Greetings Members,

Welcome to our monthly NoVA Newsletter for an update on what’s happening. As we continue to bring you great virtual programs and continue a multitude of efforts, this newsletter isn’t long, but has many key things to note.

JETC is this month May 18-21. A link with more information can be found in our "Mark your Calendars!" section.

We’re going LIVE on June 3rd! Our Programs Committee Co-Chairs have worked the details and our Board has approved the plan to move back to live events, AND at a new venue. Our speaker will be Roger Natsuhara, P.E., Senior Vice President at Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Washington. This June 3^rd luncheon event will be at the Crystal Gateway Marriott. The official invitation recently went out but you can click here to register now! Be sure to sign up as soon as possible as we could easily sell out; I know you don’t want to be left at the home office another day. As you can imagine, our maximum number of attendees is being driven by State, County, and Marriott policy, so we’ll have to cut off sign ups when we reach the approved maximum number of attendees. We’re working with Marriott now for those exact details.

July 16^th is our 2021 Scholarship Golf Tournament! We missed holding this signature event last year, so we expect this to again sell out. The date is Friday, July 16, 2021, Shotgun start at 9:00 AM, Best Ball format at Heritage Hunt Golf and Country Club, 6901 Arthur Hills Drive, Gainesville, VA 20155. Sponsorships are available and selling out fast!!!  Click here to register.

NoVA Post Centennial Event, Oct 7th! Plans are underway for an event many of you have attended before, but this will be an event not to miss. It’s our Annual B2B (Business to Business) event, but this year, we plan to hold it at the very new and barely open (due to COVID) US Army Museum on Ft Belvoir. The venue is gorgeous, and they can hold the additional crowd we expect at this Centennial Event. Start thinking ahead about who will do your 3-minute brief and who will attend to take advantage of this one-of-a-kind event. The event will be held from 1-6 PM and consists of fast paced networking and enjoyment via our reception. You can come early to tour the Museum and grab lunch at the Museum Café, or just show up at 1 PM for the B2B. Sponsorships and exhibit display tables will also be available.

I wanted to send out a special thanks for all the volunteers who reached out about possible Post Board positions. Jim Donahue had many conversations with people interested in positions and many current Board members offered to stay in their position or accept something else on our Board.  We are still possibly considering a few more vacancies. Contact me at Nick.Desport@Merrick.com or Jim Donahue at jimmyredsox@comcast.net if you have any questions or are interested.

I also want to again welcome new members to SAME and/or new members who have changed to the Northern Virginia Post. We want to recognize them in our newsletter either monthly or quarterly. We look forward to help growing those just starting their engineering journey and welcome those in various stages of their careers. And yes, we hope to see many on June 3^rd in person.

Thanks, and Stay Safe. We’ll see you in person soon, I’m sure of it.

Nick Desport, RA, LEED AP BD+C, F.SAME

Director of Business Development | Merrick & Company

Jenn Brunner, Director of Advancement at the Children's Science Center, provided a report on the Center's virtual STEM summer camps. The camps were held last summer but we wanted to share the report below to highlight the impact of NoVA Post's K-12 Outreach. We are very happy the summer camp program positively impacted students in need, even during the height of the pandemic. A very big thank you to John Crossen and Ed Chamberlayne for spearheading this effort and demonstrating how SAME NoVA values our students!

SAME NoVA Post Members volunteered to be on a Military Engineering Panel for the Prince William Composite (PWC) Civil Air Patrol Squadron Cadet STEM Education Program. This was our Post's first ever STEM Outreach to the PWC CAP and more than 40 CAP members were able tuned into the MS Teams event. Thanks to Bob Bevins, Jay Manik, Bill Haight, and Nick Desport for volunteering to serve on this panel!

We wanted to extend a warm virtual welcome to new NoVA Post members and firms who have joined this past month. We look forward to meeting you in the future!

Congratulations to our Programs Co-Chair Cathy Otis, who has moved to Gannet Fleming as Washington DC Metropolitan Area Manager!

To submit content to be included in next month's newsletter, please email sophia_gull@outlook.com. Content must be submitted by the Tuesday following the monthly board meeting. Board meetings are held on the first Thursday of each month.

Thanks in advance!

-Sophia Gull (NoVA Post Newsletter Editor)