Happiness is . . . . .

A few decades ago, life & work was so much simpler then. Cost of living was lower and our salary was in retrospect, also much less. Management objectives were based on achieving them on a normal 8 hour day.

Back then you were considered a dedicated employee then when you gave your employer a highly productive eight or nine hour day. Give up a lunch hour once a week; come in on a Saturday once every few months and you were on a fast track to the top.

Through the years we strive harder and our pay scale rose to ever greater heights. Suddenly we realized our earnings is now many times our original pay and correspondingly work life seems to get a lot more complicated.

Nowadays, management objectives are based on achieving them in a 24 hr day. As such, employees are expected to arrive before 8:00 A.M. (start of working hour) work through lunch and even through dinner. On those rare occasions when the employee needs to leave by 6:00 P.M., he even feels compelled to apologize for having to "skip out early" and only working "half day".

Then there's personal time or what's left of it anyway. Tethered by technology and the new "ever available" work ethic, we are expected to pick up voice and email messages

from home or outside, relinquish our time on the weekends and be available during vacations.

Such is the working life in one of those high-stress, need-it-yesterday type jobs (Sound familiar?). In the above description, career advancement isn't even on the agenda.

Instead, we are just trying to stay afloat in the rising workflow rapids. Even the poor losers in our team are sacrificing as much amount of their time, if not more.

That's how far we have progressed from those good old days in a mere decade or so. Though their salary is great, we see a high proportion of unhappy people. Thus as one

graduate puts it when asked what job he would like: "A career in my field in the science and technology where I can make a lot of many and hope I won't hate it too much".

Work is good. It's one of the most important ways in which we can help the world, add value to others, and get fulfillment in life. We should not shy away from it. We can even

use work to be happy. It doesn't have to be one or the other.

No one in his or her right mind sets out to be miserably well off. Quite the contrary according to prevailing paradigm. Money, with all the goods and services it can buy, is

precisely what it takes to achieve that elusive state of "happiness." But in all the earning and spending, are we really any happier?

Not according to the recent surveys conducted by Dominguez and Robin (authors of Your Money or Your Life). If we believe their figures, there is no correlation between income

and happiness. In fact, people in the United States and Canada earning between $0 - 1,000 a month reported being slightly happier than those whose monthly income exceeded

$4,000. In a recent survey by Gallup, eight of the ten top happiest places across the globe were developing nations in South America, with Panama in the number one spot. The

least happy nation in the survey, by the way, was Singapore, the world's fifth richest nation in terms of per capita wealth.

Even though we own more than our parent's generation, the percentage of people describing themselves as "very happy" has actually declined. This is despite our higher incomes and material things at our disposal. “Affluenza” is the term used for having "Income that far exceeded Level of Bliss". Its symptoms are typically :
1) a bloated, sluggish and unfulfilled feeling that results from efforts to keep up with the Jones
2) An epidemic of stress, overwork, waste and indebtedness caused by dogged pursuit of the “American Dream”

But what if we could reverse the equation ? What if we could trade money for happiness ? Would we ? Should we ?

In this age of materialism, the thought of earning less money is quite scary. This is why people stayed in their own high stress jobs for as long as we have done. But for those who are struck with hypertension, high blood pressure, heart disease, etc., one of the saddest things that can happen in their pursuit of wealth can be the realization that there could be no more recovery from such health conditions. To these people, the worse would be to have a stress related event and die a few months or so before retirement.

The choice of course depends on each of us. My recommendation to avoid misery :
1) Make health as the highest priority of all your goals - without a healthy body, we can never achieve any of our other goals in life
2) Find a line of work that you love - do not wait twenty or so years in your working life only to look back at your life and find you have been miserable
3) Realize that happiness is a state that depends more on our perception of our situation - You will be able perform better which in turn gives you more fulfillment and happiness
4) Take control of your own life - make sure you are conscious of the consequences of your decisions to allocate your working time. It should your conscious decision to sacrifice your family time, personal growth / improvement time, and time for other opportunities. It is a decision considering be able to meet your bosses' expectations

As it is said "Wealth is the slave of a wise man and the master of fools"

Above were excerpts from "Early to Rise" and "Daily Health Tip" magazines that I believe you would find interesting.

Certification of Good Standing

Starting last November, 2011 mechanical engineers renewing their license will need to submit a "Certificate of Good Standing" to the PRC (Professional Regulation Commission) in addition to other requirements.



The Professional Regulation Commission thru Hon. Chairperson T.R. Manzala issued Order No. 2011-375 dated October 27, 2011 resuming the implementation of Board of Mechanical Engineering Resolution No. 5 requiring the certificate for good standing for the renewal of licenses.

Our PSME Batangas East chapter will soon be issuing these certificates to the members who have fully paid their annual dues when they will renew their license. All members who need one for the renewal of their license can contact our officers.

In the future, earning of CPE (Continuing Professional Education) units will also be needed for the renewal. Required is 20 units per year and will total to 60 units after three years (license renewal cycle time).

How Do You Install an Eccentric Reducer ?

How is an eccentric reducer installed in your line ? Is the flat part supposed to be on top, bottom or the side ? Arguments to orient the eccentric reducer one way or the other area plentiful and have been raging for as long as I can remember in my various work assignments.

What is your opinion on the correct orientation of an eccentric going to the suction (horizontal - see illustration above) of a water pump ?

