Engineer sentenced to 40 months in prison for role in VW emissions scandal

Engineer sentenced to 40 months in prison for role in VW emissions scandalEngineer sentenced to 40 months in prison for role in VW emissions scandalThe defense of I welches just doing what my anfhrer told me to doesnt work in court, as one engineer found out.This past Friday, engineer James Liang got sentenced to 40 months in prison for his role in the Volkswagen emissions fraud scandal. As a Volkswagen engineer, Liang helped to develop the software that allowed the German automaker to cheat on federal emissions tests and emit up to 40 times the allowed levels of pollutants for a decade.Being loyal to your boss will still send you to jailIn Liangs defense, his lawyer said that Liang was leid a mastermind but an employee who blindly executed a misguided loyalty to his employer, according to Reuters. The federal judge hearing Liangs case didnt buy this argument.Your cooperation and regret is noted, but it doesnt excuse the conduct, U.S. District Court Judge Sean Cox said, fining Liang for $200,000 and sentencing him to more than three years in prison. This is a harsher sentence than what federal prosecutors had recommended for Liang, who had reached a plea deal and had been cooperating with investigators for months.The judge said the harsher sentence was a deterrent to anyone else who would think of a similar scheme.This sentence sends a strong message of deterrence to automotive engineers and executives who should think twice before knowingly breaking United States laws for the benefit of their employer, acting U.S. Attorney Daniel L. Lemisch said about the ruling.Liangs sentencing has wider implications for the engineering industry at large, and serves as a reminder that coding is not a neutral activity. Software development is embedded with the biases of its creators, for good or ill purposes.Liangs fate also serves as a more reminder to not be blindly loyal to your employer. Go into your job with eyes open. If you recognize unethical behavior, take regular no tes of whats said or not said, so that you have evidence to show later to higher-ups like human resources, or in extreme cases, court.There have been similar cases in the past that show that courts do not look kindly on the my boss told me to do it excuse.In 2014, former Goldman Sachs banker Fabrice Tourre - who had bragged in emails to friends that he was the Fabulous Fab - was fined $825,000 by the Securities and Exchange Commission and found liable for defrauding investors during the financial crisis by helping to create toxic mortgage securities. Tourres lawyers had argued that that the midlevel banker was not responsible for Goldmans actions or the financial crisis, but it didnt convince the court.Keeping your head down and following orders is a weak defense when it comes time for judgment. It didnt excuse Liang of his role in VWs fraud, it didnt absolve Tourre at Goldman Sachs, and it likely wont excuse you.

