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Message from the President
by Colonel Roger A. Wilson, Jr., Post President |
It is a distinct personal honor to serve this year as President of the Greater Kansas City Post of The Society of American Military Engineers. Thank you for your confidence, and congratulations to Mr. Tom Poer and the 2008 Officers and Directors for a successful year and smooth transition to the new team.
In the Federal engineering and construction sector, 2009 will be a historic year. In addition to surging Military Construction programs due to Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC), Global Rebasing, and Grow the Army initiatives, now comes the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act, or stimulus. Aimed at infusing dollars into our infrastructure in order to create jobs and improve the economy, this year presents incredible opportunities for Federal and private industry to partner on unseen levels. The Society will play a critical role in this endeavor through continued collaboration and exposure to the many opportunities. The Greater Kansas City Post maintains a reputation as a post of excellence, with dynamic programs, dedication to community, and camaraderie. This year will be no different as we look forward to our inaugural Industry Day, establishing a Student Chapter at the University of Missouri, Kansas City, our contemporary monthly luncheons, Vice President's Dinner, annual skeet shoot, and participation in multiple science and engineering events. In addition to these exciting events, this year the Officers and Directors will place additional focus on the Post's budgeting, financial management, and Endowment practices in order to secure the long-term viability of the Post.
To this year's Officers and Directors, recently I was reminded that all of us serve the Post as volunteers; individuals that willingly spend time and energy for the greater good of the profession of engineering, often at the expense of other priorities. Thank you for your sacrifice and professionalism. You are an impressive group. To our Board of Fellows, thank you for your continued service to the Post, and for your counsel. To our Sustaining Members, thank you for your continued investment into SAME. We welcome your contributions and suggestions to make this the best Post possible. Together, we can again achieve the goal of Post of distinction this year, while ensuring the benefits for future generations of members. I very much look forward to serving with you. |
Industry Day, a Great Success for the KC Post
by Chris Prinslow and Jason Meyers |
The Greater Kansas City Post of the Society of American Military Engineers organized their first annual Industry Day. This event was a partnering of SAME, USACE and the University of Missouri Kansas City (UMKC). The event brought together over 200 attendees from across the nation. Public and private sector individuals were in attendance. Students from the University of Kansas and the SAME student chapter of UMKC also attended the event. The event was held at UMKC University Center on January 28th. Registration for this event was mailed to local chapter members and also posted on the Greater Kansas City Post website.
![](http://ih.constantcontact.com/fs028/1102486477041/img/39.jpg?a=1102532638232) The event was kicked off by a social hour the evening before the conference in the Kansas City Power and Light District. At the social hour companies could sign up for one-on-one sessions with the Kansas City District Contracting Officers and Program Managers. Over 26 companies purchased exhibit booths and over 19 companies sponsored the event. Dean Kevin Truman introduced himself to the attendees and spoke about UMKC's School of Computing and Engineering and his desire for UMKC to serve the needs of the engineering community in Kansas City. The day of the conference the Missouri River Regional Vice President, Mr. Don Curtis - HDR Engineering presented a Vice President's Award to Mr. Jason Myers, BWR Corporation for his outstanding support to the post, particularly in the area of support to our Young Members and student summer engineering camp. Following this award presentation, Don Curtis installed the new officers for 2009. The outgoing president, Mr. Tom Poer - HNTB made remarks before introducing the COL. Roger Wilson - USACE as the Greater Kansas City Post incoming president.
