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2007-2008 Committee Work Plans | SAME Hosts USACE ISC

XT Solidifies 2007-2008 Committee Work Plans

Rear Adm. Greg Shear Jr., P.E., CEC, USN, SAME First Vice President and Chair of the Executive Team, called the meeting to order at 2:00 p.m., June 18, 2007. The Executive Team, which consists of the chairpersons of each committee, a Service Liaison Officer from each of the uniformed services, and the SAME Executive Director, serves as the “principal forum for assessing progress in supporting SAME’s Strategic Plan through the accomplishment of each committee’s work plan.” Following is a brief summary of the work plans of the attending committees.

College Outreach. Ben Matthews, P.E., Carter & Burgess, reported that the committee’s focus will be on increasing participation; specifically, increasing the number of active Student Chapters, overall Student Membership, and the number of student attendees at the annual Student Leadership Workshop.       

Engineering & Construction Camps. Lt. Col. C. Scott Prosuch, USA (Ret.), Shaw Environmental & Infrastructure Inc., stated that all 2007 camps met their enrollment requirements. Of particular interest is the committee’s effort to track camp attendees to determine the number that go into a service academy or the engineering field upon college graduation.

Environmental. Col. Stacey K. Hirata, P.E., USA (Ret), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, noted that among the many actions of the committee, the focus will be on endorsing environmental certification program(s), securing strategic alliances, and enhancing the presence of environmental issues in publications, workshop sessions and conference programs.

Facilities Management. Gene Hubbard, P.E., SES, CFM, NOAA (Elected Director), reported that the committee is working to increase FM educational opportunities through SAME’s new FM workshop, panels at IFMA World Workplace, and other possible partnerships.

K-12 Outreach. Clay Kelly, P.E., Strand Associates, reported on a recent survey regarding Posts’ involvement in K-12 outreach. Their focus for the year will be on identifying three main K-12 outreach activities that all SAME Posts can support on the local level and implementing a plan of action.

Readiness & Homeland Security. Lt. Col. Robert Adamski, P.E., F.SAME, USA (Ret), Gannett Fleming Inc., shared the committee’s revised focus, which is on programs based on requirements from the National Security Strategy and National Response Plan. This revised focus has been implemented in the SAME Streamer criteria.

SAME Hosts USACE Infrastructure Systems Conference

SAME partnered with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to host its biennial Infrastructure Systems Conference (ISC) in Detroit, Michigan, June 25-29. The conference was attended by more than 900 individuals, including more than 690 USACE and other government agency representatives, 200 industry representatives, 85 exhibitor representatives and 75 one-day pass individuals.

The conference featured more than 300 technical sessions divided throughout 12 technical tracks. This diversity offered attendees a choice of topics ranging from dam safety to mechanical engineering to civil engineering & transportation. Community of Practice meetings were held to update practitioners on the latest USACE policies, training and technology.

The conference also featured a two-day exhibit hall featuring 58 companies displaying their latest technologies.

Maj. Gen. Don T. Riley, USA, Director of Civil Works, and Steve Stockton, Deputy Director of Civil Works, provided attendees with an overview of the civil works program, including the recently-completed strategic planning effort to posture USACE for an uncertain future. They discussed USACE’s “Actions for Change,” which are intended to guide USACE and its stakeholders in being better prepared for future challenges. USACE has transformed its communications with the public to a more risk-based vs. systems approach; such communications are intended to better inform the public of the risk associated with specific locations. And, USACE is placing a high priority on public-private partnerships to leverage limited federal funds to address growing requirements for federal action in the nation’s water resources arena. The USACE Campaign Plan for water resources focuses on support to homeland security, civil works and life cycle infrastructure management. In civil works, USACE is looking at comprehensive watershed planning, rather than a focus on project planning.
 
Patricia A. Rivers, P.E., SES, Chief, Programs Integrate Division, Military Programs, HQ USACE, provided an overview of military programs and addressed the challenges presented by delays in annual and supplemental appropriations to fund military construction (MILCON) and base realignment and closure (BRAC) initiatives, acceleration of the Army’s modular force and the “Grow the Army” initiative. She discussed USACE’s MILCON transformation and the need for standard designs and processes to efficiently deliver a $54 billion program in the next five years.

Following is a summary of key points presented by other plenary speakers.          

USACE needs to maintain its technical competence. Speakers noted that new processes and delivery methods may require fewer architects and engineers and more personnel with skills in risk assessment and contract management. Risk assessments will not replace traditional methods of project design, but will complement them to provide better decisions. Risk estimation needs to focus on many factors, but the consequences to public health and safety will be increasingly important.

USACE will self-certify its projects. To satisfy the requirements of Leadership in Energy and Environ¬ment in Design (LEED), USACE will self-certify its projects using criteria from the U. S. Green Building Council’s LEED Green Building Rating SystemTM. To be effective, USACE needs to update its policy and technical guidance more frequently to ensure it represents current technology and best practices. USACE will add requirements to provide for better resiliency of its projects.
USACE will replace all personal computers. Under the new Corps-wide IT contract, USACE will replace all personal computers in the coming year to achieve system compatibility and uniformity throughout USACE. Building Information Modeling (BIM) is here and USACE has a roadmap that plans on 90 percent compliance with BIM standards by 2010.

Design-Build is still the default for MILCON transformation. USACE cannot be successful in design-build without a great deal of teaming with industry. The role of USACE has changed from compliance with regulations to compliance with performance specifications and the acceptance of the contractors’ proposal in response to a government request for proposal (RFP). A USACE study identified design-build training as a major need within USACE. This includes team building, collaboration and coaching skills to be successful in design-build, as well as design-build best practices, including paying stipends, full-performance specifications, interim interviews, and over-the-shoulder reviews. A design-build RFP needs to focus on performance specifications and allow industry to do its job in designing the project. The USACE Model RFP has met industry recommendations to limit the information required for a proposal to minimize the cost to compete for DOD projects. Bonding is an issue for contractors on projects in excess of $300 million.

Presentations from the conference are available at www.usaceiscconf.org.  The presentations are sorted by day and track.