American Society of Mechanical Engineers - North West Houston Sub Section History

North West Houston
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American Society of Mechanical Engineers
North West Houston Sub Section

Welcome to the website of the North West Houston Sub Section of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers International (ASME), the Internet resource of choice for mechanical engineers in the Houston area.

Meetings for 1996-97
Meetings Prior to Sept 2001

Previous Meetings '01 - '02

June 27, 2002 Luncheon	Slide Rules and Slip Sticks Refresher and Shootout	Richard Boswell, P.E, - Stress Engineering Services
May 23, 2002 Luncheon	News You Can Use from Texas State Board of Professional Engineers	Charles B. Pennington, P.E. - Director of Compliance Assistance
April 25, 2002 Luncheon	Innovations in Cardiovascular Therapy	Robert White - MicroMed Technology Inc.
March 28, 2002 Luncheon	Design and Application of Local Post Weld Heat Treatment : A Special Panel Presentation and Discussion	Paul Kovach, P.E. - Stress Engineering Services Harvey Wilde - Thermal Solutions Ken Fordyce - Hydril Prashant Parikh - Equilon
February 28, 2002 Luncheon	The Strain Gage - From Then to Now	Steve Katz - Precision Test & Measurement Associates L.L.C.
January 24, 2002 Luncheon	Heat Exchanger IRIS Wall Thickness : Will It Run To The Next Turnaround?	Paul Barringer, P.E. - Barringer & Associates, Inc.
November 29, 2001 Luncheon	Root Cause Analysis: A Boon or Boondoggle for your Company?	David Mc Farland - Area Engineer for the Shell Deer Park Refining Company.
October 25, 2001 Luncheon	BEST Robotics Competitions and Student Enthusiasm	Anthony W Leigh. P.E. Ceng M.I.E.E. - Space City BEST Robotics Hub
September 27, 2001 Luncheon	In-Situ Miniature Stress-Strain Microprobe (SSM) System: Nondestructive Measurements of Stress-Strain Curves and Fracture Toughness of Ferritic Steel Pipelines and Pressure Vessels	Fahmy M. Haggag - Advanced Technology Corporation

June 27, 2002 Luncheon
Joint Meeting with
Petroleum Technical Chapter
Slide Rules and Slip Sticks

Refresher
and
Shootout

Search the back of your drawer and find that most essential of engineering tools you once could not do without : your trusty ol' slip stick !

It's the NWHSS FUN DAY meeting again and prizes will be given for the oldest, the fastest, and the most unusual. A brief refresher and overview of it's history will be included. So dust it off, wax it up, and strap it on!

All attendees had a fun time. Many did not know how to work a slide rule and were not yet born while slide rules were still in regular use. Several example problems were worked prior to the Shoot Out using different tools: Kris W. used a cell phone to calculate with. Kimberly T. worked the math out by hand. Yusong worked the problems in his head. Jackson M. used his Grandfather's slide rule for the first time. Several more handed down slip sticks were present and exercised as were trusty old favorites.

Winners of the Anvil prizes were :

Most Unusual - Dick Gunderson's Bomb Blast Computer for Nuclear Blast Radiation Effects on Fall Out Shelters (circular calculator)
Oldest - Mark Cooper's father's slide rule
Fastest - Mokarala Prakash (using Boswell's bamboo Post stick ! )

Runners up for Oldest Slide Rules included :

Jackson Miller with his Grandad's 1937 K&E
Dick Gunderson with his Dad's 1915 K&E

Honorable mention for Fastest included :

Dick Gunderson
Kurt Vandervort

Special Anvil paper weights were distributed to the NWHSS Executive Committee with appreciation by the Sub Section Chair at the start of the meeting.

