Richard Dickerson, our President, opened the meeting with Vivian Enriquez, Thura Zin, Chris MacKnight, Amir Tabakh, and Greg Morin, John Zagorski, and Haig Demergian in attendance.

The first item for discussion was the vote on the winner for the ASPELA Scholarship. The vote was unanimous for Ms. Haddadi. Ms. Haddadi, a student of Haig Demergian’s at UCLA, will be invited to a future ASPELA Technical Meeting to be recognized for her achievements.

Secondly, Vivian Enriquez spoke about the upcoming field trip to the Acorn Plant for Vacuum Plumbing Systems. The trip is set for May 5th. The plant is in Chino, CA. Anyone interested in going is highly encouraged to contact Vivian quickly at Vivian.Enriquez@arup.com. The tour of the plant can have a reasonably unlimited number of attendees but there will also be a special class session available for engineers only. The class session is limited to just 30 people, so you must sign up early with Vivian if you want to get in on the class. Don’t miss out.

Third, and last, Chris MacKnight reminded everyone that this year’s joint ASPELA and ASPEOC Golf Tournament will be held at a new location. The location for this year’s tournament will be the Westridge Golf Club in La Habra, CA. Some people who have played the course gave it very good reviews. We are looking forward to another fun event this year with great attendance. Engineering firms and Affiliate members are encouraged to contact Chris MacKnight early at 714-305-9015 or chrismacknight857@msn.com to get in on the sponsorship opportunities. Remember, this is the most highly attended event of the year. There was no other new business.

Richard Dickerson, our President, opened the meeting with a great crowd of 75 people in attendance. Richard recognized our past Presidents in attendance, who were Cory Nakanishi, Ed Satzberg, Kook Dean, Mike Nishida, and Vivian Enriquez.

Kelly Gilfoy stood in as our Sergeant-in-Arms for the evening. Ron Bradford was not able to attend the meeting. Kelly did not only an outstanding job of levying fines but providing a veritable stand-up comedy routine in the process. Many people would have been rolling on the floor had they not been concerned about what else was on the floor. Kudos to Kelly for such a great job.

Terry Dooley, Director Emeritus for the ACE (Architecture, Construction, and Engineering) Mentoring Program was our Table Top Presenter for the evening. The ACE Mentoring Program helps students (typically from low income and other challenging environments) to find hope and assistance in working towards a better future in the areas of Architecture, Construction, and Engineering. He encouraged all ASPE members to consider giving of their time and efforts to benefit students who otherwise might get headed off in the wrong direction. He mentioned numerous statistics to show that program already has had profound positive effects on the lives of many students. Terry also had literature available for people to learn more about the program and hopefully get involved. Terry mentioned that it is also very rewarding for the mentors.

Daniel Sanchez, the Senior Fire Protection Inspector for the City of L.A. Department of Building and Safety, was our technical speaker for the evening. Daniel gave a detailed presentation regarding many of the code changes that have taken affect recently. April Trafton did her best to keep him on his toes with numerous questions. Anyone with questions is encouraged to contact Daniel at his e-mail which is Daniel. Sanchez@LACity.org, or at his desk phone which is 213- 482-0344, or even on his cell at 213-923-6134.

Most all in attendance seemed to enjoy the change of venue for the meeting which was held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles. The room was very nice and bright and most in attendance that I spoke to fell the service was very good. The Board of Directors wanted to experiment with a new location to see what was out there and also make it easier for some members to attend the meeting. There is also hope that a location like this will attract more members to the meeting and also possibly attract some new members to join ASPELA. Most all greatly enjoyed the food served by the Crowne Plaza and even Richard Dickerson enjoyed the Vegetarian Plate which was pasta instead of just a plate of steamed vegetables as is sometimes the case served for vegetarians. Many Great Thanks go out to Vivian Enriquez for working with the Crowne Plaza to put on a great, wellattended meeting.

Richard Dickerson closed the meeting with Raffle Prizes generously donated by Kelly Gilfoy of Spec Sales, Ira Schumer of Howard C. Fletcher Co., Mike Adkins of Guardian Equipment, Alex Jimenez of Delco Sales, and Carmen of American Standard.