As the 2012-13 ASHRAE chapter year begins to wind down, I want to say a special thank you to everyone that has donated their time to make this year very successful. As with any volunteer organization, the role of chapter leadership or committee chair can be demanding. However, any time and effort put into our organization has already and will continue to pay dividends in personal skills and professional development. Thank you to the entire chapter for instilling confidence in the leadership and allowing us to serve you this year.

With that being said, don't forget that in our meeting next week we will be voting in our new officers and board of governors. In case you have forgotten, the proposed officers will be Mark Mizell – President, Terry Jacks – President Elect, Forrest Moseley – Treasurer, and Mark Eley – Secretary. The board of governors proposed will be Bill Goodman, Russell Black, and Kim Koch.

I also want to say a huge thanks to all those that submitted Technical Awards. We were very fortunate this year to have 7 entries submitted. These awards are a great way to commend your clients for a project well done. Winners from the entries this year will be announced at the April meeting. If you were not able to get your project report completed this year, go ahead and get started now for next year. Depending on the success of the projects, the chapter reports will be submitted to the regional level. The regional awards will be presented at the Region VIII CRC in Austin, TX. The winners from the regional level can be submitted for the society level awards which are recognized at the Plenary of the Winter Meeting.

Thank you to Russell Black and his committee for instituting the Arkansas ASHRAE Hall of Fame Awards. The 4 winners from the ballots will be announced at the April meeting. The tradition will continue each year with electing new members into the Hall of Fame.

For our main program in April, Mick Schwedler will be presenting on high performance chilled water systems. The presentation will cover variable primary flow, system control optimization, and low flow including retrofits. Below is a bio for Mick.

Mick has been involved in the development and support of HVAC systems for Trane since 1982. As manager of applications engineering his areas of expertise include system optimization (in which he holds patents) and chilled water system design. His primary activities include assisting designers in proper application of Trane products and systems in buildings, and writing system application manuals and newsletters. In addition, he has presented technical information to thousands of engineers through Trane's Engineers Newsletter Live satellite broadcast series. Mick has given technical seminars throughout North America, as well as in the Far East and South America, and published a number of papers within the industry. Prior to his work with Trane, Mick received his MSME from the University of Wisconsin Solar Energy Laboratory and BSME from Northwestern University.

A recipient of ASHRAE's Distinguished Service Award, Mick was Chair of SSPC 90.1, responsible for ASHRAE/IESNA 90.1-2010, "Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings." He is past chair of TC 1.5 –"Computer Applications," and has served on ASHRAE's Personal Development Committee and Code Interaction Subcommittee. From an environmental perspective, Mick authored portions of the ASHRAE Green Building Guide and has served on technical and educational groups for both the New Buildings Institute and the US Green Building Council's LEED® products.

We still have several events coming up this year. We will have our central golf tournament on May 3rd at 1pm at Hurricane Country Club in Benton. We have CRC April 18-20 in Austin, TX. On April 2nd at 6:30 we will have a Texas Hold’em fundraiser to support ASHRAE research. On April 18th, ASHRAE will broadcast the continuing education seminar. Past President's night will be in May. We also have Ed Tinsley and Mick Schwindler presenting at the AAHE meeting on May 9th.

I hope to see everyone next week, and don't forget to bring cash for the 50/50 Raffle (Central Meeting only) benefitting ASHRAE Research!