Category: Chairman’s Note

Dear Members and Section Friends,

 

Our Section momentum continues to accelerate, as shown by increased monthly meeting attendance and a boost in volunteer leadership. Many thanks to board member Dale Wiza for coordinating our March meeting at Case IH. Join us for this memorable event and showcase of this world class business.

 

 

Thanks again for joining us at the January section meeting on Toyota hybrid systems. SAE represented over 60 of the 100 attendees in collaboration with ASME. As a thank you to ASME for inviting us to their event, we will reciprocate and invite their membership to join us in May at the Oshkosh Corp. meeting. Their engagement provides additional networking opportunities to you!

 

The Baja SAE competition will be hosted by the Milwaukee Section in May 2012, at the MGA proving grounds in Burlington, WI. This event set a new record in Collegiate Design Series competition registration by selling out all 100 positions in less than 18 minutes. Formula SAE still holds the record for selling out in less than 12 minutes however this is a new record for the Baja SAE series which usually sells out in a span of hours. Please contact Glenn Bower (grbower@facstaff.wisc.edu) if you’d like to become a volunteer for the Baja event.

 

It’s promising to hear positive news of record financials coming from America’s automakers. I hope this opens opportunities for you, your companies, and our Milwaukee Section. Please contact a board member if you’d like to host a meeting at your company.

 

Best regards,

 

Jim Ryan

Chairman – Milwaukee Section

 

Dear Members and Section Friends,

 

We encourage you to join us in January to learn about the Toyota hybrid drive. Many thanks to the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) for planning the event and inviting our membership to join. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn about new propulsion technology as electric vehicles become more prominent in the automotive industry.

 

 

The Baja SAE competition will be hosted by the Milwaukee Section in May 2012, at the MGA proving grounds in Burlington, WI. This event set a new record in Collegiate Design Series competition registration by selling out all 100 positions in less than 18 minutes. Formula SAE still holds the record for selling out in less than 12 minutes however this is a new record for the Baja SAE series which usually sells out in a span of hours. Please contact Glenn Bower (grbower@facstaff.wisc.edu) if you’d like to become a volunteer for the Baja event.

 

Please note there will not be a February section meeting. Our next newsletter will be distributed in February to announce details for events in March including the Clean Snowmobile Challenge and a section meeting hosted by Case New Holland.

 

Happy holidays to everyone! We look forward to seeing you in the new year.

 

Best regards,

 

Jim Ryan

Chairman – Milwaukee Section

Dear Members and Section Friends,

The October section meeting at MGA Research Corporation was a huge success. Just ask the 50+ members who participated in the chassis twisting bus tour through the proving grounds track. They hosted a fantastic excursion through the facility including the test track and bench test capabilities followed by presentations on simulation systems and crash testing. Many thanks to the MGA participants for providing a great opportunity to our membership!

 

Visit www.milwaukeesae.com to see pictures from the Erik Buell Racing event. MGA meeting pictures are coming soon. Submit your favorite SAE pictures to Cara Kazda to have them posted online.

 

The SAE Intl. Clean Snowmobile Challenge (CSC) will be held at MTU on March 5-12, 2012. This engineering design competition is for student members to reengineer an existing snowmobile to reduce emissions and noise. Their modified snowmobiles compete in a variety of events including emissions, noise, fuel economy/endurance, acceleration, handling, static display, cold start and design. Categories for I/C and Zero Emissions engines. Please consider joining us as volunteer, or just to attend and do some riding! Learn more at: http://students.sae.org/competitions/snowmobile/about.htm.

 

The SAE mini-baja competition will be hosted by the Milwaukee Section in May 2012 at the MGA proving grounds in Burlington, WI. Please contact Glenn Bower (grbower@facstaff.wisc.edu) if you’d like to become a volunteer for the event.

 

Please remember that there will not be a section meeting in December during the Holiday period. We look forward to seeing you again in January for the Chevy Volt meeting, followed by Oshkosh Truck, Case New Holland, and more! Help us form an exciting program list next year by sending your recommendations to Dale Wiza.

Best regards,

Jim Ryan
Chairman – Milwaukee Section

Dear Members and Section Friends,

 

Thanks for joining us at the September Erik Buell Racing event. Over 200 attendees participated in a walk through of Erik Buell Racing (EBR), saw the 1190ERS race bike, and heard the unique story of the evolution of America’s Sports Bike. This event marked the highest attendance for the Milwaukee Section in over 10 years! Best of luck to the EBR team on racetrack.

