Welcome to the second edition of WSPE's electronic newsletter, WSPE E-News. According to member feedback, the February issue of WSPE E-News was a success. The WSPE board looks forward to continuing to provide current Wisconsin and national news to our members.

March's issue gives you an update on the 2006 Governor's New Product Awards and the 2006 WSPE Discovery Conference coming up April 13 & 14. Please be sure to sign up now to attend. In this edition you will notice that Robert Kay's column has returned. We also added a recent press release from Focus on Energy. As I had mentioned in February's WSPE E-News, our goal is to provide a couple of articles and local, state and national news in each issue of the newsletter.

Membership Opportunity: I ask those of you who are not currently active in NSPE/WSPE to seriously consider becoming actively involved at some level - Chapter, State or National. There are many opportunities, such as serving on Chapter, State or National committee, becoming a Chapter, State or National officer, or assisting with special activities such as MATHCOUNTS and Discovery Conference. Please contact Nancy Short at WSPE Headquarters for more information.

As a reminder, each issue of WSPE E-News is archived for member reference on the WSPE Web site, www.wspe.org. If you have news that you would like to include in an upcoming issue of WSPE E-News please email it to our publisher Denise Rockhill. Denise may also be reached at 414-908-4950 ext. 109.

Regards,
Dale Chlebowski
WSPE President

TOP

Back by popular demand! In June the Wisconsin Society of Professional Engineers is once again publishing a special edition of the 2006 WSPE Membership Directory.

Please consider the value of listing your firm in the 2006 WSPE Membership Directory. For a low cost of just $295, your company listing will reach the Wisconsin Society of Professional Engineers members, engineering firms, city public works directors, state and federal agencies, libraries, engineering schools and advertisers. A Business Card listing is also available for $100. Advertise in both the directory listing and business card directory at a discounted rate of $335.

To request a sign up form and/or to reserve your space in the 2006 Directory, please contact Denise Rockhill in the publishing department today. She can be reached at drockhill@wspe.org or 414-908-4950 ext. 109. All forms must be received by April 30, 2006 to be included. A copy of the Directory will be mailed to you following publication date.

Special display advertising rates also apply for those company's wishing to increases their exposure to this distinguished group of professional engineers. Please contact Denise if you would like to learn more about the display advertising rates.

TOP

Mark your calendars for the 2006 WSPE Discovery Conference on Friday, April 14, 2006. This year's conference will feature:

• Buffet Breakfast
• Four educational seminars (continuing education credit opportunities)
• Lunch Banquet featuring speaker Larry McCarren, Engineer of the Year Awards, and WSPE officers induction
• Spouse/Guest program during the seminars
• WSPE annual meeting

Please click here for additional information...

TOP

The 2006 Governors New Product Awards (GNPA) banquet will be held on Thursday evening, April 13, 2006 at the SC Grand Banquet & Convention Center in De Pere, WI. The evening precedes WSPE's annual Discovery Conference which is being held on Friday April 14, 2006, also at the SC Grand.

Please click here for additional information...

TOP

The MATHCOUNTS Regional Competitions, which were sponsored and staffed by local WSPE volunteers, are now completed. WSPE wishes to thank all of the local Coordinators and Volunteers who made these many competitions an enjoyable day for the Mathletes who competed. This year, 104 schools were represented in the competitions statewide. The State MATHCOUNTS competition will be held this Saturday, March 4th, at the Lowell Center at UW Madison. We currently have 48 Teams and 28 individuals advancing to the State Competition and expect an exciting contest on Saturday. Anyone who wishes to volunteer on Saturday is still welcome to participate and can contact Lauran Larson at 715.577.4071 for details.

TOP

At the Annual WSPE Discovery Conference, we plan to award the 2006 WSPE awards. That means it is now time to submit your nominations for these awards, so if you believe a WSPE member deserves to be recognized for their hard work and all they contribute, email me their name, contact information, and award you are nominating them for. Please return nominations to me by Friday March 17th.

