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October 2018 
President's Report
by Brad Welch
I recently had the opportunity to attend the 2018 ASPE Convention and Expo in Atlanta, Georgia. I attended the convention as one of the delegates for our local chapter. This means I was able to sit through the business meeting and participate in discussions and voting.
Some people might dread attending this two-day long business meeting. It may be considered a long boring and painful experience. I actually enjoy the meeting. It is inspiring to see how many people truly care about ASPE both on the national level and the local level.
At this meeting we get to vote for the next term ASPE National officers. Now these are people who really care about ASPE. I would like to congratulate our recent region director Don Strickland on being voted in as the new Vice President, Technical for the national society. I am sure Don will make a positive and noticeable impact on the society. I am confident that all of the new national board members will help the society grow and increase the value of the society to the members.
At the business meeting we also had the opportunity to vote on changes to the society bylaws. This is always a fascinating process to witness. It is exciting to see how passionate people get on how exactly something should be worded. We even had an adventure voting on a proposed change to a proposed change to a proposed addendum to the bylaws. There were a few changes proposed that may not have been the best option for the society, but fortunately they did not pass. The intent was good, but the wording or approach the change had some side effects that I did not like.
After the business meeting fun, we also got to spend some time in the Expo and see all kinds of plumbing products. It is always fun to see the products they bring to the show. We even saw a few new products that may be elegant solutions to challenges we face in design regularly. One product may be a good option to meet the code requirement on fixture distance from a circulated DHW main without adding a pump or large circulation piping in the wall.
The one thing I regret with my attendance at the convention is I could not attend any of the technical seminars after the expo. They had a lot of topics that I am sure were very informative and helpful. I was able to get the presentations for each of the technical sessions and I plan on going through most of those as I find time.
As far as I know, we do not typically have a large number of people from our local chapter attend the conventions or technical symposiums that ASPE orchestrates. I would encourage you to consider attending these whenever possible. They can be a great value to your plumbing design experience. The next convention and expo will be in September 2020 in New Orleans, LA. Put this on your calendar and see if you can attend. There will also be a technical symposium in Pittsburgh, PA in October 2019. The technical symposium is an excellent way to get some good technical information and CEUs.
This Month's Meeting
October Technical Meeting
October 16, 2018
11:30 AM MDT - 1:00 PM MDT
Legends Sports Pub
677 S. 200 W.
Salt Lake City, UT 84101
Venue website
We will have Craig Froeter with Froet Industries joining us to discuss roof drains and design.
VP Technical Article
by Nick Allred
Well look at the time, I need to get to write another wonderful article for our newsletter! So here goes. First off, a couple housekeeping items:
- Our annual and poorly participated Halloween Costume Contest is this month, I’m sure Kyle will have more info on this.
- Brad, Mauro and I recently went to the ASPE Convention in Atlanta, as delegates for our chapter at the business meetings. We participated in discussing and voting on Society Bylaw changes and talked with the candidates for the newly elected Society Board of Directors. For those that have been before, I have wonderful news to report regarding the business meetings. The last Board of Directors had decided to hire a parliamentarian, an expert in meeting procedures and Robert’s Rules of Order, to officiate during the bylaws debate and voting. Having this professional leading the meeting, we finished both meeting days early.
- While at the ASPE Convention, I was able to talk with Mark Allen with Beacon Medeas about scheduling one of our technical meetings on med gas piping. Mark has found that a full day training has been more beneficial than an hour technical meeting. Thus, the survey I sent out on the 3rd, it is a simple one question survey for me to gauge the interest in a full day training. Please complete this soon.
I recently read an article from Vice, an offbeat news outlet, about how human waste is ruining national parks. With the obvious lack of restroom facilities on hiking trails and campsites combined with a lack on understanding and ignorance by the public, it is making for unsanitary conditions. As I was reading the article, it hit home how much indoor plumbing, properly designed and installed by us professionals, improves the health and happiness of our civilized society.
Lastly, the presentation for this month’s meeting will be on Roof Drainage and Design and will be given by Craig Froeter of Froet Industries. I hope to see you all there, dressed in your wonderful costumes!
Member Spotlight
Scott Milburn
- How did you end up in the plumbing industry? By luck for the most part. I was looking for a job to pay my way through school and I saw a listing for a CNC operator at Aquatherm. In high school I had learned G&M code, so I thought I might as well apply. Shortly after being hired, Aquatherm opened their design and fabrication department and they needed drafters. I had learned 3D modeling in high school and basic drafting in college, so again, I thought I might as well apply. I really enjoyed working at Aquatherm and being in the plumbing industry so when graduation rolled around, I applied for the open spot in Aquatherm’s engineering department and was hired on as an applications engineer.
- How long have you been doing what you do? I have been at Aquatherm for 4 years total and have been an engineer with them for 6 months.
- What are you most passionate about professionally? What most excites you about your work & the contribution you can make? I enjoy being able to add new knowledge to a subject. I work at a polypropylene piping company and part of my job is continuing to characterize the behavior of our product under various conditions. It excites me to learn new things about the product and to be able to share those insights with other engineers and customers alike.
- Why are you a member of ASPE? ASPE offers a wide network of information and engineering colleagues that I can work with and learn from, which is well worth the membership.
- What are you passionate about personally? What do you really enjoy? What can’t you stop talking about? I love working on cars. It doesn’t matter what kind of work that is, whether it’s replacing a head gasket or changing brake pads, I just enjoy being around cars and having a tool in my hand. In my opinion, the internal combustion engine is one of the most fascinating inventions of the modern age.
- What do you do when you’re not working? What’s your favorite way to spend a weekend or a Sunday afternoon? I enjoy camping, hiking, rock climbing, and skiing.
