The American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers
The American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers
American Institute of Mining,
Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers, Inc.
Report of the 1999
President Paul
G. Campbell, Jr.
The
year 1999 marked AIME's 128th anniversary; it was also a year marked by
significant accomplishments. Most
significant was the acceptance of a new Long Range Plan, which was developed
as a living document, and includes changes in the way we govern ourselves
including the establishment of new standing committees of the Board that
enables the Trustees to be more involved in AIME activities and decisions.In addition, we unanimously confirmed a new Executive Director of the
Institute such that I am confident that the traditions of AIME will continue
to be maintained and enhanced, we will strengthen the interactive working
relationship between AIME and the four member societies, we will develop
action plans for Board approved outreach initiatives, and will implement the
strengthening of AIME governance.
I
am pleased to report to the AIME Community on the significant progress made
in these areas and on other pertinent developments.
1999 Annual Meeting
AIME
celebrated its 128th year with the Society of Petroleum Engineers
(SPE) at
their Annual Meeting in Houston, Texas, on October 4, 1999. This was the first meeting where the AIME Annual Awards Ceremony was
part of the SPE ceremonies.In
my opinion it was very successful and I look forward to attending the next
AIME/SPE meeting in 2003.
An
account of the 128th annual meeting and the awards ceremony may be found on
page 8, followed by the names of the various award winners. I wish to thank both the SPE and AIME staffs for organizing this
"first time" event and to express my appreciation to SPE
leadership for creating such an inviting host environment.
The
2000 Annual Meeting will be in Nashville, Tennessee. On Monday, March 13, 2000 I will hand over the gavel to Robert E.
Murray of SME.
Government Affairs
through AAES
AIME
government affairs activities continued during 1999 through the American
Association of Engineering Societies (AAES) located in Washington, DC. These efforts involved several volunteers, each representing a member
society, serving on various AAES councils, commissions and task forces. The AAES Board of Governors continues its focus and limited AAES
resources on the engineers' public policy activity and its newest activity,
a program of public awareness of engineers and engineering which fits with
AIME's initiative to Enhance the Image of Engineers. AIME and the Member Societies have actively supported these efforts. AAES has completed its restructuring effort and has certified its
"Get Well, Stay Well" program a success.
I
applaud the AAES activities and was pleased to accept their request that I
be a member of two AAES committees, the nominating committee for 2001 and
the long range planning committee. The
AIME Executive Director is on the 2000 AAES Executive Committee and is the
chair of the By-Law committee. Our
thanks to Len Nelson, 1997 AIME President, who served on the AAES 2000
nominating committee. We will
continue to maintain a close connection to this organization whose purpose
is to serve us in the nation's capital.
Overarching and
Member-Direct Programs
Overarching
and Member Direct programs were added to the AIME lexicon in 1994.
Overarching programs are defined as those that carry out the purposes of the
Institute and may include participation by one or more of the member
societies; member-direct programs are those carried out by the Member
Societies. Approval of specific programs is limited to those that
clearly carry out the purpose of AIME, as described in its bylaws (Article
I, Section 2). The selection of specific projects and the balancing of
programs is the responsibility of the Board of Trustees.
Since
the inception of these programs, AIME has committed $4,194,266 of which
$387,200 was for overarching programs and the balance for member direct.
Of the $3,807,066 for member direct, SME received $855,326, TMS $749,653,
ISS $638,366 and SPE received $1,563,752. The application of some of
these member-direct grants are described on pages 13 through 16-reports from
the 1999 Presidents of each of the four AIME Member Societies.
Long Range Plan
The
AIME Board of Trustees, at its August 1, 1999 meeting in Charleston, SC,
approved a new Long Range Plan that was the result of a dedicated committee
and a concerted effort by the 1998 and 1999 Trustees. Earlier I called this plan a living document. Although it nominally has a five-year horizon, it is constructed so
that it can and should be updated as time and events warrant. In this way the Plan should never be either "completed" or
out-of-date and a future AIME Board should not have to start over in the
development process. It is
through the change of the governance structure incorporating four new
standing committees of the Board that AIME will move forward and that the
"learning curve" for new Trustees will become steeper and shorter.
