, stormwater management and environmental remediation. He was also responsible for development and implementation of new and updated NYSDOT design and capital program construction guidance related to various environmental areas, supervised and provided technical assistance on hazardous waste/contaminated material issues, and coordinating site visits and inspections, as well as project specification preparation. Mr. Bass is a USEPA Asbestos Building Inspector and Project Designer.

Gregory Andrus, PG, Investigation / Remediation Group Leader, Lu Engineers Mr. Andrus earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Geology from Washington & Lee University and pursued graduate level studies concentrated on Hydrogeology at SUNY Brockport. He started his professional career in 1987 as a field geologist on mineral exploration, environmental emergency response and remediation assignments, and joined Lu Engineers in 1993 as a hydrogeologist and Environmental Engineer. His areas of expertise include brownfield site redevelopment, environmental permitting, impacted environmental materials management, remedial investigations, site remediation, geology and hydrogeology. Projects have included large industrial facilities, transportation corridors, multi-family housing, educational institutions, federal facilities, small commercial and retail facilities. Mr. Andrus is the Investigation Remediation Group Leader for Lu Engineers and is responsible for managing and guiding the I/R team on Lu’s projects across New York State. He is a member of the National/Genesee Finger Lakes Chapter of the Air and Waste Management Association, New York State Council of Professional Geologists, the National Groundwater Association and was former President of the ACHMM Finger Lakes Chapter. Mr. Andrus is 40-Hour OSHA HAZWOPER Certified.

James I. Driscall, PG, Director of Environmental Services, Hunt-EAS Mr. Driscall is an environmental geologist with more than twenty (20) years of experience working in environmental consulting to protect the environment, ensuring compliance with all applicable laws, and protecting public health. Jim is a licensed professional geologist in the State of New York. He graduated from SUNY Cortland with a Bachelor of Science in Geology and from Binghamton University with a Master of Arts in Geology. Jim oversees, manages, and guides our environmental scientists regarding environmental compliance, remedial investigation, ecology, wetlands, and permitting services. Jim has experience performing both Phase I and Phase II environmental assessments, project management, and quality air monitoring. He also has knowledge of asbestos inspections as well as OSHA, EPA, and NYSDEC regulations. Jim has managed projects, which provided sampling and logistical support to transport and dispose of stockpiled slurry. Jim has coordinated sampling, characterizing, and disposal services during the mobilization/demobilization, transportation, and disposal of the collected slurry. Jim has his Respirator Certification, OSHA 40-Hour HAZWOPER certified, and is certified as a NYS DOL Asbestos Building Inspector/Designer/Project Monitor, and a EPA Lead Paint Inspector.

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New York State, with its extensive coastline along the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island Sound, and various inland water bodies, relies heavily on hydrographic and bathymetric surveys. These surveys are essential for maritime navigation, environmental research, and resource exploration. They also support municipal projects involving water crossings.

Hydrographic and Bathymetric Surveys: Mapping the Depths Hydrography is the science of measuring the physical features of bodies of water and adjacent land. Bathymetry, a subset of hydrography, focuses on measuring sea floor depth. While the terms are often used interchangeably, hydrographic surveys map water topography, shorelines, and hazards, which are crucial for navigation and safety.

Bathymetric surveys provide detailed insights into underwater topography, supporting environmental studies, geological research, and resource exploration.

Applications in New York State In New York, hydrographic and bathymetric surveys are vital for managing diverse water bodies and coastal areas. Coastal erosion, natural disasters, and emergencies like hurricanes and storm surges are studied using these surveys to understand underwater changes and support emergency responses. This information aids in post-event recovery and rebuilding strategies.

Hydrographic surveys maintain navigational safety in waterways such as the Hudson and East Rivers, Long Island Sound, and New York Harbor. Detailed seafloor mapping ensures shipping channels are at safe depths. Bathymetric surveys support the management and maintenance of ports and harbors, optimizing channel depths for maritime traffic and aiding port infrastructure planning.

