SAME GKC Post Newsletter

Greater Kansas City Post Newsletter

For 2010, the Greater Kansas City Post has a dynamic mission to fulfill. The Post possesses a large and very giving membership, is financially strong and in an excellent position to do great things. This is due to the outstanding work the 2009 Board Members and Committees Chairs achieved. Examples of these accomplishments include: achieving Distiguished Post, increasing membership by 97 and adding 10 new sustaining member firms, planning four major member events and, most importantly, the separation of accounts between operations and endowment funding. Please give a Big Thank You to this hard working Team!

This year has already started out on a terrific note with the wonderful Industry Day Education and Training Workshop at the University of Missouri Kansas City, beginning with the Social Event at the Boulevard Brewing Company. The goal for the Post's leadership is to continue this momentum throughout the year. In addition to the normal functions the Post's 19 committees carry out every year we have three longer term goals to focus on in the months ahead;

(1) develop a sustainable model to support student outreach at the secondary, high school and college levels,

(2) develop a strategy and plan to achieve the Top Post designation from the Society, and

(3) plan an outstanding 2011 Missouri River/Texoma Regional in Kansas City at the Downtown Marriott Hotel on August 23-25.

The Post leaders welcome your contribution in achieving these goals and look forward to a great year of collaboration and networking.

Mark Loes

President

2nd Annual Industry Day, A Great Success!

by Christopher Prinslow & Jason Meyers

The Greater Kansas City Post of the Society of American Military Engineers organized their second annual Industry Day. This event was a partnering of SAME, USACE and the University of Missouri Kansas City (UMKC). The event brought together over 230 attendees from over 30 states. Public and private sector individuals were in attendance as well as students from the University. The event was held at UMKC University Center on February 3rd. Registration for this event was mailed to local chapter members and also posted on the Greater Kansas City Post website.

Industry Day was kicked off by a social hour February 2nd at the Boulevard Brewing Company where companies could sign up for one-on-one sessions with the Kansas City District Contracting Officers and Program Managers.

"I attended a similar mixer at the SAME National in a bar setting and the KC Industry Day mixer was ten times better. What a venue - everyone I talked to thought it was great. Oh, just one comment - why don't we have some more events at Boulevard in the future. Food was great and what else can you ask for - free beer."

Over 26 companies purchased exhibit booths and over 15 companies sponsored this great 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 Missouri River Regional Vice President, Mr. Jerry Adams - Vice President at Berger Divine and Yeager presented a Vice President's Award to Mrs. Ann Ewy, USACE for her outstanding support to the post.

Presentations were made throughout the day by a variety of personnel from industry, academia, and the military; including program briefs by the USACE district Engineers from Kansas City, Tulsa, Omaha, Saint Louis and Region 7 of the GSA. Topics covered information covering Building Information Modeling (BIM), LEED certification, renewable energy, Missouri River Eco Restoration, flood plain mapping, professional development for university students and Missouri river authorized use study. 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 $37,000 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.

The event was a great opportunity for students at UMKC to network and look for future

internships and job opportunities. Students attended the event at no cost and there were presentations tailored to them. Army officers attending the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth also attended the event at no cost which gave them an opportunity to meet the local post leaders and get involved in SAME.

"I am so glad I got to see what an Industry Day is all about. It was a marvelous, well organized and genuinely fun event all around from Tuesday evening through Wednesday! Thanks for letting UMKC be a part of the excitement!"

The event was chaired by Chris Prinslow - Chief, Construction Division, USACE. The committee included: Jason Meyers - Burns & McDonnell, Al Osborne, Amy Lines - Kleinfelder, Ann Ewy - USACE, Matt Metcalf - Tughill, David Howe - Black & Veatch, Bill Yord 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.

Vice President's Dinner

by Phil Dula

This year's Vice President's Dinner will be held on Friday, May 21, 2010 at the New Theatre Restaurant. Please reserve this date on your social calendar as this will be an entertaining night for all. As in year's past the Vice President's Dinner is a great fund raising event and a great opportunity to spend a fun night out with that special someone. The New Theatre Restaurant promises us a great dinner and a very entertaining show. This spring's show is "Becky's New Car" starring John Davidson.This comedy has received great reviews as:

"a laugh out loud amusement park ride where the comedy spins

out of control like a bumper car..The Herald"

"a silver screen screwball comedy..the Seattle Times."

Presently we have 100 tickets reserved and these will go on sale in early April. A flyer with more details regarding how to purchase tickets through the GKC Post, ticket cost, raffle prizes, sponsorship opportunities , directions to the event, activities schedule etc. has been released on March 31, 2010. Additional information is available on the SAME website, samekc.org.

