• Promote: During my tenure, SAVE will have held one virtual and one in-person Value Summit in Nashville in addition to two hybrid USAV events – the first in Louisville and the upcoming event this May in Washington, DC. The 2025 USAV Symposium is a tremendous opportunity to promote the expansion of the use of the Value Methodology (VM) within the U.S. federal government as well as state and local agencies. I am also excited that SAVE will be hosting its first Value Summit outside of North America this September in New Delhi, Inda in cooperation with INVEST, the Indian Value Engineering Society.
• Advocate: The U.S. Advocacy for Value (USAV) committee will be holding an Advocacy Day on Capitol Hill as a prelude to the USAV event. As part of the USAV Symposium 2025, SAVE members are invited to participate in this event to be held Tuesday, May 13, 2025, to advocate for greater effectiveness and efficiency in government through value programs. This unique opportunity allows participants to engage directly with policymakers, share success stories, and champion strategies that drive measurable improvements in public sector performance.
• Certify: SAVE has updated its Certification Program over the past two years. This includes updates to both the VMA® and CVS® exams to fully align with the VM Guide. In addition, the Certification Manual has been updated to simplify the application process and efforts are currently underway to support a streamlined, online application system. The renewal process has also been simplified. Please visit the Certification web page for more information.
• Educate: SAVE has launched its updated VMF training courses, including an online VMF1A seminar; an instructor led VMF1B course; and the VMF1BT instructor training class to educate trainers on the curriculum and ensure greater uniformity in learner experiences and outcomes. Work is under way on revising the VMF2 training course and this is targeted to be completed by the end of 2025.

In addition to our PACE agenda, I am pleased to say that SAVE is on a solid financial footing due in part to the excellent work of our outgoing Secretary-Treasurer, Tom Fletcher. Further, we completed the restructuring of the U.S. chapters of SAVE.

As you can see, SAVE has had many significant achievements over the past two years. I am pleased I will continue to be part of the next SAVE Board of Directors to see the remaining initiatives to fruition.

I look forward to seeing you all in the upcoming events and wish you all a productive 2025!

A big thank you to SAVE President, Rob Stewart, and all the Board of Directors who have given their time to make sure SAVE continues to operate and move forward effectively.  Without their tireless unpaid efforts, SAVE would not grow and stagnate with the challenges presented. And without their efforts, we would not have the great events that bring our community together.  Thank you also to the team at Talley Management Group (Nelly Flumo, Melissa Baldwin, and Renee Wolf) – your support is much appreciated!

With that said, please review the candidate profiles and vote for those candidates that have the energy, enthusiasm and ideas to lead SAVE for the next few years.  Also, show up in force to attend the USAV Symposium in the Washington, DC area next week to hear the issues and be part of the solutions that are needed.

That’s all for now.  Summer is upon us, enjoy!

Vice President / President Elect
Al Adelgren, PE, CVS-Life, PVM, LEED AP, CPP, ENV SP

Secretary-Treasurer
Richard Lambert, PE, CVS

Director
Zachary Davis, PE
Jacqueline Fahmy, PhD, CCMP, PMI-ACP, PMP, RMP, PSM, CSSBB, EDGE Expert, PVM, CVS
Arjunraj Panneerselvam, CVS
Mushtaq Rabbi, CVS, PVM, PRINCE2, MoR, MSP, RPP
Kaitlyn Stewart, CVS

We encourage all SAVE members to review the candidate’s information before casting your vote.

Members will select one (1) candidate for Vice President / President Elect and one (1) candidate for Secretary-Treasurer. There are three (3) Director positions open so members will select three (3) candidates for Director. The candidates with the most votes in each category will be elected.

To cast your vote, please click on the link below and enter the password provided:

https://saveinternational.wufoo.com/forms/2025-save-board-of-directors-election
Password: 20save25

All votes must be submitted by May 22, 2025 at 11:59 pm ET.

Please direct any questions regarding the election to the SAVE business office at info@value-eng.org.

As I write this article, the 2025 U.S. Advocacy for Value (USAV) Symposium is about one week away. This two-day event occurs May 14-15 in Arlington, Virginia. The agenda is published, and the speakers have been announced. This event is a great opportunity for those within our community to learn about existing VE programs at the federal level. It’s an even greater opportunity for those outside our community to learn about our industry overall. So please spread the word to all your contacts about the 2025 USAV Symposium!

I am thrilled to announce that even though the symposium is geared toward U.S. government agencies, we have SAVE International members registered from Canada, Europe, and the Middle East. PDUs will be awarded to registered attendees. As previously mentioned, this is a hybrid event that includes in-person and virtual registration options. There is still time to register for either option! For more information about the 2025 USAV Symposium, visit www.value-eng.org/2025USAV.

The 2025 Value Summit ”Value Methodology for Strengthening the Pillars of the Economy,” being held September 15-16 in New Delhi, India, is just over four months away. This is the first time the Value Summit will be held in Asia and this year’s event is being hosted and organized by the Indian Value Engineering Society (INVEST). For details about the Summit, including timelines for registration, paper/presentation submissions, award nominations, the venue, and more visit www.value-eng.org/2025ValueSummit.