Additional information about slide rules may be found at these web places :

Abacus
The History of Calculating
William Oughtred
The Oughtred Society
The Slide Rule Home
How a Slide Rule Works
Hassler's Slide Rule
Bill Lise's Japanese Slide Rules
Hemmi Slide Rule Company History
The Sphere
Slide Rule Universe,
Slide Rule Archives

Slide Rule Examples
Cleaning Slide Rules
A-to-Z of slide rules
Basic Slide Rule Instructions
Slide Rules
Slide Rule Book Mark
The Death of the Slide Rule
Calculator Wars
Calculator Time-line
Slide Rules

Todd's Slide Rules
Luminis Slide Rules
Dave's House of Slide Rules
The Slide Rule Guy
The Texas Magnum
Logarithms
Discovering Zero
A Failure to Adapt
Slide Rule Books
Comptometers

When & Where :

Stress Engineering Services Conference Center
13800 Westfair East Drive, Houston

Cost: Free Admission, and Brown Bag lunch is $10 with reservation. Membership Not Required. Bring a Guest! Click here for directions. .

Thursday June 27, 2002

11:30 am     Lunch served

11:45 am     Announcements

12 noon     Presentation begins

1:00 pm     Official Meeting Closes

Reservations Requested. Please contact Wendy Shultz at 281-955-2900.

A few notes about our volunteer Speaker :

Richard Boswell was stuck inside on a cold winter day one weekend in January of '02, and found an article given him by Clint Britt about slide rules, published in the ASME magazine in 1993. He recalled being adequately proficient with the tool during college because he had to be to survive engineering classes. So he surfed the web and took notes which became the featured presentation. He graduated from The University of Alabama with BSME in 1972. As he was completing his Master Thesis in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics at West Virginia University in 1975, he borrowed his roomate's HP 45 calculator to convert hundreds of voltage measurements to water velocity in ft/sec. His slip stick never saw the light of day after that until the cold winter day previuosly mentioned.

Boswell moved to Houston in '75 working for Texaco Bellaire Research Lab, and joined Harry Sweet & Assoc in '77. The consulting company later became Stress Engineering Services and he is a Principal with the firm. He is Chair and webmaster of NWHSS, and an ASME Fellow. He lives out in the woods on a Tree Farm with a pond full of bass and various other critters, and comes to town regularly where he is presently specializes on Delayed Coke Drums and refinery FFS applications. His present hobbies are blacksmithing and historical swordmanship. Wife Ginger is currently President of MCFLOA (Montgomery County Forestry Land Owners Association) when not assisting daughter Sara in numerous activities such as 4-H, FFA, NJROTC, Honor Society, etc. Sara raises and shows cows for fun all over Texas.

Executive Committee for Northwest Houston Sub Section

The officers for the 2001/2002 operating year for the Northwest Houston Sub Section of ASME were:

Chair:Richard Boswell, P.E.
Vice-Chair: Wade Vinson
Treasurer: Dr. Ed Bailey, P.E.
Secretary: Dr. Rafik Boubenieder
Programs: Steven Garcia
Arrangements: Wendy Shultz
.

Upcoming Programs

:
Our Sub Section will be on Summer Break, with program schedule re-starting in September.

Your suggestions and assistance are welcome. Contact Richard Boswell or Steven Garcia.

May 23, 2002 Luncheon
Joint Meeting with
Petroleum Technical Chapter
News You Can Use
from
Texas State Board
of Professional Engineers
Charles B. Pennington, P.E.
Director of Compliance Assistance

When & Where :

Stress Engineering Services Conference Center
13800 Westfair East Drive, Houston

Cost: Free Admission, and Brown Bag lunch is $10 with reservation. Membership Not Required. Bring a Guest! Click here for directions. .

Thursday May 23, 2002

11:30 am     Lunch served

11:45 am     Announcements

12 noon     Presentation begins

1:00 pm     Official Meeting Closes

Reservations Requested. Please contact Wendy Shultz at 281-955-2900.

Charlie Pennington provided his Power Point presentation for our packed house of visitors (60+) to download by clicking here. One of the issues discussed was CPC: Continuing Professional Competency which has concluded it's 6 year trial period and is awaiting this years legislature to become permanent. No comment was available wether CPC documentation would be required for this current year. Your NWHSS Chair encourages you to contact your government representative and voice your opinion on this and other issues pertaining to our State Law.

