Aerospace Initiative October 2006 Minutes

Governor's Workforce Investment Board
Aerospace Industry Initiative
Industry Collaboration Committee

Minutes of September 12, 2006 Meeting

By Charles J. Divine

Attendees:

Carline Cazeau
Rafael Cuebas
Charles Divine
Connie Finney
Jesse Martin
James Polk
David Rosage

The meeting was called to order at 1:05 PM in Room 167B, Building 28, Goddard Space Flight Center.

R. Cuebas reported that Jim Pitts was very excited about creating an umbrella organization that would bring together all the players in Maryland's vital aerospace industry.

Group discussion focused on what the new organization could do to strengthen Maryland's aerospace industry. J. Polk commented that it was necessary to reach to industry, academia and government. He emphasized it was necessary to reach out to small business particularly.

A variety of methods of reaching out were mentioned:
Public Service Announcements
Bringing together the state government and industry
Sending people into schools
Getting a list of activities to support into the state's aerospace companies
Recruiting of volunteers to support various activities

Public initiatives such as tuition reimbursement for people entering needed fields (e.g., education), instructor reimbursement, etc. were mentioned.

The committee mentioned a variety of educational efforts, some pilot projects, some established and well known, that would both improve Marylanders knowledge of the Maryland's aerospace industry and begin introducing young people to the field. Some things that could be done by industry to help include getting volunteers into schools and teachers into companies, for example, by giving them summer jobs.

Action Items:

All: Identify educational groups that will assist in educating youth. Communicate those groups to the team leader, Charles J. Divine

Charles J. Divine, team lead:
Attend Space 2006 in San Jose, California. Learn as much as possible about the California Space Authority, their work and their history. Discuss cooperative efforts with appropriate people.
Request people who have attended the Aerospace Summit in January and expressed interest in industry collaboration to join our committee.
Governor's Workforce Investment Board
Aerospace Industry Initiative
Industry Collaboration Committee

Minutes of October 23, 2006 Meeting

By Charles J. Divine

Attendees:

Rafael Cuebas
Charles Divine
Dennis Faber
Jesse Martin
Donald McErlean
James Polk
David Rosage

The meeting was called to order at 10:10 AM in the conference room of the Patuxent River Partnership. C. Divine opened the discussion with a brief description of what he had learned about the California Space Authority while attending the AIAA Conference Space 2006 held in San Jose, California in September. While there is much that we may learn from CSA, everyone recognizes that we will be an independent organization. Divine reported that CSA looks forward to working cooperatively with other state organizations. One hallmark of the Space 2006 conference was the growing interest in collaboration among various organizations, business, professional and educational.

Divine's report sparked a discussion of where we should go next. All agreed that the aerospace industry in Maryland required a more unified approach to raise the industry's profile. The new association needs authorization and credibility. Next steps to be taken include devising a strawman plan for the new association. Eventually a charter must be developed. We will sponsor a workshop in January to develop the charter and set of goals. The new organization will be made public in March. The event announcing the new organization will be held after the American Astronautical Society's Goddard Memorial Symposium.

A schedule was developed for future work:

Next meeting of the committee will be November 21st. Divine will approach Robert Noble of Northrup Grumman about hosting the meeting at their Maryland headquarters.
A workshop will be scheduled tentatively for January 23rd. Interested parties will be invited.
Roll out of the new Maryland Aerospace Association will occur in March.