UESA News Archives

As in years past, the New York City Chapter of the Ukrainian Engineers' Society of America, together with the Ukrainian Medical Association of North America and the Ukrainian Institute of America, held the annual New York City "Yalynka." The event took place on Saturday December 14th in the elegant home of the Ukrainian Institute of America in New York City.

The evening began with warm greetings provided by UESA New York City Board member Ivan Durbak. It was followed by a musical program provided by vocal group Promin. The Promin Vocal Ensemble was founded in 1972 by conductor, vocalist, musician and arranger Bohdanna Wolansky and has performed at such prominent venues as Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, the United Nations in New York, and Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The ensemble has a passion for good music and Ukrainian song.

After about an hour long performance of traditional Ukrainian Christmas Carols, the first act was concluded. This was followed words from Ms.Natalie Trojan, the current treasurer of the Ukrainian Institute of America, who thanked everyone for coming and highlighted the many years of mutual support between the sponsoring organizations.

The first portion of the night concluded with greetings from the president of the New York City Chapter of the Ukrainian Engineers Society of America, Marco Shmerykowsky. Mr. Shmerykowsky thanked both the evening’s guests and sponsoring organizations. He also took the opportunity to note events such as the New York Yalynka are dependent on the volunteer efforts of our community members. The continued viability of such events is dependent on people joining the sponsoring organizations and contributing their time. Happily, several people inquired about membership throughout the evening. After the closing remarks were concluded, the evening’s guests were invited to enjoy the hors d'ouevres and refreshments.

The food was once again catered by Mrs. Lisa Krawec of the Yonkers Miasarnia. The Krawec has been preparing theirs excellent and varied menu for various New York City UESA Chapter events for many years. As always, their feast was greatly enjoyed by all in attendance.

After a short intermission period, the members of Promin returned to provided additional entertainment.

As the night continued, the Ukrainian Institute's hall continued to fill up as professionals, young and old, arrived together with their family and friends. New friendships and connections were made and old ones were reinvigorated.

As always, the die-hard Yalynka attendees had such a good time that it was nearly impossible to convince them that this year's event had to come to an end. On the bright side, however, the next UESA event is never too far away.

by Peter Hewka

The 65-th Annual Engineers’ Banquet and Ball, with presentation of Debutantes, sponsored by the Philadelphia Chapter of the Ukrainian Engineers’ Society of America, took place on Saturday, February 2, 2019, in the classically elegant and completely renovated Grand Ballroom of the Bellevue Hotel. This is without question the finest ballroom in the Philadelphia area.

Photo Caption: Debutantes and escorts at the 2019 Philadelphia Ball.
Photo credit: Marko Lonkevych

This gala event was by all measures a tremendous success!

There were over 350 guests at the Banquet, and a total of over 650 attended the Ball. The Bellevue Grand Ballroom was full to overflowing, and a second ballroom was opened to accommodate all the guests.

The Reverend Taras Lonchyna, pastor of St. Josaphat’s Ukrainian Catholic Church in Trenton, NJ, opened the Gala with a prayer for Ukraine and with a blessing.

Eleven (11) lovely and talented young ladies were presented as debutantes: Natalia Buck, escorted by Pavlo Pencak; Maria Heren, escort Nicholas Santone; Ksenia Hulayev, escorted by Roman Zharovsky; Marianna Klingensmith, escort Yuri Yakymiv; Marianna Lechman, escorted by Thoma Holovatskyy; Roma Lonkevych, escort Zen Kochanowsky; Juliette Louer, escorted by Lucas Chuma; Anette Luba, escort Andrew Popadiuk; Cadence McStowe, escorted by Darius Kulchyckyj; Anastasiya Stolyarchuk, escort Roman Nagirniak; and Ksenia Tymchenko, escorted by Anton Pereklita

The debutantes and escorts were exceptionally well prepared by Halia Wirstiuk and Ania Bohachevsky Lonkevych to perform their presentation dances. Original choreography for the dances was prepared by them to the music of Richard Strauss.

Masters of Ceremonies for the Banquet and Ball were Natalia Tarasiuk and Andriy Royik.

An additional highlight of the evening was a special performance by world class concert pianist Roman Rudnytsky, of Ohio, whose granddaughter was one of the debutantes.

The outstanding success of this Gala event was made possible by the preparation and hard work of the Ball Committee, chaired by Orysia Hewka.

Music was provided by the Hrim Orchestra, from New York and Connecticut

For weeks after the Ball, social media were praising the Philadelphia Ball as the place to debut!

Next year’s Philadelphia Engineers’ Ball is scheduled for Saturday, February 1, 2020, at the same venue, the Bellevue Hotel.

As in years past, the New York City Chapter of the Ukrainian Engineers' Society of America, together with the Ukrainian Medical Association of North America and the Ukrainian Institute of America, held the annual New York City "Yalynka." The event took place on Saturday December 15th in the elegant home of the Ukrainian Institute of America in New York City.

The evening began with warm greetings provided by UESA New York City Board member Ivan Durbak. It was followed by a musical program provided by Ukrainian Village Voices. Ukrainian Village Voices is a culturally diverse group of folk singers based in New York City, uniting members of the Ukrainian and larger folk music communities. The group sings in the polyphonic village style and its repertoire is constantly evolving, frequently focusing on seasonal celebrations, ritual songs, as well as lyrical music.

After about an hour long performance of traditional Ukrainian Christmas Carols and authentic yuletide songs from the villages of Ukrainian, the first act was concluded. This was followed words from the president of the New York City Chapter of the Ukrainian Engineers Society of America, Marco Shmerykowsky. Mr. Shmerykowsky thanked to both the evening’s guests and sponsoring organizations. He also took the opportunity to note that UESA was embarking on a concentrated effort to update its membership lists and create a new online presence which will allow and foster communication between its members, the various UESA Chapters and the National Board. The new web site is now online at uesa.wildapricot.org. After the closing remarks were concluded, the evening’s guests were invited to enjoy the hors d'ouevres and refreshments.

