AFE May/June 2012 : Page 26

CHAPTERS RISING AFE Chapter 39, Silicon Valley Celebrates 50 Years of Connecting the Present with the Future This spring, facilities professionals met and mentored future plant and facility engineers during Chapter 39’s annual “Day with a Facilities Professional” held at Adobe Systems in San Jose, California. BY TALISA THOMAS-HALL n March 9, 2012, AFE Chapter 39 celebrated the 50-year anniversary of “Day with a Fa-cilities Professional” at Adobe Systems in San Jose, California. Attendees were enthusiastic about the recent event. Th ey agreed it truly refl ected the intent of its founder, the late Eric Bergtraun, who wanted to unite students with professionals, and give them an entrée into the professional world of facilities engineering and management. It all began in 1962, when former AFE Fellow and plant engineer, Bergtraun, cre-ated a day devoted to mentoring young, up-and-coming facilities and maintenance engineers. Th is annual meet-up, called “Day with a Facilities Professional,” off ered unique opportunities for university students to meet with potential mentors in their pro-fessional environments to learn more about their daily work. Five decades later the event continues to be a huge success, and has helped launch hundreds, if not thousands, of careers in the facilities fi eld. staunch believer in the power of mentor-ships and encouraging young people to invest in the fi eld of facilities engineering. Bergtraun, born in 1925, lived in Vienna, Austria until 1938 when his parents fl ed the German occupation and moved to Shang-hai, China. At that time, he also joined the British Boy Scouts, whose long tradition of mentorship inspired Bergtraun throughout his life. As a teenager, Bergtraun began his career working for a Danish motor company, and later for the U.S. Army and Caltex in Shanghai. At 23, he immigrated to San Francisco where he attended Heald Engineering College at night. He later advanced his studies in engineering at the University of California, San Francisco. During his long and distinguished career, he worked for Fedeli Electric Company and National Semiconductor. Bergtraun joined AFE Chapter 39, Silicon Valley in 1960 and immediately searched for ways to introduce university students to the association. Th is search eventually led to his creation of “Day with a Facilities Professional.” His dedi-cation to ensuring that future facilities and plant engineers receive the mentor-ship they need has lived on, despite his death on December 27, 2008. O Finding Value in the Profession Today, AFE local student chapters at Cali-fornia Polytechnic (Cal Poly) State Univer-sity, San Luis Obispo, UC Davis, and the California Maritime Academy in Vallejo are the primary benefactors of this annual event. However, it is open to any student interested in the facilities profession. Stan Nakaso, professional coordinator of AFE’s Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo Chapter stated, “During my years as a student, someone introduced me to AFE. Th rough AFE I learned about the vast career po-tential of those preparing for a degree in engineering.” Nakaso continued, “I want to share that same excitement with today’s students and young professionals. I want them to see their potential. DWFP gives them a glimpse into their future career.” Like many in the profession, Chapter 39 President Bob Adamo realizes the impor-tance of introducing students to the vast array of career options open to those enrolled in the facilities engineering curriculum. Adamo explained, “As hosts for the day, our goal was to mentor the students, show them what we do in the real world and let them know of all the possibilities there are for them.” Adamo, who hosted a construction-management student during the event, The Passion of the Past Bergtraun launched the fi rst “Day with a Facilities Professional” two years aft er he joined AFE (then called the American Institute of Plant Engineers). He was a 26 May | June 2012 ■ Facilities Engineering Journal ■ www.AFE.org

