Why is it so hard to get engineers to stand up and be recognized? Why is it so hard to get engineers to submit nominations for awards? That's right, this is our annual...
WAIT! Don't just turn the page
Stop and think for a minute - doesn't one of your colleagues stand out in your mind for his/her technical expertise, dedication to the profession or civic responsibility? Don't you stand out? Please, take a few minutes to tell us all about it. You and they deserve recognition. (PS - you don't have to be active IEEE volunteer to win.)
The Fort Worth Section is offering an opportunity for its members to nominate deserving individuals in the Section for awards in several categories. This is your chance to recognize those who have contributed service to the community, to engineering/technical careers, and to IEEE. The following awards are offered
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT - Recognizes contribution to the achievements of the IEEE Fort Worth Section and/or engineering progress through engineering efforts. In the 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. The individual be 35 or younger on January 1, 1998 and have been a member of the Section for at least one year. Factors for selection include:
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 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 April 3, 1998.
Section Awards will be presented at the TechCon'98 luncheon, April 17, 1998. For additional information e-mail d.b.collier@ieee.org.
Although the United States' science and technology enterprise has achieved enormous success, it is essentially operating on auto-pilot. The policies that Vannevar Bush outlined in his 1945 report entitled "Science: The Endless Frontier," still, to a large extent, guide the research enterprise. The context in which science and technology presently operate, however, has changed remarkably since publication of "The Endless Frontier." At the end of World War II, public support for funding of science was seen as critical in ensuring our nation's defense; the end of the Cold War has brought with it a vacuum in terms of a national imperative to justify research funding. Furthermore, the continuing increase in the cost of federal entitlements has caused decreases in federal research and development spending. The federal government cannot fund every worthwhile scientific project; thus a policy for determining priorities is essential.
The changes are not limited to funding. Today, for example, the link between basic and applied research seems neither as clear nor as unidirectional as was once thought. Some large-scale scientific projects require more international participation. U.S. students are turning their backs on Ph.D. programs, seemingly viewing them as the training grounds for professions only some of them can enter. Our country's citizens are alarmingly scientifically illiterate in an era when the economy is increasingly driven by technology-based industries. In addition, as was pointed out in a recent editorial (Science 276:1175), much of the scientific community remains unversed in political realities. These new times require us to reformulate our national science policy. I have been given that charge by House Speaker Newt Gingrich and House Science Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner, who have also asked me to undertake a review of science and math education. Both will be bipartisan projects conducted within the auspices of the Science Committee, with recommendations stimulating a "national debate in Congress on science policy," according to Chairman Sensenbrenner.
It is important that such a policy be concise so it does not die of its own weight, as some previous attempts have. It must be comprehensive enough to encompass government, universities, and industry, and their relationships to science, technology, and engineering, and to each other. Finally, it must be coherent in that the parts must fit together; it must be a usable guide for Congress. To succeed, it is crucial that the policy be approved by the House, the Senate, and, ideally, the White House.
George Brown, the ranking minority member of the House Science Committee, summed up the present situation by saying, "We don't have a science policy; we have a budget policy." It is time to wipe the slate clean and decide on a future-based vision of where science can, and should, take the nation. Gingrich, in a recent speech to a group of scientists, urged us not to take the approach of working around the margins of our existing system when he said "Give me a mission which will mobilize a nation...then make it my problem to go out and figure out how to find the money for it."
Thus, I ask each of you, "What are the most important intellectual challenges rising over the scientific horizon in the next half century? What will be the biggest problems facing our nation and our planet in the future, and how can science and technology help overcome or avoid them? What should our scientific and technological enterprise strive to be 10, 20, or 50 years from now? And what changes do we need to make in our present system in order to get there?"
I do not ask these questions rhetorically. In October I heard from a number of leaders in science about where we need to go from here. Last month I met with a group of scientists in the early stages of their careers to obtain their perspective. And this spring, the Science Committee intends to hold hearings addressing these questions. I seek your input, too. You can contribute-as individuals, scientific societies or institutions-via the policy study's Web site at www.house.gov/science/science_policy_study.htm, which will be periodically updated with our progress and with specific requests for your contributions. Science has changed since 1945, and so has the world. It is time to address these changes and chart our course correspondingly.
