The IEEE Newsletter  
A Publication of the IEEE North Jersey Section

  June 2001 Newsletter

 

Newsletter Information

June 2001
Volume 47, Number 12
Publication No: USPS 580-500

"The IEEE Newsletter" (North Jersey Section), is published monthly except June and July by The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. Headquarters: 3 Park Avenue, 17th Floor, New York, NY 10016-5997. $1.00 per member per year (included in annual dues) for each member of the North Jersey Section. Periodicals-class postage paid at New York, NY and at additional mailing offices. Postmaster send address changes to: "The IEEE Newsletter", 445 Hoes Lane, P.O. Box 1331, Piscataway, NJ 08855-1331. USPS 580-500 (ISSN 1076-3732).

NEWSLETTER STAFF
Editor: Keith Saracinello
Business Manager: Theresa Saracinello

Deadline for receipt of material is the 1st of the month preceding the month of publication. All communications concerning editorial and business matters, including advertising, should be sent to the Business Manager via e-mail at k.saracinello@ieee.org or to The IEEE Newsletter, c/o Keith Saracinello, 25 Messenger Ln, Ringoes, NJ 08551, (732) 465-4067.

IEEE NJ SECTION HOME PAGE http://www-ec.njit.edu/~ieeenj/
IEEE NJ SECTION NEWSLETTER HOME PAGE http://www-ec.njit.edu/~ieeenj/NEWSLETTER.html

REPORT ADDRESS CHANGES TO:
IEEE Service Center, 445 Hoes Lane, P.O. Box 1331, Piscataway, NJ 08855-1331, (732) 981-0060. It is not necessary to inform the North Jersey Section when you change your mailing address. "The IEEE Newsletter" and other section mailings use a list provided by IEEE's national headquarters.

SECTION OFFICERS
Chairman: Dr. Nirwan Ansari, nirwan.ansari@njit.edu, (973) 596-3670
Vice-Chairman-1: Rodney Cole, rgcole@ieee.org, (973) 299-9022 Ext. 2257 Vice-Chairman-2: Milton Korn, miltonkorn@aol.com, (973) 365-2757
Treasurer: Durga Misra, dmisra@njit.edu, (973) 596-5739
Secretary: Wayne Owens, wowens@crestron.com, (201) 767-3400, ext. 226

Members-at-Large:
Bhanu Chivakula (b.chivakula@computer.org)
Naz Simonelli (naz@sprynet.com)
Dr. Richard Snyder (r.snyder@ieee.org)

The North Jersey Section Executive Committee usually meets the first Wednesday (except holidays and December) of each month at 7:00 PM. Meetings are open to all members. For information on meeting agenda contact Secretary Wayne Owens at (201) 767-3400, ext. 226, or wowens@crestron.com.

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North Jersey Section Activities
June 2001

June 6 - "NJ Section Executive Committee Meeting" - 7:00 PM, ITT, 100 Kingsland Rd, Clifton, NJ. Wayne Owens at (201) 767-3400 ext. 226 or wowens@crestron.com.

June 21- "Current and Future Trends in Fiber Optic Communications" - MTT/S/AP-S Chapter, 7:00 PM, NJIT, 202 ECE Center, Newark, NJ. Kirit Dixit (201) 400-2313, Willie Schimdt (973) 492-0371 or Dr. Edip Niver (973) 596-3542 (NJIT).

June 28- "The Case of the Disappearing Inventor's Notebook" - NJ Consultants' Network, 7:30 PM, KDI Triangle, 60 S. Jefferson Rd, Whippany, NJ. Robert Walker (973) 728-0344 or www.TechnologyOnTap.org.

Upcoming Meetings

July 11-"NJ Section Executive Committee Meeting" - 7:00 PM, ITT, 100

Kingsland Rd, Clifton, NJ.  Wayne Owens at (201) 767-3400 ext. 226 or

wowens@crestron.com.

 

July 16-"Wide Band Gap Semiconductors and Their Impact on Wireless Communications" - EDS/C&S Chapters, 5:00 PM,

Anadigics, 141 Mount Bethel Road, Warren, NJ.  David J King (908) 668-5000 Ext. 6644

dking@anadigics.com.

 

Oct. 12-"International Conference on Computing and Information Technologies

(ICCIT'2001)",  Montclair State University, Upper Montclair, NJ.  For

details see http://www.csam.montclair.edu/~ICCIT2001/ or contact

ICCIT'2001 Secretariat at mailto:iccit2001@pegasus.montclair.edu or (973) 655-4250.

