March 3, 2010 CAETS Executive Committee Meeting

March 16, 2010 7:15PM

1.        The President welcomed all. The draft agenda distributed earlier was agreed. 

2.        The Summary Minutes of the Executive Committee meeting/telecom of November 20, 2009 was approved.

3.        For a few hours prior to the ExCom meeting the Secretary reviewed with the President and ATV staff preparations for the June 29 Symposium on “Sustainable Food Systems” and the CAETS meetings on June 28 and 30, 2010.  The program of proposed speakers is impressive with half confirmed and the remaining expected to be confirmed within the next week.   Three speakers in each of four sections with a panel discussion ending each section is an aggressive speaking program. The confirmed program will be posted on the ATV web site next week.

            A committee is being formed to prepare an initial draft of the CAETS Statement on the theme of the Symposium. This draft would be sent to all speakers, their edits incorporated, and then the revised draft sent to member academies inviting their review and comments. By June 1 the latest draft would be sent to member academies for reference during the Symposium. The drafting committee would provide a revised draft by the end of the morning session of the Council meeting on Wednesday with review and final approval by the Council in the afternoon session.

            The Secretary will work with ATV regarding inviting representatives of other engineering academies and appropriate international organizations to the June 29 and 30 meetings.

4.         The President-elect reviewed the dates and theme of the 2011 Convocation. The meetings will be in Mexico City and the topic will be Risk Assessment. Working with the Secretary, AI will prepare and send to the ExCom in the next few weeks a 1-2 page summary describing the scope and expected content of the Convocation program. The Executive Committee and Board of Directors Meetings will be on Monday, June 27, Tuesday – Thursday, June 28 – 30 will be the Convocation, and the Council will meet on Friday, July 1. The Past President will send to AI the CAE planning schedule for the 2009 Convocation and would welcome consultations between the AI and CAE staffs to help in planning for the 2011 Convocation.

5.         The Executive Committee agreed to propose specific language to member academies for Bylaw Amendments and changes to the Operating Procedures to be approved at the June 30, 2010 Council Meeting concerning the conduct of CAETS Annual meetings reflecting the consensus reached during the Calgary Council meeting (July 17, 2009) that beginning in 2012 each CAETS annual meeting would include a one-day Symposium, unless, two-years prior to the event, the Council approved a specific theme which justified a longer meeting time (up to 2 ½ days), traditionally called a Convocation. 

6.         In response to the request made at the Calgary Council meeting, the Secretary has consulted with a few member academies and revised the list of topics for the new survey of member academies. The proposed format is Excel. The President suggested that 2 – 3 member academies be asked to complete their data columns to serve as samples for the other member academies.

7.         The proposed agenda items for the June 30, 2010 Council meeting will include:

Administrative issues – approval of Summary Minutes of the July 17, 2009 Council Meeting, 2009 Audit Report, approval of 2012 dues, approval of 2011 budget, election of the 2011 President-elect and four Board Members, Bylaw Amendments, the report to the Council on the Executive Committee review of the member academies paying dues at the $1,000 level, and reports from the Committee on International Organizations (the Oct. 20, 2009 CAETS/ICSU meeting) and the Committee on CAETS Membership.

Substantive Issues – discussion on the ICSU Foresight study with representatives of that ICSU study group, reports from the CAETS Noise Abatement Study Committee, the ATSE Project on Low Emissions Technologies for Electric Power Generation in Response to Climate Change, the EAJ project on Eco-Innovation, approval of the Statement on Sustainable Food Systems, and one or two discussion topics.

Additional Items – Issues of Concern and Activities of Interest – the request to member academies will include a more complete explanation of the information desired

8.         The next ExCom meeting will be on Monday, June 28, 2010, 12:00 – 14:30 in Copenhagen. Following that will be the Board meeting from 14:30 – 17:30. The Council meeting will be on Wednesday, June 30, 2010, from 09:00 to 16:30.

            The President thanked all and adjourned the meeting at 10:05 AM (Washington time).