Another issue discussed was NAFTA and Industry Exemption. Many of our Members have retired or left work where the Exemption was applicable, and now seek to work as consultants. To obtain an engineering licence without taking the comprehensive tests, you may apply for a Waiver of this requirement when other requirements are met. Twelve years of progressive experience is required with nine references, five of which must be current P.E.s. The Board will review each request. Although all of the applicants carreer should be accounted for, only the most recent years need to be detailed in the first person : " I did this..., and I calculated that ...". Please contact the Board directly for more information on this procedure.

If an applicant has not worked under direct P.E. supervision, then he can have his work reviewed by a P.E. for the application.

Several attendees told us that a single registration through NCEES makes it easier to apply for License in other States, greatly streamlining the paper work and reference documents that each require.

Texas has over 50,000 Licensed Engineers, with about 2500 net growth annually.

NWHSS provided a handout to attendees which was copied from TBPE LAW & BOARD RULES (Texas Engineering Practice Act) Subchapter I. PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT AND ETHICS which includes the following topics :

131.151. Engineers Shall Protect the Public.
131.152. Engineers Shall Be Objective and Truthful.
131.153. Engineers� Actions Shall Be Competent.
131.154. Engineers Shall Maintain Confidentiality of Clients.
131.155. Engineers� Responsibility to the Profession.
131.156. Action in Another Jurisdiction.

A project is underway to re-write the Rules in plain engineering english rather than in lawyer legalese.

Charlie welcomes your communication and his email is charles.pennington@tbpe.state.tx.us

The web page for Texas State Board of Professional Engineers is http://www.tbpe.state.tx.us

A few notes about our Distinguished Speaker :

The Board employed Mr. Pennington on February 19, 2002 as an Engineering Specialist. On May 1, 2002, he was promoted to Director of Compliance Assistance. In his new role, he will oversee the operation of the Compliance Assistance Division, (formerly Enforcement), and provide engineering expertise to the Board Investigators as well as participate in outreach programs to educate the public and licensed engineers on engineering matters pertaining to the Engineering Practice Act.

Prior to his three-month career with the State of Texas, Mr. Pennington was a mechanical engineer with Applied Materials for ten years. Mr. Pennington has 25 years of mechanical engineering experience in the semi-conductor, robotic and construction industries. He currently resides in Austin with his partner, Beverley and border collie, Helen.

Please visit the Board's web page for recent information and news. .

Congratulations to South Texas Section, winner of 2002 Region X Thompson Traveling Trophy!

April 25, 2002 Luncheon

Innovations in Cardiovascular Therapy
Robert White
Manager, Mechanical Engineering
MicroMed Technology Inc.

According to American Heart Association statistics, 20,000-40,000 patients in the United States would benefit from a heart transplant. The MicroMed DeBakey VAD�, jointly developed with Dr. Michael DeBakey, Dr. George Noon and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), has the potential to keep many of these people alive until a donor heart becomes available.

Weighing less than four ounces, the device is silent and is approximately 1/10 the size of other pulsatile products on the market. The MicroMed DeBakey VAD� is designed to be a lower-cost, less invasive alternative to the commercially available, larger ventricular assist devices (VADs).

The MicroMed DeBakey VAD� is a miniaturized heart pump designed to provide increased blood flow (up to 10L/min) from the left ventricle of the heart throughout the body for patients in end stage heart failure.

When & Where :

Stress Engineering Services Conference Center
13800 Westfair East Drive, Houston

Cost: Free Admission, and Brown Bag lunch is $10 with reservation. Membership Not Required. Bring a Guest! Click here for directions. .

Thursday April 25, 2002

11:30 am     Lunch served

11:45 am     Announcements

12 noon     Presentation begins

1:00 pm     Official Meeting Closes

Reservations Requested. Please contact Wendy Shultz at 281-955-2900.

Scholarships and
Special Science Fair Awarding Members of our North West Houston Sub Section participated in the Special Award Judging for South Texas Section at the huge 43rd Science Engineering Fair of Houston on March 21-23, 2002, at the Astroarena. NWHSS is providing a Best of Show Award at this month's STS Honors and Awards Banquet, to be voted on by the attendees at that meeting. The Special Award Winners by Category have been invited to the dinner and to show their projects.

