AIAA Los Angeles - Las Vegas Executive Council Minutes, 14 October 2014
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Attendance:
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· Chairman, Nicola Sarzi-Amade
· Council Members:
o Present: Sy Ferdman, Brian Franz, Bob Friend, Rick Garcia, Weston Hanoka, Chuck Kilmer, Ian Kunze, Greg Larson, Simone Lojeck, Dan Mikkelsen, Veena Peddu, Seth Potter, Dana Puschell, Norris Tie, Mike Todaro, Shirley Tseng, Dennis Wonica
o On Phone: Lisa Kaspin-Powell, Sofia Russi (Las Vegas), Christianna Taylor, Marty Waldman (Las Vegas), Marsha Weiskopf
Meeting called to order at 5:36 p.m.
Introductions
· Attendees introduced themselves.
Approval of Minutes
· Minutes from the 9 September meeting were reported on by Seth Potter and approved by the Council as-is.
Chairman’s Report, Nicola Sarzi-Amade
· The Chairman announced that Manasa Tavarageri is well and will be returning at the next meeting to resume her roles as Secretary and YP Co-chair.
· The creation of a Las Vegas Chapter within the Section was discussed.
o A budget estimate was given for the remainder of the year. Marty Waldman suggests $5000 to $6000 annually, as previously suggested. Marty’s goal is to at least break even on events.
o Sofia Russi gave some possible cost estimates for events and programs.
o Greg Larson suggests that the Council see a business plan from Las Vegas before allocating funds. Rick Garcia and Seth Potter said that the dollar amount should be regarded as a point of departure.
o The Council voted to create a budget for Las Vegas before the next meeting with plans on how to spend the money. Therefore, a decision on the amount was postponed until then.
o The Chairman asked Marty to send comments to the full Council.
o Marty would be Chair of the Las Vegas Chapter; Sofia would be Co-chair.
o The Council voted yes on creating the Las Vegas Chapter.
§ This necessitates changes in the Section bylaws. Examples of such changes from the Hampton Roads and National Capital Sections were given.
o The Council voted yes to having a draft of bylaw changes, to be written by Nicola, by next month’s Section Council meeting.
· The Chairman announced that Programs Co-chair Christianna Taylor will be taking a postdoctoral position in Moscow, Russia. The Chairman thanked Christianna on behalf of the Council. Greg Larson will remain Programs Co-chair. The Council voted to name Dana Puschell and Weston Hanoka as Program Co-chairs, as well.
· The creation of a Jim Wertz Scholarship was discussed at the request of Jane Hansen. Jane suggested two or three $1000 scholarships.
o Age and eligibility requirements must be worked out, as well as requirements for the use of the funds (e.g., textbooks or tuition). Fundraising for this (e.g., previous year’s profits, corporate sponsors, appeals, etc.) must also be considered.
o Brian Franz agreed to draft a letter to potential corporate sponsors by the next Council meeting.
o Greg Larson suggested putting the scholarship fundraising into the newsletter.
o The Council voted to continue discussing the scholarship at next month’s Council meeting.
Treasurers’ Report, Marsha Weiskopf
· The Section netted approximately $6000 year-to-date, but dues are not in yet.
o We are also expecting about $8000 from Headquarters.
· Nicola suggested that we may not want to give the Las Vegas Chapter its own bank account for the first year.
· The Section’s IRS and California tax forms have been sent.
Membership, Sy Ferdman (reporting) and Rick Garcia (reporting)
· The membership trend has continued to decrease.
· The memberships of 131 members (83 students) expire on 31 October 2014.
· Total membership decreased by 6.7% from October 2013 through September 2014.
· Nicola expressed concern about the decreasing membership and said it is a major issue this year.
· Nicola and Seth suggested talking to companies to recruit members.
Ambassador Report: A-MAN STEM International Science Discovery and Learning Center, Seth Potter (report moved up in meeting; other Ambassador reports to come later).
· The Council voted to make Seth Potter Ambassador to A-MAN.
· The Council approved a letter of support to the A-MAN Center, which had been drafted by Seth, to be included in its proposal to the National Science Foundation (NSF) to upgrade its facility.
· The A-MAN Center is holding a 45th Anniversary Apollo Moon Landing Luncheon on Monday, 17 November, noon to 2pm at Los Angeles World Airport Flight Museum.
o George Whitesides, CEO, Virgin Galactic, was invited to speak and will instead provide a video speech.
o Seeking corporate sponsors.
o By invitation only – attendance limited to sponsors and volunteers.
· Several Council members volunteered to assist in reviewing the NSF proposal, and assisting at the Apollo Anniversary Luncheon.
Reinventing Space Track at Space 2015, Chuck Kilmer
· Space 2015 is 31 August – 2 September 2015 in Pasadena
· Chuck announced that abstracts are due in January.
· The Section will run this track.
University Education, Brian Franz (reporting) and Ian Kunze (reporting)
· The University Education Co-chairs asked how students can help with Reinventing Space 2015. It was replied that help will be needed reviewing abstracts.