If you have any questions please contact Phil Dula at CAPE, Inc. (913) 327-8300 or via email at pdula@cape -inc.com.

The 60th Annual Engineers Week Luncheon

by Garrett Cross

The 60^th annual Engineer's Week luncheon was held on February 18^th at the Downtown Kansas City Marriott Muehlbach Tower. Thirty fortunate members had the opportunity to represent SAME at one of three tables reserved this year by the Post--and all just for the price of admission to the luncheon! The Post has sanctioned tables at the event for the past several years and will hopefully maintain this trend with the continued support of its members.

Preceded by a plethora of accomplishments and achievements, COL (Ret.) Joe D. Manous, P.E., Ph.D., D. WRE, M. ASCE gave the Keynote address at the gathering. Dr. Manous highlighted the importance of engineering professionals' contributions to society and urged the 800+ luncheon attendees to further education, acquire new skills and abilities, and adapt to changing environments to ensure their future success and that of the nation.

Ann Ewy to Serve on the National Board of Direction

by Mark Loes

Congratulations to Ann Ewy, USACE, for being elected to serve as a new board member of the National Society of American Military Engineers. Ann was nominated in February and voted in by members in March to serve a three-year term as a director to the national board leading SAME. As one of the four newly elected directors, Ann will be attending two board meetings throughout the year beginning in May at the National JETC Convention and in October at the Fall Regional.

As a director, one of her duties will be to fulfill the missions of a committee. These committees include: College Outreach, Education & Training, Engineering & Construction Camps, Environmental, Facilities Management, International, K012 Outreach, Readiness & Homeland Security.

Ann feels as though the work she does on the national board will benefit the local GKC Post in a number of ways. "I feel I will have the opportunity to be involved firsthand in decision and process making that affects our posts. I will more fully understand how the organization operates as a whole, and hope to be able to use that to better understand how the GKC Post 'fits in' and what we can be doing differently to be more effective and efficient. I will have a lot of exposure to other posts to get ideas about activities and processes. I also think this is a great opportunity to bring some of the concerns and logistical issues that the posts have, to the attention of the national board."

We are all very proud of Ann and her contribution to our post and wish for her to have an interesting and fulfilling experience serving our Society at the national level.

Greater Kansas City Post 1st Quarter Meetings

by Amy Lines

PlanetReuse

Presented by: Nathan Benjamin

February 24th, 2010

Tyndall AFB - Novabrik Applications

Presented by: Skip Crumpecker

March 25th, 2010

PE Refresher Provided to Post Members

by Ed Bristow

The Greater Kansas City Post is in the midst of its twelfth session of sponsoring members through the SAME P.E. Refresher Course. The Post continues to prioritize youth education as a prime objective for growing the engineering profession in the greater Kansas City area. With the current group preparing for the April 2010 exam, the Post has provided this course to a total of 143 individuals since the program inception. Each session has the added benefit of recruiting 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 including several in the current group.

The Post is utilizing the ASCE P.E. Exam Review Course. This is not a teaching course, rather a review or refresher course and this is reflected in the course design. Topics can be chosen depending on what the user wants 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 also includes a 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.

A kickoff meeting for the spring 2010 session, facilitated by Leah Bettinger, HNTB, was held at HDR's Main Street office on February 4. Leah presented background information to the ten attendees about the exam format, the course content, and tips from her experience with the exam last year. Leah explained that the review is presented in modules at dates and times as agreed to by those taking the course. While HDR's office was offered as a central location for evening classes, the widely dispersed attendees decided to pursue the course in smaller work groups on varying schedules.

In the near future and with the joint support of other local professional engineering societies, the Post intends to sponsor a live P.E. Refresher Course in the KC Metro Area.

For more information on the P.E. refresher course, please contact Ed Bristow at HDR Engineering, edward.bristow@hdrinc.comor 816.412.1314.

Audit Summary

by Jim Feikert

The Greater Kansas City Post SAME is financially sound! On January 20, 2010, the GKC Post Audit Committee (Jim Feikert) met with the Post Treasurer (Kent Dvorak) to complete the 2nd annual GKC Post Audit. Mr. Feikert also met with the GKC Post Accounting Firm, Unger and Associates, on February 10, 2010 to review the Post's Operations books. Mr. Feikert's audit held two objectives:

(1) audit the Post's financial statements, and

(2) audit the accounting processes and procedures of the GKC Post.

