From Susan Oltrogge, April 2014:

I have a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering (BSME) from Iowa State University, and a master’s degree in business (MBA) from The University of Iowa.  I started work as a design engineer at Brooks Borg Skiles in April of 1989. Over the years I have had many challenging and fulfilling projects, large and small.  I became a Partner in 2000, and the job continues to inspire me.  I have had the opportunity to work with the brightest and most interesting people in this construction community and have learned more from them than I probably ever did from my formal education.

I started attending ASHRAE board meetings in about 1993.  For many years I held the student activities and membership chair positions and was inducted into the chairs in the ’98-’99 ASHRAE year, and was president in 2001-2002.  I was lucky to follow a number of very successful presidents who demonstrated how to smoothly guide the Chapter, and we enjoyed a high member participation rate.  Board meetings were informal and there was a strong fellowship, with about 10 people attending.  Comic relief was provided by Dennis Hogan – he had a number of costumes he entertained us with, or convinced one of us to wear.  The Chapter was cash-strapped until the Iowa Chapter hosted CRC in 1997, at which point the nest egg the Chapter currently enjoys was established.

The issues often discussed were variable primary chilled water plant control, underfloor air systems, and ASHRAE 90.1 – 1999.  Following in the footsteps of so many outstanding chapter presidents, I was pressured to continue the tradition of hosting a sitting Society President at a meeting during my tenure, so Bill Coad presented a tech session and his presidential address to us during our December meeting.

I will have to demur on my favorite ASHRAE memory, since there is a pact in place by those who attended CRC in Cedar Rapids in 2003, so I will say that the best ASHRAE memory I am at liberty to discuss is having the Iowa Chapter take both the Silver Gavel and the Hornblower awards at the CRC in LaCrosse in 2002, my presidential year.