Newly elected committee of SIAEA sworn in

NEW YORK: Ravi Shenoy took the oath of office as the new president of the Society of Indo American Engineers and Architects (SIAEA)

NEW YORK: Ravi Shenoy took the oath of office as the new president of the Society of Indo American Engineers and Architects (SIAEA) at a well attended function organized at Mirage Banquet Hall in Edison, New Jersey on March 21. Prabhu Dayal, Consul-General of India in New York administered the oath of office.

Dayal complimented the society for not only building magnificent buildings but also building great bridges of friendship between India and the US. He also administered the oath of office to Shenoy's sixteen member executive committee members elected for the year 2009-2011.

In his presidential address, Shenoy vowed to launch a membership drive of the organization in order to widen its reach and make all out efforts to attract more engineers and architects of Indian origin to the society's activities. He said that the SIAEA was well equipped to provide opportunities for professional development for its members as well as prospective engineers and architects of Indian origin.

Among major programs that Shenoy promised to implement included the opening up of minority business program for Asian Indians where they are currently excluded. "We will continue to remain in the forefront of helping engineers and architects in employment search and other challenges in helping them reach new heights in their career," he said.

SIAEA currently has a membership of six hundred that Shenoy would like to increase to as much as 10, 000 in next four years. He said that every member must endeavor to motivate at least one professional to get enrolled as a life member of the society.

SIAEA's accomplishments in serving the Indian American were well recognized by various speakers. Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. invited society's members to take advantage of the economic stimulus package offered by the Obama administration in building energy efficient structures. He said that his office will happily provide relevant information to anyone seeking opportunities in using technology for the energy efficient projects. "The engineers and architects can benefit from the schemes, that were directly or indirectly likely to be encouraged through the stimulus package, while executing contracts for local governments."

Supporting the views of Pallone, New Jersey Assemblyman Upendra Chivukula advised the society to set up a committee to interact with elected representatives of the state and federal institutions. Chivukula said the SIAEA can play a vital role in helping state governments distributing federal funds meant for supporting green construction and encouraging the use of alternative energy sources in construction industry.

John McCormac, Mayor of Woodbridge commented that he was working towards providing better representation to Indian American community in various departments of his administration. As an example McCormac informed the audience that the president-elect of the SIAEA, Nayan Parikh, was appointed Commissioner of the Housing Authority of Woodbridge Township.

Bansi Shah, immediate past president, outlined the activities initiated during his tenure. Office bearers in the outgoing committee were presented with special awards for their 'outstanding service' on this occasion. The 'Most Valuable Person (MVP)' awards were presented to Vinod Devgan and Rakesh Shah.

The members of the executive committee, who took the oath of office along with Mr. Shenoy were, Nayan Parikh as President-elect, Amar Malla as Executive Vice-President, Rajiv Bhagat as Vice President, Yatish Sharma as Secretary, Jaswant Mody as Joint Secretary, Pradeep Desai as Treasurer, Ketan Shah as Assistant Treasurer and Akhil Dayal, Bina Parikh, Mihir Patel, Nayan Trivedi, Shailesh Naik, Shishir Agrawal, Tanvir Ahmad, Vikrant Sampat, and Yogesh Mistry as directors.