NWHSS will also be contributing $1,000 to the STS Educational Endowment Fund to be distributed as a Schloarship that evening on April 18. See STS web page for more info.

STS Science Fair Judging Team 2002

In the photo are the STS Judging Team (L to R) :

Clay Ownby
Paul Yamarick- Incoming STS Sci Fair Chair
Bryce Campbell (Student winner - Vortex Induced Vibrations on Flexible Cylinders)
Richard Biel
Donnie Curington- STS Sci Fair Chair

March 28, 2002 Luncheon

Design and Application of
Local Post Weld Heat Treatment
A Special Panel Presentation and Discussion
featuring

Paul Kovach, P.E. - Stress Engineering Services
Ken Fordyce - Hydril Company LP
Harvey Wilde - Thermal Solutions
Prashant Parikh - Shell Global Solutions U.S.

The Panel and Audience will discuss how this important treatment technique is routinely designed and implemented, and what different code, rules of thumb, and analysis are used to specify local PWHT for weld repairs on pressure equipment. A overview of WRC Bulletin 452 : Recommended Practices for Local Heating of Welds in Pressure Vessels is available for download.

Paul Kovach is a Principal with Stress Engineering Services where he is a leading expert in failure analysis and welding procedures. Paul discussed the fundamentals of steel transformations as a consequence of welding. A portion of his presentations is avaiable to download : Steel Notes .

Ken Fordyce is a Senior Welding Engineer at Hydril Company and has worked in the field of welding and materials engineering for over 20 years. He has provided his presentation Oil Field Applications of Local Postweld Heat Treatment and the document HEMPS 11.100 : Engineering Material and Process Specification which is titled PROCEDURE QUALIFICATION & PRODUCTION WELDING REQUIREMENTS FOR FUSION WELDING PRESSURE CONTAINING AND LOAD BEARING WELDMENTS IN ACCORDANCE WITH API 6A & API 16A . This specification defines a) the minimum requirements for joining and repairing pressure containing and load bearing weldments by fusion welding, b) the minimum requirements for qualifying fusion-welding procedures, and c) the technical reasons for each set of requirements. The requirements of this specification apply to all facilities that manufacture, overhaul, or repair products for Hydril, including Hydril authorized vendors and Hydril authorized repair facilities.

Harvey Wilde is a Regional Manager for TSI : Thermal Solutions Inc in Houston. He has worked with stress relieving and pre & post weld heating for 29 years. Harvey discussed a field application of stress relief for a coke drum skirt attachment.

Prashant Parikh is a Senior Engineer for Pressure Equipment for Shell Global Solutions US (formerly Equilon and Shell Westhollow). He has performed the design analysis and testing of the effectiveness of local PWHT in special test vessels with nozzles. These procedures are used in many refinery applications. Prashant provided comentary on many of the issues identified at the beginning of the program.

Some of the key issues we discussed are

What is PWHT and why is it necessary
New and In-Service PWHT
Local, Spot, and Global PWHT
Pre-Heat and Post Heat Benefits
Consequences of good and poor PWHT
PWHT for different materials
Stress Corrosion Cracking
Residual Stress
Metallic Phases
Material Properties

Thermal Gradients and Transients
Wall thickness and thru wall gradients
Insulation practices
Multi Zone Heat Control
Procedures
Planning
Execution
Vertical and Horizontal vessels
Oil Field Equipment Welding

Codes and Standards
Rules of Thumb Practice
Analytical Design and Calculation
Examples
References
WRC Bulletin 452

When & Where :

Stress Engineering Services Conference Center
13800 Westfair East Drive, Houston

Cost: Free Admission, and Brown Bag lunch is $10 with reservation. Membership Not Required. Bring a Guest! Click here for directions. .

Thursday March 28, 2002

11:30 am     Lunch served

11:45 am     Announcements

12 noon     Presentation begins

1:00 pm     Panel Discussion, Q/A begins

2:00 pm     Official Meeting Closes

Reservations Requested. Please contact Wendy Shultz at 281-955-2900.

