[INCOSE San Francisco] INCOSE SFBAC March 14 Meeting - Human Systems Function & Connectivity

Hello All!

Are your body's systems connected & functioning properly?  If not, you may not be reaching your Optimal Health Potential!  The human body has the most amazing ability to heal and be well, only if the systems are connected and functioning.  If you are suffering from: fatigue, difficulty sleeping, headaches, neck pain, allergies, asthma, acid reflux, back pain, & chronic diseases, and... you are already on medications; these are warning signs that your systems are NOT connected.

Come to this month's SFBAC meeting to learn how the most complicated system in the world works - made simple.  Dr. Colleen M. Conger-Brass and Dr. Michael D. Brass will will show us how the body functions and the 5 Essentials of Maximized Living.

Please read more below for details about this month's meeting, and we hope to see you there!

Monday Evening Monthly Program - March 14

6:30 - 7:00 PM   Social half hour and Networking

7:00 - 8:00 PM   Presentation

Place:  Rinconada Library, Embarcadero Room

            1213 Newell Rd.

            Palo Alto, CA 94303

            Map to Library

Virtual Attendance Details to follow.

Topic:  5 Essentials of Maximized Living
Learn how the most complicated system in the world works - made simple. These Maximized Living Doctors will show you how the body functions and the 5 Essentials your body needs to: Prevent Disease, Lose Weight, and reach-your Optimal Health Potential. 

Did you know? 

• One drop of blood contains 5-million Red Blood Cells , 7,000 WBC's and thousands of platelets.
• RBC's live approximately 120 days and make 300,000 trips through the blood stream; that's almost 2-trips per minute.
• The Heart weighs less than one pound and Pumps 2.5 gallons per minute or 1,314,000 gallons per year.
• Energy output of the heartbeat in a 24-hour period alone is enough to raise three fully-loaded Greyhound buses off the ground.
• If stretched out, the arteries and veins in your body would cover 12,000 miles.
• The liver has over 500 functions in the body.
• Nerves transmit their signals at 300 mph

Speakers:  Dr. Colleen M. Conger-Brass and Dr. Michael D. Brass

Dr. Colleen M. Conger-Brass, D.C., received her Associate of Science Degree from Palmer College in Davenport, IA. In 1982, she graduated from Life University in Marrietta, Ga. with a Doctor of Chiropractic Degree. She further continued her education with a 3-year postgraduate study in Chiropractic Orthopedics and is a Board Eligible Chiropractic Orthopedist. She has extensive training in Nutrition, Pediatrics and extremity adjusting. She served as the President of the Santa Clara County Chiropractic Society for two consecutive terms. She also served as the editor for the Chiropractic Journal, a statewide publication. Dr. Conger enjoys playing basketball as well as skiing, horseback riding, reading and traveling. My Goal as a Chiropractor and as an Educator is to empower people with an understanding of how the human body functions, so that wise decisions can be made about one's own health and well being, thus encouraging people to lead healthier and happier lives.

“Our greatest wealth is our health.”

Dr. Michael D. Brass, D.C. F.A.S.B.E. (C), received his Associate of Science Degree from Miami Dade College in Miami, FL. In 1983, he graduated from Life University in Marietta GA with a Doctor of Chiropractic Degree. He further continued his education with a two and a half year post-graduate degree in Spinal Biomechanical Engineering (ASBE). Dr. Brass has extensive training in ergonomics and pediatric care. He has been in private practice together with his wife Dr. Conger for the past 32 years. Together they are teaching the 5 Essentials of Maximized Living, through which they have seen their community transformed. They offer advanced workshops on Nutrition, Toxicity, Weight Loss, Heart Disease, Diabetes, Cancer Killers and many other health topics the families in their community have challenges with on a daily basis. Dr. Brass enjoys weight lifting, skiing and spending time with faith and family.

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INCOSE SFBAC is on LinkedIn.
Join at http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/2909560/

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Read INCOSE SFBAC's current and past newsletters at http://incosesanfranciscobayarea.blogspot.com/

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INCOSE is a not-for-profit membership organization founded to develop and disseminate the interdisciplinary principles and practices that enable the realization of successful systems. The SFBAC presents thought-provoking monthly programs for its members and their guests.

Learn more about SFBAC at:     http://www.oldsite.incose.org/sfbac/SFBACwelcome.html.  Learn more about INCOSE at:   http://www.incose.org/

Thank you,

Robin Reil

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INCOSE SFBAC Secretary

robin.reil@incose.org

Request to Review Abstracts for Regional Mini Conference

Our chapter is teaming with Los Angeles, San Diego, Central and Southern Arizona chapters to hold a regional mini conference.  The conference will be 8-9 April 2016.  Each chapter was asked to identify 2 reviewers of technical papers that will be considered for presentation and one volunteer in case one one of the two volunteers was unable to complete assigned reviews.  There are nine (9) abstracts to be reviewed, and it should require no more than three hours to complete all the reviews.  The need to identify a reviewer is immediate!  If you are interested, please submit a bio for consideration, as soon as possible.

