Section Annual Report 1996-1997

San Francisco Section, Region VI
(Very Large Section)

Brian Haas
Section Chairman
July 31, 1997

Highlights of Major Accomplishments this Year

1. Continued quality service to members through dinner programs, online
services, young-member activities, and educational outreach.
2. Comet Watch educational outreach activity with 500 people in attendance.
3. Special programs including Space Camp tour, Comet Watch, NASA BBQ.
4. Planning of next year $B!G!) (B summit forum on "Air Travel Safety".

Section Organization

1. Officers:

Chairperson: Brian Haas
Chairperson-elect: Juanita Ryan
Secretary: Glen Carl
Treasurer: John Bosco

2. Directors:

Membership: Tom Durrant
Public Policy: Glen Carl
Education: George Crothall
Precollege: Juanita Ryan and George Crothall
Honors & Awards: Srini Srinivasan
Technical: Peter Lowenhardt
Young Members: Matt Jardin
Career Enhancement: Glen Carl
Programs: Brian Haas
Newsletter Editor: Kevin James
RAC Rep: Brian Haas
Webmaster: Tsung-Chou Fang

3. Number of council/officer meetings held during the year: 12
Average attendance: 10

4. Percentage of membership voting in last election: ?

5. Number of officers attending the section leadership briefing: 3

6. Estimated membership located within 45 minutes of the meetings: 80%

7. Number of student chapters with the section: 4

a. Stanford
b. UC-Berkeley
c. San Jose State University
d. Santa Clara University

Meetings, Programs, and Events

1. Describe the section $B!G!) (B general meetings. Include topic, number of meetings, average attendance, and joint sponsorship.

Date Topic Speaker Attendance
October 17, 1996 The X33: Stepping-stone to affordable access to space
(joint with ASME) Jerry Rising 74
November 21, 1996 Canceled last minute, speaker ill. Don Rodewald 0
December 12, 1996 Scorpius: Low-cost Launch Services Jim Wertz 24
January 16, 1997 Global Position System Ralph Eschenbach 31
February 20, 1997 Engineers Week Banquet (joint *) William Perry n/a
March 13, 1997 Plasma and Electric Propulsion Mike Day 32
April 10, 1997 Comet Watch! David Morrison 200
May 15, 1997 Retracing Amelia Earhardt $B!G!) (B flight Christine Hamilton
43
June 19, 1997 Honors & Awards BanquetTopic: Space Station Mir Norm
Thagard 83
July 17, 1997 Annual Essay ContestTopic: Wright Brothers $B!G!) (BFlyer G.
Warren Hall 38
* Co-sponsored with 23 other engineering societies as the
second-largest member of the Silicon Valley Engineering Council (SVEC).
Attendance was over 700. AIAA published announcements and attracted
members to the event, but no society-specific attendance was tracked by the
SVEC.

2. Describe any young member oriented programs, meetings, or activities.

Two major events and an ongoing monthly social activity comprised most of
the young member activities for the San Francisco AIAA this year. A tour of
NASA Ames Research Center and a barbecue party after the tour were held in
October. In May, a very special "Forum da Vinci" event was held at a
local brew pub with special guest Robert Zubrin (of Mars Direct fame). The
monthly Forum da Vinci on Carbonated Low-Specific Gravity Fluid Mechanics
was continued this year at another local brew pub.

NASA Ames Tour and BBQ

On October 11, 1996, a tour of NASA Ames Research was given by members of
the AIAA council. Approximately 100 AIAA members from the Silicon Valley
area (about 60 young members and university students) attended the very
successful event. The tour included an insiders view of the large
wind-tunnel complex at Ames, a presentation on CFD research at Ames, and a
walk through the NASA aircraft hangar. After the tour, many of the
attendees remained for a barbecue at the Moffett Field Swimming Pool,
collocated with NASA Ames Research Center. As previously mentioned, the
event was very successful and will likely be held again in the coming
years.

