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The Pipeline
Volume 6 Issue 6
Jennifer F. Mize; Co-Editor April 2000
NEWSLETTER OF THE EAST TENNESSEE SECTION OF AIChE
Local section website:
http://www.geocities.com/aiche_etenn/aiche.html
Reminder-Local Section Tour of Lab Glass Plant
Have you ever wondered how some of the complex, custom glassware used at Eastman is created? REAL laboratory and pilot plant distillation columns made out of glass-with REAL (glass) trays!!! If so, please join us on a tour of Lab Glass, Inc. While they may not be creating a distillation column at the time, they can show us how custom glassware is blown, silvered and evacuated (for vacuum insulation). Lab Glass has kindly agreed to show us their facilities on Tuesday, April 4, 2000 over lunch. Even more graciously, Lab Glass has offered to provide a light lunch. If you are interested in attending this tour, please contact Richard Colberg (mailto:rcolberg@intermediatn.net or phone 229-3184) by Friday, March 24. We must provide a headcount to Lab Glass to help them prepare for the tour. Space may be limited.
What: Lab Glass Tour
When: 12:00-1:30 p,
Tuesday, April 4, 2000
How: Contact Richard Colberg by Friday, March 24
April 11 AIChE Meeting Windows 2000
On April 11, Mr. P. J. Grinsell, CEO of Bailey Computing Technologies, Inc., will present a program on the new Microsoft Windows 2000 operating system. Windows 2000 will be the operating system used for all Eastman desktop computers at the next upgrade. With Microsoft in turmoil with the government, the company released Windows 2000 with a bit less publicity than the Windows 95 release. However, Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer are betting their company's future on this new product. Mr. Grinsell will demonstrate some of the new features Windows 2000 presents. He will also talk about key factors that will determine the success of Windows 2000 and ultimately that of Microsoft. The meeting will be held in the new Multimedia Room (Room 201C) in Eastman˙s Research Laboratories from 11:30 AM ˙ 12:30 PM.
What: Windows 2000
When: 11:30-12:30 pm
Tuesday, April 11, 2000
Where: B150, Room 201C (Multimedia Room)
May Meeting
Virtual Tour of the Argentina PET Plant
The May AIChE Meeting will be held on May 9, 2000, starting at 11:30 AM in the Multimedia Room (Room 201C) in B-150C. Alan Hobbs, the former Argentina PET Project Manager, and Heather McNabb, the former Argentina PET Project Engineer, will guide the audience through a photographic journey of Eastman Chemical Company's Argentina PET Project from groundbreaking through final construction. This multimillion-dollar project began in 1995 and was completed less than 3 years later. The Argentina Project was one of a series of international projects initiated during Eastman's global expansion of the 1990s, but it was faced with a unique set of challenges from project operations spanning three continents. The speakers will touch upon multi-cultural differences in business, strategic business decisions, economic and political stability, and labor and construction practices in Argentina.
Date: May 9, 2000
Time: 11:30 - 12:30 pm
Location: B-150C, Room 201C (Multimedia Room)
Recap of March 13 AIChE Meeting
On March 13, 2000, approximately 100 members and guests (including a large group from the Tri-Cities Civil War Roundtable) attended our AIChE meeting at the Eastman Lodge. Dr. James I. Robertson, Jr., Alumni Distinguished Professor of History at Virginia Tech, presented an excellent program on "The Civil War as the First Modern War". In his presentation, Dr. Robertson discussed the impact of the Industrial Revolution on the Civil War and how the resultant technological innovations changed the future of America and forever changed how wars would be fought. Some of the technological innovations which were introduced (at least to any significance) during the Civil War included:
• mass production of rifles and their use in warfare (versus short-range muskets),
• the use of canned goods and dehydrated foods,
• the use of the telegraph for rapid military communications,
• the use of railroads for rapid movement of troops and supplies,
• the use of aerial reconnaissance (hot-air balloons to scout the enemy),
• the use of iron or iron-clad naval vessels (versus wood),
• the use of submarines and torpedoes,
• the use of land mines,
• the advent of an ambulance corps to transport wounded from the field,
• the use of locks and dams for moving marine vessels and barges,
• major advances in medicine and in medical reporting/documentation, including the first medical manuals defining treatments for various conditions or afflictions.