The food was once again catered by Mrs. Lisa Krawec of the Yonkers Miasarnia. The Krawec has been preparing theirs excellent and varied menu for various New York City UESA Chapter events for many years. As always, their feast was greatly enjoyed by all in attendance.

After a short intermission period, the members of UVV returned to provided additional entertainment.

As the night continued, the Ukrainian Institute's hall continued to fill up as professionals, young and old, arrived together with their family and friends. New friendships and connections were made and old ones were reinvigorated.

As always, the die-hard Yalynka attendees had such a good time that it was nearly impossible to convince them that this year's event had to come to an end. On the bright side, however, the next UESA event is never too far away.

By Ivan Durbak

On March 15th, 2006, the Ukrainian Engineers’ Society of NYC presented a lecture by Walter Hanchuk, Patent Attorney for Chadbourne & Parke LLP on “Engineering Inventions, New Technologies, and Intellectual Property ", at the Ukrainian Institute, 2 East 79th Street, NYC. John Kheit, a senior associate in the intellectual property group at Chadbourne & Parke, assisted in the presentation Mr. Hanchuk began with a general overview of the Intellectual Property (IP) landscape of Patents, Copyrights, Trademarks, and Trade-Secrets: an exciting arena where, with substantial Private Equity funding available and where it has never been easier to market and expand a business, IP has never been more valued. Mr. Hanchuk also explained, however, legal minefields including Trademark Clearance problems, the birth of the Patent Troll, copyright cloudiness, and regulatory red-tape at an all-time high.

Mr. Hanchuk then described a number of noteworthy IP litigation cases, including: A. Patents: in the recent Blackberry case the whole country was on the verge of a Blackberry stoppage, with $612 million paid to a patent troll. Other interesting lawsuits mentioned: Priceline.com v. Microsoft & Expedia.com, Amazon.com vs. Barnesandnoble.com, and Yahoo v. Google. B. Copyrights: the wildly popular peer-to-peer (p2p) phenomena causing music and videos to be copied at record levels, and the MGM v. Grokster lawsuit. C. Trademarks: Lexis v Lexus. D. Trade Secrets: theft of trade secrets by a former exec (GM v. Volkswagon). E. Mr. Hanchuk also discussed other significant and related issues, including Open-Source, Domain-Name, and Sarbanes-Oxley issues.

Mr. Hanchuk next reviewed the changing Patent Protection process, tracing the patentability evolution of Software in 1990 through E-commerce in 1995 and into Business Methods in the early 2000’s. He explained how the major Strategic Goal is to preserve rights:

To preserve worldwide rights, file for patent protection before any form of offer for sale or public disclosure; at a minimum, file within one year of offer for sale or public disclosure to preserve US rights (although foreign rights lost). A second goal is to defer costs: Foreign file within one year of US filing – the Patent Cooperation Treaty allows preservation of rights for 30 months from original filing date.

Mr. Hanchuk then detailed changing nature of computer systems and software that are “Patent-Eligible” today in the United States, illustrating cases now covered under patent law (a) New Accounting Techniques (b) New financial instruments (Traveler’s checks, Credit Cards) and (c) Internet Purchasing Techniques. Specific examples included Merrill Lynch’s Securities Brokerage-Cash Management System, CitiBank’s Trusted Agents For Open Electronic Commerce, Priceline.com’s Method and Apparatus for a Cryptographically Assisted Commercial Network System, and Amazon.com’s Internet-based Customer Referral System

Mr. Hanchuk next examined US Copyright Law and particularly how it affects the Internet technology industry. He explained how the law not only covers Direct Infringement (Copying) but also Indirect Infringement; the latter includes (a) Contributory infringement: Knowledge of infringing activity and material contribution, (b) Vicarious infringement: Profit off of the infringement and Ability to supervise the direct infringer, and (c) Inducing infringement: Intent to cause infringement and Purposeful act to encourage infringement.

Mr. Hanchuk described the pivotal lawsuits against Napster and Grokster, described briefly new and developing technologies such as 1. Slingbox (Box that retransmits television broadcasts to any PC worldwide), 2. Darknets (private P2P networks) and 3. Traditional P2P – Illegal File Sharing (now with over 9 million P2P users and over one billion songs, often hosted outside the United States) and concluded that there was “No practical alternative to controlling massive copyright infringement”. Mr. Hanchuk moved on to examining Open Source Software (OSS) - Freely licensed software including source code, in the public domain, which the Licensee has the right to use, modify and distribute at no charge. He explained the interesting legal concept of Copyleft, which is a general method for making a program or other work free, and requiring all modified and extended versions of the program to be free as well. Another important legal concept is that if a program contains open source, then potentially that entire program must be redistributed for free with source code.

Mr. Hanchuk debunked many common myths regarding OSS, including (1) You can do whatever you want with it, (2) You cannot charge for OSS (in fact - under certain conditions you can), (3) OSS is always free, and (4) You are forced to give up all of your Intellectual Property rights. He then described how many prominent companies, such as IBM, Apple, Tivo, and SONY, are effectively utilizing OSS today.

Mr. Hanchuk then moved on to US Trademark Law and explained the key topics: Genericness, concept of “Merely Descriptive” and “Likelihood of Confusion” analysis, Primarily Merely a Surname, Authors’ Names, Res Judicata and Collateral Estoppel, and Dilution. Complexity enters when the connotations and commercial impressions must be balanced against and may outweigh the visual and phonetic similarity. He illustrated with an interesting case: DC Comics v. Pan American Grain Mfg. Co. where KRYPTONITE (for T-Shirts, toys, and sporting goods, etc.) was confused with KRIPTONITA (for prepared alcoholic fruit cocktail). Mr. Hanchuk concluded with general legal advice: in all intellectual property issues with consultants and business associates and dealings:

(1) insure that all employees & consultants sign confidentiality & ip ownership agreements, (2) include patent and copyright ownership clauses (3) have employees execute exit agreements (4) take note of open source issues, (5) maintain trade secrets: limit disclosure, (6) police the brand, and (7) clear new marks and consider clearing new products of ip issues.

