PUBLICATION
OF THE NORTH JERSEY SECTION OF THE INSTITUTE OF ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONICS
ENGINEERS
May 2004
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IEEE North Jersey Section
Back Issues
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May 2004
Volume 50, Number 11
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...................... Keith Saracinello
k.saracinello “AT” ieee.org (908) 791-4067
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 “AT” ieee.org or to The
IEEE Newsletter, c/o Keith Saracinello, 25 Messenger Ln, Ringoes, NJ 08551,
(908) 791-4067.
IEEE NJ SECTION HOME PAGE
http://web.njit.edu/~ieeenj/
IEEE NJ SECTION NEWSLETTER HOME PAGE
http://web.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.
Durga Misra
dmisra “AT” njit.edu (973) 596-5739
Vice-Chairman-1.................................... Har
Dayal
har.dayal “AT” baesystems.com
(973) 633-4618
Vice-Chairman-2......................... Bhanu Chivakula
b.chivakula “AT” computer.org
(732) 718-3818
Treasurer........................ Dr. Edward (Ted)
Byrne
flatland “AT” compuserve.com
(973) 822-3219
Secretary................................. Dr.
Sanghoon Shin
s.shin “AT” ieee.org
(973) 492-1207 Ext. 22
Members-at-Large:
Dr. Nirwan Ansari
(nirwan.ansari “AT” njit.edu)
Naz Simonelli
(naz “AT” ieee.org)
Dr. Richard
Snyder (r.snyder “AT” 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 Dr. Sanghoon Shin at
(973) 492-1207 Ext. 22, s.shin “AT” ieee.org.
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IEEE
North Jersey Section Activities
May
2004
May 2 - “NJ
Section Awards Reception” - 3:00 to 6:00 PM at the Birchwood Manor, 111 North
Jefferson Rd, Whippany, NJ. Anne
Giedlinski (973) 377-3175.
May 5 – “NJ Section
Executive Committee Meeting” - 7:00 PM, ITT, 100 Kingsland Rd, Clifton,
NJ. Dr. Sanghoon Shin at (973) 492-1207
Ext. 22 or s.shin “AT” ieee.org.
May 12 – “Carbon Nanotubes” - EDS/C&S and LEOS
Chapters, 7:00PM (buffet at 6:15 PM), NJIT, 202 ECE Center, Newark, NJ. Dr. H. Grebel (973) 596-3538 (grebel “AT”
njit.edu).
May 12 – “The Business
Side of the Engineers’ Career - A Discussion on Contract Engineering & What
You Can Do” - NJ PACE, 6:30 – 9:00 PM, Clifton Memorial Library, 292 Piaget
Ave, Clifton, NJ. Paul Ward (973)
790-1625 (PWard1130 “AT” aol.com) or Richard F. Tax (201) 664-6954 (rtax “AT” bellatlantic.net).
May 12 – “Spring
2004 Packaging Symposium” –
1:00-7:00PM, Lucent Technologies, Bell Laboratories, 600 Mountain Ave, Murray
Hill, NJ. See http://www.imaps.org/chapters/garden.htm
for details. Register before May 7th. Members - $20, non-members $30, unemployed –
free. Contact Sean Adams at sean.adams
“AT” boc.com or (908) 771-1547 for more information.
May 14 – “From Zworykin to Kosovo: How RCA’s WWII Military
Television Development Shaped Modern Warfare” – 7:30PM, David Sarnoff
Library, 201 Washington Road CN 5300, Princeton NJ 08543-5300. See http://www.ieee.org/organizations/history_center/sarnoff.html
for details.
May 19 – “EMC/EMI &
PCB Design Shielding Seminar” - MTT/S/AP-S, 2:00 PM, BAE Systems (Formerly
GEC-Marconi), 164 Totowa Road, Wayne, NJ.
Dr. Edip Niver (973) 596-3542
(NJIT) or Har Dayal (973) 633-4618.
May 20 – “Power Management Control Systems” - NJ
IAS/PES Chapters, 7:00PM, General Electric Atlantic Region Office, 1st Floor,
Maple Plaza 1, 4 Campus Dr, Parsippany, NJ.
Ken Oexle (973) 386-1156.
