SCOOP - April 2009

• Thank You - Submission of Officer, Meeting, and Financial Reports
• IEEE Sections Congress Recommendations
• MGA vTools Project - vTools.Meetings and vTools.WebInABox
• IEEE.tv Wins Four Aegis Awards
• "IEEE: One Voice" Video Clip and Public Visibility
• MGA Outstanding Large/Small Section Award Nomination Reminder - Deadline 15 May 2009
• Global Series of Anniversary Celebrations Starts in April
• IEEE Lasers and Electro-Optics Society (LEOS) Becomes IEEE Photonics Society
• Participants Sought for Humanitarian Technology Challenge
• Previous Headlines
  

Thank you - Submission of Officer, Meeting, and Financial Reports

We would like to thank everyone for submitting their officer, meeting, and financial reports to IEEE in a timely manner.  The reports are being reviewed, and we should begin distributing Rebates to the Geographic Units by the end of April 2009, to those Sections whose officer, financial, and meeting activity reporting was received complete and subsequently approved.

As a reminder, the Rebate is paid to the Section.  The funds provided are intended for the support of not only the Section’s activities, but also the activities of its subunits, including Subsections, Chapters, Affinity Groups, and IEEE Student organizations.  Section officers are encouraged to use Rebate funds to support the activities of existing units and to form new units.  For questions regarding officer reporting, please e-mail MGA Staff.

IEEE Sections Congress 2008 Recommendations

Over 1,000 people attended IEEE Sections Congress 2008 (SC08) in Quebec City, Canada.  A major objective of this event was to obtain feedback from the IEEE Members through their Section delegates and to follow up on the priorities identified.  The top ten SC08 recommendations have been presented to the IEEE Board of Directors and the MGA Board has agreed to take ownership of the recommendations.  An MGA Board member has been assigned the responsibility of working with other IEEE organizational unit(s) in providing a response to each recommendation.  The MGA Board will provide status reports on the recommendations to all SC08 attendees on a regular basis, and the first reports should be available by June 2009.  A final report on the top ten recommendations will be completed by December 2010. 

MGA vTools Project - vTools.Meetings and vTools.WebInABox

The MGA vTools project continues to provide Sections, Chapters, and Affinity Groups with a set of volunteer-developed tools to assist them in managing their ongoing activities.  After a successful pilot, vTools.Meetings has entered the production mode.  In the latest release of the tool, officers can create meeting announcements without a webmaster.  Members and the public may view upcoming meetings online, drill down for details, and register.  The tool also feeds meeting information into the community desktop in myIEEE. 

The vTools team also launched the vTools.WebInABox pilot.  The tool provides a wizard to assist officers in generating simple websites in an automated fashion without a webmaster.  Website contents are automatically updated based on data from the central IEEE database and easily integrate with vTools.Meetings.  The Beta version is available upon request.  Additionally, the vTools team started a knowledge base with examples of how MS Street Maps can be used to show membership distribution on a map to assist officers in deciding where to hold meetings, form new Chapters, etc.  For questions regarding vTools, please e-mail the vTools team.

IEEE.tv Wins Four Aegis Awards

IEEE.tv has been selected as a winner in two categories, and a finalist in two other categories, in the 19th Annual Aegis Awards competition.  The Aegis Awards are the video industry's premier competition for peer recognition of outstanding video productions and non-network TV commercials.  The winning programs were "Care Innovations: Responsibility for Being Green," "IEEE Robot Challenge," "Nerd Girls," and "2008 IEEE Honors Ceremony."  Please visit the Award Winning Programs web page to view these productions.

"IEEE: One Voice" Video Clip and Public Visibility

As part of your travels and activities, we encourage you to share the “IEEE: One Voice” video , which was made as part of a larger IEEE Public Visibility Initiative.  IEEE launched this Public Visibility Initiative in 2008 to increase the visibility of IEEE and promote public understanding of how engineering, computing, and technology benefit humanity. 

