Dear Energy Conversion and Storage Segment Members:
I hope the start to your 2015 has been going well. As the Segment Leadership Team (SLT) for
the newly formed Energy Conversion and Storage (ECS) Segment in ASME’s Technical Events & Content
(TEC) Sector, we would like to give you an update on composition of the leadership team, our progress
to-date and offer a few opportunities to all of you to become more involved.
Who are we?
The inaugural ECS-SLT (Energy Conversion and Storage - Segment Leadership Team) is made up of a
diverse group of ASME members representing industry, academia and governmental institutions that
reflects our membership base. This past year we have been meeting quarterly since the formation of
the TEC Sector in June and have been learning about the various activities and opportunities that occur
in the space of energy conversion and storage. This is a learning experience for all of us, so we
appreciate your patience with us as we kick off this new segment.
Name
Position
Contact Informatiom
Eduardo Barrientos
Member
barrientose2@asme.org
Stephen Crane
ASME Program
Manager
cranes@asme.org
Rich Dennis
Member
Richard.Dennis@NETL.DOE.GOV
Ken Hall
ECS Segment Rep
Kenneth.C.Hall@duke.edu
Ralph Hill
Member
hillr@asme.org
Tim Graves
ASME Director of
Operations
GravesT@asme.org
Tim Lieuwen
Member
tim.lieuwen@aerospace.gatech.edu
Vinod Philip
Member
vinod.philip@siemens.com
George Saxon
Member
gsaxonjr@concosystems.net
Laura Schaefer
Member
las149@pitt.edu
Karen Thole
ECS Leader
kthole@engr.psu.edu
What are our current planning activities?
During the meeting of the entire TEC Sector in September in Park City, we began to put together a
strategic plan for where we want to head for the segment. The segment aims to position ASME as the
world leader and convener on this market and therefore, we are planning major events, such as the
Power and Energy 2015 Conference to take place in San Diego from June 28-July 2. This conference is
expected to attract about 1000 participants from the involved groups including: the Power
Conference; the Energy Sustainability Conference; the Fuel Cell Conference; and the Nuclear Power
Forum. While each conference will maintain control of their technical content, some sessions will be
shared about these groups to form synergistic discussions. In 2016, planning has already begun for the
Power and Energy 2016 Conference in which ICONE and perhaps activity from IGTI will also join in
(location is yet to be determined). Power and Energy 2017 will be held in Charlotte to coincide with
TurboExpo.
Other event coordinated by the segment will be the 2015 Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) Conference
which will be held in November 8-11 in Houston Texas. This event will take place on the vicinity of the
ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition (IMECE) to provide further
engaging and collaboration opportunities and synergies among all the ASME members, participants
and customers.
Since the mission of ECS is to be a global leader in disseminating technical content, we are currently
reviewing the possibilities of holding events in Brazil (turbomachinery related) and in Europe (general
energy conference).
How can you be involved?
Certainly, our success would not be possible without the volunteers and Subject Matter Experts who
know their technical community. We are fortunate because the groups involved in our segment have a
healthy participation from those in academia, industry, and, in many cases, government agencies. We
first ask that you please become a member of the ECS Segment in ASME.org
(https://community.asme.org/energy_conversion_and_storage_segment/default.aspx). This is the
best way to keep up with the activities in the segment. Second, we strongly encourage you to continue
your help in the planning of conferences, reviewing papers, authoring papers, and attending
conferences. Third, we would like to ask that you send us ideas on workshops, webinars, or other
technical content exchanges. We are open to new ideas in creating best practices on making sure our
group members stay informed on state-of-the-art practices. You can send your ideas to me
(kthole@psu.edu) or any of the other ECS leadership team members.
Finally, I want to close by indicating that this first year was quite busy as processes by ASME are still
being formed. I expect that the some of the leadership of the ECS will change after this year, but for
now, we are working on a succession plan to do that. I will continue to send updates throughout the
year to keep you informed. And, thank you for your continued support
Karen A. Thole, ECS-SLT Leader