Reducers is installed to change the size of a pipeline from one size to another. The in and out sections may be concentric or eccentric to each other. For pump suction in the horizontal position, an eccentric reducer is normally installed rather than a concentric one.

With reference to the illustration above, my opinion as follows:

• By installing the eccentric reducer with the flat on bottom, any suspended solids entrained in the liquid will not accumulate if it settles to the lower portion of the pipe. This would be applicable for installations where the water tank is above the pump and have a short suction pipe connected to the bottom of the tank
• I could not think of any reason why anyone would install the eccentric reducer with flat on the side except if it was used in lieu of a concentric reducer.
• By installing the eccentric reducer with the flat on top, any entrained gases in the liquid will not accumulate if it bubbles out of solution in the upper portion of the pipe. This would be applicable for most installations where there is little suspended solids and the concern is more with air bubbles trapped in the pipeline

In all cases, particular care should be exercised to determine the correct orientation of the reducer. For other media and installation application, engineering principles appropriate to the application should be used to arrive at the correct installation

Job Opportunities from Kubota Philippines

Kubota Philippines is hiring for white collar jobs to provide services to their clients. Kubota primarily manufactures agricultural machineries and has subsidiaries and branches in several countries near us. They are currently looking for a Parts Manager based in Quezon City, National Capital Region.
Main requirements are :

• Male
• Graduate of Mechanical Engineering
• At least 2 - 3 years working experience as parts manager in agro industry or auto industry
• Has attended seminar in warehousing, parts sales and inventory control
• Mature and has good leadership abilities
• with good oral and written communication skills

Main Responsibilities :

• Monitor Current Customer Base and recommend strategies to attain more clients and ensure optimal level of customer satisfaction
• Determine parts sales objectives and targets and ensure compatibility for same dealer productivity and provide assistance to all customers
• Develop effective parts processes for both external and internal customers
• Maintain an inventory for all service departments and coordinate with various vendors to obtain all discounts
• Train all employees to work efficiently with all customers and parts to ensure effectiveness of all warehousing operations according to objectives
• Prepares appropriate forecast
• Identify and resolve all issues in parts section and ensure achievement of all short and long term objectives
• Prepare monthly and annual sales plans and targets and evaluate all activities for the department
• Design various merchandizing strategies and monitor inventory of all physical parts and oversee all return process for parts
• Maintain all warranty claims and assist in all changes; coordinates with vendors for all shipping delays to ensure compliance
• Manage all purchase orders and resolve any discrepancy for all purchase orders
• Train all parts personnel in sales and inventory procedures and participate in all sales meetings
• Ensure and maintain effective training standards for all employees

Let me know if you are interested

Energy University

You can avail of several free E-Learning programs by taking up courses at the Energy University website. These are quite useful as review materials and knowledge updates for all engineering subjects especially in mechanical. Energy University is sponsored by Schneider Electric.

 You can enrol for the various courses and subjects at the following website : http://www2.schneider-electric.com/corporate/en/products-services/training/energy-university/energy-university.page

 



PSME Annual Convention 2012

The 60th "DIAMOND" Annual National Convention (NATCON) of the Philippine Society of Mechanical Engineers  will be held at the SMX Convention Center, Pasay City on October 23 to 26, 2012 with the theme: "Mechanical Engineers: Sustained Thrust Towards Global Competitiveness".


Our forthcoming 60th Annual National Convention will emulate our very successful 59th Annual National Convention that was also held in SMX Convention Center last year simultaneously with the FIRST PSME National Student Conference. A record-breaking attendance was recorded wherein a total of 2,008 Mechanical Engineers from 76 local & 9 foreign chapters, 2,108 Mechanical Engineering students from 56 Engineering schools including 92 Exhibitors. The 59th NATCON featured 4 Plenary Speakers, 24 Technical Papers presenters and the launching of the PSME CORE VALUES.
It is the 2012 National PSME Board's objective to make our mechanical engineers globally competitive especially with the advent of the ASEAN FREE TRADE which will include Engineering Services by 2015. The 60th NatCon Committee has lined up prominent speakers on critical topics such as Engineering Curriculum Enhancement, ASEAN & APEC Engineer Registry, CPE, RA 8495, Green Technology, Environmental Management, Energy Conservation, Managerial & Supervisory Skills and other relevant topics involving the engineering profession. The four day event will include the - Philippine Machinery Exhibition - that will expose you to the modern technical trends as presented by top-notch manufacturers.
If you conscientiously attend all Plenary and Technical Sessions you will earn 20 CPE units. The 2nd ME Student Conference and the 2nd PHILMACH Exhibit will be held simultaneously with the 60th NatCon.
All mechanical engineers are invited to join the 60th Annual National Convention on October 23-26, 2012. The 60th NatCon Committee is calling for Technical Papers that are alined with the Convention theme.

The fees for our 60th Annual National Convention are as follows:
REGISTRATION FEES:
1. REGULAR MEMBER     Php 5,000.00
    Pre Registered {Payments received by April 30, 2012}     Php 4,500.00
                             {Payments received by July 30, 2012}     Php 4,750.00
2. LIFE MEMBER              Php 4,500.00
    Pre Registered {Payments received by April 30, 2012}     Php 4,000.00
                             {Payments received by July 30, 2012}      Php 4,250.00

Let me know if you are interested