Washington DC Section Newsletter September 2014 Editor: William Wedlock Executive Secretary: Andrea Gironda 240-626-1798 703-489-9503 wjwedlo1@be chtel.com https://community.asme.org/washington_dc_section/default.aspx [email protected] Chairman Vice-Chairman Treasurer Recording Secretary Communications Secretary Kaykham Sysounthorn Paul Bizot Jon Ward Roger Schaffer William Wedlock 571-357-3011 301-648-5945 571-215-8981 202-781-1336 240-626-1798 sysounthornk1@ asme.org [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Local Section News Local Section News Please help in welcoming the following ASME OCTOBER EVENT new Directors as part of the 2014-2015 BRIAN PELLETIER – ADVANCED UNDERSEA SYSTEMS PROGRAM – NAVAL SEA Washington DC Board Members: SYSTEMS COMMAND (NAVSEA) Date: Thursday, October 23, 2014 – Time: 6:30 p.m. - Bethany Springer Place: Alfio’s La Trattoria 4515 Willard Avenue, Chevy Chase, MD 20815 - Sarkis Aktavoukian Cost: $10 (Members) or $30 (Non-Members) Registration: To register for this event, call the Washington DC Section Executive - Peter Tschen Secretary, Andrea Gironda, at (703)489-9503 or e-mail her at [email protected] by October 20th. Brian Pelletier is currently assigned as the Principle Assistant Program Manager for Systems Acquisition within the Advanced Undersea Systems Program Office (PMS394). PMS394 is part of Team Submarine at NAVSEA, Washington Navy Yard, DC. Mr. Pelletier’s current assignment includes responsibility as the lead for all Program Management aspects of several classified programs, as well as the Certification of DSV I N S I D E T H I S I SSUE ALVIN to perform manned operations. During his almost 25 year career with NAVSEA he has also been assigned as the Principle Assistant Program Manager for the Dry Deck Shelter (DDS) extension & next generation DDS programs, Assistant Program Manager for the procurement of the Advanced SEAL Delivery System (ASDS) submersible, Lead 1 Local Section News Project Engineer for the life cycle support of DDS program assets, and as an engineer in the Submarine Safety (SUBSAFE) and Deep Submergence Certification office within 2 Chairman’s Corner Team Submarine. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI) operates the U.S. Navy-owned Deep 3 Meet the Board Submergence Vehicle (DSV) Alvin for the national oceanographic community. The nation's deepest diving research sub, Alvin is a mainstay for ocean exploration within the 6 2014-2015 Event Lineup existing fleet of underwater vehicles. Commissioned in 1964, Alvin has enabled dozens of new discoveries and innumerable insights into Earth's planetary system. Alvin has more than 4,600 dives to its name, including locating a lost hydrogen bomb in the 8 ASME 2014 International Mechanical Mediterranean Sea in 1966, exploring the first known hydrothermal vent sites in the Engineering Congress & Exposition 1970s, and surveying the wreck of RMS Titanic in 1986. Alvin remains state-of-the-art as a result of numerous overhauls and upgrades, including its most recent, which was completed in 2013. Mr. Pelletier will discuss the scope of the recently completed overhaul 9 ASME Energy Forum and the challenges overcome to re-Certify the vehicle and resume manned operations. Directions: The Willoughby Condo Building with its Alfio’s La Trattoria Restaurant is located on 4515 Willard Avenue. The restaurant offers free valet parking and is only 1 block away from the Friendship Heights Metro Station. ASME Section News 1 CHAIRMAN’S CORNER Welcome to the ASME WDC 2014-2015 Event Season! New Officers and Directors to Executive Board Ready to Make Their Mark by Kaykham “Kai” Sysounthorn Chairman (Washington D.C. ASME Section) Hello ASME Washington D.C. members! As the new Chairman of the Executive Board for the ASME Washington D.C. (WDC) section, I would like to welcome you to a new season of interesting and educational events. This year, we planned an assortment of outstanding events. I am also very excited to have three (3) new, eager directors elected to our Board: Bethany Springer, Sarkis Aktavourkian, and Peter Tschen. You can read about their backgrounds, along with all the officers’ backgrounds, in the biography article of this newsletter. As you may know, we had our section election this past year, “passing the torch” to a new Executive Board of officers and directors for the term years: 2014-2016. In addition, we voted to add the office of Communication Secretary, to manage our multitude of media outlets, i.e. Section Newsletter, ASME website, Facebook, and Twitter. I am thrilled to work with the new team to serve the section membership and community, in our mission to advance the education of mechanical engineering and STEM. For my tenure as Chairman, I have several goals (by priority): 1. Update the look and improve the functionality of the website 2. Centralize storage and easily navigable organization of all section documents Permitting all section’s documentations readily accessible to the section membership 3. Develop a financial