pIEEEdmont potential

A PUBLICATION OF THE PIEDMONT SECTION OF THE IEEE

January, 1997

http://www.carol.net/ieee/

Articles:
Chairman : AM '97 : SC Council Awards : National Engineers Week : Next Meeting : Editor : Officers

A MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIRMAN

Glenn Bishof
As your new chairman of the IEEE Piedmont Section I feel it is necessary to introduce myself, since less than 5% of the Piedmont Section members attend the section's meetings. I don't hope to change this because many competent predecessors have tried to no avail. I only want to let you know what attending an IEEE event did for me.
I first became involved in the IEEE as a student because it was cheap and people told me it looked good on a resume. Attending the 1977 SoutheastCon in Williamsburg, Virginia was probably one of the most important experiences of my career. I was not presenting a paper or working on a student project. I just liked Williamsburg and wanted to see what SoutheastCon was about. I drove alone from New Orleans to Williamsburg, which, for a shy, naive techno-nerd who lived at home while attending college, was quite an adventure. At the conference, I met my future graduate school advisor and several other Clemson professors as well as many nice students. I stopped at Clemson on my return trip from Williamsburg and toured the campus. One of the professors I had met in Williamsburg helped me find out my admission status to graduate school. I probably would not have been admitted if I had not stopped there. Half of the paper work had been sent to the Bio-Engineering department, the other half to the Electrical Engineering department. I had fallen between the cracks.
If I had not gone to the SoutheastCon and not been admitted to Clemson, I would not have become friends with one of the Pentium Pro architects. I would not have met about a dozen people who have stayed friends for 20 years in spite of the fact that only 2 live within 100 miles of me. I would not have met any of the people who were instrumental in securing the jobs I've had in my career. I would not have met my wife, and that would have been a very, very bad thing. Who knows, I may have stayed in New Orleans and been crushed by a ship while shopping at the Riverwalk.
Come to a meeting, it might change your life in ways you never dreamed possible.

IEEE at AM97

Adib Chebli
February 18-20, 1997
The Piedmont Section is working on obtaining a booth at the AM97 show (Automated Manufacturing Exposition 1997 - Southeastern Productivity Week). The show will be held at the Palmetto Expo Center in Greenville on February 18-20, and will feature 600 national and regional companies and other exhibitors in the area of factory automation, control, instrumentation, and systems. The Piedmont Section is looking to reach the electrical engineers at the show with information about the IEEE, the advantages of membership, and the activities of the local section.
The presence of the Piedmont Section at the show will only be possible if we find enough people willing to man the IEEE booth. If you are interested in volunteering a few hours of your time to run the IEEE booth, please call Adib Chebli at (864)458-1346. You will be provided with the necessary materials and training, and your help will be appreciated.