Dan Rowley (SAWE Vice President-Training, LA Chapter Vice President & SAWE Fellow)
Michael Notarangelo (LA Chapter Secretary & SAWE Fellow)
Ian Mac Neil (LA Chapter Member)
Miguel Espinoza-Bazan (LA Chapter Member)
Pat Mitchell (Guest from Seattle Chapter)
SAWE LA Chapter Business Meeting:
Lawrence called the meeting to order at 10:05 AM
Lawrence Cruz unveiled new items on the LA Chapter website including a “Projects” tab to keep track of chapter projects and contacts, and a QR code for use in posters and flyers.
Pat Mitchell from Seattle called into the meeting. He may be potentially taking a job in the LA area (with Lockheed Martin) and wanted to connect with the SAWE organization in Los Angeles. Lawrence Cruz mentioned that Salwa Francis, also previously from Boeing, is in SAWE and currently works at Lockheed Martin. Pat also mentioned that he might be working in Palmdale, and the team also recommended he check with the Mojave Chapter.
Lawrence mentioned details of the upcoming picnic and narrowed the site down to three locations: Corona Del Mar Beach, Peninsula Park and Marina Park. The team is moving forward with a Corona Del Mar Beach picnic in late July.
Dan Rowley reported that Donna Gerren retired from both teaching and the SAWE Academic VP Chair.
Dan also noted that SAWE received a proposal from Dr Mostafa Hassanalian and the New Mexico TechStudent chapter to host the 2024 SAWE International Conference in lieu of a planned virtual conference. If their offer is approved, then the potential conference we are researching could move up to 2025 instead of 2026.
Long Beach was suggested as a potential site for the conference, Las Vegas was also mentioned
DJ Feldman is the “go to” person for negotiating SAWE conferences and can provide hotel leads
Richard Manning, Dan Rowley and John Hargrave are on the conference research committee
LA Chapter has not committed to hosting a conference
Dan Rowley has an action to arrange a dual chapter meeting in LA with the Mohave Desert Chapter.
Meeting Time: Saturday, 10/29/2022 12:00 PM Luncheon followed by Chapter Meeting
Meeting Location: Stonefire Grill located at 18727 Brookhurst Street, Fountain Valley, CA
Meeting Agenda: LA Chapter Planning
Savannah International Conference report
Financial report – San Diego chapter dissolved
Introduction of webmaster Lawrence Cruz
Planning for upcoming meetings
Chapter Project
Attendance: 11 Total (9 LA Chapter members and 2 guests)
Note: Stu Melvin (LA Chapter Treasurer) was unable to attend this meeting so Yi-Ling Tam charged the meal cost to her credit card and will be reimbursed. Thank you to Henry Tam for applying his discount towards our food & beverage.
SAWE LA Chapter Business Meeting:
Richard Manning called the business meeting to order at 12:55 PM
Around the Room Discussion:
Dan Rowley reported on the SAWE International Conference & BOD meeting: There was emphasis on the SAWE certification program, International Conference planning for Coco Beach in 2023; then a virtual conference in 2024, Dr. Donna Gerren (SAWE VP-Academic Affairs) is expected to retire soon and may also retire from her position at SAWE. Dan thought that overall, the International Conference was very well done except for a few cases of Covid.
Richard reported that Stu Melvin has decided to step down as chapter Treasurer and we are now looking for an LA chapter member to step up to fill his position. This position is a minimum 2-year commitment.
A current LA Chapter Treasurer’s report was not available at the time of this meeting.
Richard also reported that the San Diego chapter recently dissolved and two of their former members (Tony Gonzales and Vinay Kumar Vaddepalli) elected to join the LA chapter. Three former SD chapter members elected to join the Mohave Chapter and the remaining former SD members have not yet responded.
As of this date, $85.99 from the SD chapter treasury is to be transferred to the LA chapter treasury based on the ratio of member transfers plus $1800 (1/2 of the $3600 LMCO sponsorship funds with the other 1/2 to Mohave chapter)
John Hargrave suggested that we that we schedule an online meeting with the two new members from the San Diego Chapter to welcome them to the LA Chapter, introduce ourselves, and make them feel included.
Yi-Ling solicited suggestions for increasing membership in our chapter.
Someone suggested that we contact the remaining former SD chapter members that haven’t decided to join the LA or Mohave chapters and invite them to join the LA chapter. It was mentioned that the long distance between San Diego and LA could be a factor, so John Hargrave suggested that we host periodic on-line meetings.
Yi-Ling also suggested that we plan a meeting in the San Diego area and took an action to look up their membership data and provide contact information to Dan Rowley and Mike Notarangelo. Dan said that an e-mail invitation will be sent to the undecided members and followed-up with a phone call.
Dan Rowley will contact Kevin Tharp (Mohave chapter Director) to see if they have any interest in having a joint meeting or event with the LA chapter.
Richard introduced Lawrence Cruz as our new LA Chapter webmaster.
2023 Chapter project suggestions:
Expand the LA Chapter website – It was suggested that Lawrence post the LA chapter meeting minutes to our website after a content review by John Hargrave
Outreach to former San Diego Chapter members to join the LA Chapter
A discussion was held to help plan future meetings (in person week-night meetings with guest speakers or on-line meetings (such as with SAWE trainers) and/or Saturday lunchtime meetings for activities and social events ), potential meeting locations such as Northrop Grumman cafeteria or at a museum such as the Western Museum of Flight or at a car show, Potential guest speakers (contact our members for referrals), factory tours (possible Virgin Orbit, SpaceX or Mercedes Benz factory in Long Beach) or Balloon ride (free) at the Orange County Great Park in Irvine,
Future Meeting plans:
Meet & Greet in San Diego area with former San Diego chapter members if there is interest (TBD)
LA Chapter Holiday Party (to be planned by Yi-Ling). It was suggested that we use on-line Google Meet to help determine member availability for LA Chapter Holiday Party.
Survey chapter member’s interest for types of meetings and events.
Richard adjourned the meeting at 1:58 PM
Top Row (L to R): Yi-Ling Tam, Ian Mac Neil, John Hargrave, Michael Notarangelo, Lawrence Cruz Bottom Row (L to R): Lisa Rowley, Scott Snelson, Dan Rowley, Ron Fox, Richard Manning