This video aims to make those in the technology community proud to be part of IEEE and to encourage those who are not affiliated with IEEE to feel good about the contributions of technology to society.  The video is the result of work by the Public Visibility Initiative Ad Hoc Committee, under the leadership of 2008 Committee Chair Leah Jamieson.

MGA Outstanding Large/Small Section Award Nomination Reminder - Deadline 15 May 2009

The Outstanding Large/Small Section Awards are presented to one large Section and one small Section each year, for their successful efforts in fulfilling the educational and scientific goals of IEEE for the benefit of the public by maintaining, enhancing, and supporting the Student Branches, Technical Chapters, and Affinity Groups within their geographic boundaries.  The deadline for nominations is 15 May 2009, and the nomination form can be found on the Section Recognition Awards web page.

Global Series of Anniversary Celebrations Starts in April

The global series of eight IEEE 125th Anniversary celebrations launches on 27 April, at the Technical University of Munich, with a program of keynotes and a reception hosted by the IEEE Germany Section.  On 30 April, in Austin, Texas, the Central Texas Section teams up with the Austin Chamber of Commerce for a party for the entire local technology community that will honor the IEEE anniversary.  Please visit the IEEE 125th Anniversary website to find more information about these and other anniversary activities.

IEEE Lasers and Electro-Optics Society (LEOS) Becomes IEEE Photonics Society   

The IEEE Lasers and Electro-Optics Society (LEOS), a leading global society in the field of photonics, lasers, and electro-optics, has officially changed its name to the IEEE Photonics Society.  The new name reflects the expanding applications associated with the Society’s field of interest and better represents its vision, mission, and scope. 

Photonics has become widely used to describe the broad field of research and applications relating to the generation, control, and detection of light, including optical fiber communications, lasers, CDs, DVDs, supermarket scanners, and digital cameras.

All IEEE Lasers and Electro-Optics Society Chapters will be renamed IEEE Photonics Society Chapters.  For example, the IEEE Montreal Laser and Electro-Optics Society Chapter will now be referred to as the IEEE Montreal Section Photonics Society Chapter.  MGA will update the meeting report form and the geographic roster to reflect this change.

Participants Sought for Humanitarian Technology Challenge

The Humanitarian Technology Challenge (HTC) , a partnership between IEEE and the United Nations Foundation, designed to bring together technical professionals and humanitarians to develop technological solutions for pressing challenges facing humanity, is seeking participants for its June conference in Washington, DC.  

The conference, scheduled for 1-2 June, is the first of a series of meetings (in person, as well as online) where participants will be engaged in the solution development process for three initial challenges.  The following challenges were identified by focus groups composed of representatives from ten humanitarian organizations:

The program will begin the afternoon of 1 June with a keynote speaker, followed by a panel discussion among select humanitarians and technologists.  A networking reception will be held in the evening.  A full-day working session will be held 2 June for those who will be active participants in the solution development process for the identified challenges.  For questions regarding the Humanitarian Technology Challenge, please e-mail project manager Harold Tepper.

PREVIOUS HEADLINES

• Sections Congress Training Material is available on the SC08 web page.  You may also see video from the event via ieee.tv
• Visit the IEEE Global History Network.  Please go and share your experiences in developing our technologies
• All Regions, Chapters, and Sections should submit an Information Schedule for all conferences, symposia, workshops, tutorials, short courses, expositions, and conventions
• Visit memberNet - The IEEE online Membership Directory
• IEEE Foundation/IEEE Life Members Fund Call for Grant Applications
• IEEE Visual Identity Guidelines Now Available
• National Societies in your country - IEEE Section leaders in Regions 7-10 are encouraged to work together with National Societies in their respective country.  Areas of cooperation can include technical and social meetings, conferences and exhibitions, distinguished lecturers, joint awards, and seminars

• Fulfilling the mission of IEEE
• Enhancing the members' growth and development through their life cycle
• Providing a professional home