Forum da Vinci Special Event: Robert Zubrin and Mars Direct

Another very successful event was held on April 8, 1997 at the Tied House
brew pub in Mountain View when Dr. Robert Zubrin came to have an informal
discussion about Mars with the young members of the San Francisco Section.
About 25 members attended the event and were treated to a very candid
discussion with Dr. Zubrin about all aspects of his Mars Direct mission
plan. The beer garden at
the Tied House proved to be an ideal setting and will probably be chosen
again for future events. Among the attendees was a reporter from Wired
magazine who came to research a future story about space exploration
culture in the Bay Area.

Forum da Vinci Monthly Forum on Carbonated Low-Specific Gravity Fluid Mechanics

The monthly Forum da Vinci continued this year at the St. James Infirmary
for young members to come out on the last Friday of each month to meet
other local aerospace professionals in an informal setting. Attendance is
slowly building for this event and has now reached about 10 members each
month. The hope is to expand the monthly forum during the coming year to
try and draw more section members, and hopefully to reach some new members
as well.

Describe any career enhancement programs, meetings, or activities.

The primary activity of Career Enhancement within the Section was to create
and maintain career enhancement web pages, and to inform members and
employers of the availability of these pages as a prime resource to help in
a career search or improve career development. The career web pages serve
as a reliable source of career enhancement information 24 hours per day, 7
days a week. These career web pages provide a free service to aerospace
professionals throughout the World. Services which are provided by these
pages include but not limited to: Jobs Bulletin Board, Online Resume
Service, Career Search links, Online Consultants Service, Career Placement
contact information, Continuing Education contact information, Local
Aerospace News service, and link to the AIAA National employment web pages.
These career enhancement pages served as a basis for many of the AIAA
National Career web pages. The AIAA CEC have established a direct link to
the San Francisco Section career web pages from the AIAA National employ
ment web pages, since they are useful to members in other sections.

Describe your most unique meeting or program based upon subject, format, location, etc.

A Category #3 rebate enabled the Section to sponsor Comet Hale-Bopp Watch!
on April 10, 1997 at Independence High School. Co-sponsored by NASA Ames
Research Center and the Santa Clara County Science Teachers' Association,
the event drew a crowd of almost 500. Advertised as "an event for the
whole family", the evening included an early-bird planetarium show, a box
dinner, hands-on science activities for the children, guest speaker Dr.
David Morrison, Director of Space at NASA Ames, and stargazing with local
astronomy clubs.

Describe each special event held this year.

NASA Ames Tour and BBQ:

Space Camp Tour:

In an effort to promote Public Science Literacy, two special family events
were held this year. In December, 1996, arrangements were made for members
and their families to tour the new Space Camp facility located at Moffett
Air Field. The 41 participants were given an escorted tour of the facility
and time on the simulators. The event was publicized through the
Section's Newsletter, e-mail list, and "AIAA Educator News."

Comet Watch!

This event was mentioned briefly above as our most unique program for this
year. The event was publicized through the Section Newsletter and e-mail
list, the "AIAA Educator News, the Santa Clara County Science Teachers'
Newsletter, the ASP's newsletter to educators, and through flyers
distributed to local schools. In addition, an expanded edition of the
Astronomical Society of the Pacific's "Universe in the Classroom - Monster
Comet Promises Big Show" was made possible through a Section donation.
Copies were distributed to almost 40,000 teachers, school librarians, and
school administrators world-wide.

Technical Activities

The AIAA SF section technical director, working with the SF AIAA council,
concentrated on integrating electric propulsion into the local chapter
technical activities. Mike Day of International Space Technology, Inc.
kindly volunteered to give a dinner speech on March 13, 1997 and discussed
his endeavors at integrating Russian electric propulsion technology into US
spacecraft design. Contacts were established with industry and academic
leaders in the field of electric propulsion, and initial contact was made
with the national AIAA electric propulsion committee. The function of the
director of technical activities for this year was to follow up on
networking with the EP community, integration of this technical knowledge
and area into the local SF section for heightened awareness of electric
propulsion $B!G!) (B growing importance. Efforts were also made to initiate
communications between a low temperature plasma technical group (the

Gaseous Electronics Conference) and the aerospace electric propulsion community.

