Come learn about the FREE money available to help your section fund and execute your events.  This session will explain the Program Development Grant process and tips for a successful application.

Having funding is not all you need to be successful as a SWE section; your leaders must be able to ensure the best distribution of the money.  Learn how to secure the finances of your SWE section.  This session is recommended for SWE section and region leadership.

Linda Thomas, SWE Director of Regions, is an associate technical fellow  with the Defense, Space and Security division at The Boeing Company in Tukwila, WA. Her current assignment is system safety engineer with Global Transport and Executive Systems, supporting Boeing aircraft in the executive fleet; she also consults to a variety of government programs. Her career has covered materials and process engineering, and environmental engineering from military aircraft to space hardware. Her technical expertise is incorporating design for the environment principles in product design. A native of Washington DC, Thomas received her Bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Howard University, and Master’s degree in systems architecture and engineering from University of Southern California.

A Senior Life Member of SWE, Thomas was a collegiate member of Howard University’s section and re-joined SWE as a professional in 1997. She was vice-president of professional development and president of the Pacific Northwest section, Region J lieutenant governor, Region J governor, and alternate Region J Member-at-Large representative. Thomas also participated in the Multicultural and Professional Development Committees, and Joint Membership Task Force. 

In her leisure time, Thomas enjoys reading, bicycling, photography, playing clarinet, and spending time with her husband, son and pet birds.

Seasoning your signature dish is a fine balance: add too much and your dinner is off-putting, but if you don't add enough, your dish can be... well... forgettable.

The same is true for communications with your members. This short session will provide an overview of the methods that have proven to be most successful. Contributors include the Atlanta Section, the Birmingham Section, the Chattanooga Section, and the Puerto Rico Section.

Pam Androff, EIT, LEED AP has over 2 years of experience of designing heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning for commercial buildings. She is a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Acrredited Professional. In her short time as a practicing professional she has gained significant experience in building design and has worked on several LEED projects. Pam graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Central Florida. Pam has been a member of SWE for over 7 years and has held various leadership positions in the Society.

Are the same people doing all the work in your section? Your section needs better Succession Planning to identify potential candidate and to prevent leadership burnout. Your Region D Leadership Coaches will walk you through the 8 step approach to succession planning. This abbreviated module will give you helpful tips to get started so you can begin the Strategic Planning Process with your own section leadership.

Sarah Kirkish is a Certified Coach and Professional Organizer with over 18 years of project management experience in corporate America. She is a SWE Lifetime member, the SWE Region D Lead Leadership Coach and the owner of Work Life Organization. Sarah helps busy professionals simplify their lives from the inside out with her down-to-earth coaching and interactive workshops. Follow her on Twitter: WorkLifeOrg or visit her website at: www.worklifeorganization.com

Did you know that FY10 SWE President Nora Lin, along with other leaders of the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) community, joined President Obama at the White House when he announced the “Educate to Innovate” initiative? The Society of Women Engineers advocates for strong STEM education programs and gender equity in education and the workplace, and is often called on to educate policy makers on these and related issues. SWE’s policy initiatives are non-partisan and carefully focused on issues of importance to women engineers. This session will bring participants up to date on SWE’s public policy initiatives and how volunteers can get involved. 

Peggy Layne, P.E., joined Virginia Tech in 2003 as director of the AdvanceVT program, a program to increase the participation and success of women in academic science and engineering careers.  She is a registered professional engineer with degrees in environmental and water resources engineering, and worked for 17 years as an environmental engineering consultant. Ms. Laynespent a year working in the U.S. Senate as an AAAS Congressional Fellow sponsored by the American Society of Civil Engineers and served as president of the Society of Women Engineers in 1996-97.  She is FY11 Chair of SWE’s Government Relations and Public Policy Committee.

During the course of your career, you will encounter many different generations. Knowing the values and strengths of each generation will help you build better rapport with your co-workers and work more effectively in teams. Whether you are a baby boomer or a millennial, this module will help you understand and navigate the sometimes confusing waters of working with and managing different generations.

