2007 Issue

UTAH ENGINEERS COUNCIL JOURNAL 3 UTAH ENGINEERS COUNCIL 3222 Bigarade Lane Taylorsville, UT 84118 Telephone: (801) 967-3234 www.utahengineerscouncil.org UEC EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 2006-2007 Chair: Dale Bennett dale@benchmarkcivil.com Vice-Chair: Mike Norrie michael.norrie@mwhglobal.com Secretary/Treasurer Trent Hunt trenthunt@trane.com Executive Secretary Susan R. Merrill susan.uec@comcast.net First Past Chair Paul C. Oestreich Oestreich@UtahPatents.com Second Past Chair Linda Bachmeier sbac@chevron.com Committee Chairs Publication Committee Chair Kiran Bhayani, P.E., D.E.E. kbhayani@utah.gov E-Week Committee Chair Mike Norrie michael.norrie@mwhglobal.com Fund-Raising Committee Chair Bob Davis rdavis@sunrise-eng.com Membership Committee Chair Mike Buehner mbuehner@reaveley.com Legislative Committee Chair Trent Hunt trenthunt@trane.com Awards Commitee Chair Paul C. Oestreich Oestreich@UtahPatents.com A S THE CURRENT CHAIR OF UEC, I WOULDLIKE TOBE THE FIRST TOWEL- COMEALLOFTHOSEENGINEERSAND OTHER PROFESSIONALS THAT ARE reading this journal to the year 2007. What a great time to be an engineer in Utah! For the past several years, the economy in Utah has been getting stron- ger and therefore the need for engineers is at an all time high. Not too long ago, in 2006, I had a Vice President from a well-known bank here in Utah contact me and was interested in trying to get a feel for some of the top demand areas of engineering. He had the responsibility in his position at the bank to know and understand the current trends of the engineering field so he could better serve all of his engineering clients. It was a pleasure bringing this information to our following board meeting and finding out that all of those fields that were representing an engineering field were in very high demand at the time. I recently read an article in the De- seret Morning News (December 29, 2006 by Dave Anderton) that was titled “Utah Firms Seeking more Engineers”. Jason Perry, the executive director of the Governor’s office of Economic Development said there are about 1,000 unfilled engineering jobs in Utah. “That is a lot, “ Perry said. “We’re talking every kind of engineer and every level of experience.” The governor’s of- fice for the State of Utah recently became a member of our organization and I be- lieve has benefited both the State of Utah BY DALE K. BENNETT, PLS, PE Benchmark Engineering & Land surveying U EC Chair 2006-2007 and most of the engineering professions. I believe communication is now stronger than ever because of their membership into our organization. I have been on the UEC Board for a number of years now and am impressed by those engineers representing a number of disciplines who take time out of their busy schedules to help our organizations become stronger. Becoming involved in your pro- fessional organizations has proven to help both those engineers that get involved and the professions that they become involved in. As we enter a new year, I challenge each of you reading this article that are not currently involved in your professional organizations to get involved and help make a difference. Each year the Utah Engineers Council receives nominations from a number of professional organizations for Engineer of the Year, Engineering Educator of the Year, Fresh Faces Engineer, and Mesa Teacher of the Year. I have had the opportunity to review each of the nominees this year and am impressed with the quality of individuals in the engineering profession that Utah continues to surface to the top each year. Each year we ask each member of each organization that is a member of UEC to help contribute to our cause. Because most of us have had a great year in 2006, I challenge each of you this year to make a contribution to help the organization out. Chair’s Message Engineers in Demand continued on page 7