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Manitoba Electrical League E-zine    June 2008 ********************************************************************
In this issue . . . 

Skills Canada Report 

3M Cold Shrink Technology Turns 40 

Spring Golf Postponed 

Stroke Play Golf Next

Fall Golf Will Feature A Pro-Am

Interesting links

Humour?? 
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Disclaimer 
Articles occasionally published in this newsletter, written by experts and consultants in their respective fields are presented solely as information for our subscribers.  The publishing of these articles does not constitute endorsement or verification of the information by the Manitoba Electrical League, its Executive, Board of Directors or staff.
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More AGM News

The Annual General Meeting and Charity Dinner will have a complete new look this year.  The event will be held at Jaguars in the Club Regent Casino and will feature live music and entertainment, Dinner, Dancing and a silent auction.  You can also win a trip for two to the Mayan Riviera just by attending. 

Entertainment will be supplied by Anders, the magician and the dance and listening music will feature the well-known local band, Free Ride, doing their Beatles and Rolling Stones tributes.

Watch your email and the league web-site at http://www.meleague.net/id167.html for more details coming up in the near future.

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A Report On The Manitoba And National Skills Contests

On April 10^th 2008 the Skills Manitoba competition was held at Red River College. The primary objective of the contests is to show-case different trades and to provide a forum for the young trainees to demonstrate their skills.

The electrical contest was held in the electrical lab (B129) and consisted of a stud and plywood work surface to which various electrical devices were attached.  Each student is given a variety of time-sensitive tasks to complete consisting of NMD 90 cable to EMT piping to AC90 installation.  There is also a low-voltage component. When the contest is completed the students are judged on a litany of items that include neatness, time management (speed), functionality and material usage.

This year saw a young fellow named Stefan Schewa from Steinbach Regional Secondary walk away with the win for the secondary (high school) classification. Stefan did a fantastic job, neat, quick and displaying a very good attitude throughout the contest. His win qualified him to participate in the Canadian Skills competition in Calgary in June. We will have more to say about that later.

As for the post-secondary competition, the contestants were all very close, there was a fine display of the electrical trade in most every cubicle but at the end of the day it was Andrew Kunzelman from Assiniboine Community College in Brandon Mb that triumphed, and as with Stefan, he was then qualified for the Canadian Skills contest in Calgary in June. Here are the results of both contests:

Electrical Wiring (Post-Secondary)

Gold: Andrew Kunzelman 18 Electrical Wiring (PS) Assiniboine Community College

Silver: Mitchell Book 18 Electrical Wiring (PS) Winnipeg Technical College

Bronze: Tyler Lasher 18 Electrical Wiring (PS) Assiniboine Community College

Electrical Wiring (Secondary

Gold: Stefan Schewa 18 Electrical Wiring (S) Steinbach Regional Secondary School

Silver: Stephen Froese 18 Electrical Wiring (S) Swan Valley Regional Secondary School

Bronze: Ryan Tkachyk 18

We would like to thank all the judges who offered their time to help us out with the contest, without them it just wouldn’t happen. In no particular order a big thank you goes out to the following judges:

Dennis Henry @ Wescan Electric

Tim Asmundson@ Wescan Electric

Donna Green @ MCW/ Age

Leona Hertzog@ Manitoba Hydro, who is currently serving

as the President of the Manitoba Electrical League

Perry Samagalski and Neil Armstrong @ the Apprenticeship Board

We would also like to single out Dennis Henry for not only helping as a judge for the past few years but for donating material and tools that are used not only in the contest but then benefit our pre-employment program as well.

Every year we need to obtain a large amount of material for the competitors to use in the contest, and every year Paul Challoner from EECOL Electric comes through for us. It is difficult to put into words how much this is appreciated. Instead of our needing to approach different suppliers to gather a little bit here and a little bit there, Paul stepped up and gave us everything we needed for the last few years, for this we are in his debt.

The Gold medal winners in their trade class qualify annually to participate in the Canadian National Skills competition. This contest has moved around every year at various facilities in Canada, from Halifax to Saskatoon to this year’s venue in Calgary. We are fortunate to be able to travel to Charlottetown for next years National.

This year in Calgary, Manitoba’s own Stefan Schewa finished with a silver medal in the construction electrical area. This is no small feat as the competition is intense and all the competitors are well trained and focused. We at Red River College salute Stephan and Steinbach Regional for doing such a good job. It should be noted as well that Steinbach Regional also entered the Canadian Skills Bronze medal winner from last year, Markus Wall, a belated congratulations to Markus, good job. Following are the results both secondary and post-secondary from Calgary. 

18-Electrical Wiring / BC PS Chris Horntvedt 1  Post-Secondary

18-Electrical Wiring / YT PS Michael Settle 2     Post -Secondary

18-Electrical Wiring / AB PS Craig Spady 3        Post-Secondary

18-Electrical Wiring / QC S Alexandre Côté 1     Secondary

18-Electrical Wiring / MB S Stefan Schewa 2      Secondary

18-Electrical Wiring / PE S Dallas Ellsworth 3     Secondary

To all companies and individuals that contributed time, money or materials to Skills this year and in previous years, we would like to offer a sincere thank you, and unabashedly hope for your continued support over the years.

