June 2016

The National Capital Section


COST FORUM


Volume: 8    Issue: 1        June 2016

 

GREETINGS TO ALL NATIONAL CAPITAL SECTION MEMBERS, FRIENDS, AND COLLEAGUES

I want to first inform the membership of the 2016 / 2017 election results.  Regis Fox was unanimously elected President of the National Captial Section (NCS) for the new Program Year.  Regis has been active in his role as Vice President over the previous year, and has been helpful to me in planning and managing our section.  Regis has a lot of great ideas for improving the functioning and access of the section to its members.  For example, Regis is leading committee to provide some of our typical monthly technical programs through the internet.  This initiative will allow more members access attend the monthly programs when the commute to/from doesn't allow.  I am confident that Regis will be successful leading the NCS in the coming year.

At the Vice President's position, we had tough competition between Chowdhary Gondy and Michael Marcell.  In the end, Chowdhary received the majority of the votes to secure this position on the NCS Board.  Chowdhary has been NCS' Treasurer over the past year and he has done a great job.  I am sure he will continue his much appreciated efforts working with Regis and the Board to guide NCS over the next year.

Bruce Lyall, former Communications Co-Chair, was unanimously elected Treasurer.  Bruce has significant experience and success as a NCS Board member and will help lead NCS this coming year.

We have a new Secretary for the 2016 / 2017 program year – Dia Khafra.  Dia has been an active NCS member over the past year and is excited about joining the NCS Board to serve as Secretary.

At the AACE Annual Meeting later this month, the NCS will receive the Platinum Award for the fifth year in a row.  This award only happens when our NCS members dedicate themselves to achieving this high level of recognition and excellence.  I want to personally thank everyone that has made this award possible for the past two years of my tenure as your President.
Looking ahead into the balance of 2016, we are planning programs starting in September.  Please keep an eye on the NCS calendar (at aacei-ncs.org) for upcoming programs as we secure speakers.  As a reminder, we try to schedule our monthly programs the third Thursday of each month, if speaker and venue scheduling allows.

I hope to see all of you at the AACE Annual Meeting later this month in Toronto.  If you have not yet had the opportunity to attend an annual meeting, I strong encourage you to find a way to make it happen.  The technical presentations made by AACE's members are current, educational, on point and interesting.

It's been a pleasure serving the NCS over the past two years as your President.  I want to thank all of the Board members for their participation and assistance during my tenure, without it, we would not have accomplished what we did.  Thank you.

Robert (Bob) Freas, PSP
President NCS

September 2015

The National Capital Section


COST FORUM


Volume: 7    Issue: 1        September 2015

GREETINGS TO ALL NATIONAL CAPITAL SECTION MEMBERS, FRIENDS, AND COLLEAGUES

Welcome to the 2015 and 2016 Program Year. First, I want to update everyone on the activities and events that occurred during our summer break. The National Capital Section (NCS) was awarded the Platinum Award for the fourth or fifth year in a row. This award level only happens when our NCS members dedicate themselves to achieving this level of recognition. My personally thanks to everyone that made this award possible.

I also want to update you on changes to the NCS Officers, Directors and Chairs for this program year. First, Regis Fox has been nominated and accepted the Vice President position for this year. Regis is Director, Project Controls at McKissack & McKissack. Regis and his firm are excited about participating in NCS activities and events. I want to thank Dave Mazzullo for his service as the Vice President over the previous years. Additionally, Chowdhary Gondy, our NCS Treasurer, took over this position during the summer break and is now up and running. As I mentioned in the last newsletter, Bruce Lyall is stepping down from the Communications Chair position, however, John Buonagurio is stepping into this Chair position. Bruce and John are working together through a transition period to ensure continuity is maintained.

Based on a Board meeting in September, we have decided to reorganize responsibilities slightly. Going forward Bruce/John will manage the NCS website and email communications, and Chowdhary will be responsible for our financial duties, including our banking transactions and our PayPal account. We will still provide easy access for registering and paying for program events on the NCS website as we have done in the past.

Wrapping up changes to the NCS Officers, Directors and Chairs for this program year, both Dennis Allen and Tim Boatwright informed me that they resigned their positions as Directors for this coming year. I want to thank both Dennis and Tim for their participation and efforts. Hopefully, we'll see them again in NCS' leadership in the near future.

We have a full program schedule planned for this year. On October 15, we have a technical program on VDOT's Project Controls to be hosted at VDOT's Northern Virginia District Offices. In November 19, we have scheduled a technical program on activity based costing with a focus on DOE EM and NNSA. Our annual NCS holiday party will be in early December, we are finalizing plans now for this event. For more details regarding these programs and events, please see the scheduled below. Looking ahead into 2016, we are also organizing a networking happy hour in conjunction with a software demonstration for January 2016.

As always, you can check the NCS website for updates to our program and events schedule. Additionally, you can register for these program and events on our website (aacei-ncs.org). We urge you to register early so we have an accurate head count for order food and refreshments.

For the 2015/2016 program years, I would like NCS to achieve the following goals and objectives:

  • Increase attendance at monthly technical programs and other events.
  • Increase participation with local college and university faculty and students.
  • Ensure that NCS makes one to two scholarship award(s) this program year.
  • Continue to provide our membership training programs to assist in the preparation for certification examinations.
  • Develop increased participation by corporate sponsors to offset costs of programs and events.