Chapters Rising

Talisa Thomas-Hall

AFE Chapter 39, Silicon Valley Celebrates 50 Years of Connecting the Present with the Future This spring, facilities professionals met and mentored future plant and facility engineers during Chapter 39’s annual “Day with a Facilities Professional” held at Adobe Systems in San Jose, California On March 9, 2012, AFE Chapter 39 celebrated the 50-year anniversary of “Day with a Facilities Professional” at Adobe Systems in San Jose, California. Attendees were enthusiastic about the recent event. They agreed it truly reflected the intent of its founder, the late Eric Bergtraun, who wanted to unite students with professionals, and give them an entrée into the professional world of facilities engineering and management. It all began in 1962, when former AFE Fellow and plant engineer, Bergtraun, created a day devoted to mentoring young, up-and-coming facilities and maintenance engineers. This annual meet-up, called “Day with a Facilities Professional,” offered unique opportunities for university students to meet with potential mentors in their professional environments to learn more about their daily work. Five decades later the event continues to be a huge success, and has helped launch hundreds, if not thousands, of careers in the facilities field. The Passion of the Past Bergtraun launched the first “Day with a Facilities Professional” two years aft er he joined AFE (then called the American Institute of Plant Engineers). He was a staunch believer in the power of mentorships and encouraging young people to invest in the field of facilities engineering. Bergtraun, born in 1925, lived in Vienna, Austria until 1938 when his parents fled the German occupation and moved to Shanghai, China. At that time, he also joined the British Boy Scouts, whose long tradition of mentorship inspired Bergtraun throughout his life. As a teenager, Bergtraun began his career working for a Danish motor company, and later for the U.S. Army and Caltex in Shanghai. At 23, he immigrated to San Francisco where he attended Heald Engineering College at night. He later advanced his studies in engineering at the University of California, San Francisco.During his long and distinguished career, he worked for Fedeli Electric Company and National Semiconductor. Bergtraun joined AFE Chapter 39, Silicon Valley in 1960 and immediately searched for ways to introduce university students to the association. This search eventually led to his creation of “Day with a Facilities Professional.” His dedication to ensuring that future facilities and plant engineers receive the mentorship they need has lived on, despite his death on December 27, 2008. Finding Value in the Profession Today, AFE local student chapters at California Polytechnic (Cal Poly) State University, San Luis Obispo, UC Davis, and the California Maritime Academy in Vallejo are the primary benefactors of this annual event. However, it is open to any student interested in the facilities profession. Stan Nakaso, professional coordinator of AFE’s Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo Chapter stated, “During my years as a student, someone introduced me to AFE. Through AFE I learned about the vast career potential of those preparing for a degree in engineering.” Nakaso continued, “I want to share that same excitement with today’s students and young professionals. I want them to see their potential. DWFP gives them a glimpse into their future career.” Like many in the profession, Chapter 39 President Bob Adamo realizes the importance of introducing students to the vast array of career options open to those enrolled in the facilities engineering curriculum. Adamo explained, “As hosts for the day, our goal was to mentor the students, show them what we do in the real world and let them know of all the possibilities there are for them.” Adamo, who hosted a constructionmanagement student during the event, Said his mentee had the opportunity to tour several facilities and had the benefit of impromptu meetings with executives from three companies, including an owner’s representative, a president, and a director. “They were very gracious to the student and complimented my company on a job well done,” he said. “I could not have been more proud and excited for my student to witness the possibilities.” This Year’s Event The 2012 “Day with a Facilities Professional” welcomed 30 students, who shadowed professionals on location at various jobs. They returned to Adobe for a networking lunch, an interactive panel discussion among facilities and engineering experts, and presentations by key speakers. The day concluded with another opportunity for networking during a dinner and special program. AFE Board of Directors’ Vice Chair of Membership Virginia Gibson, on behalf of AFE, presented Chapter 39 with a declaration of “National Day with A Facilities Professional.” AFE also gift ed Chapter 39 with a $500 scholarship to support a student’s participation at the 2012 AFE Facilities America Education Forum in Washington, D.C. (September 10-12, 2012). Bob Dills from Western Allied Mechanical (a “Day with a Facilities Professional” sponsor) gave a brief presentation, and the day also included a panel discussion led by George Denise of Cushman and Wakefield. Participants on the panel included Claudia Folzman, president of the Silicon Valley Chapter of the International Facility Management Association and executive vice president of operations and co-founder of Iron Construction; Michael Bangs, Adobe’s director of global facilities operations; and Jack Zarour of Genentech. Julie O’Laughlin, senior director of real estate for Fenwick and West, was unable to attend due to an illness Other event supporters included gold sponsors IMPEC GROUP, Integrated Engineering Services, Trane, and Technical Builders and AFE silver sponsors Cupertino Electric Inc. and United Mechanical Inc. “The kids [returning for the evening dinner and program] were absorbing every minute of it,” said both Debbie Gary and Melissa Mason, who helped organize the event along with James Elder, Andy Taylor, Kady Blake, Nakaso, and many others. Wrapping Up a Celebration of 50 Years At the end of the day, founder Bergtraun was commemorated during a celebration of the long-lasting tradition of “Day with a Facilities Professional.” Adamo shared (in his best Austrian accent) his memories of the talented Bergtraun: “Th e part for me that made it special was that Eric was my boss 32 years ago and he had me join the AFE, formerly AIPE, at that time.” Adamo also talked about his own career as a facilities engineer. He said he was proud to be celebrating 20 years of owning and running his own business, and being president of the same chapter, as his mentor and friend, Bergtraun. This relationship is an important example of the power of the AFE chapters and programs, and reflects Bergtraun’s vision of growing facilities professionals through networking and mentorship, a tradition that continues 50 years later. Adamo said the event helps instill a sense of pride about the facilities field in the students. “In January, we set a goal for this day to be special, and be a positive experience for the future leaders of the next generation,” said Adamo. “The team effort and energy of all the individuals that helped make this day a success will not be forgotten. I could see it in the faces of the students.” James Elder, vice president and membership chair for Chapter 39, applauded the chapter members and volunteers whose work made “Day with a Facilities Professional” a success, and the enthusiastic attendees. “The future of this profession is dependent upon the influx of young, educated professionals who bring a whole new level of technological know-how mixed with the traditional passion that drives this profession,” said Elder. “Each year our members give a tremendous amount of time and resources toward the success of this event. It’s a major undertaking but they make it seem easy in the end." Talisa Thomas-Hall is AFE senior director of membership and operations. One of her primary responsibilities is to serve as the staffliaison to chapters and regions. She can be reached at 571-203-7236 or via email at Tthomashall@afe.org.

Previous Page Next Page

Publication List
Using a screen reader? Click Here