Members and Non-Members Welcome
PLEASE POST

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NJ EDS, C&S Chapters:
Wide Band Gap Semiconductors and Their Impact on Wireless Communications

The North Jersey Section IEEE, EDS and C&S Chapters in conjunction with Anadigics, Inc. is pleased to announce the second lecture in a joint lecture series. The second lecture will be held on July 16, 2001. Dr. Kevin F. Brennan of the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Georgia Tech will present "Wide Band Gap Semiconductors and Their Impact on Wireless Communications".

About the Talk

In this talk, the usage of wide band gap semiconductors for future power amplifiers in wireless telephone systems will be discussed. The wide band gap semiconductors provide several advantages over silicon or GaAs electronics. These are: 1) higher saturation velocity with a concomitant higher frequency of operation, 2) small dielectric constants resulting in reduced capacitance, 3) large band gap yielding a low leakage current and a high breakdown voltage, 4) for some materials a high thermal conductivity.

The basic system requirements, problems faced by future generation systems, and the performance figures of merit of the devices will be reviewed.

Comparison of Si and GaAs devices as well as potential GaN and SiC devices will be made. We will discuss some of the basic differences in the wide band gap materials as compared to silicon and GaAs and show comparisons of similar MESFET devices. A brief discussion of the material and device physics of the wide gap semiconductors will also be presented.

About the Speaker

Dr. Kevin Brennan is the Byer's Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, GA where he has been since 1984. His research interests lie in the general area of semiconductors and microelectronics, with a particular emphasis on the physics and device application of emerging semiconductor materials for future high power, high frequency and photonic detection applications. His research experience includes the design, evaluation and optimization of infrared, optical and ultraviolet photonic detectors and emitters. He is a Senior Member of the IEEE, a member of the American Physical Society and the Optical Society of America.

Professsor Brennan holds a BS in Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, a MS in Physics and PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL. He has published over 130 papers in scientific peer reviewed journals, been granted 5 US patents, and is the author of the book, Physics of Semiconductors with Applications to Optoelectronic Devices, Cambridge Univ. Press, 1999.

All Welcome !

You do not have to be a member of the IEEE to attend. Light Refreshments will be served.

Time: 5:00 PM, Monday, July 16, 2001.
Place: Anadigics, 141 Mount Bethel Road, Warren, NJ. Directions available at http://www.anadigics.com/contact.html
Information: Information: David J King, (908) 668-5000 Ext. 6644, dking@anadigics.com.

Please call Nanci Edden, (908) 668-5000 Ext. 5611 if you plan on attending.

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NJ Consultants' Network:

The Case of the Disappearing Inventor's Notebook

On Thursday, June 28, 2001, the IEEE Consultants' Network of Northern NJ (CNNNJ) will present a talk "The Case of the Disappearing Inventor's Notebook", by Michael Friscia, a partner with the law firm of Wolff & Samson.

About the Topic

An analysis of the function and impact of electronic laboratory notebooks will be presented. Electronic laboratory notebooks have streamlined the data gathering and manipulation aspects of research and development, and have provided inventors with a powerful means for quickly storing and retrieving laboratory data in computer-readable form, while minimizing the required administration support. While such innovations are undoubtedly useful to the scientist and inventor, proper note keeping must still be practiced to ensure that each aspect of the invention is detailed.

Particularly important issues arise in the context of inventors who utilize such electronic means to document aspects of their inventions. Inventors are well advised to document each step of the inventive process, and to have at least one individual witness the inventive concepts as they develop.

Traditionally, this process is achieved by having the witness sign each disclosure after it is written down. Accordingly, difficulties arise in the digital realm as inventors must ensure that the information they record is properly witnessed and signed, while still preserved in computer-readable format. This presentation, therefore, will identify some of the important features and solutions that should be incorporated into electronic lab notebook systems utilized by inventors and scientists alike, so that proper documentation and adequate disclosure are realized.

About the Speaker

Michael Friscia has been practicing in the areas of Patent, Trademark and Copyright Law for over 10 years. He is an adjunct professor at Seton Hall Law School where he teaches courses in Patent Law and Trademark Law. He has extensive experience prosecuting patent applications in the mechanical and electrical arts. He is the Chair of the Intellectual Property Section of the Bergen County Bar Association and serves on the Advisory Board of the Stevens Technology Ventures Business Incubator.

Consultants' Network Member Presentations

The following members of the IEEE Consultants' Network of Northern NJ will be presenting a brief overview of their consulting practices during the second half of the meeting:

Laurence Nagel has 23 years of experience in the integrated circuits industry. He participated in development of SPICE at the University of California. While at Bell Labs, he was involved in development of ADVICE simulation program, designed analog circuits for submicron NMOS and negotiated patent licenses. Recently, at Anadigics, Inc., he worked on simulation of RF and GaAs circuits.