May 20 – “Collections:
How to Get Paid” - NJ Consultants' Network, 7:30 PM,
Aeroflex/KDI-Integrated Products, 60 S. Jefferson Rd, Whippany, NJ. Robert Walker (973) 728-0344 or www.TechnologyOnTap.org.
May 24 – “Web Services Architecture & Applications”
- NJ Computer Chapter, 7:00 PM (pre-meeting buffet at 6:00 PM), Public Meeting
Room, Morris County Library, 30 E. Hanover Ave, Whippany, NJ. Seth Jakel (973) 731-1902 (sgjakel “AT”
comcast.net) or Vivek Shaiva (908) 221-6125 (vshaiva “AT” computer.org).
Upcoming
Meetings
June 2 – “NJ Section
Executive Committee Meeting” - 7:00 PM, ITT, 100 Kingsland Rd, Clifton,
NJ. Dr. Sanghoon Shin at (973) 492-1207
Ext. 22 or s.shin “AT” ieee.org.
June 9 – “The ABCs of Financial Statements for Non-Accountants”
- NJ GOLD, PACE, Membership Development & SAC, 6:00-9:00 PM, Clifton
Memorial Library, 292 Piaget Ave, Clifton, NJ.
Richard F. Tax (201) 664-6954 (rtax “AT” bellatlantic.net).
June 24 – “Kick Start Your Marketing Effort with
Powerful Branding” - NJ Consultants' Network, 7:30 PM,
Aeroflex/KDI-Integrated Products, 60 S. Jefferson Rd, Whippany, NJ. Robert Walker (973) 728-0344 or www.TechnologyOnTap.org.
July 14 – “PACE General Meeting” - NJ PACE, 6:30 – 9:00
PM, Clifton Memorial Library, 292 Piaget Ave, Clifton, NJ. Paul Ward (973) 790-1625 (PWard1130 “AT”
aol.com) or Richard F. Tax (201)
664-6954 (rtax “AT” bellatlantic.net).
Oct. 19&20 – “IEEE
Lightwave Technologies in Instrumentation & Measurement Conference” – IEEE
METSAC, IBM Palisades Executive Conference Center in Palisades, NY. http://www.ewh.ieee.org/r1/metsac/LTWV.htm.
Oct. 22 – “National
Electric Code” - NJ IAS/PES Chapters, time and location TBD.
Members and
Non-Members Welcome
PLEASE
POST
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NJ Computer Chapter:
Web Services Architecture & Applications
On Monday, May 24th,
2004, the IEEE North Jersey Section Computer Chapter will host a presentation
titled “Web Services Architecture & Applications” by Dr. Jen-Yao Chung.
About the Talk
Web services based
application is the focal point for the next generation e-business, business
process integration including B2B business automation, e.g. procurement,
sourcing, logistics, finance and new business process (e.g. joint product
design, automatic inventory replenishment.)
Web service application is built upon the well known XML document
exchange and open standards. We will
discuss the architecture and industrial applications. We will cover the following topics: Introduction to E-business technology and business framework,
electronic business application, solution and implementation, and Web services
architecture, business process integration and related XML standards.
About the
Speaker
Dr. Jen-Yao Chung received
his BS degree in computer science and information engineering from the National
Taiwan University along with MS and PhD degrees in computer science from the
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Since June 1989, he has been with the IBM T. J. Watson Research Center
as a research staff member. He
currently is the senior manager of the electronic commerce and supply chain
department, and program director for the IBM Institute for Advanced Commerce Technology
office.
He has been involved in
research, development, and customer engagements in electronic commerce,
electronic marketplaces, and web application systems. Dr. Chung's current research is in e-marketplaces, XML and EDI, integrating
existing business with the World Wide Web, and business process integration and
management. Dr. Chung has participated
in several industrial standards and workgroup including: open buying on internet (OBI, openbuy.org),
XML/EDI (http://xmledi-group.org),
CommerceNet eCo framework (http://eco.commerce.net),
RosettaNet.org and ebXML.org and TPC-D.