My Engineers Notebook Paige Balcom

My Engineers Notebook Paige Balcom My Engineers Notebook Paige Balcom My Engineers Notebook Paige BalcomASME student member Paige Balcom, of Londonderry, N.H., is a mechanical engineer and the recipient of a Fulbright Program grant, which enabled zu sich to travel to Uganda this month to begin nine months of research. While there, Paige will study the cultural and technical feasibility of aquaponics - the raising of fish and vegetation in a symbiotic environment - in rural, northern Uganda. You can follow her work on her blog, paigebalcom.weebly.com. Paige plans to begin pursuing a masters degree and a doctorate in mechanical engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, in the fall of 2017. Paige, who was the winner of the 2016 Willis F. Thompson Memorial Scholarship, served in the ASME Washington D.C. Office as a Washington Internships for Students of Engineering (WISE) intern during the summer of 2015. She participated in the Fulbright Wales Summer Institute in 2014, an d is the recipient of the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, the Chancellors Fellowship from UC Berkeley, and a Tau Beta Pi Fellow award, among many other honors. She received her bachelors degree in mechanical engineering from the University of New Hampshire (UNH) earlier this year and was named UNH Woman of the Year.Whats inside your engineers notebook?My notebook contains notes from lots of student org meetings, conferences, and classes. I like to color code my class notes with different pens so theyre easier to follow. I also jot down data and ideas when I run experiments or conduct research.Paige BalcomWhose notebook would you most like to peek into? Why?I would like to peek into Dr. Van Careys notebook because hes going to be my graduate research advisor at UC Berkeley. He heads Berkeleys Energy and Multiphase Transport Laboratory.How and when did you know you wanted to become an engineer?In high school, I went on a mission trip to Haiti with my church. I remember seeing a woman bending down over a spigot struggling to fill her bucket with water, and I thought, If the faucets piping was changed, that womans job would be so much easier. That scene inspired me to become an engineer and use technology to improve peoples lives in developing countries.Whats the most exciting project youve ever worked on?For my senior capstone project, a friend and I started a new group called Project OASIS (Optimizing Aquaponic Systems to Improve Sustainability). Our goal was to entwurf an energy-efficient aquaponic system for use in developing countries. Aquaponics is growing fish and vegetables in water in a symbiotic relationship where the fish waste provides nutrients to the plants, and the bacteria and plants filter the water so the fish can survive. Our OASIS team partnered with an NGO in Costa Rica to build an aquaponic system in a town that cant grow vegetables because of their poor soil. We conducted full-scale experiments and used computationa l fluid dynamics (CFD) to make the system more energy efficient and used recycled and locally available materials to decrease the cost. We also developed a business model to make the project self-supporting. We designed a home aquaponic garden for American consumers to grow fresh vegetables in their homes, and the profits will fund our Costa Rica project. I just presented our research and business model at the International Social Innovation Research Conference in Glasgow, Scotland, and now Im headed to Uganda on a Fulbright research grant to continue working on aquaponics. Ill investigate the cultural, technical, and economic feasibility of using aquaponics in Uganda to address food security issues and economic hardship.What do you think youd be doing if you hadnt become an engineer?I considered becoming a patent attorney, but after shadowing one, I decided they had to write too much.The Project OASIS team members with the test aquaponics system they built at the University of New Hampshire. The teams members, from left to right, are Dr. Todd Guerdat, the teams advisor, Mikalah Little, Sid Nigam, Will Taveras, Allison Wood and Paige Balcom.Whats your favorite activity when youre not working?I love being outside, and growing up in New Hampshire, I enjoy new activities with every season. I especially enjoy hiking, skiing, playing pond hockey, kayaking, and camping.Was there a book or a movie that piqued your interest in science or inspired you to become an engineer?I wasnt inspired by a book or movie, but I spent a lot of time in FIRST Lego League growing up. Our team built and programmed LEGO robots to autonomously accomplish missions, learned teamwork skills, and created inventions, such as an algae to biofuel system, a water filtration system, and an anti-distracted driving device called the SMARTwheel. I really enjoyed problem-solving and designing solutions to improve society, so I decided to study mechanical engineering.Who are your heroes, either within the engineering profession or in the rest of your life?My family is a huge inspiration to me my mom and dad have always given me wise advice and encouraged me to reach high and seek new adventures. I also look up to Pradip Sarmah he reinvented rickshaws in India to make them safer and cheaper. He also established the Rickshaw Bank to enable drivers to own ansicht new rickshaws themselves rather than rent and be caught in a cycle of debt. Rickshaw Banks are now spreading across India and Asia and creating meaningful, lasting change.Whats the most meaningful or rewarding aspect of being connected to engineering?I find engineering rewarding because I get to solve problems and improve peoples lives. Engineering can help provide clean water, adequate food, power, education, and health care to people around the world. All humans deserve these basic life necessities, and engineering can help make them a reality.What does ASME mean to you?ASME has helped develop me professionally. Last su mmer, I interned in the ASME Washington D.C. office as part of the WISE program, where I learned about the intersection of engineering and public policy. When I presented my research at the ASME IMECE conference, I was able to meet people who were experienced in my field. Especially as a student and young professional, it was really helpful to get their advice and mentorship.Engineering can help provide clean water, adequate food, power, education, and health care to people around the world. All humans deserve these basic life necessities, and engineering can help make them a reality.Paige Balcom