Industry Day presentations were made by a variety of personnel from industry, academia, and the military; including UMKC professors, Kansas City USACE staff, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Installations and Environment, J.E. Dunn Construction, AMEC Engineering and SAME Fellows. Presentation topics included building information modeling (BIM), LEED certification, engineering ethics, National Levee Safety, sustainable development on Army Installations, 404 permitting process, early contractor involvement and design build source selection boards. Throughout the day "one-on-one meetings" with the Kansas City District Contracting Officers and Program Managers met with small businesses and large corporations. The efforts of this event rose over $24,000 for the post, a portion of which was donated to the Dean Kevin Truman's engineering department. PDH's were also awarded to those attending the event. ![](http://ih.constantcontact.com/fs028/1102486477041/img/40.jpg?a=1102532638232)
The event chairs included Chris Prinslow - USACE and Jason Meyers - BWR. The committee included, Al Osborne - Mason and Hanger, Mark Loes - Kleinfelder, Amy Lines - Kleinfelder, Merrill Watt - Fellow, Larry Myers - USACE, Matt Metcalf - Tughill, and David Howe - Black & Veatch, Matt Jacobs - BWR, Jerry Richardson - Professor at UMKC and Kevin Truman - Dean of Engineering and Technology UMKC. This event was an overwhelming success and the post is planning to hold next year's event again at the UMKC campus on the last Wednesday in January.
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Engineers Week Highlights
by Amy Lines |
The Greater Kansas City Post of Society of American Military Engineers had a large presence at this year's Engineers Week. Over 900 engineers gathered to celebrate the profession at the Downtown Kansas City Marriott in February for a luncheon in their honor. During the ceremony, COL Roger Wilson presented a donation check from the Post's Industry Day event to Chancellor Leo Morton and Dean Kevin Truman for the School of Computing and Engineering at the University of Missouri Kansas City. Afterwards, the Greater Kansas City Post hosted presentations from four USACE Districts to discuss their organization overview, trends and initiatives, and future workloads in the Mary Lou Williams Conference Room. The presenters in attendance were COL Tom O'Hara - St. Louis District, Erik Blechinger, PMP - Deputy District Engineer, Omaha District, Clif Warren - Chief of Engineering and Construction, Tulsa District, and Natalae Tilman, Kansas City District. The speakers discussed an overview of district missions, fiscal year programs, future opportunities and the impact of stimulus funding. It was a great event attended by 80 members. Copies of the presentions are available on the Greater Kansas City Post Website. The young members sponsored a social hour at the Flying Saucer Draught Emporium located in the Power and Light District. This corner pub offers guests more than 225 hand-crafted, unique and quality beers from around the world in a fun and laid-back atmosphere. Approximately 20 members were treated to free appetizers and great conversation.
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2009 MATHCOUNTS Western Chapter - MSPE
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This year's Mathcounts was held on Saturday, February 7 at Burns & McDonnell in Kansas City, Missouri. A total of 13 schools and 86 students were registered. The event consisted of three written tests in the morning and a countdown round in the afternoon. The top three teams and ten individuals go to the State competition March 7 in Columbia, Missouri. The following awards were presented at the Engineers Week Luncheon.
Top Teams
1st Pembroke Hill
2nd Barstow School
3rd Warrensburg Middle School
4th St. Paul's Episcopal Day School
5th Pleasant Lea Middle School
Top Individuals / School
1st Eli Fromm / Pembroke Hill
2nd Austin Bachar / Barstow School
3rd Jason Tian / Warrensburg Middle School
4th Sid Goel / Pembroke Hill
5th Sarah Sampei / Pembroke Hill
6th Ritika Abhyankar / Pembroke Hill
Contributing Sponsors Hy-Vee - Black & Veatch - Bucher, Willis & Ratliff - Suchart Vend Brokerage - Terracon - TranSystems -
Burns & McDonnell |
SAVE THE DATE Vice President's Membership Appreciation Dinner |
WANTED: Amateur Gamblers
Thursday, April 30th 6-9pm
Cascadia Hall -
located within Incredibowl
9600 W 151st st. Overland Park, KS 66233 913.661.1700 ext 34
$40 Includes gambling chips and dinner
6:00 - Open doors and cash bar, start gambling
6:30- 8:00 - Buffet opens
8:30 - Gambling ends, award prizes and announcements Menu: Brisket, fried chicken, tossed salad, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans and biscuits, pie and brownies.