As waterfront development continues, these surveys provide critical data for planning construction projects like piers, marinas, and waterfront facilities. Accurate underwater mapping ensures the stability and safety of these structures. Bathymetric surveys are also essential for infrastructure projects involving bridges, tunnels, and other water-interacting structures, helping determine foundation conditions and underwater terrain.

Hydrographic surveys contribute to environmental monitoring in New York’s water bodies. Understanding underwater topography helps assess ecosystem health, study sedimentation patterns, and monitor coastal changes, supporting environmental conservation efforts. These surveys also study aquatic habitats and ecosystems, providing crucial data for conservation measures.

New York’s water bodies offer opportunities for scientific research and educational programs. Hydrographic surveys support research initiatives, providing data for academic studies, geological research, and underwater feature exploration. Collaboration with federal agencies like NOAA ensures local data aligns with regional and national mapping initiatives.

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Surveying Methodology: From Sounders to LiDAR Historically, single-beam sonar systems were used for hydrographic and bathymetric mapping. Today, multibeam sonar technology captures wide swaths of the seafloor simultaneously. In some cases, LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) technology, using laser beams to measure distances, enhances bathymetric surveys’ accuracy.

Echo sounders, releasing sound pulses and measuring the return time of echoes, are key components of sonar systems used in bathymetric surveys. GPS technology is integrated to precisely locate the survey vessel, ensuring accurate geo-referenced depth measurements for detailed mapping. The collected sonar data is processed to remove noise, and advanced software creates detailed bathymetric maps and 3D models of the seafloor, providing information on depth, shape, and underwater terrain features.

Challenges and Future Horizons According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), over 80% of the ocean remains unexplored, presenting challenges to hydrography. Technologies like LiDAR and underwater 3D scanners introduce complexities in data collection and accuracy. However, with almost 40% of the U.S. population residing in coastal counties, accurate data from surveyors is, crucial for community safety.

The future of bathymetric surveying looks promising with advancements in automation, AI integration, and combined technologies. These innovations will reshape the field, expanding applications in environmental monitoring and conservation efforts. Hydrographic and bathymetric surveys are indispensable for navigating, preserving, and exploring New York’s aquatic environments.

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Innovative Nano-Pocket Membranes for Enhanced Particle Filtration based on size

By Munther Alsudais, PhD candidate, BMECHE PhD program, Rochester institute of Technology.

Many of us have had a loved one affected by cancer. You might have witnessed the sadness of the disease spreading from one organ to another. My own uncle passed away several years ago from cancer that had spread from his brain to his stomach. It left me wondering: how does cancer spread between organs? What mechanisms are at play?

Back in the mid-20th century, scientists stumbled upon tiny particles secreted by cells, initially dismissing them as mere cellular junk. Fast forward to the 2000s, and these particles—now known as extracellular vesicles (EVs)—are stealing the spotlight! Researchers discovered that EVs play a crucial role in cell-to-cell communication, carrying proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids to influence gene expression in other cells. These remarkable particles have since become essential for disease diagnosis and are being developed into cutting-edge targeted therapies. These nanoscale vesicles are secreted by most cells into biological fluids like saliva, urine, nasal and bronchial lavage fluid, amniotic fluid, breast milk, plasma, serum, and even seminal fluid.

Cells produce different types of EVs in a range of sizes. These include exosomes, microvesicles, oncosomes, and apoptotic bodies, each characterized by their unique biogenesis or release pathways. Exosomes and microvesicles are on the smaller side, with diameters of 20-120 nanometers (nm) and 100-1,000 nm, respectively. Larger types, like apoptotic bodies, range from 1,000 to 10,000 nm, while oncosomes can be as large as 1, 000-10,000 nm (Figure 1).

To understand just how tiny a nanometer is, imagine a meter (a little longer than a yard). Now, think about breaking that meter into a billion pieces—each of those tiny pieces is a nanometer!