Vernon J. Ehlers
Republican Congressman from Michigan and Vice Chairman of the Science Committee. Editorial for Science magazine
WATCH FOR THESE UPCOMING EVENTS: Mark your calendars for these two special events in Spring 1998 (and watch for additional information in Signals):
SECTION OFFICER NOMINATIONS - The Section Nominations Committee is soliciting nominations for elected officer positions: Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer. Those interested in nominating or running should contact Jim Painter, j.painter@ieee.org. Nominations should be submitted by March 20 and include information on the candidate's qualifications for the position.
DID YOU EVER WONDER...
When's the last time you saw a Van de Graaff generator? [Well, that's too long!] The answer to all of these questions can be found at the Regional Science Fair. The Fort Worth Section is looking for volunteers to judge exhibits at the Science Fair on March 27. Take an afternoon off and come see the amazing technological innovations of the next generation of engineers and scientists. Contact Diane Collier, d.b.collier@ieee.org if you are interested in participating.
IEEE-USA SPEAKS ON WORKFORCE ISSUES - IEEE-USA President-Elect Paul Kostek and representatives of IEEE-USA's Workforce Committee attended the National Information Technology (IT) Workforce Convocation held January 12-13, 1998 in Berkeley, CA. Kostek was a plenary speaker on workforce issues. The convocation was organized by industry groups with Department of Commerce Support to examine various aspects of the claimed IT worker shortage.
AND ON ELECTRIC UTILITY DEREGULATION - On January 30, IEEE-USA Energy Policy Committee chair Robert Thomas and Thomas Schneider of the Electric Power Research Institute briefed congressional staffers on underlying technical issues in electricity deregulation and the implications for continued reliability of the electric power supply.
TECHNICAL AND BUSINESS CONSULTANTS SOUGHT TO WORK WITH RESEARCH-DISADVANTAGED STATES - The American Association for the Advancement of Science is recruiting consultants with experience in building successful research programs, S&T planning at the state level, promoting university-industry collaboration and related areas to take short paid assignments working with "historically disadvantaged" institutions in nineteen target states. Visit the AAAS webpage at www.aaas.org/spp/dspp/rcp/webform.htm for more information.
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED TO HELP PROMOTE THE AMERICAN INNOVATORS PROTECTION ACT - IEEE-USA's Intellectual Property Committee is asking for Member help in promoting the draft legislation which would create a new form of intellectual property protection to address the needs of innovators and the rapidly changing markets. See Action Alert at www.ieee.org/usab/DOCUMENTS/FORUM/ISSUES/97alert3.html.
JOB LISTING SERVICE NOW SEARCHABLE! - IEEE-USA has totally revamped it's award-winning Job Listing Service, www.ieee.org/usab/EMPLOYMENT/jobs.html, so that you can now search through the database of job listings by technical specialty or location. No more downloading and digging through large text files to look for positions of interest. With our new search engine, you can also narrow your search to just International and Entry-Level positions. Employers can also submit job listings electronically through an on-line form, www.ieee.org/usab/EMPLOYMENT/listform.html.
TIPS ON ELECTRONIC RESUMES - IEEE-USA has collected Web resources to help you create an effective resumes. See their employment services pages at www.ieee.org/usab/EMPLOYMENT/resume.html.
PROMOTING TECHNOLOGY LITERACY - IEEE-USA and
the IEEE Educational Activities Board
are cosponsoring a national "Technology Literacy Counts!"
workshop on Oct. 9-11 in Baltimore, MD. Targeted at an audience
of about 150 invited engineers and educators, the workshop hopes
to open communication lines between the education and engineering
communities in order to enhance technological literacy among K-12
students. For more information, contact Ann Hartfiel at 202-785-0017,
a.hartfiel@ieee.org.
On June 2 & 3, 1998, IEEE-USA will be staging a symposium entitled: "Space Technologies for Disaster Mitigation and Global Health" at George Washington University, Marvin Center, 800 21st Street, N.W., Washington, DC.
The objectives of this symposium are: To investigate the applicability and role of space technologies to disaster mitigation and global health advancement; to examine the government's role and policies affecting the useful application of these technologies; and to explore the private sector market opportunities these applications present. A key feature of this symposium will be demonstrations of particular technologies, products and applications that support conference goals and breakout session challenges. Commercial companies and other organizations are invited to stage demonstrations of technologies that would, or could, be used in support of disaster mitigation and global health.