Based on our success this past May with our CCP Training Program, we want to offer the NSC membership another review course this winter. Currently, we are planning an EVP review course. Niyi Ladipo has agreed to champion this effort, so please let Niyi or myself know if you are interested in providing instruction to attendees or can volunteer space for conducting these training sessions. If you are not aware, we do pay our instructors for their time for these review courses. If you're interested, please contact Niyi at (703) 967-8380, or myself at rfreas@exponent.com

I am looking forward to reconnecting with everyone this Fall. Please do not hesitate to reach out to myself or the NCS Officers and Directors if you have any questions or comments regarding the NCS. I'll close with this quote by Dee Hock: "An organization, no matter how well designed, is only as good as the people who live and work in it." So I ask that you get involved and participate this coming program year.

Robert (Bob) Freas, PSP
President NCS

May 2015

The National Capital Section


COST FORUM


Volume: 6    Issue: 2        May 2015

GREETINGS TO ALL NATIONAL CAPITAL SECTION MEMBERS, FRIENDS, AND COLLEAGUES

I want to recap some announcements and a couple of events we recently conducted and recognize efforts of some of our NCS members. First, we held a CCP Review Course on May 2 and 9, 2015. We had ten attendees. Calvin Speight, Jr. organized the review course and also acted as a co-instructor. Additionally, Chowdhary Gondy provided instruction to the attendees. I want to personally thank Calvin and Chowdhary for their time and effort in making this review course a success.

We would like to offer the membership another review course this Fall. Currently, we are soliciting input from members regarding the review subject (e.g., PSP, EVP, etc.). Please reach out to us and let us know what interest you have in either attending or providing instructor for future review courses. You can send your input to myself (rfreas@exponent.com) or to info@aacei-ncs.org.

If you have not already heard the news, Steve Judd, our Treasurer, stepped down from his position to take a new job in Chicago with Turner. We wish Steve all the best with his new job. I am pleased to report that Chowdhary Gondy, with CES Consulting, has agreed to step up and assume the duties and responsibilities of the Treasurer position.

Also, Bruce Lyall has informed me that he will be stepping down from the Communications Chair position at the close of this year. Most of you probably don't realize how much time and effort Bruce spends to push out email announcements of events and activities, updating and maintaining the NCS website, and managing our PayPal account. We truly would grind to a halt if Bruce was not willing to contribute his time and effort to the Communications Chair position. I want to personally thank Bruce for his efforts over the years in this position.

It's also that time of year for NCS members to nominate members or volunteer for Officer and Board positions in our section. We have a couple of positions that need filing: Communications Chair, Website Manager, and Education Certification Committee Chair. If you or someone you know is interested in a position, please send your input to info@aacei-ncs.org or to myself at rfreas@exponent.com no later than June 15, 2015.

As we start to close out the program year, I want to thank the NCS Officers and Board members for their efforts and support this year. Being new to the position, I couldn't have done it without their support.

Robert (Bob) Freas, PSP
President NCS

MAY 2015 TECHNICAL PROGRAM RECAP

We had a joint meeting between George Washington University's Project Management Association and AACEI-NCS on May 21, 2015. Networking and refreshments started at 5:00 PM and the presentation commenced at 6 PM at GWU's School of Business. We had nine registered attendees from GWU's PMA for this technical program.

Our guest speaker was Bill Hombach, President of Envision Cost Solutions LLC. Bill provides the ENVision library of environmental remediation cost models developed using the Parametric Cost Modeling methodology. Bill previously worked with Team Analysis Inc. managing their estimating and software development professional services. Bill was the primary analyst for the development of NASA's NETS-XPRESS estimating system used by NASA to develop and manage their Unfunded Environmental Liabilities (totaling over $900 Million).

Bill's presentation was "Implementing a Comprehensive Estimating Solution for NASA." The following is his presentation abstract:

In the mid 1990's NASA fulfilled their liability recordation requirements by hiring contractors to perform an assessment of their environmental cleanup projects at NASA centers throughout the country. At the time, this same contractor would conduct annual financial assessments to update and document the previous year's liability estimates. Though these reports passed initial audits for their intended purpose, an internal review of the data later suggested the annual estimates were inaccurate and misleading. As such, in 2003, NASA began to address the issue by shifting the responsibility for estimating environmental liabilities to its Restoration Program Managers (RPMs) at all NASA centers.
In 2008 NASA contracted with Team Analysis to implement a comprehensive enterprise level estimating solution to be used by RPMs to address their cost estimation requirements. In meeting NASA's objectives in this area, Team Analysis provided historical cost analysis, planning and development of systems for managing financial data which has addressed NASA's emerging responsibilities in liability recording at each of its centers. Indeed the solution developed by our team has since been imbedded into NASA's restoration program such that it is now a key component of their overall financial management system.

A copy of Bill's May 21, 2015 presentation will be made available on the NCS website.

EcoSys is hosting an Earned Value Management seminar next month. The seminar is taking place on Thursday, June 11 at the JW Marriott Washington D.C. The event topic is "EVM Lite for Government Contractors" and it is free for all to attend. More details regarding this seminar will be posted to the NCS website. This seminar/presentation represents the views of EcoSys, which should not be viewed as a product of AACE International, no official endorsement should be inferred.

Please reach out the NCS Officers and Board members to provide your input and suggestions regarding technical programs for the Fall. We have some ideas, but want to hear from you to provide programs that are of interest to our membership. We are also trying to offer our programs in central locations around the DMV to provide the opportunity for members to attend on a more regular basis.