Dr. Chung has extensive experience in e-business innovations and engaged
in several customer projects using web services technology to implement
business integrations. Dr. Chung is the
co-chair for IEEE task force on e-Commerce (TFEC). He served as the program co-chair for IEEE Conference on
e-Commerce (CEC'03). He served as the
program co-chairs for IEEE Workshop on e-Commerce and Web-based Information
Systems, WECWIS'02, steering committee chairs for WECWIS'01 and WECWIS'00, and
general co-chair for WECWIS'99. He has
authored or coauthored over 80 technical papers in published journals or
conference proceedings. He was awarded
an IEEE Outstanding Paper award in 1995, two IBM Outstanding Technical
Achievement awards, in 1994 and 2000, an IBM Outstanding Contribution award in
1997, and three IBM Research Division awards, in 1990, 1996, and 2001. He received SCI2002 best paper award and
ICEC2002 BEST paper nomination. He is a
senior member of the IEEE and a member
of the ACM.
All Welcome!
You do not have to be a
member of the IEEE to attend. Bring
your friends and network during the free pre-meeting buffet starting at 6:00 PM
Time: 7:00 PM, Monday, May 24,
2004. Pre-meeting buffet starting at
6:00 PM.
Place: Public Meeting Room, Morris
County Library, 30 E. Hanover Ave, Whippany, NJ, (973) 285-6930.
Information: Seth Jakel (973) 731-1902, (sgjakel “AT”
comcast.net) or Vivek Shaiva (908) 229-6125 (vshaiva “AT” computer.org).
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NJ Consultants' Network:
Collections: How to Get Paid
On
Thursday, May 20, 2004, the IEEE Consultants’ Network of Northern NJ (CNNNJ)
will host a talk on “Collections: How
to Get Paid” The speaker will be Brian R.
Quentzel, Esq.
About the Talk
Mr. Brian R. Quentzel, Esq.,
will tell us what we can do to ensure we get paid for the work done for our
clients. He will also describe the
collection services that he offers as an attorney.
This is a repeat visit to the
CNNNJ for Mr. Quentzel.
A question and answer period
will follow the talk.
About the
Speaker
Mr. Quentzel is a local
attorney specializing in helping people recover money owed to them. In business for over ten years, he offers
his services on a contingency basis, so that no fee is due unless and until he
collects the money owed from his client’s debtor. When he is successful, Mr. Quentzel charges a fee of one-third
the amount recovered.
Mr. Quenzel can be reached at
(201) 816-1901. His office is located
at 46 West Clinton Avenue, Tenafly, NJ 07670.
All Welcome!
Everyone welcome. No registration needed.
Free admission.
About the
Consultants’ Network
Founded in 1992, the IEEE
Consultants Network of Northern NJ encourages and promotes the use of
independent technical consultants by business and industry.
Time: 7:30 PM, Thursday, May 20, 2004.
Place: Aeroflex/KDI-Integrated Products, 60 S. Jefferson Rd, Whippany,
NJ. (Entrance at rear of building)
Information: For directions and up-to-date meeting status, call
Robert Walker (973) 728-0344 or visit our website at www.TechnologyOnTap.org. To download a map to KDI, go to: http://www.mcekdi-integrated.com/directions.htm.
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NJ Consultants' Network:
Kick Start Your Marketing Effort with Powerful Branding
On
Thursday, June 24, 2004, the IEEE Consultants’ Network of Northern NJ (CNNNJ)
will host a talk on “Kick Start Your Marketing Effort with Powerful
Branding”. The speaker will be Arlene
Teck.
About the Talk
Arlene Teck, founder and
“chief kicker” of KickButt Branding, creates brand names with striking power,
staying power, and story power. These
“three powers of branding” are necessary, Arlene says, because branding really
is a specialized form of storytelling.
And in today’s marketplace, a truly successful brand must get your
client’s attention, keep his attention, and tell a powerful story.
In this talk you will learn
·
What
makes a brand story powerful
·
What
makes a brand story valid
·
What
kind of brand story you should be telling
·
What
elements you can use to tell your story the best
·
What
you can accomplish with a strong brand
·
What
you can do to make sure your brand is really strong
·
Is
there a secret to branding success?
·
How
to get big-time results when you don’t have big-time bucks
About the
Speaker
Arlene Teck, a consultant for
20 years, has created numerous successful brand names. Previously with a major global branding firm
serving multinational healthcare clients, she now works with entrepreneurs and
small- to mid-sized companies.
Her unique approach to brand
storytelling is based on an identity wardrobe – a set of related elements that
work together to tell the various aspects of your brand story. “It’s not all in the name,” Arlene says.
