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Email: asnehq@navalengineers.org

American Society of Naval Engineers
Annual Business Meeting held on 12 July 2023
“State of the Society”
Remarks by ASNE President, Mark Hugel (RADM, USN Ret.)
Delivered by Incoming ASNE President, David Lewis (VADM, USN Ret.)

 

Fellow ASNE Members,
 
As I conclude my fourth and final year as the ASNE National President, I am pleased to report to you on the state of our Society.
 
Like before, I’ll begin by celebrating our history. As the 7th oldest, continuously operating, chartered technical society in the United States, ASNE serves to not only set the standard for naval engineering in the 21st century, but has done so now for 135 years. Our efforts this past year have focused on restoring in-person attendance at our symposia, expanding the diversity of our membership and increasing our membership numbers.
 
Our symposia schedule was once again executed with excellence. The keynote speakers and symposia panel members offered valuable insights into the naval engineering challenges of the day, and the benefit of face-to-face sharing of ideas grew with lively participation of members and non-members alike.
 
By year’s end we had executed the list of symposia below:
  • Advanced Machinery Technology Symposium – 20-21 July 2022
  • Fleet Maintenance & Modernization Symposium East – 19-21 September 2022
  • Design Sciences Series – 7-8 November 2022
  • Combined Technology, Systems & Ships / Combat Systems Symposium – 30 January-2 February 2023
  • Intelligent Ships Symposium – 1-3 May 2023
  • MegaRust East – 13-15 June 2023
  • Multi-Agency Craft Conference — 26-28 June 2023
 
Many thanks to the planning committees of these symposia – much of the work to assemble the programs, lineup keynote and panel speakers, schedule exhibitors and sponsors is accomplished by our member volunteers who serve on these planning committees. My thanks also to our headquarters staff led by Executive Director Captain Dale “Kid” Lumme, USN (retired) for the work they put in behind the scenes to assure the success of our symposia. We have an equally busy symposia schedule planned for this coming year, starting with Fleet Maintenance and Modernization Symposium (FMMS) West at the San Diego Convention Center September 6-8, 2023. FMMS is our premier annual symposium, and the San Diego Section has assembled another awesome program.
 
The Society’s financial health continues to hinge on the financial performance of our symposia. The FY24 society budget shows a positive net revenue for the upcoming year, but symposia attendance, exhibitors and sponsorships will be key to generating the revenue we need to cover symposia expenses and pay for HQ overhead to support the planning committee’s efforts. We are still in a tenuous position regarding cash flow because symposia planning expenses hit the books before symposia revenue, so the National Council continues to closely monitor the financial picture and the Ways & Means Committee, led by CDR Charlie Pfeifer, USN (retired) has continued meeting monthly to ensure we have a tight grip on Society finances. I especially want to thank our CFO, Nancy Lackey, for her tireless work in keeping us all on top of the Society financial picture.
 
As ASNE’s Fiscal Year 2023 concluded, it was a busy time for the volunteer leaders of your Society. We recently held our national election and I want to congratulate VADM Dave Lewis, USN(retired) upon his selection to National President, RADM Mark Whitney, USN (retired) and Dr. Leigh McCue upon their selection to National Vice President and CAPT Stephanie Douglas, USN (retired), SES (retired), RADM Brian Antonio, USN (retired), Mrs. Kelly Cooper, Ms. Maggie Nate, Dr. Julie Chalfant, CAPT USN (retired), Dr. Carolyn Judge, PhD and CAPT Richard Delpizzo, USN (retired), who were elected to represent us on National Council. I also want to thank CAPT Joseph Luckard, Jr., USN (retired), RDML Dale Baugh, USN (retired), Dr. E. Michael Golda, CAPT Sheila Jenkins, USN (retired),  Mrs. Patricia McGinn and CAPT Richard White, USN (retired), whose terms on National Council ended on June 30th.  Each of these members has served us well on National Council and continue to serve the Society in numerous ways.  I also want to thank the National Nominating Committee, led by CAPT Rick Hepburn, USN (retired) and staffed by committee members from seven ASNE sections - you provided us a slate of very capable and diverse candidates from whom to pick.
 