Throughout the presentation Mr. Hanchuk used vivid imagery and slides to keep the audience engaged and involved with a balance of technical/legal material and practical real-world problems.

After the formal presentation, the audience participated in a spirited question-and-answer session and collegial debate. The evening finished with informal and convivial discussions over food and drinks.

Walter Hanchuk is a partner in the intellectual property group at Chadbourne & Parke, a 100 year old international firm with 450 lawyers. The Firm has a major presence in Eastern Europe and the former CIS, including substantial offices in Kyiv, Warsaw, Moscow, St Petersburg and Kazakhstan.

Walter Hanchuk received his Engineering degree from the Cooper Union and his law degree from the George Washington University. His career spans over 17 years in intellectual property law, and in developing new and emerging technologies, including employment at the US Patent & Trademark Office as a US Patent Examiner and as a partner of Morgan & Finnegan, a patent law firm in New York. He has served on Advisory Boards of various emerging technology companies, and Editorial Boards of various publications of the New York Law Journal and the E-Commerce Law Journal. He has prosecuted many pioneering patents for various internet, information technology and financial service companies, and has litigated patent, unfair competition and trade secret cases against companies such as Microsoft and Texas Instruments. He was recently named one of New York's "Super Lawyers", a rating given to a small percentage of lawyers in an upcoming supplement to the NY Times.

Mr. Hanchuk next reviewed the changing Patent Protection process, tracing the patentability evolution of Software in 1990 through E-commerce in 1995 and into Business Methods in the early 2000’s. He explained how the major Strategic Goal is to preserve rights:

To preserve worldwide rights, file for patent protection before any form of offer for sale or public disclosure; at a minimum, file within one year of offer for sale or public disclosure to preserve US rights (although foreign rights lost). A second goal is to defer costs: Foreign file within one year of US filing – the Patent Cooperation Treaty allows preservation of rights for 30 months from original filing date.

Mr. Hanchuk then detailed changing nature of computer systems and software that are “Patent-Eligible” today in the United States, illustrating cases now covered under patent law (a) New Accounting Techniques (b) New financial instruments (Traveler’s checks, Credit Cards) and (c) Internet Purchasing Techniques. Specific examples included Merrill Lynch’s Securities Brokerage-Cash Management System, CitiBank’s Trusted Agents For Open Electronic Commerce, Priceline.com’s Method and Apparatus for a Cryptographically Assisted Commercial Network System, and Amazon.com’s Internet-based Customer Referral System

Mr. Hanchuk next examined US Copyright Law and particularly how it affects the Internet technology industry. He explained how the law not only covers Direct Infringement (Copying) but also Indirect Infringement; the latter includes (a) Contributory infringement: Knowledge of infringing activity and material contribution, (b) Vicarious infringement: Profit off of the infringement and Ability to supervise the direct infringer, and (c) Inducing infringement: Intent to cause infringement and Purposeful act to encourage infringement.

Mr. Hanchuk described the pivotal lawsuits against Napster and Grokster, described briefly new and developing technologies such as 1. Slingbox (Box that retransmits television broadcasts to any PC worldwide), 2. Darknets (private P2P networks) and 3. Traditional P2P – Illegal File Sharing (now with over 9 million P2P users and over one billion songs, often hosted outside the United States) and concluded that there was “No practical alternative to controlling massive copyright infringement”. Mr. Hanchuk moved on to examining Open Source Software (OSS) - Freely licensed software including source code, in the public domain, which the Licensee has the right to use, modify and distribute at no charge. He explained the interesting legal concept of Copyleft, which is a general method for making a program or other work free, and requiring all modified and extended versions of the program to be free as well. Another important legal concept is that if a program contains open source, then potentially that entire program must be redistributed for free with source code.

Mr. Hanchuk debunked many common myths regarding OSS, including (1) You can do whatever you want with it, (2) You cannot charge for OSS (in fact - under certain conditions you can), (3) OSS is always free, and (4) You are forced to give up all of your Intellectual Property rights. He then described how many prominent companies, such as IBM, Apple, Tivo, and SONY, are effectively utilizing OSS today.

Mr. Hanchuk then moved on to US Trademark Law and explained the key topics: Genericness, concept of “Merely Descriptive” and “Likelihood of Confusion” analysis, Primarily Merely a Surname, Authors’ Names, Res Judicata and Collateral Estoppel, and Dilution. Complexity enters when the connotations and commercial impressions must be balanced against and may outweigh the visual and phonetic similarity. He illustrated with an interesting case: DC Comics v. Pan American Grain Mfg. Co. where KRYPTONITE (for T-Shirts, toys, and sporting goods, etc.) was confused with KRIPTONITA (for prepared alcoholic fruit cocktail). Mr. Hanchuk concluded with general legal advice: in all intellectual property issues with consultants and business associates and dealings:

(1) insure that all employees & consultants sign confidentiality & ip ownership agreements, (2) include patent and copyright ownership clauses (3) have employees execute exit agreements (4) take note of open source issues, (5) maintain trade secrets: limit disclosure, (6) police the brand, and (7) clear new marks and consider clearing new products of ip issues.

Throughout the presentation Mr. Hanchuk used vivid imagery and slides to keep the audience engaged and involved with a balance of technical/legal material and practical real-world problems.

After the formal presentation, the audience participated in a spirited question-and-answer session and collegial debate. The evening finished with informal and convivial discussions over food and drinks.

Walter Hanchuk is a partner in the intellectual property group at Chadbourne & Parke, a 100 year old international firm with 450 lawyers. The Firm has a major presence in Eastern Europe and the former CIS, including substantial offices in Kyiv, Warsaw, Moscow, St Petersburg and Kazakhstan.

