Region 3 Director-Elect Report
7 October 2004

1.      Chapter Rejuvenation

Chapter rejuvenation has been proceeding at a heartening pace, with
seven of eight chapters in Atlanta under revitalized leadership and
the remaining one (EM) scheduled to be reenergized before year-end.

Both of the identified sick chapters in Orlando have new leadership,
with a new chair being sought for a third (UFFC).

Richmond has a meeting scheduled to select a new chair for PE31.
  
Alabama has only ten members for the EM chapter, but has reported
activity in 2004.

Orlando is working to establish a EM chapter.

2.      Section Support


One of the sessions at the Region 3 meeting in Atlanta is devoted to
section support.  Among the questions to be addressed is: How can the
Region help the sections in their mission of service to the membership? 
A counter question is: How can the sections aid the Region in its
mission of representing them to IEEE Regional Activities?  Bilateral
communications is key in answering both.

One of the steps being pursued on behalf of the sections is the
development of a section membership brochure, that can be used at local
job fairs, technical conferences, responding to potential member
inquiries, and aiding in explaining the section and its role to the
media.   The brochure can also be a key "leave-behind" for visits to
industry employers of section members in the local area. While the
brochure will be general in its description of IEEE membership benefits,
it will include a back panel that can be personalized with an adhesive
label describing the local section and its URL and other contact
information.

Sections also should have printed a supply of IEEE business cards that
contain geographic information, the section URL for its Web site, and a
contact phone number that can be called for further information about
section and chapter activities.  If the section has a mailing address,
that also should be listed.

3.      Encouragement of Students to Prepare for Science-Engineering
        Careers


There are at least nine ways in which capable K-12 students can be
encouraged to pursue careers in science or engineering by sections:

         a. Section volunteers assisting in lab demonstrations and as
            judges for science fairs for secondary schools.
         b. Sections supporting in-service training for teachers,
            through industry liaison to set up orientation meetings
            and tours of local businesses where technology is
            essential, e.g., power utilities, telecommunication
            centers, biotech research facilities, local facilities
            using process controls (e.g., water treatment facilities,
            bakeries), etc.
        c. Life and other retired members participating in the RE-SEED
           program are trained to perform key experiments and
           demonstrations in the classroom.  See
           https://www.ieee.org/organizations/rab/scs/prg/outreach.html
        d. Engineers' Week activities (see above)
        e. IEE (sic) Faraday Lectures aimed at high school students.
           The Lecture has a tradition of presenting cutting edge
           technology in exciting and interactive presentations. Eight
           years ago, the IEEE Educational Activities Board began
           facilitating the downlink for students throughout North
           America. The lecture has become a mainstay of introducing
           engineering concepts. The 2002 audience was nearly two
           million people.
        f. Encouragement of visits to museums featuring technology
           exhibits; section flyers and leaflets to be stocked at such
           locations.  Lists of such museums and their facilities can
           be prepared by sections and provided to local secondary
           schools, with section contact information for school
           teachers.
        g. Use of Lego MindStorm robotics kits for projects at the
           middle school level; kits can be funded by sections (~$200
           each) and are reusable) and their use facilitated by
           section volunteers acting as mentors.  See, among others,"
           LEGO Mindstorms for Dummies," by Michael Meadhra, Peter
           J. Stouffer (Paperback ).  This has been described as a
           PACE project, and sections in Michigan and Ohio are active
           in pursuing it.
        h. For sections having a life member chapter, enlist members
           of the chapter as volunteers for outreach to secondary
           school students, to serve as science or computer advisors,
           etc..
        i. Possible 3-year IEEE exhibition at Disney EPCOT, provided
           sufficient corporate financial support can be obtained.


 George F McClure
 g.mcclure