INCOSE WMA Newsletter

February 2010

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HIS

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Presidents Word

Upcoming Events

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Opportunities for Chapter Leadership and Participation

January Review

Last Word

Presidents Word

First, I would like to say that I am very excitedabout becoming president of

INCOSE’s largest

chapter. This year, our goal is to increaseparticipation and interest in chapter activities bymaking the sessions more fun, interesting, andinformative. We also plan to hold the meetings andtutorials in different locations to providse easieraccess for members. I look forward to everyon

e’s

inputs into how to make the chapter more usefulfor each member.Sincerely,Steven H. DamINCOSE WMA President

Upcoming Events

March

March 9th Dinner Meeting @ Brio

Divergent Thinking in Systems Engineering Practice:Is There a Shortfall? by Jim ArmstrongLocation: Brio Tuscan Grille, Tysons Corner Mall,7854L Tysons Corner Center, McLean, VA 22102

March 2nd Tutorial @ GMU

INCOSE Systems Engineering Certification ProgramLocation: GMU Engineering Building, Room 2608,4400 University Drive, Fairfax, Virginia 22030

Opportunities forChapter Leadership and Participation:

Expand your professional involvement in 2010!

Author: Barclay Brown, WMA Chapter President-Elect

Why are you a member of INCOSE? For most of us,one reason is to increase and deepen ourinvolvement in the systems engineeringprofession

—

to network, to reach out, to grow, to

give back. Here’s a great way to do that.

As you may know the WMA chapter is the largest

chapter in INCOSE, and we have truly anembarrassment of riches in people, knowledge,resources and opportunities in our area. Theboard has identified a number of key areas to

be exploited in 2010 and beyond. Here’s your

chance to get involved in the chapter in a waythat will make a difference for the WashingtonDC area, INCOSE and the profession.Perhaps you have a special interest or passionfor academia and building future systems

engineers, or perhaps you’d like to bring

systems engineering to other engineer

organizations you’re involved in. There’s a place

for you! Are you a photography enthusiast oramateur videographer? Put your hobbies towork for the good of the chapter! New tosystems engineering, but great at eventplanning? We can use you too!

What are the duties of these positions? What’sthe time commitment? That’s up to us to work

out. We are a volunteer organization and weknow you have a job and a life (or at least a job)

so we’ll talk and negotiate an arrangement that

works for you and the chapter. There are nopre-planned job descriptions for any of these sothey are very much open to your ideas andplans. Oh, and you won

’t be alone—

all chapterinitiatives are coordinated by board members,

so you’ll have partnership and support from us.

Here are the areas the board has identified as

important in 2010, but we’re open to otherideas as well. If you’d like to be involved or

provide leadership in any of these areas, justdrop me an email at Barclay.brown@incose.org and let me know, and we can arrange a time todiscuss and design your involvement.

Personally, I think it’s an honor and privilege to

serve the profession that has been good to me over

the years. It doesn’t hurt on the resume either, plus…it’s FUN!

Talk to you soon,Barclay BrownWMA Chapter President-Elect

Available areas in INCOSE WMAChapter leadership:

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Membership

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support active memberparticipation in INCOSE and WMA Chapter



Ambassador to Engineering Organizations

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Ambassadors to a specific organization, suchas NDIA, PMI, EIUA, AFCEA, IEEE and/or otherSE or engineering related society

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Ambassador to Academia

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Ambassador to a specific academic institutionwith a graduate or undergraduate program insystems engineering, such as GMU, VirginiaTech, UVa, Johns Hopkins, Defense AcquisitionUniversity

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Ambassador to a community or engineering-related community organization (e.g. K-12schools, Science Fairs, specialevents/competitions, Engineer's Week, etc.)