Figure 1: Overlapping Size Range Distribution of EVs This figure illustrates the overlapping size distributions of different types of extracellular vesicles (EVs). Exosomes have a size distribution ranging from 20 to 120 nm. Microvesicles range from 100 to 1,000 nm, while apoptotic bodies have a size distribution between 1,000 and 10,000 nm.

Focusing on exosomes and microvesicles, researchers discovered that tumor cells release significantly more exosomes than normal cells. This makes exosomes and microvesicles fantastic candidates for diagnosing cancer.

However, the diversity in EV types and sizes presents challenges for researchers. The inability to separate EVs into specific subpopulations limits our understanding of their roles and potential in diagnostic applications.

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Enter a novel approach to isolate EVs by size! Imagine a nano-geometry membrane that selectively filters out EVs of specific sizes, allowing for precise analysis of their properties and functions. This new membrane design is used in a filtration device to isolate particles based on size (Figure 2). This novel design features a nano-pocket shape with a wide opening at the top that narrows to a smaller opening at the bottom. The purpose is to capture specifically-sized EVs within the nano-pockets: smaller particles pass through the membrane, while larger ones are washed away. This new membrane design is used in a filtration device to isolate particles based on size. Successfully applying these techniques could revolutionize EV research, helping scientists answer critical questions and unlock the full potential of EVs in diagnostics and therapies. This advancement not only promises to enhance our understanding of cancer progression but also brings us closer to developing effective treatments, potentially saving countless lives.

Figure 2: Final Membrane Shape and Particle Interaction This illustration (in the left) depicts the final shape of the membrane. It shows that the top pore size is larger than the bottom pore size. Small particles can pass through the membrane, whereas larger particles are washed away.

Particles that match the pore size will be captured and land within the pores, and can later be released by reversing the direction of the flowing liquid. The right picture shows an actual fabricated membrane, illustrating that the top pores are larger than the bottom ones.

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AIA Rochester 2024 Scholarship Recipients Announced $20,000 awarded to five architecture students.

ROCHESTER, NY – June 27, 2024 – The Rochester Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA Rochester) and the Rochester Architecture Foundation (RAF) have again partnered to help the next generation of architects pursue their training. Each year, AIA Rochester awards merit-based scholarships to high school and college students from the Greater Rochester Community who are pursuing careers in architecture.

These scholarships are given in conjunction with AIA National and the RAF, which administers two scholarships: one from the Family of Myron Starks and one from Women in Architecture. Five students were awarded scholarships totaling $20,000 this year. Jack Christie was awarded the $2,000 Myron Starks Memorial Scholarship, as well as a $3,000 AIA scholarship. RAF Board Member Allen Rossignol, AIA noted, “Jack will be entering his 5th year at Alfred State and exhibits leadership that has been recognized by his professors and classmates. Jack is the current president of AIAS at Alfred State. And he is already being recognized by his peers in the profession from his internship at Razak and currently at Rozzi Architects.” Christie remarked, "These scholarships will significantly support my final year in Alfred State’s B.Arch program, further empowering me to enhance the built environment and positively impact our community.”

Pallas Hoffman earned the $2,000 AIA Women in Architecture scholarship as well as a $3,000 AIA scholarship. Upon receiving the honor, Hoffman said “The 2024 AIA Scholarship, in addition with the Women in Architecture Scholarship, will help play a large role in financing my academic career in architecture at Syracuse University. It is an honor to receive this scholarship from my hometown, and I am proud to represent Rochester within the field of architecture.” Hoffman will be entering he fourth year at Syracuse University where she is also pursuing a minor in Construction Management. She has interned at 9x30 and Passero Associates. Her colleagues say, “[Hoffman] is a valuable, productive, and joyful person to have on any project team,” and that it is rare to find someone with such a high level of enthusiasm, thirst for knowledge, and engagement.

