MINUTES
BOARD FOR PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS
Date: August 12, 2010
Place: 3rd Floor Conference Room
500 North Calvert Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21202
Present: H. C. Harclerode, P.E., Chairman
Steven A. Arndt, Ph.D., P.E., Vice Chairman
Pastor Farinas, P.E., Secretary
Sandra J. Murphy
Others Present: Pamela Edwards, Assistant Executive Director
Susan Cherry, AAG, Chief of Litigation
Dorothy Matricciani, Administrative Secretary
Ruby Courtney, Secretary
Absent: David G. Mongan, P.E.
Sallye E. Perrin, P.E.
Rosalind L. Yee
CALL TO ORDER
Chairman Harclerode called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m.
ACTION ON MINUTES
The minutes of the July 8, 2010 meeting were approved as submitted.
APPLICATIONS APPROVED FOR RECIPROCITY
Motion (I) was made by Dr. Arndt, seconded by Ms. Murphy, and unanimously carried to approve 38 applications for reciprocity as follows:
Olusegun K. Adenaiya 39427 Barry K. King 39368
William R. Bassette 39428 Vaughan S. Leer 39381
James W. Booty 39429 Randall K. Lewis 39391
Walid E. Choueiri 39426 Philip M. Lohr 39333
Robert A. Cisneros 39328 Rafael I. Machado 39384
Cyle A. Coles 38775 Michelle M. Merrow 39417
Dominic Cullen 39425 Adam S. Parmenter 39376
Nikunj N. Dave 39375 Philip S. Pasternak 39418
Santosh Dhakal 39366 Andrew T. Riggi 39304
Larry T. Ferguson 39424 Aaron C. Seal 39305
Lei Fu 39297 Salvatore Spada 39364
Travis P. Green 39361 C. Todd Springer 39422
Gavin G. Guarino 39275 Sunil Taori 39419
Board for Professional Engineers
Minutes – August 12, 2010
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APPLICATIONS APPROVED FOR RECIPROCITY (Cont’d.)
Patrick J. Haney 39430 Stephen D. Tossey 39421
Russell S. Harris, Jr. 39431 Peck H. Wee 39378
Hugh F. Hegarty 39302 Joshua B. Weidler 39423
Daniel W. Holloway 39392 Jeffrey L. Whelan 39420
Xiaohui Jin 37086 Glenn P. Whritenour 39390
Joseph E. Keil 39416 Jozef F. Zurawski 38678
EXECUTIVE SESSION
Motion (II) was made by Ms. Murphy, seconded by Dr. Arndt, and unanimously carried to go into Executive Session at 9:30 a.m. at 500 North Calvert Street, 3rd Floor Conference Room, Baltimore, Maryland, 21202. This session was permitted to be closed pursuant to State Government Article, Title 10-508(a)(7). Upon completion of the session, the Board reconvened its public meeting at 9:50 a.m.
COMPLAINT COMMITTEE REPORT
Mr. Farinas reported on the status of complaints and license reinstatement issues discussed by the Complaint Committee at its meeting on August 12, 2010.
07-PE-16: Charge letter will be sent to Office of Administrative Hearings.
& 19:
10-PE-12: Consent Order was mailed on August 11.
10-PE-15: Consent Order signed; fine paid; close case.
10-PE-16: Consent Order was mailed on July 8.
10-PE-17: Consent Order was mailed on August 11.
10-PE-21: Hold for decision from West Virginia Board before taking further action.
11-PE-01: Consent Order was mailed on August 11.
The Complaint Committee reviewed six applications for reinstatement of license and recommends the following: reinstatement with a warning letter for five applicants, and requesting additional information from one applicant.
Motion (III) was made by Dr. Arndt, seconded by Ms. Murphy, and unanimously carried to accept the recommendations of the Complaint Committee.
NEW BUSINESS
· In connection with Mr. Harclerode’s intention to run for Vice President of the Northeast Zone, Mr. Farinas made the following motion.
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Minutes – August 12, 2010
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Motion (IV) was made by Mr. Farinas, seconded by Dr. Arndt, and unanimously carried to advise the NCEES Committee on Nominations that the Maryland Board for Professional Engineers nominates Mr. Harclerode for Vice President of the Northeast Zone.
