Site Operations Committee (SOC)

The Site Operations Committee is charged with:
  • Develop policy and strategy recommendations for Board approval and provide advice and perspective to NEESinc staff regarding potential improvements to safe, effective, and optimal shared use of existing NEES facilities or the extension of the NEES facility network either domestically or internationally.
  • Perform an annual review of ES operations and recommend ES budgets for approval of the Board. Materials to be used for this annual assessment of each ES include:
    • The proposed Annual Work Plan and Budget Request/Justification for the future year as prepared by the ES and provided by NEESinc.
    • The Annual & Quarterly Reports for at least the previous 12 months as prepared by the ES and provided by NEESinc.
    • A summary of ES performance metrics prepared and provided by NEESinc staff.
  • Perform an annual review of ES maintenance and metrology practices including review of the MTS subaward for eight equipment sites.
  • Advise NEESinc staff on issues related to community interest including:
    • Nurturing of a safety culture within NEES.
    • Review recommended revisions to the NEESinc Facility User's Guide.
    • Optimizing performance metrics for fair, uniform, and objective assessment of ES utilization.
    • Review of strategies and survey instruments to assess user experience with services provided by Equipment Sites, NEESit, and NEESinc.
    • Review prioritization of critical equipment needs (maintenance or evolution) that should be considered for upgrade if funding permits.
  • Provide requested assistance to either NEESinc or the Board in the resolution of disputes brought into the NEESinc Dispute Resolution Process.
  • Development of recommended strategies and actions for approval by the Board to extend or improve NEES Collaboratory services.
  • Provide representation for other NEESinc Committees and Working Groups as needed to assure effective interfaces between NEES' diverse constituencies.


Marc Eberhard
University of Washington

SOC Chair
Prior SOC Member
Glenn Rix
Georgia Institute of Technology

SOC Chair-Elect
Facility User Representative
Julio Ramirez
Purdue University

Board Liaison
Greg Deierlein
Stanford

Facility User Representative
Retired Board Member
Jim Wight
University of Michigan

Facility User Representative
Retired Board Member
Tarek Abdoun
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Equipment Site Representative
Prior SOC Member
James Ricles
Lehigh University

Equipment Site Representative
Dan Kuchma
University of Illinois
at Urbana-Champaign

Equipment Site Representative
David Sanders
University of Nevada, Reno

Equipment Site Representative
Prior SOC Member
Benson Shing
University of California, San Diego

Equipment Site Representative
Solomon Yim
Oregon State University

Equipment Site Representative
Retired Board Member
Ian Aiken
Seismic Isolation Engineering, Inc.

EQ-Risk Stakeholder Representative
Dave Simpson
IRIS Consortium

EQ-Risk Stakeholder Representative
Jay Berger
NEESinc Headquarters

HQ Staff Liaison