- If there is one piece of advice you would give us all, what would it be? This can be professional or personal advice. Be a lifelong learner. Whether it be work or personal, set goals to learn more and become more proficient at whatever you do.
- What is your favorite color and why? (or same question for animal, number, movie, food, vacation, etc.) Green, probably because I’m from Washington where I grew up with forests all around me.
- Tell us about your family. My wonderful wife, Heather, is a nurse and loves to run marathons. She’s qualified for Boston many times and even ran it once. We also have an 18 month old son, Ryan. He never runs out of energy and is extremely curious. He loves anything with wheels that he can push around.
- What is the most dangerous animal you have ever encountered? I came face to face with a Galapagos Shark in Hawaii once, but if you want to get technical about it, there was a cage between us.
VP Legislative Article
by Gavin Mehraban
I thought a little humor to start this month’s article off, would be a good idea. We all know the stereotype of the butt crack plumber. Funny as a father to think: “Yup, my kids would do the same thing!”
It’s fall. Leave’s are changing color. The weather is cooling down. What’s this wet stuff falling to the ground? I haven’t seen it all summer long. It’s called rain. Yes, Utah will get rain on the rare occasion. Not when our summers are blazing, and the state is on fire and we need the rain. No, after fires have burned, grass has fried, people have overwatered, and plants have died. Nonetheless we still welcome the rain. Or at least I do. We don’t get enough.
Where am I leading with this? The fires in Utah County and the mass amount of rain we have just seen come in from the hurricane/monsoon from the East has created a mud slide of National Guard emergency response. See the KSL article at
https://www.ksl.com/article/46400290/weather-updates-rain-causes-debris-flow-in-southern-utah-county
We Engineers, designers and experts design our storm systems to the “100-year storm” figure of 1.3” per hour of rainfall. This is what we have allotted ourselves in our storm sewer systems for effective rain water collection. However, how many shoulder seasons in the past few years have we seen 100-year storms happen more than once per year? Seemingly it happens more than not now, especially not once every 100 years.
What can we do to help mitigate future problems by present issues? We are held to design standards set forth by different legislations, different societies, and different publications. Not many people would accept oversizing piping systems to accommodate a “future” we have not written down. I don’t have the answer, but I want to get people thinking. Thinking about how we as designers are held to high standards of performance, yet our legislation seems years behind.
I will do my best to keep up on legislative topics that come up when regarding future accommodations. I would challenge each of you to do the same, at some level. If you read something pertaining to our plumbing industry, please bring it up. Let’s get discussion going and get change happening.
Otherwise. Enjoy the first month of fall and have a happy and safe Halloween! Check all the candy parents…and assume ownership of all the best candies because “they could have been tampered with”. Ha. Be Safe out there!
VP Membership Article
by Jeff Zaugg
Autumn greetings everyone! Yes, it is that time of year again. I’m sure you all have been anxiously awaiting Kyle’s Annual Halloween Costume Contest. I’ll let him cover the details, but as last year’s winner and reigning champion, I hope to be able to come out on top again this year. Hopefully there will be a little more participation this year.
On another note, how many of you have engineering students that you work with or that are working in your offices? Are they aware of the ASPE Student Membership? This is a great way for them to receive some of the benefits of this great society at a significantly reduced price and it looks good on a resume. If they are attending a recognized university, college, community college, vocational, or technical trade school full time or part time in a curriculum related to plumbing design then they qualify for student membership.
Affiliate Liaison Article
by Kyle Sorenson
Oh yes! It is here again! Like the year before and the year before that and the year before that, etc, etc, etc. I will be showing up dressed like someone or something WAHAHAHAHA! The question is…...will you?! I already have some commitments from our Board Members to expect the unexpected. The question is gonna be if Cliff Holmes shows up as Aquatherm Man! To jog your memory, reference the picture below.
You see those two dashing gentlemen? The one on the right went home with a pretty badass prize last year. Same rule applies this year! The best costume wins a KILLER prize and bragging rights until next year’s contest. Participation is always our goal at ASPE Intermountain. What better way to participate then to show up in something that will freak out your colleagues…...or atleast make them laugh. Come have a good time and know you won’t be the only one dressed up! I am throwing down the challenge to the members! Show up at the monthly meeting next Tuesday (10/16/2018) dresses as something other than an engineer or vendor and win a prize! What is the prize you ask? That is a secret but trust me it will be worth it!
PRODUCT SHOWCASE: Nothing scheduled yet, currently available! Let me know if you are interested! kyle@innovativespec.com
See you at the meeting!
AYP Article
by Mauro Artica
I had the opportunity to attend this year's ASPE convention in Georgia. I had the privilege to attend the business meetings as one of our chapter's delegates and cast my vote to elect the new members of the ASPE board of directors as well as vote on proposed changes to our society's bylaws. This was a very educational and entertaining process. To conduct the business meetings, the board of directors decided to hire a parliamentarian. By the conclusion of the business meeting, most of the delegates gave the parliamentarian a standing ovation for a job well done, which tells me the business meetings usually do not go as smoothly as this one did. It was inspirational to see all the effort that goes into putting together this convention. I can truly say that ASPE is dedicated to promoting our profession to enhance our career opportunities and ensure the health and safety of the public.
As our chapter's AYP Liaison, I was able to meet with AYP's from other chapters and learn from their successes and failures in their attempts to attract more young professionals to our industry. This includes planning a manufacturing or treatment plant tour, happy hour at a bar, escape room or game night, sporting events or organized team leagues. This brought a lot of ideas of things we can do in our chapter. Since there are few AYPs in our local chapter, we will be coordinating with Young Engineers of ASHRAE to see if together we can participate in an organized team league. This will probably have a rough start, but I believe if we are consistent we will be able to attract many young professionals to our industry. Let me know your thoughts or if you have any recommendation of things we can do to promote our profession.
