Welcome

February 2007

The New York Metro Chapter of the Society of Fire Protection Engineers begins its 54th year here in 2007 with technical presentations at meetings and events to reinforce our commitment to:

• Promote the advancement of the science and practice of Fire Protection Engineering
• Maintain a high ethical standard among our members
• Foster Fire Protection Engineering education

We found a new meeting place at a perfect location at the Gural meeting room on the 4th floor at 11 West 42nd Street which is just steps from our prior meeting location at GE GAPS offices at the Grace Building. The Gural room overlooks the beautiful Bryant Park and adjacent NY Public Library.

We had three chapter meetings in the Fall of 2006 which featured technical presentations on 2007 updates to NFPA 72, by Wayne Moore, P.E. of Hughes Associates; inert gases & clean agents: advantages/disadvantages and code/application requirements, by John Maiorana of ANSUL; and Microbiological Influenced Corrosion (MIC): What is MIC and what are the remediation approaches, by Doug Chartier of Global MIC, Ltd. All presentations are on this website and can be viewed by active members. We are continuing our focus on of providing meeting attendees with Continuing Education Credits (CEUs) for our New York State Licensed Professional Engineers, and others who need them. Our meetings also provide our membership with the latest advances in the local and national Fire Protection Industry.

Our Spring 2007 meeting presentations are scheduled to include: Fire Hazard of Generator Fuel Supplies and Protection Recommendations; Overview of the Design/Fire Protection Applications of WTC 7; NFPA 13, 2007 Edition Updates; and NYC revisions/adoption of the IBC (if the Building Department issues its public draft in time for us to arrange this presentation).

Other upcoming chapter items of interest are the joint NY/NJ Golf outing with all proceeds going to the James R. O’Neil/W. Robert Powers Memorial Joint Scholarship Fund. We also are planning a ‘Career Day’ at a local college and invite students from technical colleges in the area to attend this ½-day informative conference. The forum has several professionals from the diverse spectrum of our industry present insight on their specific job responsibilities and expertise at their places of employment to the students.

In 2006, our chapter was one of only fourteen chapters internationally to receive an SFPE Chapter Honors award and one of only six that was awarded a Silver. Congratulations to Past-President Dave Jacoby and to all board and contributing chapter members. We are honored to receive this award and we thank Dave, the board and active members for their dedicated service to our chapter. Well done!!

I look forward to your participation and suggestions to continue improving our Chapter. Please feel free to contact me anytime with your thoughts or comments.