RAC IV Teleconference Minutes
Date: Tuesday, 26 November, 2013
Time: 1400 CT; 1500 ET
Dial in #: 1-866-740-1260
Phone Access #: 2643848
Participants: Jayant Ramakrishnan, Sean Allgeier, Gar Bering, Shirley Brandt, Joe Bullington, White Sands Space Harbor member, Michael Frostad, Arup Maji, Steve McDougle, Thomas Moore, Derby Sun, Douglas Yazell, Chris Jessee
1. Welcome and Introduction Jayant Ramakrishnan
2. Approval of 19 September minutes – Minutes were approved as submitted.
3. Latest from National Chris Jessee, 703-264-3848
Status of section reports
No reports received – Southwest Texas
Need annual report – Oklahoma
Face-to-Face Meeting at SciTech – Wednesday, January 15, 3:00 pm
New messaging – Video entitled “In Search of the Next Impossible Thing” is on the AIAA website.
4. Director Report Jayant Ramakrishnan, 281/283-9390
Jayant thanked everyone for coming and wished all a happy Thanksgiving and Holiday.
He said he received a foldout brochure from AIAA with new messaging. If anyone did not receive one, let Chris know. There was a good meeting in Las Cruces, NM on October 14. The White Sands Harbor and Holloman/Alamogordo sections organized a dinner meeting with Sandy Magnus as the speaker. She gave an update on AIAA followed by her adventures and experiences as an astronaut. There were about 25 people in attendance. Jayant then met with Arup in Albuquerque the next day. Some ideas that came out of the meeting were to send letters to employers of members praising their voluntary work for AIAA and to get local corporate members more involved in promoting AIAA. Jayant also encouraged those who can to attend SciTech in January. Two Cat III funding requests were approved for the Albuquerque and North Texas sections. Jayant had a good suggestion for holiday gifts; AIAA is having a sale on their books right now and some books are being sold for half price. There is also a 10 for $10 sale.
5. Deputy Director Reports
· Public Policy Tom Moore, 210/522-5949
“August is for Aerospace” is now “All Aerospace is Local”. Houston, Albuquerque and SW Texas sections are involved in the challenge to get AIAA members out to speak to local politicians. CVD will be held on March 12. Usually Region IV sends a good number but this year with reduced financial assistance, a lower turnout is expected. The new grass roots effort is being led by Steve Howell. AIAA want to focus more on state issues.
· Education Gary Turner, 281/862-7825
· Finance PA Cox, 210/522-2315
· Honors and Awards Shirley Brandt, 713/542-9085
Jayant thanked Shirley for her leadership in nominating members for Associate Fellow. Five of Region IV’s nominees will be carried over to next year. Their applications should be updated with most recent accomplishments. There are national awards coming up; Jayant strongly urged the sections to recognize deserving people.
· Membership Ellen Gillespie, 281/997-0482
· STEM K-12 Outreach Gar Bering, 713/743-3543
Gar said he contacted the sections for an update on their STEM activities but has not received any response. The Houston section will be supporting the 12th annual Mars Rover Celebration at the University of Houston on January 25. This event is an exciting educational opportunity for primary and middle school students where they learn how to build a model rover to perform a mission on Mars. They are expecting about 72 teachers and 755 students. Gar’s goal is for all sections to start giving Engineers as Educators workshops.
· Technical Sarah Shull, 281/244-6441
· Young Professionals Shawn Allgeier, 505/433-1509
Shawn said only the Albuquerque Section has a YP officer. The YPs in his section are helping to restore a bomber plane at a local museum. They are also helping with the student paper conference.
· Career & Workforce Dev. Derby Sun, 817/801-9824
Derby participated in the CWD teleconference on Nov 13. There were only four people on the call and it was decided they would not have a career workshop at SciTech this year. There were not enough people who could attend the conference or be available to help plan a workshop. For this reason, there will be no face-to-face meeting at SciTech.
· International Douglas Yazell, 281/488-8280
Houston continues to communicate with their sister sections in France and China and their bimonthly newsletter goes out internationally.
6. Section Status – Chairs
· Albuquerque
o Section Chair: Arup Maji 505/277-1757
Their section continues to have monthly meetings and seminars. On Nov 21, they had a speaker talk about wind energy. Speakers are lined up for both December and January. Average attendance is usually around 30. Their first newsletter will be going out this month. Planning of the student paper conference is going well and the new dates are April 25-26. At present they have enough funds; they received $1000 from ATK. They are planning on providing room and board of the faculty advisors.
· Holloman/Alamogordo
o Section Chair: Tony Schauer 575/679-2659
· Houston
o Section Chair: Michael Frostad 206/963-6858
Houston held a technical lunch ‘n’ learn and two more are scheduled for December. They have booked their annual technical symposium for May 9 and have lined up two astronauts to speak at the dinner to kick off the symposium. Members have visited their local senator’s office. Dr. Magnus will be visiting in April. Houston section will be sending volunteers to help with the Mars Rover Celebration at the University of Houston. Their bi-monthly newsletter is back on track and the next issue will include a link to the national video. The section’s new YP officer is Victoria Wills and their public policy officer will be meeting with their local Congressman on December 16 or 17.
· North Texas
o Section Chair: Grant Stein 512/694-3766
· Oklahoma
o Section Chair: Jamey Jacob 405/744-3208
· Southwest Texas
o Section Chair: Brian Ewenson 520/403-7368
Thomas Moore reported that the section is active in STEM K-12 and public policy events.
· White Sands Space Harbor
o Section Chair: Stephen McDougle 575/524-5196
Steve reported that prior to the dinner meeting on October 14 the White Sands and Holloman/Alamogordo sections had a meeting to try and rejuvenate these sections. Sandy Magnus and Jayant were there as well as members from both sections. After the dinner Sandy Magnus gave her talk; she is a good speaker, very animated. Joe Bullington, member of White Sands, arranged a meeting with the contract managers to try and enlist their support. He came away with a good feeling. There are not many AIAA members at the flight test facility. There are some members in Las Cruces including retired military. It is hard to get members to attend a meeting either at the test facility or in Las Cruces. Joe and Steve are working on a plan to have a former NASA employee speak at a dinner meeting. Jayant is working with corporate members in the area.
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7. New Business-
8. Next teleconference
Date: January 2014 (date TBD)
Time:
Dial in #: 1-866-740-1260
Phone Access #: 2643848