Questions or additional information: Mark Loes, SAME VP, Kleinfelder, 7802 Barton, Lenexa, KS 66214, [email protected] or 913.647.5022.
Western Attire Encouraged in the Old West Gambling Hall!
Thank you to our event Sponsors!
AECOM � ARCADIS � Argus Consulting, Inc � B&A, Inc � Barr Engineering Co � Berger Devine Yaeger Inc � Black & Veatch � Burns & McDonnell � CAPE � CH2M Hill � Gossen Livingston Associates � HNTB � Kleinfelder � Louis Berger � ME Group, Inc � P/Strada, LLC � PBS&J �Sevenson Environmental Services, Inc � Siemens � Terracon � Tetra Tech, Inc � The Shaw Group, Inc � Tidewater, Inc � URS |
P.E. Refresher Course Continues Success
by Jason Meyers |
The Greater Kansas City Post is in the midst of its eleventh session of sponsoring members through the SAME P.E. Refresher Course. The Post has prioritized youth education as a prime objective for growing the engineering profession in the greater Kansas City area. Since the inception of the program, the Post has sponsored a total of 135 individuals. Each session recruits new SAME members by advertising within the greater Kansas City area, but outside of the Post's regular communication channels. The program is free to all members of SAME. As a part of this program, the Post has proudly sponsored many students from the Command General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth.
The Greater Kansas City SAME Post is utilizing the ASCE P.E. Exam Review Course. The Course will be offered at dates and times as agreed to by those taking the course. BWR's office will offer their space for this class on evenings. This is not a teaching course, rather a review or refresher course. And this is reflected in the course design. Each person chooses the topics they want to review for the exam. The topics are divided into modules with each module presenting a series of problems in exactly the format encountered on the exam.
The review course includes more than 50 hours of learning based on over 2,500 pages of scripts and storyboards, and now includes the new Construction Engineering Module. In addition to demonstration and practice problems, there are extensive video instructor walkthroughs of each requirement of a P.E. Exam situation, accompanied by on-screen displays of the corresponding formulas and equations. The course also includes electronic versions of all "visual aids" and reference materials that an engineer might take into the examination. These include complete sets of equations, formulas, graphs, tables, diagrams, and where applicable, video clips of sample tests. The course also incorporates an audio pronunciation glossary of Greek letters and an onscreen scientific calculator, as well as animated models and illustrations of key concepts and processes, such as Consolidation
For more information on the P.E. refresher course please contact Nathan Hladky, I.E. at Bucher, Willis & Ratliff Corporation. [email protected] or 816-363-2696. |
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Snacks for the Troops
by Ann Ewy |
The Greater Kansas City Post is constantly looking for ways to support the members of the United States military across the world. In 2008, the Post was able to provide this support through Project Platoons Forward, a program sponsored by the Powder Creek Shoot Park in Lenexa, Kansas. Powder Creek teamed up with The Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 7397 to sponsor a project providing personal comfort items to men and women of Unites States Army platoons dispersed throughout the neighborhoods of Baghdad. These men and women receiving these packages are the units clearing the neighborhoods of militias and Al Queda. They live in these same neighborhoods in Combat Out Posts providing security through walking and mounted patrols day and night. Living conditions in these Combat Out Posts are spartan with just the bare necessities. The Greater Kansas City Post was able to purchase some of the items on the 'wish list' and provide them to Powder Creek, who in turn sent the packages to the troops overseas.