Non-invasive Technology Finds Coronary Artery Blockage

Non-invasive Technology Finds Coronary Artery Blockage Non-invasive Technology Finds Coronary Artery Blockage Non-invasive Technology Finds Coronary Artery BlockageNew visualization software could provide a faster, more accurate, and safer method to diagnose blockage in coronary artery flow and reduce the number of unnecessary stents now used to prop open arteries. The ordnungsprinzip also showcases the growing importance of engineering models in medical devices.CathWorks, an Israel company with U.S. operations based in California, recently raised $30 million after the Food and Drug Administration approved its FFRangio system, one of the first commercially available noninvasive technologies for visualizing blockages in heart arteries.We have proven that this method of analysis through our clinical research provides a more complete picture of coronary artery physiology, said Jim Corbett, CEO of CathWorks.Coronary heart disease, caused by narrowing or obstruction of heart arteries, aff ects as many as 16.8 million people in the United States.Read about Career Options in BioengineeringInnovations in Biomaterials Create New Roles for Engineers An orthogonal angiographic projection of the left coronary tree (top), and three-dimensional functional angiography mapping (bottom). Image CathWorksAn orthogonal angiographic projection of the left coronary tree (top), and three-dimensional functional angiography mapping (bottom). Image CathWorksPhysicians typically test people for coronary artery disease using a coronary angiogram. After injecting a contrast dye visible in an X-ray into the blood vessels of the patients heart, an X-ray machine rapidly takes a series of images (angiograms).These are visually assessed for potential blood vessel blockages. If there is evidence of a blockage, the surgeon will perform a percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), a procedure that uses a catheter to place a stent to open up narrowed blood vessels.Unfortunately, visual assessments have their limits. A 2009New England Journal of Medicinestudy, known as the FAME Trial, noted that 30 percent of patients who had stents implanted after visual assessments did not actually need the procedure.The researchers knew this because they evaluated those patients with a technique called fractional flow reserve. It relies on a pressure-sensing guidewire fed through a catheter to the blockage. When placed across the blockage, the wire measures the difference in blood pressure between the entrance and exit. If the blood pressure is significantly reduced, the blockage would be a good candidate for PCI.The FAME trial found that fractional flow reserve, also called FFR, is more accurate in determining blockages that restrict flow and require intervention. Yet the procedure was used in fewer than 20 percent of interventions. This is because it requires more time than an angiogram and inserting a catheter into the artery, which is both risky and expensive. Also, wire-ba sed FFR requires intravenous adenosine, which increases blood flow to the heart but is uncomfortable for patients.Read another exclusive Healthcare-related story from ASME6 Ways Engineers Heal a Broken HeartCathWorks new FFRangio device uses mechanical models of the coronary artery system to combine the best of angiograms and FFR. Although not invasive, it is nearly as fast as an angiogram and achieves the same accuracy as FFR.The system fits into existing medical imaging workflow and produces a color-coded map of FFR values that is easy for physicians to read. Unlike conventional FFR, which works in only one schauplatz, FFRangio can identify issues throughout the coronary artery system.FFRangio starts by taking several angiograms of the coronary artery system from multiple angles. This generates a series of two-dimensional black-and-white images, which the software automatically stitches together into a three-dimensional reconstruction of the coronary arterial tree.The software ass esses the model to determine the centerlines and boundaries of the arterial walls, then analyzes them for narrowing or obstructions. It does this at different scales, looking at artery segments, entire branches, and junctions where the artery branches off into secondary or tertiary branches. This enables a fluid dynamics model to estimate the flow resistance throughout the entire system and apply FFR values to the system.The result is a report with three-dimensional, rotatable, full-color images coded by the degree of arterial flow restriction. Listen to the latest episode of ASME TechCastBreakthrough Could Bring New Cancer TreatmentThe procedure takes about five minutes on average, including about two minutes of computational processing time and about three minutes of user interface. Its speed enables surgeons to use it while patients are still on the table to see if a stent has effectively propped open the artery.A wire-based FFR can identify a lesion in just one location in the a rtery. But FFRangio software allows the operator to view potential lesions in different locations along the artery. The FFRangio console cursor can be adjusted to view the full length of the arterial tree, millimeter by millimeter, including the diameter of the artery throughout, said Corbett. You can also rotate the artery tree with the cursor and locate any artery in the tree you want. And you can view whether or not the coronary flow is adequate in all locations.CathWorks has started early commercialization efforts in California, focusing on training physicians and staff in the state.John H. Tibbets in an independent writer.Read Latest Exclusive Stories from ASME.orgYoung Engineer Takes Great Strides with Prosthetic FootArtificial and 3D-Printed Skin Advances for Robots, HumansTiny Gyroscope Aims to Improve Wearable, Nano Technology

