June Meeting
We had a good turnout for the June 11, 2024, Annual Meeting of the Bloomfield Scientific Club at Cheap Charlie’s in Bloomfield. This was the last meeting of the 120th year (season) of the Bloomfield Scientific Club. We had a tremendous 2023 – 2024 season that featured excellent presentations and showcased the talent and intelligence of our guest speakers, club members, community, families, and BHS awardees.
As President Sam Olney summarized in his post-meeting email, much ground was covered in the annual meeting including the election of officers and voting on possible changes to the BSC season. We also had updates on the treasury by Dave Lonobile and the website by Tom Schwarzweller. By the time dinner was served, the current board was re-elected for another year: President – Sam Olney, Vice President – Marty Peck, Treasurer – Dave Lonobile, and Secretary – Pete Miller.
Our presenter for the night was Jack Kowiak who spoke on “The Whys of Genocide.” In his presentation, Jack discussed how social scientists have found that genocides and ethnic mass murders are not carried out primarily by career criminals or sociopaths, but rather by “ordinary” groups of people who fit a general profile of the population. Jack discussed how individuals and groups justify their actions by concocting a perceived threat, creating victims, and ultimately dehumanizing the targeted groups. This philosophy enabled various cogs in the chain of Genocide to remove their personal feelings of culpability and morality and carry out these inhumane acts. Jack drew heavily on the Nazi-lead genocides of the Slavs, Jews, Gypsies, homosexuals and the (physically and mentally) handicapped during World War II, as examples of these practices in use. The audience came away with a better understanding of “Why” genocides occur with this informative and sobering view of one of humanity’s evils.
Jack Kowiak
Jack Kowiak is a retired market research manager from Eastman Kodak who enjoys researching and presenting material that he finds interesting. Jack speaks on a variety of topics to numerous organizations in the Rochester area. In addition, he teaches regular classes at the Penfield Recreation Center. Jack’s goal is to present programs that both educate and entertain.
May Meeting
We had another tremendous meeting and presentation on May 14, 2024 at Cheap Charlies in Bloomfield.
We began the evening with conversation and refreshments followed by the presentation of the student awards to the Citizens of the Year at Bloomfield High School. The club presented awards to Justin Spelman and Sofie Kachmaryk as nominated by the BHS faculty for their outstanding achievements while attending Bloomfield High School. The awards were presented by President Sam Olney on behalf of the club. Congratulations Justin and Sofie!
Our presenter for the evening, Dr. Robert Ryan, spoke to a very engaged group as he discussed many of the issues that afflict the human eye as we age. Dr. Ryan’s presentation “The Aging Eye” discussed at length the conditions of dry eye, cataracts, glaucoma and macular degeneration. After a lengthy discussion, the group came away with a better understanding of conditions that afflict the aging eye and proactive care for these issues. Thank you Dr. Ryan!
Robert Ryan received his Doctorate in Optometry from the Pennsylvania College of Optometry in 1989 and founded Visionary Eye Associates, a group practice in Rochester, New York in 1995. The practice grew to four doctors and three locations prior to acquisition by the University of Rochester Medical Center in late 2016. Robert has been appointed Associate Professor in Ophthalmology at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and has lectured and published extensively on issues pertaining to anterior segment topics. He has participated as an FDA Clinical Investigator for many contact lens and pharmaceutical manufacturers in addition to providing consultative services.
April Meeting
Recap of the April 9, 2024, Bloomfield Scientific Club Meeting and Presentation: On April 9, 2024, we met at Cheap Charlie’s in Bloomfield to enjoy each other’s company and to listen to a return engagement by Dr. Art Rearden, discussing additional aspects of the “Metallurgy of Tool Steel Alloys”. We began the evening with Vice President, Marty Peck discussing club business including introduction of guest (John Randall), club etiquette expected at our meetings’ cessation, birthday (Dave Andruczyk) and discussion of the website. It was agreed that meetings will not conclude until a motion is made to adjourn.
As you will recall Dr. Rearden first regaled our club with his expertise in metallurgy at our November 2023 meeting. The topic was so popular and there were so many questions that Dr. Rearden did not have time to finish his presentation. Dr. Rearden graciously accepted our request to return to finish his presentation.
Dr. Rearden began his presentation revisiting some of the concepts that he covered in his October presentation regarding “steel alloy design and steel manufacturing processes” (summary below) before delving into “heat treating of tool steel”. He reiterated with an analogy of steel with road pavement that the “matrix” that holds the road (steel) and that cobbles (carbides) in the matrix resist abrasion.
