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EDS Region 9 Chapters Meeting Summary
The 2001 IEEE Electron Devices Society Region
9 Chapters Meeting was held on 18 November 2001, in conjunction
with the IEEE EDS Colloquium on Future Trends on Microelectronics
at the Hotel Vista del Sol, Guadalajara, México. The meeting
provided an opportunity for the Chapter Chairs, IEEE staff and
EDS AdCom members to meet each other as well as to have a discussion
forum. This was a great opportunity to share the experiences of
the chapters and at the same time to express the needs and expectations. The 2001 Chapters Meeting was co-hosted by
Hiroshi Iwai, EDS Regions/Chapters Committee Chair and EDS Vice
President for 2002 and Magali Estrada, Chair of the EDS Region
9 Subcommittee for Regions and Chapters (SRC-LA). Other participants
included: Steve Hillenius, EDS President for 2002; William F.
Van Der Vort, EDS Executive Director; Ilesanmi Adesida, Chair
of the EDS Educational Activities Committee; Ayman Shibib, Chair
of the EDS Regions 1-3 & 7 Subcommittee for Regions and Chapters
(SRC-NAE); and Tracy Hawkins, Manager of the IEEE Section/Chapter
Support Department. Representatives from 5 of the 6 EDS Region
9 chapters attended the meeting. They were: ED CINVESTAV-Guadalajara
Student Branch; ED CINVESTAV-México Student Branch; ED
México; ED Cuba-Vedado; and CAS/ED/PEL Venezuela. The meeting
was also attended by representatives from two Region 9 chapters
currently in the process of being formed, i.e., ED Argentina and
ED Campinas (South Brazil). Hiroshi Iwai started the meeting with a presentation
concerning the EDS Regional Chapter Coordination Program and its
influence on the Regional Chapters. Then, Magali Estrada and Ayman
Shibib gave presentations regarding the achievements and expectations
of the SRC Plan in Latin America and North America East, respectively.
Afterwards, Ilesanmi Adesida, talked about programs and activities
of the Educational Activities Committee. He reviewed the ED Distinguished
Lecturer Program and emphasized the opportunities it affords EDS
Chapters, specifically mentioning the Colloquium celebrated the
day before. Each Chapter Chair that attended the meeting
presented an activity report of the achievements during the academic
year and their expectations for the future. At the end of each
presentation, experiences and advice were shared in order to improve
the development of activities in the region. Tracy Hawkins presented a report on Section/Chapter
Support from IEEE Regional Activities. Topics such as the new
EDS Membership Fee Subsidy Program, the IEEE subsidies available
to chapters in Latin America, as well as requirements for chapter
formation were also discussed. The representative from Brazil, Jacobus Swartz,
and the Argentina Representative, Enrique Miranda from Argentina,
talked about their efforts and problems in starting new chapters
in the region. Jacobus brought to the meeting the petition with
the required signatures to start a new chapter in South Brazil.
It was mentioned that one of the primary difficulties
in starting a new chapter is the high fee required for IEEE membership.
There was a general agreement at the meeting that if fees are
not reduced, the recruitment of new members in the region is going
to be very difficult. Finally, Hiroshi Iwai moderated an open discussion
forum for all attendees. Each chapter chair was encouraged to
be in contact with their Partners or SRC Chairs/Vice-Chairs to
generate more and new activities. Additionally, the SRC Chair,
in conjunction with the AdCom members will pay special attention
to support EDS Distinguished lecturer visits to the chapters.
Also, it was discussed that there was a need to recruit experienced
lecturers in the region to become part of the EDS DL Program.
Updating the membership of those who meet the requirements in
the chapters will also be encouraged. One of the other items discussed was the holding
of an informal working meeting of all EDS Region 9 chapters during
the 4th International Caracas Conference on Circuit Devices and
Systems (ICCCDS) to be held in Aruba, April 17-21 2002. Héctor
Báez Medina Magali Estrada
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