Arlene’s background is in
cognitive psychology and creative skill development. She claims to be the only person in branding with a one-word
resumé and welcomes questions about branding.
You can reach her at rlene “AT” rcn.com or (973) 625-3250.
All Welcome!
Everyone welcome. No registration needed. Free
admission.
About the
Consultants’ Network
Founded in 1992, the IEEE
Consultants Network of Northern NJ encourages and promotes the use of
independent technical consultants by business and industry.
Time: 7:30 PM, Thursday, June 24, 2004.
Place: Aeroflex/KDI-Integrated Products, 60 S. Jefferson Rd, Whippany,
NJ. (Entrance at rear of building)
Information: For directions and up-to-date meeting status, call
Robert Walker (973) 728-0344 or visit our website at
www.TechnologyOnTap.org. To download a
map to KDI, go to: http://www.mcekdi-integrated.com/directions.htm.
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NJ EDS, C&S & LEOS Chapters:
Carbon Nanotubes
On May 12, 2004, the IEEE NJ
Section Electron Devices, and Circuits and Systems Chapter, Laser and Electro Optics Chapter, together
with the New Jersey Institute of Technology will host a talk on “Carbon Nanotubes.” The speaker
will be Dr. Haim Grebel.
About the Talk
Carbon nanotubes have
stimulated much attention in the last few years due to their extraordinary
electrical, mechanical and chemical properties. These tiny tubes, with
diameters on the order of 1 nanometer, portray extremely high electrical
conductivity values and mechanical strength as good as diamond. Potential
applications span from electronic circuitry, one-electron logic gates, sensor
systems, special purpose coatings and ultra-fast optical switches. In this talk, Dr. Grebel will dwell on
present and future status of carbon nanotubes in the general context of
Nanotechnology.
About the
Speaker
Haim Grebel received his PhD
in Physics in 1985 from the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel. He is currently a Professor of Electrical and
Computer Engineering and a Director of the Imaging Center at NJIT.
All Welcome!
You do not have to be
a member of the IEEE to attend.
Time: 7:00 PM, Wednesday, May 12, 2004. Free buffet will be starting at 6:15 PM.
Place: New Jersey
Institute of Technology (NJIT), Room 202, ECE Center, Newark, NJ. Directions are available
at www.njit.edu.
Information: Dr. H. Grebel (973) 596-3538 (grebel “AT”
njit.edu).
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NJ GOLD, PACE, Membership Development &
SAC:
The ABCs of Financial Statements for Non-Accountants
On June 9, 2004, North Jersey GOLD, PACE,
Membership Development and Student Activities Committee are sponsoring a talk
on “The ABCs of Financial Statements for Non-Accountants”. The speaker will be Isaac Livny.
About the Talk
The hi-tech boom of the late nineties,
followed by the markets collapse and the accounting scandals of the past 3
years has left many with fundamental questions regarding the financial
markets: What is really behind the
numbers when quarterly results are announced?
How does the release of financial news affect the market? How can you really evaluate the market cap
of a corporation, and determine if a security is underpriced or overpriced?
This presentation will try to highlight the
principles of fundamental financial analysis of a security based on its
financial statements. We will briefly
highlight the ABC's of financial accounting.
We will look at sample financial statements and interpret what they
really tell us about the company. We
will then take a look at how analysts would interpret that data. We will then show how we can calculate the
actual value of a security based on publicly available information about the
company and its relative risk, the economy and the financial markets.
The presentation is intended for people who
have no accounting background but need to make decisions related to a
particular business such as an investment, an employment opportunity, or simply
understand better the financials of your own company. The examples we use are coming mostly from the technology sector.
Time:
6:00-9:00 PM, Wednesday, June 9, 2004. There will be a free buffet dinner.
Place: Clifton Memorial
Library, 292 Piaget Ave, Clifton, NJ, (973) 772-5500.
Information: Richard F. Tax (201) 664-6954 (rtax “AT”
bellatlantic.net).
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NJ MTT/AP Chapter:
EMC/EMI & PCB Design Shielding Seminar
On May 19th, 2004,
the IEEE NJ MTT/S/AP-S Chapter together with the New Jersey Institute of
Technology will host a free seminar on "EMC/EMI & PCB Design
Shielding." The speaker will be
Thomas Moyer.
