Technical Activities Committee
TAC Exec Minutes – 16 June 2010
Attending: Laura McGill, Allen Arrington, Mark Melanson, Neal Pfeiffer, David
Riley, Tony Gross, Megan Scheidt, Betty Guillie
1. TAC VP Issues – Laura McGill – Laura announced that Jim Neidhoefer is
getting married on 3 July! Congratulations to Jim and his bride!!
a. BoD Approval for ETM Appointment - It is official! At the May meeting
of the Board of Directors, they approved Allen Arrington’s appointment as
Director of Engineering & Technology Management. This appointment is
good for the following year. In 2011, the position will be on the BoD ballot.
Allen has agreed to run for the position in 2011.
b. Schedule for July TAC Meeting – The next set of TAC meetings will take
place the week of 25-28 July 2010 in Nashville, TN at the Joint Propulsion
Conference. There is a change from the normal start time of the TAC
meeting on Wednesday. We will start at 0730 hrs and we will aim to end by
1500 hrs. TAC CSPI will take place on Tuesday at 0800 hrs. Laura would
like all Directors to attend this meeting.
c. Public Policy Key Issues – TAC is due to respond to PPC concerning
2011 Key Issues. Laura will follow up with the Directors and Tony Gross.
Directors should determine what issues would be relevant in their particular
area and then see which TCs within their group should be involved. Laura
and Tom Duerr will need this information by the end of June. They are
currently requesting a crisp statement and a short 1-paragraph description
for each issue. It does not need to go into full detail but keep in mind that it
should be a point that makes sense to bring to the hill.
ACTION ITEM: Laura will contact the Group Directors and Tony Gross
concerning information needed for the 2011 PPC Key Issues.
ACTION ITEM: Group Directors and Tony Gross should provide Tom Duerr
and Laura relevant issues within their groups that would be appropriate to
bring before the hill.
d. Cosponsorship Approval Process Changes – IAC recommended some
changes to the process at the May meeting. TAC did not object to any of
Technical Activities Committee
the changes. Betty incorporated those changes in 3 documents – the
cosponsor conference request form, the acceptance letter sent to the
contact person and the Cosponsor Conference Process Document. The
three forms are attached with the minutes for your review. The next e-mail
vote will follow the new process if no one objects.
e. TAC Issues Tracking – Basil created a document that could be placed
on the TAC SharePoint site that contains the open issues TAC is currently
working. There are currently 3 items on the document. They are: Technical
Awards Nomination Requirements, Public Policy Key Issues, and Revisions
to co-sponsorship process/form. Once an issue is closed, it will be moved
to the TAC Issues Tracking – Closed document.
2. Staff Issues – Betty Guillie
a. TAC Funds Status – Allotted $6569.00; Remaining $40,656.00
b. Metrics for Recent Conferences – Inside Aerospace – Budget 150;
Actual 49
c. Conferences for Approval –
International Symposium on Asteroid Mitigation, College Station, TX, 20-22
September 2010. The operating society is the Texas A&M University Aerospace
Engineering Dept. According to the form, the Astrodynamics TC is supporting this
event. The proposer, David Hyland, is an AIAA member. The other people listed
under Organization are either current members or past members of AIAA.
Approved by David Riley.
Nuclear and Emerging Technologies for Space 2011 (NETS-2011), Albuquerque,
NM, 7-10 February 2011. The operating society is the American Nuclear Society
and it is being supported by the Aerospace Power Systems TC and the Nuclear
& Future Flight Propulsion TC. Gary Bennett, proposer of the form, is an AIAA
member and past member of the Aerospace Power Systems and Electric
Propulsion TCs. The Conference General Co-chair, Michael Houts, is a member
of the Nuclear & Future Flight Propulsion TC. Sent to Ashwani Gupta and Trevor
Sorensen. Trevor has approved it.
Space, Propulsion & Energy Sciences International Forum (SPESIF-2011),
College Park, MD, 15-17 March 2011. The operating society is Institute for the
Advanced Studies in the Space, Propulsion & Energy Sciences. A specific
Technical Activities Committee
technical group is not listed as participating. We have cosponsored this in the
past. Glen Robertson is not an AIAA member. Approved by Ashwani Gupta and
Trevor Sorensen. Separate – go back to Ashwani and Trevor to find someone to
stay in touch
1st CEAS Specialist Conference on Guidance, Navigation & Control, Munich,
Germany, 13-15 April 2011. The operating society is the German Society for
Aeronautics & Astronautics (DGLR), which is a member of the Council of
European Aerospace Societies (CEAS). AIAA and DGLR have a long-standing
collaboration. In addition, in 2007 AIAA and CEAS signed a Memorandum of
Understanding that includes the cross-promotion of each others’ activities.