Sarah Kirkish is a Certified Coach and Professional Organizer with over 18 years of project management experience in corporate America. She is a SWE Lifetime member, the SWE Region D Lead Leadership Coach and the owner of Work Life Organization. Sarah helps busy professionals simplify their lives from the inside out with her down-to-earth coaching and interactive workshops. Follow her on Twitter: WorkLifeOrg or visit her website at: www.worklifeorganization.com

Speakers:  Diana Berry, Allison Bautiskta, and Michele O’Shaughnessy  

The Region Programming Excellence Award Competition was created to recognize innovative region conference sessions, programs, or events and encourage SWE members to create and share new materials and resources. This year's selected topic is Shaping Our Global Community.  The competition entry will consist of a presentation and a game show with “contestants” from the professional, collegiate, and retirement “career” phases.  During this workshop, you will learn more about the different areas to focus on for living, studying, and retiring abroad.  The workshop is presented by the team consisting of Diana Berry, and Allison Bautiskta.    

Diana Berry is an Industrial Engineer originally from Colombia/South America currently working for UPS customs brokerage in Aiken, SC.  Diana started her career with UPS in 2005 and is participant on the Management Assessment and Promotion Process (MAPP) at UPS that identifies and develops potential management candidates.  She is also a candidate for the Professional MBA program at the University of South Carolina.  Diana is currently a member of the Society of Women Engineers, Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, Institute of Industrial Engineers, American Society for Quality and Toastmasters International.  This is her first SWE conference and she is looking forward to the learning, development and networking experience.

Allison Bautista is a senior at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, FL, where she is studying Mechanical Engineering. She is also currently the Society of Women Engineers President for the collegiate section and a member of the Society of Physics Students. Allison has been an intern for Unison Industries (a subset of GE Aviation) at the Jacksonville location since September 2009 where she assists in both engineering and commercial projects that promote product and business process improvements. This is her second Regional SWE Conference, although she has already attended three annual SWE Conferences!

Rebecca Macdonald is a Civil Engineering doctoral student and NSF GK-12 Fellow at the University of Alabama, with research primarily in the construction industry. She received her BS from the Georgia Institute of Technology in Civil Engineering and a MA from Virginia Commonwealth University in Economics, during which she worked in various facets of the electric energy field. Rebecca is a co-founder for the graduate student group at University of Alabama in the Spring 2011.

Rachael McCarty is a Mechanical Engineering doctoral student and NSF GK-12 Fellow at the University of Alabama.  Her research is creating a dynamic model of the human vestibular system using a custom built rotary-tilt chair.  She received her BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Alabama, and then worked for two years in engineering and construction before returning to UA for grad school.  Rachael is a co-founder for the graduate student group at the UA in the Spring 2011.

Jacqueline Johnson has been back in research science for almost 20 years since taking a career break to have four children. She started in Liverpool in academia and moved to the United States in 1995 to work at Argonne National Laboratory, where she stayed for 12 years. In 2007, she returned to academia at the University of Tennessee Space Institute. She works on the characterization of amorphous materials, in particular glass-ceramic plates for mammography and diamond-like carbon coatings for prostheses. She will discuss the chronology of her career, the career choices of her children and maintaining a work-life balance. The importance of interests outside work will be presented, including her passion for training German Shepherds and competing in 5K races starting in her later 40’s!

Dr. Jacqueline Johnson obtained her B.Sc. and Ph.D. from the University of Liverpool in the United Kingdom. She worked as a professor in Liverpool until 1995 when she came to Argonne National Laboratory in the United States to study the structure of glasses. After a 2-year period as Assistant Division Director of the Materials Science Division she returned full time to science to initiate the mammography project. Other current research projects include solar energy and carbon films. On November 1st 2007 she returned to academia at the University of Tennessee Space Institute to further the mammography and carbon research.

