Upcoming Events
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Scholarship fund donations
11/28/2016
May PDH Chapter Dinner Meeting
Thursday May 18th, 2017
Grand Street Café
4740 Grand Ave.
Kansas City, MO
4:30-5:30 pm – MSPE Western Chapter Board Meeting
5:30-6:00pm – Registration and Networking
6:00-6:30pm – Dinner
6:30-6:40pm – Honoring of Sustaining Members
Chapter Awards
Installation of Officers – 2017-2018
6:40-7:30pm – Presentation: The Future of KCI Airport
Guests - $27
Members - $25
Students - $15
Registration End on Monday, May 15 at 5:00pm
Dinner Menu
1) Grilled Chicken Breast – Whipped potatoes, Green Beans, Green herb butter, Chicken Jus, Roll& Butter, House or Caesar’s Salad
2) Bills Chicken Salad – Fried coconut chicken, mixed greens, eggs, tomatoes, artichoke hearts, shredded cheese, avocado, hot mustard and balsamic vinaigrette.
3) Rigatoni – crushed tomatoes sauce, Italian sausage, charred broccoli, fresh basil, whipped ricotta, roll & butter, house or Caesar’s Salad
Dessert – Cookies
Water at table and Tea and soda self-serve at the bar. Cash bar available located near the main entrance.
The Future of KCI
Presenter – Justin Meyer, Deputy Director of Aviation, Marketing and Air Service Development – Kansas City International Airport
Abstract: The Kansas City Aviation Department will provide background on the planning and negotiations that led to last year’s recommendation to construct a new terminal at KCI, an update on the status of several multi-million dollar programs currently underway to improve the guest experience at KCI, and an update on the continued growth trend occurring now at KCI, 34 consecutive months of year over year growth.
Bio: Justin rejoined the Kansas City Aviation Department in April 2014. As the Deputy Director of Aviation – Marketing and Air Service Development he leads the marketing, communications and customer service efforts for the Kansas City Aviation Department’s two airports. Additionally, Justin works with airline planners to increase flights and add new routes from Kansas City International Airport (KCI).
In 2012 Justin was recognized as an up-and-coming leader in the aviation industry by Airport Business Magazine as a member of their inaugural “Top 40 Under Forty” class. Justin is the Chair of ACI-NA’s Marketing and Communications Committee and a 2011 graduate of the Leadership Northland program. A native of the Northern Virginia area, Justin is an alumnus of Florida Tech in Melbourne, Florida, where he studied Aviation Management and acquired multiple pilot ratings, including Instrument, Commercial, Multiengine and Certified Flight Instructor. He resides in Kansas City, Missouri with his wife, Jill, and sons, Jackson and Cameron.
*PDH Certificates will be available at Grand Street Café
Save the Dates
Here is the current and up to date schedule of our meetings for the remainder of the 2016 – 2017 MSPE year. Mark your calendars for these dates so you won’t miss any meeting!!
May 18, 2017 – Thursday
Dinner Meeting – Annual Awards Meeting
Grand Street Cafe
4740 Grand Ave
Kansas City, MO 64112
June 18 – 21, 2017 – Sunday Thru Wednesday
Annual State Convention
OId Kinderhook
20 Eagle Ridge Road
Camdenton, MO 65020
2017 ENGINEERS WEEK CELEBRATION
On February 23, the Missouri Society of Professional Engineers (MSPE) Western Chapter and Kansas Society of Professional Engineers (KPSE) Eastern Chapters hosted the 66th Annual Engineers Week Luncheon at the Kansas City Downtown Marriott. The luncheon was attended by 550 engineers and engineering industry professionals in the KC metropolitan area. The luncheon started with a networking and social hour that included booths representing several area universities, PLTW high schools, professional organizations and engineering companies.
After opening remarks by local chapter and state officers, several competition awards were given to high school and middle school participants and a recognition award to young engineer of the year in the profession for MSPE and engineer of the year for the KSPE chapter. Middle school students participated in the Mathcounts competition, which involves these students answering tricky math problems that could prove difficult for most professional engineers. High school students participated in the Bridge Building competition, which involves designing and constructing a balsa wood bridge and recording the efficiency of the bridge by testing the weight that the bridge can support. Below are listed the MSPE Western Chapter competition and industry award winners:
Mathcounts
Pembroke Hill, Coach: Linda Mohr
Rishabh Gaur
Aarav Yarlagadda
Austin Powell
Ethan Wolf
Bridge Building
Park Hill South, Tracy Mangels
Ethan Wissmann
Trent Neutgens
Chloe Wiser
Young Engineer of the Year
Charles Loughman, P.E.
Wilson & Company
Middle school student also participate in a Future City Competition that allows them to expand their knowledge on future innovation, sustainability, and other factors that need to be considered when planning cities in the future. The main focus of this year’s competition was designing a city that can accommodate a large population with a limited footprint. The winning team from West Middle School in Lawrence, Kansas gave us a short presentation on their city, Oron Zai, by taking us through their design process, potential issues, solutions to solve these issues, and innovations we can expect to see in the future. Below are the winning team members:
West Middle School (Lawrence, Kansas) – Teacher: Charla Jerome, Mentor: Nick Voss
Xavier Bowen, Margaret Bhattarai, Logan Claassen-Wilson, Sam Coleman, April Haight, Maggie Li, Anna Hayden
After all awards were presented, Zachary Scheel, P.E. gave a presentation on how his innovative and straight forward data analysis company is revolutionizing the construction industry. Zach is the co-founder and CEO of Rhumbix, a San Francisco-based startup focused on improving labor productivity and employee health & safety in the construction industry. Zach served for five years as a Civil Engineer Corps Officer in the US Navy. After his military service, Zach worked as an Associate at Bechtel Enterprises, where he started to see inefficiencies in the construction industry with regards to site layout and labor utilization. Zach uses his experiences in the military and advances in technology to track workers movements to improve efficiency of the work place. Many of these improvements involve simply shifting of equipment or facilities to eliminate wasted work time and steps that are involved in performing their daily tasks. These changes help to save hundreds of hours in lost labor and effectively save many projects from going over budget.
Model Bridge Available
If you would like to make a presentation about engineering to a group of kids and would like to borrow the Western Chapter model bridge (see photos), please email Derek Vap at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
President's Message
Authors: Jim Guthrie, Clint Mason, Derek Vap
Participation in the Missouri Society of Professional Engineers Western Chapter (MSPE-WC) programs allows many engineers and their friends to provide civic service to their community and allows them a chance to offer that spark that possibly helps a youngster decide to pursue a career in a STEM field.
What helped you decide to go to college; or pursue a particular discipline in engineering? Was it your parents; or a school teacher; or a relative who provided a good example; or maybe it was the engineer who volunteered at your high school to help your physics teacher build a robot for your team? Most engineers were encouraged or inspired to consider engineering by someone who took the time to share their time and passion for engineering with them.
Participation in MSPE is an excellent way to give back to the engineering community through volunteering. The goal of MSPE-WC is to promote the ethical and competent practice of engineering. Our chapter accomplishes this by creating a network of engineering professionals and leaders in the Kansas City area and by promoting engineering as a career to middle and high school students. Participation in MSPE-WC can take on many forms. The first step is to attend local monthly meetings. MSPE-WC is always looking for volunteers to lead committees or to assist in putting on our special events. MSPE-WC has several programs and annual community outreach efforts in which one can become involved.