Mr. Feikert compiled a detailed Audit Report which gave specific mention to observations within April 2009's Operations Balance Sheet and also the GKC's Operations Net Worth. A previous motion to satisfy a previous Net Worth debt with 2009 profits was passed. Going into 2010, this Net Worth will now be termed Accumulated Earnings which will reflect a positive Net Worth on the books. Mr. Feikert presented the Audit Report to the board on March 9, 2010 and it was approved. The GKC post is poised for a successful 2010 and beyond! For more information or questions, please contact Mr. Feikert at jim.feikert@hei-eng.com.

Treasurer's Report

by Kent Dvorak

February '10 Jan-Feb '10

Total Expenses $10,360 $12,710 Net Income $19,595 $41,899

Endowment Balance $268,758

Member Deployment

by Mark Loes

LTC Mike Fitzgerald, Deputy District Engineer for the United States Army Corps of Engineers Kansas City District, has been deployed to Afghanistan in service to our country. Mike has been part of the Greater Kansas City Post family for the past several years most recently serving as the Chair for the Readiness and Homeland Security Committee. The Post would like to wish Mike and his family a safe and successful deployment.

Annual Sponsorships

by John Brake

The Post has initiated a Pilot Program for Annual Sponsorships. The purpose is to obtain feedback for consideration in establishing a permanent program in 2011, available to all sustaining members. The sponsorships would be in the form of several package options and include event sponsorships, event attendees, and special recognition on the SAME web site and in the newsletters. The packages will contain benefits usually purchased individually by many members.

The purchase at the beginning of the year will assist the Post in event planning and will provide money for up-front expenses for events and activities. It will offer maximized benefits to members at a discount cost and excellent recognition all year long as an annual sponsor. There will be different size packages and at least one for out of town members or those not desiring event participation. We are currently talking with half a dozen member firms for participation in the Pilot Program. For further information please contact Mark Loes at 913-647-5022, or John Brake at 913-991-8440.

2009 Greater Kansas City Post
Sustaining Members

ABS Support Services ■ AECOM ■ ARCADIS ■ Argus Consulting Inc. ■ Arrowhead Contracting Inc. ■ Ayars & Ayars, Inc. ■ Balance Point Federal Services ■ 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 ■ DLR Group ■ EA Engineering Science & Technology Inc. ■ Ecology and Environment Inc. ■ Environmental Chemical Corp ■ EMR Inc. ■ Faith Technologies ■ Geotechnical Services, Inc. ■ GLMV ■ Greenleaf Construction Company ■ HDR ■ HNTB ■ HydroGeoLogic Inc. ■ Innovative Technical Solutions ■ Jackie Hacker & Associates ■ JE Dunn Construction ■ Key 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 ■ Patti Banks Associates ■ PBS&J ■ Professional Environmental Engineers, Inc. ■ Prudent Technologies ■ Poole Fire Protection, Inc. ■ Remediation Services ■ Rosemann & Associates PC ■ Sabatini Architects Inc. ■ SAIC ■ Short Elliott Hendrickson Inc. (SEH) ■ SCS Engineers ■ Seneca Environmental Services ■ Sevenson Environmental Services Inc ■ Siemens ■ SM Wilson ■ Soil-Tek of MidAmerica ■ Sorella Group, Inc ■ Stanley Consultants Inc. ■ Stantec Consulting Services ■ Straub Construction Company ■ 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. ■ The Primus Group ■ The Walsh Group ■ Tidewater Inc. ■ TranSystems Corporation ■ TSI Engineering ■ Tug Hill Construction ■ United Excel Corporation ■ URS Corporation ■ Walter P. Moore and Associates ■ Walton Construction ■ Western Air Maps Inc. ■ Weston Solutions, Inc.

In This Issue

Message from the President

2010 Industry Days

2010 VP Dinner

PE Refresher Course

Annual Sponsorships

Quick Links

KC Post SAME

SAME National

Annual Sponsors

Red Level

Berger Devine Yaeger

HNTB

JE Dunn

Welcome New Sustaining Members!

SM Wilson & Company

Jackie Hacker & Associates

TSI Engineering

Professional Environmental Engineers, Inc.

Key Construction

The Walsh Group

Prudent Technologies

Do you have an article you would like published in The Miltarty Engineer or SAME News?

As part of the Education and Training Streamer, submitting articles to these publications is a principal criteria. If you have an article you would like to submit, contact Amy Lines at alines@kleinfelder.com or 913.647.5008.

Upcoming Dates & Events

Vice President's Dinner May 21st

SAME MEETINGS

4/29: 11:30am - TBD 5/27: 11:30am - TBD

SAVE THE DATE

2011 SAME REGIONAL

August 23-25, 2011

2010 Officers

President

Mark Loes, Kleinfelder

Vice President

Phil Dula, CAPE