Dermot John Rooney

Instructor

Electrical Dept.

Red River College

drooney@rrc.mb.ca

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3M Cold Shrink Technology Turns 40 Years Old and Still Protecting, Insulating, Splicing & Terminating

3M is celebrating the 40th anniversary of developing cold shrink technology. These specially-formulated rubber tubes, stretched on a removable core, are used for electrical insulation, splicing and terminating.  Since no sources of heat or extra tools are required to install this accessory, 3M gave the name “cold shrink” to the new technology.

“We were looking for a simpler, better way to insulate in-line splices for electrical power cables,” recalls Jim Sievert, the 3M engineer who first conceived the cold shrink idea. He spent many months in material and process development with a team of associates at the company’s St. Paul, Minn., laboratories.  They overcame a number of technical challenges to eventually bring the idea to the market in the first of an ongoing series of products.

Ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) rubber, a relatively new material in 1968, offered promise for the cold shrink idea. An EPDM rubber formulation was needed that would easily stretch onto a core and when installed, would provide continuous radial pressure to maintain an environmental seal. 3M engineers developed a new formulation of EPDM rubber that would provide this “living seal.”

“The Canadian energy market has changed significantly in the past forty years,” explains John Kosnik, executive director, electrocommunications business, 3M Canada. “As energy demands continue to increase, 3M is prepared to meet the needs of its customers largely due advancements in and new applications of shrink tube technology.”

The first application for the cold shrink insulation product (initially known as the Pre-Stretched Tube or PST) was for buried low-voltage secondary splices. Over four decades, 3M has used this technology as the basis for continued innovation.

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Spring Golf Rained Out

Spring Golf has been postponed until July 3^rd at Rossmere. Shotgun Start at 12:00 NOON.

All team positions will be retained.  If you are unable to play or have changes to your team, please notify the M.E.L. office at 783-4125

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Stroke Play Next Event on the M.E.L. Tour

The M.E.L. Stroke Play Golf Tournament will be held at the St Boniface Golf Club August 6th
This is our only Stroke Play Event of the year.
To reserve your spot, phone Judy at 783-4125

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Fall golf Bigger than Ever

THE M.E.L. Fall Classic is Coming!!

The Date:  September 3, 2008

The Venue: Pine Ridge Golf and Country Club

This is rapidly becoming the premier event of the local golf season.  This year the event will include a pro-am.  Manitoba's top club professionals will play with registered foursomes and will compete for cash prizes.

Entry Call July 17th.  Respond quickly as we expect to sell this tournament out in less than 2 hours.  If you are going to be out of town, make sure someone watches your e-mail!!! 

Watch your email and the league web-site www.meleague.net for further details.

Sponsorships are available.  The sponsorship info will be going out via email in the next few days.

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New Members

A large M.E.L. Welcome to:

Gary Beer

GB Agencies

43 Red Moon Road

Winnipeg, MB  R3X 0C2

Eric Johannson

Carlyle Printers

4-1555 Dublin Avenue

Winnipeg, MB  R3E 3M8

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Member Sites

Carlyle Printers

www.carlylepss.com

City Press Ltd.

www.citypress.ca

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Interesting Links

Plenty of Trivia

http://www.fiftiesweb.com/tv-shows.htm

Natural Resources Canada – lots of energy info

http://www.canren.gc.ca/default_en.asp

Humour?????

The Whys and Wherefores 

Questions To Haunt You !

Can you cry under water?

How important does a person have to be before they are considered assassinated instead of just murdered?

Why do you have to 'put your two cents in'... But it's only a 'penny for your thoughts'?  Where's that extra penny going to?

Once you're in heaven, do you get stuck wearing the clothes you were buried in for eternity?

Why does a round pizza come in a square box?

What disease did cured ham actually have?

How is it that we put man on the moon before we figured out it would be a good idea to put wheels on luggage?

Why is it that people say they 'slept like a baby' when babies wake up like every two hours?

If a deaf person has to go to court, is it still called a hearing?

Why are you in a movie, but you're on TV?

Why do people pay to go up tall buildings and then put money in binoculars to look at things on the ground?

Why do doctors leave the room while you change?

They're going to see you naked anyway.

Why is 'bra' singular and 'panties' plural?

Why do toasters always have a setting that burns the toast to a horrible crisp, which no decent human being would eat?

If jimmy cracks corn and no one cares, why is there a stupid song about him?

Can a hearse carrying a corpse drive in the carpool lane ?

If the professor on gilligan's island can make a radio out of a coconut, why can't he fix a hole in a boat?

Why does goofy stand erect while pluto remains on all fours?

They're both dogs!

If wile e. Coyote had enough money to buy all that acme crap, why didn't he just buy dinner?

If corn oil is made from corn, and vegetable oil is made from vegetables, what is baby oil made from?

If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come from morons?

Do the alphabet song and twinkle, twinkle little star have the same tune?

Why did you just try singing the two songs above?

Did you ever notice that when you blow in a dog's face, he gets mad at you, but when you take him for a car ride, he sticks his head out the window?

Scary Thought:  Maybe the Hokey Pokey really is what it’s all about.

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and we’ll put him/her on the list. 
 
You can also subscribe on-line at
http://www.meleague.net
 
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Until Next time . . .

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