Members of the AIAA GNC Technical Committee participate on the planning
committee for this conference. This has been approved by IAC. Approved by
David Riley.
A motion was made to approve the International Symposium on Asteroid
Mitigation and 1st CEAS Specialist Conference on Guidance, Navigation
& Control. Motion was seconded and passed.
A motion was made to approve Nuclear and Emerging Technologies for
Space 2011 (NETS-2011) pending Ashwani Gupta’s approval. Motion
was seconded and passed. (Betty contacted Ashwani on 6/17/2010 and
he approved it.)
A motion was made to approve Space, Propulsion & Energy Sciences
International Forum (SPESIF-2011) pending Ashwani and Trevor
contacting their TCs to see if any AIAA members are participating.
Motion was seconded and passed. (Betty contacted Ashwani and Trevor
on 6/17/2010. Waiting for response.)
3. NIS Activities – Mark Melanson – NIS held its monthly telecom today. There
were 10 participates. NIS is currently tasked to review the draft TAC charter and
reference documents. Mark is looking for feedback concerning the organization.
Look at it from a high level. Do not knit pick at this stage. Mark would like all
feedback by 6 July. Betty will place this issue on the TAC Issue Tracking
Document and she will send the draft TAC charter and accompanying documents
to NIS and TAC Executive in a separate e-mail. Send comments to Mark
Technical Activities Committee
Melanson at mark.r.melanson@lmco.com. NIS is also looking into TC Metrics.
Bill West needs inputs from David Riley and Basil Hassan.
NIS reported at the May TAC meeting on limiting the total number of members on
a technical committee and incorporating a new category. This was tabled at the
May meeting mainly because of time. TAC Executive will discuss at the July
meeting in Nashville.
ACTION ITEM: Betty will place on the TAC Issue Tracking Document information
concerning the draft TAC Charter. She will also forward documents to NIS and
TAC Executive for review.
ACTION ITEM: NIS and TAC Executive will provide feedback to Mark by 6 July.
4. Liaison Reports – as indicated by the Liaisons
a. Honors and Awards – George Lesieutre - did not attend but provided
report: Theodor Knacke Aerodynamic Decelerator Systems Award –
bringing process into compliance. Carol Stewart and George updated the
TAC Awards Guidelines following the changes approved at the TAC meeting
in May. George suggested some minor changes to the proposed new H&A
forms. He also suggested to Carol that the written award processes, or at
least the evaluation criteria, could be publicly available.
Need replacement for George as Liaison to H&A – any suggestions? Send
to Laura McGill at ljmcgill@raytheon.com
b. Publications – I-Shih Chang – did not attend
c. Membership/RSAC – Tim Craig – did not attend
d. Young Professionals – Marcus has resigned as Liaison – looking for
replacement
d. Education / SAC – Dolores Krausche – did not attend
e. International – Ron has resigned as Liaison – looking for replacement
Career & Workforce Development Committee is also looking for a TAC
Liaison to attend their meetings and telecoms.
8. Program Committees – Tony Gross – Tony met with the new Space
Exploration PC Chair – Chris Moore. He will be contacting the new chair of the
Gossamer Spacecraft PC, Cliff Willey shortly.
Technical Activities Committee
9. Directors – Around the Room/Phone
Kathleen Atkins - did not attend but provided the following – she just
approved the MDO award selectee so that announcement will be coming out
shortly. The award will be presented at the conference this fall.
Ashwani Gupta – did not attend
Jim Neidhoefer – did not attend
Allen Arrington – Allen has added 2 new Deputies – Scott Eberhardt and
Abdi Khodedoust. Welcome Scott and Abdi!
Neal Pfeiffer – Neal is looking into an issue with a TC concerning an award.
He also announced he just signed a consulting contract with Piper Aircraft.
Congratulations!!
David Riley - pass
Trevor Sorensen – did not attend
Basil Hassan – did not attend but provided the following:
1. Basil has emailed Matt Okane from YPC to discuss getting a new YPC
Liaison. Basil would like this person to take on a more active role in involving
YPs in TAC activities.
2. Basil has been in discussions with Don Richardson about the idea of forming
a committee around the Human Factors area. A contact at Ga Tech, Amy
Prichett has been identified. Basil will set up a telecon with Amy in the next
couple of weeks to discuss. He will include Tony Gross, Neal Pfeiffer
and Jim Neidhoeffer.
3. Basil has re-contacted the SAE Space Environments Committee leadership to
discuss how we might fit them into the TAC structure. During his last
conversations with them back in January, they were going to develop a draft
charter. We need to make sure their focus complements our other related
committees.
4. Basil will start working on strategic plan items for TAC. He will share in July.
10. Old Business - none
11: New Business - none