A year of accomplishments
David K. Scheetz | TLT President's Report June 2010
STLE completely reorganized our governance and operations structures—and that was just the beginning.
From the implementation of our new Constitution and Bylaws to our world-class certification programs to future global meetings, STLE continues to make great strides.
It’s been a long and eventful journey from Orlando to Las Vegas!
STLE continues to make great strides—from the implementation of our new Constitution and Bylaws to our world-class certification programs to future global meetings. We successfully completed our first international training with the Tribology Society of India and are working toward a similar program with a group of Chinese tribologists at the International Joint Tribology Conference this October. We’re also lining up speakers for our initial European meeting—the OilDoc Conference & Exhibition in Germany next February. And I had the privilege of representing STLE at the 2009 World Tribology Conference in Kyoto, Japan. I thank you all for this opportunity.
STLE continues to expand its online programs, starting with a series of planned education courses that we’re creating right now. A year ago in Orlando we debuted the digital edition of TLT, which now spreads the good news about STLE and its programs to some 13,000 lubrication professionals around the world.
Those are a lot of accomplishments in one year, particularly considering that our new Constitution and Bylaws really changed how STLE operates on a daily basis. This complete rewrite of our 1944 guidelines allows us to better utilize our strongest asset—you, our membership.
We’ve flattened the organizational structure of STLE’s board of directors to make it more efficient, and all directors have clearly defined goals. STLE now has four standing committees—Governance, Section Affairs, Finance and Audit. However, we’ve created six new committees: Technology, E-Communications, Membership, Corporate Members, Certification and Young Tribologists. The six new committees are staffed by both board members and non-board members who have gone out of their way to help in the spirit of volunteerism. I wish to extend my sincerest thanks to all of these individuals for their hard work and dedication.
We’ve also successfully addressed the issue of retiring volunteers. STLE’s two major publications are good examples, as both of them changed editors this past year.
Evan Zabawski of the Fluid Life Corp. stepped in as TLT’s editor a year ago, succeeding Dr. Maureen Hunter of King Industries. Evan has maintained TLT’s reputation as an unimpeachable source of accurate, unbiased technical information.
Finding a replacement for Dr. Andy Jackson, who served nearly 10 years as editor of our peer-reviewed journal,
Tribology Transactions, wasn’t easy. There were many excellent candidates, but Dr. Farshid Sadeghi with Purdue University rapidly rose to the top of the list. Farshid added seven new associate editors to the TT team and has asked some of the biggest names in tribology research to submit invited papers for publication.
It’s been a wonderful year for me. Starting in 1982, I’ve been a member of six local groups (Toledo, Columbus, Cincinnati, the Carolinas, Baltimore/Washington and Chicago). I’ve risen through the executive chairs at both the Columbus and Chicago Sections and now have had the privilege of serving our 3,500-member national organization.
I have many people to thank, starting with my employer, ExxonMobil Lubricants & Specialties. I’d also like to thank my wife, Marilyn, who has supported me throughout this journey. I’m also deeply indebted to my predecessors—STLE Past Presidents Bob Bruce, Ed Becker, Dan McCoy, Bill Wambach and Bob Baker—and to the board that has so willingly and enthusiastically embraced the new Constitution and Bylaws. I’m happy to count all of these people as friends. I also want to thank STLE’s staffers, who also have become great friends (no, make that family).
Finally, I want to congratulate my successor and STLE’s new president, Peter Drechsler of The Timken Co. Peter shares my belief that the sections and members come first.
It’s been an outstanding year for STLE. Let’s continue moving forward!
Dave Scheetz, CLS, is an equipment builder engineer for ExxonMobil Lubricants & Specialties. You can reach him at david.k.scheetz@exxonmobil.com.