As Dr Rearden discussed, heat treating of tool steel includes annealing, heat treating process, martensitic transformation and austempertering. Dr. Rearden went into detail about these processes as he discussed how the heat-treating process affects steel. The heating and cooling process makes the steel hard but also difficult to machine and grind. Dr. Rearden discussed the difference between hardening versus annealing (heat treatment process that involves heating the steel to a specific temperature and allowing it to cool at a specified rate). Very few steels are water hardened because most grades of steel will crack via rapid cooling.
Dr. Rearden also discussed the process of martensitic transformed steel (a very hard form of crystalline structure) and austempering (heat treated ferrous metal that’s tougher and harder than conventionally quenched and tempered steel). Dr. Rearden also told the story of Frank Richtig, a blacksmith from Nebraska who created knives (from 1927 to 1977) known for their toughness, sharpness, and the ability to cut through steel bars including other knife makers’ knives. It was believed that Richtig used an austempering process to create these knives.
Dr. Rearden’s talk was well received and enjoyed by all in attendance. Thank you, Dr. Rearden, for another enjoyable presentation!
March Meeting
We had another fantastic meeting on March 12, 2024, at Cheap Charlies in Bloomfield that with good conversation and wonderful dinner, capped by an terrific presentation by Ms. Camille Caceci on Invasive Species.
Camille Caceci is the Invasive Species Project Coordinator, for the Finger Lakes Partnership for Regional Invasive Species Management (FL-PRISM). Ms. Caceci is a local woman, having grown up and still residing in Perinton. NY. The Finger Lakes PRISM program is housed at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva. This is one of eight PRISM programs across New York State, and they are administered by the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation.
Ms. Caceci talked about what defines an “invasive species”. Invasive species are non-native species that cause harm to the environment, economy, or human health. These invasive species can be flora or fauna and have common characteristics such as: high reproductive rates, are aggressive, have no natural predators, come from similar climates/latitudes and they take advantage of human disturbances.
Camille spoke about how a species becomes invasive and provided some examples such as animals that were once pets being released into the wild (e.g. Burmese pythons in Florida by Hurricane Andrew), biocontrol that goes wrong (e.g. cane toads in Australia), transport on plants, ballast water of boats (e.g. zebra mussel), shipping pallets or crates or even people unintentionally transporting invasive plants, insects and diseases. Camille discussed “sleeper species”, species that are present in the ecosystem but have the potential to become invasive if triggered by environmental factors such as (climate change) resulting in unusually mild winters or extremely wet or dry conditions. Some invasive species are also “neonative” in that they are species that have spread beyond traditional native ranges on their own with help from human disturbance and climate change (e.g. southern pine beetle, armadillos).
Camille discussed the costs of invasive species and introduced “The Invasion Curve” which presented relative costs over time of different amounts of invasion from eradication (of small populations), to containment (of expanding populations), to asset-based protection & long-term management (of widespread and abundant invasive species). According to the UN over $400 billion is spent annually for invasive species control.
Many invasive species are introduced by horticulture, and can even be purchased at the local garden stores (e.g. burning bush, chocolate vine).
As responsible citizens there are steps, we can take going forward such as planting native species (don’t plant without researching), remove invasive species, don’t create pathways for introduction (e.g. dumping bait, transporting firewood, releasing undesired pets), don’t ignore the problem, and learn to identify, report key invasives, & volunteer (survey, remove or spreading awareness).
There are many resources available online regarding invasive species including: NYNHP iMapInvasives Database, NYSDEC website, and Finger Lakes PRISM website.
Thank you, Camille, for a very informative and enlightening presentation.
February Meeting
We had another great meeting on February 13th of the Bloomfield Scientific Club. The evening began with a field trip to Mercy Flight Central (MFC) on Brickyard Road in Canandaigua. We were hosted by Emily Mastellar, Director of Partner Engagement who gave a tour of the facility including the hangar where were able to get a close-up view of two of their aircraft including the newest addition to the fleet, the in-service AW119KX helicopter made by Leonardo and a BK117 helicopter undergoing maintenance.
MFC currently operates with 4 helicopters (1 AW119KW; 3 BK117) out of 3 bases (Canandaigua, Marcellus and Rome) with 3 new AW119KX helicopters soon to be delivered. Each new AW119kx helicopter costs about $5 million and is delivered and fully outfitted with the medical equipment to fulfill MFC’s mission.
