2003 MREC Conference Presentations

Full Session - Speaker Profile

Title: Updates on Recent Legal Developments in Stray Voltage

Speaker 1: Robert Fick

     Title: Senior Agricultural Engineer

     Affiliation: Alliant Energy

     Address: 2777 Columbia Dr.; Portage, WI 53901-9483

     Telephone: 608.742.0838

     E-mail: robertfick@alliant-energy.com

     Web site: http://www.alliantenergy.com/stellent/groups/public/documents/pub/index.hcsp

     About the Speaker:

Dr. Fick is a Senior Agricultural Engineer for the Agricultural Services group at Alliant Energy out of Portage, WI. He provides technical support to agricultural projects and investigations. These projects include biogas generation, environmental waste management, stray voltage and electrical training course development. Dr. Fick is also an Adjunct Professor in the Biological Systems Engineering Department, University of Wisconsin-Madison. He has also taught in the University of W-Madison and the Wisconsin Technical College systems.

Before joining Alliant Energy in 2000, Dr. Fick served 7 years as faculty member in the Agricultural Engineering Department at Michigan State University and as the Managing Director of the Michigan Agricultural Electric Council (MAEC). He is a native of Wisconsin and has been allied with farming and agricultural services all of his life.

Speaker 2: Chuck DeNardo

     Title: Principal Engineer

     Affiliation: We Energies

     Address: 333 W. Everett St.; Milwaukee, WI 53201-2046

     Telephone: 414.221.3073 

     E-mail: chuck.denardo@we-energies.com

     Web site: http://www.we-energies.com

     About the Speaker:

Mr. DeNardo is a Principal Engineer with We Energies' and works out of the company's Milwaukee office. He has worked for We Energies and has been directly involved in the issues of stray voltage and other electrical phenomena since 1985. His involvement has included several stray voltage related committee assignments at the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection. He is currently an instructor for UW Extension Stray Voltage Investigator Training courses, and has been a Midwest Rural Energy Council board member since 1994. Prior to his present employment Mr. DeNardo worked and performed distribution system duties for the Saudi Consolidated Electric Company and Northern States Power Company. He received a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering (Power) from the University of Illinois in 1976, and an MBA from UW - LaCrosse in 1981. Mr. DeNardo is a registered Professional Engineer in Wisconsin, and an active member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers and the American Society of Agricultural Engineers.

Speaker 3: Keith Tinsey

     Title: Director

     Affiliation: Michigan Agricultural Electric Council

     Address: Michigan State University; 103C Farrall Hall; East Lansing, MI 48824-1323

     Telephone: 517.353.0643 

     E-mail: tinsey@msu.edu

     Web site: http://www.egr.msu.edu/age/MAEC/index.htm

     About the Speaker:

Mr. Tinsey is the Director of the Michigan Agricultural Electric Council. He is a licensed Professional Engineer and is based in the Agricultural Engineering Department at Michigan State University. He holds a Master of Science in Agricultural Engineering and a minor in Electrical and Computer Engineering from North Carolina State University. Prior to his current position, Mr. Tinsey designed farmstead equipment and electronic ventilation systems for vegetable storage and confined livestock systems.