Bay Area Chapter
Rich Bacher has accepted the position of Secretary/Newsletter Editor for the Bay Area Chapter. His appointment began on Oct. 23, 2007.
Georgia Chapter
The Georgia Chapter held an Executive Council meeting in September to discuss upcoming meetings, guest speakers, tours of technical facilities and meeting locations for the upcoming year. Odell Ferrell, Chapter president, attended the 25th International System Safety Conference (ISSC) in Baltimore, Maryland. Ongoing activities include planning for a Coca Cola Museum tour, a needs assessment of Chapter members and recruitment of system safety professionals in Georgia who are not members of the System Safety Society. The next scheduled meeting is in December in Marietta, Georgia.
Northwest Chapter
The Northwest Chapter recently presented a paper at the first of two planned joint meetings with the local chapter of the ASSE in Richland, Washington. The topic of the presentation was system safety aspects of making the safety case for launch of nuclear-fueled (for electricity) spacecraft. This same paper will be presented at the Vancouver ISSC this August.
The Chapter will sponsor a booth at the upcoming Energy Facility Contractors Group (EFCOG) workshop. EFCOG sponsors an annual safety analysis workshop, which will be held in Richland May 3 - 8, 2008. This year's workshop will focus on the nuclear renaissance.
Sierra High Desert Chapter
Ken Chirkis received the Sierra High Desert Chapter and the Society Educator of the Year Award for his outstanding teaching and mentoring skills for 2007. Jerry Banister received the Founder's Award in August, and Ronnie Merrill upgraded his membership status from Affiliate to Member.
Singapore Chapter
The Singapore Chapter sent 16 members to the 25th ISSC. After returning from the Conference, the organizing committee for the 2008 International System Safety Regional Conference got down to work and followed up with contacts made during the ISSC to solicit papers and participation at the Regional Conference. Good progress is being made in the submission of paper abstracts. The Ministry of Defence also has made a firm commitment for its support of the ISSRC 2008.
Tennessee Valley Chapter
The Tennessee Valley Chapter held its September meeting at Westar Aerospace and Defense in Huntsville, with 11 members and guests present. Those present discussed holding meetings by telecon to improve participation. Several options were discussed, and overall concerns regarding security, customer access (government computers, etc.) and cost were addressed. The Chapter is looking for input and possible solutions, which will be forwarded to the Society's Executive Council. An update was given on the status of site selection for the 2009 ISSC. The TVC will host the Conference, pending a final proposal being presented to Society Headquarters in the summer of 2008. Chapter President Chad Thrasher has appointed Jim Blanteno as the Special Events Committee chairperson. This announcement and his duties are available on the Chapter Web site, www.system-safety.org/~tenn_valley/.
The Chapter's October meeting was held at the Software Engineering Directorate on Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, with 34 members and guests present. In a deviation from the military and space-themed presentations, attendees heard from John Toy, Safety Program Manager of the FAA Safety Team (FAAST). FAAST has developed the Safety Management System, which is redefining, and in some cases defining, the risk management process to all aviators and maintenance personal certified by the FAA.
Washington DC Chapter
The WDC Chapter thanks everyone for attending the 2007 ISSC; your attendance and participation made this conference a benchmark success, with conference attendance at an all-time high of 560 and a near-record turn-out of 20 sponsors and exhibitors. Thanks to all of you who made this possible.
Post ISSC, the Chapter continues its aggressive meetings and special events schedule. In September 2007, the Washington DC Chapter held the first of what will undoubtedly be many collaborative events with the American Society of Naval Engineers (ASNE). This first gathering was a social event held at a local Virginia winery. Following a wine tasting, engineers from both organizations socialized and discussed pertinent engineering issues and challenges. Another Chapter meeting at the University of Maryland was held in October, and was a collaborative event with the American Industrial Hygienist Association (AIHA). The Chapter's objective is to foster an atmosphere of teambuilding with other relevant professional associations, while maintaining a focus on system safety. A subset of this objective is to carry the message of system safety to industry and government leadership for the purposes of enlightening decision-makers on what system safety engineering is, how it pertains to their discipline and how the System Safety Society can help.
When your travels bring you into the Washington DC area, please feel free to contact one of our Chapter EC representatives and see if you can make one of our meetings. The WDC Web site lists all of our EC members and their contact information, and also provides a calendar of events. The Web site continues to be improved, so please check it out from time to time. Visit us at http://www.system-safety.org/~washingtondc/.
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