Education Activities

Describe any pre-college outreach programs instituted/continued this year.

The Section continued its fifth year of co-sponsoring teacher workshops
with NASA Ames Research Center. Workshops include hands-on science
sessions, distribution of curriculum materials, facility tours, and
presentations by AIAA members. Six workshops were held this year:
Sept. 96 "Hands-On With Bernoulli, Sacramento Railroad Museum
Dec. 96 "Return to Mars", McClellan Air Force Base
Jan. 97 "Teachers' Invitational", Reno, Nevada
Apr. 97 "Technology in the Classroom", NASA Ames Research Center.
May 97 "Journey from the Center of the Earth, NASA Ames
July 97 "NEWEST Teachers Workshop", Stanford University

Once, again, this year's Discover E Program was coordinated by the
Section's Co-Chair of PCO in conjunction with the Silicon Valley
Engineering Council. Training sessions were held for engineers at the
local museum and at work sites throughout the valley in order to prepare
them for a visit to local schools in the area. Approximately 200 engineers
participated, reaching almost 6,000 students. An Engineers' Banquet was
held featuring former Secretary of Defense, William Perry.
Established as a collaborative effort between NASA Ames and AIAA San
Francisco, the Section, once again, sponsored its annual Galileo Memorial
Scholarship program in memory to the NASA men who perished on the Ames
Galileo 1 aircraft in 1973. One $2,750 scholarship and four $500
scholarships were awarded to high school seniors who intended to pursue a
career in engineering, mathematics, or physical or natural sciences.
The Section also sponsored its 9th Annual Essay Contest for 7th and 8th
graders in the Bay Area. Almost 300 essays were received addressing the
topic: "Describe How the Wright Brothers' Invention of Powered Flight Has
Impacted Your Life". Essays were judged by AIAA members, Educator
Associates, and members of the corporate community including Bob Berry,
President, Space Systems/LORAL, Dr. Harry McDonald, Director at NASA Ames,
Michael Coats, Vice-President at Lockheed Martin, and Seth Shostak of the
SETI Institute. Winners and their teachers were honored at a Banquet held
in their honor. Prizes included U.S. savings bonds, scientific
calculators, and AIAA seals flown in space.

Honors and Awards

1) Describe any local section awards given to members and supporters.

a) GALILEO MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP AWARDS.

Galileo Memorial scholarship is open to High School Seniors who intend to
pursue a career in engineering, mathematics, or physical or natural
sciences. The scholarship program was established in 1973 by the SF
Section of AIAA and NASA Ames Research Center as a memorial to the men who
perished with the Galileo I aircraft in an accident on April 12, 1973.
This year there were 166 applicants for one first and four runners-up
prizes. Certificates and cash prizes were awarded to the winners at the
Galileo Awards Dinner on May 15, 1977. Dr. Harry McDonald, Director of NASA
Ames Research Center, was invited to make the awards presentation. The
1997
winners are:

1st Prize - Ian D. Tullis, Antioch High School, Antioch, CA 94509
Runners-up - Priya Venkatesan, Foothill High School, Pleasanton, CA 94588
Irene I-Lan Wu, Monte Vista High School, Danville, CA 94526
Plomarz R. Irani, Santa Clara High School, Santa Clara, CA 95051
Elena Nabieva, Los Altos High School, Los Altos, CA 94022

The process of selection first picked five winners from among a pool of 166
applicants. Then these were called for a personal interview with the
committee. Each candidate appeared before the committee and answered a set
of questions. The questions were same for each candidate. Based on their
candid answers, one candidate was chosen as the winner. The remaining four
were all runners-up.

b) ENGINEER OF THE YEAR AWARDS.

