Thursday, December 11, 2008, 7:30 PM

 

Synopsis:
This lecture is a case study of the tunnel network and maintenance facility for an Automated People Mover (APM) system, located at Dulles International Airport (IAD) in Washington, DC. The project is for an approximate 13-mi network of tunnels that include two APM systems (domestic and international), a baggage tunnel, a tug tunnel, a utility tunnel, and an extension to the pedestrian walk-back tunnel between Tier 1 and 2.  All of the underground systems were designed to support an aircraft loading of 1.5 million lb gross weight on the operation surfaces above. The tunnels were constructed by a combination of cut-and-cover and two different tunneling methods. For mined tunnel sections, the new Austrian Tunneling Method (NATM), and Tunnel Boring Machines (TBM) were used. 

For this project Mr. Riahi led the field investigations and evaluations of ground conditions and development of comprehensive geo-technical reports consisting of a Geotechnical Reconnaissance Report (GRR), Geotechnical Data Report (GDR), Geotechnical Design Memoranda (GDM), and a Geotechnical Baseline Report (GBR). The project subsurface investigations consisted of test borings, laboratory rock testing, and in-situ field testing. The GRR presented the results of review of readily available background subsurface data relevant to the design and construction of APM tunnel system.

About the Lecturer:
Mr. Hamid M. Riahi has over 25 years of experience as a Officer-in-Charge and project manager of major underground engineering projects.  His experience includes highways and bridges, tunneling, government and private buildings, industrial facilities, pipelines, communication towers, water and wastewater treatment plants, landfills, underground and above ground storage tanks, and elevated water storage tanks. Mr. Riahi has expertise in managing detailed geotechnical investigations and final design for deep foundations in congested urban environments. Mr. Riahi holds professional registration in ten states.

Location:
Montgomery Community College (Rockville Campus)- Humanity Building (HU), Conference Room 009

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Dues: $15 per person, $5 for students (including dinner)

Thursday, November 13, 2008, 7:30 PM

By: Bahram Momen, Ph.D
Associate Professor, Environmental Science and Statistics and Director of the Biometrics Program
University of Maryland, College Park

Synopsis:
Air pollution can adversely affect all major components of the environment. Air pollution has accelerated since the industrial revolution. Damage had been mainly local until early 1970s. Air pollution can occur both indoor and outdoor. Indoor air pollution effects are usually considered with regard to human health, while the outdoor air pollution effects are considered at the ecosystem levels. The long-term stability and sustainability of the environment and all species living within it can be severely endangered by air pollution. Monetary losses due to adverse effects of air pollution have not yet been evaluated accurately, let alone other health and social aspect of such negative effects. Adverse effects of air pollution will likely increase in the future due to increases in population, the standard of living, and industrialization, especially in the developing countries. In this presentation, you will be familiarized with the concepts of indoor and outdoor air pollutions, the sources, adverse effects and possible ways to curb the damage.

About the Lecturer:
Dr, Bahram Momen is an Associate professor of Environmental Science and Statistics at the Department of Environmental Science and Technology and the Director of the Biometrics Program at the University of Maryland College Park. At his current position, Dr. momen performs research on the effects of air pollution and climate change on terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems; teaches advance graduate courses in research methods, scientific thinking, experimental design, and data analysis; and direct master’s and Ph.D. Students. Dr. Momen is the author/co-author of 37 referred publications and more than 60 presentations and abstracts. He has received several prestigious teaching awards at the university, local and regional (Northeastern US) levels. He has recently been invited to give a presentation for representatives of more than 140 developing countries at the United Nations Headquarter in New York City regarding air pollution effects on the sustainable development. Dr. Momen has earned a B.S. in Forest Engineering (Sari College of Agricultural Engineering, University of Mazandaran, Iran), an M.S. in plant Ecophysiology (University of California at Davis), and a Ph.D. in Natural Resources and Biometrics (University of California at Berkeley). Dr. Momen conducted two years of post doctoral research at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (Troy, New York), and worked there as a research scientist for 4 years before coming to the University of Maryland, College Park.

Location:
Montgomery Community College (Rockville Campus)- Humanity Building (HU), Conference Room 009

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Dues: $15 per person, $5 for students (including dinner)

Thursday, October 9, 2008, 7:30 p.m.

By: Fariborz Ghadar, PhD.
“Distinguished” Senior Scholar at The Center for Strategic and International Studies and Director of the Center for Global Business Studies at Penn State

Synopsis:
This century will bring a decade of accelerated change in the global business environment. At the same time, the global environment is growing more rigorous. How have firms global competitive positioning changed over the years. Historically firms were positioned to be innovative, customer focused, or operationally excellent. The accelerated life cycle and the increasing cost of product development require companies to be successful in all three areas. The successful companies of this century will be streamlined and flexible, with a staff well equipped to anticipate the challenges of the global marketplace.
Worldwide, CEOs and senior managers need to prepare their industries for Global Tectonics–the process by which developing trends in technology, nature, and society slowly revolutionize the business environment of the future. Twelve global trends are identified that will present the most formidable challenges to world business leaders in the next thirty years. Developments in areas such as demography, infectious disease, resource degradation, economic integration, nano and information technologies, international conflict, and governance will determine corporate strategy. Whether these tectonic shifts put industries through minor tremors or major earthquakes will depend on how businesses have prepared for imminent change.
Every business, regardless of its size or industry, must view day-to-day operations in light of these global developments. This presentation facilitate this type of analysis by clearly outlining global trends and their potential impact on international business.

About the Lecturer:
Dr. Fariborz Ghadar is the William A. Schreyer, Merrill Lynch Chair of Global Management, Director of the Center for Global Business Studies at Penn State, and the “Distinguished” Senior Scholar at The Center for Strategic and International Studies. He is a leading authority on future business trends, global economic assessment, international finance and banking, and global corporate strategy and implementation. Earlier in his career he served as an investment banker at the International Finance Corporation (World Bank), as well as research coordinator of the Harvard Multinational Enterprise Project.
He serves as a consultant to a score of major corporations, governments, and government agencies and regularly conducts programs for executives of major multinational corporations here and abroad. His past clients include Aramco, AT&T, BASF, CalPERS, Chevron, Cisco, CEMEX, Dow, Ericsson, Lucent Technologies, UBS, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, and the World Bank among many others.
He is the recipient of the 2004 Weyerhaeuser Educator of the Year Award, CIO Magazine’s Global Leaders Award, and BusinessWeek named him one of the top 10 Star’s of Finance.
Dr. Ghadar is the author of twelve books on global economic topics, and is frequently quoted in such internationally circulated publications as the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, The Washington Post, USA Today, and the Christian Science Monitor. He has been a featured speaker and interviewee on the major television networks like CNN, CNBC, and Nightly Business Report.
He received his BA and MS in Mechanical Engineering from MIT and his MBA and Doctorate from the Harvard Business School.

Location:
Montgomery Community College (Rockville Campus)- Humanity Building (HU), Conference Room 009

Get Directions, Bulding Location on Campus

Dues: $15 per person, $5 for students (including dinner)