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A monthly publication from the Wisconsin Society of Professional Engineers
August 2, 2007 Edition
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Congratulations to the Winners of the 2007 NSPE – PEI Awards |
WSPE's President's Corner |
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I write this message as I wait in the Denver airport for my flight back to Milwaukee after attending the 2007 NSPE Annual Convention. In addition to the many committee, council, and House of Delegates meetings that are being held at the convention, there were numerous professional development sessions providing a variety of timely and informative topics to help people become better engineers, managers, and leaders. While at the NSPE Awards Luncheon, I was able to chat with a gentleman representing an Eastern state in the House of Delegates. He remarked that becoming an active member of NSPE, both at the state and national levels, has provided him with many opportunities he would not otherwise have had. He has traveled to many states, including Alaska and Hawaii, for various meetings and conventions. He noted that a young man like himself typically would not be able to afford to go to all the places he has been, but the support of NSPE, his state society, and employer has made it possible for him. He also said he has met many people and has a network of engineering contacts that spans the country. I mention this as a follow-up to my remarks in my first President’s Message to illustrate that becoming active in your professional society is likely to benefit you in ways that you might not imagine. As was noted in one of the sessions I attended, a team of people working together can create far more than those same individuals working separately. Once again, I urge you all to consider becoming active in NSPE and/or WSPE. There is no telling what could happen with you working as part of the team! Another speaker, one of the award winners, pointed out that, as engineers, most of us have pretty comfortable lives and we enjoy great satisfaction knowing that many people benefit from our valuable services. He said it is fitting for us to give back to the profession that gives us so much by helping out in our professional societies, promoting engineering, developing young engineers, and upholding the integrity of the profession. NSPE and WSPE provide a readily available means to do all that and more. The final speaker at the conference spoke about the challenges facing the world in the next 50 years. He mentioned the issues of exponential population growth, dwindling natural resources, the explosion of information, and globalization as some of the main ones. I do not have the space to relate his remarks here, but suffice it to say that the world needs engineers now more than ever before, and not just to find solutions to these challenges, but also to take active leadership roles in implementing the solutions. In the world of politics, the real needs of society often take a back seat to the business of getting and keeping power. If engineers sit back developing solutions and rely solely on others to implement them, the consequences caused by delays in implementation could literally be disastrous. In urging you to take an active role in both your profession and your society, let me close with a quote from Dr. David B. Steinman, P.E., founder of NSPE, “Our dream has come true… Our work will live after us. We are building not for ourselves, but for posterity… For those of us who have known the struggles and the hardships of engineering in the lean and difficult years, there is deep satisfaction in knowing that we have done our part in making engineering a finer, nobler, and more satisfying profession for those who come after us.” Thank you. James Buggs, P.E. |
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SPONSOR Choose from more than 400 continuing education courses in engineering, design, operations, production, maintenance, management and planning.
Start planning your professional development today! To enroll or receive more information visit us online http://epd.engr.wisc.edu or call toll-free 1-800-462-0876 |
Legislative News |
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| AB 69 – Professional Licensure
– This Wisconsin Assembly Bill is currently on hold. Its purpose
is to provide a single path to engineering licensure consisting
of: AB 181 – Continuing Professional Competency – This Wisconsin Assembly Bill would allow the Wisconsin Department of Regulation and Licensing (DRL) to develop rules establishing continuing education requirements as a condition of licensure in Wisconsin. This mirrors the nationwide trend toward lifelong learning. Please visit the following blog created by the current licensing board chairman for additional information and to provide your input: http://wiab181.blogspot.com. The Assembly will be considering information from this blog as they consider this issue. You may also contact Ms. Tracy Pinkowski, P.E., the WSPE Vice President in charge of Legislative Affairs, for information or if you would like to take an active role by calling 262-370-9268 or emailing her at tpinkowski@tegengineering.com. |
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Marc Annacchino, P.E., Shares His Expertise with WSPE Members in a Whitepaper Titled “The Pathways To Business and Product Development” |
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| We are delighted to have a two-part paper from expert Marc Annacchino, P.E., in the July and August issues of the WSPE E-news. Marc was the director of the Business Excellence Consortium and the author of The Pursuit of New Product Development: The Business Development Process (Pub: Elsevier 2007). The following is a summary of the paper. Business dynamics are causing changes to business methods, products,
and their value propositions. We are seeing increasing competitive
pressure driven by supply side overcapacity – worldwide. The
general overcapacity in many markets is causing an unprecedented
frenzied fight for market share. This forces a demand for technology
absorption by Research departments and requirements for seamless
transfer of technology to Development along reduced timelines. The
high cost of technology absorption and transfer is driving companies
