Events

• IEEE GOLD related events
• New IEEE GOLD Sponsored Online Seminars for Young Professionals in 2008
• Questions raised from seminar on "Business and Entrepreneurship", held September 2007
• Past Online Seminars held during 2007and 2006
• Article on "Career Decisions: Industry vs Academia" by Uri Moszkowicz
• Article by Nancy Salim, "Eight Ways to Project Success", Reprinted with permission by IEEE The Institute

IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBS).  In its effort to increase the value of IEEE and EMBS membership for young engineers, EMBS will host, for the third time, an IEEE EMBS-GOLD Networking Reception at its 30th Annual International Conference in Vancouver, BS, Canada (EMBC'08).

The purpose of the joint EMBS-GOLD Reception is to establish, in an informal networking environment, what exactly transitioning members need, want and must-have from the EMB Society. The Reception is free of charge, includes beverages and accompanying snacks, and is an excellent opportunity to meet GOLD members within the Society and from around the world. If you are a GOLD member attending EMBC'08, or are a GOLD member living in Canada or visiting the Vancouver area - you are most cordially invited to this free event!

The Reception will be held on Friday, 22nd August 2008 from 7:00pm - 9:00pm at the Vancouver Marriott Pinnacle Hotel (1128 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, BC). Unfortunately, IEEE, EMBS or GOLD cannot provide any financial support for your participation in the Conference or cover travel costs. If interested in attending the entire EMB Conference, online conference registration may be completed via the official EMBC'08 web site. Please contact the EMB Society GOLD Coordinator Lisa Lazareck for further details or queries.

IEEE GOLD Humanitarian Workshop 2008.  IEEE is developing a platform to create awareness among young engineers and students on how to use our engineering knowledge and skills to help various communities. The workshop is scheduled on 18 October 2008 from 9:00am to 5:00pm Eastern, at Boston University, Photonics Building in Boston, MA, USA.  IEEE partners with a number of organizations, such as EWB-USA and UN Foundation to put together a one-day workshop.  At the end of the workshop, attendees will be informed on how humanitarian organizations use technologies to positively impact the world we live in.  Eventually, we hope attendees will obtain a more holistic understanding of how they can play a part in humanitarian efforts, and be inspired to do so.

We invite all those passionate and interested to join in this pioneering initiative.  The workshop is free for all IEEE or EWB-USA members.  A $10 USD fee for non-member's early registration.  Anyone who registers prior to 21 September 2008 will be eligible to win one of ten mysterious gifts.  Registration closes on 11 October 2008.  For more information and registration for the workshop, visit the web site.  The link to PDF workshop flyer may be printed and distributed.

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"The 21st Century Engineer"

IEEE GOLD is sponsoring a repeat presentation of the online seminar, "The 21st Century Engineer", by Adrian Pais on Monday, 30 June 2008 at 2:00pm Eastern (New York), 8:00pm in Amsterdam or 18:00 UTC for one hour.  Learn more about the session and speaker.

IEEE Student Transition Outreach Session held on Saturday, 3 May 2008

IEEE graduating student members often find themselves in a perplexing situation early in their career - a strong need for direction, guidance and local networking to facilitate decisions. IEEE GOLD is promoting outreach efforts to assist in their transition from student to young professional. The activities - STEP and Graduation Reception, sets activities organized locally by teaming together GOLD members with Section and Student Branch officers. The recording of the session is available.

Seminar held on Wednesday, 12 March 2008 on Nanotechnology

"Nanotechnology: What is it? What are the opportunities?"-  this session provided an overview of nanotechnology and a discussion of opportunities for the IEEE community by Dr. Meyya Meyyappan, Chief Scientist for Exploration Technology at the Center for Nanotechnology, NASA Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, CA. The recording of the session is available now. For more information on the topic and speaker, visit here. 

Seminar held on Thursday, 28 February 2008 on IEEE Committee on Earth Observation

"IEEE Committee on Earth Observation and its Volunteer Opportunities" - the session reviewed the progress in Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), the impacts on society and opportunities for IEEE member’s participation.  The recording of the evening session is available now.  For more information on the topic and speakers, visit here.

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The seminar, "Business and Entrepreneurship", presented by Professor Kevin B. Krauss, was completed on Wednesday, 26 September 2007.  The session was recorded and is now available to access (WMV, 5038 KB, 1:00:20).  For more information on the topic and speaker read more.

Additional questions from the seminar that were not responded to by Professor Krauss are shown below.

Question : How do you find other members to build a team with if you have no prior experience? What is the best way to network with others for starting a company?

Response: Developing a network is key to success, whether building a management team, raising capital or developing a business.  Its all about talking, talking and more talking to everyone you meet about your idea. Talk to friends; talk to professors; lawyers, accountants, bankers and community leaders. (Chamber of commerce's are also a good place to start.)

Question: I have a great idea but I  need some experienced staff. But I know they want a large amount of money and don't want to work for a small firm like mine. How can I persuade them?

Response : Early on you need to attract high quality talent by offering them equity in your company. That way they are incentivized to build the business with you because they will share in the upside of the growth.

Question : What about countries that do not yet have patent and copyright laws?

Response : There are very few countries that do not share in international patent treaties. If you run into them, they are more likely do not have sustainable markets that are attractive to you.

