Industry and government examine making buildings safer during workshop

Reese Meisinger
ASME Public Affairs

WASHINGTON — More than 80 senior-level industry leaders and government officials gathered here in September to discuss how the application of new technologies, codes and standards, research and development, and risk analysis could be used to make buildings safer.

The Critical Infrastructure Protection Priorities Workshop, which took place at the White House Conference Center, was sponsored by ASME, the Civil Engineering Research Foundation, the American Society of Civil Engineers, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The workshop was hosted by the executive office of the President's Office of Science and Technology Policy.

During the workshop, the attendees ranked proposed programs to create a priority list that could be used by industry to address new security challenges.

Among the most important needs were understanding and implementing risk assessment and creating advanced information technology and knowledge management tools to assist designers, constructors and first responders in emergencies.

John H. Marburger, III, director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy and science advisor to President Bush, delivered the keynote address. He spoke about the need for collaboration and cooperation within the building, mechanical and construction industry. ASME President Susan H. Skemp made opening remarks.

Larry Papay, vice president for the Integrated Solutions Sector at Science Applications International Corp., addressed research and development needs; Dorothy Harris, Assistant Secretary of State for New York State, discussed Codes and Standards challenges; J. Robert Sims, senior engineering advisor with Becht Engineering, talked about the role of risk analysis, while John Voeller, senior vice president and chief technology officer for Black & Veatch, spoke about the application of new technologies.

Sims is chair of the ASME Critical Assets Protection Initiative (CAPI) Risk Analysis team. Voeller serves on ASME's Industry Advisory Board and is co-chair of CAPI.
The attendees represented CEOs of manufacturing and construction companies, researchers, suppliers, facility owners, codes and standards organizations, and the financial community.

The recommendations and prospectuses for implementation are expected to be released this month. Look for the information on ASME.ORG.

Plans are under way for a follow-up workshop to address the topic of power security. For more information about that workshop, contact Reese Meisinger at meisingerr@asme.org.

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