President’s Report
Happy New Year to all!
I’m so proud to be joining a team of wonderful people on the board of the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the 7×24 Exchange and doing my part to contribute to an outstanding organization.
We who work within the industries that directly provide, operate, support, or impact the mission critical infrastructure of our nation should consider ourselves stewards to our communities. Mission critical infrastructure touches the lives of practically everyone in our society at some time or in some way or form; from utilities, to commerce, to emergency services, our communities depend on the accessibility and reliability of the infrastructure and these services. The 7×24 Exchange Rocky Mountain Chapter is a forum for the exchange of information, ideas, and best practices that can be shared amongst its membership with the purpose of improving the mission critical infrastructure for the benefit of all.
As we look forward to 2015, the board members will be meeting together to conduct a Strategic Planning Session in order to focus our efforts on expanding the membership to all industries and functions that have an effect on mission critical infrastructure. We will be striving to enhance the collaborative forum of this organization in order to make an even greater impact on the educational aspect of designing, operating, and maintaining mission critical infrastructure and facilities.
We are looking forward to the future!
Rob McClary, President
PROGRAMS
September 9th
Kevin Deitsch, MBA, Director of Facilities at Saint Joseph Hospital in Denver gave a presentation to the 7×24 Exchange – Rocky Mountain Chapter regarding a massive $623 million construction project at Saint Joseph Hospital. Challenges included: moving city streets, property procurement, demolition, permitting, contractor management, commissioning, space planning, Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) approval, and construction of a new Central Utility Plant (CUP). Kevin provided the audience with a very comprehensive look at the magnitude of the project and the many ways they devised to lower construction cost and time to completion.
7×24 Exchange RMC would like to thank Kevin for taking time out of his busy schedule to “share the pain” as well as pride in their success. Congratulations to the entire construction team on completing this massive and challenging project!
October 16th
The Colorado Springs’ Sub-Chapter associated with the Denver 7×24 Exchange Rocky Mountain Chapter held its Fall/Winter Program at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. Keynote speakers included Terry Autry (RMH) and Max Billington (RMH and 7×24 Exchange board member) to discuss the following topics.
- Hazards in Lightning, the effects of earth currents, lightning safety, and mountain-top lightning safety
- How NCAR’s (National Center for Atmospheric Research in Cheyenne) scientific research drove the project and the subsequent energy efficient design of the facility
This was the first program handled by the new CS Chapter Director – Scott Komula (Howell Construction) and Program Coordinator – Megan McIver (Howell Construction). This program was well attended by several end users and colleagues in the Technology Industry. This program was a great spring board for the 7×24 Rocky Mountain Chapter to continue the ever growing technology market in this region.
A special thanks to the keynote speakers, the Olympic Training Center, and for all of the 7×24 Exchange members that helped make this a great event.
November 7
The 2014 Fall Social was a huge success. Good food, fun entertainment and a great group of people.
October 27th
Several board members were able to attend the 2014 National 7×24 Fall Conference in Phoenix, AZ. The theme was titled “Scaling to the Future” and while everyone in the critical infrastructure has different definitions of the future, the conference presented some great insight as to what we can expect moving forward. Some of the highlights included:
- An opening keynote from IBM, Michael Desens, informing attendees that Main Frames are making a comeback in tomorrow’s IT infrastructure.
- A riveting presentation from Vice President of Google Data Centers, Joe Kava, about how Google is utilizing machine learning to enhance their PUE measurements and create better operations for efficiency. http://www.google.com/about/datacenters/efficiency/internal/
- The reintroduction of liquid in the data center seemed to be another topic of conversation as Mark Monroe, DLB Associates, discussed liquid cooling directly to the IT equipment.
If you attended the conference, each presentation can be found at 7x24rmc.org. The National 7×24 Exchange always puts on a great show and this conference was no exception. The Rocky Mountain Chapter was well represented by its members and as we look forward to 2015 as we are continually grateful for 7×24 Exchange for their support.