Milton Korn - Comprehensive experience as an engineer, engineering & construction manager, ships officer & marine (mechanical) engineer. Expertise in: Design & application of medium, low voltage power generation, distribution and utilization systems & equipment, protective relaying, load management, motor control. Steam, hot & chilled water generation, distribution, utilization & control. Document imaging, indexing, management & control, production scanning of engineering drawings, manuals and legal documents.

About the Consultants' Network

The IEEE Consultants' Network of Northern NJ was founded in 1992 to encourage and promote the use of independent technical consultants by business and industry.

All Welcome!

You do not have to be a member of the IEEE or of the Consultants' Network to attend

Time:  Time: 7:30 PM, Thursday, June 28, 2001

Place:    KDI Triangle, 60 S. Jefferson Road, Whippany, NJ.

Information:  For directions and up-to-date meeting status, call Robert Walker (973) 728-0344 or visit our website at http://www.technologyontap.org/.

Attendance: Free admission.

 

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IEEE-USA President's Column 5-6/01

NEWS from The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers - United States of America

1828 L Street, N.W., Suite 1202, Washington, D.C. 20036-5104

Contact: Chris McManes Marketing Communications/Public Relations Coordinator Phone: + 1 202 785 0017, ext. 8356 E-Mail: c.mcmanes@ieee.org

Ned R. Sauthoff, 2001 IEEE-USA President
President's Column, May-June 2001

Salaries of U.S. IEEE Members Reach Record Levels

WASHINGTON (8 May 2001) - The IEEE-USA Salary and Fringe Benefit Survey, 2001 Edition will be encouraging reading to U.S. IEEE members - showing substantial gains in the salaries of our members. The number of respondents nearly doubled to more than 9,700, largely because the survey was conducted online for the first time. The increase in the database volume will make the survey the biggest and most accurate of the 15 studies of member compensation that IEEE-USA has conducted. The survey will be released in June.

The 2001 survey will show major gains in the value of professional services in electrical, electronics and computer engineering. The previous survey, conducted in 1999, reported the largest increase ever in the real incomes of U.S. IEEE members when measured in constant dollars. The 2001 edition shows substantial further gains; clearly, employers are placing increasing value on the services of EEs.

The median value of base pay for members working full time in their area of professional competence has risen by 6.5 percent since 1999. Coupled with the gains reported in 1999, our members have seen their purchasing power increase by more than 18 percent over the last four years. These gains are for all members as a group. Most individuals will have done much better because they have also received annual raises reflecting their increased experience.

As of January 2001, the median primary income -- which includes base pay, commissions and bonuses, and any net income from self-employment - of U.S. IEEE members working full time in their primary area of technical competence was $93,100. Two years ago the figure was $82,000. The gains look even better if income from all sources is counted, adding in earnings from second jobs, payments for overtime, pension benefits and the like. This pushes the median incomes of engineers working full time in their specialties up to $99,000. In 2001, compared to $87,200 in 1999. Both gains represent increases of 13.5 percent in absolute (not constant) dollars.

In addition to these types of compensation, more than a third of U.S. IEEE members in the workforce received stock options in 2000. Although the share receiving stock options has increased from 27.5 percent in 1997, the typical estimated worth of the options was much lower, to a median estimated value of $5,000. This is half the size of the figure reported in 1999.

The failure of the dot-com investment craze has affected the option-compensation picture, and fully a third of all those receiving options in 2000 assessed them as worthless by early 2001. At the same time, some members received very large compensation in the form of options, including awards valued at $1 million or more. Hence, the 2001 survey reveals both the risks and the potential rewards of stock options as a component of overall compensation.

IEEE-USA's 2001 salary and fringe benefits survey benefited immensely from a change in data collection. In the past, members were asked to fill out paper questionnaires. This time, they responded to questions on an Internet site.
The shift to online data collection significantly lowered the cost of the survey. And the greater number of respondents means that details not reported in the past will be found this year.

So why should you order a copy of the survey? Simply put, it is the only real source for timely, vital information that you must have to assess your market value as an engineer. It is clearly the definitive salary and reference guide for technical professionals.

In addition to the survey, an online salary calculator will be available for a nominal cost through the IEEE-USA Web site www.ieeeusa.org. This personal salary estimator replaces Salary Benchmarks: A Personal Workbook, and will make it easier than ever to make sure you're getting paid what you're worth.

The IEEE-USA Salary & Fringe Benefit Survey, 2001 Edition, which will be available in June from the IEEE's Service Center in Piscataway, N.J., can be ordered now by IEEE members for the special pre-publication price of US$64.95. The regular member price is US$74.95. This is half off the US$149.95 price for non-IEEE members. To order, call +1 800 678 IEEE (4333) and ask for product number UH-2990.

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