About the
Seminar
The basic international
standards used by the EMC community to specify transient immunity performance
of electronic devices used in household, commercial and industrial are covered
in this seminar. To insure that EMC
immunity is maintained, the electronic designers must consider the pc board
design, board layout, grounding, component placement and lead dress in their
electronic products.
This seminar will review the
conducted transient immunity requirements of the European Union so that EMC
requirements can best be met. As a
result, the attendees will be able to determine if they are prepared to meet
current and future transient immunity requirements from a testing standpoint.
About the
Speaker
Thomas C. Moyer graduated
from Drexel University in Philadelphia with a BSEE degree. He has worked for Ford Motor Company
designing automotive electronics systems and for Ametek U.S. Gauge designing
aircraft engine instruments. More
recently, he has been a sales engineer and regional sales manager. He joined Amplifier Research in 1996 as a
product line marketing specialist.
All Welcome!
You do not have to be a
member of the IEEE to attend.
Time: 2:00 PM, Wednesday, May 19,
2004. A free buffet will be offered
prior to the meeting.
Place: BAE Systems (Formerly
GEC-Marconi), 164 Totowa Road, Wayne, NJ.
Information: Dr. Edip
Niver (973) 596-3542 (NJIT) or Har
Dayal (973) 633-4618.
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NJ Section PACE:
The Business Side of the Engineers’ Career
A Discussion on Contract Engineering & What You Can Do
On Wednesday,
May 12, 2004 the North Jersey Section PACE Committee will meet to discuss
contract engineering and the job market.
The subject will focus on an article “Contract Engineering Offers
Alternate Employment Path” published Electronic Design, May 1997.
About the Talk
Contrary to conventional
wisdom and engineer shortage propaganda, members of the engineering community
are facing extreme fluctuations in the demand for their skills and
services. Unfortunately, this means
that a lifetime career in engineering will be a thing of the past unless,
decisive and collective action is taken by members of the engineering community
to correct the situation.
To begin we will briefly look
at a history of engineering manpower demand fluctuations over a 30 year period
to familiarize you with the employment situation as shown by the Deutsch, Shea
and Evans - High Tech Recruiting Index.
Our primary focus will be on
Contract Engineering as an alternate employment path with a detailed program to
familiarize you with contract engineering.
You will learn more from this presentation than many contract engineers
know with years of experience.
We will start with an
introduction to Contract Engineering covering definitions, pay structure and
the client, contract house, engineer relationship. You will learn who and what contract engineers are, where they
work, when, why, how they get assignments, and whether this is for you. We will cover, sources of contract firms and
other related information through to getting an assignment and the contract.
About the
Speaker
Richard F. Tax is a Senior
Life member of IEEE and has served as a contract engineer for more than 35
years. He is currently vice-president
of the American Engineering Association Inc., a professional organization dedicated
to the enhancement of the engineering profession and US engineering
capabilities.
He has provided design, and
development support for ABEX Research Center, Allied Signal, Bendix, Conrac
Corp, Dalto Electronics, DHS Systems, Energetics Science, GE Transportation
Division, Holobeam Inc., IREX Medical Systems, ITT Avionics, Lockheed
Electronics, Lockheed Martin, National Medical Care, Singer Kearfott,
Technicon, and United Defense. He has
designed systems for NASA, FAA, US Army, Navy and the Air Force. Richard is a graduate of Fairleigh Dickinson
University with a BSEE degree.
Mr. Tax received the North
Jersey Section Award for Leadership in 1979, the Region I United States
Activities Board (USAB) Award for Leadership in 1981, the IEEE Centennial Medal
in 1984, the USAB Citation of Honor in 1984, the USAB Professional Achievement
Award in 1988, and the Region I Award for Outstanding Contributions to
Engineering Professionalism in 1989. He
has been active in the Section since 1974.
Richard has served the section as Member at Large, Vice Chairman, and
member of the Education Committee. He
was Chairman of the North Jersey Section from 1985 through 1986. In 1987 - 1988 he chaired the 20,000 member
Metropolitan Sections Activities Council (METSAC).
He continuously stresses the
importance of membership participation at the Section level.
All Welcome!
Guests, members and students
from other professional societies and engineering disciplines are always
welcome. We now include members from
IEEE, ASME and AEA. For more
information about these groups see:
http://www.aea.org
http://www.asme.org/sections/northjersey
http://www.ieeeusa.org
http://web.njit.edu/~ieeenj/
Time: 6:30 to 9:00 PM, Wednesday, May
12, 2004. Free refreshments will
be served.
