Cleveland Post
Laser Imaging Presentation
Roman Figler, incoming Buffalo, N.Y., Post President, recently visited the Cleveland Post to give a presentation on “Laser Imaging of Existing Structures.” Held at Sustain­ing Member Washington Group International’s Cleveland office, the session focused on the benefits of laser imaging technology—including time savings, accessibility and image clarity—and included examples of 3-D images. For more information on Laser Imaging, contact Figler at 716-655-8842, or rfigler@tvga.com.

Northern Virginia Post
2005 Mid-Atlantic Regional
The Middle Atlantic Regional Education & Training Conference, with the theme “Exceeding Expectations,” was held April 5-7 in Falls Church, Va. The conference provided the 300 participants a unique combination of technical training, business opportunities and entertainment. The technical presentations focused on current topics of interest and offered PDHs, while the business opportunity fair included presentations on upcoming contracting opportunities from various federal government agencies and military services in the Middle Atlantic area. Fifty-three exhibitors displayed their capabilities to the attendees and 24 Sustaining Member companies helped out as sponsors. SAME President Maj. Gen. L. Dean Fox, F.SAME, USAF, and former SAME Executive Director Brig. Gen. Walter O. Bachus, F.SAME, USA (Ret.), offered remarks honoring 13 SAME “Half-Century Club” members. (James Donahue, Northern Virginia Post)

Chicago Post
Young Member Professional Career Seminar
The Young Professional’s Group and SAME co-hosted a meeting on April 27 in the Lisle East Main Confer­ence addressing professional career and individual development.ÊThe three speakers were Doug Hambley, P.E., P.G., from Practical Environmental Consultants, who spoke about his own broad experience in the field of geoscience, environmental and nuclear engineering; Pamella Hambley, a financial analyst, who touched on the importance of insurance and updating finance planning for major life changes; and John Price, a loan officer with Professional Mortgage Partners, who presented on the different investment strategies, loan options, and financial credit requirements for buying a home. We would like to thank everyone, especially our presenters, for attending, and look forward to a year full of exciting and beneficial experiences through our meetings, social events and community service projects. (Mark Tryon, Chicago Post)

Lake Michigan Post
Promotes Networking
Janis Kaiser, Deputy for Small Business for NAVFAC Midwest, spoke to members of the Lake Michigan Post, Great Lakes, Ill., at its monthly meeting, which included a Small Business Expo. The Small Business Expo, hosted jointly by the Lake Michigan Post and NAVFAC Midwest, brought together about 120 people from the public and private sectors. The Small Business Expo provided a focused networking opportunity for large and small businesses that pursue work at Great Lakes Naval Training Center, and attracted new businesses thatÊmay not otherwise have been acquainted with SAME. The Post sent a follow up letter to these potential new members. Through programs like the Small Business Expo, Post members hope they can significantly expand their ranks. (Steve Blinderman, Lake Michigan Post)

Boston Post
Small Business Committee Matchmaker Event
In March 2005, the Boston Post Small Business Committee hosted a day-long Matchmaker Event in Bedford, Mass. The event included a series of agency presentations focused on government contracting trends and opportunities, a luncheon and an afternoon of scheduled networking appointments. More than 25 SAME Sustaining Member firms with small business subcontracting opportunities reserved networking tables and 200 individuals participated. Agencies making presentations included the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Army Natick Soldier System Center, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Dept. of Transportation, the Massachusetts Procurement Technical Assistance Center and the Small Business Administration. Scott Denniston, Director of the Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization Office at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, served as keynote speaker. The neighboring Piscataqua and Narragansett Posts each sponsored and participated in this event as well. Net proceeds of more than $2,000 were contributed to the Boston Post Education and Mentoring fund, and will be used to fund the newly established Boston Post Minority Institution scholarships. (Peter Delano, Chair, Boston Post Small Business Committee and member, Post Board of Directors)
In other news, the Boston Post recognized 21 undergraduate students this year, awarding a total of $50,000 in scholarships, including two $1,000 minority scholarships. Additionally, three secondary school teachers will be hosted by Boston Post Sustaining Member firms to participate in a Schools to Career Partner­ship externship. An externship is a two-week program in which a teacher works in the industry to view current practices and projects and then incorporates the experiences into a lesson plan to show students the relevancy of what they are learning. (Christen Sardano, Boston Post)

