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RAC VI Meeting Minutes

Saturday, 02 October 1999

Summerfield Suites, El Segundo, CA

 

In Attendance:

 

Ranney Adams                      Deputy Director, Honors and Awards

Norm Bergrun                                    Deputy Director at Large

Elizabeth Carter                     AIAA Member Activities Liaison, Western Office

Bill Chana                               Distinguished Lecturer, Member at Large

Gabriel Georgiades                 San Gabriel Valley Section, Chair

Christine Hailey                     Utah Section, RAC Representative

Carlo Hormozian                   San Fernando Valley Section, Chair

Stephen Jaeger                       San Francisco Section, Chair

Laura Kistler                          Pacific Northwest Section, RAC Representative

Kevin Kremeyer                     Tucson Section, Chair

Mike Lazar                             San Diego Section, RAC Representative

Byron Lowry                          San Diego Section, Chair

Michael Mackowski               Phoenix Section, RAC Representative

Zak Mirza                               Los Angeles Section, Chair

Joe Morano                             Orange County, RAC Rep., DD for Precollege & 2003

Tom Nosek                             Deputy Director, Technical

Dion Ramsical                                    Antelope Valley, Chair

Chris Root                              Deputy Director, Young Professionals

Ken Sanger                             Region VI Director

Rina Shivashankara               Tucson Section, Vice-Chair

Ed Smith                                 China Lake Section, Chair

 

 

I           Opening Remarks

 

Director for Region VI, Ken Sanger, called the meeting to order at 10:00 AM and thanked all for attending. He related that Juanita Ryan’s husband had passed away, and asked for a few minutes of silence. An envelope was passed around, and Elizabeth was given the action to send a beautiful arrangement of plants/flowers to Juanita from RAC VI.

 

Self-introductions were made and everyone described their favorite food. For example, Mike Lazar likes a dish called spanish bird, Norm Bergrun enjoys oatmeal, and Tom Nosek told a story about fried liverwurst. It was an amusing introduction session.

 

II         Approval of 22 May 1999 Minutes

 

A motion was made, seconded and passed to approve the minutes of the 22 May 1999 RAC VI Meeting.

 

III        Staff Liaison Report

 

Elizabeth presented copies of the staff liaison report that includes Key Institute Activities between May 1999 and August 1999. The report includes information about: Member Activities, Corporate Membership, Honors and Awards, Evolution of Flight, Events, International Activities, Journals, Professional Development, Standards and more. If any RAC VI members missed the report please contact Elizabeth Carter to have a copy forwarded.

 

The new AIAA Trial Membership Program was discussed. Recipients of the Outstanding Section Award in all categories including first, second and third winners were selected to participate in the Program. Each winning Section receives a number of free trial memberships to extend to any qualified non-member aerospace professional. The invited trial member cannot have been an AIAA member at any time previously. From 1 January 2000 to 1 September 2000 the successful applicants will receive all the benefits of membership - dues free. An information package will be going out to the winning Sections. Region VI Section winners were Vandenberg, China Lake and San Diego.

 

IV        Review of Open Action Items

 

Sectional bylaws - China Lake and Pt. Lobos requested to include article 12 paragraph in their bylaws. ACTION 98-9-1: OPEN - China Lake and Point Lobos are working on the bylaw change.

 

ACTION 99–1-2: Sanger to look into economy of scale with regards to postage, production and printing. Status: CLOSED - Sanger received word from National that research indicated no benefit from a single source.

 

ACTION 99-5-2: Carter to find the letter the AIAA sends to supervisors of active council members. Status: CLOSED – Carter has the letter and will send it to any Section Honors and Awards officer.

 

V         Regional Director’s Report

 

Copies of the Director’s Report were presented at the meeting. If any RAC VI members missed the report please contact Elizabeth Carter to have a copy forwarded. Sanger highlighted the following from the August Meetings:

 

v      RSAC and RAC VI reports are going out electronically.

v      The Regional Leadership Conference in Dallas was successful. Attendance was high - 90 participants from 44 sections. The year 2000 RLC will be held in Las Vegas.

v      The next RSAC meeting will be held on 13 January 2000 in Reno.

v      Merlin Dorfman was appointed to the Ethical Conduct Panel for a three-year term.

v      FY00 budget was approved, $66k was approved to fund section participation at the Congressional Visits Day, and $1M was approved for Electronic Information Services. EIS must come up with a business plan.

v      National Nominating Committee – Bill Chana and Christine Anderson are candidates for a Director-at-large position, and Region VI has three candidates for Director – Norm Bergrun, Doug Chappelle and Joe Morano.

v      Joe Morano is the Evolution of Flight Deputy Director for Region VI.

v      Region VI thanks Pat Ames-Urie and Tim Hanneman for their work as Deputy Directors for Membership and Education. These positions are now open. ACTION ITEM 99-10-1: All Region VI members to contact Ken Sanger with suggestions for volunteers to fill these open Deputy Director positions.

v      The Region VI Student Paper Conference will be held on 7-9 April 2000 at San Diego State University. The point of contact is George Faulkner at 619 270-7354.

v      Please submit Special Service Citations for approval at RSAC in January 2000.

v      Rebates will be $7.25 per member. Headquarters will begin sending out checks in October.

v      Pacific Northwest and San Gabriel Valley owe Section Annual Reports. San Fernando Valley and Tucson owe both audit/budget and Annual Reports. Utah needs to correct their audit/budget report.

