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Articles:
Section Web Address :
Next Meeting :
IEEE supports "Reverse
Engineering" :
Engineering Careers Congressional Visits Day Rescheduled :
EE Unemployment Rate
Reaches Seven Percent :
R&D Support, Dual-Career Ladders, Privacy Vs. Security, Recycling : Officers
Mark Stokes
Just a quick note, we have moved our section web page to the link listed above. There are no real changes to the site (other than the newest newsletter being published), but please update your links to point to the new site. There is a forward-redirector at the old site that will remain for a while.
June 19, 2003
Retired Engineers Volunteer Help Science Teachers Through Re-Seed Program
RE-SEED, short for Retirees Enhancing Science Education through Experiments & Demonstrations was begun in 1991 by Northeastern University in Boston. The goal of the program is to place engineers and scientists in middle school classrooms, as volunteers, to assist teachers with the teaching of science and math. To date more than 400 trained RE-SEED volunteers have worked in schools in ten states offering close to 400,000 hours of their time helping more than 100,000 students understand physical science concepts.
The comprehensive training that the RE-SEED volunteers receive distinguishes it from other in-school volunteer led science programs. During their training, participants learn how to use many hands-on activities to effectively engage middle school students and facilitate their understanding of the basic concepts of physical science. RE-SEED provides each volunteer with a kit of science materials and a sourcebook with over 200 hands-on activities. After the training the RE-SEED volunteers are assigned a middle school where they volunteer once a week during the school year.
For the June meeting Ray Smith of the Roper Mountain Science Center will be presenting an informational meeting to discuss the local Re-Seed program and how we can get involved.
Date: June 19, 2003
Place: La Quinta Inn, Greenville
Time: 6:30 PM
Please email or call Mark Stokes with any questions or to RSVP. For directions call 864-233-8018. I will provide a carpool at the Ramada Inn in Clemson (please contact me {m.stokes@ieee.org} if you want to ride)
IEEE-USA Supports "Reverse-Engineering"
Chris McManes
WASHINGTON (4 June 2003) - IEEE-USA filed an amicus curiae brief Monday before the U.S. Supreme Court in support of reverse engineering in the Baystate Technologies, Inc., vs. Howard L. Bowers (No. 02-1585) copyright case.
In its brief, IEEE-USA stated that the Federal Circuit's decision in Bowers vs. Baystate Technologies, Inc., 320 F.3d 1317 (Fed. Cir. 2003) "creates substantial uncertainty as to whether copyright holders can unilaterally prohibit the long-standing, widely accepted and essential practice of reverse engineering." The brief asks the Court to review the lower court decision in that light.
Glenn Tenney, chair of the IEEE-USA Intellectual Property Committee (IPC) said the protection of reverse engineering is of great importance. "The U.S. economy and our competitiveness internationally hinges upon the careful and closely negotiated balance that Congress built into federal intellectual property law," Tenney said. "It would be dangerous to allow software publishers to repeal the Copyright Act with a shrink wrap, simply because they don't like that balance. We sincerely hope that the Court will take up this important case."
Reverse engineering is a common and recognized practice, particularly in computer software, and is extremely important to technological advancement. IEEE-USA defines reverse engineering as "the discovery by engineering techniques of the underlying ideas and principles that govern how a machine, computer program or other technological device works." (IEEE-USA 1997 Position Statement: http://www.ieeeusa.org/forum/positions/reverse.html).
A copy of the brief, which was coordinated by IEEE-USA's IPC, and other relevant resources are available at http://www.ieeeusa.org/forum/policy/2003/Baystate060203.html.
Engineering Careers Congressional Visits Day Rescheduled for 14-15 July
IEEE-USA Today
U.S. IEEE members concerned about their careers, the effects of globalization, outsourcing and guest labor on engineering employment, and the health of the U.S. engineering workforce are invited to share their concerns with Members of Congress. The IEEE-USA's Engineering Careers Congressional Visits Day has been rescheduled for 14-15 July.
For more information, visit: http://www.ieeeusa.org/forum/H1Bcvd
EE Unemployment Rate Reaches Seven Percent
IEEE-USA Today
The unemployment rate for electrical engineers (EEs) rose to an unprecedented seven percent in the first quarter of 2003, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
For details, go to http://www.ieeeusa.org/releases/2003/042803pr.htm
This Month's Today's Engineer: R&D Support, Dual-Career Ladders, Privacy Vs. Security, Recycling
IEEE-USA Today
IEEE-USA was among six engineering societies that sponsored a two-day symposium in March to review federal R&D plans and budgets, as well as to carry a message to Congress about the need for more R&D funding. Many participants visited federal agency leaders to talk about issues. Find out what they had to say in the latest issue of Today's Engineer at http://www.todaysengineer.org/May03/R&D.asp.
Other articles in the monthly IEEE-USA webzine cover finding a job in an unstable economy, previewing your new employees ahead of time, rewarding and maintaining technical excellence with dual-career ladders, trading privacy for security with a national identification system, and making recycling and reuse more efficient.
To see all the articles in the latest issue of Today's Engineer, go to http://www.todaysengineer.org.
CHAIRMAN Mark Stokes (864) 647-2065 m.stokes@ieee.org
VICE-CHAIRMAN
TREASURER Rob Scruggs (864) 886 1348
scruggsr@squared.com
SECRETARY Andrew Pang (864) 282-1105
andrewpang@hotmail.com
MEMBERSHIP DEVELOPMENT Lee Stogner (864) 281-8276
l.stogner@ieee.org
PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES Nick Pasquerilla (864) (864) 886-1771
n.pasquerilla@ieee.org
STUDENT ACTIVITIES Dr. John Komo (864) 656-5916
john.komo@ces.clemson.edu
EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES Lee Stogner (864) 281-8276
l.stogner@ieee.org
NEWSLETTER EDITOR Mark Stokes (864) 647-2065 m.stokes@ieee.org
AWARDS Dr. Randy Collins (864)656-5920
randy.collins@ces.clemson.edu
The Piedmont section of the IEEE is still offering sections of its newsletter for advertising space. If you are interested in supporting this effort, please contact one of the officers listed above.
-Mark