IEEE Fort Worth Section Newsletter

SIGNALS August 1999

Contents

News Digest

• IEEE-USA: IEEE policy activities, News from Washington
• IEEE Global: No dues increase for 2000
  

Thank God for Friday - PCD Pre-conference Tutorials a Launch Pad for Your Career

Source of Information on IEEE-USA Professional Activities

Bits & Pieces - Message from the Chair, Anniversaries, Brainbuster

Thank God for Friday

PDC Pre-conference Tutorials - A Launch Pad for Your Career

They say the time to make friends is before you need them - and so the time to train for the next phase of your career is before you start it. That's why the Pre- Professional Development Conference tutorials offered on Friday, September 3 provide such an opportunity for Career Development.

Three of the Pre-Conference tutorials will be presented by the IEEE Engineering Management Society: Project Mastery; Effective Presentation Skills; and Communication Skills for Dealing with Conflict. Managing your career obviously requires more than just doing your job - and only your job. The ability to see beyond your assignments and think outside the cubicle is essential.

• PROJECT MASTERY: DELIVERING THE BEST, ON TIME AND ON BUDGET - time proven strategies for mastering project work and management.
• EFFECTIVE PRESENTATION SKILLS - from constructing visual aids to using notes to delivering an organized and focused message with enthusiasm and confidence.
• COMMUNICATION SKILLS FOR DEALING WITH THE CHALLENGE OF CONFLICT - dealing productively with conflict using the ART response model and the DNA listener profile tools.

Another tutorial will be presented by the IEEE Professional Communication Society - Sharpening Your Professional Communication Skills: Writing Action-Getting E-mail, Letters, Reports and Proposals. The ability to communicate not only to inform, but to persuade is indispensable to career success. That is why perhaps the most in-demand tutorial offered will be on HTML and Web Page Construction. Sign up early!

• SHARPENING YOUR PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION SKILLS: WRITING ACTION-GETTING EMAIL, LETTERS, REPORTS AND PROPOSALS - techniques to help you start writing more quickly, organize your thoughts more effectively, and produce firm, coherent messages that evoke a positive response from your readers.
• HTML AND WEB PAGE CONSTRUCTION - background and tools necessary to construct and test Web pages.

• PRACTICAL CAREER PLANNING AND JOB SEARCH TECHNIQUES - practical advice and training on planning and maintaining a career, professional networking, exploring the job market and successful negotiating.
• GOLD LEADERS - several aspects of the "soft skills" young engineers need in their careers and an overview of the Professional Development Conference (and, it's free!).

Local IEEE-USA members (or members of other engineering societies) who may have plans for Labor Day weekend can still attend these Pre-Conference tutorials without attending the Conference itself.

Many companies in the Fort Worth region, both large and small, are willing to offer the Conference to their engineers as a way to earn partial Continuing Education Credits. Those with an interest in local rates or with other questions should contact Jean Eason, j.eason@ieee.org, or consult the 1999 IEEE-USA Professional Development Conference Web page at www.ieeeusa.org/PRODEVCON.

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Sources of Information About IEEE-USA Professional Activities (PACE)

Technical skills are not enough to develop an engineering career - social and communications abilities are critical. The following IEEE-USA publications are a must for all IEEE members interested in improving their nontechnical skills.