Walter Hanchuk received his Engineering degree from the Cooper Union and his law degree from the George Washington University. His career spans over 17 years in intellectual property law, and in developing new and emerging technologies, including employment at the US Patent & Trademark Office as a US Patent Examiner and as a partner of Morgan & Finnegan, a patent law firm in New York. He has served on Advisory Boards of various emerging technology companies, and Editorial Boards of various publications of the New York Law Journal and the E-Commerce Law Journal. He has prosecuted many pioneering patents for various internet, information technology and financial service companies, and has litigated patent, unfair competition and trade secret cases against companies such as Microsoft and Texas Instruments. He was recently named one of New York's "Super Lawyers", a rating given to a small percentage of lawyers in an upcoming supplement to the NY Times.

Mr. Hanchuk described the pivotal lawsuits against Napster and Grokster, described briefly new and developing technologies such as 1. Slingbox (Box that retransmits television broadcasts to any PC worldwide), 2. Darknets (private P2P networks) and 3. Traditional P2P – Illegal File Sharing (now with over 9 million P2P users and over one billion songs, often hosted outside the United States) and concluded that there was “No practical alternative to controlling massive copyright infringement”. Mr. Hanchuk moved on to examining Open Source Software (OSS) - Freely licensed software including source code, in the public domain, which the Licensee has the right to use, modify and distribute at no charge. He explained the interesting legal concept of Copyleft, which is a general method for making a program or other work free, and requiring all modified and extended versions of the program to be free as well. Another important legal concept is that if a program contains open source, then potentially that entire program must be redistributed for free with source code.

Mr. Hanchuk debunked many common myths regarding OSS, including (1) You can do whatever you want with it, (2) You cannot charge for OSS (in fact - under certain conditions you can), (3) OSS is always free, and (4) You are forced to give up all of your Intellectual Property rights. He then described how many prominent companies, such as IBM, Apple, Tivo, and SONY, are effectively utilizing OSS today.

Mr. Hanchuk then moved on to US Trademark Law and explained the key topics: Genericness, concept of “Merely Descriptive” and “Likelihood of Confusion” analysis, Primarily Merely a Surname, Authors’ Names, Res Judicata and Collateral Estoppel, and Dilution. Complexity enters when the connotations and commercial impressions must be balanced against and may outweigh the visual and phonetic similarity. He illustrated with an interesting case: DC Comics v. Pan American Grain Mfg. Co. where KRYPTONITE (for T-Shirts, toys, and sporting goods, etc.) was confused with KRIPTONITA (for prepared alcoholic fruit cocktail). Mr. Hanchuk concluded with general legal advice: in all intellectual property issues with consultants and business associates and dealings:

(1) insure that all employees & consultants sign confidentiality & ip ownership agreements, (2) include patent and copyright ownership clauses (3) have employees execute exit agreements (4) take note of open source issues, (5) maintain trade secrets: limit disclosure, (6) police the brand, and (7) clear new marks and consider clearing new products of ip issues.

Throughout the presentation Mr. Hanchuk used vivid imagery and slides to keep the audience engaged and involved with a balance of technical/legal material and practical real-world problems.

After the formal presentation, the audience participated in a spirited question-and-answer session and collegial debate. The evening finished with informal and convivial discussions over food and drinks.

Walter Hanchuk is a partner in the intellectual property group at Chadbourne & Parke, a 100 year old international firm with 450 lawyers. The Firm has a major presence in Eastern Europe and the former CIS, including substantial offices in Kyiv, Warsaw, Moscow, St Petersburg and Kazakhstan.

Walter Hanchuk received his Engineering degree from the Cooper Union and his law degree from the George Washington University. His career spans over 17 years in intellectual property law, and in developing new and emerging technologies, including employment at the US Patent & Trademark Office as a US Patent Examiner and as a partner of Morgan & Finnegan, a patent law firm in New York. He has served on Advisory Boards of various emerging technology companies, and Editorial Boards of various publications of the New York Law Journal and the E-Commerce Law Journal. He has prosecuted many pioneering patents for various internet, information technology and financial service companies, and has litigated patent, unfair competition and trade secret cases against companies such as Microsoft and Texas Instruments. He was recently named one of New York's "Super Lawyers", a rating given to a small percentage of lawyers in an upcoming supplement to the NY Times.

Mr. Hanchuk described the pivotal lawsuits against Napster and Grokster, described briefly new and developing technologies such as 1. Slingbox (Box that retransmits television broadcasts to any PC worldwide), 2. Darknets (private P2P networks) and 3. Traditional P2P – Illegal File Sharing (now with over 9 million P2P users and over one billion songs, often hosted outside the United States) and concluded that there was “No practical alternative to controlling massive copyright infringement”. Mr. Hanchuk moved on to examining Open Source Software (OSS) - Freely licensed software including source code, in the public domain, which the Licensee has the right to use, modify and distribute at no charge. He explained the interesting legal concept of Copyleft, which is a general method for making a program or other work free, and requiring all modified and extended versions of the program to be free as well. Another important legal concept is that if a program contains open source, then potentially that entire program must be redistributed for free with source code.

Mr. Hanchuk debunked many common myths regarding OSS, including (1) You can do whatever you want with it, (2) You cannot charge for OSS (in fact - under certain conditions you can), (3) OSS is always free, and (4) You are forced to give up all of your Intellectual Property rights. He then described how many prominent companies, such as IBM, Apple, Tivo, and SONY, are effectively utilizing OSS today.

