President's Message

As I look back over the past year and a half, I want to thank Dr. Martin Griss of Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) for his sponsorship of our chapter.  While there are many factors that have contributed to our chapters improved attendance and engagement of members, the facilities offered by CMU and Dr. Griss' presentation in July of last year stand out.  I also want to recognize the staff at CMU, in particular Stacy Marshall who provided assistance with planning and scheduling the meeting rooms.  As a sign of the changing and challenging economy, CMU is increasing enrollment in evening classes and will no longer able to offer our chapter the use of their facilities.  Our last meeting at CMU will be June 9, 2014 and I hope you can attend not only for the topic but to extend our thanks for their hospitality.

Looking forward, we are searching for a new venue for the monthly chapter meetings.  The search area is south peninsula for a facility that can accommodate audio/visual presentations for 30-40 members and has open internet access and telecommunication so that we can continue to master INCOSE’s GlobalMeet service to conduct meetings for members who are unable to attend in person.  The chapter is flexible on what weekday evening the meeting is held.  It would also be ideal for the use of the facility to be free.  If you know of a facility, the board of directors welcomes your support.  

The chapter's mission is to advance the process and practice of systems engineering.  To that end, the Program Committee chaired by Amanda Foo has been and will continue to find people to present related topics at our monthly meetings.  The committee welcomes membership input on what is of interest, as well as feedback on the presentations; in order to make the meetings engaging and interesting.

Through the Transformation Caucus championed by Scott Workinger, the membership can volunteer  to become directly involved in identifying issues with current practice of systems engineering that need to be addressed and in developing concepts for addressing these issues.  He has managed to engage a diverse and talented pool of individuals with which members can collaborate in contributing to projects.  In addition, he has gotten the attention of the past and current President of INCOSE and other distinguished individuals which offers contributors opportunity for recognition.

Another goal of the chapter is to develop the profession of Systems Engineering.  The Membership Committee chaired by Dean White is welcoming new members.  As president, I intend to pursue getting my SEP certification and I encourage you to, as well.  The chapter has offered tutorials on SEP certification preparation in the past and there are resources online.  Let me know if you are interested in a one weekend day tutorial and we'll start planning.  Keep in mind that the May 2015 certification will be based on version 4 of the SE Handbook.

If there are other subjects of interest to you please post a comment here on our blog for Cassi Janakos, Communications Committee Chair to share with the board and we will explore how to create the learning opportunity. 

By Rollie Olson
INCOSE SFBAC President 
Rollie Olson's Bio