ASME International
North West Houston
Sub Section

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American Society of Mechanical Engineers
North West Houston Sub Section

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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 September 2001

Previous Meetings 2001 - 2002


Previous Meetings 2002 - 2003
August 22, 2002 Luncheon
 Downsized and the Pursuit of Employment
 Curt Cranmer
Aerospace Flight Systems Engineer
NASA
September 26, 2002 Luncheon
 Robotics of Today and the Future
 Joe Donovan
Vice President, Field Service Operations of IIC (Intelligent Inspection Corporation)
October 24, 2002 Luncheon
 MPS LH2 Engine
Feedline Flowliner Cracks
 Gene Grush
Energy Systems Division's Chief Engineer for Shuttle
NASA
December 5, 2002 Luncheon
 The History and Development of
Cameron Blowout Preventers
 Gilbert Nance
Vice President
Cameron Drilling Systems
January 23, 2003 Luncheon
 Photostress Testing – Applications Review
 Tom Corby
Consultant for Vishay Micro-Measurements
February 24, 2003 Luncheon
 Meet Your Elected Officials Day
 Congressman John Carter
US District 31
February 27, 2003 Luncheon
 Lessons Learned from
the Failure of the King Titanium
Tapered Stress Joint
 George Zener, P.E.
Subsea Engineer
bp
March 27, 2003 Luncheon
 The Future of Scientific Ocean Drilling Programs -
The Next International Dimension
 David Huey, P.E.
Staff Consultant
Stress Engineering Services, Inc
April 24, 2003 Luncheon
 What is Six Sigma and how can it be used?
 Cary W. Adams, President
Adams Associates
May 22, 2003 Luncheon
 News from the Texas State Board
 Don Willhouse, P.E.
Technical Specialist
Texas State Board
June 26, 2003 Luncheon
 How To Build a Hot Rod
 James Schoppe
President
Schoppe Design and Graphics
July 17, 2003 Luncheon
 A Panel Discussion on
The Technical History of
The Ram Type Blow Out Preventer
 Marvin Jones, Paul Koomey, and Al Woelfel
August 26, 2003 Luncheon
 Gas Compressor Technology
 Hasu Gajjar
September 27, 2003 Luncheon
 Evaluating Pressure Integrity of Polymer Ring Seals for Threaded Connections in HP/HT Wells & Expandable Casing
 Dr. Brun Hilbert, P.E.
Managing Engineer
Exponent Failure Analysis Associates
October 23, 2003 Luncheon
 Tubular Design Technology Training or " CASING DESIGN 101"
G. R. "Bob" Moe, III, P.E.
Viking Engineering
November 19, 2003 Luncheon
 Advances in Structural Test
Kurt Veggeberg
Business Development Manager - Sound and Vibration
National Instruments
December 16, 2003
 Tribute to Dr. Ed Bailey, P.E.
 Treasurer NWHSS, and
Principal Stress Engineering Services

Our Holiday Season will be
with one less big tree ......

December 16, 2003

Ed Bailey, PhD, P.E.

Ed Bailey

Principal
Stress Engineering Services

We have lost our NWHSS Treasurer and friend but
salute his life time of engineering accomplishment and service.

The celebration of the life of Ed Bailey

Friday, December 19, 2003 at 2:00pm
Klein Memorial Parks & Chapel (map)
16131 Champion Forest Dr
Spring, TX 77379
(281) 320-2674

A reception for friends and family to follow at the offices of
Stress Engineering Services
13800 Westfair East Dr
Houston, TX 77041
(281) 955-2900

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to
MD Anderson Patient Care or to the charity of your choice.
A few notes about our Distinguished Friend :

Ed Bailey was one of a kind, a lengendary engineer and friend to many. In his biodata sheet from Stress we find some details, but facts alone can not describe his joy in work and the practice of engineering. He was devoted to his family, and mentor to many throughout his life. His intelligence, wit and spirit will be recalled by all who knew Ed, and all feel rewarded by knowing him. He was a Fellow of ASME and proud to be an Aggie.

Ed was built 64 years ago, and our Lord must have needed something fixed somewhere else. Thanks Ed, for helping us out and keeping an eye on the rest of us.

Ed's Obituary is found in The Houston Chronicle.

Executive Committee for Northwest Houston Sub Section

The officers for the 2002/2003 operating year for the Northwest Houston Sub Section of ASME are:

Chair:Richard Boswell, P.E.
Vice-Chair: Dr. Rafik Boubenider
Treasurer: Dr. Ed Bailey, P.E.
Secretary: Dr. Stuart Harbert
Programs: Steven Garcia
Arrangements: Wendy Shultz
Student Relations: Uma Mundle

All may be reached at 281-955-2900.

NOTICE ! Date has been moved up one day to Wednesday due to schedule conflicts!

November 19, 2003 Luncheon

Advances in Structural Test
with
Kurt Veggeberg
Business Development Manager - Sound and Vibration
National Instruments

In this presentation we cover the challenges faced in structural test and some developments in technology that have the potential for making this easier to a broad audience. This will include Smart Sensors, Smart Sensor positioning methods, hardware with wider dynamic range, and software advances in comparing and updating computer-aided engineering models for structural dynamics to ensure they match physical test data.

Additional info is found at these links :

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. .

