When was the last time you went a week without receiving an unsolicited credit card application? I can’t remember, either. The marketing pitch often includes awards programs for points that can be tough to redeem, or interest rates that spike after that attractive initial introductory period. Not fun.
Here atEngineered Systems, we are striving to do better. What we offer is the return of the ES Engineering Awards. It does not involve an alluringly low interest rate; on the contrary, it offers a high rate of interest from your fellow engineers.
What we’re after is your best work. Of course, there are many possible definitions of “best work.” Maybe it was a new project, maybe it was a retrofit. Perhaps the payoff of increased efficiency was tremendous, the performance of the project team was inspirational, or the design solution sublime. We like all these definitions of “best” and then some.
By now, at least one project has probably come to mind. What to do? The entry form is available online for your convenience, and it lets you submit as much (or as little) info as you want. Details are good, since we do have to make some decisions, after all, but the point is that there’s no filling out stuff in triplicate or a bunch of questions that aren’t relevant. You tell us your story, and we’ll share the cream of the crop with readers in our October issue.
You can submit your project atwww.esmagazine.com/awards. Deadline is Friday, August 15, so you have something to work on when all your colleagues are on vacation some week this summer and the rest of you are trying to keep busy so as not to be bitter that you’re stuck at work.
This way, you can have something to show for yourself when they get back: accolades and free publicity for your organization. Everyone likes positive national press – owners like it, clients like it, bosses really like it, and marketing directors LOVE it. But don’t do it for them, or for the award and free “Back2Basics” CD-ROM library the winner receives. Do it for you. You were part of a great project; now share it so the rest of us might learn something from your success.
Niagara Rises
The editorial travel itinerary this time around included the semi-annual Niagara Summit, hosted in Florida by the folks at Tridium. I have to say, the raw numbers were impressive: over 600 attendees and another 50 sponsors. Like our own event, the cool part is the enthusiasm and energy generated when you put an interested crowd together with good presenters and the ability to talk to each other for a while.Aside from mentioning a successful demo of their upcoming Sedona framework (designed for embedded smart devices), I’ll let you get the product details elsewhere. Jim Young of RealComm might’ve had the line of the event, discussing the increasing lag between what we consider cutting-edge in the U.S. and what is taking place overseas. As he was told by one of his hosts after observing another innovative wireless application, “In the United States, you might be a visionary. In Singapore, you’re a history teacher.”
Ouch. I’ll post more about that presentation and others (topics ranging from peak oil to hospital beds as information hubs) on the ES blog atwww.esmagazine.com/blog. so drop by and check it out.
Advisory Addition
Finally, I want to extend a big welcome to Vincent A. Sakraida, P.E., LEED® AP, the newest member of our editorial advisory board. You might recognize his name from bylines of past feature articles dealing with various mission critical topics. Vince is group manager and senior project manager at Jacobs Carter Burgess.He has also recently joined the ranks of ASHRAE’s Distinguished Lecturers. Between an ability to convey complex information and over 26 years of engineering design and commissioning, Sakraida brings a lot to the table. We look forward to his input on shaping our coverage as well as to his occasional contributions in future issues.ES
