9th Annual SEP Gala (2018)

The Engineers Club, Baltimore, Maryland

17 August 2018

Congratulations to our 2018 System Engineering Professional (SEP) Honorees

By Myra Parsons Gross, ESEP

Yet another year of celebration for our Systems Engineers!

This August as in the past 8 years, we came together to celebrate the achievements of 39 certifications awarded to Chesapeake Chapter members. Because we appreciate the achievements of our community, along with our Chapter members, we also celebrated those members of nearby Chapters including Washington Metro Area and Southern Maryland Chapters, who received Systems Engineering Professional certifications during the preceding twelve months.

What a wonderful Celebration – if you missed it, read on to get the recap and make plans to join us next year!

The 9th Annual SEP Gala was held at the Garrett Jacobs Mansion, a historic home located in the Mount Vernon neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland. Built in 1853 by Samuel George, the home gets its name from its last and most famous owner, Mary Frick Garrett Jacobs, who, with her husband Robert Garrett, transformed the home into a prime example of the Gilded Age mansions of the city.

The Garrett Jacobs Mansion is often referred to as The Engineers Club and has become the venue of choice for INCOSE Chesapeake Chapter Special Events such as the Annual SEP Gala.

The evening began with the usual hors d’Oeuvres and cocktails in the atrium. There was sufficient time to mingle, network and to just relax with light conversation. Many took advantage of the opportunity to tour the Mansion and learn about its rich history.

It wasn’t long before the dinner chimes were heard signaling time to enter the formal dining room. Once we were seated, we received a warm welcome by our Chapter President, Dr. Grace Crowder, ASEP. A full course meal was served with bottled wine.

*Click to download the evenings program*

Our evening guest speaker, Emmet C. Eckman III (“Rusty”), ESEP, serving as the INCOSE Certification Advisory Group Chair spoke about “Certification, Where do we go from here?” providing us with some insight into what to expect in the upcoming years with the INCOSE Certification program. Rusty presented a number of statistics showing how Chesapeake Chapter aligns with the other Chapters with respect to Certifications and it did take us long to see how well we were doing. Maryland and Virginia are the states with the highest number of Certified Systems Engineering Professionals (SEPs) with 318 and 405, respectively of 3,017 SEPs world-wide. The Chesapeake Chapter alone has 194 SEPs. This is tremendous, and we are proud!

The focus of the evening of course was to honor those Systems Engineering Professionals who received their Certifications within the last twelve months. Each honoree was individually presented with a Certificate of Achievement and a Chesapeake Chapter medallion. Keeping with tradition, Honoree ESEP, Ms. Janice Partenheimer, employed by Engility, was congratulated by all ESEPs in attendance in a receiving line.

The evening was enjoyed by all as many of us retired to the lower level bar to top the evening off with some late-night cheer, fun and laughter. And, we even listened to some good music and did a little hand dancing.