 

I’m proud to report that the Milwaukee section is the 5^th largest section in the world. Our Milwaukee Section membership is currently at 920 strong. By adding 180 members this year we can become the 3rd largest section. We need to work together by networking and promote SAE to increase our membership. A portion of your annual membership fee is given back to the Milwaukee Section and helps fund our local operations for newsletters, student grants, and subsidizing meal cost.

 

Remember to visit our website regularly to learn more about the Section’s activity. Beginning this year, you can now find the board meeting minutes posted online. Take a glance to find out what meeting plans are in the works. We always encourage your feedback or recommendations.

 

Best regards,

 

Jim Ryan

Chairman – Milwaukee Section

 

 

Dear Members and Section Friends,

 

I’m excited to welcome you to another thriving year for the Milwaukee section. Our meeting calendar filled quickly and is full for the year to come.

 

I’m pleased to announce our September kickoff meeting at Erik Buell Racing, and expect a strong attendance. Many thanks to board member Wayne Richter for his efforts to coordinate the meeting. The excitement is followed by our October venue at MGA Research Corp, with the calendar year ending in November with our student night meeting hosted at Marquette University.

 

 

We’re trying hard to provide meetings of interest to our section population. A membership survey from the Snapon meeting last year told us that our members would like to see more tours and a variety of technical presentations. We also had comments suggesting lower meal prices. I appreciate your comments and encourage you to continue to shape the section better for all of us. I hope you will recognize the changes in our meetings to reflect your suggestions.

 

We enjoyed a great turnout of members and friends at the June Sprints event at Road America. The Saturday sunshine was more accommodating than Sunday’s rain, but we enjoyed the event nonetheless, thanks to Doug Kautzer for organizing the weekend and hosting the hospitality tent.

 

Beginning this year, Frank Poradek will assume the role of section treasurer. He is replacing Bernard Krauska after his long tenure of service to the board. Many thanks to both of them for their contributions.

 

We continue to grow our board member participation, and invite you to contact our Company Rep chair, Tony Grant, if you would like to become more involved.

 

Best regards,

 

Jim Ryan

Chairman – Milwaukee Section

 

 

 

Dear Members and Section Friends,

 

I hope you enjoyed this year’s events, and I’m confident we you’ll be even more impressed with next year’s lineup. We’re targeting a great kickoff next year beginning with Zero Bike electric motorcycles followed by a tour of the MGA proving grounds. We’re also excited to team up for a joint meeting with our neighboring Chicago and Beloit sections to bring you more networking opportunities.

 

This operating year will finish with our Family Night meeting in May followed by the June Sprints event at Elkhart Lake.

 

 

We wish our student chapters the best of luck at their competitions beginning in May. The events begin on May 1st with Formula Hybrid in New Hampshire, followed by Formula SAE Michigan on May 11-14. Baja events begin in Kansas May 26-29 and Illinois June 8-11. The final events are Supermileage May 9-10 and Formula SAE California May 15-18. Come learn about their experience by attending the Student Night meeting in November.

 

Special thanks goes to Ken Cook Company for providing sponsorship of printing and distributing of our monthly newsletter during this past year. Their support provides a large substantial cost savings to our section which translates into higher student grants distributed to our Section’s collegiate chapters.

 

I wish you a relaxing summer and hope to see you again when our activity resumes in September.

 

Best regards,

 

Jim Ryan

Chairman – Milwaukee Section

 

 

Dear Members and Section Friends,

 

As the warm Spring weather approaches I encourage you to get outdoors and join us at the April Snap-on meeting along the southern border of our section. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn about the Wisconsin based company and possibly win a free door prize!

 

On behalf of the section we are thankful to the Rockford-Beloit Section for inviting us to their March meeting at Fairbanks Morse. Their tour of large scale engine manufacturing, assembly, and testing was fascinating. We are happy to reciprocate with them by inviting their section to join us at the Snap-on April Section meeting. This will be a great opportunity for networking outside our Section membership.

 

Michigan Tech University (MTU) hosted another fantastic Clean Snowmobile Challenge event. I proudly attended the event along with many other Milwaukee Section members. This year’s snow conditions were much improved and everyone had an opportunity to enjoy the scenic trails through Copper Harbor. I am pleased to report that the Milwaukee Section continued to provide its $1000 sponsorship towards the event. For those who have not participated, please consider joining us next year for an action packed weekend!

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The Milwaukee Section will be offering discounted tickets to the June Sprints races at Road America. Tickets will go on sale soon. Purchase them online via the registration page.