[INCOSE San Francisco] SVEC Banquet February 25th - Invitation to SFBAC Members

Hello All,

Founded in 1989, the Silicon Valley Engineering Council is a non-profit educational 501 (c)(3) organization. Its purpose is to serve its member engineering and technical organizations in Silicon Valley and provide outreach to education and the community.

   

The 2016 Inductee into the Silicon Valley Engineering Hall of Fame, John Celli (President of SSL, a leading manufacturer of Commercial Satellites) will be recognized during the Banquet.

  

Michael Trela (Head of Satellite Engineering for Google + Skybox Imaging) will be the Keynote Speaker. He is rumored to be using a Rapid Development Model that our Transformational Caucus members may find interesting.

 

The SVEC will be awarding $1,000 Education Awards to young Engineering & Technology Students. The Official Deadline for submitting Nominees for this Award is February 11th. If you have someone, who you think would be a Worthy Recipient of an Educational Award, check the Awards link for the Required Info and Contact Kiran Gunnman at <SVEC.Scholarship@gMail.com>. 

 

The SF Bay Area Chapter of INCOSE will have a Vendor Table in a Reception Room before the Banquet. This will be a Great Opportunity for us to provide Info on our upcoming Workshop & Caucus Activities. Several prospective Engineering Students and Engineers from other Engineering Disciplines have learned about the field of Systems Engineering at our past Tables. Contact Bill Sanders <m20.Bill@gMail.com> if you can come early & help with our Chapter Table (before 5:30). It takes ~ 5 Members to field the Inquiries; bring your INCOSE Business Cards.

 

The Santa Clara Hyatt Regency, 5101 Great America Parkway (next to the Santa Clara Convention Center),

is the *New Venue* for the Banquet. Don't forget to go to the New Location.

  

Banquet Dinner Tickets for the General Public are $125 by Feb 6th & $140 thereafter.

Since SF Bay Area INCOSE is a Member of SVEC, our rate is $99 for SFBAC Members.

SVEC can seat SFBAC Members at an INCOSE Table (for Group Mention during Introductions).

 

Register at:  https://svecbanquet2016.eventbrite.com.  No Walk-Ins Please.

  SFBAC INCOSE Member Promotional Code Discount Code is: OrgMember

 

Notify Bill Sanders <m20.Bill@gMail.com> to be "seated" at the/an INCOSE Table.

If there is enough interest, a Transformational Caucus Table can be arranged. 

 

Meal Choices are (Special Dietary Arrangements can be provided):

  Porchini & Goat Cheese Stuffed Chicken

  Pomegranate Glazed Salmon

  Saffron Vegetable Risotto

  Dinner Includes: 

     an Organic Green Salad with Cherries, Goat Cheese, Fennel, Candied Cashews, Port Dressing; 

     plus: Wine, Coffee, & International Teas.

  Dessert is Creme Brule, Ginger Strawberry Compote, Candied Orange Zest.   

Schedule:

  5:30 Pm  Reception with No Host Bar, & Vendor Table Room

  6:30 PM  SVEC President's Welcome (usually punctually on time)

  6:45 PM  Dinner with Friends & Associates

 

Enjoy an evening Schmoozing with all of your Engineering Friends & Associates.

Parking Validation is generally Provided; the Banquet Discount is not known at the moment.

Thank You,

Robin Reil

INCOSE SFBAC Secretary

robin.reil@incose.org

President's Message

This year’s election for INCOSE officers is closed but the chapter’s election will soon be open.  We will have two members that will be on the ballot for first time.  Write-in candidates are also welcome.  They will be joining the other members of our Board of Directors to provide a program which promotes systems engineering here in the San Francisco Bay Area.  The monthly chapter meetings are just one way to provide value to our members.  We have discussed conducting workshops on a variety of topics but we need your input on what is of interest.  We are also collaborating with Los Angeles Chapter on a mini-regional conference to be held next year.  This will not only provide a learning opportunity to members who may not be able to make the International Symposium but also an opportunity to share your expertise by publishing and presenting your own paper (see the notice about the Regional Mini-Conference 2016 for more information).  We are also discussing plans for a social event and are looking for members who would volunteer to help organize.

Last month’s chapter meeting “Leveraging Space Resources as a Humanitarian Tool” presented by Allan Sison was well attended at San Jose State University, at the Lockheed Martin satellite location and remotely through GlobalMeet.  We are trying to provide a variety of forums for members to engage.  There were also several San Jose State University students in attendance.

These are just a few of the ways that the chapter works to provide value to members.  There are also the INCOSE central efforts.  

I have attended a couple of the webinars which provide information of current practices in systems engineering.  I found the webinar by candidate for President, Rick Dove, on “The Art of Agile SE” to be quite engaging.  It confirmed an aspect of systems engineering that Ihave always believed to be a central element which is user engagement.  I consider the user to be not only the end user of a system but also the engineering, manufacturing, and service organizations involved in realizing the system.  

