The Fort Worth Section offers an opportunity each year to its members nominate deserving individuals in the section for awards in several categories. Please take time to nominate your colleagues who have contributed service to the community, to engineering/technical careers, and to IEEE. Nominations can be submitted in an informally written email, making it very easy for you to participate in the process.
Last year the following individuals were recognized:
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT - Recognizes contribution to the achievements of the IEEE Fort Worth Section and/or engineering progress through engineering efforts. In your nomination, include all work that has or will result in substantial improvements to the effectiveness of the section and/or engineering.
YOUNG ENGINEER OF THE YEAR - Recognizes an engineer 35 years of age or under for contributions in the leadership of technical society activities, leadership in the community/humanitarian activities, and technical competence through significant engineering achievements. Requirements are that the individual be 35 or younger on January 1, 1999 and at least one year of membership in the Fort Worth Section. Factors for selection include: Local IEEE activities and leadership
ENGINEER OF THE YEAR - Recognizes leadership of technical society activities, leadership in community/humanitarian activities, and technical competence through significant engineering achievements. Requires at least one year of membership in the Fort Worth Section. The candidate should exemplify life long commitment to his/her profession and community. Factors for selection include:
OUTSTANDING SERVICE - Recognizes outstanding contributions to a Fort Worth Section committee or chapter. Candidate must be an IEEE member.
PROFESSIONALISM AWARD - Recognizes activities that uplift the public image of engineering. Requirements are include four years of membership in the Fort Worth Section. The engineer must have made outstanding contributions in the leadership of the community, humanitarian activities and/or technical society activities. Factors to be considered include:
Send your nominations to d.b.collier@ieee.org or Diane Bowen Collier, 4406 Oak Knoll Ct., Arlington, TX. 76016, or FAX 214-812-6820. Provide the individual's name, address, and phone number; the suggested award; and a description of the individual's service and/or accomplishments. Nominations should be received by March 26, 1999. Section Awards will be presented at the Metrocon '99 luncheon, April 22, 1999.
How do you get to the top of corporate America? According to a survey of business leaders who began their careers as engineers, a good start might just be the right toy. And while Furby, video games and remote-controlled anythings may have been the hottest presents under the tree this holiday season, parents looking to encourage a future captain of industry might do well to consider plain old Tinker Toys.
The informal survey, conducted by the National Engineers Week Committee, asked engineers who currently serve as corporate executives in a variety of large companies, what toys sparked their love of engineering and, in turn, led to their leadership positions.
Glen A. Barton, vice chairman of Caterpillar and the likely successor to chairman and CEO Don Fites when he retires next year: "I loved Tinker Toys." He had a knack for taking things apart, too, particularly his bicycle. He also enjoyed taking apart the washing machine and using the gas motor to power new designs, such as carts and wagons. But, at age five his initial big toy was a farm tractor. Appropriately enough for the man chosen to head one of the world's largest manufacturers of farm equipment, he got the tractor, started it up and drove it out to help his grandfather pick blackberries.
Dennis Dick, corporate vice president at Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company and general manager of its chemical division: "The Gilbert chemistry set developed a strong interest in science and technology. That interest was the major factor in my decision to pursue a career in chemical engineering." He also recalls spending hours playing with an Erector Set.
Alan Painter, director of corporate affairs at Allied Signal: he, too, was inspired to engineering by an Erector Set, as well as Lincoln Logs and, again, a chemistry set, the toy most commonly named by executives.
Philippe Lemaitre, corporate vice president and chief technology officer of AMP: "I was actually very fond of my chemistry set. After I had done all the experiments, I went into the design, building and launching of rockets with the end result of clearly putting my whole family's life in danger and on the verge of burning down our house!"
Ralph Peterson, president and CEO of CH2M HILL Companies: says his chemistry set made for some pretty close calls. "In no time I had set up a laboratory in the attic, which was strictly off limits to unauthorized personal, i.e., siblings, but became my hangout for the next four or five years. In retrospect, it is an absolute miracle that I never burned the house down or blew off the roof. That attic laboratory was most surely not OSHA compliant."
For several executives, it was not so much a single toy or game that stimulated their imaginations but, rather, the joy they received by simply taking things apart.
