0:01

Engineers are

0:01

ingenious professional.

0:04

Engineers invent, design, verify

0:04

and qualify. Engineers are the

0:10

professionals who make our lives

0:10

and businesses prosperous and

0:14

safe. The Florida Engineering

0:14

Society is proud to put our

0:18

engineering professionals in the

0:18

spotlight so that they may

0:21

educate, share information and

0:21

introduce you to the world of

0:25

engineering that is thriving in

0:25

Florida. Here's your host of the

0:30

engineering Florida podcast. Sam

0:30

Yates with today's guest Hello,

0:35

everyone and welcome to another

0:35

episode of the Florida

0:38

Engineering Society Engineering

0:38

Florida podcast. Cherie Pinsky

0:42

is the Chief Operating Officer

0:42

at what we call affectionately

0:46

FES as well as the American

0:46

Council of Engineering

0:51

Companies, the ACEC. Now she

0:51

oversees the daily operations

0:56

including education, events,

0:56

marketing, communications, and

1:01

of course, membership very

1:01

importantly, so I'm lucky to

1:05

have her as our guest today for

1:05

this edition of the Florida

1:08

Engineering Society, engineering

1:08

Florida podcast. Welcome to the

1:12

program.

1:14

Thank you so much

1:14

for having me, Sam. I'm grateful

1:17

to be here.

1:18

You know, I always

1:18

love to start out with getting

1:21

some tidbits about our guests.

1:21

So I'm going to ask the same of

1:26

you. And I'm going to say that

1:26

back in 2021, you received the

1:33

FES and ACEC Florida President's

1:33

Award for outstanding service

1:38

and leadership. And we're going

1:38

to talk about those things in a

1:41

bit of detail. But tell us about

1:41

yourself.

1:44

Yes, that was a

1:44

very flattering award that I

1:47

received. It was very grateful

1:47

and kind of them. I've been with

1:52

FES and ACEC Florida for seven

1:52

years this month. Proud to say

1:57

very happy about that. started

1:57

off as the in the education and

2:02

events department as a meeting

2:02

planner and advanced to Director

2:07

of Education at events and now

2:07

see oh, and I enjoy being here.

2:13

And a little bird

2:13

told me you are also a Florida

2:16

Gator.

2:17

Absolutely at a

2:17

proud one at that. graduated a

2:22

few years back I won't date

2:22

myself too much. But I really

2:26

enjoyed my time there. Got my

2:26

Bachelors of Arts Degree.

2:32

Go Gators, you know,

2:32

and I have to say sure. So far

2:35

we are batting 100% as having

2:35

guests on that our gators go

2:41

figure but you know, sometimes

2:41

those things just happen because

2:45

gators are so prolific. And a

2:45

lot of them are in the

2:49

engineering world.

2:50

And it's hard

2:50

being our headquarters being in

2:53

Tallahassee, we do have a lot of

2:53

seminars around us. But I'm very

2:58

fortunate that yes, a lot of our

2:58

leadership, our members are

3:01

gators, and I'm able to join

3:01

them in that support.

3:07

Being there where you

3:07

are. I know that you're

3:10

involved, as I mentioned earlier

3:10

in some of the special events,

3:14

as well as the daily operations

3:14

and one of the programs that is

3:20

near and dear to you math counts

3:20

took place statewide and

3:24

culminated with the selection of

3:24

the Florida math counts team to

3:29

present morada in the National

3:29

Math counts competition, that it

3:35

was a big success. And, you

3:35

know, for those who are not

3:39

familiar as I am with Mathcounts

3:39

told me why it's important.

