1. Starting a TC/PC/Working Group March 2009

2. 2 What is a Technical Committee The Technical Committees (TCs) are the heart and muscle of AIAA’s technical activities. The committees cover all technical interests of the Institute. The Board of Directors, upon recommendation by the Technical Activities Committee, can authorize the formation of new committees or the demise of existing ones whenever such actions are appropriate. New Technical Committees must have their scope approved by other committees who feel there may be an infringement upon their existing scopes. Each TC should strive to serve the AIAA members who have a special interest or professional stake in the TC’s scope of technology or systems. TC members should be volunteer agents from their professional sector, and see to it that progressive projects and meetings are held in their discipline. The TC leaders need to resolve openly whom they are serving, in what firms, agencies, and universities their discipline is most active, and then how to draw out that cross-country group in meaningful technical exchange.

3. 3 What is a Program Committee AIAA’s Program Committees (PCs) bring together experts on specific programs. These committees serve as focal points for leading edge or emerging programs in the aerospace industry, and keep AIAA informed of progress and new developments. The PCs integrate related Technical Committees (TCs) to ensure that all of the program areas are represented. Program Committees have a finite life, related to their particular program, which could range from one year to twenty or more. PC activities are similar to those of Technical Committees, and include all aspects of the AIAA, including conferences, public policy, education, standards, and international activities. The process of initiating a new PC begins with the Emerging Technologies Committee (ETC) of the Institute Development Committee (IDC). This committee has been established to identify new programs and technologies, identify a potential chairperson to launch efforts by AIAA in those areas, and to coordinate the efforts of all parts of AIAA to ensure the success of these endeavors. The process then moves to the Technical Activities Committee (TAC) and its New Initiatives Subcommittee (NIS), under the oversight of the Program Committee Coordinator. The Vice- President - Technical, upon recommendation by the NIS, can authorize the formation of new committees or the demise of existing ones whenever such actions are appropriate. Further details may be found in the Program Committee Governing Document, available from the PC Coordinator.

4. 4 Working Group Many TCs create technical subcommittees or ad hoc working groups to work on a specific topic. A working group is a focused team with a defined objective and life. They are meant to address timely subjects and can be created or deleted as the TC wishes. Some examples of reasons to create working groups: develop a new standard or practice; address a specific problem in a TC’s discipline or to develop a new TC. A new TC should begin as a working group. A working group should be sponsored by a TC, chaired by a TC member, and open to non-TC and non-AIAA members as appropriate. These committees may meet during the year, or at a conference just before the full TC meeting. Care should be taken that obsolete subcommittees are disbanded in a timely manner.

5. 5 Starting a New TC - 1 In order to establish a new TC, the following must be demonstrated: That no current TC adequately covers this subject area That there is a significant community that will continue to support this technical area That the group is well organized and has a plan for the future (even in general) Steps: TCs generally start as subcommittees or working groups of existing TCs. Contact the chair of a current TC that is related to your topic. If there isn’t one, then you may need to be established directly by TAC as a Technical Working Group. Establish a chairman. Define a scope. This does not need to be more than a sentence or two and should be very specific. Start soliciting members or at least interested parties. Submit a report to TAC, via the TAC New Initiatives Subcommittee, that you have established this subcommittee and that you are interested in becoming a TC. This should be done through a deputy director in your technical group area. Find ways of raising interest, such as sponsoring single sessions at conferences.

6. 6 Starting a New TC - 2 Develop a group structure – chair, vice chair, other executive members, subcommittees, etc. When you feel that you have a strong enough community, submit your scope and the structure of your TC to TAC, again via the New Initiatives Subcommittee, for approval. This is done best by developing a charter, which somewhat like bylaws, for the group. Solicit ALL current committees, even those outside your technical group, for review of your scope. Any controversy must go back to the group director to be solved. Email addresses are available from Betty Guillie at AIAA. Final approval from TAC, and then approval from Board of Directors Depending on how long it takes to establish a viable community, this process can take anywhere from a few months to 2 years. While it seems to be an excessively long time, this is to ensure that there truly is a need for this TC.

7. Lessons Learned in the Setup of a Working Group provided by the Ground Testing TC - 1 Working Groups have become an important means for the GTTC to better service the ground testing community. The Working Groups are chartered to address specific technical issues and to make recommendations for the community on how to best tackle each issue. The first set of GTTC Working Groups (Test Processes, Internal Balance Technology, and Wind Tunnel Calibration Methodology) were each quite successful in producing AIAA recommended practice documents on relevant technical topics. Each of these groups did have some difficulties in their early stages, so the following notes and lessons learned were developed to aid in the development of future Working Groups. Chairperson/organizer: This person will be the driving force behind the working group; the idea for the working group will generally originate with the chair. The chair must provide the initiative and leadership necessary to keep the working group moving forward. Working group scope: The problem being addressed by the working group must be very well scoped and defined. It is essential that the problem statement be clear and concise and not too over reaching. Trying to do too much at one time will mire the working group efforts. There must be a written charter for the working group that clearly defines the scope, objectives and operating principles of the working group. One suggestion for setting the scope of the working group, once the problem area is identified, is to form a small core group (perhaps 3 to 5 experts in the field) to define the subject problem, working group scope and objectives. 7

8. Lessons Learned in the Setup of a Working Group provided by the Ground Testing TC - 2 Membership: The working group members must be those individuals from each organization that is directly responsible for working on the subject problem (the hands-on technical expert). It is advisable to avoid managers who are not directly involved with the subject. Use the existing network from the TC and the core group members to develop the membership of the working group. The membership will be primarily non-TC members; only the working group chair must be an active TC member. Generally, there will be 2 or 3 other TC members who will participate on the working group. With the first batch of Working Groups, there was a lot of overlap of membership (that is many individuals were members of two or even three working groups at one time). The drawback here is that the members can get overloaded with assignments from the Working Groups and trying to balance these extracurricular activities with their normal jobs. It is essential that the management of each working group member agree to support the working group. There must be a commitment that each member is allowed to attend the two meeting sessions each year, as well as expend some amount of labor hours at work in completing working group tasks. To do this, the working group must be working on a relevant problem, something that will aid each member organization. This is another reason for clearly stating the scope, objectives and deliverables of the working group. 8

9. Lessons Learned in the Setup of a Working Group provided by the Ground Testing TC - 3 Early steps after the working group is formed are to begin the exchange of information between members. Ground rules must be set and agreed to on information exchange, primarily that the information will be used only within the working group and will not be shared with anyone outside the group. If the working group is attacking a specific technical problem, then a summary report is a very good means of sharing information (each member organization will write a short summary of how they address the subject problem). In this mode, most of the work is conducted away from the working group meetings, and the meetings are used to report-outs and question/answer sessions. For this type of working group, it may be advisable to have a secretary who will be responsible for meeting notes and minutes. The secretary can also act as the working group historian by keeping up to date files on all documentation. If the working group is dealing with a more general problem (as in the case of the Test Processes WG); then it is best to do more of the work at the meetings so that the members stay focused on the goals. Build off the experience of existing working groups in order to get up to speed as quickly as possible. 9

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