Wednesday November 19, 2003



A few notes about our Distinguished Speaker :

Our speaker Kurt Veggeberg is Business Development Manager - Sound and Vibration for National Instruments in Austin, Texas and was a last minute substitute for Preston Johnson who had Jury Duty conflicts in attending.
Kurt Veggeberg Kurt Veggeberg
Richard Boswell thanks Kurt Veggeberg Uma Mundle and Kurt Veggeberg

October 23, 2003 Luncheon

Joint Meeting with Petroleum Technical Chapter
and South Texas Section
Tubular Design Technology Training or " CASING DESIGN 101"
with
G. R. "Bob" Moe, III, P.E.
Viking Engineering

Drilling an oil or gas well, whether 3,000 or 30,000 feet, demands knowledge of many subjects rangingfrom rock mechanics to chemistry to fluid mechanics. Basic to all of the technologies is the design of the casing and tubing that protect the well, the environment, the equipment, and the people working on location.

In this abbreviated seminar, Mr. Moe will present:

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 23, 2003



A few notes about our Distinguished Speaker :

Bob Moe has over 28 years of experience in drilling and production engineering. He worked 17 years with the Exxon Company where in addition to designing and drilling wells; he tested tubular connections, supervised processing of CRA tubulars for Exxon’s Mobile Bay project, and served as Exxon’s voting representative to the API Tubular Committee. He spent 8 years with Oil Technology Services consulting in well design, material selection and testing, failure analysis, and quality assurance supervision.

He is currently a partner in Viking Engineering, a consulting firm specializing in the design of deep, high pressure, and/or corrosive wells. Viking supervises equipment test programs, conducts failure analyses, and conducts training seminars in tubular design. Bob is a Professional Engineer in the State of Texas, a member of ASM, NACE, and the SPE. He is the author of numerous technical articles and papers


September 25, 2003 Luncheon

Joint Meeting with Petroleum Technical Chapter
Evaluating Pressure Integrity of Polymer Ring Seals for Threaded Connections in HP/HT Wells & Expandable Casing
with
Dr. Brun Hilbert, P.E.
Managing Engineer
Exponent Failure Analysis Associates

Finite element analysis has become an integral part of the validation and service evaluation process of API and proprietary casing and tubing threaded connection designs, along with the physical testing procedures documented in API RP 5C5 and ISO 13679:2002. Major advances have been achieved in design of premium connections through analysis of metal-to-metal seal contact stresses computed from finite element models. However. until now, only costly full-scale gas pressure tests have been used to evaluate ring seal integrity, and ring design has been a trial and error process

A new nonlinear elasto-viscoplastic constitutive model of the behavior of polymers and elastomers has been developed and extended to the specific application of analysis of casing and tubing connections with fiberglass-filled Teflon® ring seals. The new material model has been validated by comparisons of computations with the results of laboratory tests on fiberglass-filled Teflon® samples in uniaxial and triaxial tension and compression, small-scale punch, stress relaxation, creep, and elevated temperatures as high as 450°F.

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 25, 2003



A few notes about our Distinguished Speaker :

Dr. L. Brun Hilbert, Jr. consults in the field of mechanical engineering, with special applications to petroleum engineering, engineering mechanics, and geomechanics. Prior to joining Exponent, Dr. Hilbert was employed as an Engineering Specialist for Exxon Production Research Company. He has a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Mineral Engineering from U.C. Berkeley, and M.S. Mechanical Engineering and B.S. Mathematics from the University of New Orleans.

Stuart Halbert
Ed Banker thanks Dr. Hilbert


August 28, 2003 Luncheon

Hasu.jpg Hasu Gajjar
Gas Compressor Technology

with
Hasu Gajjar


H.N. (Hasu) Gajjar will share his 34 years experience as a compression equipment/technical services engineer with the attendees in a special two part extended program for NWHSS August 28. The outline of the presentation with contact information is available as an Adobe Reader 5.0 download. Please contact Hasu for a copy of the complete presentation.

The first part will feature



The second part of the program will feature



The meeting will cover Reciprocating Compressors with comments about rotary screws due to time requirements. In the future we can have a presentation for Centrifugal.



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 August 28, 2003



Richard Boswell thanks Hasu Gajjar A few notes about our Distinguished Speaker :

Hasu Gajjar has 34 years experience as a compression equipment/technical services engineer and departmental supervisor. He is familiar with all areas of compression design, fabrication, installation, quality control, and operation for all package components. During his carreers with manufacturers he supervised technical support staff, coordinated with Operations field technicians, Engineering, and Sales and Marketing to provide the maximum benefit to the customer. He directed an important revenue-producing department that made significant financial contributions to the company and brought significant goodwill from satisfied customers.

Hasu resides in Corpus Christi and is now working independently for industry to improve the economics of their operation and maintenance of the prime movers in pipelines and refineries. You may contact him by email at hasugajjar@aol.com

Don Bray
Continuity and Change in ASME
ASME is allocating a significant amount of time and resources to redirect itself as a knowledge-based, market-focused, learning organization. More than 20 years have passed since ASME has taken such a comprehensive look at how the Society operates.

Four elements are under review:
  1. Alignment of resources with strategic directions
  2. ASME's organizational structure
  3. A strategic marketing plan
  4. ASME's budget model

VP of the Materials and Structures Group, Don Bray, will visit with us at the August meeting to ask what you, the active Membership, would like to see changed especially regarding the Technical Division and Section relationships. More Info is available at the ASME Change site.