2024 AIA Rochester/RAF Scholarship Winners

McQuaid Jesuit High School senior Ambrose Weidmann received a $5,000 AIA Rochester scholarship.

Chairperson of the AIA Rochester Scholarship Committee Barbara Burke, Associate AIA, said, “The scholarship committee was struck by this student’s breadth of involvement as Eagle Scout, captain of the cross country team, and instructor for the National Youth Leadership Training. His inventive nature has led him to design and build an affordable foldable kayak out of corrugated plastic.” In one letter of recommendation, his art teacher referenced his “ingenious” sculptural pieces that “often incorporate woodworking, electrical elements, and kinetic mechanical parts. These pieces are emblematic of his independent thought, seemingly boundless curiosity, profound work ethic, and commitment to excellent craftsmanship.” Weidmann stated, "I’m honored to be recognized by a professional organization in the field of Architecture, one that I’ve been interested in since first grade. This scholarship will help take the pressure off of me during college, allowing me to spend more time pursuing my passion.”

Weidmann is headed to the University of Notre Dame this fall.

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AIA Rochester 2024 Scholarship Recipients Announced $20,000 awarded to five architecture students.

AIA Rochester and RAF recognize 2024 scholarship winners at Design Awards Celebration on June 13. From left to right: 2024 AIA Rochester President Jamie Bucci, AIA, Jack Christie, Lillian Brady, Savannah Swinter, Pallas Hoffman, Ambrose Weidmann, Barbara Burke, Associate AIA

Honeoye-Falls Lima High School senior Lillian Brady, set to attend Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in the fall, was awarded a $2,500 AIA Rochester scholarship. Brady is an awarded athlete and musician who serves as a role model to younger students. Her passion for architecture led her to attend a pre-college course at Drexel University, where she “felt right at home in the rigorous studio culture,” and enjoyed the creative problem-solving. One teacher describes her as “the kind of quiet leader that brings up those around her and makes the class a better place with her presence.”

Brady stated, “This scholarship will provide me with opportunities in my pursuit of a Bachelor of Architecture degree.

Thank you AIA Rochester for helping to further my potential.”

The scholarship winners were recognized during AIA Rochester's Design Awards Celebration at the Historic German House on June 13. For information about this ongoing scholarship program, as well as information regarding programs available for students interested in architecture, visit aiaroc.org and follow AIA Rochester on social media.

Savannah Swinter received a $2,500 AIA scholarship. Swinter is a sophomore at SUNY University at Buffalo where she is an active member of the architecture professional fraternity, Alpha Rho Chi, which works toward the betterment of students within the school of architecture and the allied arts. She’s been passionate about the built environment since high school, when she completed a capstone about accessible design within public schools, using her own RushHenrietta Senior High School as an example. She’s continued this focus at UB, researching accessibility within architecture and its impacts on mental health. She was described by one professor as, “one of the most active, motivated, and involved students” they have had the pleasure of teaching. Swinter stated, "This scholarship allows me to further my education, an opportunity I otherwise might not have had. I’ve enjoyed my freshman year and can’t wait to dive deeper into this profession."

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AIA Rochester Announces 2024 Design Excellence Awards The celebration recognizes top buildings by local design professionals.

ROCHESTER, NY – June 14, 2024 – The Rochester chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA Rochester) held its 2024 Design Awards Celebration on Thursday evening at the Historic German House.

Seven firms garnered eight awards as selected by a jury of peers from AIA Cincinnati.

The architecture firm in.site: architecture was awarded the highest achievable award given by a local chapter, and one that is rarely given out as part of the AIA Rochester Design Awards. The Autism Nature Trail (ANT) was awarded this year’s Grand Honor Award. It began as a napkin sketch at the request of three women who would go on to become the ANT Aunts. Their goal was to visualize the possibilities of a trail designed to serve those on the spectrum. That vision has been turned into an engaging one-mile-long trail at Letchworth State Park with stations that help orient visitors - especially special-needs visitors - on a sensory journey to explore nature at their own pace. The stations provide opportunities to be alone or with others with clear signposts and repeated motifs and materials. The Trailhead Pavilion is the beginning and ending point - a modern yet familiar “gable” to shelter, stage, plan and prepare groups or individuals. Upon return, visitors pass through the Celebration Station portion where they can deposit their pocketed finds and leave their marks in chalk.

