Government / Industry Workshops

Announcement69th Annual International Conference on Mass Properties Engineering
Virginia Beach, Virginia
May 22-26, 2010
Hilton Virginia Beach Oceanfront


Jeffrey A. Cerro
Government / Industry Committee Chairman
NASA Langley Research Center


International Mass Properties Engineers in all disciplines will be very interested in attending this year’s Government/Industry workshop. The SAWE continues, through the work of this committee, to lead the development of recommended practices in the field of Mass Properties Engineering (MPE). In fact, an initial item of consideration is to rename the G/I committee
the Standards and Practices Committee (SPC). This is to acknowledge our broader goal of developing MPE standards beyond our earlier scope based primarily on U.S. Government acquisition programs. A strategic plan for the SPC is available to members online. This year has been quite productive for the current G/I committee, members have created new recommended practices to deal with aerospace vendor weight control and mass/inertia distribution in marine vehicles. Both of these documents are SAWE Board approved and are available to members online as free products. New processes are in place to assist members create Recommended Practices as well. Last year’s G/I chairman, Mr. David Tellet, has continued his work on modifications to our top level Functional Recommended Practice. These modifications are required by the SAWE executive committee and will result in FRP-1 being available for BOD vote at this year’s conference. The top level RP and our strategic plan are also being processed by our current G/I committee; and their continued development will be discussion topics in the committee breakout sessions.


Government/Industry day will allow for the initial presentation of general material in a joint session and then consist primarily of the committee breakout sessions. Conference attendees are welcome to participate in discussions in any of the following meetings. I encourage your participation in Tuesday’s activities to help us ensure that G/I work is focused on supporting the needs of our member base.

Planned Government/Industry Day Summary of Events: 


Opening Session: A short session to present to the SAWE member body the status of current activities and
plans for future work. Coordination of sub-committee work to support overall G/I goals will be shown.


Sub-Committee Breakouts, Parallel Sessions:



  • Marine Systems

  • Offshore Marine Systems

  • Airline Affairs

  • Military Aircraft

  • Missiles and Space Systems

  • Ground Systems

I hope you will make it to the SAWE’s Government/Industry meeting day this year and help us move into the future with an ever stronger voice in setting the standards for Mass Properties Engineering across the globe.


For questions or comments regarding this year’s G/I activities please contact me at the above email address.


Government/Industry Luncheon:


Professor Ahmed NoorProf. Ahmed Noor
Old Dominion University


This year’s Government/Industry Luncheon will provide a “crystal ball” view into the future of engineering. Our distinguished speaker is Dr. Ahmed K. Noor, Eminent Scholar and William E. Lobeck Professor of Aerospace Engineering, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia. He is also the Director of the Old Dominion University’s Center for Advanced Engineering Environments, funded by NASA in Hampton, Virginia.


Dr. Noor taught at Stanford University, Cairo University (Egypt), University of Baghdad (Iraq), the University of New South Wales (Australia), George Washington University, and the University of Virginia before joining Old Dominion University.


He is a Fellow of the National Institute of Aerospace (NIA) and of five other professional societies: the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, American Society of Civil Engineers, the American Academy of Mechanics, and the U.S. Association for Computational Mechanics. He is a Founding Member of both the International and U.S. Associations of Computational Mechanics, and he is a Past President of USACM.


His current professional activities focus on intelligent collaborative design and synthesis environments; advanced learning technologies (Future Digital Learning Ecosystems/Learningscapes); aerospace structures; structural and computational mechanics; multiscale modeling, simulation, and visualization; 3D virtual worlds and immersive visualization.


Dr. Noor will describe a vision of “Engineering in the Year 2020 and Beyond” including grand challenges; future engineering careers and the skill sets needed for the engineering profession; the roles of professional societies, industry, and academic institutions; and new emerging technical disciplines like smart unmanned robotic systems. Dr. Noor will also discuss the “immersive classroom concept” which provides a true interactive experience. Corporations as well as academia can benefit from the engineering education and communication processes being presented.


It is not enough to just talk about the future of collaborative product development. Here is a chance to see it with your own eyes. It is a glimpse you will not soon forget!