The award categories are as follows:

• Professional Engineer of the Year
• Young Engineer of the Year
• Outstanding Engineer in Construction
• Outstanding Engineer in Education
• Outstanding Engineer in Government
• Outstanding Engineer in Industry
• Outstanding Engineer in Private Practice

An email will be sent to the nominees informing them of their nomination, along with a WSPE Award Personal Involvement Data form, for them to complete and return to me by March 24th.

Please forward to the rest of your chapter members.

Best Regards,
Nancy Short
WSPE Headquarters
414-908-4950 ext. 135
wspe@wspe.org

The Engineers Foundation of Wisconsin, Inc (EFW) is organized exclusively for charitable, educational and scientific purposes to:

• Encourage people to consider engineering as a career
• Offer financial assistance and incentives in the form of scholarships
• Conduct and support programs for education in engineering such as MATHCOUNTS
• Instruct and inform the public in promoting engineering education

Contributions are fully tax deductible under Section 501 (c) (3) of the IRS Code.

Sponsored by the Wisconsin Society of Professional Engineers, the EFW awarded the following scholarships based on academic achievement, community involvement, and extracurricular activities:

EFW Board
President: Steve Berg, P.E. R.A. Smith & Associates
Vice President: James Rosenmerkel, P.E. Rosenmerkel Engineering
Secretary: Katie Jelacic, P.E. City of Waukesha
Treasurer: Glen Jablonka, P.E. Alliant Energy - Retired
Trustee: Glen Schwalbach, P.E. WI Public Service Corporation
Trustee: Kim Lobdell, P.E. KL Engineering
Trustee: James Blazek, P.E. City of Racine - Retired
Trustee: Stan Martenson, P.E. Martenson & Eisele
Trustee: Al Lindner, P.E. Graef, Anhalt, Schloemer

EFW is funded solely through voluntary contributions. The trust balance is now over $80,000 and the earnings and new contributions basically fund the yearly scholarship disbursements.

TOP

Professional designers, contractors, material suppliers and even manufacturers, carry liability insurance as an important part of liability protection. One element of proper use of such insurance that each professional should constantly bear in mind is the requirement of giving timely notice of a claim or even of a potential claim. A recent case decided by the Wisconsin Court of Appeals, Phoenix Contractors, Inc. v. Affiliated Capital Corporation is an example of how an insured can lose the protection of the insurance by failing to report in a timely manner a claim to its insurance carrier.

In Phoenix Contractors, the trial court ruled that Phoenix, a roofing subcontractor to Affiliated Capital Corporation, failed to expediently advise Phoenix’s insurance carrier, Rural Mutual Insurance Company, of a claim against Phoenix. However, Phoenix began its liability odyssey when it went unpaid by Affiliated and commenced a small claims court action against Affiliated for $1,518.12, the remaining amount due under the original contract between Phoenix and Affiliated. Affiliated filed a large counterclaim alleging that Phoenix’s roofing work was defective. Phoenix then filed an amended complaint broadening its claim to include matters that had been the subject of previous arbitration between the parties and alleged additional damages. Affiliated responded to the amended complaint and repeated its previous counterclaim for defective work.

The dates of activity illustrate the problem that occurred regarding insurance coverage. On December 21, 2000, Phoenix commenced its small claims action against Affiliated. Not until December 5, 2001 did Affiliated file its large counterclaim alleging that Phoenix’s roofing work was defective. On March 21, 2002, Phoenix filed its amended complaint to which Affiliated answered, repeating its previous counterclaim. On February 27, 2003, Phoenix tendered the defense of Affiliated’s counterclaim to Phoenix’s insurance carrier, Rural Mutual. The tender stated that the case was scheduled for a three-day jury trial on March 18, 2003. Pre-trial discovery in the case had closed five months earlier in September of 2002.

When Rural Mutual got the tender, it filed a motion seeking to intervene, to stay the proceedings to allow it to file appropriate pleadings, to bifurcate the coverage issue from the liability issues, and to hear the coverage issue before any of the liability issues were resolved. In addition, Rural Mutual filed a counterclaim asserting that it did not provide coverage to Phoenix because, among other reasons, Phoenix had failed to provide Rural Mutual with timely notice of the claims asserted by Affiliated.

