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Lawrence Tech hosts sixth SOS environmental conference
Friday, March 19th, 2010
 Filza Walters, Dean Glen LeRoy and Janice Means of Lawrence Tech presented Stanford Ovshinsky with a gift following his keynote address for the SOS conference in February. At right is Lawrence Tech student Jeremy Weathers who is the president of the Lawrence Tech Architectural Engineering student chapter. The 2010 conference of the Student Organization Summit (SOS) on the Environment was held at Lawrence Technological University Feb. 25-26. Formerly known as Seminars on Sustainability, this sixth annual meeting of green minds was coordinated by a diverse group of students, staff, and faculty from Lawrence Tech. The conference was a collaboration between the University’s Center for Sustainability, the College of Architecture and Design, and the College of Engineering. Also participating were members of the Lawrence Tech student chapters of the Architectural Engineering Institute (AEI) and the American Institute of Architects (AIAS), as well as members of both the Detroit and student chapters of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE). The event began with a keynote address by innovator and entrepreneur Stanford Ovshinsky on Thursday evening. His presentation was an inspiring look at his many life accomplishments, innovations, patents, and groundbreaking work in science and technology. He revealed goals still to come. Although Ovshinsky is well into his eighties, he still chooses to work to make the world a better place to reside in. What an inspiration! There was much applause and several standing ovations for Ovshinsky’s message that solar technologies should be available, affordable, and the cleanest, most efficient source of energy. This message was a reminder to conference organizers of the first conference held in 2005, when the late Peter Dryfuss from the Department of Energy spoke about his efforts with solar energy and the Million Roofs Project. Friday’s educational sessions began with an inspiring welcome address by Lawrence Tech President Lewis Walker. As the morning plenary speakers, Dean Glen LeRoy of the College of Architecture and Design and Jim Newman of Newman Consulting LLC defined how sustainability can be reached through the collaboration of like minds. Throughout the rest of the day, speakers from various backgrounds gave insightful seminars on innovation, education, engineering, energy, and entrepreneurship – all supporting sustainability in the world today. This message is right on target with the trends in industry and in the southeast Michigan, and with Lawrence Tech’s leadership in launching an integrated architectural engineering program in the fall of 2009. There was a seminar for everyone, whether the attendees were there to learn the latest in technology to help better the environment or to help their clients save money through innovative design. No matter the level of knowledge, each individual who attended and contributed towards the SOS conference walked away inspired with new ideas and an expanded network to bring change and progress to the world of design and sustainability. The conference organizers look forward to next year’s conference on Seminars on Sustainability and ask: What will your contribution be to the revitalization of the State of Michigan and a greener planet? Lawrence Tech is grateful to the following sponsors for their support and commitments to sustainability and the professions of architecture, engineering and architectural engineering:
-Michael McMurphy  Student organization leaders and organizers meet to prepare for the SOS conference which covered a wide variety of topics.
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June 19, 2013