Local Members Celebrated National Engineers Week February 17-23, 2002

Dr. Lori Hasselbring and Dr. Mahmod Samman, consultants at Stress Engineering Services, visited classrooms and distributed special slinkys, compliments of North West Houston Sub Section in celebration of National Engineers Week 2002.

Lori Hasselbring is well known in AIChE, and within the National Society of Professional Engineers where she is a former Young Engineer of the Year for them. She is featured as "One of the 50 Engineers You Should Meet" and in the "Slinky Shindig" video distributed through the National Engineers Week Organization

She sent this interesting report back to us:

"I visited two Gifted and Talented Classes (3rd and 5th grade) at Kirk Elementary on February 20. My daughter Callie is in the 3rd grade class, and my son Sam is in the 5th grade class. There are about 20 students in each class, so I gave out 40 Slinkys.

I also purchased two "Engineer & Teacher Slinky Kits" and gave one to each teacher. (Introduced for Engineers Week 1998 each kit contains a 16-page teacher's guide with hands-on physics and engineering activities, a neon K-Resin Plastic Slinky for demonstrations, and the "Slinky Scientific Shindig" video.)

I always have the students vote which Slinky will win the race down the three steps -- the original neon Slinky or the smaller Slinky Jr. If they vote, then they have to give me some reasoning for their vote. It can't just be a guess. Slinky Jr. always wins because of the larger spring force constant. I demonstrate this by holding each end of the Slinky in one of my hands and then let the center coils of the Slinky drop down by gravity.

Funny thing, even after the students observed the Slinky Jr win the race down the three steps, they still voted for the larger Slinky to win the next race down the incline! (Most classes figure out that Slinky Jr. is faster on both race tracks -- the steps and the incline.) "

Mac Samman is a Past Chair of the South Texas Section and he also visited his son's school and provided a report with photos which we put in this web based power point file for your viewing : slinky

Mac demonstrated the engineering mechanics of a slinky to fourth grade students taught by Ms. Kidd and Ms. Morrison at Feist Elementary where his son attends. North West Houston Sub Section donated 42 slinkys to the class for �Turning Ideas Into Reality�. He showed the video tape on National Engineers Week and slinky science called "Slinky Shindig.�

After the video, they had an in-class show-and-tell and then an outdoors activity time. Total visit was 1 hour. A fun time was had by all. Just ask �Slinky Mac� and he will tell you it was great!

We really appreciate their effort and for letting us share in their enthusiasm. Thanks Lori and Mac!

February 28, 2002 Luncheon

The Strain Gage -
From Then to Now

Steve Katz
Precision Test & Measurement Associates L.L.C.

Steve will present a brief overview of the applications, history and personalities involved in one of the most used measurement techniques of the past 100 years � the bonded electrical resistance strain gage.

As a previous VP of Micro-Measurements, Steve has known and worked with many of the innovators of measurement technology and their applications. He has recently moved to Houston and has started his own business.

The principle of using resistance change in conductors to measure strain was first discovered in 1856. Since then, this deceptively simple technique has transitioned from scientific curiosity to one of the most widely-used forms of structural measurement and transducer design in the world.

Today, electrical-resistance strain gages can be found in the Space Shuttle and the supermarket scale; in biomedical research and highway design. Its applications reach across geography and industry and seem limited only by the imagination of its users.

Like most technological successes, this unassuming sensor appears simple but has relatively complex considerations of manufacture and application. Its history is populated with interesting and dedicated personalities.

Additional information about this topic can be downloaded (pdf) from the Society of Experimental Mechanics page Strain Gages-Back to Basics .

11:30 am - 1 pm Lunch & Program

Reservations Requested. Please contact Wendy Shultz at 281-955-2900.

A few notes about our Distinguished Speaker :

Steve Katz has spent his entire career in stress/strain measurement technology, beginning as a test engineer in the oil and aerospace industries, and later with the Measurements Group of Vishay Intertechnology, Inc. He holds a BSCE from the University of Pittsburgh and an MSCE from the University of Illinois.

In January, Steve founded Precision Test & Measurement Associates L.L.C., providing representation in Texas for the Vishay Measurements Group as well as several other sensor manufacturers. He and his wife Jacquie are new residents of the Houston area.