Mississippi Gulf Coast Post
Gets a Lesson on Unique Construction
The Mississippi Gulf Coast Post was given a rare opportunity to meet with Yates Construction and discuss two of the company’s current projects in Biloxi, Miss. The Ohr-Okeefe museum, a $16 million project that commenced in May 2003, is designed by world-renowned architect Frank Gehry and includes no noticeable 90-degree corners, which has posed a challenge to Yates, as nearly every aspect of the building must be custom made. The Legacy Resorts project, a $50 million project that started in August 2003, involves two, 14-story towers with 224 condominiums ranging in price from $400,000 to more than $1 million. During the tour, Chet Nadolski, Project Manager, discussed some of the challenges their engineers faced in the design and construction of the two structures. (Brandon Schrenk, MGC Post)

Detroit Post
Great Lakes Legacy Meeting
Earlier this year, the Detroit Post hosted an international luncheon meeting on the Great Lakes Legacy Act of 2002, which authorizes expenditures of up to $270 million over a five-year period starting in 2004 for remediation of contaminated sediment. Because the Great Lakes are shared by both the United States and Canada, the International Joint Commission attended the meeting. The half-day meeting began and ended with networking sessions for members, guests, exhibitors and speakers. David Cowgill, of EPA Region V, was the featured speaker. Other speakers included David Bowman, a Project Manager with U.S. Army Corps of Engi­neers, Detroit District ; Michael Alexander, an Aquatic Biologist with the Water Bureau of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality; and Matt Doss of the Great Lakes Commission. The meeting was a good example of providing education and training on an important topic; providing opportunities to develop relationships among interested parties, governmental officials and technology vendors; and emphasizing Environmental Steward­ship. Thanks to the more than 100 registrants, the meeting also served as an excellent fund-raiser. (Connie Boris, Ph.D., Second VP)

San Antonio Mentoring Council
The San Antonio Post held its second Mentoring Council event in April. Keynote Speaker Col. Dave Bird, HQ AETC Civil Engineer, was joined by 13 other potential mentors, including SAME members, fellows and engineering leaders from local military installations and the community. The senior leaders were met by 17 young members and junior officers from local installations and engineering firms. Booz, Allen and Hamilton, a SAME Sustaining Member, sponsored the event.

Rhein Main Post Heritage
The Rhein Main Post, Germany, is a relatively new Post in name, but one with a very long and honorable tradition tracing to its beginning as the Frankfurt Post. The Frankfurt Post originally was headed by USACE, Europe District. Until the end of World War II, members of the Post met at the I.G. Farben headquarters building. Later, during the 1980s, our meeting place was the unique Bauhaus style “Terrace Club,” behind the impressive Abrams Building, now part of the University of Frankfurt Campus (Poelzig-Bau).
However, after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, a large draw-down of U.S. Forces in Europe followed. With the many changes this brought, the thriving Frankfurt Post was confronted with being a Post with only remnants of the former Frankfurt community. This, coupled with USACE, Europe District’s decision to move to Wiesbaden and a planned reduction of Rhein Main Air Base, made it very clear that a change in orientation and goals was vital.
In the mid-1990s, our Post decided to make some important changes, including changing our meeting place and Post name. We determined that the majority of Post members were located in the areas covered by the military administrative areas for Hanau, Darmstadt and Wiesbaden, U.S. Army Europe Communities, and of course the vicinity of Rhein Main Air Base. Once we made the decision to meet at a location within easy traveling distance of the USACE, Europe District’s office in Wiesbaden, the next important consideration was the name of the revamped Post. A number of names were proposed and in the end we took a name based on geography, but not the same of a particular city or community. Instead, we chose Rhein Main, because we are in the area topographically formed by the valleys of the rivers Rhein and Main, the meeting point of these major waterways being part of the view from our present meeting place, the clubhouse at Rheinblick golf course. As a Post we are oriented to the future, with a proud past. A constant reminder of our tradition is the gavel used by our chairperson at meetings, which reads, “Frankfurt Post.”