The First Saudi Engineering Forum was held from May 24 and 25 at the King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. The Forum was a Kingdom-wide top-drawer event. Many notable experts spoke to an audience of over 700 professors, deans, university administrators, and leaders in Saudi industry. The focus of the Forum was the future needs and directions for engineering in the year 2020.

To face the future challenge of new technological and social development in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the universities recognize the need for closer interaction with local industries and the community in order to strengthen further their positions as the leading institution for quality education and research in engineering. To this effect, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) advocates the idea of organizing an Engineering Forum to address the important issues related to:

• An engaging and participatory involvement of local industries in shaping engineering education.
• Direction of a Research and Development program at the universities to serve the needs of industries and the community.
• A stronger interaction between universities and local professional societies for the betterment of the engineering profession.

The first forum will be organized by KFUPM as a two-day event. Thereafter the forum will be organized every two years to form on a chosen theme.

• To achieve a smoother flow of relevant information among the universities, industries, and professional societies.
• To develop structured training policies and programs that benefit students, academicians and professional engineers.
• To strengthen the role of professional societies in enhancing practice and standards, and their services to the community.

The Chapter's members crafted a robust set of goals which include:

• rotate the venue to make it more convenient for members to come to at least one general meeting,
• stimulate interests in engineering, perhaps we can make presentations at local high school; promoting continue education for local education professionals may be another goal
• hold workshops on educational methods
• invite speakers to speak on pedagogical issues surrounding classrooms today
• address the methodologies used in the higher education
• hold panel discussions on our technology curriculum; and that we may work on the gender divide issue in technology programs
• create a website that has links or weblogs for teaching hints
• hold a conference
• professional development activities to account for differences in industrial members and academic members, different needs. A workshop or a brainstorming session for technology ideas may be appropriate. For the academics, tips on writing grant proposals may be useful.
• for teaching professionals, organizing a new educator workshop to act as a support group for exchanging teaching tips or best practices. The workshop may be enhanced by a web based forum.
• for students, we have discussed about setting up a local database for technology/engineering programs available in the NW region, and provide access to local high schools and community colleges. Perhaps, IEEE can sponsor a regional technology day to entertain local students.
• a joint function with the women engineering society,
• more discussions with other EdSo members in future meetings

Professor Saliah-Hassane, the EdSoc Chapter Chair in the IEEE-Montreal Section, recently conducted several workshops in Beja, Tunisia. The purpose of these workshops was to train the trainers in the area of Online Education Research. The participants (as shown in the photos) are educators from the Instituts Superieurs de Technologie (Tunisia Institute of Technology Network). This workshop was organized and directed by Mr. Mohamed Mhamdi, Director of Beja Institute of Technology.

This relationship and the workshop were a result of contact between EdSoc leader, Professor Andreas Pester from FH Karnten in Villach, Austria and Professor Yevgeniya Sulema of the Special-Purpose Computer Systems Department of National Technical University of Ukraine, Kyiv Polytechnic Institute. This relationship has also spawned an official cooperation contract between FH Karnten and the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute (KPI).

During the workshop a group of highly motivated students, both undergraduate and postgraduate, received an introduction into state of the art microelectronics technology and had the opportunity to conduct practical work in Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) design. The theoretical knowledge of students is excellent, but chances for doing practical work at the university are very rare due to financial limitations. The workshop, which was conducted in English language, will hopefully also help to motivate students to joining an international master program at FH Kärnten.

In the left photo: Manfred Ley (left) and Professor Yevgeniya Sulema (right); the right photo, some of the participants in the workshop.

This is the 8th edition of the International Symposium on Computers in Education that is held alternately in Spain and Portugal. This event already has a recognized trajectory and a well earned prestige. It is a reference forum and a meeting point for research groups, groups of development, users and Institutions.

Is there an Education Society chapter in your IEEE Section? There are 56 chapters that encompass some 88 Section. To view a complete listing of all chapters go to: ewh.ieee.org/soc/es/chapter-list.html. Chapters are the life-blood of any IEEE society, they can be the life-blood of a group of engineers in any part of the world, they can be the life-blood for any IEEE Education Society member who has a desire to meet other colleagues, to improve their content-area expertise, to become a world renowned expert in their field! All these things are possible through an Education Society chapter. A desire, or an inherent ability, to be (become) a leader is all that's needed.

You can start today. See if there is a chapter in your area, if there is contact the chapter chair and attend a meeting. If there is no chapter in your IEEE Section, then contact me (Rob Reilly, reilly@media.mit.edu) and I will assist you to start a chapter.

The IEEE defines a chapter as a:

technical subunit of one or more IEEE sections. Society chapters are your local link to the valuable resources available from the IEEE and its 39 technical societies. Chapter activities may include guest speakers, workshops, and seminars as well as social functions. Chapters provide society members with valuable opportunities to network at a local level - enabling both personal and professional growth.

educational methods, educational technology, instructional materials, history of science and technology, and educational and professional development programs within Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, and allied disciplines.

Typically chapter meetings are of a technical nature; but, many chapters also host additional events such as workshops and educational seminars that also tend to be technical in-nature.

However the IEEE's view of a 'chapter' as primarily focusing on technical meetings/programs is somewhat narrow. Today the membership is a much more diverse group with much more diverse needs. The function of a chapter must adjust to the changing face of the IEEE.

It is very reasonable for a chapter to facilitate/formalize, support, or enhance collegial relationships among its members, and the wider community.

Still again, a chapter may exist to formalize existing (or begin) educational activities and community outreach in Science, Engineering & Technology related fields.

Many chapters do exist for one or all of these very sound reasons. However chapters also exist for other reasons that are equally as important as those noted above!

Chapters develop leaders, which are necessary to maintain the vitality needed in a volunteer organization. These leaders are the people who provide direction and guidance for the Education Society, for their IEEE Section, and for the IEEE itself. In many instances, chapter leaders represent their peers to campus, state and federal government bodies (e.g., campus board of education, board of higher education, the European Union's Education Commission, the national government). For further information the IEEE Chapter Support Web site will be invaluable. This may be the best resource you have available.

El índice de este sexto número del boletín es el siguiente: Noticias del capítulo, Actividades y Comités, Actividades IEEE, Actividades en Educación, Otros grupos de Educación en Ingeniería, Eventos principales, Otros eventos, Empresas y Proyectos, Otras noticias.

For details about the various Education Society awards, go to the EdSoc Awards Web Page.

The deadline for submission: June 30, 2006.