Another report, this one from the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences, recently considered the issue of age bias in the tech sector but ultimately determined there was not enough evidence to draw scientific conclusions. "The committee cannot determine whether illegal age discrimination occurs either more or less in IT than in any other industry," it said in its October report.
According to the IEEE-USA survey, supervisors see problem-solving, communications and teamwork skills as very important and rate engineers age 45 and older as stronger on the first two skills than engineers under age 45. Human resources personnel rank technical knowledge, problem-solving and teamwork highest on the scale of importance and also rated older engineers as stronger problem-solvers and the same as younger engineers when it comes to technical knowledge and teamwork. In two areas that supervisors and HR personnel consider above average in importance - adaptability and ability to keep up with new developments - they rate older engineers as weaker than younger engineers. Many of the supervisors and HR personnel interviewed agree that there is an age at which skills possessed by older engineers differ from those possessed by younger engineers and most believe this occurs before age 45.
The study also returned mixed results in uncovering evidence of age discrimination in the high-tech sector. The 10% of older engineers that reported age discrimination was a smaller percentage than had been expected based on the results of earlier surveys. Shank T. Lakhavani, past-chair and current member of the IEEE-USA Workforce Committee, speculates that the "tight" engineering labor market might be an ameliorating factor in this finding, but also credits the continuing education efforts of individual engineers and forward-thinking HR personnel for declining incidence of age discrimination.
However, if the economy should experience a bumpy slowdown in coming quarters, engineers over age 40 could be in for a disproportionate amount of the turbulence.
Problem is, human resources officials who may not be proficient in technology often make decisions based on whether newer skill sets such as Java or XML appear on a resume - not realizing that for many older workers picking up a new skill is a fairly short-term situation. The strengths older workers need to emphasize are those the study indicated were most valued: communication and problem-solving. By avoiding mistakes that inexperienced engineers may make and which could result in project delays and lost revenues, the experience of the older engineers could effectively cancel out any perceived savings employers are getting by hiring or retaining inexperienced younger engineers.
IEEE-USA released the results of the study in conjunction with its 11th biennial Careers Conference. For an overview, go to Session 5B of the conference program at www.ieeeusa.org/careercon/program.asp.
VOTE, VOTE, VOTE - Voting fever strikes again. Now, it's time for the Section officer election. Ballot appears on p. 3 of the printed newsletter. Please complete and return by 31 December.
CALL FOR STUDENT PAPERS - The Fort Worth Section IEEE is sponsoring the annual Student Technical Paper Contests this spring. The contest will be divided into two categories, Graduate and Undergraduate. Both contests will be judged on the basis of the quality and format of the paper and oral presentation.
The IEEE Student Paper Contest offers the IEEE student member opportunities to exercise and improve both written and verbal communication skills. Throughout their career, an engineer will constantly be called upon to communicate ideas to others. Researching, writing and presenting a paper provides a student with invaluable experience in expressing ideas related to engineering.
The presentation portion of the contest will be held tentatively at an evening Section meeting: February 7, 2001 for Undergraduates, and March 6, 2001 for Graduates. The location will be Nedderman Hall, University of Texas at Arlington. Papers must be submitted by January 25, 2001 for Undergraduates and February 12, 2001 for Graduates. Undergraduate papers will be due and judged earlier than Graduate papers to accommodate due dates for Area and Regional contests. Graduate papers do not advance to another contest.
Recognition of winners is new and improved. Cash awards are $150 for first place, $100 for second, and $50 for third. The winning papers will be published on the Fort Worth Section web site (with permission). Winners will also be offered the opportunity to post a resume on web site with their paper. Winners will also be recognized at the awards program during the Metrocon luncheon to be held in Sept. 2001.
An entrant must be a student at a Fort Worth Section school having an IEEE Student Branch. An entrant or collaborator must be a member of IEEE or must have submitted an application for membership prior to entry. An entrant may collaborate writing a paper with not more than two additional students.
Papers should cover technical, engineering, management, or societal aspects of subjects related to the areas with which the IEEE is concerned, and with which the entrant is familiar, either from courses, hobbies, summer employment, or other similar experience.