July 17, 2003 Luncheon

A Panel Discussion on
The Technical History of
The Ram Type Blow Out Preventer

with

Marvin Jones, Paul Koomey, and Al Woelfel


Marvin Jones BOP Al Woelfel Paul Koomey


On Monday July 14 the Cameron MO BOP was celebrated as an ASME National Mechanical Engineering Landmark. We met on the following Thursday to review the Ceremony and listen to Marvin Jones and Paul Koomey recall significant technical developments in the history of the ram type blow out preventer and its control systems. Al Woelfel will lead this significant and unprecedented panel discussion.

Marvin Jones, Al Woelfel, and Paul Koomey
Each of the distinguished people are previous recipients of the ASME Petroleum Division Oil Drop Award. Life Fellow Marvin Jones told us how the BOP progressed from the simple maunally operated device in 1922 to the pressure balanced and energized and remote controlled subsea versions in use today. Our presentation featured many different tyoes of BOPS and you can download a PDF (5.0) file for this NWHSS BOP Meeting .

New Historical Landmark for ASME
Mike Mikulenka with MO BOP
On Monday July 14 ASME International was hosted by Cooper Cameron in dedicating the Cameron MO BOP as our 226th Mechanical Engineering Landmark in a very elegant Ceremony and Reception. The Landmark Plaque was presented by ASME President Reggie Vachon to Mr. Sheldon Erikson, Chairman of the Board and Chief Operating Officer for Cooper Cameron Corporation. Glenn MacDonald was nominator for the South Texas Section, and Mike Mikulenka of Cameron was the contact and organizer for Cameron. He and Ms. Sharon Stone provided much of the material and development of the brochure. All attendees received a brouchure as well as a CD with the brochure and presentation in digital format. Please download the Brochure in Adobe PDF 5.0 format and read the facinating story of the teamwork of Jim Abercrombie and Harry Cameron in the 1920s.

More information on the ASME Landmark program can be found at these sites:
Here is a special note from STS Historian Emeritus Sam Collier :

HISTORY BRIEF: BOP’s on the RIG !!

Spindletop, the memorable gusher near Beaumont, Texas, came in on January 10,1901. The oil blew over twice the rig height all night and on and on. Oil poured out at nearly 100,000 barrels per day for more than a month, perhaps more than three million barrels of liquid gold! Scenes like this occurred throughout an area that would soon be called the OIL PATCH.

These “Oil spills” followed oil in places like East Texas, Corsicana, and near a small town about 20 miles north of Houston---- Humble, TX.

At a well that blew in the new Humble Field in 1920; one oil patch entrepreneur made a business of recovering some of the spill that ran off over the prairie. His name was James S. Abercombie. Jim thought there had to be a way to halt that loss of oil; the spark of invention that you sometimes hear about struck him.

Jim had an idea for a new valve that would shut off the flow. He went over the concept with a local machine shop operator, Harry S. Cameron, and they came up with a novel valve.

The new valve was an unusual gate like device; it consisted of opposed gate plates, one on each side of the drill pipe. The gates' plates were novel in that each had a semicircle cut on its leading edge. This matched the drill pipe diameter. The double ended body was attached to the well casing. The gates were fitted with a threaded stem and a long extension shaft. This permitted operation at a distance from the borehole. Turning the screw moved the ground plates against the drill pipe and thus bring the flow under control.

The partners contacted Jesse R. Stone, their attorney who filed the application on April 14, 1922 with Serial number 552,522. The approved invention was covered in the single broad claim; Patent Number 1,569,247 was granted on January 12,1926.

Patent examiners and others might find an idea is obvious AFTER they see the solution—but, no one had seen this concept in all the years since the oil patch was born in Pennsylvania.

Was there a market for the invention? There had been a need since Oil Creek, in 1861. The early wells had to be pumped, but a GUSHER , one that blew oil out of the hole and over the rig came in, in West Pennsylvania in April 1861. It spread thousands of barrels of oil along with gas. A spark set off an explosion killing over a dozen workers. So Gushers were the in thing just as the flame of the Civil War were set and a new game was born . The Drake well of 1859 pumped a few barrels a day, this was the birth of a new era.

The wells were not controlled from 1861 on until Partners Abercombie and Cameron's invention changed it in the early 20’s, over 60 years later.

Their design was improved in the 30’s with rubber sealing elements and other improvements came along, but the partner's basic device that closed off the oil remains an integral part of every drilling rig.

That’s the way it was in the OIL PATCH.

Sam Collier
STS Historian Emeritious

THANKS for assistance to A. Woelfel & M. Jones - Cameron exes

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 July 17, 2003



A few notes about our Distinguished Speakers :

Marvin Jones, Paul Koomey, and Al Woelfel are previous recipients of the ASME Petroleum Division Oil Drop Award named for Allen Rhodes.

The following was provided by Bob Scott when he presented an award to Marvin Jones on behalf of the Pioneer Oil Producers Society last May (Paul Koomey was the previous honoree).

It’s now my pleasure to present the 2003 POPS Distinguished Service Award to member Marvin Jones, P.E.
Our selection committee chose to honor Marvin for his outstanding contributions to the drilling and producing industry. Marvin hails from Bristow, OK, and attended OU, and U.S. Army engineering and ordnance schools. Via written and oral exams he became a Registered Professional Engineer in Texas in April 1942. He is a Llife Fellow of ASME, a senior member of SPE, an honorary member of Pi Tau Sigma via nomination by Texas A&M, and a member of the Experimental Aircraft Assn. From ASME, he holds the silver patent Award, Dean Woolrich Engineer of the Year Award and the Oil Drop Award. He has written, presented and published numerous papers for technical conferences and publications around the world.