For example, the use of high-resolution data gathered by classified Remote Sensing Satellites could be used to generate photographic images of a disaster scene to aid emergency management teams. Multi-modal image data processing could be used to indicate other areas of concern such as disease or drought. Broadband Satellite communications could support studio quality video conferencing for telemedicine. Other examples may include wearable computing technology to aid with language translation, video surveillance or monitoring the vital signs of a patient; or wearable global positioning technology (GPS) to trace the area of a disaster or pinpoint the position of a patient needing assistance.
For additional information contact John Salter at 703-435-3982,
johnsalter@erols.com
or Deborah Rudolph at 202-785-0017, d.rudolph@ieee.org
or see the symposium web site: www.ieeeusa.org/usab/CONFERENCES/techpol98.html.
At the outset of the 105th Congress, Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich, requested that the House Science Committee conduct a review of our national science policy and develop a new long-range science and technology policy that is concise, comprehensive, and coherent. Said Gingrich, "The United States has been operating under a model developed by Vannevar Bush in his 1945 report to the President entitled Science: The Endless Frontier. It continues to operate under that model with little change...With the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the de facto end of the Cold War, the Vannevar Bush approach is no longer valid...The needs of our military mission today are far different, and the competition we are engaged in now are less military and largely economic. Science today is an international enterprise, and we must assume a leadership role in guiding international science policy."
Science Committee Vice Chairman Vern Ehlers has been asked to lead this effort, and in the coming months will be holding a series of hearings, forums, roundtables, and meetings to gather input for the study. The Committee is also using the web to interactively solicit contributions from people and organizations who are not able to attend in person. Visit the Science Policy Study's website, www.house.gov/science/science_policy_study.htm for instructions on how to submit your comments. (See related editorial)
1997 MEMBERSHIP GOAL SURPASSED - Total IEEE membership as of 31 Dec. 1997 was 319,724, an increase of 8,180 members, or 2.63%, over December 1996. US membership now represents 68.5% of the total IEEE membership. Region 7 (IEEE Canada) had the fastest student membership growth with a 26.1% increase. Region 10 (Asia and Pacific) had the largest actual and percent growth among higher-grade members during 1997 with 1,702 higher-grade members, or 6.1%. Region 8 (Europe, Middle East and Africa) had the largest regional overall growth of 2,691, or 7.8%. Other notable successes in 1997 included the implementation of an on-line membership application and IEEE staff achievements. The electronic on-line membership application, introduced in mid-November, resulted in 1,052 applications in eight weeks. (The application is posted at www.ieee.org/join.html.) The IEEE operations staff surpassed past application processing metrics in 1997 that resulted in faster and more accurate service.
NO DUES INCREASE FOR '99 - While final audited financial statements for the IEEE will not be available until May, the preliminary, unaudited results indicate a strong financial performance in 1997. In light of this performance, the Board voted to maintain dues for higher-grade members and students at their current levels for 1999.
MENTORNET SEEKS ON-LINE MENTORS - MentorNet, the national electronic industrial mentoring network for women in engineering and science, seeks "e-mentors." Male and female professionals in industry engaged in scientific and technical work will be paired with undergraduate and graduate women studying science, math, and engineering in college and at the graduate level via e-mail. Basic requirements include a commitment to mentor at least through the end of the academic year (May 1998), and 2-4 e-mail exchanges per month with the student. Introductory and training information and on-going program communications are provided to assist mentors and students in creating an effective mentoring relationship. For more information and on-line applications to apply to serve as a mentor, please access the MentorNet web site at www-engr.sjsu.edu/~mentornt.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE IEEE CELEBRATES THE TRANSISTOR - A special January issue of the Proceedings of the IEEE commemorates the 50th anniversary of the invention of the transistor. The issue's theme is "The Invention, the Revolution and the Future!" and it features articles by many individuals who had firsthand experience in the transistor's development and success, including Gordon E. Moore, co-founder of Intel Corp and Fairchild Semiconductor Corp, and Ian M. Ross, president emeritus, Bell Laboratories. Also highlighted is the 100th anniversary of the solid-state diode detectors featuring the original seminal paper on the topic by Sir J.C. Bose, originally published in the Jan 1897 issue of the Proceedings of the Royal Society. Bose's invention of the "iron-mercury-iron contact with a telephone detector" received Marconi's first transatlantic wireless signal on 12 Dec 1901. Copies of the January issue can be obtained through IEEE Customer Service at customer.service@ieee.org.
Recognizing our Section members for their long-time commitment to the profession on the anniversary of their joining IEEE.
35 yrs
Answer to last month's Brainbuster:
Jean Eason, Editor