Wayne Allen, chairman and chief executive of Phillips Petroleum; "I was always interested in how things worked, so I frequently would take toys and machines apart just to know mechanically how they worked, whether it was a bike, go-cart, or car. This led me to conclude that I must be a prospect to become a mechanical engineer - which I am."
Paul Allaire, CEO of Xerox: says family farm equipment was the start of his interest in engineering. He adds that a pivotal moment in his childhood came around age 11, when he used parts from a lawn mower and old scooter to create his own mobile vehicle.
James Johnson, President and CEO of Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation: his father taught him the fun of 'taking things apart and putting them back together.' "Although my dad only had a sixth-grade education, he had a remarkable understanding of the physical relationship of parts and machines. I still enjoy this hobby to this day."
Earnest Deavenport, chairman and CEO of Eastman Chemical Company: "During all of my childhood I was constantly surrounded by and worked with my dad in his automotive repair shop. I enjoyed the challenge of learning the mechanics of automobiles and watching my father, who was a skilled mechanic."
Nick Donofrio, senior vice president for technology and manufacturing at IBM: "Toys or games were not the things that kindled my fire for engineering. It was actually my extended family's willingness to involve me in what they were doing and answer the million 'whys' I would ask about everything. I had a great support structure at home with the patience and willingness to feed my limitless curiosity about the world and how it works. To me, that support was far more valuable than a toy or a game."
SARAH ANDREWS writes a series featuring Em Hansen, introduced in Tensleep as the sole woman working on an oil-drilling rig in the Wyoming badlands. When a geologist and a well-worker fall prey to fatal accidents, Em sets off in search of the killer. Her adventures continue in A Fall in Denver and Mother Nature.
JAMES BRADBERRY is an architect, as is his protagonist Professor Jamie Ramsgill. In The Seventh Sacrament, the great architects of the world gather in Italy for a design competition, but someone is killing off the competitors one by one. Professor Ramsgill goes looking for the culprit. Publishers Weekly called this "...a taut, intricate tale."
SIMON BRETT takes a more whimsical look at the relationship between construction and murder in Mrs. Pargeter's Plot. Mrs. Pargeter decides to use some of her inheritance from her late husband's crooked ventures to build a country home. When a corpse appears in the wine cellar of the new home, Mrs. Pargeter must identify the murderer to keep her foreman from being framed, no pun intended.
SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE weighs in with his story The Engineers Thumb. An engineer shows up on Holmes doorstep with his thumb torn out of his hand by some sort of mechanical press. It's one of the few adventures in which Holmes fails to catch the culprits.
KEN FOLLET's Pillars of the Earth is an epic story about the plight of a master builder as he tries to construct a cathedral in the 12th century. This book, which was published to rave reviews, details the origin of stone masons.
In DICK FRANCIS' Decider, Lee Morris, a young architect, engineer, and builder becomes involved with the deadly infighting among members of the clan that own a private racecourse. The book addresses the subjects of design, renovation, and preservation of historic buildings, in addition to murder.
MARY BOWEN HALL writes a series about a female housewrecker (not to be confused with homewrecker!) As the owner and operator of A-1 Salvage, Emma Chizzit tracks killers in books titled Emma Chizzit and the Queen Anne Killer, Emma Chizzit and the Sacramento Stalker, Emma Chizzit and the Napa Nemesis, and Emma Chizzit and the Mother Lode Marauder.
MARGARET MARON's recurring character, North Carolina judge Deborah Knott, in Southern Discomfort must search for the killer of her own niece, an electrician found battered and half-naked in an abandoned house.
SJ ROZAN, another real-life architect turned mystery author, looks at high-rise building in her novel No Colder Place. Her two series detectives go undercover at a construction site to determine why the Crowell company is losing supplies and equipment at an alarming rate. Then a missing construction worker is discovered dead.
AILEEN SCHUMACHER, a registered professional engineer and owner of a consulting engineering firm, introduced engineer Tory Travers in Engineered for Murder. While inspecting a fast track stadium project, a quality control technician is murdered and Tory becomes a suspect, according to the detective working the case.
