NSPE-CO is pleased to announce these events as a part of the national celebration of Engineers Week February 19-25! REGISTRATION NOW OPEN. Thursday, February 23, 2012 7:30am-3pm Tour of Underground Operations at Climax Molybdenum's Henderson Mine The Henderson Mine is located in Clear Creek County on the east side of the Continental Divide, fifty miles west of Denver. In operation since 1976, Henderson has produced more than 160 million tons of ore and 770 million pounds of molybdenum during the past 27 years. This is an outstanding opportunity to see a full scale hard rock mining operation that has been a centerpiece of Colorado's mining industry for 35 years. For your safety, you must be fully capable of walking unassisted, at a normal pace, at high altitude, for an extended distance and be able to understand and follow the safety rules and procedures, including the use of protective equipment that will be provided. Click here for more details on the tour. You must be a NSPE-CO member or the guest of a member to participate in the tour (limit one quest per member). Tickets are just $25 and includes luxury coach transportation to and from the mine, the tour and lunch at the mine. Departure from West Denver is at 7:45am, with a return by 3pm. All participants must travel to and from the mine on the luxury coach with the group. The tour is strictly limited to 50 persons. Registration is now open and registrations will be processed in the order received. Friday, February 24, 2012: 1-5pm Educational Afternoon Educational Sessions including an interactive workshop on Professional Ethics featuring Professor Eli Wald of the University of Denver Sturm School of Law. Additional sessions to be announced. Registration for the educational sessions is $25. Friday, February 24, 2012: 6-9pm E-Week Celebration Banquet- "Building Bridges to the Future" Join your engineering colleagues for this special night! Our keynote speaker is Jill S. Tietjen, P.E., presenting "Building Bridges to the Future." Author, speaker, and electrical engineer, Tietjen, is one of the nation's top historians on scientific and technical women. She is the CEO of Technically Speaking, a national consulting company specializing in improving technological career opportunities for women and girls. She is also a member of the Colorado Woman's Hall of Fame and a past national president of the Society of Women Engineers. She co-wrote the book Her Story: A Timeline of the Women Who Changed America , published by HarperCollins in 2008.   The American Society of Civil Engineers' 2009 Report Card gave the infrastructure in the U.S. an overall grade of "D". Significant challenges face society, our current engineering workforce, and today's students who will be the engineers of the future to enhance and improve the infrastructure on which we rely for our standard of living and quality of life. Electricity was ranked as the top engineering advance of the 20th century. The widespread availability of clean water has been determined to be half of the reason for the increase in life expectancy in the U.S. from 45 years of age in 1900 to 77 years of age in 2000. Yes, the challenges are many but so are the opportunities. Engineers make the world work. We will need many engineers, from a wide diversity of backgrounds, to build the bridges to our future. Tickets for the E Week Celebration Banquet are $55 per person. Registration is now open! Click here for the registration form to reserve your place at these Engineers Week events. Complete and return the form to the NSPE-CO office. You may fax it to (303) 979-6094, email to steve@nspe-co.org or mail to NSPE-CO, 333 S. Allison Parkway, Suite 204 Lakewood, CO 80226. When registering for all events you will receive a confirmation email with more details. For more information go to NSPE-CO.org or call the NSPE-CO State Office at (303) 480-1160.

For details on Engineers Week Sponsorship opportunities click here!

 

2012 NSPE Milton F. Lunch Ethics Contest

All current NSPE individual members through their NSPE state societies and NSPE chapters (including student chapters) are invited to
participate in the 2012 NSPE Milton F. Lunch Ethics Contest. Match your wits with experienced professional engineers and engineering students throughout the country! Click here for complete details.

 

AES Request for NSPE-CO Postions

Professional Engineer:

Work has begun on the Sunset process for Licensing for Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors and Architects. These three professions are all under the purview of the Board of Licensure for Architects, Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors (AES Board). Current legislation for the AES Board sunsets in 2013, requiring a review of existing statutes to determine if they continue, change or cease. This process will result in legislation in the 2013 legislative session.

A task force with representatives of the professional associations from each of the practice areas AES regulates has been meeting to look at existing statutes and taking a proactive role in the process. This work will continue through the Sunset process, and we will be coming to NSPE-CO members through the process for feedback on a number of issues.

The AES Board has asked each of the participating professional organizations to provide a position on three preliminary questions for discussion at the Board's December meeting. The NSPE-CO Executive Committee draft responses received overwhelming support from those responding to the recent survey. In the coming moths there will be more items where your feedback is needed. A helpful tool in looking at the practice acts which fall under AES was compiled by DORA. Click here for a pdf comparison of the Architects, Engineers and Professional Engineers Practice Acts.

Throughout the Sunset process, your involvement will be very important as NSPE-CO works to represent the interests of Professional Engineers in service to the health, safety and welfare of the public.

Colorado Licensed Professional Engineers Expiration Date Change!

The expiration date is changing to one biennial date for all Colorado licensed Architects, Professional Engineers, and Professional Land Surveyors: October 31, 2013. As a result of this change, you will be receiving a license with the new expiration date and you will not need to renew your license by the previous expiration date on your old license. Those with expirations of October 2011 should renew as you normally would.

This information from DORA (The Department of Regulatory Agencies):

Expect to receive your new license by the end of this calendar year, and please destroy your old license when you receive the new replacement. You will be notified within 6-8 weeks of your new expiration date of October 31, 2013 that your license is ready for renewal. Remember: Timely renew your license and keep your contact information, including your email address, current by visiting the Division homepage at www.dora.state.co.us/registrations and clicking the button on the left titled “Registrations Online Services.” For more information regarding the Board of Licensure for Architects, Professional Engineers and Professional Land Surveyors, please visit www.dora.state.co.us/aes . If you have any questions about the license expiration date change and your new license, please contact DORA at aes@dora.state.co.us or 303.894.2270.

What does DORA hope to accomplish with this change?

• Having one expiration date for all of the Engineers and Land Surveyors will eliminate renewal fee inequities. Currently, if you renew in June, you often may pay a different fee than if you renew in July, due to the change in our fees with the transition in fiscal years.
• Having one expiration date for all three professions associated with the AES Board (Architects, Engineers, and Land Surveyors) will allow us to leverage communication channels through the Board's tools, your resources, and professionals talking to one another, to raise awareness of the renewal period. The anticipated outcome is fewer professionals practicing with an expired license and fewer disciplinary actions, both of which would be beneficial to consumers and to licensees.
• Having one expiration date for Engineers and Land Surveyors over the two-year license period will increase our Division's efficiency by accomplishing the renewal process once instead of continually during that timeframe.

QBS

Our thanks to Michael Fink, P.E. who is completing his term as a NSPE-CO representative to QBS-CO on December 31st, 2011.

Do you have a passion for Qualifications-Based Selection of Professional Services? Nominations are being accepted to serve as a NSPE-CO representative to QBS-CO. The three year position starts January 2012. Contact the state office at (303) 480-1160 oe email steve@nspe-co.org if you are interested in volunteering. Primary responsibilities include representing NSPE-CO at the monthly QBS-CO meeting.

Click here for the QBS Colorado Winter 2011 Newsletter.