Come learn about the various positions and types of jobs you can have within Medical Devices, including the more typical roles within research & development, manufacturing, and quality, to the not so expected roles in regulatory, sourcing, marketing & sales, and management. You will also see how everything ties into Research & Development and how we utilize innovation, Lean design principles, and Design For Six Sigma. Ask questions of the presenters.

Griffin Keller is a Concurrent Engineer at Medtronic Spinal & Biologics in Memphis, Tennessee. She is responsible for the transfer of new products from internal Research & Development to manufacturing at internal and external suppliers.  Prior to joining Medtronic, Griffin has held positions in Medical Devices as a Knees New Product Process Engineer at Zimmer Orthopedics and Staff Manufacturing at Stryker Medical working on stretchers.  Prior to medical devices, she worked at Siemens Power Generation supporting outages on Gas Turbine power plants.

Griffin holds both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Central Florida. After working on a Rehabilitation Engineering senior design project spurred her interest in medical devices, she focused her Master’s on Biomechanics.

Jennifer Brooks is an Associate Sourcing Engineer at Medtronic Spinal & Biologics in Memphis, Tennessee, working with various aspects of the Biologics business.  Prior to joining Medtronic, Jennifer co-oped for three semesters with Kimberly Clark, working in Health Care, Family Care, and Personal Care divisions. 

Jennifer holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biomedical Engineering from University of Tennessee, Knoxville.  She also has a Master’s in Biomedical Engineering from University of Memphis. 

Bridget Reardon is a Product Development Engineer focused in Sustaining Technologies at Medtronic’s Spinal & Biologics Division in Memphis, Tennessee.  Bridget’s day-to-day activities include providing product development support for products that have already been released into production, including making design changes and improvements.  During her academic career, Bridget has done research in modeling vertebral compression fractures, and did a co-op at Pratt & Whitney in the Air Systems Design and Integration group as part of the project team working on the GP7200 aircraft engine.   

Bridget has received her Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Clarkson University, as well as her Masters of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Boston University.

Sharon Rozzi is a Senior Director of R&D and Global Operations at Medtronic’s Spinal & Biologics Division in Memphis, Tennessee.  In this role, she is responsible for the quality and reliability of new products, and as well as for continuous improvement within operations.  Prior to joining Medtronic, Sharon was an R&D leader in two other medical device businesses:  Boston Scientific’s Cardiac Rhythm Management Division (2007-2010), and 3M ESPE (Dental Products) Division (1989-2007). 

Sharon holds degrees in chemical engineering from Carnegie Mellon (Ph.D.) and Cornell (B.S.), and an MBA from the University of Minnesota. She has been awarded fifteen U.S. patents.

She is also a member of the Carlson School of Business (University of Minnesota) Alumni Council and a former member of the Board of the Women’s Health Leadership Trust.

Would you like to have your resume looked over by someone who has your best interests at heart? Attend our rapid resume review! Critique sessions will be brief – 10 minutes at most.  Only 30 appointments are available. If you’d like to guarantee your resume is reviewed, please e-mail your resume to pamela.androff@gmail.com by March 2.

Jill Glenn, Project Manager with TVA in Integrated Resource Planning, will discuss the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), titled TVA’s Environmental and Energy Future. The plan will outline TVA’s electricity needs over the next 20 years, including their costs and reliability, as well as their potential impacts on the environment. It will also review ways to implement more energy efficiency and consider types of viable renewable generation that are available.

TVA completed a similar 20-year Integrated Resource Plan in 1995, entitled Energy Vision 2020.

TVA’s Environmental and Energy Future will go before the TVA Board of Directors in April for approval. 

