# OECM News

## March 1, 2005

Welcome to OECM News, a publication of the [Office of Engineering and
Construction Management](http://oecm.energy.gov/) (OECM). OECM News is
based on the input received from the OECM staff as a way of sharing
information. OECM News is issued on a periodic basis as newsworthy items
occur. Recent back issues of OECM News can also be found on the [OECM
web site](http://oecm.energy.gov/).

We hope you enjoy this issue of OECM News and share it among your
colleagues around the DOE complex. Also, if you know of others who would
like to directly receive future issues of OECM News please provide their
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distribution list.

> ***[DOE Engineers Volunteer at the National Engineers Week, Future
> City Competition]{.underline}***

The Department of Energy (DOE) was well represented at the National
Engineers Week, Future City Competition
([http://www.futurecity.org](http://www.futurecity.org/)) on Tuesday,
February 22, 2005. DOE engineers Michael Donnelly and Steven Rossi from
OECM and Barry Sullivan and David Michlewicz from the Office of Science
again this year volunteered as judges at the National Finals at the
Hyatt Regency-Crystal City, VA.

The National Engineers Week, Future City Competition is an annual
student competition sponsored by the National Engineers Week Committee
for seventh- and eighth-grade students. This year was their 13th annual
national finals. The mission of the National Engineers Week, Future City
Competition is to provide a fun and exciting educational engineering
program for seventh- and eighth-grade students that combine a
stimulating engineering challenge with a \"hands-on\" application to
present their vision of a city of the future.

The students create a city of the future using SimCity 3000 software.
Working with a teacher and volunteer engineer mentor, the teams then
build a large, tabletop scale model of a portion of their city, and
present and defend their designs before a panel of judges at the
competition. The cities contend with pollution, unemployment, security,
crime rates, and other real-life problems.

Future City National Finals teams this year represented 17 public
schools, seven parochial, five private, and three home-schooled groups,
and were comprised of 53 boys and 43 girls. As varied as the regional
winners may be, they all have one thing in common: a program that
challenges them to explore science, math, engineering, arts, and writing
and, at the same time, discover abilities they never knew they had.

If you're an engineer and would be interested in being a volunteer judge
next year, please let us know. *(<mike.donnelly@hq.doe.gov>,
202-586-5705 and
[[steven.rossi@hq.doe.gov]{.underline}](mailto:steven.rossi@hq.doe.gov),
202-586-0415)*

> ***[2005 DOE Project Management Awards Program]{.underline}***

 

OECM is pleased to announce that we are now accepting through May 1,
2005, on-line applications at
<http://www.oecm.energy.gov/Default.aspx?PageContentID=20&tabid=269>,
for the 5^th^ Annual Secretary's Project Management Awards.  The Annual
Project Management Awards pay tribute to those teams and/or
individual(s) who have achieved outstanding results through resourceful,
innovative thinking and implementation. (*<sheri.bone@hq.doe.gov>,
202-586-8127 and <michael.mason@hq.doe.gov>, 301-536-3316)*

> ***[New Notification Requirement for Project Cost
> Overruns]{.underline}***

The FY 2005 House Committee Report (Energy and Water) includes a new
notification requirement for projects which exceed their Total Estimated
Cost by 10 percent or more. The new requirement is explained in the
following excerpt from the House Report *(<dave.pepson@hq.doe.gov>,
202-586-6332)*:

> *Therefore, the Committee directs the Department to notify, in
> writing, the House and Senate Appropriations Committee immediately
> when there is a projected increase of 10 percent or more in the total
> estimated cost (TEC) for all line-item construction projects with a
> TEC in excess of \$20 million. The baseline for triggering this
> requirement is the TEC as presented in the fiscal year 2005 budget
> justification. The written notification shall be handled like a
> reprogramming request, and will require the Department to provide a
> detailed justification for the cost increase and identify funding
> sources to pay for the increased costs. The notification to Congress
> must include a copy of the government estimate for the cost increase,
> and a written statement confirming that the project's cost and
> schedule baseline (prior to the proposed cost increase) has been
> verified through a detailed External Independent Review.*
>
> ***[Project Assessment and Reporting System (PARS) 3.5]{.underline}***

In our continuing efforts to improve PARS functionality, a number of
enhancements have been under development.  PARS 3.5 Beta testing has
been underway and will end on March 3, 2005.  The full version rollout
will be in mid-March and users will be informed of the exact date. 
Enhancements include: Redesign of the Start Page, Report Wizard for
creating custom reports, History tracker, Monthly Data Entry Tool, User
Account Wizard and many other fixes to existing features, e.g.
increasing the size of narrative fields.

*(<suneel.k.kapur@hq.doe.gov>, 202-586-0110)*

> ***[New National Academy of Sciences Report on Project Risk
> Assessment]{.underline}***

Effective risk management is essential for the success of large projects
built and operated by DOE, particularly for
the technically complex, one-of-a-kind projects that characterize much
of our mission. To enhance the Department's risk management efforts, we
asked the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to prepare a summary of the
most effective practices used by leading owner organizations.

The NAS has recently prepared the report titled "The Owner Role in
Project Risk Management." The study's primary objective was to provide
DOE project managers with a basic understanding of both the project
owner's risk management role and effective oversight of those risk
management activities delegated to contractors. Topics include the
owners' role and responsibilities; properties of projects risks; risk
identification and analysis; risk mitigation; contingency; active risk
management; and portfolio risk management. You can access the final
report at the NAS web site (<http://www.nap.edu/catalog/11183.html>).
*(<mike.donnelly@hq.doe.gov>, 202-586-5705 and
<steven.rossi@hq.doe.gov>, 202-586-0415)*

*Hope you've enjoyed this issue of OECM News. Please send comments to
Steven Rossi by e-mail (<steven.rossi@hq.doe.gov>) or by phone
(202-586-0415).*