Mr. Hanchuk then moved on to US Trademark Law and explained the key topics: Genericness, concept of “Merely Descriptive” and “Likelihood of Confusion” analysis, Primarily Merely a Surname, Authors’ Names, Res Judicata and Collateral Estoppel, and Dilution. Complexity enters when the connotations and commercial impressions must be balanced against and may outweigh the visual and phonetic similarity. He illustrated with an interesting case: DC Comics v. Pan American Grain Mfg. Co. where KRYPTONITE (for T-Shirts, toys, and sporting goods, etc.) was confused with KRIPTONITA (for prepared alcoholic fruit cocktail). Mr. Hanchuk concluded with general legal advice: in all intellectual property issues with consultants and business associates and dealings:

(1) insure that all employees & consultants sign confidentiality & ip ownership agreements, (2) include patent and copyright ownership clauses (3) have employees execute exit agreements (4) take note of open source issues, (5) maintain trade secrets: limit disclosure, (6) police the brand, and (7) clear new marks and consider clearing new products of ip issues.

Throughout the presentation Mr. Hanchuk used vivid imagery and slides to keep the audience engaged and involved with a balance of technical/legal material and practical real-world problems.

After the formal presentation, the audience participated in a spirited question-and-answer session and collegial debate. The evening finished with informal and convivial discussions over food and drinks.

Walter Hanchuk is a partner in the intellectual property group at Chadbourne & Parke, a 100 year old international firm with 450 lawyers. The Firm has a major presence in Eastern Europe and the former CIS, including substantial offices in Kyiv, Warsaw, Moscow, St Petersburg and Kazakhstan.

Walter Hanchuk received his Engineering degree from the Cooper Union and his law degree from the George Washington University. His career spans over 17 years in intellectual property law, and in developing new and emerging technologies, including employment at the US Patent & Trademark Office as a US Patent Examiner and as a partner of Morgan & Finnegan, a patent law firm in New York. He has served on Advisory Boards of various emerging technology companies, and Editorial Boards of various publications of the New York Law Journal and the E-Commerce Law Journal. He has prosecuted many pioneering patents for various internet, information technology and financial service companies, and has litigated patent, unfair competition and trade secret cases against companies such as Microsoft and Texas Instruments. He was recently named one of New York's "Super Lawyers", a rating given to a small percentage of lawyers in an upcoming supplement to the NY Times.

Mr. Hanchuk described the pivotal lawsuits against Napster and Grokster, described briefly new and developing technologies such as 1. Slingbox (Box that retransmits television broadcasts to any PC worldwide), 2. Darknets (private P2P networks) and 3. Traditional P2P – Illegal File Sharing (now with over 9 million P2P users and over one billion songs, often hosted outside the United States) and concluded that there was “No practical alternative to controlling massive copyright infringement”. Mr. Hanchuk moved on to examining Open Source Software (OSS) - Freely licensed software including source code, in the public domain, which the Licensee has the right to use, modify and distribute at no charge. He explained the interesting legal concept of Copyleft, which is a general method for making a program or other work free, and requiring all modified and extended versions of the program to be free as well. Another important legal concept is that if a program contains open source, then potentially that entire program must be redistributed for free with source code.

Mr. Hanchuk debunked many common myths regarding OSS, including (1) You can do whatever you want with it, (2) You cannot charge for OSS (in fact - under certain conditions you can), (3) OSS is always free, and (4) You are forced to give up all of your Intellectual Property rights. He then described how many prominent companies, such as IBM, Apple, Tivo, and SONY, are effectively utilizing OSS today.

Mr. Hanchuk then moved on to US Trademark Law and explained the key topics: Genericness, concept of “Merely Descriptive” and “Likelihood of Confusion” analysis, Primarily Merely a Surname, Authors’ Names, Res Judicata and Collateral Estoppel, and Dilution. Complexity enters when the connotations and commercial impressions must be balanced against and may outweigh the visual and phonetic similarity. He illustrated with an interesting case: DC Comics v. Pan American Grain Mfg. Co. where KRYPTONITE (for T-Shirts, toys, and sporting goods, etc.) was confused with KRIPTONITA (for prepared alcoholic fruit cocktail). Mr. Hanchuk concluded with general legal advice: in all intellectual property issues with consultants and business associates and dealings:

(1) insure that all employees & consultants sign confidentiality & ip ownership agreements, (2) include patent and copyright ownership clauses (3) have employees execute exit agreements (4) take note of open source issues, (5) maintain trade secrets: limit disclosure, (6) police the brand, and (7) clear new marks and consider clearing new products of ip issues.

Throughout the presentation Mr. Hanchuk used vivid imagery and slides to keep the audience engaged and involved with a balance of technical/legal material and practical real-world problems.

After the formal presentation, the audience participated in a spirited question-and-answer session and collegial debate. The evening finished with informal and convivial discussions over food and drinks.

Walter Hanchuk is a partner in the intellectual property group at Chadbourne & Parke, a 100 year old international firm with 450 lawyers. The Firm has a major presence in Eastern Europe and the former CIS, including substantial offices in Kyiv, Warsaw, Moscow, St Petersburg and Kazakhstan.

Walter Hanchuk received his Engineering degree from the Cooper Union and his law degree from the George Washington University. His career spans over 17 years in intellectual property law, and in developing new and emerging technologies, including employment at the US Patent & Trademark Office as a US Patent Examiner and as a partner of Morgan & Finnegan, a patent law firm in New York. He has served on Advisory Boards of various emerging technology companies, and Editorial Boards of various publications of the New York Law Journal and the E-Commerce Law Journal. He has prosecuted many pioneering patents for various internet, information technology and financial service companies, and has litigated patent, unfair competition and trade secret cases against companies such as Microsoft and Texas Instruments. He was recently named one of New York's "Super Lawyers", a rating given to a small percentage of lawyers in an upcoming supplement to the NY Times.

As in years past, the New York City Chapter of the Ukrainian Engineers’ Society of America, together with the Ukrainian Medical Association of North America and the Ukrainian Institute of America, held the annual New York City “Yalynka.” The event took place on Saturday December 15th in the Ukrainian Institute of America.

The entertainment for the 2005 Yalynka was provided the girls choir of the Ukrainian American Youth Association, “Prolisok.” The choir, whose members range in ages from 13 to 20 years, has been in existence in the New York City area since 1994.