· Brian agreed to encourage students to submit abstracts.
Young Professionals, Norris Tie (reporting), Ian Kunze (reporting), Manasa Tavarageri, and Eric Gever
· Norris requested demographics of YP members. Nicola referred him to Data Maker.
· Nicola asked the YP Co-chairs to put one program in place by the end of the year.
· The definition of YP was given as under 35 years old.
Report from Las Vegas, Marty Waldman and Sofia Russi
· Issues involving the Las Vegas Chapter were covered above under Chairman’s Report.
Honors and Awards, Bob Friend (reporting) and Jeff Guild
· The October dates for nominations probably will not be met.
· There is also a May – August award time frame; Bob and Jeff will focus on that.
Public Policy, Chuck Kilmer (reporting), Mike Todaro (reporting), and Jeff Puschell
· Chuck and Mike report no new developments in Public Policy.
· Nicola asked Chuck, Jeff, and Mike to work on Congressional Visits Day.
Programs (Events), Christianna Taylor (reporting) and Greg Larson
· The 18 September dinner with Col. Hodgkiss had 53 attendees.
o It lost $100.
o It was well-received by the attendees.
· For the October dinner featuring Northrop Grumman Vice President Doug Young, 25 have registered online as of this Council meeting. About 35 are expected.
· For the November dinner featuring astronaut Carl Meade, Eventbrite has been set up, but e-mail for it is not yet set up as of this Council meeting.
Enterprise Programs, Dennis Wonica (reporting) and Veena Peddu (reporting)
· The next event is scheduled for 30 October at the Northrop Grumman S-Café, and will feature Chet Richards speaking on “Affordable Space Operations: A New Paradigm”.
· The Co-chairs announced that an event called “Connecting the Dots in Unmanned Aerial Systems and Cyber Security Conference” will take place on 12 December from 8:00 AM to 7:00 PM.
o Hosted by Cal Poly Pomona.
o To be held at the Kellogg West Conference Center and Hotel, Pomona.
o The SoCal Jobs Defense Council of the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC) is involved.
· The Additive/Aerospace Conference will take place on 3-6 November at the Doubletree by Hilton Los Angeles Downtown.
o Organized by Infocast.
o A request for a volunteer to staff the Section table was made.
· Dennis will ask Maggie about the code.
Newsletter / Webmaster / Communications, Lisa Kaspin-Powell
· Lisa is awaiting material for the newsletter.
· Rick Garcia will provide a video of Col. Hodgkiss’ presentation when it is approved by the Air Force.
o Nicola and Seth will provide photos.
o Rick will provide an article.
· Gary Moir will write an article about the September technical lunch.
· Mike Todaro is seeking ads for the newsletter from Northrop Grumman.
· There was a discussion about how often to send requests for ads. Mike Todaro and Seth Potter suggested starting at twice per month, then rolling back to once per month.
Ambassador Reports
· A-MAN STEM International Science Discovery and Learning Center, Seth Potter
o See above.
· National Space Society, Seth Potter
o OASIS-LA Chapter Board and Officer elections to take place in November.
o Future event: Space Architecture panel at USC.
§ Discussions underway with USC AIAA student group.
§ Possible panelists include John Spencer (Space Tourism Society), Prof. Mike Gruntman (USC), Dr. Madhu Thangavelu (USC).
§ Aiming for early 2015 (postponed from fall 2014).
· Mars Society (Mars LA), Seth Potter (not reported at Council meeting, but included in attachment to message sent to Council members)
o Next Mars LA meeting and happy hour is scheduled for Saturday, 25 October.
§ Informal meeting has since been held at Second City Bistro in El Segundo.
· INCOSE, Shirley Tseng
o The Los Angeles Chapter of INCOSE is starting planning for next year. Shirley suggested planning joint activities.
o INCOSE-LA is holding its 2015 Mini Conference on Saturday, 14 March at Loyola Marymount University.
· IEEE, Shirley Tseng
o Shirley is reviewing papers for an IEEE conference and needs more reviewers. The reviewing will take place on Sunday, 9 November at the Aerospace Corporation cafeteria.
· Los Angeles Air Force Base, Space and Missile Center (SMC), Weston Hanoka
o Weston had no news from SMC.
o Weston commented on membership and said we should publicize the benefits. He also suggested that Ambassadors recruit from their institutions.
· UCLA, Norris Tie
o The Preliminary Design Review for the UCLA Rocket Project will take place from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM on Saturday, 18 October.
Department of Energy Solar Decathlon, Shirley Tseng
· Shirley met Team Orange County at the Solar Decathlon. (The team is a consortium of several universities.) They would like to present the design for their solar house to professionals.
Next Section Council Meeting
· Tuesday evening, 11 November at the S-Café in Northrop Grumman Space Park.
Meeting adjourned at 8:04 pm.
Minutes taken by Seth Potter
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