Friday, March 31, 2017

Katharine Morgan becomes president of ASTM International

Katharine “Kathie” Morgan recently began serving as president of ASTM International, one of the world’s largest standards development organizations. Morgan will lead a team that supports thousands of members, customers, partners, and other stakeholders worldwide. She succeeds James Thomas, who served in the role for 25 years.

“I am thrilled and humbled to serve as president of an organization that has played such a foundational role in meeting societal needs for over a century,” Morgan said at the organization’s first major meeting of 2017 in Norfolk, VA.  “We will build on the legacy of Jim Thomas, attracting even more of the world’s top technical experts to our committees while also serving people and organizations that rely on our standards and services.”

Morgan was joined at the event by Thomas Marsh, CEO of Centrotrade and ASTM International’s 2017 chairman of the board. “Kathie brings proven leadership skills, a deep understanding of the global standards community, a passion for ASTM International’s mission, and much more,” Marsh said. “ASTM International will continue to grow and thrive under her leadership.”

Also, Morgan visited the Virginia Beach Fire Department Training Facility to see demonstrations of emergency response robots and drones.  Manufacturers, first responders, and others tested robot capabilities and operator proficiency using 50 test methods, many of which have been developed through ASTM International’s Committee on Homeland Security Applications (E54).

Morgan is a 33-year veteran of ASTM International. She served as executive vice president for the past two years. Prior to that, she was vice president of Technical Committee Operations, leading a 50-member team that supports the volunteer work of ASTM International’s 30,000 members worldwide.

Morgan is one of the world’s most prominent voices on standardization-related issues. She is a board member of the American National Standards Institute’s Board of Directors, the Council of Engineering and Scientific Executives, the International Consumer Product Health and Safety Organization, the Society for Standards Professionals (SES), the American Society of Association Executives, and a former member of the Standards Council of Canada’s Standards Development Organization Advisory Committee.

Morgan holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Lafayette College in Easton, PA and a master’s degree in business administration from Widener University in Chester, PA. Follow her on Twitter at @ASTMpres.

Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Daniel DePra, PE, BCEE joins GAI Consultants as project management director


GAI Consultants (GAI) welcomes Daniel DePra, PE, BCEE as the firm’s director of project management. DePra comes to GAI with more than 23 years of diverse experience managing large civil and environmental projects and leading companywide initiatives to improve project delivery and empower project managers.

As director of project management, Dan will lead the ongoing development, implementation, and execution of GAI’s Project Management Excellence program. He is a Board Certified Environmental Engineer (BCEE) and a registered Professional Engineer in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. DePra holds a master’s degree in civil engineering and bachelor’s degrees in both mechanical engineering and chemistry, all from the University of Pittsburgh. Dan will lead GAI’s project management initiatives from the firm’s Pittsburgh office.

Jeffrey Hill, vice president and chief administrative officer at GAI, says, “As a client-focused, project-based company, GAI puts significant emphasis and importance on sustaining the skills and capabilities of our project managers. The addition of Dan as GAI’s director of project management consolidates the leadership of our Project Management Excellence Program with a professional who has abundant experience and a passion for augmenting the skills and capabilities of project managers.”

In operation since 1958, GAI Consultants is an employee-owned engineering, planning, and environmental consulting firm providing local expertise to worldwide clients in the energy, transportation, development, government, and industrial markets. Headquartered in Pittsburgh, PA, the firm has 800 employees in offices throughout the southern and midwestern United States.

Saturday, March 11, 2017

AT&T endows virtualization research center at SMU

Communications company AT&T and Southern Methodist University (SMU) are collaborating in a unique new research center that will deliver solutions to critical industry needs, educate the next generation of virtualized network technology experts, and support Dallas’ emergence as a global information technology hub. A $2.5-million contribution from AT&T will endow the AT&T Center for Virtualization at SMU and fund its research to support the fast, reliable, cloud-based telecommunications necessary for global connectivity.

Virtualization is a concept most people are familiar with, even if they don’t realize it.  Through virtualization, functions that once required specialized hardware devices are now performed with software running on general purpose hardware. Streaming music and video as well as communicating via social media depend on virtualization. The world is making the transition from hardware to software for connections that enable things like telemedicine and even autonomous cars, and that requires reliable transmission of huge amounts of data through virtualization.

“SMU students will see tremendous advantage from participating in the interdisciplinary research of the AT&T Center for Virtualization at SMU,” says SMU President R. Gerald Turner. “Employers are looking for graduates who understand the technical, business, and consumer environment.  We are very pleased that this Dallas-based, global company has chosen SMU as its partner to advance research on cutting edge technology.”

The telecommunications industry is racing to prepare for a connected future, but industry experts know that cranking up connection speeds isn’t enough if the underlying network isn’t flexible, responsive, and resilient enough to handle the traffic. In the old days, telecommunications companies built networks by sending out trucks every few months or years loaded with new switches, routers, and other gear. It was cumbersome and slow but reliable.

“We don’t have that luxury anymore,” says Andre Fuetsch, president and chief technology officer, AT&T Labs. “We’re virtualizing those specialized network appliances and turning them into software running on servers and other standard hardware. You can add, shift, and upgrade capabilities at Internet speed. It’s the future, and this new AT&T Center for Virtualization at SMU will help us get there faster.”

The Center also offers an opportunity to draw and encourage more women to engage in technology.  While women’s participation in STEM fields continues to decline nationally, SMU has been a leader in successfully enrolling women in engineering studies. Within the Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering, women have averaged more than 30 percent of incoming undergraduates since 2005, exceeding the national average of about 20 percent.

“We believe innovation increases when there is diversity in the workforce. This new research center not only helps advance the latest technology solutions, but it also presents a way to tap a critical segment of tech leaders: women,” says Brooks McCorcle, president, AT&T Partner Exchange. “Like AT&T, SMU is committed to building and expanding the base of technology talent. AT&T’s endowment is a call to mobilize and activate the next generation of female technology leaders through educational opportunities, innovative research and mentorship.”

“The AT&T Center for Virtualization at SMU will take on interdisciplinary topics related to scalability, security, performance and reliability, so that the virtualization infrastructure can enable everything from big-data analytics to the network connectivity of everyday objects ranging from cell phones to coffeemakers,” says Steven Currall, SMU provost and vice president for academic affairs. “The center will engage academic disciplines across SMU to address social, educational, and scientific issues associated with virtualization.”

The AT&T Center for Virtualization at SMU will be directed by longtime SMU faculty member Suku Nair, professor of computer science and engineering in the Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering. Nair is an internationally recognized authority on cyber security and reliable computing and communication and founding director of the HACNet (High Assurance Computing and Networking) Lab at SMU.

“AT&T is a leader in providing connectivity for a wide variety of resources, both on and off the cloud, requiring deployment of hundreds of thousands of complex, expensive routers,” Nair says. “The cost comes down and the system becomes more agile and efficient if the routers can be simplified by putting the intelligence that makes them work on the cloud.”