IEEE Leadership Wire
7 June 2007
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 the first week of the month.
CONTENTS:
*ONSITE CONTACT INFORMATION FOR JUNE MEETING SERIES
*SUMMARY OF IEEE’s 2006 RESEARCH FINDINGS RELEASED
*IEEE TO TRANSITION TRAVEL SERVICES DEPARTMENT TO WORLD TRAVEL, INC.
*SCITOPIA.ORG RESEARCH SITE NOW LIVE
*DESIGN SQUAD TV SHOW SEEKS NEW PROJECTS
*IEEE-SA SEEKS VOLUNTEER MEMBERS FOR WORK ON EARTH OBSERVATION STANDARDS
*TRY ENGINEERING.ORG NOW AVAILABLE IN SEVEN LANGUAGES
*JUNE ISSUE OF IEEE SPECTRUM FOCUSES ON MEGACITIES
*PROCEEDINGS OF THE IEEE EXAMINES ELECTRIC, HYBRID, AND FUEL VEHICLES
*2007 PRESIDENTS’ SCHOLARSHIP AWARDED TO N.J STUDENT
*IN THE NEWS
**ONSITE CONTACT INFORMATION FOR JUNE MEETING SERIES**
The following is information on how to contact IEEE staff and volunteers during the June Meeting Series at the Loews Philadelphia Hotel, Philadelphia, Pa., 12-17 June.
The Onsite Volunteer Resource Center will be open:
- Tuesday, 12 June: 2 p.m. – 6 p.m.
- Wednesday – Friday, 13 – 15 June: 7 a.m. – 7 p.m.
- Saturday, 16 June: 7 a.m. – 5 p.m.
- Sunday, 17 June: 7 a.m. – 5 p.m.
The Center will be located in room Commonwealth A, on the second level of the hotel.
The IEEE Information Desk will be open on:
- Tuesday, 12 June: 2 p.m. – 6 p.m.
- Wednesday – Thursday, 13 – 14 June: 7 a.m. – 6 p.m.
- Friday, 15 June: 7 a.m. – 5 p.m.
- Saturday, 16 June: 7 a.m. – 4 p.m.
- Sunday, 17 June: 7 a.m. – 3 p.m.
The Information Desk is located within the Onsite Volunteer Resource Center.
To contact an attendee during these hours, call the hotel at +1 215 627 1200 and ask for the IEEE Information Desk. A direct line to the IEEE Information Desk is available at +1 267 256 7160. It is not always possible to immediately deliver a message, therefore all telephone messages and faxes will be posted to a message board.
The guest fax number at the hotel is +1 215 231 7305. Faxes should be addressed to both the IEEE Information Desk and the recipient. The front desk will deliver faxes between the hours of 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. to the IEEE Information Desk; after 5 p.m., the hotel will leave a message in the recipient's room and will hold the fax at the Front Desk.
To contact Meeting Planning Services staff on-site at the hotel after hours, please call the Meeting Planning Services cell phone at +1 732 718 5543.
For questions prior to the meeting series, contact Beth Surmont, Technical Activities, at +1 732 562 3985.
**SUMMARY OF IEEE's 2006 RESEARCH FINDINGS RELEASED**
IEEE Strategic Research and Planning department summarizes its findings from 33 recent studies and three survey panels in a report entitled INFORMATION YOU CAN USE, ANNUAL SUMMARY OF IEEE STRATEGIC RESEARCH.
This report covers a wide range of IEEE activities including membership, publications, standards, finances, etc. More specifically, it
- Examines membership, membership trends, IEL users, and the differences among membership groups such as current, former and prospective members
- Explores Standards usage and how to make them more valuable to users
- Includes a summary of the IEEE Environmental Scan, which examines broad economic, global, political, technological and social issues and trends
- Includes many more topics like concentration banking and the Power Engineering Society general meeting.
Please use your IEEE Web Account to access the report. (PDF, 487 KB). Access is restricted to volunteers and staff.
Questions should be directed to Carmella Wilkinson, c.wilkinson@ieee.org or + 1 732 562 3978.
