IEEE Central Texas Section

THE ANALOG

Volume 52-10

October 2008

Newsletter of the Central Texas Section of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, Inc.

Published monthly. Deadline for inclusion is the 25th day of the previous month. Send submissions, comments, questions to Kevin Nickels, Editor, k.nickels@ieee.org

CONTENTS

1. Section Activities

2. Chapter Activities

3. News & Information

4. Local Conferences

5. Other Conferences

IEEE EXTERNAL LINKS

Your IEEE - www.ieee.org
IEEE-USA
IEEE Region 5
IEEE Central Texas Section

IEEE Conferences - Calls for Papers
IEEE Xplore - fulltext access to IEEE Publications
What's New at IEEE
Society News from IEEE
IEEE Standards Association
The Spectrum Online - The Magazine for Technology Insiders

1. Section Activities

Chairman's Column

Wow. What a wild Sections Congress in Quebec City. A gathering of nearly 1000 folks from around the world. All were IEEE volunteers in various positions of leadership from sectional, regional, national and international. And with all that leadership came a constant fusillade of new things we can do for the membership. Fresh ideas for successful chapter and section meetings, for elevating members to higher member status, and for planning our future direction for the section. Now if we can just find time to tackle them all. And of course, the event was capped with the big awards ceremony on Saturday evening. I lost count of how many of the CTS delegation got their picture taken with this year's IEEE Medal of Honor recipient, Gordon Moore.

One of the "main events" at the conference was the kickoff of our plans for the IEEE 125th Anniversary celebration to be held in Austin next spring. Next year birthday parties are slated for eight cities around the world, including three in the US: Austin, Boston and San Jose. Stand by to hear more about this big event. Kenny Rice will be leading the charge, and I'm sure will welcome your help if you'd like to lend him a hand.

Finally, stand by as we start to get our 2009 E-Week activities off the ground. Though we've had a robust activity in Austin for years, we have a serious plan for plowing some new ground in the San Antonio area next year. Our lead in Austin for this is Tom Grim, working with John Purvis and others, while Dawn Roberson is working our preparations in San Antonio. Let them know if you'd like to help.

And once again, thanks for all you do to help the profession.

Garrett Polhamus
Chairman, Central Texas Section
polhamus@ieee.org

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Membership Development

Have you been waiting for the right time to become a member of IEEE?

If you have been waiting for the right time to become an IEEE member, now is the time. If you join IEEE now your membership will continue though 2009. That's 15 months of IEEE benefits for the price of one year of dues. JOIN NOW at www.ieee.org/join

See Video of Sections Congress Awards Ceremony on IEEE.TV

Every three years, the IEEE volunteer leadership comes together for Sections Congress. This past September 19th though the 22nd, the CTS leadership traveled to Canada to represent the CTS. As part of the event, the IEEE honored some of the outstanding technology leaders of our time. Go to IEEE.TV and see the awards ceremony where Dr. Gordon Moore (Moore's Law) was interviewed and presented with the IEEE Medal of Honor for "pioneering technical roles in integrated-circuit processing, and leadership in the development of MOS memory, the microprocessor computer and the semiconductor industry". Go to www.ieee.org/web/membership/IEEEtv/about.html

Joe Redfield
CTS Membership Development Chair
J.Redfield@ieee.org
210-522-3729

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Engineering in San Antonio - SA Vice-Chair's Column

E-week 2009, Feb 15-21

I have the opportunity to represent IEEE (and hence you) on the plans for the 2009 E-week activities in San Antonio. I know either John Purvis or Tom Grim sit on the Austin E-week planning committee, so I will assume they will keep us up to speed on Austin activities.

We had our first meeting this week, and there will be the usual set of events (Proclamation Breakfast with Engineer for a Day, Past Presidents Luncheon, Golf Tournament, Sporting Clays and Engineer of the Year Banquet), but we accepted a proposal to add an event - a 5K fun run/walk in Brackenridge Park on Saturday, Feb 21, will all the surplus to go to the San Antonio Food Bank. Save the dates and consider attending some of the events!

