The IEEE Leadership Wire

1 October 2004

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The IEEE LEADERSHIP WIRE is a report for top-level IEEE volunteers about IEEE affairs and organizational information. It is intended specifically for members of the IEEE Board of Directors, key Board committees and the six major operating boards. The newsletter is sent on or around the first of the month.
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CONTENTS:
*AUGUST MEMBERSHIP HIGHLIGHTS
*IEEE TRAVEL TO LAUNCH NEW ONLINE BOOKING TOOL, REVISE FEE STRUCTURE
*IEEE REVAMPS CATALOG & STORE AND LAUNCHES SHOP IEEE
*STUDY SHOWS STUDENTS, TEACHERS VALUE FUTURE CITY COMPETITION
*UCE/SPAM FILTER NOW OFFERS NEW FEATURES
*IN THE NEWS

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**AUGUST MEMBERSHIP HIGHLIGHTS**
IEEE membership reached 343,127 in August, an increase of 0.8 percent compared to August 2003. Specifically, higher grade memberships are down 0.1 percent, student memberships have increased 5.5 percent and society memberships have declined 5.9 percent.

Complete details are available in the Membership Development Report at http://www.ieee.org/organizations/rab/md/mdprogrpt.html.

**IEEE TRAVEL TO LAUNCH NEW ONLINE BOOKING TOOL, REVISE FEE STRUCTURE**
On 20 Oct., IEEE Travel Services will launch a new online booking tool. Improvements over the old system include expanded search options, interactive calendars for easy date selection, and a simplified multi-leg trip booking process. The change in vendors also will provide a cost-savings to the IEEE.

Travelers who have registered profiles with the current online booking tool will receive an email from the new vendor, World Travel Inc., containing access and password information. Profiles will not have to be recreated.

Members who book online will pay a reduced service fee of US$25, compared to the US$35 for those who book with agent assistance. IEEE Travel Services is also now offering a new program designed to further reduce fees. When you and your companion travel on the same itinerary, you will pay just one service fee.

For more information on the companion program, visit http://www.ieeetravelonline.org/. Call Sherry Russ, IEEE Travel, at +1 732 562 3980, with questions.

**IEEE REVAMPS CATALOG & STORE AND LAUNCHES SHOP IEEE**
The IEEE has launched Shop IEEE, formerly known as the IEEE Online Catalog & Store. The new site boasts a new look and feel, as well as a more prominent search feature, improved search capabilities, instant access to purchased PDF standards, simplified navigation and more.

Visit Shop IEEE at http://shop.ieee.org.

**STUDY SHOWS STUDENTS, TEACHERS VALUE FUTURE CITY COMPETITION**
Both students and teachers regard the U.S. National Engineers Week (EWeek) Future City Competition as an enjoyable learning experience, according to a study commissioned by IEEE-USA.

The Future City Competition reaches more than 30,000 seventh- and eighth-grade students in 37 regions of the United States, and is run annually in conjunction with EWeek each February. Pilot programs have been started in Egypt, India, Japan and Sweden.

The competition -- introduced by IEEE-USA with the EWeek committee in 1992-93 -- asks students to create a "future city" by employing critical thinking, teamwork, research and problem-solving skills.

Overall, 82 percent of students and all teachers gave the contest an "A" or "B" on a five-point scale. Students said that participating helped them think creatively and improved their communication skills. In addition, more than half said they planned to study science, technology, engineering or mathematics in high school and college.

For more information on the Future City Competition, visit http://www.futurecity.org/.

**UCE/SPAM FILTER NOW OFFERS NEW FEATURES**
IEEE members with IEEE email aliases can now use the following new features available through the IEEE Unsolicited Commercial Email (UCE) Filtering Service:

an option that combines the tagging and blocking of spam; messages with a low spam score will be tagged, messages with a high spam score will be blocked
the ability to add email addresses you always want blocked to a blacklist, and those you never want blocked to a whitelist

Other enhancements to the filter include:

improved identification technology for more accurate results
an additional layer of anti-virus protection beyond what is already provided via the IEEE Email Alias Service

You can sign up for the IEEE UCE Filtering Service at https://uce.ieee.org/. Members who are already registered may update their profiles to select from among the new options.

**IN THE NEWS**
The IEEE, its members, and its products and services are mentioned frequently in journalists' reports on technology and the engineering profession. Here are just a few recent references.

9 Sept. -- IEEE 802.15 Working Group Chair Bob Heile was cited by THE NEW YORK TIMES (http://www.nytimes.com) in an article describing the two different technologies competing for approval in the IEEE 802.15.3a ultrawideband (UWB) wireless personal network standard. In the story, Heile said each solution had benefits and suggested testing the two approaches in the marketplace to let end users decide. The Working Group Web site is http://www.ieee802.org/15/pub/TG3a.html.

1 Sept. -- SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT TIMES (http://www.sdtimes.com) writer Jennifer DeJong interviewed 2004 IEEE John von Neumann Medal recipient Barbara H. Liskov in a story about the challenges of writing better software. The article noted that Liskov is a pioneer in the field of object-oriented programming and that virtually all languages programmers use today have been heavily influenced by her early work.

6 Sept. -- A news item in EE TIMES (http://www.eetimes.com) on the growing trend of nanomedicine research announced that the IEEE Robotics and Automation, and Engineering in Medicine and Biology Societies would present their first joint conference, BioRob on 20-22 Feb. 2006 in Pisa, Italy. The story cited IEEE Robotics and Automation Society Past President and BioRob conference Chair Paolo Dario who said that the time is right for a strategic alliance between robotics and biomedical engineering. The conference Web site is http://www-arts.sssup.it/biorob/.

20 Aug. -- WIRED (http://www.wired.com) reported that DeForest B. Soaries Jr., chair of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, said the country owes the IEEE "a debt of thanks" for calling attention to security issues with electronic voting machines and working to establish standards for the machines. To learn more about the IEEE’s e-voting machine standard, visit the P1583 Working Group at http://grouper.ieee.org/groups/scc38/1583/.