Marvin began his industry career in 1937 as a Product Draftsman for Hughes Tool Co. He moved on to Cameron Iron Works as Product Engineer in 1939 and left there in 1943 for military service in the Army Corps of Engineers. Upon discharge in 1946, he joined Oil Center Tool Co., since bought by FMC, as Chief Engineer. In 1950, he and Humble’s John Eckel formed the Petroleum Mechanical Development co., Perhaps better known as Petromec with Marvin as President. And Cameron was one of its first clients. In 1955, clearly desperate to regain his expertise full time, Cameron agreed to buy out Petromec if Marvin would return to its fold, which he did. And for the next 24 years at Cameron, he worked as Research Engineer, Manager of Oil Tools Research and Development and Manager of Engineering Services. After leaving Cameron in 1979, he consulted for two years before joining Koomey, Inc. as VP of R&D. Since 1985, he has been in private practice as a consulting mechanical engineer.

Solely and jointly, Marvin’s name appears on 67 U.S. Patents plus the same number scattered among the U.K., Canada, Mexico, Germany, France and Japan. Almost all relate to oil tools and equipment such as valves of various types, valve operators, wellheads, xmas trees for land and subsea, equipment for suspending multiple tubing strings, subsea well guide systems, a rotating BOP, coiled tubing equipment, pressure and flow control devices, bops and rams plus many others. Now two of those patents are noteworthy because they don’t pertain to oil and gas. One is titled ‘Device for removing a cork or other stopper from the neck of a bottle’…a bottle opener, yet which was based on a Chinese grab (the tube you used to stick your fingers in as a kid and had a heck of a time getting them out). The other was titled ‘Rretractable arbor missile projector’ which was a significant improvement for naval depth charge guns. And if these don’t confirm his diverse talents, it’s worth mentioning that he also holds a multi-engine pilot’s license and is an accomplished pianist.

Finally, Marvin was perhaps best known among drilling people for his design of the Cameron QRC Blowout Preventer in the early 1940s, QRC standing for quick- ram- change. Indeed, two men changed the rams on the prototype unit in 20 min. In comparison, to change rams in Cameron’s predecessor preventer required from 5 to 15 hours. Although wartime steel shortages delayed full production until about 1945, the QRC by 1950 dominated higher pressure drilling worldwide, except in Russia and Calif.---which apparently even had more in common way back then than anybody realized.

Marvin, please come forward. As one of the best known and respected members of the oilfield equipment industry and a true industry pioneer, it’s my pleasure on behalf of pops to present you with this year’s Distinguished Service Award.


June 26, 2003 Luncheon

How To Build A Hot Rod
FRONT1.jpg
James Schoppe
Schoppe Design and Graphics


James has been an automotive and motorcycle enthusiast since his teens. He has owned several vintage vehicles, including: Firebirds, Camaros, Corvettes, Mustangs, Tigers, Harleys, Impala SS, etc. In late 1998, he commissioned the fabrication of Ford 1934 3 Window Coupe. The discussion of the next ASME meeting is a photographic journal of the car, from start to finish. There will be discussion on the joys and pitfalls of ownership of a hotrod.

This is our annual fun meeting. If you have a car you can show us, please bring it out!

Additional information about this topic can be found at these sites:

Hot Rod Magazine
Car Craft Magazine
National Hot Rod Association
National Street Rod Association
Street Rods
Moon Equipped
Ed Roth
Rat Fink
Houston Raceway Park
Lone Star Raceway


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. .

Special Treat......

Lunch will be compliments of Schoppe Design and Graphics. Advance Reservation Required!


Thursday June 26, 2003



A few notes about our Distinguished Speaker :

James Schoppe has been a designer/illustrator for over twenty five (25) years. He founded Schoppe Design & Graphics in 1987. Schoppe Design is a group of individuals catering to the design & drafting needs of engineering firms, manufacturers, fabricators and machinists. Schoppe Design has been located in the Stress Engineering building since 1994. You can find out additional information on Schoppe Design at their web site at www.schoppedesign.com.
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Congratulations to NWHSS Member Joe Fowler !

Joe Fowler.jpg Joe Fowler received the Rhodes Petroleum Industry Leadership (Oil Drop) Award in May at the Petroleum Division's Leadership Award Luncheon during the OTC.

The Rhodes Petroleum Industry Leadership Award, named for former ASME International President and Petroleum Division Chair, Allen R. Rhodes, was established by the Petroleum Division of the ASME as an award for significant contribution to the petroleum industry demonstrated through management and motivational skills, entrepreneurship, innovative methods and outstanding leadership within the corporate structure and in the industry as a whole. This award is given once per year.

Joe is President of Stress Engineering Services.



May 22, 2003 Luncheon

News from the Texas State Board

Don Willhouse
Don Willhouse, P.E.
Technical Specialist
Texas State Board


Don Willhouse will be joined by Paul Cook, Assistant Executive Director to discuss the latest bill action in the legislature.

Issues and important topics this year continue with encouragement of Licensure, Sunset Review and CPC, Use of the title Engineer, Industry exemption, and the role of direct supervision.

TSPE has recently reported that Senate Bill 277 was passed by the Texas Senate on April 22. Before the final vote, Sen. Ellis was questioned if the bill had the support of TSPE. When he said it had this support, the bill was passed.

