COPS on the Move

When you hear the word COPS, what comes to your mind? If you're like me I tend to think about high speed chases, and the TV series named COPS. Well in the Puget Sound area in Washington State, COPS has another meaning if you are discussing one of the COE organization's many Regional User Groups (RUGs). The RUG group COPS means CATIA Operator's of Puget Sound. COPS has officially been in existence since early 2004 when Troy Niehaus from Rand North America asked a people about forming a RUG group in Washington State. So, after having held two meetings as a group, it's a sure thing that this COPS Regional User Group is on the move.

The Puget Sound COPS group is in the process of planning for our next meeting which will be held on October 11, 2004, from 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. in Issaquah, Washington. While our agenda is in the final stages of being firmed up, we do have a special key note speaker that is sure to impart his knowledge about PLM to this COPS group. Bill Abramson, executive advisor to the COE board of directors is making a visit to COPS to make a presentation entitled: "PLM ... Hitting the Sweet Spot!" Bill's experience in the CAD/CAM world and his knowledge of PLM concepts, theories and practices, make him a perfect fit to make this presentation to the CATIA Operator's of Puget Sound.

At this meeting we also plan on having a COPS version of the COE open forum. We are asking potential attendees to submit questions to the COPS team so that they can be answered in an open forum at our October meeting. Questions will be CATIA related and can be centered around PLM or use of the CATIA V5 Tool Suite. For our October meeting we are also looking at a web-based invitation as well to send out to COPS members.

In early 2005, the leadership team is looking into holding a mini COPS Academy where CATIA users can have an opportunity to receive some hands on CATIA instruction.

So, what can this COPS RUG group do for you? To find out, check out our web site at http://www.engineering.com/content/COPS/. And as our plans for our October meeting evolve and become finalized, we will continually strive to keep our web-site updated with the most current information.

Michael Brown
The Boeing Company and
COPS Chairperson

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