It’s a New Year.  What resolutions have you made to make sure you excel in your field of endeavor?

There are many new standards and regulations coming out – with ever-increasing frequency. We, as engineers, need to be aware of new developments in renewable energy as well as new developments in our field to conserve energy, such as hybrid systems that use less energy than standard systems. One example: hybrid geothermal systems that cost less and therefore have a faster payback than a standard full geo system. There are so many new innovations to know about.

The USGBC Greenbuild Convention held in Phoenix in November had 28,000+ attendees.  The ASHRAE convention in Orlando the end of this month will have more than 30,000 attendees and over 1,000 exhibitors. These conventions are filled with excellent speakers telling what they’ve done and what they’ve learned relative to what we as engineers need to know. It’s further education being handed to us on a plate. Remember what they say about technical education today, “When you’re out of college only 2 short years, half of what you just learned is already obsolete”.

If you can’t get to the national conventions, there are many other opportunities, i.e., regional and local seminars. The Engineering Society of Detroit (ESD), NextEnergy, Automation Alley and the local chapters of ASHRAE and USGBC as well as many other organizations, have seminars on an almost monthly basis from which you can learn – and at which you can meet new people and do some networking. And in today’s tough economic times, networking has assumed a new importance.
Many times it’s not only what you know but also who you know – and how well you know them.

Change is happening faster than ever.  It’s a difficult pace to keep up. Take advantage of the learning experiences that are all around you – they’re local, they’re not expensive and they don’t take up a lot of your time.

There’s a Chinese saying, “If we do not change our direction, we are likely to end up in the place we are headed.” Today, more than ever before, you have to get out of your “comfort zone”.
Make your plan and work your plan. Make this first year of the new decade a Good New Year – and a first-rate start for the next 10!