Each year the AIAA SF Section honors a few Bay Area Engineers and Managers
for outstanding contributions recognized and nominated by their peers.
Awards are made in seven disciplinary categories, viz., Aeronautics,
Astronautics, Engineering Design, Engineering Educator, Information
Systems, Project Management, and Young Engineer.
This year the SF Section of AIAA recognized individuals in five categories.
Engineer of the Years Awards, consisting of a certificate mounted on a
plaque, were given out to these five individuals at the Annual Awards
Banquet on June 19, 1977. The winners for the 1997 year and their
categories are:

1. Aeronautics - Prof. Stephen M. Rock, Stanford University
2. Engineering Design - Larry A. Meyn, NASA Ames Research Center
3. Engineering Educator - David A. Levison, Lockheed-Martin Missiles and Space Advanced Technology Center
4. Information Systems - Dr. James C. Ross, NASA Ames Research Center
5. Project Management - John V. Brown, Space Systems/LORAL

c) AIAA Length of Service RECOGNITION.

AIAA honors every year those members who have completed 25, 40, and 50
years of continuous membership with the Society. This year the SF Section
recognized 84 members for reaching this target by presenting them with a
certificate and pin (Certificates and pins were supplied by the National)
at the Annual Awards Banquet on June 19, 1997.

d). Precollege Outreach Award

This year the Section awarded its Annual Precollege Outreach Award to Dr.
Christopher McKay, Research Scientist at NASA Ames Research Center, for his
continued support of Section PCO activities.

e). Educator Associate Awards:

We honored two of our Educator Associate members for their outstanding
efforts in supporting the Section's PCO activities:

Gail Chaid, Independence High School
Julie Shultz, Redwood Middle School

2. List members nominated for national or regional honors and awards.

No one has been nominated for national honors and awards this year.

3. Describe the purpose and criteria for selection of any new awards established this year.

No new awards were established this year.

Services to the Membership and Community

1. Describe activities that inform the public and section members and activities that support government officials.

The Section created and maintained web pages which provided information on
"Public Policy", "Local Aerospace News", a "Bay Area Aerospace Database",
the "Aero-Web" link pages. In addition, a web site was developed to
support the "Air Travel Safety Initiative", this site contains information
for this event, and links to air safety information. These web pages
provide valuable aerospace services to Section members, National members,
government officials and the public.

Four public science literacy events were held this year:

#1 The Section continued its second year of sponsoring a "Family Mini-Space
Fair" at The Tech Museum of Innovation in conjunction with the city of San
Jose's Annual Tapestry & Talent. The three day affair drew a crowd of
almost 10,000. The Fair included hands-on science activities for children
and AIAA and science hand-outs for all.

#2 In December, 1996, arrangements were made for members and their
families to tour the new Space Camp facility located at Moffett Air Field.
The 41 participants were given an escorted tour of the facility and time on
the simulators.

#3 The Section co-sponsored Comet Hale-Bopp Watch! on April 10, 1997 at
Independence High School with NASA Ames Research Center and the Santa Clara
County Science Teachers' Association, the event drew a crowd of almost
500. Advertised as "an event for the whole family", the evening included
an early-bird planetarium show, a box dinner, hands-on science activities
for the children, guest speaker Dr. David Morrison, Director of Space at
NASA Ames, and stargazing with local astronomy clubs.

#4 In conjunction with the Palo Alto Junior Chamber of Commerce (Jaycees),
the Section sponsored it's 10th Annual Paper Airplane Contest on June 28,
1997. Approximately 75 people attended the day-long event that was staffed
by both AIAA members and volunteers from the Palo Alto Jaycees.

2. Describe section publications other than the newsletter.

The Section continued its second year of publishing "AIAA Educator News", a
short, informal newsletter for Educator Associate members and local
science teachers. The newsletter was distributed to approximately 300
teachers and included the latest information on Precollege Outreach
activities and opportunities available at the National and Section levels.

The Section created and maintained web pages to provide Section
information. Some of web pages include the "Council Minutes", "Statistic
Hit" web pages, and a "Calendar" of events. Statistics indicate about
17,000 hits per month. A Sectional Email List was used to keep Section
members and other interested parties informed of Section activities. The
list now contains well over 200 Section members. Letters and Email were
sent to several leading aerospace researchers, CEO's, NASA Directors, a
prior government official, and airport officials to support the Air Travel
Safety Initiative planning.