Finance
You
are invited to review the audited financial statement for the AIME
Corporation for fiscal year 1999 (ending November 30, 1999) starting on page
19 of this report. During this
period AIME selected a new firm to audit the AIME Corporation and the
combined savings plan for AIME and the member societies. We think you will find this financial report easier to read.
AIME
assets decreased $3.8 million from the end of fiscal year 1998 to $17.4
million at the end of fiscal year 1999. However, the 1998 figure included $5.6 million in
undistributed funds from the proceeds from the sale of the UEC; in 1999 $2.8
million of those funds were distributed to the member societies.
During
1999 AIME continued to look at the most cost effective and efficient ways to
handle its financial functions.
Inter-Society Affairs
United Engineering
Foundation (UEF)
I
am pleased to report that AIME continues its effective involvement in the
governing of the UEF. As the
terms of present trustees expire, effective with the 2000 UEF Board, AIME
and the other Founder Societies will be represented by their executive
directors; by 2002 both their presidents and executive directors will
represent them. Barry D. Bowman
of SPE was the 1999 president of the UEF; John K. Hammes, SME and AIME Vice
President-Finance, is the 2000 UEF president. Special thanks to Barry Bowman for his many years of service;
congratulations also to John. AIME
is well represented.
Founder Societies
I
am pleased to report our continued effective interactions with the Founder
Society officers and executive directors in matters of common interest. This interaction has provided the president-elect, the executive director and me with an important opportunity to become cognizant of the
broad spectrum of issues affecting the engineering profession. One of the 1999 meetings of the founder society presidents and
executive directors was at the Linda Hall Library in Kansas City, MO-on the
campus of the University of Missouri at Kansas City-where the Engineering
Societies Library from the UEC is housed. We were all impressed, not only with the facilities, but with the
care and attention paid to our volumes. It was impressive to have access to "off limits" sections
of the library and see that our contributions to many of the individual
collections were quite substantial such as the rare books that were housed
in a special room.
ABET
The
Institute also retained its relationship with the Accreditation Board for
Engineering and Technology (ABET), as an affiliate body, and is represented
by its Executive Director who serves as an official observer at ABET board
meetings. ABET is revising its
own governance and it is anticipated the affiliate bodies, which already
"sit at the table," will soon have an official vote.
Australian
Interchange
AIME
and AusIMM (Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy) have had a long
standing exchange program of distinguished lecturers from both countries
taking turns each year visiting each other's country. During the summer of 1999 Mr. Robert R. "Ray" Beebe of SME
visited Australia for two weeks as an AIME lecturer. We have heard from our counterparts in Australia that he was very
well received.
I
wish to thank the AusIMM staff for making the necessary arrangements and to
express best wishes to Donald S. Larkin, the new AusIMM Chief Executive
Officer.
In Appreciation
It
has been an honor for me to serve as your AIME president, to have had the
opportunity to associate with and be assisted by the many fine people who
comprise the AIME family, and to have the privilege of representing AIME on
many auspicious occasions. I
reflect with great gratitude and affection on my visits to the local
sections and on the opportunity to strengthen AIME's ties with its Member
Societies and with the other Founder Societies.
I
appreciate the cooperation of the Board of Trustees of AIME. I also extend my sincere appreciation to the Member Societies' boards
of directors and executive directors, the staffs of AIME and the member
societies, committee members and others for their dedicated support during
the past year. During the past
year I had more than one opportunity to visit the new AIME headquarters in
New York City and I encourage all of you to stop by and "look us
over." I also congratulate and pledge my full support to 2000
President Robert E. Murray and the new Board of
Trustees, all of whom are
depicted on this website.