Rick pointed out three design quality principles:  Harmony of delight (emotional); parsimony (economic); and requisite variety (functional).  My experience had been that these are: cost; schedule; and function.  While I realized that there was another element at play (for example resistance to change or preference for particular design), I had not identified it until this webinar as the emotional quality.

Another point that Rick made is the expectation of consistency.  Systems need to be evolutionary not revolutionary.  I have some difficulty accepting this.  In my experience with defense and medical devices, this is the case.  But Steve Jobs was quite successful in his vision as a revolutionary that cannot ask what a user wants then develop the product, because by time it goes to market, the user’s wants will have changed. 

Besides offering members information on current practices in Systems Engineering, these webinars also provide members who are certified the opportunity to earn PDUs to maintain certification.

INCOSE provides numerous opportunities for members to exchange knowledge and systems engineering information.  The San Francisco Bay Area Chapter is at the foreground for our members to offer quality professional development.  The chapter endeavors to engage all members and asks for your response to the upcoming election, attending chapter meetings, answering the requests for input on topics of interest and volunteering to support.

By Rollie Olson 
INCOSE SFBAC President

INCOSE SFBAC Blog Seeking Feedback

INCOSE SFBAC is approaching its two year anniversary of having a blog/digital newsletter. During this time we have published nearly 65 articles and have had 2000 views. A typical newsletter consists of a chapter president's update, section updates, and 2-3 other articles relating to INCOSE or systems engineering. 

We are seeking feedback on the blog to see what our membership enjoys about the blog and any suggestions you may have to improve. Please comment below or submit a comment via the "Contact Us" form.

The current Communications Director, Cassi Janakos is moving onto other opportunities at the end of the year and we will be welcoming Olga Jilani as the nominee for 2016 Communications Director.

Thank you for reading the blog! 

Systems Engineering in Retirement

There are many opportunities throughout our society for experienced systems engineers to continue to apply their engineering skills in retirement.  It might be that most of these activities won't have a large impact, and will be primarily for your own entertainment.  But that's not all bad, either.  Studies shows that keeping one's mind active with games, puzzles, learning a new language, etc. is important for seniors, to maintain mental acuity and prevent or delay dementia.  My preference of “games” are Excel, Word, and PowerPoint, and my puzzles are public policy issues in which I have been applying my skills in small to larger activities.

On the small side, online surveys and web sites provide many opportunities to help companies make incremental improvements.  Many online surveys don't satisfy a key requirement:  the range of potential answers they provide is incomplete, and they don't provide a mechanism for the survey responder to provide an accurate answer.  Often, the survey lacks a fill-in answer.  More often, the survey lacks the "not applicable" option, which applies far more frequently than the survey designers seem to expect.  In these cases, I send a message to the survey organization, informing them of their omission; usually, I receive at least a courteous response.

Free wi-fi at coffee houses and stores is another area where a key requirement is sometimes not satisfied:  data transfer speed is sometimes too slow to be usable.  At a popular chain of coffee houses and at a well-known department store, I noticed the wi-fi speed was slow.  I measured it at about 1Mb/s, which is much too slow for any useful web access.  I sent messages to both companies.  The coffee house sent a response that they plan to upgrade the wi-fi in all of their stores by the end of 2015.  I have not yet heard back from the department store.

In a medium scope instance:  The City of Palo Alto wants to make certain streets safer for bicycles.  Their initial solution for our street, somewhat of a thoroughfare for two elementary, one middle, and one high school plus Stanford, would have made driving and even biking on our street very slow and possible even more hazardous.  My opinion was that the solution, transferred from more densely populated towns in Europe, far exceeded the requirements for improved safety on our street.  I expressed that opinion to the planning department.  I don't know if my opinion carried any weight, but the city is now proposing a much simpler and less intrusive solution.

On the larger side, I am interested in public works and public policy issues.  In one instance, I am disappointed with the current high speed rail / Caltrain solution for our Peninsula.  The current plan is that in 2029 - another 14 years from now - all that will be achieved is an electrified "blended" solution using mostly the current Caltrain tracks.  This will not achieve at least what should be three major goals of Peninsula transportation - truly high speed transportation (grade level crossings reduce allowed speeds), less noise (more trains will mean more train horns at those crossings), and reduced automobile traffic impacts (grade-level crossings interrupt traffic flow).  I am revising a PowerPoint presentation to encourage the reconsideration of an elevated solution along the Caltrain right of way, but one that would address the visual esthetics of the solution, to counter some of the primary objections from past years.

Our nation's legislators - at the state level and Congress - also need solutions based not just on platitudes and ideology, but solutions that are based on engineering approaches and data.  Perhaps one could call this, not political science as taught in universities, but "political engineering".  I intend to analyze problems, and then develop, suggest, and discuss with community leaders and legislators politically-engineered approaches to taxation, the Federal budget and debt government regulations, and other issues.

However, our nation certainly has many small to very large problems that need well-engineered solutions for the 21st century, and the insight of retired systems engineers could well help achieve those solutions.

By Mike Forster

INCOSE SFBAC Member