On April 15, 2003, Rural Mutual filed a motion for summary judgment arguing that Phoenix’s 14-month delay in providing it with notice had deprived Rural Mutual of the opportunity to control the defense of Affiliated’s lawsuit and to make a timely investigation of Affiliated’s claims and to conduct necessary discovery. Rural Mutual contended that as a result it had been prejudiced. Phoenix responded by arguing that Rural Mutual had not been prejudiced by the delay.

After holding a hearing on the subject matter of the untimely notice, the court decided in favor of Rural Mutual and held that Phoenix’s notice was untimely and that Rural Mutual had been deprived of the opportunity to engage in the defense of the action. The court further found that Phoenix had failed to offer sufficient evidence to rebut the presumption of prejudice that arose because of the late notice.

Under Section 631.81 of the Wisconsin Statutes entitled, “Notice and Proof of Loss”, the statute reads in part:

“Provided notice or proof of loss is furnished as soon as reasonably possible and within one year after the time it was required by the policy, failure to furnish such notice or proof within the time required by the policy does not invalidate or reduce a claim unless the insurer is prejudiced thereby and it was reasonably possible to meet the time limit.”

Section 632.26(2) of the Wisconsin Statutes states:

“Failure to give notice as required by the policy as modified by paragraph (1)(b) does not bar liability under the policy if the insurer was not prejudiced by the failure, but the risk of non-persuasion is upon the person claiming there was no prejudice.”

As you can see, the legislature has shifted the burden of proof as to whether the insurance carrier is prejudiced by late notice to the policyholder if the notice of a loss is not furnished to the carrier within one year after the time it was required by the policy. While insureds may doubt the significance of that, lawyers will tell you that who has the burden of proof may make the difference in the result.

In the Phoenix Contractors case, the Court of Appeals held that generally, whether an insurance carrier has been prejudiced by late notice may be a factual question. When the burden of proof shifts under the statute from the insurance carrier to the insured on the subject of prejudice caused by late notice, the evidence submitted by the insured who argues that the insurer was not prejudiced by late notice must be sufficient to rebut the presumption that there was prejudice. Where the insurance carrier has been deprived of the opportunity to reasonably conduct independent investigations and participate in pre-trial discovery by taking depositions and inspecting documentation, it will take strong proof by the insured to rebut the presumption of prejudice. In addition, proving the negative, i.e., that there was no prejudice, is much more difficult than proving prejudice.

In the Phoenix Contractors case, the court held that the mere fact that Phoenix had investigated the case and had conducted pre-trial discovery, all of which would be available to Rural Mutual, was not sufficient to support Phoenix’s argument that there had been no prejudice to Rural Mutual as a result of Phoenix’s late notice. Rural Mutual did not concede at any point that it had not been prejudiced and continually asserted that the delay impaired its ability to defend. The Court of Appeals held that,

“Prejudice to the insurer is a serious impairment of the insurer’s ability to investigate, evaluate, or settle a claim, determine coverage, or present an effective defense, resulting from the unexcused failure of the insured to provide timely notice.”

and further held,

“An insurer is prejudiced by late notice when...it has been denied the opportunity to have input into the manner of which the underlying claim is being defended.”

The Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court and held that Phoenix’s evidence did not rebut the presumption that Rural Mutual’s ability to make these defensive judgments and to take these defensive actions had not been seriously impaired, and held that Rural Mutual was relieved of its obligation to insure Phoenix in the case before the court.

To be told that your liability insurance carrier is released from its obligation to indemnify and defend a claim against you can cause significant, if not fatal, damage to the financial status of your professional or commercial firm. To avoid such a crisis, owners of engineering firms, construction companies, vendors and manufacturers should remain alert to the necessity of advising their insurance carrier of any claim, even while it is being handled by the firm’s own attorney.

TOP

March 4, 2006 MATHCOUNTS State Competition - Lowell Center, Madison

April 13 & 14, 2006 2006 Discovery Conference and Governor’s New Product Award - SC Grand in DePere, Wisconsin

TOP

UW Camp Badger Exploring Engineering Summer Program
Middle-school students currently enrolled in 7th grade can learn about engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison this summer by attending Camp Badger. The camp, which is one week long, will be conducted five separate weeks in June and July.

