Bay Area Chapter
The Bay Area Chapter conducted an Executive Council meeting on August 29, 2011 at Pedro's restaurant in Santa Clara, California.
Discussions on upcoming events, Brown Bag topics and potential field trips were held. Other topics of discussion included the Bay Area Chapter Website, which is tentatively scheduled to hit the World Wide Web prior to the end of this year. Some ideas for the Website include a Chapter calendar, job posting board, photo album and contact list — more info will be forthcoming. The Bay Area Chapter is also on LinkedIn — please add it to your professional network (Bay Area Chapter International System Safety Society).
On October 25, the Bay Area Chapter celebrated Oktoberfest and toured the Gordon Biersch facility in San Jose, California. The tour was tailored to focus on the safety of brewing and free samples were provided throughout the tour.
Plans are also in the works for a possible field trip to the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in November, as well as a Brown Bag presentation, scheduled to take place on December 1, 2011 at Lockheed Martin in Sunnyvale, California.
Canada Chapter
The Canada Chapter recently presented a noontime talk on "Root Cause Analysis and Human and Organizational Factors — Experience in the Nuclear Power Plant Industry" by Suzanne Dolecki, senior human factors specialist, Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission. This presentation addressed some common human-factors lessons common to other safety-critical industries. The Canada Chapter programs up to four noontime presentations during the year, culminating with a half day seminar in the spring as a yearly wrap-up. The spring seminar usually has four speakers addressing a common theme, followed by a group discussion.
At the Society year 2011 Awards Banquet in Las Vegas, Robert Fletcher (Past President Canada Chapter, Director of International Development) received the International Award for his contribution to the international advancement of the System Safety Society during the 2010-11 year. Gerry Einarsson (Chapter Treasurer, Director of Chapter Services, past Executive Secretary) received the President's Award for outstanding service to the society — his second President's Award since 2000.
Note: Photos of the Chapter award winners were printed in the September-October 2011 issue of the JSS.
Sierra High Desert Chapter (SHDC)
Chapter Treasurer Ken Chirkis gave an outstanding Risk Acceptance Process presentation to a joint SHDC and Washington DC Chapter meeting on July 13 at URS in Dahlgren, Virginia. After teaching his excellent Fault Tree Analysis course to many chapter members, Clif Ericson II, JSS Technical Editor and Director of Publicity and Media, joined Jim Zidzik, NAVAIR National Division Head for System Safety Engineering, as distinguished guests for the chapter meeting at the Ridgecrest Pizza Factory on July 19.
The Sierra High Desert Chapter held a joint chapter meeting with the Saguaro and Washington DC Chapters at the 29th International System Safety Conference held at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada in August 2011. At the Society Year 2011 awards banquet, the Sierra High Desert Chapter won the Chapter of the Year Award. In addition, Mark Buffum received the Engineer of the Year Award, and Jerry Banister received the President's Award for outstanding service as director of chapter services. This was the Chapter's SHDC founder, president and membership chair's second President's Award. The Sierra High Desert Chapter of the International System Safety Society had a great showing at this year's Conference in Las Vegas, with 20 members in attendance.
John Leipper, Fellow, continued his long and invaluable support to the ISSCs, and Ken Chirkis volunteered for many tasks as ISSC 29 planning committee members. SHDC's Chapter president appointed John Alves as Chapter Webmaster.
Note: Photos of the Chapter award winners were printed in the September-October 2011 issue of the JSS.
Singapore Chapter
The Singapore Chapter participated actively in the 2011 ISSC. There were about 15 participants and two papers presented from Singapore. The papers were "Applying System Safety Methodology and Related Tools for a Public-Private Partnership Programme," presented by Mr. Heah Minyi and Mr. Chua Boon Heng (DSTA,) and "Adaption of Software Risk Assessment," by Ms. Ng Suk Fen and Ms. Mok Boon Eang (ST Electronics, Info-Software).
The Singapore Chapter saw the hand-over of the Chapter presidency from Ms. Siow Seet Ting (ST Kinetics) to Mr. Yap Kwee Seng (Land Transport Authority). The Singapore Chapter held a meeting on September 16, 2011 at the Land Transport Authority (LTA) Hampshire Office. The Chapter Executive Committee (EC) welcomed two new officers, Mr. Rodney Tan Kheng Eng and Mr. Teo Yeow Keong from Defence Science & Technology Agency (DSTA).