The soloist for “Malvy” by Ivasiuk and the “Little Drummer Boy” was Ms Marianka Zajac. The greeting was given by Ms. Andrea Popovich.

The food was once again catered by Mr. Wasyl Krawec of the Yonkers Miasarnia. Mr. Krawec has been preparing his excellent and varied menu for various New York City UESA Chapter events for many years. As always, his feast was greatly enjoyed by all in attendance.

As the night continued, the Ukrainian Institute’s hall continued to fill up as professionals, young and old, arrived together with their family and friends. New friendships and connections were made and old ones were reinvigorated.

Half way thru the evening the Yalynka guests were entertained by the unexpected arrival of Ukrainian carolers. The group, "Koliada Kaos," is an ongoing project started by Roxy Toporowych together with the Brooklyn Ukrainian Group (BUG). The carolers wear vertep costumes, play instruments, including latin percussion and guitar, and sing their hearts out.

The initial “Koliada Kaos” was held in 2003. It originally began as a fundraiser for the documentary "Folk!" and has continued to raise money each year for the film. The documentary “Folk!” follows the unique world of Ukrainian folk dancing in present day New York City. It takes a look at what it is like to grow up in a Ukrainian-American community while keeping your ties to your heritage and culture in an increasingly modern world.

Those interested in learning more about the “Folk!” documentary film project can refer to the KinoRox web site at www.kinorox.com or you can contact Natalia Labenskyj at natalia@kinorox.com

As always, the die-hard Yalynka attendees had such a good time that it was nearly impossible to convince them that this year’s event had to come to an end. On the bright side, however, the next UESA event is never too far away.

On May 26th, 2005, the Ukrainian Engineers' Society of NYC presented a lecture by Adam W. Hapij, P.E., civil engineer at Weidlinger Associates, Inc., NYC, on "Blast Effects on Buildings".

Mr. Hapij began with a broad overview of terrorist attacks in recent history, categorizing the 2,667 explosive incidents in the U.S between 2000 and 2003. He then described the blast threats from explosive weapons (mortars, hand grenades, improvised explosive devices, vehicle bombs, bulk high explosives) as well as non-explosive blast threats (from aircraft impact, car impact, and gas explosions).

Mr. Hapij next detailed the general features of explosion phenomena: detonation, afterburning, flash, and fragmentation. He explained the mathematical models and empirical relationships that are used to approximate these explosion phenomena, in particular the Friedlander Decay Equation that characterizes the temporal variation of pressure, using Kingery Bulmash Relationships to determine peak incident pressure and decay parameters. Graphical techniques were used to illustrate attenuation of blast effects with distance, reflected pressure, effects of burst position, and air blast damage criteria.

Mr. Hapij reviewed various construction materials - steel, concrete, timber, and unreinforced masonry - comparing their strengths and weaknesses in withstanding blast effects. He examined the consequences of blasts on structural and architectural building components, highlighting the propensity for loss of structural integrity, propagation of failure front, and response of conventional glass to blast.

Mr. Hapij then explored in detail design issues in mitigating blast effects, including hardening, perimeter protection, and protective design with curtain walls. He explained that, while the U.S. does not have Building Code requirements for blast resistance, there are many federal design guidelines and manuals that provide important design recommendations; one such recent example is FEMA 452 " Risk Assessment: a How-To Guide to Mitigate Potential Terrorist Attacks Against Buildings" (2005).

Mr. Hapij outlined various blast response simulation methodologies used to study blast phenomena and their effects on buildings, especially the Single Degree of Freedom (SDOF) analysis used by the majority of structural design industry. Other more involved simulation techniques include: (1) nonlinear dynamic finite element analysis, including large deformations and inelastic constitutive models; (2) decoupled simulation of air-structure interaction, and (3) more sophisticated fully-coupled approach using the computationally demanding ALE (Arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian) or Standard Coupler Interface (SCI) methods.

Finally, Mr. Hapij offered a design philosophy based on a balanced, practical approach to protect against specific threat locations, to protect against ill-defined loads, to utilize increased redundancy to redistribute extreme loads, to allow for load reversals, and to eliminate threats both within and adjacent to a building.

Throughout the presentation Mr. Hapij used vivid imagery and animations to demonstrate, with startling clarity and in slow motion, blast phenomena and effects. He kept the audience engMr. Hapij began with a broad overview of terrorist attacks in recent history, categorizing the 2,667 explosive incidents in the U.S between 2000 and 2003. He then described the blast threats from explosive weapons (mortars, hand grenades, improvised explosive devices, vehicle bombs, bulk high explosives) as well as non-explosive blast threats (from aircraft impact, car impact, and gas explosions).

Mr. Hapij next detailed the general features of explosion phenomena: detonation, afterburning, flash, and fragmentation. He explained the mathematical models and empirical relationships that are used to approximate these explosion phenomena, in particular the Friedlander Decay Equation that characterizes the temporal variation of pressure, using Kingery Bulmash Relationships to determine peak incident pressure and decay parameters. Graphical techniques were used to illustrate attenuation of blast effects with distance, reflected pressure, effects of burst position, and air blast damage criteria.

Mr. Hapij reviewed various construction materials - steel, concrete, timber, and unreinforced masonry - comparing their strengths and weaknesses in withstanding blast effects. He examined the consequences of blasts on structural and architectural building components, highlighting the propensity for loss of structural integrity, propagation of failure front, and response of conventional glass to blast.

Mr. Hapij then explored in detail design issues in mitigating blast effects, including hardening, perimeter protection, and protective design with curtain walls. He explained that, while the U.S. does not have Building Code requirements for blast resistance, there are many federal design guidelines and manuals that provide important design recommendations; one such recent example is FEMA 452 " Risk Assessment: a How-To Guide to Mitigate Potential Terrorist Attacks Against Buildings" (2005).