However, TSPE opposed SB 277. More info at TSPE Political Action site.

This should be a very useful and interesting meeting for our members. Don provided a download hand out concerning status of current legislation.

Additional information about this topic can be found at these sites:

Texas Board of Professional Engineers

Texas Legislature Online

Texas Senate Online

Texas House Online

Murdough Center for Ethics

TAMU Engineering Ethics

ASME
Board on Professional Practice and Ethics

Principles....



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 24, 2003



A few notes about our Distinguished Speaker :

Don Willhouse received his BS in Civil Engineering at the University of Houston, his Master of Civil Engineering at Mississippi State University, and MS in Management (Public Administration) from the University of Central Texas. He is a licensed professional engineer in Texas. Mr. Willhouse is very active in the American Society of Civil Engineers, the Boy Scouts, the Military Order of the World Wars, and many other organizations. A retired LTC, Corps of Engineers, US Army, Colonel Willhouse flew helicopters in the Viet Nam war, commanded engineer units and was a staff officer in engineer units and major headquarters in Korea, Germany, and the United States, to include a tour in the Pentagon. He has worked for the State of Texas for the last 10 years, first in the Department of Health as administrator of the asbestos enforcement program, and then 5 years as the Manager, Maintenance and Operations for the Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation. Currently he works for the Texas Board of Professional Engineers where he provides specialized engineering advice to the executive director and performs special projects, reviews license applications for engineers, and reviews cases for disciplinary actions against licensed engineers.

Among his awards are the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star Medal, 13 Air Medals, and numerous other awards. He is an Eagle Scout and holder of the Silver Beaver Award from the Boy Scouts. In addition, he has received the Outstanding Public Service Award from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Service to People Award from the Texas Section, American Society of Civil Engineers.

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OTC Registration Committee Signup provides Conference Pass and Parking benefits to Volunteers! Register Now!


April 24, 2003 Luncheon

What is Six Sigma and how can it be used?

Cary Adams
Cary W. Adams,
President
Adams Associates


Six sigma tools and techniques all are found in total quality management. Six sigma is the application of the tools on selected important projects at the appropriate time. Six sigma is the structured application of tools and techniques applied on project basis to achieve sustained strategic results. Our speaker is a recognized expert in our industry and the author of the book "Six Sigma Deployment".

Cary's thought provoking presentation is available at his site by clicking here.

Additional information about this topic can be found at these sites:

Adams Six Sigma Plus

Six Sigma Definitions



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 24, 2003



A few notes about our Distinguished Speaker :

Cary W. Adams, President of Adams Associates, is a management consultant with over 27 years experience in manufacturing, maintenance, safety, project engineering, strategic planning and quality. Over the last ten years he has assisted organizations in the chemical, manufacturing, maintenance, computer component manufacturing, health care, and distribution industries implement successful strategies.

Prior to starting his own consulting business Cary was Quality Manager, including reliability engineering, for Dow Chemical Global Hydrocarbons and Energy. Other areas of responsibility have included Production Superintendent, and Environmental /Safety Director for Hydrocarbons, Magnesium, Energy Systems, Maintenance, Engineering, and Distribution.

Cary has an MS in Accounting and a MBA from the University of Houston, also a BS in Chemical Engineering and a BS in Commerce from Montana State University.

Cary has written and edited manuals for safety integrity, strategic planning, team building, cycle time reduction, root cause analysis, reliability engineering, SQC/SPC, benchmarking, design of experiments (doe), auditing, supplier partnerships, and process management.

Cary is an affiliate of Resource Associates Corporation and an affiliate of Total Quality Institute, Inc.

Cary a Senior Member of American Society for Quality and is a certified quality auditor (CQA), certified quality engineer (CQE) and certified reliability engineer (CRE).


Joint Meeting with
Petroleum Technical Chapter
March 27, 2003 Luncheon

The Future of Scientific Ocean Drilling Programs -
The Next International Dimension

David Huey, P.E.
Staff Consultant
Stress Engineering Services, Inc


We will discuss the future of international scientific ocean drilling. The story will include the historical path that lead from the the Mohole Project in the 1960's, through the 15 years of the Deep Sea Drilling Project (using the Glomar Challenger drillship), continued with the soon-to-terminate Ocean Drilling Program (using the JOIDES Resolution drillship), to the soon-to-begin Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP). IODP will be the first multi-national, multi-platform program dedicated to furthering international marine geoscience research.

IODP will use a three-part program under one international scientific planning structure. The three parts of IODP will include simultaneous operation of the Japanese OD21 program using the new "Chikyu" riser drillship, a new American program utilizing an as-yet-not-selected riserless drillship, and a European Mission-Specific-Platform (MSP) program using offshore drilling rigs or small sampling vessels leased specifically for distinct, but limited, offshore drilling research work.

The European MSP program will include drilling under the arctic ice cap near the North Pole (for the first time ever) and drilling in very shallow marine environments (near shore, in coral lagoons, etc).

In some cases the IODP expects to plan and execute science research and sampling missions that will utilize all three legs of the program in a coordinated international science operation.