Jill is employed at the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), currently as a Project Manager in Integrating Resource Planning (IRP).  She began her career with TVA eight years ago in the Supply Chain organization managing materials, labor and service agreements.  Six year later, she joined the Energy Efficiency and Demand Response organization as a Project Manager for Generation Partners, TVA’s program that supports the installation of renewable generation systems, such as solar photovoltaics, by homeowners and businesses in the Tennessee Valley region.  In May 2010, she began supporting the IRP effort as the lead of an integrated communication strategy, which encompasses all aspects of internal and external stakeholder communications.   Jill has a bachelor’s degree in Marketing from Mississippi State University and received her MBA with an emphasis in Marketing from the University of North Alabama while working full time for TVA.

Rosanne A. Smith is the Y-12 Energy Manager in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The Y-12 Energy Management Program includes employee education; tracking/reporting of energy use; plant utility modernization to reduce electricity, potable water, and fuel towards meeting site greenhouse gas reduction goals.

Rosanne previously conducted materials compatibility research in Y-12 Technology Development organization with earlier technical or management positions in Assembly, Product Engineering, Facilities, and Manufacturing Technology outreach.

Smith has B.S. and M.S. degrees in chemistry and an M.S. in materials science engineering from George Washington University. She earned her doctorate in materials engineering from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Rebecca Bell is an engineering professional and a mother of three daughters.  In the course of her career she worked full time before her children were born, worked full time with her children in day care and in the care of her Mother, and resigned her engineering position to care for her children, on a full time basis, for more than 16 years.  Having returned to the engineering profession, Rebecca reflects on these seasons of her life and examines the importance of balancing her professional life and her home life.

I received the Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville in 1980.  I began my engineering career at Tennessee Valley Authority serving in various positions including Electrical Engineer, Technical Supervisor, Engineering Specialist and Senior Electrical Engineer.  In 1989 I accepted the position of Quality Assurance Specialist with Martin Marietta Energy Systems (MMES) at the K-25 facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.  During my tenure with MMES I also served as a member of the Tiger Team, performing assessments of all Department of Energy facilities managed by MMES, and as the head of the Program Management Department for the TSCA Incinerator.  I am currently serving as a Senior Technical Staff Member for Babcock & Wilcox Y-12, LLC in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and as such am responsible for maintaining the safety basis for one of the nuclear facilities in the Y-12 complex.

A successful motivated engineer finally takes the test and is a Professional Engineer (PE).  She is very excited and works hard for years to become a great engineer on various projects.   She works on project teams and aspires to becoming the person in charge of the project.  The Project Manager (PM).  Finally after several years she applies for and is promoted to PM for a busy office with many exciting projects.  Within months though the clients are complaining to the new PM the projects are falling behind schedule, meetings are scheduled at the last minute, and complex issues are never resolved. The new PM is very upset, her team can’t seem to talk to each other, and the projects fall further behind!  Her supervisor has to get involved and helps put out some of the fires, until bigger fires emerge from other areas of the business.  It gets worse. The PM is miserable and feels like a failure and can’t figure out what to do!  This scenario is a very common occurrence when engineers who are excelling in their field are promoted to PM. The problem is the difference between the skills needed to be a PE and the skills needed to be a PM are often ignored and is simple as the difference  between technical expertise and management and leadership skill. The effects can ruin a project and cause a talented engineer to believe they are a failure. 

Speaker Bio: Christine Buziak completed her Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering at Villanova University. Upon graduation she attended the Officer Candidate School in Newport Rhode Island and received her commission in the United States Navy as a officer in the Civil Engineer Corp September 1988. She holds a Master of Science in Business Administration (MBA) from the Naval Postgraduate School. Working for the Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile District as the Resident Engineer at Eglin AFB, she is contracting officer for over $500 Million in active construction projects including the New F35 Joint Strike Fighter Program for all new facilities. As a reserve officer she is now the Executive Officer for the Naval Education and Training Command Reserve Unit. Christine has been a member of SWE for over 20 years and is Chairperson for the Leadership Coaching Committee for the Society of Women Engineers. In her spare time she is a Black Belt and assistant instructor in the martial arts, Tang Soo Do.