If you'll notice, the San Antonio E-week is oriented towards adults with one exception - the Engineer for a Day. The organizers always seem to end up with numerous high school students who want to 'follow' electrical engineers, and not enough firms sign up. I know I asked for volunteers last year, but I didn't give alot of notice - that's not the case this time! Talk to your employer about having a known number of high school students who have said they want to be electrical engineers come visit your office/site and see what you do. Lots of details about this, but I don't want to waste your bandwidth if you're not interested. If you are, let me know!

I would also like to add an outreach project sometime during that week - maybe have practicing EEs visit schools to talk about engineering? I would appreciate ideas (and champions). And just because it would be an E-week event doesn't mean that someone else would run it - we would!

While I was at Sections Congress, I talked to a colleague in Dallas about an Outreach program called 'Future City'. What happens in Future City competitions (targeted to middle school) is that teams design and build a model of a city using the software SimCity (provided by the competition). The team has a practicing engineer as a mentor, with a different theme each year. The competition grades on the plan, city design, city model, narrative, essay and team presentation. The big deal is that, if we have 25 Middle Schools associated with this, the Regional winner's trip to the National competition is paid for! Unfortunately, the due date to host a Regional competition was in June, so we've missed that for this year, but I would like to get one going in San Antonio (or Austin) or both for next year. What I need from you is contacts with the schools (your kid's teachers or your friends' kids teachers) to get them excited about next year. I will also need mentors for each team - that means YOU! To read more about the Future City competition, check out the E-week website (www.eweek.org) and follow the Future City link.

Let me know what you want to do for E-week San Antonio!

Dawn Roberson
Vice-Chair San Antonio
robersondj@ieee.org
210-458-5520

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Section & Chapter News

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Continuing Education

Global Challenges to National Innovation Systems -- Speaker Series from LBJ School of Public Policy (Austin)

This speaker series is sponsored by the Technology, Innovation, and Global Security (TIGS) program of the Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law. Members of the local Austin tech community and the technology and policy community on the UT campus, are invited.

The current confirmed schedule of speakers for Fall 2008 is as follows:

  • Sept. 9 Morris Chang, founder and Chairman, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation, "The Global Semiconductor Industry: A Discussion"
  • Sept. 23 Charles Geschke, cofounder and Board co-chair Adobe Systems Inc, "The Founding and Development of Adobe in a Global Software Industry"
  • October 7 Joan Woodard, Executive Vice President and Deputy Laboratories Director for Nuclear Weapons. Sandia National Laboratories, "International Nuclear Control in a Global Technology Environment"
  • October 21 Dan Hutcheson, CEO, VLSI Research, "Science 2.0: Globalized Innovation in Electronics"
  • November 4 Anne Stevens, Chairman, President, and CEO, Carpenter Technology Corporation, "The Global Automotive Industry: Perspective on a Changing Industry in a Changing World"
The speaker series is scheduled from 5:15 to 7:15pm. For more information contact Bill Spencer.

New E-book: Engineering the Art of Negotiation

"Engineering the Art of Negotiation -- Part 1: How to Handle Your Boss" is the first in a series of e-books demonstrating a practical approach to satisfying people's interests, including your own, through interest-based negotiation. See: https://bmsmail3.ieee.org:80/u/12891/153286

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Student Branches

Branch Liaisons Needed
We are looking for volunteers to expand our contact with student branches and tomorrow's engineers. We would like one liaison per school that can attend two or three meetings per semester as a conduit to the section and the profession itself. Interested members should contact scrowl@ieee.org for more information.