3. Describe any new or revamped services provided to the membership.

This year, the Section initiated a new program, Girls' Tech, targeting 5th
grade girls in an effort to promote science, math, and technology. The
group met weekly and was entered in the annual "Tech Challenge" at the
local museum. The girls met with NASA scientists, toured the Ames robotics
department, and built a simulated Mars rover with guidance from AIAA
members.

4. Describe any involvement with science clubs, vocational guidance, speakers bureau, science fairs, tutoring, etc.

The Section continued its support of a local Young Astronaut Club comprised
of 157 K-5th graders. Speakers and volunteers were provided during the
year. Support was continued in the form of judges and three $100 U.S.
savings bonds to each of the local area county science fairs: the Santa
Clara County Science & Engineering Fair and the San Francisco Bay Area

Science Fair. Judges were also provided to a local school science fair.

Financial Summary

Beginning Balance (8-1-96): $ 23,379

Checking Account: $ 125
Savings Account: $ 23,254

Section Rebate: $ 9,746
Other Income: $ 14,656
Newsletter Advertising $ 3,060
Cat. III Rebates $ 1,000
Bonus Rebates $ 600
Program Fees $ 9,996

Expenses: $ 30,745

Ending Balance: $ 17,036

Notes regarding financial statement:

The section participated in no "for-profit" activities this year, and no
income resulted from "for-profit" ventures.

All fees collected for dinner programs or special programs are accounted as
income. Costs for each dinner or related program expense are accounted as
expenses.

The council elected to expand the newsletter greatly, doubling its size and
including more photographs. This, however, resulted in significantly
greater printing costs, $8,923.

The San Francisco Post Office refused to accept 3rd Class postage without
bar codes. Since AIAA National was unable to provide bar-coded mailing
labels, we were forced to distribute our newsletters via First Class
postage. The resulting difference from 3rd Class was $1700.

The council elected to invest in a one-time purchase of FrameMaker software
for preparation of the newsletter this year. ($269)

The council replenished our stationary supply of paper and envelopes
featuring the AIAA and San Francisco Section logos. ($756)

Problems and Goals

1. Identify any problems/concerns facing the section:

The AIAA San Francisco Section is being handed over to new officers for
97-98 in good shape. An unusual concern arising this past year was that
our expenses significantly exceeded our income. This resulted from
strategic decisions to invest in new programs and supplies, but also from
some unexpected expenses (see financial summary).

A secondary concern was the state of leadership within the council. While
several excellent directors participated on the board, some key positions
were either vacant or lacked sufficient attention during the year.
Furthermore, the promotion of directors to officer positions seemed to be
lacking interested candidates. But Juanita Ryan has secured the continued
commitment of 2 current officers for next year, and was able to recruit
our former newsletter editor, Kevin James, to assume the Secretary
position. In the past month, Juanita has been able to recruit several new
Directors, and will hopefully fill all remaining positions. I believe
Juanita will be able to foster leadership within next year $B!G!) (B Council to
provide candidates for future officer positions.

Another concern this year was that, despite our great interest in sending
several officers or directors to leadership training, RAC meetings, and the
Public Policy Colloquium, we can $B!G!) (B afford to pay for so much travel, and
the directors lack employer support to fund that travel. Regardless, the
council has elected to maintain a financial commitment to cover some travel
for next year.

Officer elections have never been conducted according to defined protocol.
This is one area of needed improvement. This can be improved next year
by recruiting officer candidates earlier in the year, and providing a
postage-paid mail-back postcard for member voting.

Finally, one key directorship most difficult to fill each year is Dinner
Programs Director. Dinner programs remain one of our most valuable
services to local members, yet directorship is often considered a difficult
and time-consuming position. One plan to improve on this predicament is
for the Vice-Chair to assume the responsibility for dinner programs.

2. Recommend up to 3 priority goals for next year.

1. Develop leadership within the Council Officers and Directors.
2. Establish stronger ties with the Section's AIAA student chapters.
3. Establish stronger ties with local companies.