Bay Area Chapter News
The Bay Area Chapter of the System Safety Society held a general membership meeting on Sept. 19, 2008 via a telephone conference call. Items discussed were the 26th ISSC in Vancouver, the upcoming Conference in Huntsville, Chapter elections and possible tours at local facilities.
Houston Chapter
The Chapter is alive and well, despite Hurricane Ike's best efforts. Members are in the process of collecting pertinent observations and Lessons Learned from a system safety perspective. To date, these range from the validation of building design codes as observed in coastal areas to the validation of system mitigation actions taken by various entities following Hurricane Katrina (for example, redundant cell tower power strings). Chapter President Diane Rivera resigned her position in August due to personal and work conflicts; we are sad to see her go and thank her for stepping up as our president. Good luck, Diane — we hope to still benefit from your participation in the future. Derek Robins has assumed the duties of Chapter president.
Sierra High Desert Chapter
Congratulations to Ken Chirkis, who was awarded Manager of the Year at the 26th ISSC for his outstanding leadership for Society year 2008. Ken's ability to motivate, lead and mentor is inspirational.
Singapore Chapter
The Singapore Chapter held an Executive Committee meeting on Sept. 16, 2008. The agenda of the meeting included:
- Update the Singapore Chapter Executive Council members on the developments at the System Safety Society Executive Council Meeting held during the th ISSC
- Planning for a Sharing Session on Nov. 14, 2008
- Planning for System Safety course in early 2009
- Closing of books on the Finances for the ISSRC 2008
- Discussion on Society Chapter meeting with the Ministry of Manpower (MoM) on Concept of System Safety
On Oct. 13, 2008, Yue Sang led a team comprising Eng Ling, Su Cheok, Associate Professor Chua and Kwee Seng for a dialogue session with the Occupational Safety & Health Division (System Safety Branch) of the MoM. The Ministry is keen to understand more about the concept of system safety and to explore how Singapore can leverage on system safety to enhance the safety level of the local industries. We also shared on the activities of the System Safety Society. Major takeaway from the meeting was the interest by the MoM to request for some of our more experienced system safety practitioners to share on the concept of system safety at some of their safety officer courses.
Tennessee Valley Chapter
Twenty-seven members of the Tennessee Valley Chapter journeyed to beautiful Vancouver, British Columbia, to attend the ground-breaking 26th ISSC at the Sheraton Wall Centre Hotel. This year's awards banquet had some great news for Tennessee Valley as our own Tom Pfitzer, APT Research, received the Society's highest honor, the Professional Development Award, for his sustained, significant achievement in the advancement of the system safety profession during the course of his career. In addition, Tom was also named as a recipient of the President's Achievement Award, selected by the Society President, for his outstanding service to the Society. TVC members contributed to the technical program with a total of six papers, a panel and a tutorial. The conference was also a great opportunity for Rhonda Barnes, ISSC 2009 Conference Chair, to publicize next year's event, which will be hosted in Huntsville on August 3-7 at the Von Braun Center, with the Embassy Suites as our conference hotel. Staffing the Huntsville ISSC 2009 Booth were Mary Bissell (Social Chair, ISSC 2009), Jo Seay (Huntsville/Madison County Convention & Visitors Bureau) and Jennifer Terry (Von Braun Center). The Planning Committee would like to extend a thank you to those local vendors and businesses that provided donations and door prizes used to publicize ISSC 2009. Visit ISSC 2009 at www.issc2009.org.
On Sept. 9, 2008, 28 TVC Members participated in the annual Huntsville Association of Technical Societies (HATS) dinner at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center to honor our Professional of the Year (POY), James S. Blanteno. The annual HATS POY dinner honors professionals from 19 local technical organizations. Jim was selected because of key contributions to TVC initiatives to educate high school and college engineering students about system safety early in their careers. Though not in a formal or traditional classroom setting, system safety is learned by future engineers through the development of the System Safety Award in The Great Moonbuggy Race and the Symbiotic System Safety Award (Special Award Sponsor) in the Alabama Regional Future City Competition. The Chapter also hosted two Science and Technology Education and Training (STEDTRAIN) Grant winners. Grants are utilized to further the quality of science and technology education in Northern Alabama K-12 schools, both public and private.