Claudia Rawn is a Senior Research Staff Member in the Materials Science and Technology Division at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and a Joint Faculty Member in the University of Tennessee’s Materials Science and Engineering Department. She received her B.Sc. from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Materials Engineering in 1986, her M.Sc. from George Mason University in Chemistry in 1991, and her Ph.D. from the University of Arizona in Materials Science and Engineering in 1995. Between 1987 and 1992 Claudia worked in the Ceramics Division of the National Institute of Standards and Technology as a Materials Research Engineer. After completing her Ph.D. she was a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Ceramics Department of the "Jozef Stefan" Institute, in Ljubljana, Slovenia.   She joined the Materials Science and Technology Division at ORNL in 1997. During her career she has co-authored over 80 technical publications and newsletter articles.

What is a Professional Engineer?  Why would I want to become a PE?  How do I become a PE?  Jessica Clark, PE will address the responsibilities of a PE, who should become a PE, and outline the process of obtaining a PE license.  She will address applying to sit for the FE and PE exams as well as study tips for passing the exams.

Jessica Clark, PE is a licensed Professional Engineer in the states of NM and TN.  She earned her BS in Engineering from Colorado School of Mines and has worked as a Mechanical Equipment Design Engineer for Merrick and Company for 9 years.

ZEBRAlliance is a public-private strategic partnership to research and educate builders about cost-effective energy efficient home construction. ZEBRAlliance currently has four energy efficient homes in the Wolf Creek Subdivision in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Ms. Banner will present what is being learned and how this knowledge is benefiting the marketplace.

Jennifer S. Banner has served as Chief Executive Officer of Schaad Companies, LLC in Knoxville, Tennessee since 2005. Schaad Companies is a 100-year old holding company comprised of businesses owned and controlled by members of the John H. Schaad, Jr. family. Businesses include residential and commercial construction, residential and commercial development, residential and commercial real estate brokerage and management services, equipment leasing and investments.

Ms. Banner worked at Pershing Yoakley & Associates in Knoxville, Tennessee as a shareholder and principal from 1987-2005. She worked as a CPA at Ernst & Whinney in Tampa, Florida after graduating from college.

Ms. Banner is a member of the board of directors of BB&T Corporation (member of Audit Committee), the Nashville Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, Knoxville Museum of Art, board of trustees (Chair of the Collections and Exhibitions Committee) and Tennessee Aquatics, Inc. Some of her memberships include the Executive Women’s Association, University of Tennessee’s Chancellor’s Associates, the University of Tennessee’s Department of Finance Advisory Roundtable, and the University of Tennessee’s Department of Accounting and Information Management Advisory Roundtable.

She received her BS in business administration and master of accountancy with highest honors from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee.

Ms. Nelson’s presentation will focus on defining sustainable development as an interdisciplinary system. Through the lens of sustainability, this system balances technical requirements and innovations, economics, and social dimensions so that organizations may conduct business to promote a healthy environment, economic growth and vibrant communities, now and into the future. As our society embraces the concept of sustainability, the workforce will be required to work with various groups outside their traditional discipline(s) to achieve holistic and interdisciplinary solutions to our ever growing and complex challenges.

Gigi Nelson is President/CEO and owner of Synergy Solutions, Inc. (Synergy), a woman-owned small business headquartered in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Founded in 2003 with a focus on Sustainability Planning and Integration and Security Support Services, Synergy received its 8(a) certification by the U.S. Small Business Administration in 2009. Ms. Nelson holds a B.S. in Forest Resource Management, with honors, from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Understanding the interdisciplinary nature of sustainability and the lack of an existing accredited graduate program that supported her vision, Ms. Nelson created, defended and earned her M.A. in Sustainable Development, with honors, from East Tennessee State University. She has over 15 years experience spanning business management and development, environmental compliance, pollution prevention, quality assurance, safety and security support services. Ms. Nelson serves on the board of the East Tennessee Economic Council (ETEC) and as an Examiner for the Tennessee Center of Performance Excellence. She also serves as the Lead for the Energy, Technology and Environmental Business Association (ETEBA) Government Relations Committee’s task force on the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Asset Revitalization Initiative/Energy Parks. Ms. Nelson lives with her family in Oak Ridge and enjoys being her daughter’s Daisy Girl Scout troop leader.