Place: Clifton Memorial Library, 292 Piaget Ave, Clifton, NJ, (973)
772-5500.
Information: Paul Ward, (973) 790-1625 (PWard1130 “AT” aol.com),
Richard F. Tax, (201) 664-6954 (
rtax “AT” AEA.org).
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NJ PES/IAS Chapters:
Power Management Control Systems
The
Power Engineering and Industrial Applications Chapters will present a program
on Power Management Control Systems for industrial and commercial markets on
Thursday evening May 20th.
The speaker will be Randy Bouwense.
About the Talk
Lower energy costs,
improved equipment performance, harmonic reduction, increased operating
efficiencies, improved working environment and less equipment down time are
some of the advantages associated with power management control systems.
Randy will
discuss the hardware, software, monitoring devices and output intelligence
generated by these Power Management Control Systems.
About the
Speaker
Randy Bouwense is
currently employed by General Electric Industrial Systems as Power Management
Systems Engineer. He has over 14 years
of experience with various assignments in Automation and Systems Integration.
Advance registration is
required three
days prior to the meeting. To RSVP,
call Ken Oexle at (973) 386-1156.
Time: 7:00 PM, Thursday, May 20, 2004. A pre-meeting buffet will be available at
6:30 PM.
Place: General Electric
Atlantic Region Office, 1st Floor, Maple Plaza 1, 4 Campus Dr,
Parsippany, NJ. Directions: Route 287 to Route 10 West to Dryden Drive.
Left on Campus Drive to building # 4.
Information/Map: Ken Oexle (973) 386-1156.
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The
IEEE History Center Lecture Series:
From
Zworykin to Kosovo: How RCA’s WWII
Military Television Development Shaped Modern Warfare
http://www.ieee.org/organizations/history_center/sarnoff.html
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Interested in Being a North Jersey
Section Officer?
The North Jersey Section Nominating
Committee will soon begin to consider candidates for section officers for next
year. We request that those who are
interested in a section office submit their name, office sought, and
qualifications to the Committee Chair, Dr. Fred Chichester, by mail at
56 Gordonhurst Ave
Upper Montclair, NJ 07043
For further information, you may
telephone him at (973) 744-7340 between the hours of 8:00 AM and 9:00 PM.
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Conference Rooms Needed!
The
North Jersey
Section (Education Committee) is looking for conference room facilities to hold
their training seminars. The seminars
are being held on one weeknight from 6:30 PM to 9:00 PM. In lieu of providing the conference facility
for free, the organization can get free registration up to three members in the
course/seminar. Please contact Bhanu
Chivakula, Education Committee Chairman, at b.chivakula “AT” computer.org for
suggestions or discussions, if interested.
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Offshoring Contributes to High
Unemployment, Poses Serious Challenges
Washington (18 March 2004) -
Offshoring contributes to high unemployment levels among U.S. technologists,
and poses a serious, long-term challenge to the nation's technological and
innovative leadership, its economic vitality and its military and homeland
security, according to a position recently adopted by IEEE-USA.
"We must develop a
coordinated national strategy to maintain U.S. technological leadership and
promote job growth in the United States," IEEE-USA President John Steadman
said. "But it's going to be
difficult to remain technologically competitive, if we continue offshoring the
jobs of our innovators at rates currently projected."
Offshoring, or the
outsourcing of high-wage jobs from the United States to lower-wage countries,
is contributing to unprecedented unemployment rates for U.S. electrical and
electronics engineers (EEs) and other information technology
professionals. The EE joblessness rate
rose by 47.6 percent in 2003 to a record 6.2 percent, compared to 4.2 percent
in 2002. The 2003 unemployment rate for
computer scientists and systems analysts reached an all-time high of 5.2
percent.
IEEE-USA also believes that
new U.S. workforce assistance programs are needed to help displaced high-tech
workers. One immediate step is to
expand the Federal Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program's eligibility
guidelines to cover all workers whose jobs move offshore. TAA extends unemployment compensation for up
to two years, and offers job training, job search and health insurance
assistance to eligible U.S. workers who lose their jobs because of foreign
competition.