**IEEE TO TRANSITION TRAVEL SERVICES DEPARTMENT TO WORLD TRAVEL, INC. **
Due to significant and consistent declines in ticket sales and discounts available to IEEE volunteers and staff through IEEE Travel Services, and after a thorough cost analysis and benchmarking study against other associations and corporations, a decision has been made to transition IEEE Travel Services to an outsourced, centralized reservation center.
With an endorsement from IEEE President Leah Jamieson, Executive Director Jeffry Raynes approved the recommendation. As a result, effective 1 October 2007, travel services functions will be handled by IEEE’s current travel partner, World Travel, Inc.
Using a reservation center will enable IEEE to efficiently track its use and spending and enable volunteers and staff to still enjoy the benefits of using a dedicated agent for their travel needs.
Following the June meeting series, a transition/implementation plan including a dedicated Web site will be developed to assist IEEE travelers. Further details will be communicated as they become available. Questions on the change in policy should be directed to Sherry Russ, Meeting Planning and Travel Services, at s.russ@ieee.org or +1 732 562 3980.
Volunteers can continue to use the IEEE Travel Web site, which has just introduced a new user interface. Some of the enhancements include:
- Concise, easy-to-read formats
- Streamlined booking process with quick data entry and travel search
- New visually-appealing colors and graphics
- Easy-to-find schedules and pricing
- Ability to view seat maps prior to selecting flights.
For more information, contact Chris Simko, Travel Services, at c.simko@ieee.org or +1 732 562 5387.
**SCITOPIA.ORG RESEARCH SITE NOW LIVE**
Scitopia.org, the free, federated search portal created by leading science and technology scholarly societies, officially launched 3 June at the Special Libraries Association’s Annual Conference. The service commences with 15 participating Societies including two new partners, the American Vacuum Society and Acoustical Society of America providing users with an even broader array of high quality results to their sci-tech search queries. More than three million documents, including peer-reviewed journal content and conference proceedings spanning 150 years of science and technology, may be searched through this dedicated gateway.
**DESIGN SQUAD TV SHOW SEEKS NEW PROJECTS**
The production crew for the PBS television series “Design Squad” is soliciting ideas for engineering projects that will appeal to their 9 to 12 year-old target audience. The IEEE provides funding for this series that soon will begin filming episodes for its second season.
The series follows two teams of high school students, mentored by professional engineers, as they compete to design and build a functional machine. The show’s producers at WGHB, Boston, Mass. are seeking projects that would be visually interesting, serve a client with a specific need and provide the opportunity for multiple solutions. Past projects have included building a machine that makes pancakes and designing a summer sled for LL Bean.
Ideas for new shows may be emailed to the show’s executive producer, Marisa Wolsky, at marisa_wolsky@wgbh.org.
**IEEE-SA SEEKS VOLUNTEER MEMBERS FOR WORK ON EARTH OBSERVATION STANDARDS**
The IEEE Committee on Earth Observations Standards working group (ISWG) is seeking volunteers to participate in standards-related tasks designed to progress the Group on Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS). The IEEE is one of more than 40 international organizations that are part of GEOSS – a global Earth Observation System that, over the next decade, will revolutionize the understanding of Earth and how it works.
IEEE has been given the lead for GEOSS standards development. Action items include the development and maintenance of an online registry of related standards, the creation of a standards and interoperability forum for introduction of standards not in the registry or new standards needed, and the coordination of international standards organizations involved in the project.
The ISWG is looking for IEEE volunteers who possess knowledge and have experience with a broad range of standards related to earth observations and data systems that process, archive and distribute them. Individuals who are interested in participating or have further questions can contact Jay Pearlman at jay.pearlman@boeing.com or Siri Sodha at sjsk@nsidc.org.
**TRY ENGINEERING.ORG NOW AVAILABLE IN SEVEN LANGUAGES**
The IEEE pre-university portal, TryEngineering.org, once available in only English, is now available in Chinese, French, German, Russian, Japanese and Spanish. In addition, the portal's monthly newsletter is now featured in English, French and Spanish.