What to Say In Your Interview Thank-You Email or Call

What to Say In Your Interview Thank-You Email or CallWhat to Say In Your Interview Thank-You Email or CallYou just returned from the job bewerberinterview and you know you need to thank the hiring manager for the meeting. But what exactly should you say? Heres what you need to know.When it comes to following up after an interview, a survey by Accountemps found that managers prefer an interview thank-you email or call by an 8-1 margin over a text. So, save that overly casual nice 2 meet with U 2day text for conversations with your friends.Here are some tips for an effective interview thank-you note or callGet moving. Whatever form of communication you choose, you want to offer your thanks within 24 hours of the interview.Keep it brief. An interview thank-you email should be no more than two paragraphs long and a phone call should only run a few minutes.Remind the person why youre great. Bring up points from the conversation you had with the hiring manager. For example, if a prospectiv e employer stressed that the position calls for knowledge of PowerPoint, use your thank-you to remind the person that youve worked with this application before. For example, My experience updating PowerPoint presentations for our sale team the past four years would be an ideal match to your need for PowerPoint expertise. You might also personalize the thank-you to mention any commonalities, such as a shared business connection or personal interest.Smooth over any issues. The interview thank-you note or call is your chance to address any concerns the hiring manager expressed, especially if you were unable to do so in the interview. Perhaps the interviewer was worried about your lack of industry-specific experience, and during the interview you forgot to mention a temporary position you held in the sector. You can bring it up, along with a few points about how that experience contributed to your knowledge of or interest in the field.Thank everyone. If you interviewed with more than on e hiring manager, youll want to thank each person. Send emails to or call specific individuals, even if you have to do some research to uncover the spelling of someones personenname or locate his or her contact information. Also make sure you dont say the same thing to everyone hiring managers often compare notes.What is your preferred method of contacting interviewers after you meet? Do you call or send an interview thank-you email? Or perhaps you prefer the more traditional handwritten note?Related ArticlesA Recruiter Tells All Why You Didnt Get the JobWant Your Writing Skills to Impress? Use This ChecklistThe Write Stuff 5 Steps to Building Your Written Communication Skills

The Tried and True Method for Project Manager Resume Summary in Step by Step Detail