 

Next year’s program lineup is in the works. If your company would like to host an event or if you’d like to participate as a program chair please contact a board member.

 

Best regards,

 

Jim Ryan

Chairman – Milwaukee Section

Family Night event will occur in May. Bring your friends and family to join us on the Go-Kart track. This will be a causal “open house” event that everyone can enjoy. Look for event details in the April newsletter.

Dear Section Members and Friends,

 

Welcome back from the holidays. I hope you enjoyed some well deserved free time with friends and family. We are ready to resume the SAE activity during the February 15th section meeting. The February meeting will offer a different venue from our classic technical focus in hopes of engaging additional members, while offering a career building experience.

 

I’m proud to report that the November Section meeting was a great success! $6000 in grant money was distributed to the collegiate chapters to apply towards their vehicle competitions. The attendance this year surpassed any previous year with over 70 attendees and 6 vendor exhibits related to rapid product development. The Section continues to search for new ways to support our student chapters. Please contact new board member Randy Hoffman, Vice Chair – Students Activities, to find out how you or your company can benefit a chapter.

 

Note the March 7th-12th dates for the Clean Snowmobile challenge held at Michigan Tech University in Houghton, MI. There will also be a Milwaukee Section meeting during the event. Don’t miss this opportunity to interact with the student teams, in addition to riding the snowmobile trails through scenic Copper Harbor. Find out more information on the CSC by visiting http://students.sae.org/competitions/snowmobile/.

We hope to see you there!

 

The Section officer nomination committee will meet this month to vote on next year’s officer line up. Please send your nominations to j.w.ryan@na.modine.com for consideration. The selected offices will be announced in the February newsletter.

 

Best regards,

Jim Ryan

Chairman – Milwaukee Section

Dear Section Members and Friends,

 

We welcome you to the Rapid Product Development Exposition and Student Night meeting at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. Thanks to Mitch Crawford of the UWM SAE student chapter, Mike Krauski and Bernard Krauska for helping to prepare this program.

 

The theme of the meeting will connect rapid product development and the activities that challenge our student members in the Collegiate Design Series. We invite your company to participate in the event by hosting a display exhibit at the meeting in exchange for a monetary donation or gift in kind. The donations will be awarded to the student chapters.

 

 

Thanks to Briggs & Stratton employee Doug Kautzer and Governing Board member for coordinating the October Section meeting. Briggs and Stratton was an excellent host. We appreciate the opportunity to learn more about how the outdoor power equipment industry works within their organization and learn innovative solutions to small engine packaging and electronic fuel management. Briggs and Stratton is an excellent host and contributor to the Milwaukee Section.

 

Thanks to the students at MSOE for hosting our registration table. The Milwaukee Section donated $100.00 to their student chapter. The November meeting registration will be hosted by students at the Waukesha Engineering Preparatory Academy FIRST Robotics Team – CORE2062.

 

The Milwaukee Section Governing Board meeting minutes will soon be posted on our website. Please stay engaged with our mission and find new ways to contribute to our vitality.

 

Happy holidays – there will be no December meeting. Be sure to visit the Milwaukee Section website at

www.milwaukeesae.com to check for regular updates.

 

Best regards,

 

Jim Ryan

Chairman – Milwaukee Section

Dear Members and Section Friends,

 

The kickoff meeting hosted by P&H Mining was a huge success with over 100 people in attendance. They were well organized and provided a fantastic tour of their large scale machining and welding capabilities. I would like to thank them on behalf of our section for their generous sponsorship of the meal cost. The funds raised by the section will be distributed to the student chapters in grant money during the November Student Night meeting.

 

The November Student Night meeting is being coordinated by Mike Krauski and Bernard Krauska. The theme of the meeting will relate to rapid product development. We invite your company to participate in the event by hosting a display exhibit at the meeting in exchange for a monetary donation or gift in kind. The donations will be awarded to the student chapters.

 

Be sure to visit the Milwaukee Section website to check for regular updates. Here you will find monthly newsletters, a link to the registration webpage, and coming soon… governing board meeting

minutes and local company job postings. Our webpage sponsors at Ken Cook Co. have played a key role in establishing and maintaing this tool.

 

Please recognize Briggs & Stratton employee Doug Kautzer for coordinating the October Section meeting. We are excited to make another visit to one of Wisconsin’s renowned engine manufactures. I look forward to seeing you at the Briggs & Stratton meeting this month.

 

Best regards,

 

Jim Ryan
Chairman – Milwaukee Section