October 2003
Crystal Newton
Distinguished Service Award
October, 2003, Charleston South Carolina
Since November 1986, when she was hired from Lehigh University by MSC to run the CMH-17 Secretariat (I always personally thought of her as the queen of Mil-17), Crystal Newton has served this group with great dedication and enthusiasm. Her grasp of the contents of the handbook, chapter and verse, is legendary. No meeting would be complete without some well-meaning novice suggesting one or another improvement or addition, evoking Crystal's exhortation that "It's in the book!". Her encyclopedic knowledge of the contents of the handbook is accompanied by a real understanding of the underlying science and technology. She combines a scientist's heart with an editor's eye.
Crystal has served the handbook within the Secretariat at MSC, as an active contributor to many of the working groups and in the last several years as chair of the Guidelines Building Block Task Group. In addition, she has worked on a number of shorter term, but nonetheless critical jobs, such as the effort to develop standing operating procedures for the handbook, or even serving on the awards committee. For almost 20 years she has labored valiantly to keep us all on the same page, editorially, technically, and in what the greater goal of the handbook has been and remains - to take a technology that has kept us all fascinated and fed (some of us for many years) and make it more accessible and safer for everyone.
Thank you Crystal. You have been corporate memory and conscience of the handbook, and now, as we honor you with this token of our esteem, I think it's safe to declare you - Queen Mother of CMH-17.
Rich Fields
Distinguished Service Award
October, 2003, Charleston South Carolina
Rich has been a participant in CMH-HDBK-17 for many years and has been active in Testing and Data Review among other working groups. In recent years he has been an extremely effective chair / co-chair of the Testing Working Group. Rich brings to CMH-HDBK-17 a unique insight into material testing and analysis and interpretation of test data. Whenever a test result, test procedure, or analysis methodology is questionable or uncertain, Rich pursues these issues until he is satisfied that all critical questions have been addressed and that all conclusions can be adequately substantiated. He has been relentless in maintaining high standards of quality and accuracy for the Handbook.
In addition to Rich's work in the testing area, one of his major contributions was a significant reorganization of Volume 1 Chapters 1 and 2. In this effort, Rich used a global perspective to improve the flow and content of these important introductory chapters.
It is with pleasure that we recognize Rich Fields for his hard work and dedication to the Handbook.
Peter Shyprykevich
Distinguished Service Award
October, 2003, Charleston South Carolina
If any active member has "sage" status in CMH-17, it would be Peter Shyprykevich. I couldn't even find anyone that could tell me the year that Peter started, but I'm guessing it was around 1983. Peter introduced me to the group back in about 1990.
When I go around the country and mention that MSC has a relationship with CMH-17, I frequently get the response "when will that thing be done?" A bit like a movie that I saw with Michelangelo painting the Sistine Chapel, and the pope repeatedly asking over the years "when will it be done", and Michelangelo answering "when it is done". Peter has taken a unique approach to his responsibilities at CMH-17. He finishes things. Peter was chair of a joining working group for several years. The group accomplished its planned outline, and then disbanded itself. Peter then took on a Supportability Working Group. Under his leadership, this group has been steadily filling out its outline, and may soon work itself out of a job.
Beyond being a working group chairman, Peter was active in the Guidelines Working Group, and has contributed to the statistics methodology used in the handbook. If you listen to the current debates on allowables methods, you will hear frequent references to the "Shyprykevich method". This refers to a technique of pooling data to obtain a more statistically stable sample.
It gives me personal pleasure to present Peter with CMH-Handbook-17's Distinguished Service Award.