to use cooperative ventures more and more. This paper outlines some
of the issues and how companies can begin to address them in cooperation
with associates, members, stakeholders, and suppliers. |
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| SPONSOR |
Possibly More Liability Protection for
Professional Engineers Engaged in Designing Lake, Stream and Storm
Water Management |
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While many may not be aware, it is law in Wisconsin that when liability for negligence is established, the Wisconsin Supreme Court may nonetheless preclude liability based on public policy factors. The six public policy factors which the court employs are:
The court is reluctant to apply those public policy factors to preclude liability in a case where the facts are too complicated until after a trial to the court or jury to resolve complex factual issues. However, in Butler v. Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc., 2006 WI 102, 294 Wis. 2d 397, 717 N.W.2d 760, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled as a matter of law before trial that property owners on Shell Lake, Wisconsin, had no legal claim against the engineering firm who designed and engineered a system for diverting lake water, a pipe supplier that provided high density pipe to be used, and the contractor who installed the pipe, where the diversion plan and pipe failed. The property owners were assessed part of the costs and they complained of this lack of success. The city of Shell Lake hired an engineering firm to investigate the project and propose solutions, and its resulting report concluded that the pipeline’s failure was caused by design and material defects, failure to test the materials, and problems with installation. The City attempted the installation of a new system of pipe, which had some success in lowering the water level of Shell Lake. The Shell Lake property owners brought their action against the original engineering firm, the pipe supplier and the general contractor on the dual theories of negligence and private nuisance to recover the costs assessed to them. The circuit court granted summary judgment dismissing the action and the Court of Appeals affirmed. The Wisconsin Supreme Court in reviewing the case concluded that the plaintiffs’ negligence and private nuisance claims were precluded by public policy, explaining that for purposes of analysis the court would assume that the defendants’ negligence was responsible for the failure in lowering the lake’s water level and that the consequence of the high water level constituted a private nuisance to the lakeshore property owners, but that the six public policy factors would be employed to shield the defendants from liability. In explaining its rationale, the court noted that it was probable that absent any act by the defendants, the plaintiff property owners nevertheless would have suffered damages. The court stated that were it to permit liability against the defendants, the court “would be opening the door to property owners’ claims against any contractor who contracts with a municipality to remediate a naturally occurring hazard, when the contractor fails to completely abate the hazard’s effects.” The court also concluded:
The court applied the same rationale to both of the plaintiffs’ negligence and private nuisance claims, explaining that a private nuisance must rest on either negligent or intentional conduct, and since this case was based on alleged negligence conduct, the nuisance claim must fail as well as the negligence claim. An independent contractor who follows government specifications is entitled to immunity where the government authority approved the specifications, the contractor’s actions conformed to those specifications, and where the contractor warned the governmental authority about the possible dangers associated with the specifications. This Butler v. Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. decision expands potential immunity of independent engineering firms who not only follow government specifications, but who develop their own specifications in an effort to remediate or abate a specific condition of nature such as increasing or decreasing lake levels, or perhaps even storm water flooding. However, the reader should be careful in applying this 2006 case too broadly, because it rests upon the premise that the defendants were not liable for failing to remediate or abate a naturally occurring hazard. More often than not, an engineering firm would be called upon to remediate a condition that is not naturally occurring that may be the result of real estate improvements. Still, the case offers an expanding defense potential for professional engineers practicing in the field of lake, stream and storm water management. Attorney Robert J. Kay is the senior partner in the law firm of Kay & Andersen, S.C. and devotes his time to representing professional engineers, architects, contractors, material suppliers and owners of construction projects. Please feel free to contact him at (608) 833-0077 or at rjkay@kayandandersen.com. |
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Welcome New WSPE Members! |
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| The WSPE board of directors would like to extend a heartfelt welcome to the following new WSPE members:
New members contribute to the growth, strength and leadership of the WSPE in enhancing its recognition as a leading voice for Professional Engineers throughout Wisconsin and promoting excellence in engineering. |
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Congratulations to the Winners of the 2007 NSPE – PEI Awards |
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| Each year the NSPE-PEI New Product Award is given to companies for engineering outstanding products. The award honors the creativity, research, design and engineering efforts that went into making products. Awards are selected based on several criteria, including quality in construction and whether or not it improves the public’s quality of life, makes good use of technology, or has positive effects on energy, employment, economic development, or safety. Congratulations to the 2007 winners! The winners will take part in the Awards Ceremony on August 7, 2007 at the Wisconsin State Capitol. The winners are:
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