Celebrate National Engineers Week February 17-23

Contact Chair Richard Boswell if you can visit a class room and would like to take official "Turning Ideas Into Reality" Slinky's for gifts! (limited supply-first come first serve)

Let us know how you and your company celebrated even if you did not need our help and we will recognize your effort.

National Engineers Week 2002, February 17-23

January 24, 2002 Luncheon

Heat Exchanger IRIS Wall Thickness
Will It Run To The Next Turnaround?

Paul Barringer, P.E.
Reliability, Manufacturing, and Engineering Consultant
Barringer & Associates, Inc.

Mr. Barringer will describe an application for Heat Exchanger Tubing using Monte Carlo simulation which he has published on his web site in the Problem of the Month Series. (see March 2001).

The Weibull plot is well known for representing the �weakest link� (not to be confused with the tag line for a current television program where contestants are informed they are �the weakest link� because of their inferior performance). The Gumbel Smallest extreme value is considered a model for a system having n elements in a series and where the failure distributions of components are reasonably uniform and similar (See British Standard BS 5760).

The conditions described in BS 5760 seems appropriate for the condition of a heat exchanger where the tubes are functionally in series as any tube failure causes the heat exchanger system to fail and the data for wall thickness represents the minimum value in each tube.

A heat exchanger was placed into service 17 years ago. The wall thickness of each tube in the exchanger was surveyed by eddy current inspection during a routine turnaround inspection at age 17 years. Some potentially thin walls detected by the quick eddy current inspection suggested the use of an internal radial immersion technique using a more accurate ultrasonic inspection of 10% of the tube walls using IRIS inspection. The IRIS tube wall thickness showed a minimum wall thickness for 46 tubes. These are considered representative of the total heat exchanger with 460 tubes (although random locations were not drawn from a random number table for inspection and thus some would consider the inspection data to be haphazard although most tubes were inspected in the �bad zone� of the heat exchanger).

The key issue of tube wall failure is an environmental impact with high outage costs to facilitate repairs/retubing.

Should the operator:
Retube the heat exchanger now at age 17 years?
Retube at the next turnaround scheduled for 3 years from now when the tubes are age 20 years?
Retube at the second turnaround scheduled in 6 years from now when the tubes are 23 years of age?

Since the IRIS inspection records the minimum wall thickness in each tube, this represents a condition of minimum extremes typified by use of the Gumbel Lower (or smaller) distribution (a type I extreme value). The Gumbel smallest extreme value distribution is from the family of extreme values best know by the Weibull distribution (a type III extreme value).

The presentation is available from Paul's web site by clicking here.

Paul's handouts (pdf) are available by clicking here.

11:30 am - 1 pm Lunch & Program

Reservations Requested. Please contact Wendy Shultz at 281-955-2900.

A few notes about our Distinguished Speaker :

Paul Barringer is a reliability, manufacturing, and engineering consultant. His consulting practice involves worldwide travel, consulting, and training with a variety of discrete and continuous process manufacturing companies in a variety of industries. He is author of the basic training course Reliability Engineering Principles , Process Reliability, and Life Cycle Cost.

Barringer has more than thirty-five years of engineering and manufacturing experience in design, production, quality, maintenance, and reliability of technical products. Note his experience in both the technical and bottom-line aspects of operating a business with an understanding of how reliable products and processes contribute to financial business success.

Barringer has been:
- Director of Manufacturing and Director of Engineering in an ISO 9001 facility for highly specialized mechanical devices used as safety valves for containing pressures up to 20,000 psi during drilling of high pressure, high temperature oil and gas wells in sub-sea and land applications.
- Director of Manufacturing, Director of Engineering, and Plant Manager for domestic and international plants threading proprietary tubing and casing connections using specialized gaging systems for quality control of metal-to-metal seals on oil country tubular goods used down hole in deep, high pressure, oil and gas fields world wide.
- Operations Manager in a multi-plant manufacturing operation for high-speed equipment used in textile machinery. - Manufacturing Manager and Plant Engineer in nickel and cobalt based high alloy mills, foundries, machine shops, tube mills, and fabricating operations.
- Development Engineer for ultra high-speed centrifuges used in separating uranium isotopes and biological materials on a production basis.