plan for the long-term mission sustainment of the section 4. Recruitment of early career engineers to the section’s event/activity committees 5. Develop a more cooperative relationship with other ASME sections I will periodically address the membership; start of the year, mid-year, and end of the year. As we move forward, please do not hesitate to contact us in regards to the events or any other activities conducted by the ASME WDC section. Seeking for a New Meeting Location for the ASME WDC Section’s Executive Board by Kaykham “Kai” Sysounthorn Chairman (Washington D.C. ASME Section) Dear ASME Washington D.C. members: As a non-profit organization and as a section, we strive to maximize the funding provided by the membership and ASME toward the section events. To this end, we often seek free or low-cost alternatives to operate the section, in regards to holding Executive Board meetings and travel. We recently lost access to our regular location to hold our in-person Executive Board meetings. We hold, on the first Tuesday of each month, in-person and teleconference meetings, alternating each month. From September to July, we have six (6) in-person and five (5) teleconference meetings. Hence, six times a year the Executive Board members have face-time to plan and coordinate our numerous section events. We request assistance from the membership, if you are willing to host or know of a location where we can meet in the evening at 6:30pm EST, in or near Washington D.C. with close proximity to a metro station (e.g. DC, Arlington, Falls Church, and Tyson’s Corner). We usually hold our meeting for one and half hours (90 minutes) and require a teleconference phone system, because we host a dial-in number for those Board members that cannot attend in-person. Thank you for your consideration and any leads you can provide. ASME Section News 2 Meet the Executive Board! Kaykham Sysounthorn, Chairman Kaykham “Kai” Sysounthorn is a Systems Analyst for RadiantBlue Technologies, Inc., design and execute high- fidelity simulations of complex systems and subsystems. He began his career with Lockheed Martin in 2003, after college. He has held a variety of positions, through a career in modeling & simulation, testing, manufacturing, Independent Research & Development (IRAD) projects, functional and performance requirement verification, business development, and space operations. Mr. Sysounthorn is a Certified Six Sigma Black Belt (CSSBB) from Arizona State University (ASU), and a graduate of Lockheed Martin’s Engineering Leadership Development Program (ELDP). ELDP is a selective program designed to prepare high-potential early career engineers to become technical leader. Mr. Sysounthorn is and has been involved in a number of volunteer activities and professional societies. He is the current Chair for the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), Washington District of Columbia (D.C.) professional section, and has been a member of ASME since 1999, as a student member. He is a member of International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) since 2013, Washington District of Columbia (D.C.) professional section. In the past, he also volunteered as a mentor, tutor, and science fair judge. Mr. Sysounthorn was born in the small village of Ban Takmee in Vientiane, Laos and grew up in Wichita, Kansas, United States of America (USA). He enjoys the martial arts, traveling, reading books on history, and tennis. He is a diehard fan of the Kansas City Chiefs NFL team and Wichita State Shockers college basketball team. Paul Bizot, Vice Chairman Paul Bizot, Section Vice Chair, has previously served as Section Newsletter Editor, Secretary and Treasurer, and has directed the section’s community awards for high school science fairs for the past two years. He is co-inventor on three US patents, two in water treating and one in industrial gas processing. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in chemical engineering and a Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering, and has experience in the development of chemical technology, design and construction of oilfield/natural gas production plants and refineries, water treating, and corrosion. Employed as a contractor with Leidos at the Carderock Naval Surface Warfare Center, where he does research, development, testing and evaluation of water treating systems. Jon Ward, Treasurer Jon Ward, Section Treasurer, has been an engineer in the DC area for over 20 years. He has previously served as Section Secretary and as Newletter Editor. Employed at Leidos in Arlington, VA, he has experience in field and lab testing of mechanical, electrical, RF, and optical systems; modeling of advanced power generation processes; and systems engineering. He is co-inventor on two U.S. patents. His hobbies include kayaking and hiking, and he and his wife are respite foster parents. He was also born in DC, so he remembers when Metrorail first opened and people said hello to each other as they got on the train.