The Singapore Chapter would like to take this opportunity to thank Mr. Michael Tan (DSTA) for his valuable contribution to the Chapter EC since its inauguration in 2002. Mr. Michael Tan decided to step down from the Chapter EC in August 2011. The Chapter EC meeting discussed the work plan for this Society work-year and aligned the proposed activities with the ISSS's strategic objectives. The Chapter EC also introduced two new office positions — Publicity & Media to be headed by Mr. Oei Su Cheok, the Chapter's current Webmaster, and Professional Education & Development to be headed by Ms. Onn Eng Ling. The Chapter has created a new Past President Council, which the current president can tap for resources. In addition, the council can also advise the Executive Committee and safeguard the Chapter's reserves.
Singapore Chapter Executive Committee
From Left to Right: Siow Seet Ting, Onn Eng Ling, Lee Lai Heng, Ten Lin Mei, Teo Yeow Keong, A/Prof David Chua, Yap Kwee Seng, Oei Su Cheok. Not in the photo: Mr Fan Yue Sang, Mr Rodney Tan
Click to enlarge
Washington DC (WDC) Chapter
After a great multi-chapter meeting in Las Vegas (co-hosted by the Sierra High Desert, New Mexico and Saguaro Chapters), members of the WDC area returned to their respective workplaces revitalized from the 2011 ISSC and all the knowledge gained there. The WDC Chapter would like to express its congratulations to the Sierra High Desert Chapter on its successful win of the Chapter of the Year Award!
On August 24, James Spencer gave an engaging presentation on "Practical Applications of Weibull Analysis including New Methods and Lessons Learned." This meeting was held in Leonardtown, Maryland.
Next, the WDC Chapter hosted a monthly meeting at the Booz Allen Hamilton offices, located in Crystal City, Virginia, on September 21. Sherman Forbes, Jeff Walker and Bob Smith gave a fantastic brief on the status of MIL-STD 882E and its pending release. The New Mexico Chapter joined the meeting via teleconference.
On September 30, the WDC awarded two engineering students the WDC Engineering Scholarship. One recipient is a 24-year-old man (3.9 GPA) who is about to receive his two-year degree in general engineering, and the other is a 31-year-old veteran (4.0 GPA) who is a year away from obtaining his two-year degree as well. Both recipients are transferring to a four-year institution to complete their engineering educations. A formal awards ceremony is scheduled to take place in October, 2011.
On October 5, the WDC hosted its annual Oktoberfest at the Oak Crest Winery. The guest of honor was Michael Demmick, past president of the WDC Chapter and co-founder of the WDC Engineering Scholarship Program. Mike left in mid-October 2011 for a one-year temporary duty assignment abroad. Additionally, Mike's son, Robert Demmick, is also back from the Navy on leave and is en-route to his first tour in the Navy to Guam as an explosive ordnance disposal technician. The WDC Chapter wishes them both a safe journey and a speedy return.
Upcoming events for the WDC Chapter are the monthly meeting in November 2011 (to be held in Dahlgren, Virginia) and the annual Christmas Party to be held on December 2 in Fredericksburg, Virginia.
As always, the WDC Chapter welcomes all ISSS members to its meetings and functions. If ISSS members are interested in attending WDC events and would like to be on the distribution list, please forward your email address to Amber Schauf, Chapter president.
Virtual Chapter
During the past few months the Virtual Chapter has held its annual face-to-face meeting at the System Safety Society Conference. At that meeting, the Chapter took nominations for the various Chapter offices and held an election on September 12. New officers include:
Jimmy Turner — President
Steve Mattern — Vice President
Lee Flint — Treasurer
Matt Johnson — Secretary
Our chapter has a group located on LinkedIn (http://www.linkedin.com/). Search for Virtual Chapter of the System Safety Society.
The Chapter typically meets on the second Monday of the month at 6 p.m. Central Time. In the past, discussions have included topics such as hazard tracking databases, integrating system safety into defense acquisition, hazard lessons learned and more. In the future, the Chapter will have a presentation on virtual meeting and collaboration opportunities and data exchange standards. Join the Virtual Chapter as a primary member or, if you are already affiliated with another chapter, you can attend as an associate. It costs nothing to participate, and you gain the opportunity to network and learn what others in the profession are doing.
For more information about the chapter, visit its LinkedIn page or contact Jimmy Turner at ts41930@yahoo.com.
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