2021
NSPE-WI (WSPE)
Virtual Discovery Conference

 

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and associated travel and gathering restrictions and recommendations, NSPE-WI will again provide a virtual Discovery Conference in place of our annual in-person conference. 

We have scheduled 14 conference sessions.  All sessions will be held on Tuesdays at noon and Thursdays at noon.  You can sign up for all 14 sessions as a package for $150 or pick individual sessions at $15 each.  Secure payment is by credit card using PayPal--note a PayPal account is not required.  After registration and payment, you will be sent the Zoom meeting information via email the day prior to your session.  The sessions will be moderated and there will be an opportunity to ask questions via the Q&A feature in Zoom.

Session schedule and PDH recording form in PDF is available.

 

Session Schedule

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03/09/21  Tuesday 12:00 p.m.
Session 1a (1.0 PDH)
The Future of Engineering (General)

Trish Hatley, NSPE President

In our changing world, what is the role of engineers and what will the profession look like in the future? This presentation will addressseveral issues impacting the role of professional engineers in our society and some of the challenges we will face as leaders.

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03/11/21  Thursday  12:00 p.m.
Session 1b (1.0 PDH)
Challenges faced when designing/erecting steel trusses for Arena (Civil)

Meghann Riedner, PE, SE & Vas Dudnik, PE with GRAEF

Challenges and unique design features include design of long spans to accommodate lab space requirements, meet vibration requirements and offer future flexibility, innovation center with bridge crane, green roof over innovation center and foundation challenges with sloped bedrock (building(s) supported on bedrock and structural fill )

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03/16/21  Wednesday  12:00 p.m.
Session 2a (1.5 PDH)
Design for Construction Safety (Safety)

Dr. Norm Arendt, PhD. With Arendt Safety Consulting LLC

This concept began as Design for Construction Safety around 2008. It has been slightly modified and is being pushed by an Alliance of professional organizations as a concept that is needed. The most effective means of preventing and controlling occupational injuries, illnesses, and fatalities is to “design out” hazards and hazardous exposures from the workplace or the construction site. There is a long history of designing for safety for the general public and to a lesser degree for construction workers. It has been argued that most architects and design engineers possess neither the knowledge of construction safety nor the knowledge of construction processes necessary to effectively perform Construction Hazards Prevention through Design (CHPtD). This presentation will explain the concept as it currently stands.

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03/18/21  Thursday  12:00 p.m.
Session 2b (1.5 PDH)
Integrating Cross-functional engineering data in new product development: How Mechanical and Electrical Designcan Co-exist

Clare Schaeffer - Applications Engineering Director, GSC Corporation

In this presentation we will delve into often cumbersome handling of engineering data across multiple disciplines. Using new tools and processes to communicate design intent between electrical, electronic and mechanical engineering teams to deliver on time complete and correct designs in the new product development funnel.

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03/23/21  Thursday  12:00 p.m.
Session 3a (1.5 PDH)
Challenges, Lessons Learned and Benefits to Owning and Operating a District-Scale Geothermal System to Serve aLarge Corporate Campus (Civil)

Derek Schnabel, PE Epic Systems

Talk will focus on unique challenges in designing, installing and operating a district-scale geo-thermal system to serve a large corporate campus. Topics include - unique geology and ground water of the region, heat transfer characteristics over time, system control and operation, benefits of having this geothermal system along with savings.

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03/25/21  Thursday  12:00 p.m.
Session 3b (1.0 PDH)
Alliant Energy Solar Program (Electrical)

Ben Lipari, Alliant Energy Coporation

Alliant Energy has announced our Clean Energy Blueprint for Iowa and Wisconsin. The Clean Energy Blueprint is our roadmap to accelerateour transition to renewable energy – something that has become especially important as we work to sustain the economic and environmental health of the communities we serve. Clean energy is affordable. In fact, solar energy costs less to operate, creates job opportunities and uses natural resources wisely.

As solar becomes a larger part of our energy mix, our customers will benefit in a variety of ways. These include avoiding long-term costs, promoting job and business growth and reduced impact on our natural resources. Adding solar, as a complement to our wind production, provides customers with reliable and sustainable energy for years to come.

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03/30/21  Tuesday  12:00 p.m.
Session 4a (1.5 PDH)
Incubate to Implement: How Process Improvements and Innovations Become Reality (Civil)

David Esse, Jason Roselle, PE, Dan Johnston, PE, Scott Ebel. Wisconsin Department of Transportation, Division of Transportation System Development

This session will walk through WisDOT’s 5-step approach for implementing process improvements and technologies along with approachesfor building a culture of innovation.