 

VI        Deputy Director Reports

 

Finance

Miles Nesman emailed a written report. See attachment #1 for rebate status, and financial status. Highlights of the report include:

v      Balance in the Region VI checking account is $8,440.07, including $1,791.62 of Category III funds.

v      Balance in the Student Conference checking account is $5,146.94.

v      Two Category III rebate checks and one return of unused Category III funds.

v      $533 to AIAA National Section Support Team – for funding travel to Regional Leadership Conference. This is in addition to $1,500 paid in April.

v      $1,900 to AIAA Phoenix section for Tucson reactivation activity.

v      $753 from AIAA San Diego section for unspent $ for creativity award.

v      Submit reports of results of activities funded by past Category III rebates.

v      Category III funds are now available to Region VI sections for 1999-2000.

 

 

Honors and Awards

Ranney Adams submitted a written report. For a copy of the full report please contact Elizabeth Carter. Highlights are:

v      Congratulated Region VI Section Awards winners.

v      Merlin Dorfman won the Software TC Award.

v      The sectional awards ceremony at Reno will be streamlined – Ranney is very positive about the changes.

v      The Associate Fellows Induction Dinner at Reno will be continued in 2000. Ranney encouraged all members to submit nominations for worthy candidates. One of the important elements in their selection is participation in AIAA activities. To Section leaders, this opens a pathway for talented leaders and technical experts to participate in local, regional, and national activities.

 

 

Precollege Outreach

 See attachment #2 for Joe Morano’s report. The report includes highlights of the last National Committee teleconferences, ideas, goals and comments. The PCO has a website at   http://www.aiaa.org/information/professional/precol.html  Joe Morano encouraged all members to check out this site.

 

Morano reported on the NASA Connect project. AIAA will help NASA with classrooms to film the TV show. AIAA members are also available to mentor classes as they do the classroom activities that go along with NASA Connect. Please contact Joe Morano or Elizabeth Carter for a brochure and registration form. The NASA Connect is a series of seven integrated math and science instructional satellite (television & internet) programs.

 

Other highlights of his report are:

v      Only 7 educator classroom aid fund requests. This is down quite a bit from last year. Morano encouraged educator associates to promote this $200.00 award. He also would like to see the Sections invite educators to council meetings.

v      San Francisco Section won first place in the PCO Sectional Award.

 

 

The Evolution of Flight

Joe Morano is the new Deputy Director for the 2003 celebration. See attachment #3 for Morano’s report. He encouraged all members to look up the website at  www.flight100.org and add thoughts to the forum. Highlights are:

v      Six more Class of 2003 Ambassadors will be chosen.

v      Each Section should appoint an Evolution of Flight Section Officer.

v      Each Section should receive an Evolution of Flight video to show.

v      All AIAA members will be sent a logo pin.

 

 

Public Policy

Norm Bergrun gave Pat Fresh’s report:

v      The Region VI/V Public Policy Colloquium will be held on Saturday, February 12, 2000. This will be an excellent opportunity to re-introduce the goals and objectives of the AIAA Task Force.

v      AIAA members interested in meeting with Rohrabacher should contact Pat Fresh. Pat Fresh has had contact with Dana Rohrabacher with regards to a meeting with 10 AIAA members. The date for this meeting has not been set.

 

 

Technical

Tom Nosek will distribute the Sectional TC list to Region VI Section chairs. Ken Sanger suggested that Sections look to their TC members as potential Council officers.

 

 

Young Professionals

Chris Root reported on the YPs:

v      The November teleconference will concentrate on the agenda for Reno meeting.

v      Auto dues payment plan should be on its way in January.

v      The YPs need a webmaster.

v      Brett Anderson is the new Committee Chair.

v      The Young Professionals’ Aerospace Career Handbook needs to be updated.

v      YP Presentations - a forum for young aerospace professional's to present technical work cover continuing and in-process designs or research works, in addition to completed projects at National AIAA technical meetings. The program format allows oral only presentations. Written papers are not required.

v      Looking into reducing Conference fees for YPs.

 

 

VII      Section Reports – in order to leave more time for the afternoon brainstorming session, Sectional Representatives talked briefly about sectional issues. Please read the attached reports for complete information regarding the status of Sections.