3:45

Mathcounts is

3:45

absolutely wonderful program

3:48

that we get to give back to the

3:48

community. We have this past

3:53

year, I think we had 233

3:53

Students middle school students

3:58

from throughout the state attend

3:58

the state competition, which

4:02

means it means they had to

4:02

advance from their local chapter

4:07

to even compete at the state

4:07

competition that took place in

4:10

Orlando. It was a absolutely

4:10

wonderful event that allows us

4:17

to give younger STEM students

4:17

and math proficient students the

4:27

opportunity to travel network

4:27

with their peers and just be

4:33

involved in their community. We

4:33

had a fantastic competition and

4:39

actually two, we four students

4:39

actually ended up advancing to

4:44

the national competition which

4:44

we're very excited about that

4:47

will take place in Orlando last

4:47

year it was in DC. But this year

4:53

it will be in Orlando so it's

4:53

not a super far travel for them.

4:56

But to the students were

4:56

actually from Tallahassee And

5:01

the other two from others in the

5:01

state, but it's, it's just a

5:05

fantastic event where we get to

5:05

showcase younger generations and

5:10

their love for math and the STEM

5:10

field in general.

5:16

You know, I like the

5:16

name that they're called. And

5:20

that's mathletes. There are

5:20

mathletes are outstanding,

5:25

because they're going to have

5:25

skills that they developed in

5:29

this process that they're going

5:29

to carry the rest of their

5:32

lives. Is that a good, strong,

5:32

fair statement?

5:36

Absolutely.

5:36

They're the skills that they

5:39

develop through the education

5:39

throughout, obviously school.

5:45

But as well as adding these

5:45

competitions and giving them the

5:48

chance to showcase what they can

5:48

do is just a wonderful

5:52

opportunity that they have. And

5:52

that carries with them, we have

5:56

several of our leaders that were

5:56

mathletes when they were younger

6:00

and middle school, because it is

6:00

a program that is just for

6:03

middle school students.

6:05

Now, I know that

6:05

during the math elite

6:10

competition, there is such an

6:10

emphasis on math that even at

6:16

the beginning of the program, it

6:16

started out with a math joke.

6:24

That is true,

6:24

there are a lot of math jokes

6:27

that are said and I only get

6:27

about half of them. I only

6:31

understand about but the kids

6:31

love it. And they love the the

6:38

camaraderie

6:39

it is it is special.

6:39

Whenever I listened to the

6:43

program to the to the

6:43

competition, and I I was

6:46

chuckling to myself, I was like,

6:46

that is really great. I loved

6:51

it. But let's switch gears a

6:51

little bit if we can. Another

6:54

important educational program is

6:54

designed for the more mature

7:01

group and that is our engineers

7:01

themselves. So what is the FES

7:07

Leadership Institute? And what

7:07

do the participants take away

7:11

from that program,

7:12

Fili is, as it

7:12

affectionately is called, is a

7:17

wonderful leadership program.

7:17

That is for our slightly more

7:21

mature engineers. That really

7:21

focuses on the networking, the

7:31

leadership abilities, work life

7:31

balance and giving back to the

7:36

community. It is very much a

7:36

fun, but also serious program

7:47

that is highly sought after that

7:47

we're proud to offer.

7:51

And I think on one of

7:51

our previous programs, Carlos

7:54

Pennine told us a bit about some

7:54

of what philia had accomplished.

7:58

But it is not a program a

7:58

sidebar, if we could for a

8:03

second, it's not a program that

8:03

anyone can participate in it. It

8:07

actually is one that members

8:07

apply for. And for the 2023 I

8:13

believe only 59 candidates

8:13

applied and only 14 were

8:18

selected to take part. So there

8:18

is a bit of competition to get

8:23

into the field program.

8:25

There is a

8:25

stringent selection process that

8:28

the committee does go through to

8:28

make their selection, they found

8:33

that if there are more than 40

8:33

people in a class, it really

8:39

kind of helps. I mean, it

8:39

doesn't help it breaks apart

8:42

that tight knit bond

8:42

relationships. So they really

8:46

try to keep it at that 40 person

8:46

level. So that it can the people

8:52

in the class can form those

8:52

tighter relationships and come

8:56

together.

