Midwest Gateway Chapter

Welcome to the Midwest Gateway Chapter

Welcome to the Midwest Gateway Chapter of INCOSE. We are based in the St Louis region, from Rolla to the Metro East. The Midwest Gateway Chapter of INCOSE was founded in St. Louis in 1992. Over the years we've hosted the INCOSE Symposium and the Conference on Systems Engineering Research (CSER), and been the home chapter of national and regional INCOSE leaders.

Bronze Chapter Award 2004
2004
Bronze Chapter Award 2004
2005
Bronze Chapter Award 2004
2020
Bronze Chapter Award 2004
2021
Bronze Chapter Award 2004
2022
Bronze Chapter Award 2004
2023
Silver Chapter Award 2006
2006
Silver Chapter Award 2007
2007
Silver Chapter Award 2008
2008
Silver Chapter Award 2009
2009
Silver Chapter Award 2010
2010
Silver Chapter Award 2011
2011

2025 Board of Directors

President: Mike McCarthy, Paragon Technology Group
President-Elect (Vice President): George Sconyers III, Boeing
Secretary (2025/2026): Emily Orwaru, Deloitte Consulting LLP
Treasurer (2024/2025): Lou Pape
Director (2024/2025): Dr. Mary Malast, Leonardo DRS
Director (2024/2025): Chris Smith, Boeing
Director (2025/2026): John Thompson
Director (2025/2026): Geo Sconyers
Past President: Mike Franco

Contact the MGC Board of Directors at [email protected].


Upcoming Chapter Events

Speaker Event

When:  Thursday, Mar 13, 2025

Where:  Sports Cafe, 3579 Pennridge Dr, Bridgeton, MO, 63044

Who:  TBD

INCOSE-LA Chapter Tutorial: Developing Conversational Skills

Register here! (Remote participation available. Contact info at this link)

Topic: Developing Conversational Skills

When:  Saturday June 18th from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM Pacific Time

Fee:   Free 

Summary:  
Conversational capacity is the ability to converse in an open-minded and learning-focused way in challenging circumstances. It allows those who are participating in a discussion to balance their candor with curiosity, and their courage with humility.  It is a high-impact skill that embodies research in cognitive neuroscience, human factors, emotional intelligence, mindfulness and management science.

Description:  
Systems engineers must be holistic thinkers, strong communicators, and maintain a broad view of systems and how they are being used.  These roles require team building and effective communication skills to clearly communicate complex ideas and technical designs. Effective communication skills are essential to openly debate root causes, design tradeoffs and risk assessments.

Conversational capacity is a nuanced approach to effective communication.  When someone shares a different point of view, we get curious: “What can their perspective teach me about how I am looking at this issue?”  If we can be curious about another point of view, we expand our options and range of potential solutions to a problem.

This approach strengthens every activity that depends on open, clear, effective dialogue – from running design reviews, making complex decisions, giving feedback, to crafting strategy, facilitating change and fostering innovation. 

Learning Objectives:  
Participants will engage in small group activities to practice how to build healthier, more adaptive teams and working relationships and learn how to:

  • Exert greater influence and help good ideas get the traction they deserve.
  • Enable teamwork with less conflict and more collaboration; less rigidity and more agility; less defensiveness and more learning; less frustration and more fun.
  • Remain levelheaded and learning-focused in high-stakes situations
  • Sharpen their emotional and social intelligence.
  • Strengthen core skills in problem solving, decision-making, and change management.
  • Boost their competence and confidence when dealing with difficult issues under stress.
  • Improve levels of trust, civility, and psychological safety.

Schedule:  
9:00 am     Agenda for the Day
1:00 pm     Dismissal 

Presenter Bio: 
Craig Weber is on a mission to empower people striving to make their workplaces and communities a better place.  Hs is founder of The Weber Consulting Group, an alliance of experts committed to helping people build more resilient, healthy, and agile organizations.  His client list includes Boeing, SAIC, PWC, Pfizer, US Air Force and Los Alamos National Laboratories.

Known for his distinctive and engaging style, Craig is recognized by the Boeing Company for facilitating the Systems Engineering Leadership Program, to strengthen communication among teams and the technical integrity of systems engineering, so critical to successful programs and supplier relationships.

His unique work is outlined in his best-selling book, “Conversational Capacity: The Secret to Building Successful Teams that Perform When the Pressure is On,” and its sequel, “Influence in Action: How to Build Your Conversational Capacity, Do Meaningful Work, and Make a Powerful Difference. Video (4 min): 

https://www.cubroadcast.com/episodes/symposium20-interviews-craig-weber-shares-the-art-of-conversational-capacity-for-todays-executives
 

Venue: Virtual, register by clicking here: http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07ej6qguir0baea14e&llr=l4ihvgeab

Chapter Newsletters


Chapter News

New Chapter Members - 2025

Irwandi Kardjana, Boeing, Jan 5
Robert Reinke, Intelligent Information Technologies, Jan 15

New Chapter Members - 2024

Matthew Trainor, Leonardo DRS, Jan 9
Bradley Jones, Jan 11
Ethan Bandick, Leonardo DRS, Feb 27
Alexander Hawkes, Mar 21
Aditya Akundi, UWM, May 3
Madelynn Frappier, Leonardo DRS, May 21
Hector Castelblanco, May 29
Kaylee Catlett, Jun 2
William Conrady, Boeing, Jun 2
Prithbey Dey, Jun 3
Ezechiel Ouedraogo, Jun 17
Braxton Schmedeke, Jun 19
Haley Spillars, Jun 19
George Sconyers, Boeing, Jul 3
Serge Krawczyk, Boeing, Jul 11
Seth Copeland, V2X, Jul 17
Thomas Vanhooser, Jul 24
Wade Wilson, Boeing, Jul 29
Tyson Prosser, Boeing, Aug 9
Amanda Baker, Cummins, Aug 13
Jared Blatsioris, Purdue University, Aug 20
Tracey Feldhake, Sep 4
Xorge Hernandez, Sep 5
Miguel Delgado, Peraton, Sep 9
Michael Malast, Boeing, Sep 10
Kyle Edwards, UL, Sep 12
Andrea Foutch, Sep 13
Reginald Robinson, Boeing, Oct 4
Wesley Freeman, Leidos, Oct 24
Geo Sconyers, Nov 7
Matthew Hollander, DRS Land Systems, Dec 5
Paul Mizwicki, Aclara, Dec 5
Jacob Kramer, Leonard DRS, Dec 11
Daniel Chikwendu, Wichita State University, Dec 21

The Midwest Gateway Chapter of INCOSE was founded in St. Louis in 1992. Over the years we've hosted the INCOSE Symposium and the Conference on Systems Engineering Research (CSER), and been the home chapter of national and regional INCOSE leaders. Many of our members are engaged in defense, biotech, connected devices, and academia. Most members are located in St. Louis and the surrounding area (from Missouri S&T in Rolla to Scott Air Force Base in the Metro East), but all are welcome to affiliate with us.

For more information about joining INCOSE, please visit the incose.org website: Join INCOSE. If you're not sure about joining yet, come out and visit us at one of our events.

Connect

If you have any questions for us, get in touch: [email protected]. You can also get in touch with our Board of Directors.

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