A Design Award was also presented to in.site: architecture's buildingOUT project located in Long Island, NY. Per the architects, “A growing family made room for modern living in a historic home by identifying key needs…and then kicked those out.”

Over the centuries, two structurally distinct additions to the original 1688 house resulted in segmentation, leaving three quarters of the home rarely used. To make space for interconnected living inside the house, several program elements were evicted that now live, scattered, in the whitewashed brick structures. The landscape knitted these dispersed functions together. Lushly-planted dry creekbeds became the organizing design armature, capturing stormwater that once caused flooding. De-paving, paths, footbridges, patios and gardens link destinations, facilitating indoor-outdoor living MRB Group with William Rawn Associates received a Design Award for the RIT Student Hall for Exploration and Development (SHED). The SHED, together with the renovated Wallace Library, creates a unique learning ecosystem – a creative hub with a focus on hands-on learning. Located along the “quarter mile” at the center of RIT's campus, the SHED and Wallace Library create an active destination for students and faculty from all disciplines at an important campus gateway and crossroads. The SHED spotlights RIT students’ creative collaboration, revealing maker and project team spaces on three floors, dance studios, rehearsal rooms, a glass-box theater, and numerous spaces for informal group study.

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The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers Dear ASHRAE Members and Friends, Welcome to the 2024-25 ASHRAE Society year! I would like to give a great big THANK YOU to everyone who continues to support our Chapter and being the reason why the Rochester Chapter is so great! Participation at our Chapter’s events has been increasing over the past few years and this success wouldn’t be possible without support from our membership.

Our new society president, M. Dennis Knight, has established his theme for the 2024-25 Society Year as “Empowering Our Workforce: Building a Sustainable Future”. This theme highlights the impact that our industry is making to address climate change, sustainable development and indoor air quality, the emergence of new technologies in our industry, and how ASHRAE will be instrumental in attracting and developing the next generation of diverse professionals. Click here to learn more about Mr. Knight.

Our year will begin at the ASHRAE Region 1 Chapter Regional Conference (CRC) August 15-17, hosted by the ASHRAE Northeast Chapter in Albany, NY where we’ll discuss the previous year in review and vote to make improvements moving forward. In collaboration with the Rochester Plant Engineers, our Fall Social Clambake and BBQ event will be held on Thursday, September 12th at the Genesee Valley Park Roundhouse Pavilion. This will be a fun event to kick-off the year and we expect a great turnout. Gannon Dubay, President-Elect and Program Chair is working to develop a line-up of technical presentations for the year that will prove to be very informative and relevant to the current built environment. Be on the lookout for updates to our events calendar.

I would like to thank every one of our officers, board and committee members for their commitment to our chapter and their volunteerism. For a full list of our team, please visit our chapter’s website www.rochesterashrae.org. With that said, I would like to share that we are actively searching for more volunteers to join our committees to help do great things for our Chapter! Please reach out to me or anyone on our board if you’re curious about getting more involved or have any questions regarding ASHRAE. I look forward to seeing you all at our event in September!

Bret Fryover ASHRAE Rochester Chapter President, 2024-25

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The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers

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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 Dear Colleagues, Our IEEE Rochester Section Executive Committee (ExCom) meets monthly to plan events. Our next ExCom meeting will be on Tuesday, September 2nd from 12:00 PM to 1:30 pm. Please feel free to register for in-person or virtual attendance at our next ExCom meeting using this link (https://events.vtools.ieee.org/m/427166).

