The 2009 Annual Meeting, held last month in Palm Desert, Calif., was buzzing with activity. Amos E. Holt took office as president of ASME, Robert T. Simmons was selected by the Nominating Committee as ASME’s president-nominee for next year, and three Board of Governors members-at-large and seven ASME vice presidents began their three-year terms. There were also three well-received plenary sessions, several seminars on global engineering and a special industry roundtable on global innovation.
+ Former astronaut Bonnie J. Dunbar, currently the president and CEO of the Museum of Flight, was the recipient of the 2009 Ralph Coats Roe Medal and guest speaker at the ASME Foundation Roe Luncheon and Lecture at the Annual Meeting.
In his inaugural speech at the President’s Dinner, Holt touched on the meeting’s theme, Engineering in the Global Market. “The future of technology is dependent on our ability to compete successfully in a complex, interdisciplinary engineering world,” he said. “This is a world that survives only through innovative partnering and increased sharing of knowledge. We need clarity and global harmony with regard to intellectual property, and that needs to be reflected in how ASME manages knowledge. Because this is a changing field, we need to ensure we are leaders in responsive and flexible practices that encourage innovation and best practices.
Holt, an ASME Honorary Member and Fellow, has served in a number of senior-level positions during his 27-year affiliation with the Society, including chair of the Committee on Finance and Investment, chair of the Continuing Education Institute, and vice president of the Pressure Technology Group.
+ The IShow contestants captured not only the attention of the competition's judges, shown here. A local television news crew was also on site to film a portion of the contest and interview some of the contestants and judges.
Also during the President’s Dinner, the Nominating Committee announced that Simmons was named as ASME’s president-nominee. Simmons is an ASME Fellow who has more than 33 years of engineering management experience, and more than 30 years of active participation as ASME division chair, group vice president and a member of the Board of Governors. The membership will vote by ballot on the nomination this fall.
The meeting’s busy agenda included three plenary sessions — “Winning Strategies for Global Engineering,” “Global Partnerships and Collaborations,” and “Enhancing Your Knowledge of Global Trade” — and six breakout sessions. These sessions included “Tapping the Global Engineering Talent Pool,” and “Protecting and Enforcing Intellectual Property Rights in a Global Marketplace.” The meeting also offered a dozen professional development sessions targeting subjects such as cultural sensitivity and effective time management in a global workforce.
+ To celebrate the achievements of the past 125 years of ASME Codes & Standards, the History & Heritage Committee created six posters of Codes & Standards-related ASME landmarks. The posters were unveiled at the ASME Foundation's Archimedes Club Reception on June 13, and later displayed for the duration of the Annual Meeting.
The conference also featured a special Industry Roundtable on Breakthrough Innovation, which was sponsored by the ASME Industry Advisory Board. This session was moderated by author Gina Colarelli O'Connor and featured speakers Eric Ducharme from GE Transportation, Kristen Pederson of IBM Global Business Services, John E. Goossen of Westinghouse Electric Co.
A number of new ASME officers also began their terms at the Annual Meeting. Said Jahanmir, Robert Pangborn, and Thomas D. Pestorius — all ASME Fellows — joined the Board of Governors as members-at-large. Jahanmir is president and chief executive officer of the blood pump manufacturer MiTiHeart Corp. of Gaithersburg, Md. Pangborn is a professor of engineering mechanics, vice president and dean of undergraduate education at Penn State University. Pestorius, a former ASME secretary and treasurer, is chief executive officer and co-founder of H&P Inc., which provides consulting, engineering, and technical services to the energy industry.
In addition, seven ASME vice presidents started their three-year terms at the meeting: Louis Bialy (Safety Codes and Standards), Philip Carpentier (Programs and Activities), Mindy Grinnan (Technical Communities), Susan Ipri Brown (Government Relations), Wilfred LaRochelle (Conformity Assessment), Anthony Strazisar (International Gas Turbine Institute), and William Wepfer (Education).
Conference attendees also had the opportunity to enjoy some of Palm Desert’s beautiful scenery during a charity golf outing benefiting Engineers Without Borders USA held at the hotel’s Desert Springs Palm Golf Course.