1. Today's Engineer is a first-of-its-kind magazine dedicated helping technical professionals transcend traditional boundaries, think strategically, and develop a business perspective. This quarterly publication focuses on issues related to enhancing and integrating competencies, career development and the image of the profession. To subscribe, call 1-800-678-4333 and ask for product no. PB331, or see the Web site at www.todaysengineer.org.
2. The Alliance of IEEE Consultant Networks Coordinating Committee (AICNCC) publishes a newsletter for consultants about network activities and consulting in general. It is published three times per year and is also available at www.ieeeusa.org/BUSINESS/info.ieeeusa.consultant.newsletter.txt. To subscribe, contact William Anderson at (202)785-0017, or w.anderson@ieee.org.
3. The IEEE-USA Professional Guideline Series are informative booklets, each covering a single topic germane to the professional practice of engineering. These booklets and brochures are packed with information to help solve career problems as well as to address local, state, or national issues. PACE leaders and others may request a complimentary set from Bernice Evans at 202-785-0017, or b.s.evans@ieee.org. The following are currently available in the Guideline series: Six Threats to Your Retirement Income Security, Professional Engineering Registration, How to Communicate with Members of the Congress, Student Professional Awareness Conferences, and IEEE-USA Government Fellowships.
4. IEEE-USA Committees prepare position papers on technical, career and social issues that are likely to require Congressional action. Current positions are available through the IEEE-USA office at 202-785-0017, or at www.ieeeusa.org/FORUM/POSITIONS/.
5. IEEE-USA also maintains a chronological Policy Log of testimony and policy communications for member review and public awareness. The Policy Log can be accessed directly on the Web at www.ieeeusa.org/FORUM/POLICY. The Log includes links to electronic text for Congressional testimony and other communications. You may also obtain the Policy Log and copies of any listed document by calling Chris Brantley at 202-785-0017, or c.brantley@ieee.org.

6. One publication which members should certainly see is the Career Services brochure, which lists more than a dozen publications, products and services to enhance and advance the careers of technical professionals. Contact Bernice Evans.

7. The 1999 IEEE-USA Salary and Fringe Benefit Survey contains detailed information on the salaries and benefits of electrical, electronics, and computer engineers, along with employment data and demographic occupational characteristics. The Survey is particularly useful when looking for and negotiating a new job. Member price is $74.95; nonmembers $149.95. Product # UH2981.

8. The 1999 Salary Benchmarks: A Personal Workbook is an effective way to evaluate compensation and determine salary expectations for prospective positions. Based on the 1999 Survey's data and analysis, the member price is $14.95; nonmembers $19.95. Product # UH2982.

9. Unemployed IEEE-USA members may obtain a free packet of information on IEEE-USA employment assistant services. This packet includes information on a variety of job-search services and a free copy of the Engineer's Guide to Lifelong Employability. Contact William Anderson.

10. The IEEE-USA Licensure and Registration Committee has created a Speaker's Kit for use by Section and Society Chairs. The kit includes a Power Point presentation on engineering licensing issues. For information contact Marilyn Sumpter at 202-785-0017, ext. 336, or email m.sumpter@ieee.org.

11. The annual National Directory of Electrotechnology and Information Technology Consultants is distributed free. Contact William Anderson.

12. The Engineer's Guide to Lifelong Employability is a practical resource book on locating and obtaining engineering jobs throughout your career.

To order any item: 1-800-678-4333. Career services inquiries: 202-785-0017. Email: ieeeusa@ieee.org. Web: www.ieeeusa.org.

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IEEE-USA News

IEEE POLICY ACTIVITIES -

• IEEE-USA was invited by the Department of Commerce to participate in the pre-publication review of their forthcoming report, The Digital Dilemma: Building Infotech Skills at the Speed of Innovation. The report is a follow-up to their September 1997 report, America's New Deficit, which provided an overview of supply and demand issues related to the information technology workforce.

• In June 22 testimony before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, IEEE-USA Energy Policy Committee Vice Chair Tom Schneider asked Congress to recognize that development of high quality interconnection standards and protocols for distributed electrical generation sources is a process that needs adequate time to develop through participation of the many interested parties. IEEE-USA also endorsed professional- society, consensus standards as the best approach. See testimony on-line at www.ieeeusa.org/FORUM/POLICY/99june22.html

• In a July 13 letter, IEEE-USA forwarded a statement outlining 30 recommended "Principles for Privacy, Confidentiality and Security of Personal Health Information" to Members of Congress. In the statement, IEEE-USA called on Congress to "promote the responsible and beneficial use of personal health information while safeguarding confidentiality and minimizing the potential harm to individuals from the use of their data." See IEEE-USA's letter and statement at: www.ieeeusa.org/forum/POLICY/99july13.html.

