James R. Michalec, IEEE Fellow

James R. Michalec is a forty-one year member of IEEE and has been an IEEE Fellow since 2003.  He recently retired after serving 39 years as a Staff Engineer for the American Electric Power Service Corporation.  His primary responsibilities were large motors and synchronous generators and their auxiliaries.  Mr. Michalec received a BSEE from the University of Akron in 1971 and completed the AEP-Ohio State University, Management Development Program in 1987.

He has made numerous presentations to IEEE Student Branches, has served as a guest lecturer at Youngstown State University, and has been a part-time instructor for the College of Engineering, Professional Development Program, at The University of Wisconsin.

Michalec has contributed to numerous IEEE Standards and publications and has served as Chairman and Working Group member for many IEEE Subcommittees.  Since 1998, Jim has been an Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Energy Conversion.  He received several awards during his distinguished service to IEEE.  He has also been active in EPRI’s Plant Electrical Equipment Program.

On December 4th and 5th 2009 Lanier Consulting, LLC completed its second annual Continuing Professional Development Training.  The topics were:

Introduction to Arc Flash Calculations
Presented by Gary Lanier, P.E.

Arc Flash Protective Clothing
Presented by Bill Crandall

Current Transformer Saturation and Accuracy Calculations
Presented by Joseph Mecurio, P.E.

Turbine-Generator Fundamentals
Presented by Nils Nilsson, P.E.

Legal Liability and Professional Responsibility
Presented by Lance Lanier

UPS Systems
Presented by Robert Voss

Grounding for Safety
Presented by Gary Lanier, P.E.

If you would like information on this training or would like to discuss your company’s future training needs, please contact Lance Lanier at llanier@lanierconsult.com.

2009 CPD Training 

Lanier Consulting, LLC will be offering CPD Training on December 4 and 5, 2009.  Training will again be at the Hampton Inn in Stow, OH.  See Map

View a printable information sheet and registration form: Lanier Consulting, LLC 2009 CPD Training

We will offer the following training courses:

Friday December 4, 2009 - 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.  - 7 CPD hours:

2.0 CPD Hours - Introduction to Arc Flash Calculations -  presented by Gary Lanier, P.E.

1.0  CPD Hour - Arc Flash Protective Clothing - presented by William J. Crandall, Jr.

2.0 CPD Hours - Current Transformer Saturation and Accuracy Calculations - presented by Joseph Mercurio, P.E.

2.0 CPD Hours - Turbine-Generator Fundamentals - presented by Nils Nilsson, P.E.

Saturday December 5, 2009 - 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.  - 4 CPD hours:

1.0 CPD Hour - Legal Liabiltiy and Professional Responsibility - presented by Lance Lanier

2.0 CPD Hours - UPS Systems - presented by Robert Voss

1.0 CPD Hour - Grounding for Safety - presented by Gary Lanier, P.E.

Courses are $30 per CPD hour. To Register send an e-mail to Ruth Lanier at rlanier@lanierconsult.com or send a completed registration form and check to:

Lanier Consulting, LLC
P.O. Box 1621
Stow, OH 44224

E-mail any questions to Lance Lanier at llanier@lanierconsult.com or to Gary Lanier at glanier@lanierconsult.com.  We look forward to seeing you there!

 

2009 PES 4012

 

 

We are pleased to announce that Sam Oriti, P.E. has joined Lanier Consulting, LLC as a Professional Engineering Consultant.

Sam is a Registered State of Ohio Professional Electrical Engineer with demonstrated success in specifying, procuring and evaluating major substation power equipment. This includes transmission and extra high voltage (EHV) class transformers, circuit breakers, capacitor banks, voltage regulators, reactors, and mobile substation equipment.

View Sam Oriti’s full profile here.

We would like to thank Kim Wirgau for presenting “Wind Energy, Just a Lot of Hot Air?” to the meeting of the Akron/Canton section of IEEE. We would also like to thank the officers of IEEE for their work arranging the dinner and presentation.  If you would like a copy of the slides Mr. Wirgau presented, you may download the following PDF file:

Wind Energy Presentation

Mr. Kim Wirgau will speak to the IEEE Akron/Canton Section on April 23, 2009 on the topic of wind power. Key discussion includes where we are with non-renewable wind energy, key aspects of incorporating wind into your power system, and where are we headed.

Location: The Tangier, 532 West Market Street, Akron, Ohio 44303
Time: Social/Dinner @ 5:30PM, Program @ 6:30PM
Menu: Buffet
Cost: Members (+1 guest) 15$, Students 10$, Nonmembers 20$

Contact Rick Buchanan at (330) 497-8250 or r.buchanan@ieee.org  for reservations. One CPD hour is available; please inform Rick if you would like a certificate.

