Annual Banquet 2002
The D.C. & FDA Chapters of Sigma Xi will hold their 2002 Annual Banquet on May 3 at the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service (see the registration page for directions). The event will start at 6:00 p.m. with refreshments and hors d'oeuvres. This will also be a time to meet several of the regional high school science fair winners and to review their winning posters. Dinner will begin at 6:45 p.m. and will be catered by Lebanese Travena (see the registration page for the menu). At the end of the meal, there will be an election of new officers for the DC Chapter, induction of new members into the DC Chapter, and the distribution of awards to the student science fair winners.
At 8:30 p.m., our guest speaker, Dr. Aviva Brecher, National Technical Expert Safety, Health, and Environment, Office of Environmental Preservation & Systems Modernization, Volpe National Transportation Systems Center, Cambridge, Massachusetts will give a presentation entitled:
Bringing Magnetic Levitation Trains to the US: Technology and Policy Challenges
Dr. Aviva Brecher, educated as a physicist at MIT and UC-San Diego, serves as a Senior Scientist and National Technical Expert on transportation safety, health and environmental issues at DOT's Volpe National Transportation Systems Center in Cambridge, MA.. At the Volpe Center, her work topics includes: risk analysis and risk management; the future global air traffic control environment; safety, health, and environmental effects of electromagnetic fields (EMF) for transportation systems and facilities; assessing and managing non-ionizing and ionizing radiation exposure risk in transportation, such as an update of the FAA's Radiation Safety Program (RSP) Occupational Safety and Health policy; outreach events on transportation health effects and risk tradeoffs; safety analysis and regulatory development for maglev and high-speed rail; electromagnetic interference (EMI) prevention/mitigation in advanced transportation, such as GPS-based navigation and Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) collision radars; strategic transportation research planning, technology-based transportation forecasts; and innovation and technology transfer issues for outreach efforts and policy support, such as defense conversion opportunities in transportation; assessing advanced materials R&D for transportation applications and for physical infrastructure renewal; and technologies to measure and control the environmental impacts of transportation.
Prior to joining DOT in 1986, Dr. Brecher worked in academia, business and government on a broad range of interdisciplinary topics including: postdoctoral research on Apollo samples and planetary geophysics in Earth and Planetary Sciences at MIT; teaching physics at MIT and Wellesley College, technical consulting on risk in space exploration, environmental issues of nuclear waste disposal at Arthur D Little, Inc.; Director of Academic-Corporate Relations at Boston University, and APS Congressional Science Fellow for Sen. Paul Tsongas in 1983-84.
Aviva is listed in Who's Who in American Science and Engineering, in American Women of Science, has published over 100 professional papers and over 200 conference presentations and technical reports. She received her BS and MS in Physics from MIT in 1968, and a Ph.D.in Applied Physics from the University of California at San Diego in 1972.
Reservations are due by April 23, however, early submission of your reservations are appreciated. The reservation form is below. Forms are also available at our
chapter website:
The dinner menu will consist of Appetizers: Fatayer - a trio of pies, cheese, spinach and meat; Grape Leaves: rice, chickpeas, tomato, mint, onion and parsley; Falafel - chickpeas, fava beans, fresh onions, parsley and herbs with tahini sauce; Hummos - chickpeas, with tahini, fresh lemon juice and garlic; and sliced pita bread. The entree will consist of chicken & lamb kabobs; tabouleh - parsley, burghul, mint, tomatoes, onions, lemon juice and olive oil; lubieh bel zeit - string beans sauteed with tomato, garlic, spices and olive oil; and baba ghannoug - pureed eggplant with tahini, fresh lemon juice and galic. Dessert will be baklava - an assortment of walnut and pistachio pastries. Vegetarian kabobs are available upon request.
Directions
If you are arriving from the north:
Take 95 to exit 29B, Beltsville (Powder Mill Road, 212 East). Turn right on Rhode Island Ave and at the next traffic light (Rt. 1) turn Right (South). You are now only a mile or so from the USDA campus. Watch for a Jerry's Subshop on the right and turn right onto the USDA grounds immediately after Jerry’s. The first brick building that you come to is Bldg. 005. Drive to the right of the building, park in the rear, and enter the building as noted in the diagram below. For those only attending the presentation, Bldg. 003 is the building with the clock tower and is at the center of the drive.
If you are arriving from the south:
Take 495 to Exit 25 north, Baltimore Ave, toward Laurel at the top of the beltway. This exit is less than a ½ mile from the USDA campus. After passing a Shell gasoline station on the right, take the entrance to the National Agricultural Library (NAL, 14 story building) on your right and use this loop to cross Rt 1. After entering the grounds, follow the road to your right in front of the buildings and Bldg. 005 is the last building on the drive. Drive to the right of the building, park in the rear, and enter the building as noted in the diagram below.
Arriving by Metro:
Take the Green line to Greenbelt. A van will leave the Metro for Bldg. 005 at 5:45 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. The van will be at at the bus stop closest to the Metro station exit. A ride to the Metro station will be provided after the evening’s presentation.
RESERVATIONS
(Due April 23, 2002)
Annual Banquet, 6:00 p.m., May 3, 2002
Beltsville Agricultural Research Center
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service
Member’s Name: ________________________________________________________
Member's Chapter Affiliation: ______________________________________________
Guest’s Names:__________________________________________________________
Phone Number: __________________ E-mail address: _______________________
Number attending: ______ Amount of check (at $30.00 per person) $________
If arriving by Metro, please circle the van departure time you plan to use: 5:45 p.m. or 6:30 p.m.
Make your check for $30.00 per person payable to DC Chapter of Sigma Xi and send it with the registration form to Tina Gouin, 670 Swan Drive, Deale, MD 20751. Inquiries about the meeting can be made to Tina by telephone (301-504-7657) or by e-mail (mdcitrus@hotmail.com).
FDA Chapter, Sigma Xi
Last updated on 2003-JUN-30 by frf