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Post Members Attend Leaders Workshop
by Mark Loes |
Kyle Kukuk, Kansas University Student Chapter President, and Mark Loes, Post Vice President attended the spring session of the SAME Post Leaders Workshop held in Los Angeles. The purpose of this workshop was to give post leaders of varying experience a broad overview of the workings of a post, support services the national post provides and the vision of the organization. There were 70 officers and board of directors from 45 posts present along with approximately 40 student members from 20 student chapters. After opening statements by Executive Director Bob Wolff, Rear Admiral Greg Shear, SAME President, gave an overview of the strategic plan including the vision and goals of the organization. The focus is to increase funding and human resources towards outreach and mentoring to NCO's, Student Chapters, Young Members and K-12 schools. Some of the ideas were to have post meetings on bases, wave first year dues, sponsor attendance at regional/national events, increase field trips, build relationships with teacher organizations, support Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts of America and learn social networking skills. This was a great two day event sponsored by national. The Kansas City Post met the requirement of the Outreach and Communication streamer with their attendance. Kyle and Mark enjoyed meeting various counterparts from across the nation to share ideas and experiences.
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University of Missouri Kansas City Student Chapter of the GKC Post became Chartered!
by Marc Nicolas |
Tuesday, March 3, 2009, the University of Missouri Kansas City (UMKC) Student Chapter of the Greater Kansas City Post became officially chartered. Kevin Truman, Ph.D. - Dean of the UMKC School of Computing and Engineering (SCE), Colonel Roger Wilson, Jr. - President of the GKC SAME Post and Marc Nicolas - GKC Post UMKC Mentor were on hand to sign the charter. Christine Cunningham, UMKC SCE student, along with other post members and UMKC staff and students were there to support the initiative. Objectives of the UMKC SCE/GKC SAME Post partnership include: Linking students with architecture, engineering and construction professionals; advance the scientific and engineering education; assist in the professional development of student members; respond to the needs of student members; and jointly achieve the Society's goals and objectives as prescribed in its strategic plan. We are looking forward to quality, professionally oriented programs and activities that facilitate and improve communication among students, the military services and private sector AEC firms!
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In Memoriam |
COL Gurnie C. Gunter - had a distinctive and honorable career as an engineer and exemplified the characteristic of a leader, beginning before the Vietnam War. COL Gunter graduated cum laude from Lincoln University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Biology and was Commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army in 1955. He received a Bachelor's and Master's Degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Illinois at Champaign. COL Gunter also received a Master's Degree in Military Science from the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, a Master of Business Administration Management from Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania and was a graduate of the United States Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, Pennsilvania.
Throughout his military career, COL Gunter served in a variety of command and staff positions to include Engineer Instructor at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. COL Gunter culminated his illustrious career by serving as Commander of USACE, Kansas City District 1981-1984. After retirement he began another career as a public servant for the City of Kansas City, Missouri where he served as City Engineer and Director of Water Services. Until his passing, COL Gunter served as Colonel of the Engineer Regiment. In 2000, COL Gunter was selected as one of the 100 Most Influential African Americans in the U.S. |
Treasurer's Report
by Tim Fobes |
