INCOSE WMA Newsletter

February 2010
Upcoming Events
Presidents Word
First, I would like to say that I am very excited
about becoming president of INCOSEs largest
chapter. This year, our goal is to increase March
participation and interest in chapter activities by
making the sessions more fun, interesting, and March 9th Dinner Meeting @ Brio
informative. We also plan to hold the meetings and Divergent Thinking in Systems Engineering Practice:
Is There a Shortfall? by Jim Armstrong
tutorials in different locations to providse easier
Location: Brio Tuscan Grille, Tysons Corner Mall,
access for members. I look forward to everyones 7854L Tysons Corner Center, McLean, VA 22102
inputs into how to make the chapter more useful
for each member.
March 2nd Tutorial @ GMU
Sincerely,
INCOSE Systems Engineering Certification Program
Location: GMU Engineering Building, Room 2608,
Steven H. Dam 4400 University Drive, Fairfax, Virginia 22030
INCOSE WMA President

INSIDE THIS ISSUE Opportunities for

1 Presidents Word
Chapter Leadership and Participation:
1 Upcoming Events Expand your professional involvement in 2010!
1-3 Opportunities for Chapter Leadership and Participation
Author: Barclay Brown, WMA Chapter President-Elect
3 January Review

3 Last Word Why are you a member of INCOSE? For most of us,
one reason is to increase and deepen our
involvement in the systems engineering
professionto network, to reach out, to grow, to
give back. Heres a great way to do that.

As you may know the WMA chapter is the largest


chapter in INCOSE, and we have truly an
embarrassment of riches in people, knowledge,
resources and opportunities in our area. The
board has identified a number of key areas to
be exploited in 2010 and beyond. Heres your
chance to get involved in the chapter in a way
that will make a difference for the Washington
DC area, INCOSE and the profession.
Perhaps you have a special interest or passion
for academia and building future systems
engineers, or perhaps youd like to bring
systems engineering to other engineer
organizations youre involved in. Theres a place
for you! Are you a photography enthusiast or
amateur videographer? Put your hobbies to
work for the good of the chapter! New to
systems engineering, but great at event
planning? We can use you too!
What are the duties of these positions? Whats
the time commitment? Thats up to us to work
out. We are a volunteer organization and we
know you have a job and a life (or at least a job)
so well talk and negotiate an arrangement that
works for you and the chapter. There are no
pre-planned job descriptions for any of these so
they are very much open to your ideas and
plans. Oh, and you wont be aloneall chapter
initiatives are coordinated by board members,
so youll have partnership and support from us.
Here are the areas the board has identified as
important in 2010, but were open to other
ideas as well. If youd like to be involved or
provide leadership in any of these areas, just
drop me an email at Barclay.brown@incose.org
and let me know, and we can arrange a time to
discuss and design your involvement.
Personally, I think its an honor and privilege to
2
serve the profession that has been good to me over
the years. It doesnt hurt on the resume either, plus
its FUN!
Talk to you soon,
Barclay Brown
WMA Chapter President-Elect
Available areas in INCOSE WMA
Chapter leadership:
Membershipsupport active member
participation in INCOSE and WMA Chapter
Ambassador to Engineering Organizations
Ambassadors to a specific organization, such
as NDIA, PMI, EIUA, AFCEA, IEEE and/or other
SE or engineering related society
Ambassador to Academia
Ambassador to a specific academic institution
with a graduate or undergraduate program in
systems engineering, such as GMU, Virginia
Tech, UVa, Johns Hopkins, Defense Acquisition
University
Ambassador to a community or engineering-
related community organization (e.g. K-12
schools, Science Fairs, special
events/competitions, Engineer's Week, etc.)
Liaison to an INCOSE International Working

Group
Liaison to an INCOSE International
Initiative
Newsletter Editor / Publisher
Chapter Photographer
Media Production Coordinator
(audio/video recording, webcasting)
Merchandising Coordinator (premiums,
clothing, e-store)
Chapter Awards coordinator
Programs Committee (design and select
topics, speakers)
Event Planner (evaluate venues for
meetings and programs)
For more information on INCOSE WMA, please visit www.incose-wma.org
3
January Review
At the January WMA Chapter dinner meeting,
Peter Higgins spoke on the intriguing subject of
Critical Incident Response for Critical
Infrastructure Attacks, sharing with us the latest
thinking on how we as communities and
organizations can prepare for attacks against
basic infrastructure. While vulnerabilities can be
reduced, they cant be eliminated, and the
watchful eye of ordinary citizens can in fact turn
out to be an important part of keeping ourselves
and our society protected. Peter is the Managing
Director of 1SecureAudit and past president of
InfraGuard.
Last Word
In case you missed thisat the end of 2009,
Money reported their Best Jobs in America
listing for 2009 and Systems Engineer made #1!
There was even a nice mention of INCOSE as the
article concludes by showing job pre-requisites
as an undergrad engineering degree; some
jobs might also require certification as a certified
systems engineering professional (CSEP).
See: http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bestjobs/2009/snapshots/1.html