8:57

We look forward to

8:57

following along with that

8:59

program. And as they come up

8:59

with the things that they're

9:03

going to accomplish, we'll be

9:03

spotlighting them here on the

9:06

Florida Engineering Society

9:06

podcast as a just a little note

9:09

for our listeners. You know, I

9:09

sometimes get way ahead of

9:13

myself and at the onset of the

9:13

program, I mentioned that you

9:18

are wearing dual hats there. So

9:18

I wanted to talk a little bit

9:23

about what you do is the C O for

9:23

not only the Florida Engineering

9:28

Society, but the American

9:28

Council of Engineering

9:32

Companies, two separate

9:32

organizations closely aligned.

9:35

Tell us about the Council of

9:35

Engineering Companies.

9:39

Both associations

9:39

are work fantastic together but

9:44

they're also great on their own.

9:44

For ACC of Florida. They have

9:50

several programs and several

9:50

initiatives to get involved with

9:55

the community to be a presence

9:55

within the engineering industry.

10:00

Are you and part of my job is to

10:00

help make sure that they're

10:04

successful at it, we have

10:04

several programs. For example,

10:10

ACC of Florida, right after, I

10:10

guess, two or three years now,

10:15

they are now working on a

10:15

program called FTO. T Connect,

10:19

which connects engineers with

10:19

software programs for designing

10:26

transportation pieces, sorry for

10:26

lack of a better word, whether

10:31

it be bridges, pond drain

10:31

design, drainage design, and

10:35

things of that nature. ACC also

10:35

sponsors construction career

10:41

days throughout the state of

10:41

Florida, giving students the

10:47

opportunity to be more involved

10:47

and learn about engineering, in

10:52

the construction capacity. ACC

10:52

is for involved in several other

10:59

things as well. But those are

10:59

just a couple that popped into

11:02

my head.

11:03

And obviously, one of

11:03

the reasons that we're doing

11:05

this program is to educate

11:05

engineers and also attract

11:11

engineers. For both

11:11

organizations. Since you're

11:14

wearing two hats. How can

11:14

someone get more information and

11:19

ultimately become a member,

11:20

We have a

11:20

fabulous website that we utilize

11:25

for membership, we have a list

11:25

of our membership benefits on

11:29

there along with digital

11:29

applications. Going online, just

11:34

entering in your basic

11:34

information, we have wonderful

11:38

membership team that will review

11:38

the application, if you're

11:43

applying as an individual

11:43

member, the process is a little

11:47

quicker. For ACC of Florida, the

11:47

firm membership is a little bit

11:53

takes a little bit longer about

11:53

a week to get all the ducks in a

11:58

row. But we do have a wonderful

11:58

website that does give you a

12:03

clearer picture of what we are

12:03

as FBS and ACC of Florida, and

12:09

what each organization has to

12:09

offer.

12:12

I do have another

12:12

question before we go on with a

12:15

couple of more minutes into the

12:15

program. I'm watching the clock

12:18

to make sure we stay on time.

12:18

Can you come back for another

12:21

program in the future?

12:24

Absolutely. I'm

12:24

really enjoying being here. And

12:27

we have so many things that

12:27

we're involved in that we could

12:30

talk about. Events, marketing,

12:30

you know, there's just we're

12:35

just in the field so much

12:35

getting involved with the

12:39

community. And as as

12:39

representative, I'm very

12:44

thankful and blessed to be a

12:44

part of it.

12:47

What are the big

12:47

things that that I know that

12:49

comes under the big umbrella and

12:49

it I want to say it's

12:53

successful. And that's your new

12:53

magazine. And it's a great

12:57

looking publication. So you guys

12:57

are doing a great job on that.

13:00

Oh, thank

13:01

you so much. We

13:01

are extremely proud of this new

13:04

magazine, and all of our

13:04

editorial partners that we

13:10

worked on with it. One really

13:10

neat thing about it is we were

13:15

able to partner with other

13:15

associations in the engineering

13:19

industry to bring about this

13:19

wonderful new publication and we

13:24

couldn't be prouder.