Detailed written format requirements are available on request by contacting Diane Bowen Collier, d.b.collier@ieee.org. Papers must be double-spaced on one side only on standard 8 1/2 by 11 inch paper. The main portion of the paper (Introduction through Conclusion, plus Tables and Figures) may not exceed 15 pages. The entire paper may not exceed 24 pages.
For the oral presentation, each contestant will be allotted 15 minutes, including the question/answer period. In the case of co-authors, only one person will be allowed to make the oral presentation. Demonstrations and Hardware displays are strictly forbidden, in any form. Visual aids such as slides, charts and transparencies or view graphs may be used. Motion picture, video tape, or audio tape may not be used. Copies of materials used in the presentation, or from the written paper may not be distributed. An overhead projector will be provided, a slide projector will be made available on request.
Papers maybe submitted in hard copy or electronic format (readable by Microsoft Word or Word Perfect). An electronic copy is required for web publication. It is recommended that both be submitted. Submit papers to Diane Bowen Collier, 4406 Oak Knoll Ct., Arlington, TX 76016, d.b.collier@ieee.org. Diane would like to hear from any students planning to submit papers at their earliest convenience. IEEE members who are interested in participating in the judging should also contact Diane.
A VICTORY FOR IEEE-USA LEGISLATIVE ACTIVITIES AS CONGRESS BOOSTS FEDERAL R&D -House and Senate conferees have agreed to a Fiscal Year (FY) 2001 funding increase in federal R&D for the National Science Foundation, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization and NASA. The double-digit increase in NASA R&D funding for aerospace research and technology is a major victory for IEEE-USA and a group of other engineering and professional organizations that have been working since this summer to educate Congress on the problem of declining aeronautical R&D support in NASA and the Department of Defense, and the need to sustain US leadership in aviation research and technology. For more information about these and other US legislative issues, visit IEEE-USA's Public Policy Forum at www.ieeeusa.org/forum.
CONSULTANTS DATABASE HALF-PRICE OFFER - When potential clients want the best technical consultants, they come to the IEEE. Make sure your services are advertised in the nation's premier searchable database for consultants on the Web. Visits to our database are up 93% in 2000 vs. this time in 1999, meaning just a half-year of exposure in 2000 counts for as much as a full year before! For a limited time, you can get our late-season listing for only $35 - and your information stays on the system until April 2001. Sign up now: Our Web submission form makes it easy! See www.ieeeusa-consultants.org/submissions/.
RESULTS OF THE RECENT IEEE ELECTION (final tally - no recounts required!)
1999 IEEE ANNUAL REPORT ONLINE - The continued growth of the IEEE - as well as its 1999 accomplishments in providing members with important new products and services - are documented in the 1999 Annual Report. It is now available at www.ieee.org/about/review/index.htm.
UPDATED STANDARDS WEBSITE - IEEE Standards recently added new areas to its Web site at www.standards.ieee.org:
IEEE SCORE HIGHEST CITATIONS YET IN 1999 STUDY - The IEEE registered its best journal and magazine citations performance ever in the category of electrical engineering and related technologies, according to the Institute of Scientific Information's newly released 1999 Journal Citation Report.
The study ranked 205 electrical engineering periodicals on the number of times they were cited in scientific literature. The "Proceedings of the IEEE " was the most highly cited IEEE journal, ranking second over all. However, the IEEE had nine of the top 10, 28 of the top 30, and 42 of the top 60 cited journals - its best showing ever.
The IEEE publishes eight of the top 10 publications in telecommunications, seven of the top 10 in computer science hardware and architecture, four of the top 10 in computer science graphics and programming, and two of the top five in computer science theory and methods.
In addition, IEEE scored particularly well in robotics and automatic control, applied physics, artificial intelligence and cybernetics. And, "IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electrical Systems," "IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging," "IEEE/ASME Transactions on Microelectromechanical Systems," and "IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology" ranked first in their individual categories.
Recognizing our Section members for their long-time commitment to the profession on the anniversary of their joining IEEE.
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Jean Eason, Editor