The session will also highlight several examples of technologies that have been implemented and walk through how each is impacting theDOT at a statewide level. Implementation leads will tell their story to share improvements such as GIS technologies, PS&E review process improvement, and eSignature/file sharing and access.

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04/01/21  Thursday  12:00 p.m.
Session 4b 9 (1.0 PDH)
Knowing When You are Standing on the Edge of an Ethical Cliff (Ethics)

Rebecca Bowman, Esq, PE, and Susan K Sprague, PE, NSPE

Understanding what to do when faced with an ethical dilemma is important. However, recognizing an ethical dilemma is better. And recognizing an approaching ethical dilemma is best. This webinar will focus on clues, symptoms, and indicators to help practitioners recognize, address, and avoid situations which give rise to ethical dilemmas. Attendees will also explore resources and tools to help them confidently face those situations. The webinar will also cover related aspects of insurance coverage and legal liability.

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04/06/21  Tuesday  12:00 p.m.
Session 5a (1.0 PDH)
Art to Part - Lifecycle of a Part (Computer)

Austen Popejoy - CAM Applications Engineer and Nick Schmidke - 3D Printing Applications Engineer, GSC Corporation

This session follows a one-of part through the entire SolidWorks production spectrum, from Design to Simulation through photo-realistic renderings. Once it receives the go-ahead the part is given to the 3D printing team for prototyping and production using Markforged and HP printers. After attending you will likely recognize one (or more) areas your own workflows can be streamlined and improved with a few keytools.

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04/08/21  Thursday  12:00 p.m.
Session 5b (1.0 PDH)
Fatigue Analysis to Prevent Failure (Mechanical)

Chris Olson, GSC Corporation

For those of us designing products that must last for multiple use cycles, even cycles into the tens of millions, fatigue life is an important design consideration. Fatigue is the prime cause of the failure of many objects, but it is an often-overlooked aspect. Learn how this analysis process will give you the tools necessary to better understand how fatigue failure can be prevented in your designs.

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04/13/21  Tuesday  12:00 p.m.
Session 6a (1.0 PDH)
The Role of Engineering and Design in Restoring Knee Function (Biomedical)

Dr. Jay Goldberg, PhD, PE, Marquette University

This presentation will describe the role of engineering and design in creating devices to restore knee function, specifically knee implants for total knee arthroplasties. It will include a review of knee anatomy and biomechanics, materials used in knee implants, manufacturing methods, surgical procedures, and problems associated with the use of knee implants. A review of early knee implant designs as well as the current state-of-the-art will be presented.

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04/15/21  Thursday  12:00 p.m.
Session 6b (1.0 PDH)
Collapse of the I-35W Bridge (Ethics)

Susan K Sprague, PE, CBSI and Rebecca Bowman, Esq, PE, NSPE

About 6:05 p.m. central daylight time on Wednesday, August 1, 2007, the eight-lane, 1,907-foot-long I-35W highway bridge over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, Minnesota, experienced a catastrophic failure in the main span of the deck truss. As a result, 1,000 feet of the deck truss collapsed, with about 456 feet of the main span falling 108 feet into the 15-foot-deep river. A total of 111 vehicles were on the portion of the bridge that collapsed. Of these, 17 were recovered from the water. As a result of the bridge collapse, 13 people died, and 145 people were injured. The NTSB investigation identified the cause of the collapse and many design and inspection issues. This case study in engineering ethics examines the history of the bridge and the subsequent NTSB investigation of the failure, including recommendations, and assignment of damages to the parties involved.

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l04/20/21  Thursday  12:00 p.m.
Session 7a (1.5 PDH)
Challenges in Designing and Erecting the Long span Trusses on Resch Expo (Structural)

Fred Groth, PE, SE and Joseph Parker, PE, GRAEF and Brian Vroman, Andy Vis and Eric Brandt, Miron Construction Company

We will review the challenges in designing and erecting the long span trusses on the Resch Expo. This will include the design and layout of erection bracing, multi-crane picks and sequencing for erecting the long span trusses and other main steel for the Resch Expo.

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04/22/21  Thursday  12:00 p.m.
Session 7b (1.0 PDH)
Lithium-Ion Batteries:  Past, Present and Future (Chemical/Electrical)

Lee Gasper-Galvin, PhD, WV PE, Galvanacar LLC (electric vehicle components R&D)

We will look at the research pioneers’ steps leading up to present-day commercial lithium-ion batteries. We’ll take a deep dive into the details of lithium-ion batteries—their applications and market projections, how they work, what can go wrong and why, efforts to correct the problems, battery configurations and manufacturing, materials acquisition considerations and recycling, state-of-the-art electric vehicle batteries, and future research directions--so that all participants will come away with an understanding of this exciting and enormously significant technology.

Register Now!