13:26

You know, before we

13:26

wrap up, though, hurricane

13:28

season really is upon us by the

13:28

time we blink, it's going to be

13:34

here. Last year, hurricane

13:34

season was horrible for

13:38

Southwest Florida. And we don't

13:38

know how bad the season is going

13:41

to be back to my days of of

13:41

wearing a cap with a big red

13:46

cross on it and helping

13:46

communities out. We always like

13:50

to remind folks, it only takes

13:50

one hurricane and you've got all

13:55

sorts of problems. But from your

13:55

vantage point, engineers have

14:00

always been right on the front

14:00

lines of preparation, tropical

14:04

storms, hurricanes, recovery

14:04

efforts. How do you as FeS and

14:10

ACC, help keep members up to

14:10

date help to keep them safe,

14:16

help them with information that

14:16

they can help keep their

14:19

community safe. How do you do that?

14:21

You know, we had

14:21

a lot of experience with that

14:24

this year by sharing outlets of

14:24

first responders and businesses

14:31

and companies that were

14:31

available for emergency relief,

14:35

sharing that with our

14:35

engineering community sharing it

14:38

with our board and getting those

14:38

details from them as well. It is

14:44

very much about the connections

14:44

that you make and being able to

14:49

provide those that information

14:49

those details to a further

14:53

outreach than you thought

14:53

possible. It we've certainly

14:58

reached out and have made it

14:58

assisted different schools and

15:05

communities with hurricane

15:05

relief, Fili this year donated

15:11

to Operation barbecue relief

15:11

down in the Fort Myers area,

15:15

which was wonderful. And we just

15:15

we just want to be there as much

15:19

as we can and share that

15:19

information to help people

15:24

recover as quickly as possible

15:24

to get what they need from the

15:27

basics of food to something

15:27

like, you know, repairs and

15:33

having a place to stay during

15:33

the time. So it's, it's, it's

15:40

important, it's extremely

15:40

important. And we're certainly

15:42

looking to the future as this

15:42

hurricane season approaches,

15:45

like you said, since we have a

15:45

great basis that we developed

15:49

last year, we'll have it ready

15:49

to go for this year, just in

15:52

case, you know, obviously, we

15:52

hope we don't have to use it.

15:56

But, but But it's ready and

15:56

waiting.

16:00

I don't want to steal

16:00

any thunder from the philia

16:03

announcement of what their

16:03

special project is this year.

16:06

Although I have to say one of

16:06

our past guests touched upon it

16:10

a little bit. But I think people

16:10

will be very, very impressed as

16:14

they learn more about what Fili

16:14

is doing. So I know you said you

16:18

would be glad to come back. And

16:18

so we'll talk about that. And

16:23

another you touched on briefly

16:23

is the FTO T training lab. So

16:28

I'd like to invite you back to

16:28

go into more details on both of

16:32

those. And ladies and gentlemen.

16:32

She said she would be back. I'm

16:36

gonna hold you to it.

16:37

That's right Sam.

16:37

Thank you so much for having me

16:39

and I look forward to hearing

16:39

from you soon.

16:42

So until our next

16:42

episode of the Engineering

16:45

Florida podcast brought to you

16:45

by the Florida Engineering

16:48

Society. I'm your host, Sam

16:48

Yates. Have a great day

16:52

everybody. Thanks for listening

16:52

to another informative episode

17:00

of the engineering Florida

17:00

podcast. Our goal is to help

17:03

educate and inform everyone who

17:03

listens to our podcast about our

17:08

members and topics of interest

17:08

to the Florida Engineering

17:11

Society. On behalf of the

17:11

Florida Engineering Society, and

17:18

the Engineering Florida podcast,

17:18

have a great day everybody