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ASHRAE Chapter History Leadership Recall Interview Jacksonville, Florida Chapter (034) Subject: Eric Lentz, 2000 - 2001 President - Jacksonville Chapter Interviewed by: Ron Kessner - Jacksonville Chapter |
Mr. Eric Lentz was originally from Philadelphia and moved to Florida (by way of West Virginia) in 1983 when he was in 9th grade. He was active in AFJROTC at Eau Gallie High School in Melbourne and was active in Boy Scouts, where he earned an Eagle grade. He received his BS in Mechanical Engineering from Clemson University in 1992, by cramming 4 years of college into 5. He originally chose Mechanical Engineering so that he would have a broader base, but his real interest was in aviation and Aerospace Engineering.
Upon graduation in 1992, he found the job market for even graduate engineers was somewhat limited and the aerospace industry that he hoped to work was in a slump. So as a new graduate without a job, Eric came home to Jacksonville (where my parents had relocated when he was in college, But as he said he found them anyway). He renewed his search for a full-time job but as fate and concerned parents would have it, Eric secured a summer intern at The Haskell Company. It was intended to be a way for him to make a little money while he searched for another job (at least that’s the way it was presented to him by the person at Haskell who hired him. He though it was a bit of charity on their part). He had worked construction at Haskell during his summer’s home from school. Having his father working at Haskell as an architect was a benefit. As Eric explained…”They hired me as a favor. I knew very little about HVAC and nothing about a Ductilator, Indoor Air quality (IAQ), etc. ”.
When the summer ended, Eric just kept working and Haskell kept paying him. Fortunately for him, Ron Vallort had been hired as the Chief Mechanical Engineer at the same time Eric started, and apparently liked the work he was producing (Ron Vallort was very active during his engineering career in ASHRAE at both the chapter and Society levels. While chief-engineer at Haskell, Ron served on the Society board of directors as a Director at Large. Ron pushed each of his staff to be members of ASHRAE and was very supportive of their involvement. He later served as Society President in 2004-05). Ron offered him a permanent position as an Intern Engineer in November. During his employment at Haskell, Eric worked primarily for Denise Ramsey who was also an ASHRAE member. Denise Ramsey was very influential in helping him develop as an engineer. Denise was pretty demanding at times, but she was always available to provide guidance and encouragement, and he continued to use her as a resource even after he obtained his State of Florida professional engineers exam and became a PE in 19998 and no longer reported directly to her. During his Haskell career (1992-2000, Jim Fleming (ASHRAE Life Member) replaced Ron Vallort as the Chief Mechanical Engineer. Eric remembers Jim for his support and for his different perspective on design.
Through Ron’s encouragement, Eric started in the Jacksonville Chapter of ASHRAE as the Student Activities chairman. He served on that committee for two or three years. One thing that happened during his first term is that we won the regional award as the best chapter in Student Activities. “I’m very proud of both personally and as a member of the Jacksonville Chapter is that we won the Big-E Education Award my first year as committee chair. I believe that was the first time the Jacksonville Chapter won the award. Of course, I got a little ribbing at the office for displaying the ASHRAE Naked Guy”. He made the progression through the officer positions, and served as Program Chair on the Audit and Nominating Committees.
In 2000, he started working for Mayo Clinic as a Project Manager with an emphasis in Mechanical Engineering (all of the PM’s at Mayo have a different engineering discipline and are licensed engineers).
In his new position, Eric is faced with some of the same issues he experienced in 1992, IAQ, particularly with the hot, humid climate of Florida.
Eric is active at his church. He likes to travel and to read, although he doesn’t get much of a chance to do these things anymore. With three children (aged 15, 3-1/2, and 9 months) his hobbies tend to involve whatever activities his children like to do at the moment.
Below are Eric’s comments on questions asked regarding his presidential year 2000-2001:
1. What were the major issues facing the industry at that time?
Since Was new to the industry, and new to engineering, I wasn’t particularly attuned to issues facing the industry. One item in ASHRAE that was an issue then, and I assume is still an issue, is the division between the academic side of the profession, and the engineer actually implementing the technology. So much of the research being done in academia seemed to be pie-in-the-sky, without any thought as to how new technology could actually be implemented in a cost effective and efficient manner. And, of course, practicing engineers are not really encouraged to go out on a limb and try new technology that hasn’t been proven, so we probably seemed to the academic world to be closed-minded and inflexible.
2. How was ASHRAE interacting with the public?
Very little. I saw increasing levels of interaction as the society started to market itself and realized that unless some self-promotion was tried, no on would ever know about ASHRAE or the fact that there’s more to HVAC then “turn the dial and cold air comes out”.
3. What advice would you give to a young person entering the HVAC field?
I was very eager to take on new challenges and impatient to grow in the profession. I would advise young engineers to slow down and take in every opportunity for learning that’s offered. I think that if those who were helping me in my engineering growth had allowed me to go off half-cocked, rather than helping put the brakes on, I would have ended up with a lot of knowledge, but not enough wisdom to be able to implement it. I think taking it slowly and exposing yourself to many different building types, many different systems and taking the time to go out in the field when possible are very valuable opportunities for growth that shouldn’t be passed up.
4. Anything humorous occur during your presidential year?
No one ever had any fun. Actually, we got ribbed about the fact that people of my generation are less likely to grab a beer together after work, or go to social functions because we “want to put the kids to bed”. I’m not going to remain silent to protect the innocent.
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