Additional information about this topic can be found at these sites:

Integrated Ocean Drilling Program: www.iodp.org
Existing ODP/TAMU: www.oceandrilling.org
Japanese OD21 project: www.jamstec.go.jp/jamstec-e/odinfo/index.html
European MSP Platform project: www.jeodi.org
National Science Foundation: www.nsf.gov

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 27, 2003



A few notes about our Distinguished Speaker :

Dave Huey David Huey P.E., is a Staff Consultant at Stress Engineering Services in Houston and a current member of the Technical Advisory Panel for the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP). Prior to joining SES in 1993, Dave was the Chief Development Engineer of the Ocean Drilling Program at Texas A&M University. His involvement in both development engineering and seagoing operations with scientific ocean drilling goes back to 1980 when he joined the Deep Sea Drilling Project at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in California. Over the years he has sailed on twelve different 2-month expeditions of marine geology research with DSDP and ODP as well as several research cruises on smaller vessels.

P3270001b.jpg Dave Huey - P3270002b.jpg P3270003b.jpg
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Spaceflight Now
Space Today
CNN - Science & Space
National Engineers Week February 16-22, 2003. See www.eweek.org for more information!
Joint Meeting with South Texas Section
Special Event Monday February 24, 2003
Meet Your Elected Officials Day
Thursday February 27, 2003 Luncheon
Lessons Learned from
the Failure of the King Titanium
Tapered Stress Joint
Special Event Monday February 24

MEET YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS DAY

Congressman John Carter, US District 31

U.S. Representative Carter is a member of the Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property that will handle legislation dealing with issues that include digital rights, copyright and patent protections, piracy, secure networks, peer-to-peer networks, fair use standards, litigation management, cyber-security, state sovereign immunity, patent and trademark office reform and e-commerce.

The ASME does not endorse any political party or recommend the election of any particular candidate.
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. .

Monday February 24, 2003



A few notes about our Distinguished Speaker :

U.S. Representative John Rice Carter was born and raised in Houston and graduated from Bellaire High School in 1960. Carter attended Texas Tech University where he graduated with a degree in History and then graduated from the University of Texas Law School in 1969.

Carter began a private law practice in the early 1970's and continued to practice law while serving as the Municipal Judge in Round Rock until 1980. In 1981, he was appointed the judge of the 277th District Court of Williamson County. In 1982, he was elected District Judge and was successfully re-elected four times. In 2001, he was the recipient and namesake of the Williamson County "John R. Carter Lifetime Achievement Award."

Carter was elected to Congress in 2002 for the 31st district and carried nearly 70 percent of the vote. His fellow freshman elected him to represent them on the House Republican Steering committee. He serves on the Judiciary, Government Reform and the Education and the Workforce committees.

Carter is a member of the Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property that will handle legislation dealing with issues that include digital rights, copyright and patent protections, piracy, secure networks, peer-to-peer networks, fair use standards, litigation management, cyber-security, state sovereign immunity, patent and trademark office reform and e-commerce. .

February 27, 2003 Luncheon

Lessons Learned from
the Failure of the King Titanium
Tapered Stress Joint

George Zener, P.E.
Subsea Engineer
bp


The King field is a subsea, deepwater development in the Gulf of Mexico. The tapered stress joint that connects the field's flow lines to the Marlin TLP inexplicably failed after more than 7 hours of hydro testing. The failure occurred without warning at the connection with the lowest load. The field's other tapered stress joint was inspected and deemed fit for use after failure of the first joint. After six months of service it failed in the same manner - sudden loss of pressure at the connection with the lowest loading. This presentation will detail the failure investigation, root causes, and lessons learned about pipeline installation and TSJ design.

Additional information about this project can be found at this D.O.T. Conference site, in Session 29.

As a special feature of the meeting, RTI International Metals/Energy Systems brought a full scale stress joint for the attendees to review. Ron Schutz came down from Ohio to assist Pat Boster and Chris Caldwell in explaining the features to everyone after the main presentation. We are appreciative of their contribution.

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 February 27, 2003



A few notes about our Distinguished Speaker :

George Zener, P.E., is a subsea engineer with bp in Houston, Texas. He has worked in a variety of technical roles in his 5 1/2 years with the company, including rig construction and subsea installation. He received a BSME from Rice University in 1996 and an MSME from Stanford University in 1997, focusing on design and strength analysis.

January 23, 2003 Luncheon

PHOTOSTRESS TESTING – APPLICATIONS REVIEW

Tom Corby
 Consultant for Vishay Micro-Measurements


Over the years, PhotoStress® testing has been a respected method for solving difficult stress analysis problems. Included among those are stresses caused by the assembly of component parts, residual stress analysis, the detection of yielding and its effect on structural integrity, and failure analysis.

PhotoStress testing is also being used today to help validate FEM analysis, and as a dependable aid in recognizing over-designed areas on parts and structures where material can be safely removed, reducing weight and cost.

An illustrated case-history review of these and other PhotoStress applications will be presented.

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 January 23, 2003



A few notes about our Distinguished Speaker :

Tom Corby, retired, was a Senior Vice-President with Vishay Measurements Group, Inc. in Raleigh, North Carolina. He has over 40 years experience in experimental stress analysis testing, with special emphasis on photoelastic analysis. After receiving his degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Indiana Institute of Technology, he worked for the Dana Corporation, and later for Hercules, Inc., before joining Measurements Group, Inc. in 1965. He has conducted short courses and presented numerous seminars on photoelastic technology throughout the United States and in many countries around the world.