Barringer is a Registered Professional Engineer (Texas-51508). Named as inventor in six USA Patents. Also he is a contributor to The New Weibull Handbook, a reliability text published by Dr. Robert B. Abernethy.

Barringer�s education includes a MS and BS in Mechanical Engineering from North Carolina State University. Additionally he was a participant in Harvard University's three-week Manufacturing Strategy conference.

Paul Barringer is an ASME Member. After Chairing the South Texas Section Applied Mechanics Study Group/Technical Chapter, he served as Chair and original Webmaster for the North West Houston Sub Section for several years during its rebirth into what it is today. See NWHSS History page for more information.

November 29, 2001 Luncheon

Root Cause Analysis:
A Boon or Boondoggle for your Company?

David Mc Farland
Area Engineer for the Shell Deer Park Refining Company.

In today's environment, our company leaders always want to be on the leading edge of technology and innovation. Witness, for example, the new, "sexy" methodologies such as Root Cause Analysis, Risk Based Inspection, Fitness for Service, Risk Based Decision Making, Process Hazards Analysis, Reliability Centered Maintenance, which have appeared in our marketplace. What corporate manager doesn't want to be the "first on his block" to say they've successfully implemented all these programs? All too often, a manager appoints someone to be the RCA guru, throws money in the budget, and leaves with the instruction of "Go forth and do good." This presentation is the "Reality TV" look at how to successfully implement Root Cause Analysis in your company without the pain of having to learn from your own mistakes.

Agenda:

1. What Root Cause Analysis Is and Isn't
2. How to decide if and when and RCA is needed and at what level of intensity
3. What Resources are needed to perform the RCA
4. What the results mean and how to act on them
5. Break out mini-RCA exercise
6. Wrap up - key learning experiences

Dave's presentation can be viewed or downloaded by clicking
Root Cause Analysis

Dave's handouts (pdf) are available by clicking here.

When & Where :

Stress Engineering Services Conference Center
13800 Westfair East Drive, Houston

Cost: Free Admission, and Brown Bag lunch is $10 with reservation. Membership Not Required. Bring a Guest! Click here for directions. .

Thursday November 29, 2001
- 11:30 am - 1 pm Lunch & Program
  
  Reservations Requested. Please contact Wendy Shultz at 281-955-2900.
  
  A few notes about our Distinguished Speaker :
  
  David Mc Farland received his BS in Nuclear Engineering - TAMU, followed by ME in Mechanical Engineering U of H. He has worked 22 years in pressure vessels and piping within oilfield, petrochemical, power, aerospace and research industries. Dave serves on the Steering Comittee of the STS Plant Engineering and Maintenance Technical Chapter. "When I'm not doing engineering work, you can usually find me around the pecan orchard or on the ranch."
  
  October 25, 2001 Luncheon
  
  BEST Robotics Competitions
  and Student Enthusiasm
  
  Anthony W Leigh. P.E. Ceng M.I.E.E.
  Space City BEST Robotics Hub
  
  BEST is Boosting Engineering and Science Technolgy. Space City Best teams have been featured in several of our local ASME activities such as Engineers Family Appreciation Day EFAD 2000+1
  
  Started in Texas in 1993, BEST Robotics is rapidly becoming a nation wide competition for students to design and build a robot to accomplish a defined task in a competitive environment. Technical volunteers and school coaches guide student teams through the engineering process. Using only the materials provided, students have six weeks to design, develop and test a robot that can outperform their competitors. During this time the students experience the same problems, challenges, and breakthroughs that an engineering team encounters when it takes a product from conception to market. In both cases, there are team dynamics, time constraints, material constraints, and pressure from other teams who are trying to solve the same problem.
  
  Please prepare for our discussions by visiting :
  
  Texas BEST Robotics
  Space City BEST Hub
  When & Where :
  
  Stress Engineering Services Conference Center
  13800 Westfair East Drive, Houston
  
  Cost: Free Admission, and Brown Bag lunch is $10 with reservation. Membership Not Required. Bring a Guest! Click here for directions. .
  
