What is the AFE ?
Who are AFE members ?
What opportunities does membership provide ?
What is a facilities engineer ?
For the answer to these questions and many more we invite you to visit the national website for AFE-http://www.afe.org.
Membership applications are available there.
Our Chapter is an educational organization that provides opportunities to further:
- 1)The facilities engineering profession.
- 2)Successful approaches to solving major and minor engineering challenges in manufacturing, commercial and educational institutions.
- 3) A network of savvy people with resources to allow for the rapid implementation of engineering solutions to the usually complicated terrain associated with facilities management.
MEMBER PROFILE
Members of our chapter either live or work in an area ranging north to State College, south to the Mason-Dixon line, east to the eastern edge of Lancaster County, west to the vast gulf of space beyond Carlisle, somewhere east of Pittsburgh.
Typically, a facility engineer is faced with a multitude of challenges that require highly organized interdisciplinary technical approaches and good people skills, and our members illustrate by example these qualities. Facilities engineers require broad engineering, organizational and supervisory skills, and come to their profession trained as mechanical, electrical, or chemical engineers and/or acquire other engineering backgrounds from years of experience. In our chapter we have members from each of these walks of life.
Our members belong to small, medium and the largest manufacturing, engineering, commercial and public organizations in our area.
ACTIVITIES
Our activities and programs are educational and oriented toward professional enrichment. At the meetings which range in size from about 6 to over 20 there is a unique opportunity to develop a rich network of facility professionals who share their experiences solving the host of engineering and other challenges posed by the every day work experience and the hurdles one must surmount to achieve big, long term corporate objectives. Despite differences in the circumstances of each member’s work environment there is often a common thread which makes these interactions fruitful and, indeed, a necessary piece of the equation for success.
Typically the formal meeting season lasts from September to June, with executive meetings during the summer and interspersed through the season. During the season we meet once a month. The meetings consist of tours and/or presentations which we think will have broad enough appeal to the membership. At executive meetings we get together to discuss results, our thoughts and planned actions for the coming year. These meetings are open to the membership, and we encourage participation in any way we can. Invited guests are always welcome.
With some exceptions there is no cost to attend a meeting other than the usual “separate checks” for dinner at a local restaurant. Sometimes we charge a nominal fee to defray the cost of on-site food at a tour.
Our “Energy Conservation Forum” has become a focus of the membership. At the EnCon evening presentations are made by several speakers on technical subjects which could further the energy conservation efforts of building owners, commerce, and industry in our region. Members and invited speakers are encouraged to present the results of their own on-going projects. These EnCon events are among the best attended meetings. Have a project to present or a possible speaker to recommend?
Send an e-mail to: richheiden@gmail.com.
Most of all we get together to share the challenges of the last month’s work and almost anything else that comes to mind in a friendly, professional atmosphere.
Membership application forms are available on-line through AFE Headquarters
Chapter 45 Contacts: Go to: Officers.