• At its June 24, 1999 meeting, the IEEE-USA Board of Directors approved the following new and/or updated IEEE-USA position statements: Alternative Certification of Engineers as Precollege Science and Mathematics Teachers; Fusion Energy Re-search and Development; Precollege Educaation in Mathematics, Science, and Technology in the US; and Y2K Liability. See www.ieeeusa.org/forum/positions/

• Senator Slate Gorton (R-WA) praised a June 9 letter by IEEE's Year 2000 Technical Information Focus Group on Y2K, saying: "A memorandum prepared by the Year 2000 Technical Information Focus Group of the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the "I triple E" provides the best analyses and explanations I have seen of the complexity of Y2K litigation; of why the argument we heard during floor debate that the bill is designed to protect "bad actors" and that it fails to provide sufficient incentives for remediation is generally hollow; and of why it is so important that we do what we can to minimize the economically paralyzing effects of a predictable and utterly overwhelming legal snarl. The memorandum, sent to various members of Congress, is particularly compelling because its authors do not represent businesses that may be sued, but are members of an international non-profit association of engineers and computer scientists. The memoran! ! ! dum is so good that rather than simply have it printed in the Record, I will read it." See www.ieeeusa.org/FORUM/POLICY/99june09.html

Everyone Jumping into the Info-Tech Workforce Debate:

• Some 1.4 million new IT workers will be required to meet the projected demand for core workers in the United States between 1996 and 2006.
• California, Texas and Virginia are projected to have the largest number of core IT workers in 2006 and lead the country in the average annual number of core IT job openings between 1996 and 2006.
• Oregon, Georgia and Colorado top the list of states with the fastest project growth in core IT workers between 1996 and 2006. Oregon is projected to triple its core IT work force, while the core IT work force in Colorado and Georgia is projected to double in size.
• The computer and data processing services (CDPS) industry is projected to employ nearly two out of every five core IT workers (39.3 %) by 2006.

COMMERCE AD CAMPAIGN TO IMPROVE THE "TECHIE" IMAGE - Concurrent with release of the new "Digital Workforce" report, Secretary of Commerce William Daley announced plans to produce and distribute a public service campaign in 2000, with the goal of dispelling the negative "geek" or "nerd" stereotype associated with technical workers and encouraging teens to pursue careers in science, engineering and technology.

NRC BEGINS STUDY ON IT WORKFORCE - On July 6, the National Research Council's Committee to Study Workforce Needs in Information Technology held its first meeting to explore the state of the IT workforce and future needs. The NRC study was mandated by the 1998 legislation that increased the visa caps on temporary entry of skilled foreign workers under the H-1B visa program and is intended to provide guidance to Congress on whether to renew the cap increase when it expires in 2002. The report to Congress is due in October 2000. In remarks to the Committee, IEEE-USA representative Ron Hira said that the study should attempt to answer at least four fundamental questions (see www.ieeeusa.org/forum/policy/99july06.html):

• How responsive are IT labor markets to imbalances in supply and demand created by continuing increases in the pace, intensity and pervasiveness of technological change in a knowledge-based global economy?
• What factors impede the recruitment, retraining and retention of mid-career and older professionals by IT employers?
• What are the primary obstacles to increased participation by traditionally underrepresented groups (including women, ethnic minorities, the handicapped and economically disadvantaged) in the IT workforce?
• What is the appropriate role of government (and other stakeholders) in helping to make IT labor markets function more effectively?

Other News from Washington

CONGRESS HOLDS HIGH-TECH SUMMIT - Congress' Joint Economic Committee held three days of hearings highlighting the importance of technology to the economy. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan kicked-off with Summit, noting that the US economy "is displaying a remarkable run of economic growth that appears to have its roots in ongoing advances in technology." Microsoft's Bill Gates, IBM's Louis Gertsner, Intel's Craig Barrett, Sun's Scott McNealy and CEOs of other major US technology firms testified against Internet regulation and for relaxing federal encryption standards, increasing basic research funding and permanently extending the research and experimentation tax credit. Participants also discussed education and immigration. See jec.senate.gov/techsummit/.