St Mary's University- San Antonio (https://ieee.stmarytx.edu/)
Faculty Adviser: Djaffer Ibaroudene, Email: dibaroudene@stmarytx.edu
Branch President: Joseph Campbell email: jcampbell3@mail.stmarytx.edu

Trinity University - San Antonio
Faculty Adviser: Farzan Aminian, email: farzan@engr.trinity.edu
Branch President: Jonathan Simpkins, email: Jonathan.Simpkins@Trinity.edu

University of Texas at Austin (https://ieee.ece.utexas.edu/)
Faculty Adviser: Sriram Vishwanath, email: sriram@ece.utexas.edu
Branch chair: Austin DeHart, email: chair@ieee.ece.utexas.edu

University of Texas at San Antonio (https://www.utsaieee.org/)
Faculty Adviser: Yufang Jin, email: Yufang.Jin@utsa.edu
Branch chair: Philip So, email: philip.so.1@gmail.com

Student Member News

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Calls for Volunteers

IEEE Seeks Program Evaluators for Accrediting Engineering & Engineering Technology Programs at U.S. Universities

The IEEE, the largest member of ABET, Inc. (formerly known as the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology), is responsible for the peer-review evaluation of more than 750 university programs in the IEEE fields of interest. IEEE's involvement in the peer-review evaluation is vital to ensuring the continuing quality brought forth after graduation into the engineering and engineering technology professions. To aid IEEE and ABET in this accreditation role, the IEEE Educational Activities Board (EAB) is seeking engineering professionals from industry, government and academe to serve as program evaluators. In addition to the professional and public good that evaluators perform, other benefits of being a program evaluator include: the opportunity to keep in touch with changing engineering and technology teaching methods; meeting those who will soon enter the profession; and learning how to conduct an objective evaluation of the educational process using established crit! eria, which can be helpful for those interested in training related to continuous improvement procedures.

Selected applicants will attend a training seminar on the ABET accreditation process. After training, program evaluators are dispatched in teams to visit engineering and engineering technology departments at universities across the country on behalf of the IEEE and ABET. Evaluation sessions are held during the fall and usually run two to three days.

Applications for the 2008 - 2009 academic year will be accepted through 15 November 2008.

Information packages, including nominations forms and the program evaluator qualifications, are available at:

For further information, contact IEEE EAB Accreditation at eab-accred@ieee.org. Application form is available at: https://bmsmail3.ieee.org:80/u/12899/153286

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2. Chapter Activities

Multiple Chapters

Sponsors CTS Section & Computer Society, and Joint Signal Processing/Communications Society
Topic/Title High-Definition TV Conversion & UIW's Engineering Management Program
Speaker Mr. Jerry Paonessa, Assistant Director of Technology, KENS-TV/DT & Dr. Phillip Youngblood, University of the Incarnate Word
Date/Time Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Cost $10 members/ $0 students/$13 non-members
Location Bonilla Science building (Room BSH 129) at the University of the Incarnate Word
Reservations Required by Friday before meeting to Yu Zhang, yzhang@cs.trinity.edu or (210) 999-7399.
Notes This meeting is open to the public. See https://www.ieee-cs-cts.org/ for maps, parking directions, and more!

Sponsors Women in Engineering & Technology Management Council (Austin)
Topic/Title Leading Teams
Speaker Israel Gat, VP of R&D for BMC software
Date/Time Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Cost no charge
Reservations
Location Amplify, corner of Brockton and Burnet
Questions Leslie Martinich (lmartinich@ieee.org)

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Joint Circuits and Systems/Solid-State Circuits
https://ewh.ieee.org/r5/central_texas/ssc_css/

The joint Circuits & Systems/Solid State Circuits Societies normally meet on the 2nd Tuesday of every month. This meeting is open to the public and interested parties. Additional details will be posted at the website. If you have any questions about this meeting or this group, please contact seningen@ieee.org or dferguson@ieee.org

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Components, Packaging and Manufacturing Technology
https://cpmtaustinchapter.org/

Topic/Title Multichip Module Packaging and its Impact on Server Architecture and Operating Systems
Speaker Dr. Hubert Harrer, IBM Server and Technology Group, Boeblingen, Germany
Date/Time Thursday, October 16, 2008, 6:00-7:30pm
Cost None.
Location Freescale Semiconductor,
Long Canyon Conference Room in Bldg C
7700 Parmer Lane
Austin, TX 78729

Chair: Om P Mandhana, Freescale

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Computer Society - Austin
https://www.ieee.org/austin_cs/