Mercy Flight Central was founded as a non-profit in 1992 to provide air medical services to New York State residents and beyond. Since its inception, the organization has served more than 17,000 patients and grown to over 70 employees. The organization began operations as an advanced life support air ambulance service and has since expanded to become a high-quality air medical service with three helicopters staffed 24/7, 365 days a year. Today, MFC helps protect the lives of over 4 million residents in over 25 counties and educates communities beyond their reach so they have the ability to do the same.
MFC clinical staff goes through extensive continuous education and high-fidelity simulations to provide the highest quality care to any patient in need. MFC clinicians utilize advanced pharmacology & technology such as whole blood, portable ultrasound, and more to ensure each patient receives optimal care.
We were fortunate to have a question and answer with session with Emily and Bob (flight paramedic) where we covered several topics of interest to those in attendance including: Every flight mission the crew consists of the pilot, nurse and paramedic; remote scene landing location must be at least 60’ by 60’; patients often delivered to helicopter by ambulance; helicopter will not fly in icing conditions; pilots cannot work more than 12 hour shifts whereas nurses and EMTs can work 24 hour shifts; range of the helicopter is about 150 miles (300 miles roundtrip) without refueling; very costly to train pilots and most pilots are ex-military; only one patient can be transported at a time; they carry much more medical equipment (diagnostic/stabilizing/blood) than ground ambulances.
Everyone in attendance came away with a great appreciation for the service that Mercy Flight Central provides and for the fine people in their organization.
We continued our evening at Cheap Charlies where we covered some of our club business including discussion of BSC’s new website.
January Meeting
We had a very entertaining meeting January 9th at Cheap Charlies, headlined by our own Dr. Joseph Rosenshein who gave an in-depth presentation/discussion of insights into the astronomical, historical, psychological, and especially the deep spiritual meanings implicit in Groundhog Day (February 2nd) and the funny movie of the same name.
Dr. Rosenshein began the evening discussing the history of Groundhog Day, how February 2nd relates to astronomy (Analemmas and Cross-Quarter Days) and the historical significance of February as an unusual month. Dr. Joe also showed how this information relates to the Groundhog Day movie and the psychological and spiritual aspects that appear in it. Dr. Joe spent some time discussing the importance of February and animals (groundhogs) to native Americans (Lenni Lenape/Delaware) who historically occupied the Punxsutawney area and the history and statistics of the groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, the World’s Greatest Weatherman.
Dr. Joe discussed how February fits in the Cross-Quarter Day on the Analemma (diagram of the position of the Sun in the sky as seen from a fixed location on earth) and Groundhog Day coincides with St. Brigid/Imbolc, a traditional Celtic Festival. A Cross-Quarter Day, Imbolc, involved a feast when ewes begin to lactate and the start of the new agricultural cycle.
Dr. Rosenshein spoke extensively about how important early February was as a celebration of purification was to many ancient cultures including the Romans, Scottish/Irish Celts, Germans, and Dutch. Groundhog Day became a Christianized Tradition of Candlemas/St. Brigid’s Day was a day of blessing the candles to be used for light for the year and the day the Virgin Mary brought Jesus to the Temple 40 days after his birth.
Dr. Rosenshein talked about the origin of February in the Julian and later Gregorian calendars. Dr. Rosenshein discussed how in the movie, the main character, Phil, the TV Weatherman, undergoes a purification of consciousness to eventually be reincarnated each day as the eventually perfected person he becomes at the end of the movie. This ties into the beliefs of many cultures and philosophies where one must create good karma, death and rebirth in order to achieve a higher state of consciousness in each subsequent existence. Dr. Rosenshein discussed the tie into the Groundhog Day movie where Phil is reincarnated at least 33 times seen in the movie and perhaps thousands of years during his adventures in Punxsutawney.
Dr. Rosenshein discussed “The Golden Rule” and how this plays into Phil attempting to find love for others. “The Golden Rule” exists in many cultures that essentially means “do unto others as you would have done unto you”. The golden rule exists in some form in many religious beliefs, philosophies and cultures including Buddhism, Judeo/Christian, Hindu, Islam, Jainism, Taoism, Socrates, and the Egyptian Book of the Dead.
Dr. Rosenshein concluded the presentation discussing Phil’s journey through increasing higher states of consciousness. He discussed how Phil realizes his “true self”, confronts his shadow (karma), performs positive karmic acts, clarifies, and raises his level of consciousness and recognizes his True Self in Other (Rita the TV Producer). Dr. Rosenshein relates these steps to the Zen 10 Bulls of Kakuan and the Arica – Levels of Consciousness. In the groundhog movie Phil obtains the highest level of objectivity as his emotions are in balance and he obtains ego transcendence. Phil truly becomes a better person.
Thank you Dr. Joe for an entertaining and enlightening evening!
December Meeting
Our final meeting of 2023 was held on December 12th at Cheap Charlies in Bloomfield. We began the night at 5:30PM by gathering for conversation and refreshments. This was followed by a discussion of club business including the introduction of guests, a discussion of upcoming events and the introduction of our new website (BloomfieldScientificClub.com).
After dinner the speaker for the evening was Chad Klotzbach, managing partner of Alleghany Farm Services of Basom, NY who discussed changes in agricultural drainage practices in New York, a brief history, current practices, and the future of the industry. Chad was joined in the discussion by his business associate John Jondle who discussed project design.
Chad began the presentation introducing his company, Allegheny Farm Services which was founded in Genesee County in 1983. They underwent an expansion in 2021. Since their founding they have laid over 6,000 miles of pipe in several states up and down the east coast with a focus on Conservation Drainage, education, design, and installation. They also specialize in commercial site applications and directional drilling. Chad defined farm drainage as using buried tubing or pipe to convey subsurface water to an outlet such as a stream or ditch. The purpose of the tiling is to make soil conditions in agricultural fields more uniform, dry up wet spots, reduce erosion and prevent crop roots from rotting. Other common uses of drainage tiling include controlling excessive runoff for flood control, creating bioreactors (to remove excess nitrogen and phosphorus), constructed wetlands, and aiding nutrient uptake.
Alleghany’s application requires the designers and installers of the drainage to understand the complex nature of the movement of water through the subsurface. The result of using these sophisticated drainage systems allows for a significant return on investment resulting in consistent higher yields, better utilization of acreage, lower soil compaction & erosion, lower overland flow & nutrient loss, earlier soil warming, increased water capacity in the soil and adaptability to climate fluctuations.
Chad discussed the history of field drainage tiling in North America starting in 1883 on John Johnston’s farm in nearby Geneva, NY. He pointed out that since then there have been many changes in the industry including changes in the tiling design, materials, and installation. Until the early 2000’s much of the goal of farm drainage was wet spot management and keeping it cheap. Early drainage applications utilized many methods and materials including stone trenches, clay tiles, concrete pipe and even wooden pipe.
Chad’s associate, John Jondle discussed project design utilizing modern methods. The design involves conducting a physical survey, constructing a LIDAR (light detection and ranging) map of the property, determining groundwater depth, soil type, drainage coefficient and potential and location of outlets.
Chad discussed the types of modern plastic drainage tiles. The type of drainage pipe used depends upon the soil conditions and is generally installed in a v-shaped trench to prevent crushing of the tile. Allegheny generally uses pull behind plow and chain trenchers for installation. They maintain grades using tools such as lasers and RTK GPS. The presentation concluded with a discussion of some of some of the common issues of farm tiling such as maintenance to alleviate and clear inlets, outlets, tree roots, pre-existing tile, and blowouts.
Thank you to Chad and John for a very informative and enjoyable presentation!
November Meeting
November 14, 2023 – The meeting at Cheap Charlies in Bloomfield began with a short discussion of club business including some potential upcoming speakers. After a short discussion it was decided to ask Dr. Art Reardon to return to continue his discussion of metallurgy that was cut short at our October meeting. Dr. Reardon has since accepted our invitation to return to discuss heat treating at our April meeting. Following this discussion, we were treated to another excellent presentation by Mr. Paul Selph who spoke on prosthetics. Paul Selph, a Certified Prosthetic Associate with the Hanger Clinic, presented and discussed “Lower Extremity Prosthetics.” Mr. Selph explained what prosthetics are, identified the different levels of amputation, what and why patients are (or are not)
candidates to receive prosthetics. Mr. Selph also discussed different styles of Prosthetics and why we would choose one over the other, Care Pathway, and Peer Support.
Paul told his own story of how he became an amputee and came to work in prosthetics. While working in a silo at his family’s farm in August of 2001, Paul’s leg was caught in some equipment that mangled his lower leg and ultimately led to a right side below the knee amputation Though he tried to return to the farm following his accident it didn’t work out and Paul was eventually as a hired lab technician for the Hanger Clinic, fabricating Prosthetic and Orthotic devices. Paul continued to work for the Hanger Clinic where he eventually became an Orthotics and Prosthesis Technician, a Certified Prosthetics Associate and in his current job working as a Business Development Manager and as Certified Prosthetic Assistant providing prosthetic counseling and peer support. As Paul pointed out there are currently about 3 1⁄2 million below the knee amputees in the US alone. In Paul’s role at Hanger, he counsels patients with a goal of providing the best prosthesis that reestablishes functional ambulation, comfort and cosmesis.
Paul discussed terminology of lower limb prosthetics including the socket (suspension interface), components (knee, pylon) and the foot. Prosthesis are named by the body part they cut through: hip disarticulation, transfemoral disarticulation, knee disarticulation, transtibial, ankle disarticulation and transmetatarsal. Paul went onto discuss the various stages of healing
and rehab an amputee goes through. Paul discussed the high tech components and materials that go into the prosthesis. He pointed out much of the success a particular amputee has depends upon the fitting, type and attachment of the prosthesis as well as the appropriate level of the prosthesis for the patient’s activity level. Most successful prosthesis patients also are using their temporary device with two to four months of amputation as early rehab leads to a more successful outcome.
Paul concluded his talk discussing the many factors that lead to the final device selection including; security (physical, psychological and specific needs) and performance (activities, vocational and future needs).
Mr. Selph is obviously very dedicated to his clients and that was evident in his presentation.
Thank you Paul, for a most enjoyable and informative presentation!
October Meeting
October 10, 2023 – We started off our 120th season of the Bloomfield Scientific Club on October 10th at Cheap Charlies in Bloomfield. We had a brief discussion of club business including the status of the Club’s website development, introduction of guests and presentation of the treasurer’s report. After which we were treated to a very scientific presentation by Dr. Arthur Reardon, who spoke on the “Metallurgy of Steel Tool Alloys’ ‘. Dr. Reardon is an experienced professional (30+ years) in metallurgy, materials science, and engineering with extensive experience in alloy design, process metallurgy, research and development, mechanical engineering, material selection, and customer technical support.
During his presentation Dr. Reardon planned to discuss various topics including (1) steel alloy design, (2) steel manufacturing processes, and (3) heat treatment. Dr. Reardon invited and fielded many questions as interest in these topics was significant. He discussed and presented scans of steel alloys that resisted abrasion, erosion and wear depending upon the matrix and the distribution of carbides in the matrix. Dr. Reardon discussed matrix types and carbide types which created different properties for the steel depending upon what the end-product required.
He emphasized the importance of processing of the materials including high pressure processing in the absence of oxygen to create powder stock to create more uniform steel.
Unfortunately, Dr. Reardon’s talk concluded prematurely as we ran out of time to cover all the topics on his agenda. Dr. Reardon is invited to come back at a future date to further his discussion.
For more information on Dr. Reardon:
If you would like to contact Dr. Reardon, he can be reached at (585) 430-0731 or by email at:
ArtReardon@yahoo.com
Dr. Arthur C. Reardon served as the corporate metallurgist for The Gleason Works in Rochester, New York for 8 years. He earned his bachelor’s degree in physics and mathematics at the State University of New York College at Oswego (1986), followed by his MS in mechanical and aerospace sciences and his PhD in materials science at the University of Rochester. He is an experienced professional in metallurgy, materials science, and engineering with extensive experience in alloy design, process metallurgy, research and development, mechanical engineering, material selection, and customer technical support. Dr. Reardon has worked in industry for over 30 years; more than 10 years were spent working as a senior process metallurgist in the steel production industry, where he collaborated on the design and development of state-of-the-art alloys using both traditional air-melt and powder metallurgy processing techniques. He developed products and processes for a large variety of specialty steel alloys involving melting, forging, rolling, heat treating, finishing and inspection. He also worked as an adjunct assistant professor at the L.C. Smith College of Engineering at Syracuse University, where he taught a junior level engineering course for nine years. He earned his PE license in the discipline of metallurgy, and is licensed in New York, Pennsylvania, and Michigan.
He has authored technical papers on subjects ranging from fracture mechanics and low-temperature physics to the simulation of atomic solidification processes, laser theory, and astrophysics. Reardon currently serves as a board member on ASM International’s Technical Books Committee. He also wrote the book, Metallurgy for the Non-Metallurgist (Second Edition, ASM International, 2011), which was awarded the prestigious Outstanding Academic Title award by Choice Magazine in 2013. The book is now carried by over 1,000 academic and laboratory libraries throughout the world.