A letter will be sent to the Chairman of the Committee on Nominations regarding the Board’s recommendation to nominate Mr. Harclerode for Vice President of the Northeast Zone.
· Dr. Arndt said that he had reviewed the action items that will be voted upon at the NCEES Annual Meeting, August 18-21, and developed a condensed list of items that are of particular interest to the Board. Dr. Arndt presented this list to the Board and read each item along with his recommendations. After discussion, the Board concurred with Dr. Arndt’s recommendations. Dr. Arndt, as the Board’s representative will vote accordingly at the Annual Meeting.
OLD BUSINESS
· Regarding the arrangements for the Northeast Zone Meeting, to be held in Annapolis in May 2011, Mr. Harclerode said that he went to Annapolis and reviewed the various facilities that will be used for the meeting and visited the selected hotel and found it to be very nice and centrally located. He also looked at restaurants and the harbor tour and selected a local restaurant that was able to accommodate 25 or more people. In addition, he visited the Naval Academy Museum and Chapel and reserved Friday evening for dinner at the officers’ club. Mr. Harclerode said that the arrangements are coming together. Dr. Arndt said, and the Board agreed, that it must begin to work on an agenda for the meeting to include all of the proposed activities. Mr. Harclerode said that discussing such issues as setting up a hospitality suite, and manning the registration desk and finalizing the budget should be accomplished no later than the October Board meeting.
· Mr. Harclerode read a memorandum from Ms. Trust regarding the issue of requiring a Certificate of Authorization for engineering firms and establishing uniform requirements for all of the Design Boards for firm licensure. The Board discussed a number of issues associated with firm permits, such as, the composition of the firm and if there must be a principal or co-owner of the firm who is an engineer, as opposed to a full-time engineer in the firm who is not a principal/co-owner. The Board also discussed the concept of having at least one licensed professional in each particular practice for which a company is offering services. The Board was in favor of requiring a full-time employee in responsible charge who is either a principal or co-owner of the firm. It was also the Board’s consensus that the requirements for firm licensure should be a part of the Regulations and not the Law. Ms. Edwards said that the requirements for firm licensure for the Architects; Land Surveyors; and Landscape Architects’ Boards are in the Boards’ laws, not the regulations.
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Minutes – August 12, 2010
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Dr. Arndt said, and the Board concurred, that it should continue to discuss the topic of firm licensure and the associated issues with the other Design Boards in an effort to come to a joint decision that is agreeable to all of the Boards. The Board’s position will be discussed with the other Design Board Chairs at the next Joint Chairs meeting.
· The Board discussed the subject of requiring “Report of Professional Experience” (RPE) forms for reciprocal licensure and reviewed a memorandum from Ms. Trust addressing the issues involved with this requirement. The Board agreed with the section of Ms. Trust’s letter that stated “if an applicant comes from a state that has requirements that are different from those in Maryland, the applicant may make up the deficiency, such as insufficient experience, by having the additional experience of the type satisfactory to the Board after he or she obtained the PE license in his or her home state. In order to make sure the applicant gained such experience, the Board could require the RPE forms to be endorsed by PEs who can certify the applicant’s experience.” The Board also agreed that RPEs should be required for all reciprocal applicants, but the standards by which the Board evaluates them should be the least restrictive. The Board decided to defer this subject to the next meeting at which time Ms. Trust will be present.
· The Board discussed the formation of the committee to formulate the requirements for the implementation of “Continuing Professional Competency,” (CPC). The Electrical Engineer CPC Committee member is in the process of being selected. Mr. Harclerode said that he has a potential candidate for this position and will contact him. Mr. Farinas said that he would be willing to step-in if another member could not be found. The Board will provide Ms. Edwards with the meeting dates so that she may make arrangements for them to be posted in the Maryland Register. Ms. Edwards said that three weeks advance notice are required for posting.
· Mr. Harclerode said that he reviewed the cure letters for the Request for Proposals (RFP) and found that they addressed the issues of concern. He forwarded this information to Ms. Thomas of the Contracts and Procurement office, advising that he did not have any issues with the letters from a technical standpoint.
Ms. Edwards said that an RFP meeting was held on August 11. At the meeting, the Information Technology representative was not entirely satisfied with the responses in the cure letters, and as a result, another letter will be sent to the vendors to address these issues.
