Citation
(2015), "NACE International announces new university student design and applied solutions competition to advance infrastructure sustainability", Anti-Corrosion Methods and Materials, Vol. 62 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/ACMM.12862aaa.010
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
NACE International announces new university student design and applied solutions competition to advance infrastructure sustainability
Article Type: Industrial news From: Anti-Corrosion Methods and Materials, Volume 62, Issue 1
NACE International, The Corrosion Society, is launching a new competition to encourage innovative solutions to combat corrosion. The University Student Design and Applied Solutions Competition will be launched with funding provided by the US Department of Defense (DOD).
For the first competition, participating teams will be tasked with a challenge related to corrosion of defense systems. The challenge rules will be announced in spring 2015. Teams will be eligible to register in Fall 2015, and the competition will take place in Spring 2016. In the following years, the competition will include challenges related to other infrastructure and assets outside of the military.
The idea for the competition came during a conversation between Dan Dunmire, Director of the DOD’s Corrosion Policy Oversight (CPO) Office and NACE CEO, Bob Chalker. “I asked Bob what he thought we could do to make a difference in education, outreach and communication to get the next generation involved in materials sustainment”, said Dunmire:
He proposed a one-of-a-kind competition unlike anything the corrosion industry has seen before. A vision of something that would be to infrastructure development and sustainability, what the XPRIZE is to space travel.
We are grateful to have the opportunity to build this competition from the ground up, said Chalker. To pioneer this event and start with such an important challenge – corrosion control for USA Defense systems – is something we’re very proud of and it’s a great motivator.
Kim Ray, Senior Manager of University Programs for NACE International will lead the program and manage it from the current development phase onward. Ray brings an array of project management skills honed through 16 years of experience in marketing and communications, education, certification and credentialing. A NACE employee for five years, Ray has been managing the organization’s certification team where she played an integral role in the launch of the NACE International Institute.
Ray is currently developing the program rules and guidelines. She will work with the DOD throughout the development of the competition, and she will recruit schools to participate:
Hiring Kim Ray to manage this project puts us in an excellent position from the start, says Matt Miller, NACE International COO. In her time with NACE, Kim has demonstrated her strength in project management and she has already hit the ground running with this competition.
“Working at NACE has taught me so much about the needs of society when it comes to corrosion control”, said Ray. “To be able to launch a competition that will advance the corrosion industry and impact the lives of so many people around the world is a true privilege”:
We went through due diligence to ensure this competition supports the strategic plan of the CPO, says Dunmire. It does that and then some; we’ve got the right organization and Kim is the right person to make this happen. The outcome of this competition will support the warriors, the men and women of the USA military who deserve equipment that is safe and ready to use when it’s needed. Nothing like this has been done before in the field of corrosion and material sustainment, it’s an important first.
More information is available from: http://www.nace.org