When you’re in school studying engineering, you learn to solve equations that will fix complicated systems, balance chemicals to solve critical reactions, even program computers to reach peak efficiencies. Although these topics are important, most engineering curriculums leave out the basic lessons essential to your everyday life after graduation. This segment will explain and hopefully help ease your college to career transition. We’ll talk about the job hunt and everything that comes after:  handling your new found wealth (with checking accounts, different savings options, credit, and loans), health and life insurance, taxes, work attire, etiquette, and networking.

Megan Deising graduated from Tennessee Tech University in May 2010 with a B.S. in Industrial Engineering. During her education she performed multiple co-op assignments and was president of the TTU Institute of Industrial Engineers. Since graduation she has work as an engineer for Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.  She is a leader in the Early Career Professions group at Y-12, and a member of the Smokey Mountain professional SWE chapter, Energy Valley Toastmasters, and Young Professionals of Oak Ridge.

As creative forces of nature, we are constantly working to improve the world around us. Whether at work, home, in our community, or within our network, we diligently seek to make the most of every endeavor. Outreach is really no different, but sometimes we struggle to make the most of our resources. With a few tools, you can be effective in leadership and be able to accomplish the impossible
in every area of your life.

• Be able to identify key effective leadership traits/characteristics
• Mold traits to fit and enhance your individual leadership style
• Apply leadership qualities towards outreach and beyond

This workshop, while centered on outreach, is built to appeal to the leader in every member of SWE. We have a great pool of talented, creative, and innovative women who may not consider the vast resource they can be to young ladies, and we want to connect them back to their legacy through leadership. The attendees will take away three specific and immediately applicable lessons:

• They will see the importance of team delegation and how to affectively build that successful team.
• They will leave with effective methods for hosting a successful outreach event that meets all their goals and objectives.
• Finally they will acquire important techniques for leading a team.

Shayla Bennett holds a B.S. in Industrial and Systems Engineering from The University of Alabama in Huntsville, UAH, 2002. She works for NeXolve Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of ManTech Corporation. Within SWE, she has served as the NAL SWE Outreach Chair and is the current Programs Work Group Lead for SWE Outreach Committee.

Principles of Effective Communication
Track: Professinal Development
Speaker: Latisha Bristow

The large culture we live in is drowning in a sea of information.  A world of rapidly accelerating technology and nearly unlimited access to information makes it difficult for us to sift out the valuable information we need to accomplish our mission.  In addition, companies are successfully accomplishing more missions with fewer people than ever before, and there is a constant battle to cover the bases with limited resources.  Now, more than ever, it’s important to communicate with clarity and focus.  With many demands on our time, why should we care about effective communication?  This seminar answers that question, identifies seven steps to effective communication, and describes common speaking and writing problems.

Feeling overwhelmed with the amount of email and information that crosses your desk every day? Are you hard at work, but feel like you are simply spinning your wheels, while project deadlines are whizzing by out of control? Tempted to declare email bankruptcy and just delete them all? You need better Information Management skills.

There is a way to master your inbox once and for all. Using the principles of Getting Things Done by productivity guru David Allen. Sarah Kirkish, owner of Work Life Organization will help you identify your information bottlenecks and use a critical decision making model to gain traction and momentum to succeed on even the stickiest projects. Sarah’s favorite motto is: The Secret to Success is getting Started! So choose this seminar to Master Your Inbox today!

