Engineering a win against breast cancer at IEEE

The 2012 IEEE Power and Energy Society's Transmission and Distribution Conference in Orlando is over, but what we did there is just starting.  You've likely read our earlier posts about Kindle Fire winners, but we'd like you to meet our booth's biggest winner -- breast cancer research.

This year's general conference theme was "Making Innovation Work for Tomorrow" and Commonwealth certainly has a long and distinguished history of engineering innovation. It began with the Foote brothers' earliest achievements here in Jackson, Michigan (see our Corporate Timeline) and continues on today with our commitment to providing our clients with world-class customer service, applying forward-looking technical expertise, protecting client resources, and designing convenient and powerful software products, like Transmission Grid Analytics^TM, to meet our clients' needs and expectations.  

The conference also had a special emphasis, and terrific panel presentation, on women in engineering.  To honor women in engineering, and frankly, women (and men) everywhere, Commonwealth chose to forego extra promotional giveaway trinkets and put our resources to a higher use...finding a cure and saving lives.

Commonwealth's booth

 Visitors to Booth 955 got the chance to take a spin on the candy dispenser to see if they could get a special pink M&M hidden among the others and win a $20 gift card.  For each card won, Commonwealth donated an equal amount to the fight against breast cancer.  Over 3 days, thanks to the countless conference attendees who came by and took a spin, Commonwealth gave away untold delicious candies, 43 gift cards, and $860 to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation.  To learn more about this terrific organization, where over 90 cents of each dollar goes directly to research and awareness, please click HERE.  

Those who know Commonwealth, know of our long-time involvement in the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life, so this decision to support another great organization in the fight just made sense.  We know you love the logo pens, caps, key chains, bouncy balls, etc.  We also know that you love your mothers, wives, sisters, and daughters more, so we hope you'll think of us even without all the extra trinkets. :)

The conference is over, but our resources are just starting on their journey to bringing about, as BCRF's motto says, "Prevention and a cure in our lifetime."

Now that's innovation.  And it's working to give those battling and surviving cancer many more tomorrows.

More winners and pictures from Orlando

Commonwealth is pleased to announce the remaining Kindle Fire winners from Orlando:  G.T. Heydt, Franklin Lu, Dan Chaply, and Brian Booker.  Professor Heydt is the Regents' Professor and Center Director for the Power Systems Engineering Research Center at Arizona State University.  Mr. Lu is  Principal Engineer for System Planning and Protection with Snohomish County PUD.  Mr. Chaply is with PPL Electric Utilities.  Mr. Booker, T&D Lead at Arizona Public Service, is seen below with Commonwealth's Darryl Sentell.  Congratulations to all of our Kindle winners and a big "Thank you!" for visiting our booth and playing along.

G.T. Heydt

L-R: Franklin Lu, Dan Chaply

L-R: Brian Booker, Darryl Sentell

The team had a wonderful time in Orlando and after working hard for several days, decided to take a minute to relax their feet and enjoy the booth's comfy seats.

On Fire at IEEE in Orlando

We are pleased to announce the winners of our 2012 IEEE PES T&D Conference Kindle Fire Giveaway in Orlando!  Seen below with Commonwealth's Vice President of Business Development, Linda Gray, are winners Bob Sier and Ricardo Rodriquez.  Bob is an engineer in Substation Services with ATC.  Ricardo is an engineer with San Diego Gas & Electric.  Congratulations to both!

L-R: Bob Sier, Linda Gray

L-R: Ricardo Rodriquez, Linda Gray

Commonwealth's team is having a great time visiting with friends and making new ones, sharing the exciting new happenings at Commonwealth, and honing their expertise in the various technical sessions.  Among those in attendance is Steve Miller, seen below.  If you see Steve around Booth 955, you'll want to ask him how our newest transmission planning software releases in the Transmission Grid AnalyticsTM family -- namely Mapping and Cascade Analysis -- can help you plan smarter and easier.

Stephen S. Miller, P.E.

Conferences, Speakers, and Expos -- Oh My!

This week, we're in sunny Orlando, Florida, for the IEEE PES Transmission & Distribution Conference and Expo.  It's certainly warm and only getting hotter as our booth visitors can register to win a hot new Kindle Fire.  On top of that, we're spicing things up by giving away tasty spice blend packets again this year.  You can find great recipes on our website to put those spices to the test.

Next week, we'll be in Baltimore, Maryland, for Electric Power 2012 where Commonwealth's Vice President of Power & Energy, Sam Barnes, will be co-presenting "My Coal Ash Pond Will Be Closed - What Do I Do With the Wastewater?" in a session about power plant wastewater and environmental compliance.

Last week, Commonwealth's Ian Hutt co-presented "Using Locational Marginal Prices to Estimate Real-Time Emissions From Electricity Use" to the Michigan Association of Hazardous Materials Professionals with Michelle Rogers, a graduate student at Wayne State University.

So, as you can see, we're not letting any grass grow under our feet.  Check back often to learn more about what we're doing to share knowledge, actively participate in the industry, and have fun in the process.