· Ms. Edwards said that the regulations to eliminate the application fee for the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam were published in the July 16 issue of the Maryland Register. At the next Board meeting, the Board can take final action to adopt the regulations.
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CORRESPONDENCE
· The Board reviewed a letter from Dr. William Rynone, P.E., Maryland Society of Professional Engineers (MSPE), Annapolis Chapter, dated July 13, 2010, requesting a speaker to provide a presentation concerning the impending education requirements that Maryland Professional Engineers will be required to meet. Dr. Arndt volunteered to provide the presentation at the January 27, 2011 MSPE meeting.
· The Board reviewed a letter from Mr. Tae Kon Kim, dated July 13, 2010 inquiring about the qualifications and procedure to obtain a license in the State of Maryland if he passes the PE exam in Korea.
The Board also reviewed a letter from Mr. Sherif Magdy, dated August 3, 2010. Mr. Magdy passed the PE exam in Egypt and is inquiring about the requirements to obtain a license in the State of Maryland if one is not a U.S. resident.
The Board decided to defer discussion on the letters from Messrs. Kim and Magdy until the September Board meeting.
APPLICATIONS APPROVED ADMINISTRATIVELY FOR RECIPROCITY
The following applications, supported by NCEES Model Law Engineer files, were administratively approved for licensure by the Assistant Executive Director of the Board.
Nogbou J. Ahounou 39389 Michael J. Kurtz 39409
Amado Baltazar Jr. 39363 Jennifer Langoski 39387
John C. Barton 39358 Aaron D. Lobas 39356
Denise C. Brown 39373 Richard D. Lopez 39405
Kevin S. Brown 39408 Richard H. Low 39374
Jeffrey S. Cormier 39398 John P. McGinnis 39395
Mohamed A. El Gohary 39371 Doran O. McMahon 39327
Thomas J. Farmer 39393 Steven R. Moody 39394
Daniel P. Ford 39407 Randall J. Rhoades 39359
Brent A. Frerichs 39386 Robert W. Ross 39404
Larry A. Gadbois 39400 Timothy L. Schmitz 39357
Stephen V. Gregory 39397 Kevin W. Schmuhl 39370
Todd J. Helmer 39360 Latosha L. Sigler 39369
Robert W. Howell 39410 Elizabeth O. Surface 39365
Kyle D. Irvin 39415 William E. Tanner 39402
Kelly A. Jackson 39414 David L. Tratt 39372
Craig W. Kalhoefer 39396 Kung C. Ven 39403
Jin Y. Kim 39406 Brandon M. Walker 39377
Heath C. Kolman 39399
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Minutes – August 12, 2010
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APPLICATIONS APPROVED FOR THE PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF ENGINEERING EXAMINATION, OCTOBER 29, 2010
The following applications were approved for the Principles and Practice of Engineering Examination to be held October 29, 2010.
Matthew C. Albertsen John C. Morders Abdullah M. Barrow Razvan C. Nae
Sheldon E. Berger Daniel A. Nicolae
Norman Billy Eric D. Nixon
Lane W. Burt Andre W. Paden
Orlando M. Catana Rina C. Pancholi
Melissa K. Chernovsky Gregory A. Potts
Carla A. Fereday Jaison R. Radion
Keshab K. Gajurel Chatanya N. Rangnekar
Lawrence S. Gyger Jr. Jason D. Staley
Mulowa K. Kajoba Joshua W. Talley
Randall J. Leslie Joseph C. Taylor
Rachel S. Winchell Adam A. Tomey
Robb M. Lukes Bernadette G. Wentges
Rishney P. Macker Jun C. Yang
John R. Maley
APPLICATIONS DENIED FOR THE PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF ENGINEERING EXAMINATION, OCTOBER 29, 2010
Motion (V) was made by Dr. Arndt, seconded by Mr. Farinas, and unanimously carried to deny seven applicants for the Principles and Practice of Engineering Examination to be held October 29, 2010, because the applicants’ qualifications did not meet the Board’s requirements.
The applications were discussed at the Board meeting.
ADJOURNMENT
Motion (VI) was made by Ms. Murphy, seconded by Dr. Arndt, and unanimously carried to adjourn the meeting at 12:50 p.m.
______With Corrections
_____X____Without Corrections
Signed by: Howard C. Harclerode, P.E.
Chairman