Kim Arthur Wirgau was born and raised in Rogers City, Michigan. He received the following degrees:

• B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Michigan Technological University (Houghton, Michigan) in 1969
• M.Eng. in Electrical Power Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (Troy, New York) in 1970
• A graduate of the General Electric Advanced Engineering Course (Schenectady, New York) in 1975

Mr. Wirgau retired from General Electric Company in March 2008 after 38 years of service. He is presently a member of the Lanier Consulting, LLC team.

He spent most of his career doing advanced research for the electrical power industry in the disciplines of optimal power system operations, transmission and generation planning, artificial intelligence, end-use load modeling, distribution system automation, voltage and transient stability evaluation, transmission feasibility for new generation in power systems including wind farms and other renewable fuels, multi-area production costing, and transmission and transformer insulation design.

He developed the software used to design insulation structures in layer and disk winding transformers. His work in the late ‘70s was instrumental in showing the industry that minimizing losses through optimal voltage control saved substantial fuel cost - this work started new research in the power system optimization area of system operations. During this work, he and a co-worker developed the new approach of using a projected Lagrangian algorithm based on solving sequences of linearly constrained subproblems in large-scale power system optimization. He developed new software for EPRI that improved the power industry modeling of loads which has in turn, improved power system design. He also was instrumental in developing software to evaluate voltage stability problems that has been a major problem and basic cause of most blackouts today. Mr. Wirgau developed some of the first large-scale artificial intelligence software for analyzing power systems in the late ‘80’s for TEPCO in Japan. Over the past 10 years he has assisted the GE Financial Services Group by evaluating various energy investments, where between $1 and $4 billion per year actually was invested. The last 5 years or so has consisted of consulting on placement and installation of non-renewable and renewable generation.

He and his wife Elaine presently live in Raleigh, North Carolina. They have two sons and daughter-in-law, Dr. Joseph Wirgau, an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Radford University in Radford, VA, Jessica Wirgau, a PhD candidate in Public Administration and Policy at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA, and Scott Wirgau, a Structural Engineer for American Tower Corporation in Raleigh, NC.

Gary R. Lanier, P.E., Joe Mercurio, P.E., Rik Nilsson, P.E. and Robert Voss

Our Engineers shared their experience at Lanier Consulting’s first Continuing Professional Development Training Seminar on December 5th and 6th 2008.  We look forward to many more opportunities to share our expertise.

Lanier Consulting, LLC will be presenting CPD Training on December 5th and 6th 2008.  Find Details Here

Most, if not all, Professional Engineers and Professional Surveyors in Ohio have heard about their continuing professional development (CPD) requirements.  As a reminder, following is the basic information you must know to comply with Ohio Revised Code §4733.151. 
 
The Ohio State Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Surveyors (Board) requires that all Ohio professional engineers (P.E.) and Ohio professional surveyors (P.S.) who want to maintain their registration to practice their professions in Ohio are required to complete a minimum of 15 CPD hours per year.
 
Unlike continuing education requirements for other professions such as attorneys, the Board does not keep track of the courses. 
 
Engineers and surveyors are responsible to maintain their own log on form ENG 4012 and be able to produce the log if requested by the Board.  Your activity log must show the type, date, duration, number of hours claimed, instructor names and names of the courses or activities. Additionally, you must also keep proof of attendance, such as a certificate, letter of attendance or any other form that can verify the CPD activity and date completed.  You must keep this log for three years.
 
The Board does not pre-certify courses nor does it keep a list of qualifying courses.  The Board only offers the following three criteria to for qualifying CPD courses: 1) the activity, course or seminar should be relevant to the practice of engineering or surveying and it should include technical, ethical or managerial content; 2) the provider of the course, seminar or activity should be reputable and be able to demonstrate knowledge and expertise on the subject matter; and 3) the provider should supply a course outline and a record of attendance.

Web seminars will not qualify unless the web seminar provider is able to verify and confirm attendance and participation.  You should verify how this requirement is met and documented before paying for any online course.  The Board does not accept self-directed study.

There are several ways to obtain your CPD hours besides attending seminars.  You can earn hours by 1) taking university or college courses; 2) publishing a paper, article, or book; 3) being awarded a patent; 4) serving as an officer or active committee member of a professional or technical society or association; or 5) teaching a course for the first time. The Board also allows courses in financial management to qualify.
 
If a professional engineer or professional surveyor does not meet the requirements he or she will be given a notice of deficiency and be given six months to attend courses.  Further failure to comply could result in an adjudicatory hearing and possible suspension or revocation of your license.

Lanier Consulting, LLC will be starting a series of training seminars for engineers. The seminars will focus on the practice of engineering and the instructors will be experts in their fields.  Lanier Consulting will issue certificates of completion and will keep attendance records and materials on file to ensure that these courses help you meet your CPD requirements.
 
We are working on our schedule and are still recruiting instructors.  If you would like to serve as an instructor or would like more information about our courses, please visit our web site at www.lanierconsult.com/training  or contact Lanier Consulting at training@lanierconsult.com or at 330-688-3772.