Tom Corby has been a Society for Experimental Mechanics member for 36 years, and served as Chairman of the Applied Photoelasticity Group for 6 years. He was the recipient of SEM’s M-M Frocht Award in 1989, and the F. Zandman Award in 1999. He is currently serving as a Consultant for Vishay Micro-Measurements
Tom Corby Tom Corby Tom Corby
Test Sample Contours Thank You Tom Corby

December 5, 2002 Luncheon
Joint Meeting with
Petroleum Technical Chapter

The History and Development of
Cameron Blowout Preventers

Mr. Gilbert Nance
 Vice President
Cameron Drilling Systems


Cameron 1st BOP From the invention of the 1st Ram Type BOP, 1922, through the Cameron BOP contributions to the Oil & Gas industry over the past 80 years, we will present historical information and Cameron BOP technical achievements.:

The Original Cameron Blow Out Preventer has been approved as an ASME National Historic Landmark. We hope to see an official dedication ceremony next Spring. Mr. Nance will provide an introduction to this historical achievement and how it has progressed from the early days of the oil patch at Drake and Spindletop.

The NWHSS Chair wishes to thank Cameron for providing the excellent facillity and the meals for the attendees. All proceeds from the 100 attendees will go directly to the South Texas Section Scholarship fund! We also wish to thank Mike Mikulenka, Manager Marketing Communications, Cameron Division, Cooper Cameron Corporation for making these arrangements possible.

When & Where :

Cameron DHQ
4646 W. Sam Houston Pkwy. N.
Houston, TX 77041

Cost: $10.00 (cash or check donation to ASME Scholarship Fund)
Lunch Sponsored by Cameron .
Membership Not Required. Bring a Guest! .


Thursday December 5, 2002



Reservations Requested. Please contact Ed Banker (713) 780-5600 or Wendy Shultz at 281-955-2900 by Friday, November 30, 2002

A few notes about our Distinguished Speaker :

Gilbert Nance is Vice President, Drilling Systems for Cameron Division, Cooper Cameron Corporation. Nance joined Cameron in October 1984 and was named to his current position in May 1998. Nance has held a variety of operations and engineering positions with Cameron, including Engineering Manager, Singapore; Operations Manager, Stavanger, Norway; Director of Engineering, Eastern Hemisphere; General Manager, Eastern Europe and FSU; and Vice President Aftermarket Business. Nance holds a B.S. from The University of Houston.
Cameron1 Gilbert Nance Cameron2
Stuart Harbert Ian Schuur Ed Banker
Al Woelfel Marvin Jones and friends Marvin Jones
Drake Well BOP Al and Marvin

October 24, 2002 Luncheon
Joint Meeting with
South Texas Section

Gimbal-2.jpg
MPS(Main Propulsion System)
LH2 (Liquid Hydrogen) Engine
Feedline Flowliner Cracks

Mr. Gene Grush
 Energy Systems Division's Chief Engineer for Shuttle
NASA


Energy Systems is one of 7 divisions in the Engineering Directorate at the Johnson Space Center. The division provides engineering support to multiple programs, one of which is the Shuttle Program. One key area of support is the Orbiter element of the Shuttle system.

The outline for our briefing is:

  1. Statement of Problem
  2. Description of the Main Propulsion System
  3. Examples of the cracks and where they are located in the Main Propulsion System(MPS)
  4. Explanation of why we are seeing cracks
  5. Overview of repair techniques that were evaluated, plus advantages and disadvantages of each technique
  6. Approach to certification of repair techniques
  7. Flight rationale for repair technique
  8. Flight rationale for other MPS hardware

To see Gene's complete presentation, please click on this link : Briefing

A shorter version was prepared as a handout to the attendees Briefing Short

For news concerning this topic try these links:



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 24, 2002



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

A few notes about our Distinguished Speaker :

Gene Grush is Chief Engineer for NASA and technical lead for all Orbiter propulsion and power systems. When NASA has a problem like the MPS feedline concern, Mr. Grush works very closely with their contractor and other NASA organizations/centers to resolve the concern in support of the next Shuttle flight.

Gene is a 1979 graduate with B.S.M.E. from University of New Orleans. He has been with NASA 22 and 1/2 years, working on the Shuttle for most of his career. A significant portion of the problems that occur on the Orbiter have been in the propulsion and power systems.
Gene Grush Gene Grush Gene Grush is thanked by Chair Richard Boswell

September 26, 2002 Luncheon
Joint Meeting with
South Texas Section

Robotics of Today and the Future

Joe Donovan
 Vice President, Field Service Operations of IIC (Intelligent Inspection Corporation)


CoWorker is the first of a new class of collaboration products that allows you to be in two places at once. A CoWorker remote control robot will be at our meeting and another offsite CoWorker will be driven around via the internet.

Micro-Rig is the first of a series of intelligent robotic devices capable of operating in the well bore and performing work during production. This device can undertake a pre-programmed mission into the well bore and manage a variety of trouble conditions that can arise when working in this harsh environment. IIC has been granted six patents and is testing the first autonomous devices to use artificial intelligence in the well bore.

Development is underway on a second device that will be capable of autonomously setting plugs and performing other light workover tasks without any connection to the surface.

Joe will also discuss their robot applications seen on the news recently in the pyramids and car searches in Fla, and would have demonstrated the new cleaning robot (featured in Time magazine this week) that will be available in stores and catalogs soon! Unfortunately the first 40,000 were sold within 3 days and one was not available for this meeting.

