ASHRAE Insights

At the 2007 Region X CRC held in Palm Springs, Calif., Hawaii Chapter Research Promotion Committee chair Joseph Ting (2nd., l.) and Chapter President-elect Samuel Gillie (r.) present a check to 2007–08 ASHRAE President Kent Peterson.

HONOLULU—On April 20, the Hawaii Chapter Research Promotion Committee sponsored a technical seminar and a product show in order to raise funds for ASHRAE Research.

The two-track technical seminar entitled “Sustainability & Efficiency in HVAC&R: A LEED® to Its Industry” was attended by more than a hundred people. It featured speakers from Hawaii as well as from mainland United States.

Speakers included former ASHRAE Vice-President Ronald Jarnagin; Region X DRC Verle Williams, P.E.; Hawaii Chapter Past President Joel Yuen, P.E.; David Rezachek, Ph.D., P.E.; Mike Thompson, P.E.; Steve Chang and Chris Bellshaw.

The chapter launched the first product show featuring more than 40 exhibitors with hundreds of HVAC&R products and services. It was attended by more than 200 people. The chapter sponsored an ASHRAE Booth with ASHRAE pamphlets and papers. The chapter also sold ASHRAE Hawaii golf shirts.
 
The total amount of funds collected by the April 30 close of the fundraising event was $37,767.

At the 2007 Region X CRC in Palm Springs, Calif., Hawaii Chapter Research Promotion Committee chair Joseph Ting and Chapter president-elect Samuel Gillie presented the check for the amount collected to ASHRAE President-Elect Kent Peterson.

Of the total, $24,917 was provided for ASHRAE research and $12,850 was provided to the ASHRAE Foundation for an annual scholarship to be given to an undergraduate or graduate student whose primary engineering interest is refrigeration. Thereafter, an additional $13,870 was raised, bringing the Lester Nakata Memorial Fund to a total amount of $26,720.

The fund commemorates the late Lester Nakata, a past president of the Hawaii Chapter, for his devotion to the field of refrigeration in Hawaii.

Together with the $6,025 in individual contributions collected prior to this event, the chapter has contributed a total amount of $57,662 to the Society.

At the chapter officers’ installation night held on June 14, the chapter recognized sponsors of the Lester Nakata Memorial Fund.enabled the chapter to reach the research promotion goal ($7,000) established by the DRC.

It also met the chapter’s goal of bringing the local HVAC&R community together. The engineers, contractors, suppliers, owners, professors and students were able to make friends and network with each other.