Mr. Hapij outlined various blast response simulation methodologies used to study blast phenomena and their effects on buildings, especially the Single Degree of Freedom (SDOF) analysis used by the majority of structural design industry. Other more involved simulation techniques include: (1) nonlinear dynamic finite element analysis, including large deformations and inelastic constitutive models; (2) decoupled simulation of air-structure interaction, and (3) more sophisticated fully-coupled approach using the computationally demanding ALE (Arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian) or Standard Coupler Interface (SCI) methods.

Finally, Mr. Hapij offered a design philosophy based on a balanced, practical approach to protect against specific threat locations, to protect against ill-defined loads, to utilize increased redundancy to redistribute extreme loads, to allow for load reversals, and to eliminate threats both within and adjacent to a building.

Throughout the presentation Mr. Hapij used vivid imagery and animations to demonstrate, with startling clarity and in slow motion, blast phenomena and effects. He kept the audience engaged and involved with a balance of technical material and practical real-world problems.

After the formal presentation, the audience participated in a spirited collegial debate over questions such as "could the WTC structural building collapse on 9/11 been anticipated and prevented?"

The evening finished with informal and convivial discussions over food and drinks.

The lecture counted towards NYS continuing education credit for licensed professional engineers.

On April 7, 2005, the New York City Chapter of the UESA held a "Resume and Job Hunting" workshop. The workshop was targeted to those that are entering the workforce in the United States for the first time or are looking to switch careers.

The workshop consisted of four short presentations by speakers with a range of experience, followed by a group question and answer session.

The first presentation was prepared by Ms. Maya Lew. Ms. Lew's professional experience includes being a Senior Staffing Coordinator for a downtown Manhattan staffing firm which specializes in sourcing candidates for the financial and medical sectors. Ms. Lew's lecture highlighted items which potential job candidates should consider both when preparing to conduct an interview with a prospective and when preparing a resume.

With respect to the basic "do's" which a job candidate should follow, Ms. Lew stressed the importance of being prompt and portraying a confident and interested image. The candidate should be well dressed and groomed as it is a reflection of their personal habits and life. Additionally, a candidate should be prepared with a researched understanding of the company which is offering the job and they should be prepared to answers the questions about themselves and their experience. These questions include "what are your strengths" and "tell me about yourself." Ms. Lew also noted that it is important to be able to account for gaps in your resume.

Ms. Lew also discussed items which a job candidate should consider when writing a resume. Among her observations was that a resume should be kept compact since employers tend to read resumes for an average of about 5 to 10 seconds. If they see something that grabs their attention in that span of time, then they will read on. Candidates should also show consistency in their work experience and/or a progression of experience and skills. Finally, candidates should try to use similar language, when applicable, to the advertisement for an open position. Sometimes a job can have several descriptions, but an employer will focus on resumes that mirror the language of the advertisement.

The next speaker was Mr. Wasyl Kinach, PE. Mr. Kinach is the Director of Classifications at the New York City Comptrollers Office. Mr. Kinach also spoke on the topics of writing a resume and conducting an interview.

One item Mr. Kinach mentioned with respect to resumes was that it is important to understand that the purpose of a resume is to create interest and to whet the reader's appetite for more information. The resume itself will not secure a potential position. Rather, it serves to create interest, generate questions which will allow the job seeker to elaborate on their strengths, and to serve as a "reminder" about the job seeker's qualifications.

On the topic of interviews, Mr. Kinach reaffirmed the central themes which were often repeated throughout the night. He noted that one's appearance, punctuality, and communication skills have a significant impact on the first impression the prospective employer will develop. You have one chance at a first impression, and you want to make the best effort to make this a positive one. Mr. Kinach continued to discuss how interviewers watch for possible disqualifications which include contradictions, grandiose claims, anger, and evidence of indecisions on inflexibility. He also noted that it is not advisable to criticize previous employers or bosses.

Mr. Kinach concluded by reviewing a number of "core" interview questions to which a person should have thoughtful and relevant answers. These core questions include "Tell us about yourself," "what is your biggest strength," "what is your biggest weakness," "what kind of decisions are most difficult for you," and "how could you make a contribution to this company."

The next speaker was Mr. Roman Kostiuk who is an associate at Societe Generale, a corporate investment banking firm. Mr. Kostiuk shared observations on the current recruiting market.

Mr. Kostiuk began by noting that a job seeker needs to have a clear idea of what they want to do and what a prospective position entails. A person should understand whether the two aspects coincide. He also noted a person should not be discouraged if your skills do not match the advertised position exactly. Often, similar skills can be applied to new tasks.

This concept extends to the philosophy that it's advisable for an person to be an innovator and one to take action. One should be eager to learn. Learning translates to the experience which is needed in various complex environments is for most advanced and senior positions. An employee is there to add value to a company, and one's experience and skills provide that value.

Finally, Mr. Kostiuk touched on how different professions can take advantage of modern tools. For example, various internet job search tools, such as Dice.com, Career builder, and Monster.com, allow a job seeker to obtain a great deal of exposure quickly. Such tools can also help a job seeker develop an extensive network of contacts in their field and to find a mentor.

The next speaker was Mr. Adrian Berezowsky. Mr. Berezowsky is currently completing his studies in the field of construction law. Mr. Berezowsky shared observations from the perspective of a recent entrant into the job market.

Among the items Mr. Berezowsky mentioned was that it is important to account for gaps in your resume's timelines in an honest fashion. He reiterated the fact that it is important the job seeker be completely honest with respect to their employment history and other items listed on their resume. The job seeker should assume that the information can and will be verified by the prospective employer. If the reality conflicts with what is presented as the "truth" the it will impact very negatively on the job seeker.