Dr. Robertson concluded his talk with a tribute to the soldiers of both sides who suffered tremendously during this battle (more American soldiers killed or wounded in the Civil War than in all other wars combined) and with a tribute to the resiliency of our nation (no other nation in history has suffered a major civil war such as ours and survived long-term as a united nation). After quite a few interesting follow-up questions and answers, a number of people stayed around a bit longer to have Dr. Robertson autograph one of his many books on the Civil War. By the conclusion of the almost 2-hour program, everyone in attendance realized why Dr. Robertson is perhaps our nation˙s foremost authority on the Civil War and why he is such a sought-after lecturer and consultant in the field.
David Denton
AIChE Program Committee for 2000-2001
It will soon be time to begin planning the programs for our local section of AIChE for the 2000-2001 year. As Vice-Chair of our local section, I will be responsible for forming and leading the program committee. If you would like to serve (or to continue serving) on the program committee or if you have ideas for programs or the format/location/time of programs, please contact me at 229-5398 or 239-4074 or dmhitch@eastman.com prior to May 1. The time required for serving on the program committee is not overwhelming, a few committee planning meetings (May through August) plus coordination of one of the year's programs, so please consider helping our section in this way. Together, let's make this a super year for AIChE programs!
David Hitch
Project CREATE 2000: AQUAFINE
Tri-Cities Christian School, Bristol Campus
On March 15, 2000, Kathy Kennedy's sixth grade science class presented their project. The presentation was made in the library before proud parents, teachers, the 7th grade class, the 8th grade class, and Karin Kain, principal of Tri-Cities Christian School, Bristol Campus. The Project CREATE Team members are Michael Reid Coe, Matthew Counts, Ashley Cox, Jordan Deyton, Valerie Feathers, David Godsey, Lydia Hill, Alanna Jane Jones, Hannah Jones, Andrew Jordan, Tyson McDaniel, Clay Pendergrass, Staci Shelley, and Adrienne Spurlock. Erin McLoughlin and Sharla Savage, both with Eastman Chemical Company, are the co-chairs of this year's Project CREATE. Co-sponsors are the Upper East Tennessee Chapter of the Tennessee Society of Professional Engineers (TSPE) and the American Association of University Women (AAUW). Erin and a representative of AAUW were present.
The title of the presentation was AQUAFINE: An Undersea Colony. The students had nametags, invitations, and a 5-page formal report. After the introduction and mission statement, each team presented their portion of the project ˙ Orange Team, Blue Team, Green Team, and Red Team. They honored Dr. Mark Pollock and Boyd Brownfield, both from Northeast State Technical Community College, with a Thank You card and a framed 8x10 picture of a bald eagle in flight with the following caption: "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings as eagles." (Isaiah 40:31). Dr. Pollock presented a National Engineers Week 2000 certificate to Kathy Kennedy and to each student. Boyd hung an engraved Science Medallion around each neck. Certificates were also presented to Karin Kain, Erin McLoughlin, and Sharla Edwards.
Dr. Mark A. Pollock
Local Section Officers, Directors, and Support Staff
Chair: David Denton 229-6559
Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect and Program Committee Chair: David Hitch 229-5398
Secretary: Brian Joyner 229-6193
Treasurer: Richard Colberg 229-3184
Directors: Joe Bays 229-5854
Joe Parker 229-3850
Mark Harrison 229-4861
Local Section Webmaster: Tim Nolen 229-8287
AIChE Pipeline Newsletter Editors: Justin Abnee 229-5513
Jennifer Mize 224-7018
ETEAC Representatives: Beth Alderson 229-8163
Vera Williams McGill 224-0959
Roy Conn 229-2642