FEDERAL STUDY FINDS NO CANCER - POWER LINE LINK - On June 15, the National Institute of Environment Health released a final report on their investigations into possible health effects related to electric and magnetic fields from power lines and electrical transmission. Their conclusion: "Extra low frequency electromagnetic field (ELF-EMF) exposure cannot be recognized as entirely safe because of weak scientific evidence that exposure may pose a leukemia hazard. In our opinion, this finding is insufficient to warrant aggressive regulatory concern." NIEHS Director Kenneth Olden added that since we "cannot completely discount the epidemiological findings...and because virtually everyone in the United States uses electricity and therefore is routinely exposed to EMF, efforts to encourage reductions in exposure should continue. For example, industry should continue efforts to alter large transmission lines to reduce their fields and localities sho! ! ! uld enforce electrical codes to avoid wiring errors that can produce higher fields." See www.niehs.nih.gov/emfrapid/html/EMF_DIR_RPT/Report_18f.htm

NIST-SPONSORED STUDY TO EXAMINE ISSUES RELATED TO ELECTRIC UTILITY DEREGULATION - The National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) has commissioned the Research Triangle Institute to study technology trends in the generation, transmission and distribution sectors and assess related measurement and standards needs. The results will be presented at a NIST-sponsored national conference on "New Challenges for Measurements and Standards in a Deregulated Electric Power Industry" which will be held in December. See www.nist.gov/public_affairs/confpage/991206.htm.

STUDY REPORTS US INDUSTRY LACKS R&D INVESTMENT INTENSITY TO MAINTAIN WORLD LEADERSHIP - A study by the National Institute of Standards and Technology's Strategic Planning and Economic Analysis Group reports that only seven percent of US industries have the necessary R&D intensity, measured by R&D-to-sales ratios, to maintain world class innovation. See www.nist.gov/director/prog-ofc/report99-2.pdf.

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IEEE Global News

FINANCIAL ADVANTAGE PROGRAM SEEKS MEMBER FEEDBACK - IEEE Financial Advantage has implemented an online survey program to gain feedback from members about current or prospective programs. The first survey queries members on their needs for and interests in a callback service that could reduce costs of international calls. Members are invited to fill out the form at www.ieee.org/fap/survey.html.

NO DUES INCREASE FOR 2000 - The IEEE Board of Directors voted at its June meeting to keep IEEE dues at current levels for the next year. The Board also agreed to eliminate the reference requirement for applications for elevation from Associate to Member grade. References are now mandatory only for admission or elevation to Senior Member grade, and faculty endorsements remain a requirement for student members.

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Bits & Pieces

Message from the Chairman

A new season is beginning for IEEE Ft Worth Section: new officers are assuming their roles, new society meetings are forming up, and changes in the Section continue.

I want to thank Alan for the dedication he has provided over the last year, and look forward to following his lead and continuing to guide the Section to even greater plateaus.

As Alan said in the last Signals, the Section is changing some operational functions, most notably is the Section operating year. Effective January 1, 2000, we will operate on a calendar year, conforming to IEEE-USA guidelines. This allows for a uniform operating year of the Section, Region and IEEE-USA. Also, we are striving to provide you with more technical meetings and expand our annual technical conference - MetroCon.

If you have any ideas, comments, or questions, don't hesitate to contact the Executive Committee at ftwsuggest@ieee.org, we are here to assist you.

If you would like to volunteer in any aspect of Section operations, there is a job for you.

Thanks to the many volunteers who donate their time in performing the Section's business.

- Jeff Carrell

Anniversaries

Recognizing our Section members for their long-time commitment to the profession on the anniversary of their joining IEEE.

25 yrs

• L. M. Jobe, Member
• Ramez A. Elmasri, Member

20 yrs

• Rocky J. Haynes, Member
• Kevin M. H. Jawad, Member
• Thomas F. Monaco, Member
• Samuel Canales, Member
• Harry M. Siegel, Member

Brainbuster

What is the smallest number which, if you move its most significant (left-most) digit all the way to the right to make it the least significant digit, becomes half of the original number? [It's got 18 digits - I would suggest not spending a lot of time on this one. Wait for the answer next month.]

Answer to last month's Brainbuster:
One sample from the can labeled "NUTS AND BOLTS" is enough. If it is a nut, that can is the true nuts can. The can labeled "BOLTS" can't contain bolts, so it must contain nuts and bolts. The remaining can, labeled "NUTS," contains bolts. If the sample is a bolt, the reasoning is similar.

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Jean Eason, Editor