Endowment Balance Summary 11/30/08 01/31/09 Change Total $187,734.74 $187,852.61 $117.87 Operations Checking Account Balance $26,253.99
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2009 Greater Kansas City Post Sustaining Members |
ABS Support Services ■ AECOM ■ ARCADIS ■ Argus Consulting Inc. ■ Arrowhead Contracting Inc. ■ B&A, Inc. ■ Barr Engineering Co. ■ Berger Devine Yaeger ■ Black& Veatch Special Project Corp. ■ Bucher, Willis & Ratliff Corporation ■ Burns & McDonnell ■ CAPE ■ CDM ■ CH2MHILL ■ Conti Federal Services Inc. ■ CTI Associates Inc ■ EA Engineering Science & Technology Inc. ■ Ecology and Environment Inc. ■ Environmental Chemical Corp ■ EMR Inc. ■ Faith Technologies ■ Gossen Livingston Associates ■ HDR ■ HNTB ■ HydroGeoLogic Inc. ■ Innovative Technical Solutions ■ JE Dunn Construction ■ Kingston Environmental Services ■ Kleinfelder ■ LMG Construction Services LLC ■ Mark One Electric Company Inc. ■ Mason & Hanger ■ Massman Construction ■ McCownGordon Construction, LLC ■ McTech Corporation ■ McKinzie Construction Inc. ■ ME Group Inc. ■ MKEC Engineering Consultants Inc. ■ MWH ■ Olsson Associates ■ P/Strada LLC ■ Paragon Business Solutions, Inc. ■ Parsons ■ PBS&J ■ Poole Fire Protection, Inc. ■ Rosemann & Associates PC ■ Sabatini Architects Inc. ■ SAIC ■ Short Elliott Hendrickson Inc. (SEH) ■ SCS Engineers ■ Sevenson Environmental Services Inc ■ Siemens ■ Sorella Group, Inc ■ Stanley Consultants Inc. ■ Stantec Consulting Services ■ TapanAm Associates ■ Terracon Consultants Inc. ■ Testamerica Laboratories Inc. ■ Tetra Tech Inc. ■ The Louis Berger Group Inc. ■ The Ross Group Construction Corp. ■ The Shaw Group Inc. ■ Tidewater Inc. ■ TranSystems Corporation ■ Tug Hill Construction ■ United Excel Corporation ■ URS Corporation ■ Walter P. Moore and Associates ■ Western Air Maps Inc. ■ Weston Solutions, Inc.
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Welcome New Sustaining Members!
McTech Corporation
Slaggie Architechs
Paragon Business Solutions
McCownGordon Construction |
Upcoming Dates & Events |
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4/16: 7pm Joint mtg with KSPE at the Overland Park Convention Center. GIS Overview and Applications.
5/12-15: SAME National Joint Meeting Training Conference & Expo, Salt Lake City, Utah
6/25: 11:30am - TBD 7/23: 11:30am - TBD
8/27: 11:30am - TBD
9/27: 11:30am- TBD |
2009 Officers |
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President
COL Roger Wilson, Jr., USACE
Vice President
Mark Loes, Kleinfelder
Ann Ewy, USACE
Tim Fobes, HDR
Tom Poer, HNTB
Larry Myers, USACE
Chris Prinslow, USACE
David Howe, Black & Veatch
Matt Metcalf, Tug Hill Construction
Ted Harsig, Olsson Associates
Al Osborne, Mason & Hanger
Jason Kling, Burns & McDonnell
Rosana Privitera Biondo, Mark One Electric Company
Missouri River Regional Vice President
Don Curtis, HDR |
The Greater Kansas City Post Would like to thank
Brian Turner
Berger Devine and Yaeger for attending Industry Day and taking so many excellent photos! | |
2009 Committees |
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Membership
Ron McCutcheon, Mc Kinzie Construction
Sustaining Membership
Doug Dreiling, BWR
Programs
Al Osborne, Mason & Hanger
Young Members
Greg Butler,
Marc Nicolas, HNTB
Education & Mentoring
Ted Hartsig, Olsson Associates
Scholarship/PE Refresher
Jason Meyers, Burns & McDonnell
K-12 Outreach
Jeff Campbell, JE Dunn
Mathcounts
Jason Kling, Burns & McDonnell
Student Chapter
Marc Nicolas, HNTB
Strategic Planning
Larry Myers, USACE
Design & Construction
Chris Prinslow, USACE
Small Business
Jackie Hacker, The Shaw Group
Nominating
Tom Kirkwood
Auditing
Matt Metcalf, Tug Hill Construction
Awards
Tom Poer, HNTB
Communications
Amy Lines, Kleinfelder
Newsletter
Amanda Whiteford, Terracon
Web Administrator
Larry Myers II, HNTB |
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Advertize in the Newsletter
The Greater Kansas City Post offers advertizing space for quarterly newsletters. Your business card size advertisement or company logo can be added for a cost of $150.00 per year.
Please send your artwork to: Amanda Whiteford,
and your check to
Amy Lines, Kleinfelder, 7802 Barton Lenexa, KS 66214. Once your check is received your advertizement will begin in the following issue.
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