Short workshops, hands-on experiments, factory tours, and fun games are all part of the camp. The students have a chance to learn about many different engineering subjects, such as simulating a bridge design on a computer, freezing materials in liquid nitrogen, making a telescope, researching future cars, and many other fun engineering projects. The kids stay in a lakeshore dorm and have 24 hour camp councilor supervision.

To learn more about the camp and to obtain an application, go to http://campbadger.engr.wisc.edu or google: camp badger. Applications are due April 17. Please note that scholarships are available for students that need financial assistance.

For more information contact Phil O’Leary at 608-262-0493, or email OLEARY@ENGR.WISC.EDU.

St. Eugene FIRST Lego League team earns a top state award
The St. Eugene FIRST Lego League team, the Chillin Chinchillas, advanced on Nov. 12th from the 20 team FLL Cross Plains (Madison) Regional to compete in the 48 team field on December 10th at the FLL Wisconsin State tournament at Hortonville High School (Appleton). Since early September the team had been planning for the “Ocean Odyssey” challenges. The all day tournament requires a project assignment, technical and teamwork presentations along with their robot performance during the table challenge runs. A judge’s panel reviews their presentations and points accumulate throughout the day. Their Lego robot is build and programmed to complete required tasks in a series of timed runs. The “Chillin Chinchillas” had captured the Robot Design and Gracious Professionalism Awards at the regional competition. At the state tournament the first of three challenge rounds did not go as hoped and a choice was presented to the team. Continue to work together to get ready for the next two table runs or say that this is all we can do. The team rallied themselves and had successive improved runs to post their highest challenge run on the third and final run of the day. The judges were there to watch how the Chillin Chinchillas would respond. During an afternoon of team discussion, resolution and working to improve, the team was rewarded with one of the top five state tournament awards, the TEAMWORK AWARD. The award is presented to the team which best demonstrates extraordinary enthusiasm and spirit, exceptional partnership, the utmost respect to their own teammates, and support and encouragement of fellow teams.

The St. Eugene Chillin Chinchillas raw score ranked them 13 out of the 48 qualifying state tournament teams (team photo attached). Congratulations to the team for their dedication and success in the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition in Science and Technology) LEGO LEAGUE program.

WSPE – GMC member, FIRST Lego League team coach & mentor, Mark Rhyner tells us that the program is always looking for technical mentors to share there knowledge with middle school students. The time commitment is minimal – 1-2 meetings. Program runs every year from Sept – December.

Questions – contact:
Mark Rhyner
(414) 352-9000 (W)
or www.wirobotics.org

Call for Nominations / Applications for ASM Materials Camps for Students and Teachers
Do you know any bright high school students who will be entering the junior (Grade 11) or senior (Grade 12) grade next fall? Are they inquisitive learners with strong math and science aptitude?

What about a teacher of high school math, science or technology, who is eager to teach and motivate young people in exciting new ways?

If so, you know a perfect candidate for the ASM Materials Camp^SM, a program utilizing hands-on learning principles of applied math, chemistry and physics led by a distinguished world-class faculty.

ASM Materials Camp-Teachers demonstrates how to use low/no cost, simple labs and experiments using everyday materials that can be integrated into existing science/math lesson plans. These simple activities and experiments are proven to actively engage students in learning more about applied science.

For additional information and/or an application please contact Nancy Short at n.short@wspe.org. Nancy can also be reached via telephone at 414-908-4950 ext. 135.

TOP

Focus on Energy, Wisconsin’s energy efficiency and renewable energy initiative, is helping residents and businesses statewide become more energy independent in 2006 and beyond. The Renewable Energy Program is offering Cash-Back Rewards and zero-interest loans to help finance the installation of renewable energy systems.

Please click here for the full article...

TOP

WSPE E-News seeks articles and newsworthy items on a wide variety of engineering topics. If you have an idea for an article, a WSPE Chapter news item or other engineering news item, please submit a short summary to drockhill@wspe.org for consideration.

TOP