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BUSINESS NEWS WINNING STUDENTS SELECTED FOR FUTURE ENGINEERS’ THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX CHALLENGE Future Engineers, along with NASA and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Foundation, announced the two winners from Future Engineers’ Think Outside the Box Challenge, a national design challenge issued to K-12 students to celebrate the launch of the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, the first expandable habitat on the space station. Out of 122 submitted designs from 26 states, one national winner from each age division was chosen by a panel that included retired astronaut Nicole Stott. The winner from the Teen Group was the Expanding Pod designed by Thomas Salverson, a Gretna, Nebraska native, now a freshman at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. The winner of the Junior Group is the Space Anchor designed by Emily Takara of Cupertino, California. These students will receive a grand-prize trip to Las Vegas for a tour of Bigelow Aerospace – the space technology company that developed BEAM under contract to NASA. The Think Outside the Box challenge asked students to design a 3-D printable object that assembles or expands to become larger than the printing bounds of Made In Space’s AMF 3-D printer, located on the International Space Station – with the ultimate goal of creating an object that is useful for an astronaut living in microgravity. Salverson’s Expanding Pod is a set of containers intended for astronauts to store small items on the International Space Station. His design is comprised of multiple cylinders that slide and twist to create five sealed stowage compartments that lock into place. “I enjoyed the difficulty of this challenge since it made me think in terms of ‘expanding’ an object, which was something I had never considered before when 3-D printing,” said Salverson. “It took me many prototypes before I had successfully made my completed design, making it all the more rewarding now that I’ve been selected as a grand-prize winner.”

While researching some of the challenges that astronauts face while working in space, Emily Takara discovered that astronauts sometimes have trouble moving easily in large, open spaces. That led Emily to design the Space Anchor, an extendable arm and grabber set that prevents astronauts from getting stuck while floating in microgravity. “This challenge taught me to persevere and be creative,” said Takara. “It has also inspired me to continue designing, as well as teach others computer-aided design.” Teen Finalists (Ages 13-19): ❚ ❚ Ansel Austin, Cupertino, California – Bio- Fold Lab Rack ❚ ❚ Parker Jones, Auburn, Alabama – Footshield ❚ ❚ Thomas Salverson, Gretna, Nebraska – Expanding Pod ❚ ❚ Noah Tatman, Spring, Texas – Space Clamp Junior Finalists (Ages 5-12): ❚ ❚ Owen DuFrene, Portland, Oregon – The Gamemaker ❚ ❚ Lauren Lee, Cupertino, California – California Odyssey ❚ ❚ Trisha Sathish, Cupertino, California – Nature Lamp ❚ ❚ Emily Takara, Cupertino, California – Space Anchor Each student finalist has been awarded an exploration worthy Heimplanet inflatable tent for their family and a $50 3-D printing gift certificate from Shapeways. The Think Outside the Box challenge was the fourth in a series of space innovation challenges developed by Future Engineers with the ASME Foundation, and with technical assistance provided by NASA. The series was designed to extend the reach of NASA’s In- Space Manufacturing research by inspiring and educating the next generation of scientists and engineers about 3-D printing technology,

space exploration, and digital design skills. Previous Future Engineers challenges have called upon students to design 3-D models of space tools, containers, and objects needed for the future of space exploration. The next challenge launched in October 2016. ECOSYSTEM ENGINEER NAMED AEE YOUNG ENERGY PROFESSIONAL OF THE YEAR Ecosystem Energy Services design engineer Jean- Philippe “JP” Drouin has been awarded Young Energy Professional of the Year 2016 by the Association of Energy Engineers. The award is granted annually to individuals 35 years of age or younger to recognize outstanding contributions to the energy profession and to the community. It was presented at the World Energy Engineering Conference inWashington, D.C. on September 21. Drouin joined Ecosystem nine years ago, after receiving his degree in mechanical engineering from McGill University. As a design engineer with Ecosystem, he has been responsible for leading multi-million-dollar projects and proposals in Canada and the U.S. for more than 100 healthcare, educational, commercial, municipal, and industrial buildings that incorporate cutting-edge technologies to achieve meaningful energy and cost savings. His projects include the Mount Sinai Brooklyn Hospital project, an innovative cogeneration and steam-to-hot-water conversion that won AEE’s 2014 Energy Project of the Year Award for Region 1. He is also an active member of the NYC distributed generation community and in 2013 participated in an initiative of the Mayor’s Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability to identify a strategic roadmap for DG development in NYC. With this award, the AEE recognized Drouin’s innovative approach to energy efficiency engineering. “I am fortunate to work with Ecosystem’s multidisciplinary teams, which encourage creative thinking and exceeding expectations of what we can achieve in terms of efficiency and cost savings,” Drouin said.

oftentimes see is firms that want to finish due diligence before they begin discussions of value. Remember, thinkers and modelers, there is plenty of time to get to the bottom of whatever pressing issue we are facing – let’s just keep our eyes fixed on the target while we get there. JAMIE CLAIRE KISER is Zweig Group’s director of M&A services. Contact her at jkiser@zweiggroup.com. “While it is contrary to my background in law and credit risk to feel comfortable pressing onward with half the story, it is something that has to be done if I want to help my client close a deal.”

JAMIE CLAIRE KISER, from page 9

basic information is needed for a cursory analysis, it is crippling in M&A to wait for more information or to hit pause to update the analysis with every detail. We have to tolerate a high level of uncertainty in so many facets of a target firm’s operations, and that can be unnerving. While it is contrary to my background in law and credit risk to feel comfortable pressing onward with half the story, it is something that has to be done if I want to help my client close a deal. The good news is that once we have agreement on the basic structure, we have due diligence to confirm that what we believed when we drafted the offer is, in fact, reality. The process gives time for the analysis, but the risk that we

THE ZWEIG LETTER December 12, 2016, ISSUE 1179

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