 Sarah Kirkish is a Certified Coach and Professional Organizer with over 18 years of project management experience in corporate America. She is a SWE Lifetime member, the SWE Region D Lead Leadership Coach and the owner of Work Life Organization. Sarah helps busy professionals simplify their lives from the inside out with her down-to-earth coaching and interactive workshops. Follow her on Twitter: WorkLifeOrg or visit her website at: www.worklifeorganization.com

Many people think of mentoring as something that can help them in their career.  There are many aspects to mentoring that are not traditionally thought of as mentoring.  The presentation will cover traditional and non-traditional mentoring.  It will then turn around and challenge everyone to be a mentor and to help others in their career or whatever activity is appropriate.  The presentation covers a few actual experiences. 

Andrea Zava is the Senior Director for Weapon Quality Assurance at the Y-12 National Security Complex. In this role she is responsible for both weapon quality assurance and quality control. Andrea has 40 years of experience at Y-12 spanning the areas of material processes and development, weapon processes, program management, recruiting, facility safety, and quality assurance. This general expertise has given Andrea an overall perspective of Y-12, the manufacturing processes, and program management.

Andrea has actively participated as a mentor for 10 years and was on the Mentoring Council at Y-12.  She served on the board of directors of the Oak Ridge Chapter of the National Management Association. In addition, she is a graduate of Leadership Oak Ridge and has worked on reclamation projects as a B&W Volunteer to the Smoky Mountains.

She is the recipient of two Y-12 President’s Awards and was honored on Awards Night for both Management of Operations and Management of Safety Analysis.

Andrea earned a B.A. in chemistry from the University of Chattanooga and completed master’s level coursework at UT in chemistry, industrial engineering, and engineering management

This presentation will be about using hydrogen as a fuel source and its use in fuel cells and other applications. The discussion will cover sustainability/alternative energy sources, and the use of biological systems, such as the platinized protein system, in producing hydrogen sustainably.

Rosemary Le is a second year graduate student pursuing a Ph.D. in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Tennessee Knoxville. She is currently an NSF-IGERT Fellow in the Sustainable Technology through Advanced Interdisciplinary Research (STAIR) program at UT.  Her research focus is on production of hydrogen as a potential fuel source by exploiting the photosynthetic properties of algal and bacterial systems.  Rosemary also has an interest in making understanding of sustainability and its issues, as well as alternative energy needs, a focus for education and industry. 

The Juggling Act: Moving from College to Career
Track: College to Career Transition
Speaker: Kristen Porter

You’ve finally graduated college! Now what? Entering into the profess ional world can be both exciting, nerve-wracking, and a juggling act. This workshop is designed to provide attendees with ONE perspective from an engineer who’s been in the field for almost 4 years. Kristen will outline her transition into corporate America while trying to establish a work-life balance. Kristen is no stranger to the juggling act game. In the years following her graduation, Kristen worked full-time, pursued a graduate degree, planned a wedding, and remained heavily involved in SWE. Learn about how she managed the juggling act, get tips and tricks, and ask your most curious questions. This workshop is designed for audience participation in the form of questions! Don’t hold back! Remember no two experiences are ever the same!

Kristen Porter is a Systems Engineer with Lockheed Martin in Orlando, FL. She has varied experience including system-level requirement writing, data analysis, integration and test, program planning, line-of-sight accuracy analysis, boresight analysis; environmental conditioning and testing; and development and production environment exposure. Kristen holds her bachelor’s in Engineering Technology and a masters in Industrial Engineering and Management Systems both from the University of Central Florida. Outside of work, Kristen is serving as president of the Central Florida professional section of SWE. Kristen is the recipient of the Lockheed Martin Excellence Award and a 2011 Nominee for Young Engineer of the Year for Central Florida Engineer’s week. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her husband, scrapbooking, and preparing for the arrival of her first child, a girl, in June.

Building Systems Commissioning: What is it and why do I need it?
Track: Energy & Sustainability
Speaker: Tracey Whaley

According to the Department of Energy, fifty percent of all the energy used in the U.S. is used by the buildings where we live, work, and play. Ensuring that these buildings are energy efficient and sustainable while meeting the owner's needs is the goal of Building Commissioning. We can design energy efficient buildings but if the building operators don't understand how the systems operate, the building isn't sustainable.