Mr. Berezowsky also noted that as a student just entering the job market, it is important to call attention to extracurricular activities. These activities reflect on the job seeker's abilities, responsibilities and dedication. It is also important for the job seeker to be properly prepared for an interview. .Enough research should be done so that the job seeker can speak knowledgeably about what the prospective company does and what it has to offer. Furthermore, the research should allow the job seeker to ask intelligent questions. Mr. Berezowsky noted that often the toughest question which will be posted to a job seeker is "do you have any questions." Those seeking employment should be prepared with intelligent and relevant questions.

Mr. Berezowsky noted that it is valuable to be observant with respect to the surroundings at an interview location and the interviewer's reactions to various items. Often, an item of common interest, such as a favorite baseball team, can be the key to establishing a unique connection which other job seekers may not obtain. Finally, Mr. Berezowsky noted that is often a good idea to send a thank you note to the person who conducted the interview. Not only is it a professional courtesy but it also provides an additional opportunity for the job seeker to remind the prospective employer about them.

The evening concluded as it began with informal chats among the workshop's attendees.

By Zina Kozak-Zachary

On Saturday, January 29, 2005, UESA Detroit Branch hosted the 42nd Winter Ball and Presentation of the Debutantes, a tradition which was first initiated by the Society in 1960.

This year the event took place at the newly renovated Ukrainian Cultural Center in Warren, Michigan where nearly 250 guests gathered to welcome two additional young ladies to the Ukrainian-American community in South Eastern Michigan. To date, the UESA has presented 406 young ladies through this socially rich ceremony including its latest debutantes: Miss Natalie Christina Lawrin (daughter of Dr. Oleh and Barbara Lawrin, and grand-daughter of fellow UESA member Mykola Lawrin) escorted by Jordan Fylonenko, and Elizabeth Marie Pateryn (daughter of George and Jenny Pateryn) escorted by Patrick Nordstrom.

The presiding president of the USEA Detroit Branch, Natalie Lewyckyj, opened the evening's festivities by welcoming the debutantes, their families, members of the UESA and guests. After a few short words, she introduced the Mistress of Ceremonies and fellow colleague, Zina Kozak-Zachary, who began her address by calling attention to the evening's orange theme. The significance of this color, to Ukrainian-Americans as a whole, was two-fold: it was deeply symbolic of the evening's ceremony as well as of the recent events in Ukraine.

Firstly, orange is the nationally recognized color of the school of engineering and as such it has a meaning to the Detroit Chapter members of the Ukrainian Engineers' Society.

Secondly, orange has become representative of the determination of Ukrainians to see their country a free democracy. Inspired by this monumental historic event, the Detroit Branch of the UESA chose to adopt this symbolic color in the sprit of the peaceful revolution which took place in Ukraine.

In response, we decorated ourselves and our community with orange scarves, orange ribbons, and that evening the display of orange was extended to the debutantes' bouquets, the escorts' boutonnières and even a few bow ties and pocket squares!

After completing her opening remarks, Mrs. Kozak-Zachary proceeded to the main attraction of the evening's program. As their names were announced, the debutantes entered the ballroom wearing white formal gowns and long white gloves, and carrying nosegays of brilliant orange roses.

They were escorted to the center of the dance floor where they greeted family and guests with a curtsy as they were introduced. The young ladies were then invited to the first dance of the evening with their escorts, followed by the traditional second dance with their fathers.

Finally, the escorts led the debutantes' mothers to the dance floor where they each received a long-stemmed rose from their daughters. The debutantes, their escorts and the debutantes' parents enjoyed the last ceremonial waltz before taking a final bow. Winding up the presentation ceremony the MC and guests toasted the debutantes and sang the traditional "Mnohaja Lita."

Following the dinner, dancing and socializing lasted well past midnight to contemporary music provided by Toronto's "Kari Ochi."

Special credits are due the Ball Committee for their efforts in organizing yet another successful Winter Ball: Dianna Korduba Sawicky (committee chair), Natalie Lawyckyj (UESA Detroit Branch President), Laryssa Kozak and Zina Kozak-Zachary (debutante presentation and advertisement), Greg and Oksana Woloszczuk (reservations), and Kornel and Irene Senyk (photographs and flowers).

To see a photo gallery of the event, click here.

by Andrij Wowk

UESA members from across the country took part in this year's Plenary Board Meeting, held on Saturday, January 15, 2005 in East Hanover, New Jersey, with the theme "Creating a Roadmap for the UESA's Future.

The meeting opened with the presentation of reports from National Board Executive Officers for the period of September 2003 to December 2004, followed by reports (via teleconference) from the UESA chapters in Detroit, Minneapolis, New Jersey, New York City, and Washington, D.C.

Plenary Meeting attendees in East Hanover, NJ A discussion then took place on how best to increase membership in the UESA. Key ideas which came out of this and other meeting discussions included:

• b  UESA publications need to focus on the needs of our younger members, include topics which relate to professionals in Ukraine, and include profiles of individual members.
  
  
•   UESA should consider membership in the Ukrainian Free Academy of Sciences (UVAN), and/or the World Federation of Engineering Organizations.
  
  
•   We need to increase efforts to educate the community about the networking benefits of UESA, and the range of membership levels we support. Networking was noted to be a key benefit for young professional and student UESA members.
  
  
•   We should identify UESA members who are willing to mentor younger members, and/or help with career-related activities.
  
  
•   The scholarship program being pursued through creation of the UESA Foundation will be an opportunity to attract younger members and gain publicity for UESA benefits.
  
  
•   An adjusted UESA budget for the year 2005 was reviewed and approved by meeting attendees.

Based on the success of teleconferencing with the chapters for the Plenary Meeting, it was decided that future Natioanl Board meetings will also be opened up to chapter Board participation via conference call.

Overall, the Plenary Meeting provided an opportunity for UESA chapters and the National Board to engage in an exciting and creative dialogue about the future of the organization. We look forward to acting on the ideas which were discussed!

(Any members wishing to receive copies of the National Board and Chapter Board reports presented at the meetig should send e-mail to national@uesa.org, or regular mail to the address on the letterhead).