Joe has made his presentation available for us, and you may download AI IN ACTION by clicking this hyperlink. In 2012 Robotics will be a $250-$460 Billion Industry and this presentation is a great introduction. It contains many video clips and if you want a copy of the complete collection on a CD, please contact the NWHSS Chair .

As an aid to put this meeting in perspective a brief handout was provided by the Chair entitled "Robots of Yesterday and the Future". NWHSS continues to support and encourage student interest in Robotics through FIRST Robots and Texas BEST Robotics programs. If you have the opportunity to visit a classroom and encourage students to choose a career in engineering, you may find the downloads and links for this program useful. You may also wish to visit the How Stuff Works site for Robots.

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 26, 2002



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

A few notes about our Distinguished Speaker :

Joe Donovan has a BS, Civil Engineering, University of Connecticut, 1974. He has spent 25 years in the petroleum industry with major oil companies, US Government, and Baker Hughes Inc, and most recently led Baker Hughes' Solutions Division.

P0005982c.jpg P0005977c.jpg P0005983c.jpg

August 22, 2002 Luncheon
Joint Meeting with
Petroleum Technical Chapter

Downsized and the Pursuit of Employment

Curt Cranmer
Aerospace Flight Systems Engineer
NASA

Being laid off from a major company is major event in one’s life; so if you had been working for a major chemical company how do you go about finding employment. After 22 years the speaker was without a job from the end of January 2001 until Labor Day. The program is one engineer’s perspective on the do’s and don’ts of the job search, and how he found his present position. Fortunately this situation did turn out very positively; however, it did take discipline, hard work, creativity and a positive out look to find a position that is very challenging and rewarding.

Curt said " A lot of folks contributed to my job search. This was a great way to provide something back to the community."

His presentation should be useful for anyone thrust out of work due to economic whims and creative accounting practices which have fooled many leaders of industry. You can download a copy of the power point file (pdf acrobat v 5) by clicking on Downsized .

ASME also provides assistance for unemployed Members and has a Career web site which is also of use to young graduating engineers.

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 August 22, 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 Distinguished Speaker :

Curt Cranmer is now an Aerospace Flight Systems Engineer with NASA. He has a Chemical Engineering and Chemistry Degrees (1979) form Pennsylvania State University and a MBA (1987) from U of H. He was employed for 22 years with a major chemical company and had numerous positions such as: production supervisor, Sr. Production Engineer, Production Manager of a major unit, Sr. Project Engineer and Manager of the Company Capital Programs.
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Upcoming Programs

:

Summer Break


Our North West Houston Sub Section has concluded a great year and is now planning the '02 - '03 season. A summary of this years meetings, with presentation downloads and relevant links, can be found at our Previous Meetings link on the left side of this page. Your Chair is grateful to Stress Engineering Services for providing the conference facillity for our regular monthly meeting, and to the NWHSS Executive Committee for their team effort in hosting these events.

If you would have time to participate on the Committee or as a Speaker, don't hesitate to contact us. Same for program speaker suggestions. Our meetings are usually the fourth Thursday of the month, for lunch. Typical details are provided in the Previous page mentioned.

So stay tuned and tell your friends. Next programs could start up as soon as August. To facillitate our communications, we have set up a web based subscription site. You can sign up for automatic announcement/reminders each month by sending an empty email to : nwhss-meetings-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Have a safe and fun summer,
Richard Boswell, P.E.
"In the easy" Chair

Our Sub Section will be on Summer Break, with program schedule re-starting August . Here's what's lined up at this time:

August 22 : “Downsized and the Pursuit of Employment” : Mr. Curt Cranmer, now an Aerospace Flight Systems Engineer with NASA, will tell us about one engineer’s perspective on the do’s and don’t of the job search, how he found his present position and will provide some advice on looking for a job.

Sept 26 : "Robotics of today and the future" : Joe Donovan, Vice President, Field Service Operations of IIC will tell us about new robot technology in the oil patch.

Oct 24 : Dr. Ed Bailey of Stress Engineering Services will tell how the oil patch works, specifically an overview of what the equipment on a drilling rig is.

Nov ? : Thanksgiving is 4th Thursday

Dec 19 : TBA

Jan 23, 2003 : TBA

Feb : TBA

March : Dave Huey of Stress Engineering Services will tell us about TAP (Technical Advisory Panel) of IODP, the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program, which will offer technical advice to the next phase of international ocean drilling.

April : TBA

May : Annual meeting with Texas State Board

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

Executive Comittee for Northwest Houston Sub Section

The officers for the 2002/2003 operating year for the Northwest Houston Sub Section of ASME are:

Chair:Richard Boswell, P.E.
Vice-Chair: Dr. Rafik Boubenider
Treasurer: Dr. Ed Bailey, P.E.
Secretary: Dr. Stuart Harbert
Programs: Steven Garcia
Arrangements: Wendy Shultz
Student Relations: Uma Mundle

All may be reached at 281-955-2900.

Notes about this Website

This website is Under Development and will continue to evolve for North West Houston Members. This is posted on ASME servers. The contents and format of this site were suggested by the Cleveland Section website which may be found, along with many other fine examples at ASME Mechlinks site.

Please send all feedback/correction/omission/suggestions to stswebmaster .

Our goal is to make this NWHSS site reasonably useful and active asap. Thank you for your help.

All Officers and Members are requested to submit content.

Please send stswebmaster email with attached files in Word or text to include on this site.

Enjoy!

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Last updates were on January 26, 2003.
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