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Computer Society - San Antonio
https://www.ieee-cs-cts.org/

Sponsors CTS Section & Computer Society, and Joint Signal Processing/Communications Society
Topic/Title High-Definition TV Conversion & UIW's Engineering Management Program
Speaker Mr. Jerry Paonessa, Assistant Director of Technology, KENS-TV/DT & Dr. Phillip Youngblood, University of the Incarnate Word
Date/Time Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Cost $10 members/ $0 students/$13 non-members
Location Bonilla Science building (Room BSH 129) at the University of the Incarnate Word
Reservations Required by Friday before meeting to Yu Zhang, yzhang@cs.trinity.edu or (210) 999-7399.
Notes This meeting is open to the public. See https://www.ieee-cs-cts.org/ for maps, parking directions, and more!

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Consultants Network
https://ewh.ieee.org/r5/central_texas/cn

Topic/Title Data Backup: Easier and Cheaper than You Think
Speaker Chris Baker is a system administrator with ten years of experience. He has implemented and upgraded backup strategies in several environments. He has also spoken on anti-spam strategies.
Date/Time Thursday, October 9, 2008
(Regular meeting is on 2nd Thursday)
Networking at 6:00 pm, Business and program from 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm
Cost $5.00 minimum charge for the restaurant. Supper is at optional extra cost.
Reservations Not required. All interested parties are invited to attend.
Location China Star Restaurant, 6134 Hwy 290E, Austin TX. Westbound access road of 290E, just east of IH 35

Do a friend a favor. Bring your colleague to grow the Consultants Network attendance.

The Consultants web directory is to be found at https://www.alesu.com/xltrp/ieeecons/listzero.htm

Do the Consultants Network a favor. Give a talk or get a speaker for one meeting this year. Email the bio and summary to the Chairman.

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Electromagnetic Compatibility Society
https://ewh.ieee.org/soc/emcs/chapters/centraltexas/index.html

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Electron Devices Society
https://ewh.ieee.org/r5/central_texas/eds/

There will be no meeting in October 2008.

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Engineering in Medicine and Biology
https://ewh.ieee.org/r5/central_texas/embs/index.html

EMBS will not be having technical meetings over the Summer. Look for our next meeting in September!

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Graduates of the Last Decade (GOLD)

For more Information contact Jason Polendo jpolendo@ieee.org

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Laser and Electro Optics Society

For more information, contact Ray Chen

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Life Members Affinity Group

Planning Committee Members Needed

We are looking for a few more volunteers to round out our Chapter's planning Committee. We currently have three, Scott Atkinson, Bob Harris and Ernest Franke. We meet monthly for lunch to review IEEE, Central Texas Section and Chapter activities. Interested folks should contact scott.atkinson@fullarmorgroup.com or 210-481-4932.

If a Life Member is not receiving email from our Chapter, please contact Scott Atkinson at scott.atkinson@fullarmorgroup.com or 210-481-4932.

For more information, contact Scott Atkinson

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Power and Energy Society - Austin
https://www.ewh.ieee.org/soc/pes/centraltexas/austin

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Power and Energy Society - San Antonio
https://ewh.ieee.org/soc/pes/centraltexas/sanantonio

Topic/Title Microturbine Technology and its Benefits
Speaker Darryl Wright, Five Star Group
Date/Time Thursday, October 23 - 6:00 PM Social, 6:30 PM Dinner, 7:00 PM Program
Cost $10 members, $15 non-members, FREE for students (Cash only please, no checks or cards)
Reservations Please RSVP to John Brogan @ 210-353-3375 or jabrogan@ieee.org
Location Grady's BBQ, 6510 San Pedro, San Antonio (210-806-8036)
Notes See website for more information.

As always you do not have to be an IEEE member to attend.

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Product Safety Engineering Society
https://www.ewh.ieee.org/soc/pses/

Topic/Title IEEE PSES Symposium
Speaker (See website for details)
Date/Time October 20, 21 and 22
Cost none
Reservations Call Dale Ritzen (512) 651-5338 for details and directions.
Location Austin, TX

Mark Your Calanders -- November/December combined meeting on December 2: Topic will be "Field Evaluations", by Charles Goertz, TUV America.