KEITH SNYDER's protagonist in Show Control is Jason Keltner, a disillusioned musician marking time while he tries to recover from his divorce. A fellow musician dies when her laser show is set to lethal levels and cuts her in half on stage. Jason is compelled to investigate when no one else seems to suspect murder.
LES STANDIFORD writes a popular series about Miami building contractor John Deal, who runs a company appropriately named Deal Co. Deal has to cope with mayhem and murders surrounding the acquisition of a site for a major league baseball franchise in Done Deal, which was called "...a page turner of the first water" by Kirkus. Standiford's protagonist continues to battle the bad guys in subsequent books: Deal to Die for, Raw Deal, and Deal on the Ice.
MARILYN WALLACE explores the darker side of death by electricity in Current Danger. Wallace's protagonist, Claudia Miller, is an independent building contractor working in Manhattan. The relatives of people who worked with Claudia on a specific renovation project years earlier start dying in ways connected with electricity, and Claudia must unmask the murderer when her father and young step brother are attacked.
Last, but not least, VALERIE WOLZIEN has both a series and a stand alone book dealing with construction. Josie Pigeon is the head of Island Contracting, an all-woman construction crew, in Shore to Die, Permit for Murder and Remodeled to Death where Susan Henshaw is having her home remodeled when the pipes in the bathroom burst. The only person having a worse day is the building inspector, who has just been murdered.
STUDENT TECHNICAL PAPER CONTEST - The Fort Worth Section annually sponsors graduate and undergraduate student paper contests designed to encourage students to develop writing and presentation skills. The contests are open IEEE Student Members from UTA, UNT and TCU. Last year's undergraduate winner was Kimberly Johnson from the University of Texas at Arlington. Her paper was titled Packet Video Communications: the Future of ATM went on to place in the Area contest and from there advanced to the Region 5 contest.
Papers should be technical in content, but can relate to a hobby or interest. Undergraduate entries will be judged on paper content and oral presentation. Graduate papers will be judged on the written portion alone. Due to time constraints, oral presentation of undergraduate papers maybe limited to top entries from the written judging.
Oral presentations will be held the second week of February 1998 at UTA. Winning undergraduate entries will receive a cash prize and advance to the Area. Winning graduate entries will advance to the Region. Graduate and undergraduate awards will be $100 for First Place, $50 for Second, and $25 for Third and will be presented during the Metrocon luncheon on April 22, 1999. Detail guidelines on format and presentation are available on the IEEE Region 5 website at www.ieee.org/regional/r5. Students may also request copies of the guidelines directly (see below).
Authors should submit five copies of their completed paper to Diane Bowen Collier, 4406 Oak Knoll Ct., Arlington, TX 76016-4512. Deadlines are February 1, 1999 for undergraduate papers and February 15, 1999 for graduate papers. For questions, call 214-812-8471 or email d.b.collier@ieee.org.
Fort Worth Section members who would be interested in judging either the oral or written portions of the Undergraduate or Graduate divisions of the contest should contact Diane (see above). Your participation is greatly appreciated.
SPOT-LIGHTING AGE DISCRIMINATION - IEEE-USA will be looking closely in 1999 at the problem of age discrimination and its impact on engineers and information technology professionals. The first by-product of this focus is the creation of a new employment resource page on the topic of Age Discrimination and the High-Tech Workforce. At www.ieeeusa.org/usab/EMPLOYMENT/age.html.
1999 CONGRESSIONAL VISITS DAY - IEEE US members are invited to join hundreds of other engineers and scientists in the 1999 Congressional Visits Day, which is scheduled for April 21-22, 1999 in Washington, DC. CVD is a two-day annual event that brings scientists, engineers, researchers, educators, and technology executives to Washington to raise visibility and support for science, engineering and technology issues. For more information on CVD or how you can participate, see www.ieeeusa.org/usab/FORUM/cvd99.html or contact Deborah Rudolph at 202-785-0017, d.rudolph@ieee.org.