The Chapter's September meeting was held Sept. 17 at Westar, a QinetiQ North America Corporation in Huntsville. There were 34 members and guests present. Don Hanline, Chapter president, opened the meeting by welcoming everyone and provided a brief rundown of information from the National Executive Committee Meeting held in Vancouver. The highlights included the EC discussions on increasing national dues, the national name change to "International System Safety Society," and the re-write of the national by-laws and operating procedures. Keith Rose, Health Physicist in the AMCOM Safety Office, presented the AMCOM Radiation Safety Program and information on the three Nuclear Regulatory Committee licenses that are held by AMCOM.
Washington DC Chapter
Congratulations to all our Chapter members that contributed to the Chapter of the Year Award for Society years 2007 and 2008.
For those of you who attended the WDC System Safety Training Symposium (WDC SSTS) and the hundreds of you who asked about future similar events, the WDC has decided by EC vote to hold a WDC SSTS every other year, with the next WDC SSTS scheduled for 2010, so please look for more information and detail soon, and remember to check our Web site for updates.
Elections are complete and we have a new Executive Council (EC). Thanks to all those WDC members who voted — your activity in the Chapter is appreciated. Our new EC Officers were induced and outgoing officers were shown our gratitude at the October Chapter Meeting and Social.
Congratulations to all of our new Chapter EC members. Additionally, thank you to all our outgoing EC members. Your service to your Chapter made a difference and is appreciated.
Secretary — Kathy Garcia
Treasurer — Vonderlear Fields
Meetings & Events Officer — Kate Perrone, Sherry Smith and Marci Roan
Education and Scholarships Officer — Janet Gill
Webmaster — Donne Difiglia
Memberships Officer — Nicholas Dunford and Connie Norris
Special Projects Officer — Oscar Vera
A number of awards were presented this Executive Council (EC) year: At the June WDC SSTS, Amber Schauf and Dave Shampine received the WDC President's Award for their significant contributions to the Chapter during the EC year. Donne Difiglia received a President's Award for her unparalleled contributions to the Chapter in developing the first WDC Web site, as well as her continued support as Chapter Secretary. Rachel Lupro, Nick Dunford, Oscar Vera, Michelle Arevalo, Peggy Rogers and Mark Annen received President's Awards for their significant contributions to the successful System Safety Training Symposium (SSTS). This was a landmark system safety-focused training event and a hallmark for the Society to follow. Two non-Chapter members received WDC President Awards. One was presented to the Bradley Gottfried, president of the College of Southern Maryland, for his and his staff's support in hosting the WDC SSTS. A Chapter President's Award was also presented to Cathy Carter, administrative Secretary for the System Safety Society, for her unwavering support to the registration of over 150 attendees to the SSTS and her on-site support for registrations and general logistics during the SSTS.
A new Chapter Honor and a new Award was created and presented this year. The Chapter of the Year Plaque Display Honor and accompanying Letter of Commendation was developed and ratified by the WDC EC. This honor is reserved for the select organization that contributed significantly to WDC and System Safety Society goals and objectives. Executive Council committee determines the recipients of this honor. The honor of displaying the Chapter of the Year plaque remains until the selection of the next recipient. The first recipient of this Honor is EG&G Technical Services, a Division of URS and the Chapter members at the EG&G Dahlgren, Virginia Office. The award was presented at the WDC October meeting. Finally, the WDC Technical Exchange Award was also developed and ratified by the WDC EC. This award recognizes the organization that has provided our membership with the most rewarding educational experience of the year and is reserved for one organization or person a year. This year's recipient was Jim O'Connor, the Director of the nano and microfabrication laboratory located at the University of Maryland College Park.
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