The 52nd Annual Banquet of the Quad City Engineering & Science Council will be held on Thursday, February 20th at The Lodge Hotel and Conference Center (900 Spruce Hills Drive, Bettendorf, Iowa) beginning at 5:00 P.M. with networking social hour, silent auction, displays, dinner, Order of the Engineer Inductions, scholarship presentations to high school students, annual awards and keynote speaker Donald Bossi, President of FIRST (an acronym for "For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, www.usfirst.org) .
The QCESC Annual Awards include Society of the Year, Junior and Senior Engineer and Scientist of the Year, Lifetime Achievement, STEM Teacher of the Year and STEM Volunteer of the Year.
This banquet is held during National Engineers Week (www.eweek.org), and everyone is cordially invited to attend this premier, annual event to celebrate, network and pay tribute to the great Engineering and Science Professionals and Educators we have in the Quad City Region. This includes supporting the next generation of Engineering and Science Professionals through supporting students with outreach to provide them with real world experiences.
During the social hour, there will be be silent auction and a number of displays expected from technical societies, Colleges & Universities, and student displays including from Project Lead the Way along with student teams from each of the four, FIRST® Robotics programs supporting students age 6-18 (K-12) .
To pre-register, request to have a display or donate to the silent auction, visit our website: www.qcesc.org. Reservations and payment is due by Noon on Tuesday, February 18th. No late reservations will be allowed and we will not accept payment at the door.
Schedule of Events:
5:00 PM Networking Social with cash bar with silent auction and displays
6:00 PM Seating for dinner with opening remarks and pledge of allegiance
6:10 PM Plated Dinner with Dessert
6:30 PM Order of the Engineer 2014 Inductions (during dessert)
6:45 PM Program with Awards and Scholarships
7:15 PM Keynote Speaker: Donald Bossi, President of FIRST
8:15 PM End of the Event
Note: The cash bar will be available throughout the event.
Keynote Speaker: Donald E. Bossi, President, FIRST Speaking On: "How do you spell success? F-a-i-l-u-r-e"
As President of FIRST, successful technology executive Donald E. Bossi brings deep technical and management skills to the organization. Bossi, who has excelled in a 20-year career with several high technology companies, primarily in the fiber optics field, is now anxious to give back and help develop the next generation of innovators.
Starting his career as a research scientist, first at MIT Lincoln Laboratory and then at United Technologies Research Center (UTRC), Bossi was a part of an advanced project at UTRC which was acquired by JDS Uniphase (JDSU) and he moved to the new company. After a series of promotions at JDSU, he became Vice President and General Manager for JDSU Electro-Optics Products. The Division grew tenfold during his involvement there. Bossi next served as Group President of JDSU Active Components Group for two years, and then as Group President, JDSU Transmission Products Group for two years. In 2005, Bossi joined Technology Ventures Partners to work with their high-tech portfolio companies. While at the venture group, he served as the CEO of Aegis Lightware, Inc. and then as CEO of Inlet Technologies, positioning the company for a beneficial acquisition by Cisco. Most recently, Bossi served as the COO of CIDRA Holdings in Wallingford, Conn.
Bossi is the holder of four U.S. patents and author of numerous technical presentations. He holds B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and has completed executive education courses at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business. He served on the Boards of Directors of several privately held companies, and is also a member of the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering.
About FIRST®
Accomplished inventor Dean Kamen founded FIRST® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) in 1989 to inspire an appreciation of science and technology in young people. Based in Manchester, N.H., FIRST designs accessible, innovative programs to build self-confidence, knowledge, and life skills while motivating young people to pursue opportunities in science, technology, and engineering. With support from over 200 of the Fortune 500 companies and more than $19 million in college scholarships, the not-for-profit organization hosts the FIRST® Robotics Competition (FRC® ) for students in Grades 9-12; FIRST® Tech Challenge (FTC® ) for Grades 7-12; FIRST® LEGO® League (FLL® ) for Grades 4-8; and Junior FIRST® LEGO® League (Jr.FLL®) for Grades K-3. Gracious Professionalism® is a way of doing things that encourages high-quality work, emphasizes the value of others, and respects individuals and the community.
For the 2013 - 2014 season, FIRST will reach 350,000 students in 80 countries supported by more than 130,000 volunteers and more than 3,5000 Sponsors which locally includes John Deere and Rockwell Collins. In Iowa & Illinois, there are an estimated 12,000+ students participating on FIRST Teams.
Quad City Engineering and Science Council:
The Quad City Engineering and Science Council (QCESC) is an umbrella organization representing 36 technical societies in the Quad City area with approximately 5,000 associated members. The QCESC is non-profit and is actively seeking new society members as well as additional corporate sponsors.
The QCESC is in it's 52nd year of operation and annually sponsors events such as the National Engineers Banquet, the Engineering and Scientist of The Year Awards, scholarships to local high school students, the President's Reception for local Society President's and provides judges and volunteers for the local STEM activities including FIRST LEGO League, FIRST Tech Challenge, Battle of the Bridges, QC Tech Challenge, Mousetrap Car Race, and the Kids Engineering Camp.
More information about the QCESC can be found at: www.qcesc.org
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