Tracey A. Whaley, P.E., FPE, is a mechanical and fire protection engineer and project manager with Hanson Professional Services Inc. With more than 20 years of experience, she is responsible for the design of HVAC, plumbing, and fire protection systems for commercial, educational, manufacturing, and military facilities. Additionally, she is a Building Systems Commissioning Provider (QCxP) and serves as Commissioning Project Manager for Hanson providing commissioning services for a variety of University, Municipal, and State facilities.

Since 2000, Ms. Whaley has been is an active member of SWE, serving as section president, COR representative, and Region D senator among other positions.  Tracey is also an active member of the American Society of Heating Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) and serves as the Government Affairs Committee Chair for the Central Florida Chapter.

Tracey graduated from Kansas State University in 1987 with a B.S. degree in Architectural Engineering system design for buildings. 

The capstone session of this year's conference, the Sustainability Panel features engineers from several disciplines who will discuss their roles and their peers' roles in sustainability-oriented projects. The goal of this session is to make us as engineers more aware of such undertakings lead by our counterparts in other specialties. After initial introductions, the panel's discussion will focus mainly on questions and feedback from the audience. Don't miss out, and be sure to come with some questions!

Constance Bryant is a Project Manager of Nuclear Plant Projects with Tennessee Valley Authority. In this role, Constance coordinates and manages all aspects of small and medium projects, including identifying and managing project risk, identifying stakeholders and managing project team.

Constance’s first job in the nuclear industry was in the Multi-skilling Electrical Maintenance Program.  After five years she moved on to become a Senior Chemist at the Sequoyah Nuclear Plant.  After revamping the raw water program and completing safety changes to the diesel fuel oil testing program through the NRC, she was promoted to Project Manager of Nuclear Plant Projects.

She is a graduate of Tuskegee University with Bachelor of Science degrees in Chemical Engineering and Chemistry.  She also holds a MBA from Walden University.  She is a member of Women in Nuclear, Society of Women Engineers and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority.

Tracey A. Whaley, P.E., FPE, is a mechanical and fire protection engineer and project manager with Hanson Professional Services Inc. With more than 20 years of experience, she is responsible for the design of HVAC, plumbing, and fire protection systems for commercial, educational, manufacturing, and military facilities. Additionally, she is a Building Systems Commissioning Provider (QCxP) and serves as Commissioning Project Manager for Hanson providing commissioning services for a variety of University, Municipal, and State facilities.

Since 2000, Ms. Whaley has been is an active member of SWE, serving as section president, COR representative, and Region D senator among other positions.  Tracey is also an active member of the American Society of Heating Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) and serves as the Government Affairs Committee Chair for the Central Florida Chapter.

Susan Jacks has been with the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) progressing in roles with increasing responsibility within River Scheduling since 1995.  Responsibilities include optimizing the water releases from TVA’s system of dams on the Tennessee River and its tributaries to satisfy multipurpose objectives for the people of the Tennessee Valley and power service area.  Those objectives include navigation, flood risk reduction, hydro generation, water quality, water supply and recreation.  She progressed from senior engineer to principle engineer in the River Forecast Center (RFC), ultimately managing the daily operations of the river system and the RFC staff.  She is currently serving as advisor to the General Manager of River Scheduling supporting programs and initiatives of the executive leadership. 

Annette L. Moore, PE

·         Education includes 4 degrees:

o   A.S. Pre-Engineering

o   B.S. Civil and Environmental Engineering

o   M.S. Environmental Engineering – Water Resources

o   M.B.A – Human Resources

·         Licensed engineer in Tennessee

·         Beta Gamma Sigma Inductee

·         NERC Certified at Reliability Coordinator level

·         Over 12 years experience at TVA including: