ENGINEERING UNPLUGGED CONFERENCE, ED BEGLEY JR. IS LUNCHTIME SPEAKER
Actor, author and environmental activist Ed Begley Jr. will be the lunchtime speaker at the third annual Engineering Unplugged conference at Old Dominion University on Tuesday, April 12.
Begley, the television and film star known for his commitment to an environmentally sustainable lifestyle, will also attend a VIP reception for special guests, sponsors of the environmental engineering event and the media. Begley will speak during the lunch hour to all conference attendees. Presented by ODU's Business Gateway, Engineering Unplugged is the premier green event of its kind in Hampton Roads. An educational conference, it provides an opportunity to showcase expertise about green buildings, energy conservation, alternative energy and greenhouse gases.
"This is a great event that we're happy to have at Old Dominion University," said ODU President John R. Broderick. "It highlights the commitment - not just of people on our campus, but in the community - to finding environmentally sustainable solutions to engineering problems now and in the future."
The conference runs from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at ODU's Ted Constant Convocation Center.
Former Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Army John Paul Woodley Jr. will serve as the morning keynote speaker. He will open the conference at 8 a.m. Engineering Unplugged organizers will host a live Web chat with the two guest speakers at 7:30 p.m. Monday, March 21. Begley and Woodley will connect with a live audience via Skype in the Gornto Teletechnet Center on the ODU campus.
Begley, an active environmentalist since the 1970s, lectures about sustainability across the country. He appeared most recently in the HGTV reality series "Living with Ed," about his daily efforts to "green" his life. He has written several books, including "Living Like Ed: A Guide to the Eco-Friendly Life."
Woodley served as secretary of natural resources for Virginia, and he convened the first Governor's Conference on Sustainability in the commonwealth. In 2001, Woodley was the principal environmental adviser to the secretary of defense, and from 2003-09 he served as assistant secretary of the U.S. Army (civil works). Woodley is currently a consulting director with Advantus Strategies, LLC, providing strategic counsel to clients in water resource development nationwide.
The conference has an educational bent, with four tracks - green buildings, energy conservation, greenhouse gases and wind energy, which is new this year, led by the Virginia Offshore Wind Coalition, of which ODU is a member.
Each track will feature discussions, including roundtables, offering groups of up to eight people the opportunity to sit down with high-ranking executives from successful green companies to talk with them about the issues they face.
Engineering Unplugged attendees will have the chance to register for these exclusive roundtable discussions prior to the conference once the key personnel have been confirmed. Roundtable discussions will be spaced throughout the educational tracks, so participants will need to skip one of the educational sessions to attend.
In each of its first two years, the conference has drawn more than 250 attendees from across the United States, ranging from engineers to facility managers and construction professionals, to researchers and members of the military.
Registration for Engineering Unplugged is $195 per person. To register and qualify for a chance to win free admission, go to www.engineeringunplugged.com. Registration is also available by phone at 757-683-5479 757-683-5479.
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