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CHAPTER NEWS
He works as a technical manager for Ellwood Specialty
Steel, a Pennsylvania company making tool steel products
used in plastic and die casting molds. He began as an hourly
steel mill laborer before deciding to enter Youngstown State
University and study metallurgical engineering at age 23. A
college professor introduced him to ASM, and he’s been an
active member of the Warren Chapter since 1990.
Hired by GM (which became Delphi), Polenick worked
with the company for 25 years before joining Ellwood. And
for 25 years he’s been serving as his Chapter’s secretary. “It’s
not unusual in our Chapter to stay in a role for a long time,
but I never felt I had to. I had the tools to do it so I just kept
doing it!” He arranges meetings, dinners, plant tours, and
speakers, and also keeps track of membership.
Polenick acknowledges the ASM value of networking
and information exchange, but sees great change driven
by online information. “ASM was built on its handbooks,
the Bible of materials engineering. It’s still a good resource,
but now we have a generation with knowledge at their
fingertips.”
He finds himself impressed by opportunities to evolve
both the industry and the Chapter. “I presented a webinar
on metals and heat treatment and 300 people signed up to
listen to me talk for an hour,” Polenick marvels. “It really is
a very efficient way to communicate.” After attending ASM’s
Leadership Days last summer, he says he is inspired by the
younger people creating the future of ASM with new ideas
and a different approach.
CHAPTER NEWS
Northwest PA Chapter
Hosts Student Night
Ontario Chapter Explores Failure Analysis
From left to right, WilliamBennett, chair of the Northwest
Pennsylvania Chapter, with Davide Piovesan, assistant professor
of mechanical engineering at Gannon University. In November
2015, the Chapter hosted a student night with record atten-
dance where Piovesan gave a talk titled, “Antibiotic Impregna-
tion of Metal Rod for Treatment of Compound Fractures.”
From left to right, Paul Okrutny, chair of the Ontario Chapter,
with Doug Perovic, a professor at the University of Toronto.
Perovic gave a presentation to nearly 60 attendees on “Forensic
Engineering and Failure Analysis” at the Chapter’s November
meeting.
MEMBERS IN THE NEWS
Saenz Leads Team to Support
Nigerian STEM Efforts
Theresa Saenz,
a materials engi-
neering student at Purdue Uni-
versity, is leading a team of 15
undergraduates providing tech-
nical support for the Inwelle Cen-
ter in Nigeria while they install a
20 kW solar system. The center
provides STEM training for wo-
men and children and currently
runs on generators. The project is
being documented by Raw Sci-
ence TV and will be used as an example at other schools in
developing areas. The Purdue team is seeking corporate
sponsors and donations for solar panels, inverters, and
batteries for the new system. For more information, email
saenzt@purdue.edu.
McGeehan Elected President of MPIF
Patrick McGeehan,
vice president
and general manager of the spe-
cialty metal products division of
Ametek Inc., Eighty Four, Pa., was
elected the 28th president of the
Metal Powder Industries Federa-
tion (MPIF). His two-year term took
effect at the conclusion of MPIF’s
annual meeting recently held in
Austin, Texas, in November 2015.
McGeehan earned his BS and MS degrees in materials sci-
ence and engineering from Drexel University. He has been