When asked why I am an IEEE member, I replied that my membership is the “lab course” for career building. My membership has opened opportunities for me to learn and sharpen technical and soft skills, such as organizing and hosting events that elevate engineering practice and contribute to our community. Help us plan events, welcome students back for the Fall Semester, engage practicing engineers, and elevate your career.

I look forward to working with you!

Regards, Kelly Robinson, PE, PhD Chair, IEEE Rochester Section RES Lynne Irwin’s Retirement Celebration Lynne Irwin, who has 42 years of exemplary service to the Rochester Engineering Society, was celebrated at the RES annual meeting. The photo shows Lynne with outgoing RES President Michelle Sommerman, PE, who pointed out that Lynne could never be replaced by a single person but is being replaced by an entire organization, ROBEX. Each month since the 1980s, the editors of this newsletter have worked with Lynne to publish it in the RES Magazine. She’s already missed.

Besides putting together the RES Magazine in print and digital form, her work touched every aspect of RES’s professional and educational events, including planning, onsite logistics, and registration.

IEEE Distinguished Speaker to Speak At AWA Annual Conference Sreeram (Ram) Dhurjaty, PhD, IEEE R1/R2 Co-Historian and Milestone Coordinator, will give a talk on Radio-frequency alternators in the 1920s at the Antique Wireless Association annual meeting at the RIT Inn and Conference Center. Ram will discuss the Poulsen-Dudell arc alternator, the Goldschmidt Alternator, the Alexanderson Alternator, and other devices that could generate frequencies up to 400 KHz and 500 KW. The AWA conference runs from Oct.1 through Oct 5, 2024. For conference details and registration, see: https://www.antiquewireless.org/homepage/annual-conference/

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Finger Lakes Chapter of INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL ON SYSTEMS ENGINEERING Annual Hybrid Meeting, September 2024, 1 PM at Cornell University Feature Presentation: Keeping People First in the Smart Cities Enterprise Presented by Matthew Hause Principal systems Engineer at SSI, former PTC Fellow, Co-chair of the UAF group and a member of the OMG SysML specification Team Abstract: Abraham Lincoln in his Gettysburg Address spoke of “government of the people, by the people and for the people.” The INCOSE Smart Cities Initiative (SCI) is proceeding along these lines to support municipal governments in considering people first for smart city efforts. This Initiative will support municipalities and public agencies in adopting Smart Cities technologies by applying systems engineering principles and tools. This Initiative will support holistic development of Smart Cities infrastructure and Concepts, Applications, Technology and Services (CATS) through an open framework. Their initial set of models and metrics focused on the people and communities to deter mine how a smart city can improve life for its residents. Towards that end, a modeling initiative using the Unified Architecture Framework (UAF) was created to put the human at the center of the socio technical system. The model looks at a city as an enterprise to examine the organizations, people, and communities using the human factors set of views. As a city of any size is a complex system of systems, the initial model is focused on Homeless/Unhoused People, how they interact with other organizations and people in the community. Only once this is understood should architects and planners explore technical solutions and how to improve outcomes for both them and the city. This paper will briefly discuss the SCI and its goals, and then show how MBSE can help planners understand the problem before looking for solutions.

This meeting will be on Saturday, September 7th, 1:00 – 3:00 pm (eastern).

Attendees can attend via zoom or in person at Cornell University.

The session will be recorded for INCOSE members to view later.

Attendees need to pre-register. To register, send an email to Susan.Urban@incose.net.

The zoom link will be sent out a few days before the meeting. Please indicate if you are interested in attending in person or virtually for further details.

IF YOU HEARD ABOUT THIS MEETING FROM RES, PLESASE LET SUSAN URBAN KNOW. © 2024 INCOSE Finger Lakes Chapter

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CHA Names Jeff Netland as Chief Digital Officer Innovative Technology Leader to Drive Digital Transformation Albany, NY – CHA Consulting, Inc. (CHA), an innovative, full-service engineering, design, consulting, and program/construction management firm, has named Jeff Netland as EVP & Chief Digital Officer effective June 3, 2024. With over two decades of leadership across multiple Fortune 500 organizations, Jeff brings deep expertise and leadership in driving organizational growth through advanced technology applications and development.

