Society ponders its role during emergencies

ORLANDO, Fla. — In light of recent natural disasters and various acts of terrorism throughout the world, a special session was convened here during the Society's annual Congress and Exposition aimed at identifying ideas for the role ASME should play when such tragic instances occur.

Terry E. Shoup, ASME's president-elect, presided over the disaster relief forum at the Congress.

During the hour-long discussion session, led by President-Elect Terry E. Shoup, several ideas emerged. These ranged from the role ASME ought to play in identifying vulnerable areas before something occurs, to what, if any, official role the Society and its members might play after an incident.

While individual members of ASME routinely play significant and varied roles in relief efforts throughout the world, the discussion here focused on ways that ASME, as an organization, should be involved.

Some of the ideas included:

• Generating a risk assessment "report card" where every year the Society would identify locales and regions that may be vulnerable in areas such as transportation, infrastructure, water supply, etc. The thought behind this idea centered on capitalizing on the experience of ASME members and providing local officials with advice on ways to make their regions less vulnerable.

Muhammed A. Malik, president of the National University of Sciences and Technology, was among those attending the Congress disaster relief session.

• Creating a "resources list" of members who are experts in various areas and who could be contacted for expertise on varied disaster topics, such as materials handling, energy grids, nuclear plants, etc.

• Creating an interdisciplinary "early response team" that would include mechanical and other engineers who would be able to provide leadership during times of emergencies.

These ideas and the others generated at the meeting will be reviewed by Shoup and other volunteers, who may then establish a task force to generate final recommendations for presentation to the Board of Governors.

 

back to news & features