I must also note that this is my last article for Value World as my term as a SAVE Board member ends in June. Back in 2021 when I accepted an invitation to fill a vacancy on the Board, I also simultaneously accepted the role of Director of Conferences. I was very ‘green’ then, having only been a member of the SAVE Planning Committee for about a year and only attending my first Summit in 2017. During my Board term, I had the opportunity to meet so many people in our industry than I would have as just a member – and it’s been a wild ride.

With the future of in-person events still in question following COVID, I chaired the virtual Value Summit in 2021, which featured the “Around-the-World Crawl” that included very long days to accommodate our worldwide membership in all time zones in real time. The Value Summit was brought back in-person in 2022 and registration was slow initially, reflecting the reluctance many still had to gather in large groups. Ultimately the desire for our industry to connect with colleagues in-person won out and more than 200 people traveled to Arizona! The Value Summit was once again virtual in 2023, but many international chapters and affiliates conducted live events including the newly formed USAV committee holding their first event in-person. The 2024 Value Summit was back in-person in Nashville where it was announced that the 2025 Value Summit would be held in India, the first time the Summit would be held outside of North America. I could not have imagined all these developments when I assumed this role over four years ago!

I look forward to remaining a member of the SAVE Planning Committee and firmly passing the torch into the hands of my successor as Director of Conferences, whomever that may be. I had the privilege of being guided through my years as Director of Conferences by some of the greatest leaders in our industry and was fortunate to be supported by an outstanding group of volunteers. I also look forward to attending future SAVE events for many years to come. I hope I have served you well, it was my pleasure.

The SAVE Honors & Awards Committee has issued a call for nominations in the following categories:

• Projects, Programs, and Processes
• Individual Achievement and Service
• Chapter Accomplishments
• College of Fellows

The Committee encourages SAVE members to submit nominations that clearly show the benefits of the Value Methodology (VM), not only to the specific topic but to SAVE and its members.

The submission deadline for SAVE honors and awards nominations is June 16, 2025.

Each nomination must have a sponsor; self-nominations will not be accepted. The nomination forms and SAVE H&A Program Recognition Manual are available on the Honors & Awards webpage of the SAVE website.

This year’s SAVE honors and awards will be presented during the 2025 Value Summit being held September 15-16, 2025 in New Delhi, India.

We look forward to receiving your nominations!

• Content: Questions are included for clarity and relevance that aligns with the VM Guide and Core Competencies.
• Format: Questions are structured to meet the latest guidelines and provide a consistent look and feel.
• Scoring: A minimum score of 75% must be achieved to pass the CVS exam.

We recommend candidates thoroughly study the VM Guide, Core Competencies, and VMF1 and VMF2 training material prior to taking the CVS exam.

Candidates whose CVS application has been approved can register for the CVS exam by contacting the SAVE business office at certification@value-eng.org. Candidates wanting to retake the CVS exam can contact the SAVE business office at certification@value-eng.org to request an exam retake code.

Work on the new CVS Part 2 exam (live facilitation) continues and is anticipated to be implemented in the second quarter of 2025. Be sure to review the Certification Program Manual for additional information.

In addition, the SAVE Standards of Conduct have been updated. Each candidate will be required to review and accept these Standards when submitting VMA and CVS applications and renewals.

We invite you to explore the new Certification section of the SAVE website. All certification-related documents and forms are available under Certification Resources at www.value-eng.org/CertificationProgramDocuments.

SAVE will be sending updates and reminder emails, in addition to Value World articles, to keep everyone apprised of what’s happening.

• A report of the MVF's activities and events
• An election of directors by the MVF members (donors)
• Questions and answers about MVF future activities

Prior to this meeting, at 10:00 am EDT, the MVF will conduct a virtual forum featuring discussions about the Value Methodology education in colleges and universities and the MVF Education Outreach program.

Nominations for MVF director will be accepted until June 1, 2025. Nominations should be sent to info@valuefoundation.org and include a brief professional resume/Curriculum Vita (CV) and motivation to serve on the MVF board of directors.

The inauguration ceremony was held on April 16, 2025 and presided by the chief guests, Mr. Amit Kumar (Vice President & Business Unit Head SEIPL, Mysuru and INVEST National President) and Ms. Anita Lukose (Associate Vice President & Secretary SZC, CEO, Atina Systems, Bangalore). The keynote speaker Dr. Marc Pauwels (Value Analysis/Value Engineering Consultant, Kehl & Partner, Germany) joined the session online.

Dr. H. Ramakrishna (Registrar Sapthagiri NPS University) delivered the presidential address and encouraged students to continue research and publish papers in reputed journals. Mr. Kumar oriented the students on the functions and activities of INVEST and recommended they participate in the upcoming 2025 Value Summit to be held in New Delhi, India September 15-16, 2025.

In her presentation, Ms. Anita Lukose oriented the participants on identifying the right functions for various products using a measurable noun and an active verb. She then elaborated on the importance of knowing the function of each product and demonstrated examples.

Dr. Marc Pauwels discussed the challenges of cost transparency and why companies struggle with their costs. He elaborated on various factors like cost accounting, differentiated surcharge calculation, real cost distribution, and scenario for production planning. After providing examples, Dr. Pauwels concluded that transparency in cost and the thorough understanding of them during development and design are critical success factors for companies.

Over 200 papers were presented at the conference by students, research scholars, and faculties from reputed engineering colleges and universities.