Alberto
or “Al” as many of his colleagues would call him, has been for several decades
at the end desk in the HVAC activities, as a dedicated and well-recognized
engineer and leader in the Region.
Knowing
him thru the years, along with several friends and references it did not
surprise me his right away “Yes, of course” answer to dedicate a few hours of
his retirement time at home, for us to start digging thru his routes in the engineering
road. Alberto conducted many, many HVAC projects thru U.S., Caribbean, Central
and South America, leaving in each country, many friends, valuable projects and
memorable stories.
Let´s go
back on time to reassemble his life. Al ´s parents migrated from Spain and he
was born and raised in La Habana, Cuba but finally run out of his homeland as
Fidel Castro took over the government of the island. Initially moving to Spain,
he finally settled in U.S. where after graduating in Mechanical Engineering
from Villanova University in USA, he enrolled at Drexel University graduating
in 1970 with the Master´s program of Environmental Engineering.
Nancy
and Al got married 1962 raising a family of three children and one grandson,
and they became a reference for friends as they would always be available to
help and support any civic, social, welfare activity or technical discussion.
Being happily
exposed to the HVAC industry, he climbed positions from Drafting to engineering
services supporting HVAC, Plumbing and Fire Protection design services, which
over the years gave him the background to apply for his P.E. license. He
proudly supports a personal background of being P.E. registered in several
States thru U.S.
After
leading such enriching experiences in the engineering professional activity, he
was ready to fund his company A. J Sanchez Consulting Engineers in Tampa Florida in 1988.
From those exciting times, Al resembles “Being in
Florida dealing with engineering challenges of designing HVAC systems in
a hot /humid climate brought an expertise that was available to our
clients, our community and friends in the Industry to help resolve indoor
Air quality issues in buildings.”
Whenever
problems raised at ongoing projects, Al was right at hand to take-a-look and
bring in valuable and lasting comments to fix and solve issues.
During all those years in business the firm
received numerous awards and recognitions on energy-efficient designs including
a Gold LEED for an elementary school; another area of distinction was Historic
Preservation; here again the company has been recognized several times for
the sensitive and effective designs.
Beyond his professional tasks and compromises, he
supported several other Civic activities as he recalls. “Upon arriving in Tampa
we were asked to contribute to a manual for historic preservation called
Respectful Rehab which we did over the years. Eventually we were asked to serve
in the City of Tampa Historic Preservation Commission, which we gladly served for
several years. I also served our community in the County mechanical Board
of Adjustment and Appeals which Regulates licenses for mechanical
contractors.”
Shortly after joining ASHRAE in 1968, Al was
asked to participate in a technical program, which gave him the opportunity
to meet other members and feel their enthusiasm for the organization. Later in
1974 when relocated to Tampa, Al joined the ASHRAE Chapter Florida West
Coast, serving thru the years in several committees and becoming Chapter
President in 1982 and Region Education Committee Chair. Along with those
experiences, he recalls so many friends across the Region and specially his
very close friend Alvaro Tapias from Colombia (ASHRAE Past Fellow Member).
At a given moment, the area covered by ASHRAE Region 4
became too big and was necessary for the Society to grow up. Finally, the Southern
territory expanded as new Region 12 reaching out to South and Central America
as well as Caribbean region. Al was the third director (DRC) of
Region 12 (1988). First DRC was Wes Floreth and James
Carrol PE came afterwards, as he recalls. Following his term, he continued
serving when asked on several committees, in accordance with the Society
practice that it is the position that seeks the member.
This background explains the reason why, to this
day, there is a joint dinner of both regions during the Society Annual and
Semi-Annual meetings and the Regions alternate sponsoring the dinner.
Here it is a lasting gift Al wants to share with
our ASHRAE incoming young Engineers; “Our chosen profession requires an open
and inquisitive mind, ready to learn and apply that knowledge to every
opportunity that comes your way; if you enjoy what you do, you will be
successful!!.”
As we thank Alberto for reserving his time and sharing his vast engineering and life experience, we all feel proud of him for showing us with his example, the real meaning of dedication and passion thru his life. Thank you indeed Al!!
Alberto´s Family
members: Beatriz, Diana, Nancy, Alberto and Alberto Junior
Event- Alberto receiving
his ASHRAE Fellow Member Award.
ASHRAE Winter Meeting
in San Francisco, 17th January, 1998