The entire position
statement, developed by the IEEE-USA Career & Workforce Policy Committee,
is available at
http://www.ieeeusa.org/forum/POSITIONS/offshoring.html
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U.S. Lifts Restrictions on IEEE
Publishing
The U.S. Department of the Treasury's
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)
ruled on 2 April that the IEEE's publishing process is exempt from OFAC
regulations and licensing requirements for scholarly papers submitted by
authors from Cuba, Iran, Libya, and Sudan.
For more information about the ruling, visit
http://www.ieee.org/portal/index.jsp?pageID=corp_level1&path=newsinfo&file=OFACruling.xml&xsl=generic.xsl
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Membership Drop Not Complete Surprise
At first glance, a 5.6 percent drop in IEEE
membership might seem alarming.
However, the 21 000 decline to 361 138 members in 2003 was not totally
unexpected. Find out why at
http://www.theinstitute.ieee.org/portal/index.jsp?pageID=institute_level1_article&TheCat=2201&article=tionline/legacy/inst2004/apr04/4w.featuremembership.xml
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Marketplace
of Ideas: Should Technical Colleges Train New Grads?
Increasingly industry is expecting
potential employees to come out of engineering schools fully trained, requiring
no additional training on the job. Is
job training the responsibility of the university or of industry? Weigh in at institute@ieee.org.
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Contract Engineering: A Viable
Career Alternative
While many engineers still
seek permanent, full-time employment, others are turning to contract
engineering as an alternative. What is
contract engineering; what are the benefits; and what are the challenges?
http://www.todaysengineer.org/mar04/contract.asp
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Getting to Know Your Customers
If you are just beginning
your engineering career, you might be wise to concentrate on getting to know
your customers -- really know them.
You'll realize your long-term development goals sooner and gain
experience, as you earn your customers' confidence and respect.
http://www.todaysengineer.org/mar04/customers.asp
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IEEE-USA Pulse: Engineering
Equality as Important as Job Availability
While much talk surrounds the
question of whether or not an engineering shortage actually exisits, many
believe an issue just as worthy of debate and action is engineering
equality. What is IEEE-USA doing to
encourage young women, minorities, people with disabilities and the disadvantaged
to consider engineering a viable career choice?
http://www.todaysengineer.org/mar04/equality.asp
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Reader Poll:
The Virtual Workforce: A Concept
Unfulfilled?
Some years ago, industry
leaders predicted that computers would help create a paperless office
environment. Others forecast that most
workers would work in virtual offices as members of virtual teams. The reality has been quite different.
http://www.todaysengineer.org/mar04/poll.asp
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Immigrant Worker Debate Remains a
Hot Topic
The refueled debate over
immigration has some thinking that corporations may press Congress for another
H-1B increase. With the H-1B visa limit
now set at 65,000, concern is growing about companies that seek talent from
other countries misusing the L-1 visa program to make up for the smaller H-1B
pool. Professional organizations and
interest groups are divided on the visa caps issue.
http://www.todaysengineer.org/mar04/debate.asp
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Blackout 101 Forum Educates Hill Staff
The 2003 "Northeast
Blackout" left more than 50 million people in the dark last August. What happened? The IEEE Power Engineering
Society and IEEE-USA sponsored a "Blackout 101" forum for members of
Congress and their staffs, to educate them on how North America's electric
power system works; what can go wrong; and how we can prevent future
large-scale power blackouts.
http://www.todaysengineer.org/mar04/blackout101.asp
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Business 101 for Engineering Entrepreneurs
Do you think you have what it
takes to run your own engineering business? Several IEEE members took time out
from their busy schedules to tell us of their adventures in setting up their
own businesses. Read more at
http://www.theinstitute.ieee.org/portal/index.jsp?pageID=institute_level1_article&TheCat=2201&article=tionline/legacy/inst2004/mar04/3w.featureentre.xml
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Standards Hidden in Plain Sight
They're responsible for the
way your computer works, as well as for your television set, wireless router,
video games, and many other electronic products. All depend on IEEE technical standards, which establish guidelines
for how things are designed and the specifications they should meet. Find out more at
http://www.theinstitute.ieee.org/portal/index.jsp?pageID=institute_level1_article&TheCat=2201&article=tionline/legacy/inst2004/mar04/3w.standards.xml
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Last Updated
4/26/04