  Thursday October 25, 2001
  
  11:30 am - 1 pm Lunch & Program
  
  Reservations Requested. Please contact Wendy Shultz at 281-955-2900.
  
  A few notes about our Distinguished Speaker :
  
  Tony Leigh is a licenced PE in the state of Texas and a Chartered Engineer in the UK. He recently retired from a 29 year career with Texas Instruments where he held design management responsibilities for their Digital Signal processing program and more recently in the Quality Assurance area of Design for Reliability. His many interests today still involve engineering and he holds the fundraising chair for the Houston area hub of BEST Robotics which is a volunteer organization with the mission to promote an interest in engineering and technology to Middle and High School students.
  
  September 27, 2001 Luncheon
  
  In-Situ Miniature Stress-Strain Microprobe (SSM) System: Nondestructive Measurements of Stress-Strain Curves and Fracture Toughness of Ferritic Steel Pipelines and Pressure Vessels
  
  Fahmy M. Haggag
  President / Chief Engineer
  Advanced Technology Corporation
  
  The results presented in the recent ASME paper (PVP-Vol. 429, pp. 99-104, 2001) and two reports (DOT/ATC/990901 and DOE/ER/82115-2) which are downloadable from the website: www.atc-ssm.com demonstrate the capabilities of Advanced Technology Corporation's patented Portable/In-Situ Stress-Strain Microprobe (SSM) system (1996 R&D 100 Award Winner) and its Automated Ball Indentation (ABI) test techniques to nondestructively measure the stress-strain curve (including the yield strength and the strain-hardening parameters) and the fracture toughness of ferritic steel components and samples in a reliable and accurate manner. A brief summary of these publications and their theoretical developments will be presented as well as few applications of the SSM technology in fitness-for-service and failure analysis of pipelines and pressure vessels will be described. The new Miniature In-Situ SSM System will be demonstrated on a section from a 24-inch diameter natural gas pipeline (grade X-52 steel). The ABI tests are nondestructive, localized (desirable for small welds and heat-affected zones and dents and gouges in pipelines), specimen-size independent (advantageous for components with small thickness that can not produce valid destructive fracture toughness test results), faster (one minute per test), and cheaper than the destructive tensile and fracture toughness tests. Although the SSM technology is relatively new, it is currently in use by 17 organizations in three continents. Major applications include in-situ structural integrity evaluation and life extension of expensive components.
  
  Please prepare for our discussions by visiting :
  
  Advanced Technology Corporation
  
  When & Where :
  
  Stress Engineering Services Conference Center
  13800 Westfair East Drive, Houston
  
  Cost: Free Admission, and Brown Bag lunch is $10 with reservation. Membership Not Required. Bring a Guest! Click here for directions. .
  
  Thursday September 27
  
  11:30 am - 1 pm Lunch & Program
  
  Reservations Requested. Please contact Wendy Shultz at 281-955-2900.
  
  A few notes about our Distinguished Speaker :
  
  Fahmy Haggag is the founder and President of Advanced Technology Corporation, Oak Ridge, Tennessee. He has 30 years of research and development experience in the nuclear and materials engineering fields with emphasis on nuclear materials, fracture mechanics, metallurgy, applied mechanics, miniaturized specimen technology, structural integrity, radiation damage, and reactor safety. His extensive experimental and analytical work has resulted in more than 75 publications in the scientific literature. Mr. Haggag is the inventor of the Stress-Strain Microprobe technology. He held several research and development positions at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Idaho National Engineering Laboratory, Battelle Columbus Laboratories, University of California at Santa Barbara, Algerian Nuclear Research Center and University of Algiers, and the Egyptian Atomic Energy Authority. Mr. Haggag holds a B.S.N.E. degree from the University of Alexandria, Egypt (1970), a M.S.N.E. degree from the University of Alexandria (1976) and a M.S.N.E. from the University of California, Santa Barbara (1980). Haggag's vitae is listed in Marquis "Who's Who in Frontier Science and Technology". He is a member of ASME, ASM International, and ASTM. He resides in Oak Ridge with his wife and two children. .
  
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  Last updates were on June 29, 2002.
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