Question : Where can I find out more details about your course?

Response : You can contact me directly or check Suffolk University's catalog for more information. We also offer non-credit entrepreneurship classes at Northern Essex Community College.

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Have you ever wondered whether you made the right decision by going into industry? Both industry and academia have their advantages and the differences are not always obvious. On March 7, 2007, the IEEE Boston Graduates of the Last Decade (GOLD) Section and the Merrimack IEEE Student Branch hosted a free seminar at Merrimack College by Dr Grace Wong on the differences between working in industry and academia.

Dr Grace Wong has a long history in both academia and industry. She started her career with a PhD at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in Australia and has since worked for Genentech, Millennium, AstraZeneca and Serono on new drug discovery. She now works for Actokine Therapeutics, a biotech startup that she founded for new drug discovery. She is also founder of Student Vision (www.studentvision.org), an organization dedicated to helping biotech science students of all ages with career decisions.  Dr Wong is a frequent volunteer speaker and author, well known for her knowledge of career-related matters.

The session was originally planned to last about two hours but ended up taking the whole night. The event started and ended with networking. A strong proponent of networking, Dr Wong encouraged attendees to give their “smart pitches” after her presentation.  A short pitch is similar to an elevator pitch; it is a very brief introduction focused on an individual’s accomplishments and background.

The presentation started with a short introduction of Dr Wong and her history in industry and then progressed to the differences between industry and academia, by highlighting over thirty major differences. Projects in academia, for example, are open ended but tend to follow hot topics while projects in industry are specified by upper management. Money is generally in short supply for academic research, as compared to industry where resources are ample. Team work is not as important in academia as it is in industry.

A bonus to the presentation was other career related advice from Dr Wong. She showed us a sample of her business card and described how to create an effective one for ourselves. This advice will be of particular use to attendees, since there appeared to be a short supply of business cards from the attendees. Networking involves more than just exchanging business cards. One should be proactive in following up on contacts and establishing more personal relationships that will last over time. She said to meet people by promoting yourself aggressively, submit papers, give and ask good questions at seminars, and collaborate with others in your industry. She also mentioned the usefulness in finding a mentor and remaining loyal to that person.

The event provided pragmatic information useful to recent graduates, and we plan on organizing other similar events in the future.

The mission of IEEE Boston GOLD is to develop programs and foster relationships, to provide tangible value to members, to promote the GOLD program to students, and to recruit, develop, and nurture volunteers. Anyone interested in more information about IEEE Boston GOLD or this event, please visit http://www.ieee.org/go/bostongold or contact Boston GOLD Chair Uri Moszkowicz at uim@ieee.org.

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In today's competitive workplace it's important to be the best project manager you can be, says IEEE Member Margaretha Eriksson, founder of Irbis Konsult, an engineering management consulting firm in Stockholm. In a 30 November Webinar sponsored by IEEE Graduates of the Last Decade, Eriksson, who was chair from 2000 to 2002 of the IEEE Sweden Section, outlined eight ways to be a successful project manager.

KNOW THE PROJECT'S OBJECTIVE Focus on your end goal and talk it up with other team members. Think smart: in specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-set terms. Be clear on what you must do. Ask your supervisor to clarify details if necessary.

CREATE THE TEAM YOU NEED Start small, say, with two or three team members and grow from there. Recruit diverse people with different abilities. Create an environment that encourages teamwork.

TAKE A REALITY CHECK Before you even begin, ask yourself if the project is realistic. Make sure you have the needed technology, resources, organizational support, and funding.

PLAN, PLAN, PLAN Good planning and knowing where you're going is 80 percent of your project's success, while the other 20 percent is the actual work, Eriksson says. The planning phase should include a project map with a list of all team members, individual responsibilities, their contact information, and whom they report to and when.

TAKE A MEETING, OFTEN Book recurring meetings. Put them on your calendar way into the future. Such meetings should be scheduled on the same day of the week, in the same place with the same people, although it is occasionally useful to invite others to gain different perspectives. Keep meetings to one hour at most. If a problem can’t be solved in an hour, end the meeting and schedule another.

Keep the meetings simple. Use templates for agendas and reports, and distribute meeting minutes immediately. Appoint a project secretary to organize the process.

BE A ROLE MODEL Lead by example. Create an open atmosphere, be fair and straightforward, show respect, be enthusiastic, give a lot of praise, and trust your team members. Having a spirited team helps, Eriksson says, because happy people ultimately do more work. You should be goal-oriented, flexible yet firm, and realistic. You also should communicate effectively and be a good planner.

KEEP THE TEAM TALKING Huang Qiang, IEEE student number and a graduate student at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, in China, says the importance of communicating clearly and maintaining good relationships with team members was the most valuable advice he learned from Eriksson's Webinar.

CLOSE OUT THE PROJECT Don't let it just wander off into the sunset. Celebrate the results if you're successful or discuss how to do better next time if you fail. Most important, always review lessons learned with your team members. You might ask these questions: How did we do? What worked well? Any advice for the next project? Why did we fail? Was it us or was it something we could not foresee?

Being a successful project manager doesn't happen overnight, Eriksson says. "But almost every job-related experience can add to your mastery and excellence in project management," she adds.

An hour-long recorded version of her online seminar can be viewed at the above link.

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