Users can examine the seven versions by checking the language box on the top right-hand side of the entry page to www.TryEngineering.org. The non-English versions were derived from the English edition with the help of professional translators. The translations were reviewed by engineers who are native speakers of the six languages into which the site was rendered.
TryEngineering.org is a project of IEEE, IBM, and the New York Hall of Science. The translations and monthly newsletters are supported by the Life Member Committee and the IEEE Foundation.
**JUNE ISSUE OF IEEE SPECTRUM FOCUSES ON MEGACITIES**
By 2008, more than half the world's population will live in cities. A comprehensive report in this special issue of IEEE SPECTRUM focuses on major engineering projects and challenges of the world's largest cities (Mumbai, Shanghai, Sao Paulo, Tokyo, New York City, London and Lagos) and how technology can make our urban future better. To view the June issue of IEEE Spectrum, visit the IEEE Spectrum Web site.
**PROCEEDINGS OF THE IEEE EXAMINES ELECTRIC, HYBRID, AND FUEL VEHICLES**
The current special issue of PROCEEDINGS OF THE IEEE (v. 95, no. 4) takes an in-depth look at electric, hybrid, and fuel cell vehicles. The issue covers topics regarding state-of-the-art and key technologies associated with these vehicles. The table of contents and abstracts for all papers can be found in the IEEE Xplore digital library, where subscribers may also read the full text of all articles.
**2007 PRESIDENTS’ SCHOLARSHIP AWARDED TO N.J. STUDENT**
The IEEE Presidents' Scholarship, sponsored by the IEEE Foundation, was awarded to George Francis Hotz, a 17 year-old senior at the Bergen County Academies in Glen Rock, N.J, USA, at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair held last month in Albuquerque, N.M, USA. The US$10,000 Presidents’ Scholarship is awarded annually for “outstanding achievement in creating a project that demonstrates an understanding of electrical engineering, information technology, or other IEEE fields of interest.” More than 1,500 students qualified for the competition.
For his winning project, entitled "I Want a Holodeck", Hotz designed and built a full color, high resolution, 360 degree viewable volumetric display, which displays 3-D objects in a hologram-type format. Hotz mounted a screen and a DLP projector on a spinning platform, and by spinning the projector quickly while displaying different cross sections of a particular image, it tricks the eye into seeing the image in three dimensions.
These objects will be valuable in a variety of applications including CAT scans, MRIs, protein-folding visualizations and video games. Hotz said the project was inspired by watching the movie STAR WARS and seeing the hologram that R2D2 projected of Princess Leia.
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.
1 June – ZDNET ASIA, UK – Dell Computers indicated it would upgrade its wireless cards to support the draft standard of IEEE 802.11n. Liam Quinn, Dell’s chief technology officer for communications, security, peripherals and systems, indicated that the decision to implement a draft standard before ratification was made in part because “the stability of the specification [and] the active participation in the IEEE of a lot of the silicon providers.” To read the full story, visit the ZDNET ASIA Web site.
Conversely, Motorola executives indicated they would not produce any next-generation Wi-Fi products “until the 802.11n standard is properly ratified.” To read the full story, visit the ZD NET UK Web site.
14 May – THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE – The IEEE online mentoring programs was included in story that covered the growth in popularity of mentor matching programs currently being used by companies and organizations. A Chicago-area IEEE member who participates in the program was interviewed and mentioned in the story. To read the full article, visit the CHICAGO TRIBUNE Web site.
8 May – THE WALL STREET JOURNAL (blog posting) – A story in the May issue of IEEE SPECTRUM that explored the possibility of using micro-sized dams to help deliver electricity to a large portion of Africa’s population was mentioned in the "Informed Reader" online blog section of the publication. To read the full story, visit the WALL STREET JOURNAL Web site. (subscription may be required).
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IEEE LEADERSHIP WIRE staff contact:
Francine Tardo
IEEE Corporate Strategy and Communications
Tel: +1 732 465 5865
Fax: +1 732 981 9511
Mailto: f.tardo@ieee.org
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