The Tried and True Method for Project Manager Resume Summary in Step by Step Detail Top Project Manager Resume Summary Choices First and foremost, you have to have the confidence and the leadership qualities to find the project done in time. You can write about your key accomplishments with every one of the more important projects handled. Secondly, you should ascertain if you possess knowledge and abilities outside project management in that area. The way the Pre-Planning and Pre-Operating stages are managed will help determine the introduction of the undertaking. Where to Find Project Manager Resume Summary If you are searching for Brief Career Summary Sample youve come to the correct place. To start with, it has to be in a position to earn a jaw-dropping summary nearby the top of page one. The Gantt Chart is going to be the reference point on the development of the undertaking. To determine nearly all graphics inside Authentic Army 25b Resume photos gallery make koranver s that you abide by that site link. So when you start preparing your resume, make certain you compose a resume summary that is related to the kind of position you have applied for. Once you locate the right resume you could use, the next step is going to be to go through the work description and the requirements necessary for the post youre applying for. A resume is often looked at as merely a page of facts, but should you dont rush and, look at a Resume Example, you will observe it has some basic components that look essential for everybody. Cover letters which match the amount of professionalism of your resume can often give an advantage over other prospective candidates. Resume summary statements have replaced resume objectives in the current job market as they offer you a flexible format which allows for the inclusion of several different project management achievements. You need to be able to budget realistically, and be conscious of any possible financial pitfalls. No other details are essential, especially if the jobseeker graduated some time ago. The path to landing your perfect dream job is achievable and definitely possible especially in case you have a great resume on hand. Resume is being regarded as a potent tool to market oneself for a specific job prospect. Locating a well-put-together resume example may be a huge assistance to you as you are working to craft the perfect resume for yourself. A project manager is a fundamental portion of the infrastructure of any organization. A synonym for manager might be superintendent. A manager is somebody that has a good deal of responsibility to his staff and the corporation. If youre an assistant manager whos seeking to be a shift manager, then you are going to require a management resume that shows off your value to the company, and a management resume that shows your professional development also. Like a first date, its crucial to produce a first good impression in regards to writing a resume. Simply speaking, your career summary is critical to getting noticed. Thoughts revolving around what you would like to do in your career will lead to the response to the most essential question. You should make certain youve dressed appropriately for the interview. On the flip side, functional resumes are generally used by fresh graduates or individuals who have less experience but want to grab the work vacancy. Remember that employers might already have a feeling of job duties, particularly if theyre all in the identical field, and instead need to see something which impresses them and makes you stand out. An analytical thinker who works collaboratively to have the job finished. Get the job that you deserve, not the one youre stuck in. Even better, also receive a third-party to proofread your resume. Use facts and figures from the particular projects you have been able to show what youve accomplished.

How would you quit your job

How would you quit yur job How would you quit your job?Posted October 3, 2013, by Andrea Riddell Forget about two weeks notice or your standard resignation letter. When Marina Shifrin decided she wanted to quit, she decided to do it a little differently. Dance-quitting her way through Kanye Wests Gone, Shifrin made her feelings clear in a video that has now gone viral. Not wanting to be left unheard, Shifrins former company, Next Media Animation, put together their own video response advertising that theyre now hiring. But what does this mean for Shifrins future job prospects? Is it wise to burn your professional bridges? One thing is for sure a resignation video wont cut it for a lot of industries. If youre finding it difficult to pen your notice of intention to leave, then check out our resignation letter templates. ResourcesMy first resumeCover letter for my first jobCareer Insider StoriesShelley Lask - Body Positive Health & FitnessInterested in becoming a?Human Resources Offic erGeneral ManagerBusiness ManagerAccountantOffice Administrator CoursesBachelor of Social WorkEnquire Online Enquire OnlineCertificate III in Health AdministrationEnquire Online Enquire OnlineBachelor of Criminal JusticeEnquire Online Enquire OnlineCertificate III in Allied Health AssistanceEnquire Online Enquire OnlineAndrea RiddellRelated ArticlesBrowse moreWORKFORCE TRENDSGrass looks greener to one third of Australian workersOne third of Australian workers are planning to change jobs, according to a recent Hay Group survey.Study tipsSmart Snacking Foods Thatll Give Your Brain a BoostNext time its time to hit the books be sure to have a range of smart snacks on hand to help boost your brain and satisfy your belly.Turn beer into a careerYou will remember Dr Chuck Hahn from Career FAQs Weird & Wonderful, the book that takes you on a white-knuckle ride through the world of wacky work.