New York City Chapter Elects New Board of Directors

A total of nine individuals were elected to the new Board of Directors of the New York City chapter of the Ukrainian Engineers' Society of America (UESA) for the 2003-2005 term, during the chapter's meeting on April 14, 2003. The new Board affirmed a plan of action which includes an expanded event schedule, the continued improvement of organizational communication, and a membership drive.

The elected Board members represent a wide range of technical professions, experience, and involvement with community service. In alphabetical order, they are:

• Adrian Berezowsky - Mr. Berezowsky is in his final year of studies at the Cooper Union School of Architecture, and has begun his graduate studies at the Benjamin Cardozo School of Law.

• Ivan Durbak - Mr. Durbak is currently the chief information officer for the State University of New York (SUNY) Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York. He has a bachelor's degree in Physics (1971), a master's degree in civil engineering (1974) and a master's degree in Management Science (1976) from the University of Miami.

• Tymish Hankewycz - Mr. Hankewycz is a senior engineering consultant at Desktop Engineering International, Inc. of New Jersey and has both a bachelor's (1988) and a master's degree (1989) in engineering from the Cooper Union School of Engineering.

• Wasyl Kinach, PE - Mr. Kinach works for the New York City Office of the Comptroller as an administrative engineer. He has a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the Polytechnic Institute of New York. Mr. Kinach is a licensed professional engineer in the State of New York.

• Marco Shmerykowsky, PE - Mr. Shmerykowsky has been elected as president of the chapter. He is a principal of Shmerykowsky Consulting Engineers in New York City. He has a bachelor's degree (1992) and a master's degree (1993) in engineering from the Cooper Union School of Engineering. Mr. Shmerykowsky is a licensed professional engineer in the State of New York.

The chapter's members also elected Wolodymyr Hnatkowsky and Wolodymyr Magun to the Supervisory committee and Ivan Mokriwskyj, PE and Leonid Pachaluk to the Judiciary Committee.

The New York chapter's expanded event schedule will cover both social and technical events. The chapter hopes to hold monthly lectures on various topics of current interest to members and potential new members. The social calendar will include the annual Fall Zabava in New York City and the traditional Christmas "Yalynka" celebration.

The chapter also re-affirmed its commitment to communicate with UESA members and the community on the national and local levels. The local newsletter will continue to be issued on a bi-monthly basis and the chapter will contribute information to the national newsletter and Society's Web site.

In addition, the chapter hopes to encourage other young professionals and students to join the ranks of UESA. It is encouraging chapter members to recruit colleagues and friends interested in UESA's mission, and plans to take advantage of New York City being home to several large schools such as the Cooper Union, Columbia University, and New York University, by reaching out to Ukrainian students' clubs in these schools.

Also to increase membership, the chapter will focus on improving its professional networking system, seen as an important membership benefit by students and young professionals. Student members can gain valuable real-world experience from internship opportunities, and both students and working professionals can benefit from business opportunities offered by fellow members.