 

Antelope Valley – Dion Ramsical

Ramsical reported that the Section is having problems finding a vice-chair. Ken Sanger suggested that Dion call Headquarters for a Sectional data report and contact the TC members to volunteer for council officers.

 


China Lake – Ed Smith                                  Report #4

Smith reported that the Section received outstanding activities special recognition award for the very successful two-week rocketry program held at Burroughs High School conceptual physics class. China Lake also won second place in the Small Category for Outstanding Section Award.

 

Los Angeles – Zak Mirza

Zak related that the Los Angeles council had a very difficult time completing the audit and budget report.

 

Orange County – Joe Morano                                   Report #5

No major issues.

 

Pacific Northwest – Laura Kistler                 Report #6

Kistler described the efforts the Pacific Northwest Section is taking to reach as many members as possible in their very large geographic area. They are planning programs in three different locations and have difficulties with travel and scheduling.

 

Tucson – Kevin Kremeyer and Rina Shivashankara

Ken Sanger introduced the new council members from Tucson. Sanger thanked the Phoenix Section for their help in revitalizing the Tucson Section. He encouraged all RAC VI officers to offer support to the section.

 

Phoenix – Mike Mackowski                           Report #7

Mike reported that a major accounting problem is subsidized dinner programs. The Section is trying to figure out a way to organize great programs without subsidizing the dinner. Their fall trip/event to Tucson was a tremendous success.

 

San Diego – Mike Lazar                                Report #8

Lazar related that the Region VI Student Paper Conference will be held at San Diego State University on April 7-9, 2000. The point of contact is Capt. George Faulkner at 619 270-7354. Lazar needs volunteers to assemble the judging panel, and to coordinate judging of student papers submitted and presentations made at the conference.

 

San Francisco – Stephen Jaeger                     Report #9

Jaeger related that the Section has a great council and website.

 

San Gabriel Valley – Gabriel Georgiades      Report #10

Gabriel voiced his concern over the many empty Section council seats. They are recovering from a year with too few council meetings.

 

Utah – Christian Hailey                                 Report #11

Christian Hailey reported that the Section membership is increasing and they have no vacancies on the council

 

Vandenberg – Mel Desembrana                    Report #12

Desembrana submitted a written report. They have a serious problem filling Section council seats.

 


VIII     Brainstorming Session

 

Evolution of Flight

 

Joe Morano led the discussion about how Region VI can contribute to the Evolution of Flight Celebration. He showed the Celebration video. The following are ideas from the discussion:

 

v      San Diego Section would like to start a Learn to Fly program at the Sectional level

v      Cockpit lessons might be easier

v      San Diego Museum of flight should help with compiling the list of 100 Top Pioneers of Flight

v      Establish a group of local 2003 Ambassadors in each Section

v      Create a Region VI Pioneer Database

v      Think of ideas for gizmos – an example is to fly the trinkets in space or drop them from a C-17

v      Use spent hardware as prizes or giveaways

v      Have local airplane contests

v      Use local historians to lecture in high schools

v      Organize a Region VI Flight Tour. Use different airplanes and pilots from each Section

v      Establish a website for History of Flight in each state in Region VI

v      Work and promote the celebration with local airshows

v      Essay contests for high school students. How do you see flight evolving in the next 100 years. Give away lots of prizes including free airplane rides

v      Go to Boeing and ask for help with incentive rides in the C-17 or other airplanes

v      Use radio control flight trainers and simulators

v      Bring in the Concorde

v      Arrange for visits for school children at local airports

v      Each Section should use the Celebration of Flight video in local programs

v      Produce a CD ROM to send to each Section with the videos and historical programs on it

v      Work with local Challenger Centers

v      Use local TV stations as resources for promoting the Celebration

v      Invite local 2003 Ambassadors to Regional Conferences

v      Have a 2003 Celebration at local Conferences. Poll the local TC members to find out what Conferences will be held in an area.

v      Produce building kits for children

v      Promote science fair experiments that deal with airflight

v      Publish stories about success in the aero and astro industries

v      Involve internationals in efforts

v      Arrange for RAC VI officers to parachute before a meeting in 2003

v      Organize a fancy black-tie party, and use a Wright Flyer replica as centerpiece

 

Sanger suggested that at the next RAC VI meeting we must work on a strategy for the celebration. Think about programs that reach out to everyone, use available funds and generate funds for the Sections and scholarships. Sections should choose an event or help out with a Region VI event. Joe Morano will be the lead for this celebration strategy.

ACTION 99-10-2: All Sections to give feedback to Joe Morano at (joe.morano@boeing.com) before the end of December. Feedback should include sectional events or how a Section can help in a Regional event. Joe will be reporting to the International Celebration of Flight Committee in January in Reno.

 

IX        Next RAC VI Meeting

The next RAC VI meeting will be held on 22 January 2000. Agenda and information will be emailed one month in advance.

 

Chris Root would like the following RAC VI meeting to coincide with the Student Paper Conference in San Diego.


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