Calendar of Events

January 2020

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Name of the activity

PDUs

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Price

Member Webex Meeting Presenter: Dr. Alan Letton Webinar Abstract: The road from entry level scientist/engineer to board room, an accidental journey, brings an insight into the workings of product driven companies and the personal, organizational and product management tools needed to bring innovation and profitability to an company. How do you create an organization that is innovative but without financial waste? How do you take a commodity product and turn it into a competitive, engineered offering? What were the biggest mistakes that lead to failures that need to be avoided? Five cases will be evaluated: 1. Moving from commodity chemicals to specialty chemicals offerings at Dow Chemical, 2. Creating centers of excellence to support existing business units and create new products and markets at Allied Signal, 3. Avon’s attempt to transition from the “Avon Lady” to a competitive player in the competitive world of cosmetics, 4. Building a biotech company based on drug delivery systems at Polymerix, 5. Turning large white rectangles into medical-based designs. Learnings with respect to personal skills development, organizational management and methods for creating innovation will be discussed during this career journey, offering insight to that state of technical careers, management and the future of the technical profession. Presenter BIO: Dr. Alan Letton has been fascinated by the intersection of creativity and technology and its translation to business. As a professional jazz musician, the concept of improvising within a constraining structure helped him to understand his ability to “play jazz” in business, understanding the process by which a company can shape a technology into a successful product. His path was clear, learn to understand science & technology, learn how business works, create profits, and create new processes and development models that accelerate a company’s growth through the use of people, product development and technical skills – all which have a place in defining success. His work at Sandia National Laboratories, complimented by his academic experience (Texas A & M, Tuskegee, Marshall University, North Carolina A & T) allowed him to understand that nature of scientific investigation and the management of technology enterprises. Having had the opportunity to be developed by great leadership in Dow, Avon and Allied Signal, that experience provided him with an opportunity to learn from the best, to create processes that lead to his being awarded the CEO Award at Allied Signal and launching one of the most successful product designs in the mattress industry as CSO, Sealy Inc. Working in the not-for-profit community as well as leading biotech & consumer startups (Polymerix Inc, MET Inc), he learned the skill of “herding cats!”. Not for profits are full of people with passion, but they are not motivated by dollars. This was a training ground for learning to create and share a common vision, and to drive that vision to success. His academic training from MIT and University of Cincinnati, laid a foundation providing an understand of the importance of grasping technical details in order to derive unique and effective solutions. All of his experiences have made him uniquely qualified for his current roles; Managing Partner – Prototype Investment Fund, Partner – Lewis Institute, Consultant – Letton Consulting Services (A Collection of Rocks). PDUs available for this session: 1/2 PDU in Strategic and Business Management & 1/2 PDU in Leadership.

Member Webex Meeting Topic: “Bringing the World to West Virginia: The 2019 World Scout Jamboree” Presenter: Dr. Daniel McNeil Daniel W. McNeil is a tenured Professor of Psychology, Distinguished Eberly Family Professor of Public Service, and Clinical Professor of Dental Practice & Rural Health. His major volunteer role, however, is as President of the Mountaineer Area Council (MAC) of the Boy Scouts of America. MAC comprises 12 counties in north-central West Virginia, serving over 1,400 youth. Webinar Abstract: This presentation focuses on the once-in-a-lifetime event, the World Scout Jamboree that took place in the summer of 2019 in West Virginia, with over 42,000 in attendance from over 140 countries. Dr. McNeil will focus on the role of West Virginia University and Mountaineer Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America in this global event . The presentation also will speak to future national events that will be held in West Virginia, at the Summit Bechtel Reserve, which is comprised of ~10,000 acres near Beckley, WV. Presenter BIO: Dr. McNeil is the president (a volunteer) of Mountaineer Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America, which covers 12 counties in north central West Virginia. His “day job” is as a professor at West Virginia University. He is a licensed psychologist in the state of West Virginia, and led West Virginia University’s mental health team at the World Scout Jamboree this past summer. One PDU is available for this session. More about Dr. McNeil: Daniel W. McNeil is a tenured Professor of Psychology, Distinguished Eberly Family Professor of Public Service, and Clinical Professor of Dental Practice & Rural Health. His major volunteer role, however, is as President of the Mountaineer Area Council (MAC) of the Boy Scouts of America. MAC comprises 12 counties in north-central West Virginia, serving over 1,400 youth. McNeil is the coordinator of WVU’s Merit Badge University, which is a cooperative effort statewide and regionally with Mountaineer Area Council. This annual event brings over 300 middle/high school students across a six-state region to WVU for a day-long series of activities across the three Morgantown campuses. Dr. McNeil’s transdisciplinary service activities in West Virginia focus on health, particularly oral health. His statewide program promoting health in pregnant women (and later including their children) is funded by the National Institutes of Health. McNeil blends service activities with research as well as teaching, involving undergraduate, Psychology doctoral, and Dental and other professional students in his Anxiety, Psychophysiology, and Pain Research Laboratory. McNeil provides service in the state as a licensed Psychologist. He has served on editorial boards of a number of scientific journals in Psychology and Dentistry, and is president-elect of the Behavioral, Epidemiologic and Health Services Research scientific group of the International Association for Dental Research. A Fulbright Senior Scholar in New Zealand in 2010, McNeil integrates service-research-teaching with groups for whom health disparities exist, including Appalachian populations and indigenous peoples. He is a core member of WVU’s Native American Studies Program. McNeil has served as the faculty advisor to WVU’s Psi Chi International Psychology Honorary chapter for over 10 years, and has received the international Psi Chi Outstanding Advisor award.

Calendar of Events

January 22, 2020 Membership Meeting 1

January 30, 2020 Webex Membership Meeting 2