CAPT Paul Roden, USCG (retired) and his National Awards Committee recently completed their work for this year, and we have already recognized several national award winners at ASNE events. Once again, the competition for national ASNE recognition was intense – we have so many members contributing in innovative and significant ways to both our society and to the naval engineering profession that the awards committee is challenged every year to pick the best of the best. Well done to our award winners and stay tuned for the announcements of opportunities to formally recognize the remaining award winners.
 
CDR Rich Celloto, USN (retired) and the National Scholarship Committee recently completed this year’s work and made fourteen selections for national scholarship recognition. The scholarship program is merit-based; however, financial need may also be considered. Like the National Awards Committee, the National Scholarship Committee looked at many qualified candidates and chose the best of the best. Congratulations to our National Scholarship winners!
 
Ms. Jessica Galassie has been doing extraordinary work as our National Membership Chairperson – she and her committee have been working closely with the various ASNE sections to tackle membership at the local level. Additionally, the Membership Committee has been working with the HQ team to clean up membership records, flag delinquent memberships and update contact information. As a large portion of our membership serve on active duty, contact information changes regularly, particularly if members use their work contact info. The Membership Committee recommends that we update our contact info with personal email and cell phone information, which tends to change less often. Staying in contact with us will assure that you receive reminders to renew your membership timely.
 
The National Sections Committee, led by CAPT Dave Herbein, USN (retired) has been working to expand our section membership and I’m pleased to announce that our Pacific Northwest section, led by CAPT Will Carroll, USN (retired) has been resurrected this past year. That section was retired several years ago as a result of poor participation, but throughout the pandemic Will has been working with the San Diego Section’s leader, CAPT Glenn Hofert, USN (retired), to regain sufficient membership and interest in the Pac Northwest to satisfy the bylaw requirements to stand the section up again. Well done Will, Glenn and Dave! Additionally, there has been interest expressed at NSWC Crane, Indiana to resurrect that section – the Sections Committee is committed to supporting their effort during this coming year. I’ll close the Sections Committee discussion by thanking Dave Herbein for his leadership of this national committee for several years – much has been accomplished by this team under Dave’s steady hand and as Dave steps down from this commitment, I thank him on our behalf for serving us well.
 
An important benefit of membership is our Naval Engineer’s Journal, and this past year was another banner year for the NEJ. The Editorial Board, led by Dr. Leigh McCue continues to assure that the quality of content in the NEJ is consistently high caliber. This past year we published our second Special Issue – with a focus on the “Hybrid Fleet – The Path Forward for Human Machine Teaming”. RDML Casey Moton, USN, PEO Unmanned and Small Combatants headlined that edition and the editorial team leaned heavily on our guest editor, Dr. Bonnie Johnson, Research Lead and Senior Lecturer in the Department of Systems Engineering at the Naval Postgraduate School.  The Journal is also a forum to share ideas from our diverse community. Ever since we published the special NEJ issue that featured the stories of thirty women of STEM, we have used that as a springboard to convene “women in engineering” mentor sessions at nearly every symposium. And every one of those mentor sessions continues to be well-attended and highly engaging.
 
Wrapping things up, I want to thank you for the support over these past four years. While we have made progress in many areas, there is still much to do, and we all can help by continuing to emphasize membership growth. Ask a colleague to join us and share why you have chosen to be a member.
 
ASNE continues to succeed because the national leadership, local leadership and so many members who volunteer their time work together so well. I leave the Society in good hands – Dave Lewis is a friend and has also been closely engaged with ASNE over the long haul. Under Dave’s leadership, I look forward to this coming year for ASNE – it will be another busy one.
 
Submitted with respect to the ASNE membership,
Mark Hugel, RADM, USN (retired)