Jeff brings a proven track record of successfully aligning business strategies with modern digital initiatives, that stimulate growth, deliver operational efficiencies and client value.

In Jeff’s role as Chief Digital Officer, a newly created role at CHA, he will have overall responsibility of the technology and digital ecosystem. Jeff's background includes most recently serving as Chief Technology Officer & Vice President of Engineering for Carrier Fire & Security, where he led global engineering teams and implemented value engineering initiatives that drove annual revenue growth, reduced direct costs and improved global team productivity. His experience in digital solutions and engineering also includes various leadership roles at Ecolab, Honeywell, and General Electric, among others. Jeff will serve as a key member of the executive leadership team reporting to CEO, Jim Stephenson, and work across CHA’s business lines to further advance digital enablement.

“We are thrilled to welcome Jeff to CHA as we accelerate our digital capabilities to better support our teams in developing best-in-class solutions and serve our clients. Jeff’s expertise in advancing technology initiatives, driving business efficiencies, and proven experience in next-generation product development and delivery, will be pivotal in shaping CHA’s future during this time of digital transformation.” said Jim Stephenson, CEO, CHA Holdings.

“Joining CHA at this exciting time of rapid advancement in technology, particularly in AI that is changing the landscape in the A&E industry presents a truly unique and challenging opportunity,” said Jeff Netland. “I look forward to collaborating with CHA’s teams and leadership to continue to identify opportunities to become a leader in digitally enabled solutions and leverage the investments CHA has already made in its IT infrastructure and commercial applications.

Jeff received his Master of Business Administration from the University of Utah and his Bachelor of Science in Engineering from North Dakota State University.

About CHA Consulting, Inc. CHA Consulting, Inc. is an innovative, full-service engineering, design, consulting, and program/construction management firm providing a wide range of technology-enhanced services to public, private, and institutional clients. We are focused on delivering sustainable, integrated solutions to the world's most challenging infrastructure projects across utilities, transportation, water, and other critical commercial and industrial endmarkets. CHA was ranked 65th largest engineering firm in the U.S. in 2024 by ENR, with over 1,800 employees and 55 offices throughout the U.S. and Canada; please visit www.chasolutions.com.

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Affiliated Societies of the Rochester Engineering Society American Consulting Engineering, Companies of New York President, Pat Nicoletta, PE

American Public Works Association Monroe County/Genesee Valley Branch Chairman, Peter Vars, PE

American Society of Civil Engineers, Rochester Section President, Tyler C. Burke

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

Electrical Association Executive Director, Karen Lynch

Monroe Professional Engineers Society President, William Grove

Genesee Valley Land Surveyors Association President, Matthew Palmer

New York State Association of Transportation Engineers, Section 4 President, Christopher Reed

Illuminating Engineering Society of North America Inc., Rochester Section President, Steven Galley

Rochester Plant Engineers

Imaging Science & Technology, Rochester Chapter President, Bruce Pillman

Sheet Metal & Air-Conditioning Contractor’s National Association Rochester, Inc.

President, Brian Laurer

Executive Director, Don Fella

President, Matt Kremers

American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Rochester Section Chairman, Berto Perez

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Rochester Section Chairman, Kelly Robinson

American Society of Plumbing Engineers, Rochester NY Chapter President, David Myers

Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers, Rochester Chapter President, Dr. Ehsan Rashedi

Association for Bridge Construction and Design President, Emily Smith

International Council on Systems Engineering, Finger Lakes Chapter President, Teresa Fronk

Society of Plastics Engineers, Rochester Section President, Brett Blaisdell

Terra Rochester Finger Lakes Science & Engineering Fair Director, Harold R. Clark, PhD

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