Innovim in the Community

Innovim had a great turnout for the Fall 2008 NASA "Goddard Fun Run." The Innovim Teams' participants this year were employees Ryan Gerard, Pete Ma, Paul Sweatman, Jaime Nickeson, Sue Gao, Gary Lin, Christine Whalen, Joanne Nightingale, Kellye Sheehan and Sepp Darya.

Congratulations to Jaime (16:56) and Joanne (17:37) who finished 7th and 8th among the women and Ryan Gerard who finished 15th among the men (13:31). Everyone had a great time and we plan to get another team together for the next run in Spring 2009! Start training!

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The employees and contractors of Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) have embraced the wounded soldiers at The Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC), just five miles up the road from the White House, which has housed hundreds of injured soldiers recuperating from their tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Walter Reed serves as a surgical hospital, but years of sustained combat has transformed the hospital into a holding ground for physically and psychologically injured outpatients. The hospital holds nearly 700 soldiers, with some Marines, many of whom have been released from hospital beds but still need treatment and are awaiting bureaucratic decisions before being discharged or returned to active duty.

For the past 18 months Innovim employees have collected from the donation boxes placed throughout the campus of GSFC and delivered these much needed supplies to the Walter Reed hospital. Mary Hunter, Innovim's Director of Systems Engineering, has been leading this effort for all Innovim employees on-site at GSFC. Donations are intended to give the soldiers and their families some extras that are not available to them. Donations range snacks and toiletries, to metro cards, reading material, kids toys, and holiday candy.

For more information or a list of items to donate, please contact Mary Hunter.

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Ms. Kellye Sheehan, Innovim's VP of Business Development, volunteers her time with Women in Technology. Women in Technology (WIT), founded in 1994, seeks to be the premier organization contributing to the success of professional women in the technology community. WIT represents professionals who work for technology companies or those that support technology companies throughout the metropolitan Washington DC region, and has almost 1,000 members.

Kellye has served since 2003 as a Volunteer Mentor in WIT's Mentor-Protégé Program. In this program, technology professionals with 5 or more years' experience in the workforce can request individualized mentoring by a set of senior professionals, across a 6-month period. She is also active in a number of WIT-sponsored charity-related activities.

As a result of her continued efforts and involvement with the organization, Kellye was recently selected to serve as Chair of the Executive Women's Special Interest Group (SIG) for 2008-2009, as part of the WIT Leadership Team! Congratulations Kellye!

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Innovim employees are continually committed to active participation in recycling, in accordance with the Maryland Department of Environment's (MDE) Maryland Recycling Act (MRA).

Despite the absence of a comprehensive recycling program for our company's building management, we strive to promote and encourage both recycling and environmentally-sound activities.

Dual stream recycling is the method of choice for Innovim. Through dual stream recycling, Innovim employees are required to separate recyclables into two categories: paper and other recyclables such as glass, plastic, and aluminum. Our office paper recycling program is handled by Environmental Recycling Inc. (ERI) and our other recyclables are hand-delivered each week by Innovim employees to local, public recycling sites in the greater Washington, D.C. area.

At our customer sites, our employees operate in full accordance with our customers' recycling policies. Thank you to all Innovim employees for your environmental vigilance!

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On January 28, 2008, Neil Gerard, a software engineer and solutions developer with Innovim, was selected for training to become a Special Forces Officer in the United States Navy. This highly competitive and prestigious program only accepts eight applicants per year based on their physical and intellectual capabilities. Neil was selected as one of the eight from a nationwide pool of candidates.

Neil will be heading to the U.S. Navy Officer Candidate School (OCS) in Newport, Rhode Island, for three months. Following successful completion of OCS, Neil will be commissioned as an Ensign in the U.S. Navy and receive further training in Coronado, CA.

Neil's last day with Innovim was on March 28, 2008. Although we are sad to see Neil leave Innovim, we fully support his recent success. We wish him all the best with his future endeavors. Good luck Neil!

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Steve Kiger, Innovim's VP of Finance, continues a four-year tradition of volunteering as a judge in the Northern Virginia Regional Science and Engineering Fair, which was held on March 8, 2008, at Wakefield High School in Arlington, VA. The Fair attracts extremely bright and innovative students who produce astonishing research and project results. Many students often move on to compete at the Virginia State Fair each year.

Although a financial management background may seem atypical for a science fair judge, Steve also brings 15 years of work experience in engineering, seismology, and geophysics to the judging arena. He originally began volunteering for the Northern Virginia Regional Science and Engineering Fair as part of a team from his previous employer, Teledyne Brown Engineering, based in the Ft. Belvoir area. Steve has continued this community outreach work as a member of Innovim.

Keep up the great work Steve!

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