POLL FINDS AMERICANS GENERALLY NOT WORRIED ABOUT POSSIBLE "YEAR 2000" COMPUTER GLITCHES - According to a nation-wide Gallup poll sponsored by the National Science Foundation and USA Today, a majority of Americans think computer glitches related to the Year-2000 issue will cause only minor problems for themselves or in general. Nearly half surveyed said they would avoid traveling on airplanes on or around January 1, 2000, and nearly two-thirds said they would seek extra confirmation of bank account, retirement fund or other financial records, according to a recent Gallup poll. See www.nsf.gov/od/lpa/events/fow/y2k/pr_sp9805.htm.
SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING STATE PROFILES - An electronic version of the database titled Science and Engineering State Profiles: 1998, is available at www.nsf.gov/sbe/srs/nsf99311/htmstart.htm. The Division of Science Resources Studies (SRS) of the National Science Foundation (NSF) publishes the report, Science and Engineering State Profiles, annually. This year's report, available only in an electronic version, provides state- specific data obtained from numerous surveys of NSF/SRS and other Federal Government agencies.
LEARN AND LIVE - The George Lucas Educational Foundation has developed Learn & Live, a one- hour documentary hosted by Robin Williams that shows innovative schools, teachers, and communities working to improve teaching and learning. It is currently running on PBS and also available in video form. The videos showcase schools across America, and encourage viewers to take action to improve public education. A coordinating book (available at glef.org/learnlive/index.html) includes essays from leading educators, narratives from classroom teachers, and annotated descriptions of hundreds of print and electronic resources.
NEW INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS COUNCIL - The IEEE has transformed an ad hoc committee on Intelligent Transportation Systems into a permanent entity to advance and coordinate scientific, literary and educational work in the ITS field. The new Council will continue its series of conferences focused on cutting-edge electronics technologies and their applications for intelligent transportation systems. Beginning in March 2000 the Council will publish a quarterly journal, IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems. See www.ewh.ieee.org/tc/its.
EE HISTORY ON-LINE - The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation awarded a grant of $138,000 over two years to the IEEE History Center to establish a Web site for the documentation of the recent history of electrical engineering and computer science. This project will build upon the pilot work already underwritten by the Sloan Foundation to locate, create, preserve, and expand the access to historical documentation of recent engineering and technology. The project will focus on two specific historical events "Automatic Speech Synthesis and Recognition" and "Digital Audio Recording." The History Center will solicit individuals to submit personal recollections, documents, pointers to collections of documents, as well as comments on materials submitted by others. For information contact Mike Geselowitz, IEEE History Center,732-932-106 or m.geselowitz@ieee.org.
In an article that appeared in last month's Signals, Robert Johnson lamented the limited appearance of engineers on TV and on the big screen. Well Robert, you don't have to lament anymore! If any of you were watching UPN on the night of January 25th, you may have caught the first episode of their new animated series, Dilbert! After years of medical and law shows, isn't it nice to finally see our very own profession on the screen (and electrical engineering at that!) According to Dilbert creator Scott Adams, selecting the voices was 90% of the challenge. A voice requires a mouth however, and this proved to be another challenge: the paper Dilbert does not have any mouth! Like any good engineers however, they managed to solve all this before launch.
I am delighted to announce that Steve Papa from Lockheed Martin has accepted the role of Chairman of the Aerospace and Electronic Systems Society (AESS) Chapter. Steve is currently laying the foundation for a successful chapter and promises some meetings soon. Best of luck Steve.
MetroCon is just around the corner and is shaping up nicely. I hope you will be able to support us this year as we are in the process of building a very strong program. See this month's ad and look out for a flyer next month.
- Alan Triggs
Recognizing our Section members for their long-time commitment to the profession on the anniversary of their joining IEEE.
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Two friends, George and Harry, were born in May, one in 1964 and the other a year later. Each has an antique 12-hour clock. One clock loses 10 seconds an hour and the other gains 10 seconds an hour. On a day in January the two friends set both clocks right at exactly 12 noon. "Do you realize," says George, "that the clocks will drift apart and won't be together again until . . . good grief, your 23rd birthday!" How long will it take for the two clocks to come together again? Which friend is the older, George or Harry?
Answer to last month's Brainbuster:
The oarsman's velocity relative to the water is constant. Since he rowed away from the log upstream for an hour, he rowed downstream for an hour before he returned to it. During those two hours the log moved two km., so its velocity relative to the land was 1 km/hr.
Jean Eason, Editor