We encourage you, others in your organization, or other interested parties to participate in our meetings. The PSES meets on the third Tuesday of every month at 6:30, with the program starting at 7pm. For further information about the PSES, please contact Dale Ritzen at (512) 651-5338 or Gary Schrempp at gary_schrempp@dell.com.

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Joint Signal Processing/Communications Society
https://www.cts-comsoc-sp.org/

Sponsors CTS Section & Computer Society, and Joint Signal Processing/Communications Society
Topic/Title High-Definition TV Conversion & UIW's Engineering Management Program
Speaker Mr. Jerry Paonessa, Assistant Director of Technology, KENS-TV/DT & Dr. Phillip Youngblood, University of the Incarnate Word
Date/Time Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Cost $10 members/ $0 students/$13 non-members
Location Bonilla Science building (Room BSH 129) at the University of the Incarnate Word
Reservations Required by Friday before meeting to Yu Zhang, yzhang@cs.trinity.edu or (210) 999-7399.
Notes This meeting is open to the public. See https://www.ieee-cs-cts.org/ for maps, parking directions, and more!

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Technology Management Council - Austin
https://www.ewh.ieee.org/r5/central_texas/ems

The IEEE Technology Management Council (Austin Chapter) is embarking on a year-long series: "Effective Engineering Leadership." This series of events is designed to help engineers and engineering managers develop the skills they need to become more effective, with take-away that they can implement immediately.

We will meet on the 2nd Tuesday of each month , beginning in October (October 14) at Amplify, 2608 Brockton Drive (Brocton and Burnet) at 6:30pm-8:30pm. Drinks and snacks will be provided.

Topics we will cover, over the course of several months, include:

  • Leading Teams
    Subtopics:
    • Rewards, recognition and pitfalls
    • What is the future environment for teams? (for example, virtual)
    • How to increase productivity for your team
    • Managing Difficult People, Managing High Achievers
  • For 2009 meetings:
    • How to get things done without blowing up your career
    • Choosing winners: how to pick initiatives and objectives for your team
    • Risk management
    • What your management really wants
    • How to negotiate for the resources your team needs

Our October 14th meeting will feature guest speaker Israel Gat, VP of R&D for Infrastructure Management at BMC Software, who will speak about "Leading Teams." His thoughts are noted on the blog: https://www.agilethinkers.com/2008/06/q1---israel-gat.html

Plan now to join us in October for a fantastic opening event for this series!

Sponsors Women in Engineering & Technology Management Council (Austin)
Topic/Title Leading Teams
Speaker Israel Gat, VP of R&D for BMC software
Date/Time Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Cost no charge
Reservations
Location Amplify, corner of Brockton and Burnet
Questions Leslie Martinich (lmartinich@ieee.org)

Contact Leslie Martinich (lmartinich@ieee.org) for more information about the Austin TMC.

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Technology Management Council - San Antonio
https://www.ewh.ieee.org/r5/central_texas/ems

October 14th:
We are pleased to have the opportunity through Brooks City-Base to hear Dr. Chip Heath (author of "Made to Stick") talk about how to make your message stick. The talk will begin at 3 PM. We can only accommodate a few more attendees, please RSVP as soon as possible to Roxanne.Constable@brooks.af.mil. There is limited seating and everyone must RSVP.

Contact Nils Smith (nils.smith@ieee.org) for information about the San Antonio TMC.

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Women in Engineering
https://www.austin-wie.org/

Sponsors Women in Engineering & Technology Management Council (Austin)
Topic/Title Leading Teams
Speaker Israel Gat, VP of R&D for BMC software
Date/Time Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Cost no charge
Reservations
Location Amplify, corner of Brockton and Burnet
Questions Leslie Martinich (lmartinich@ieee.org)

Women in Engineering has been an Affinity Group of the Central Texas Section since the Fall of 2002.

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3. News & Information

LOCAL TV REPORTS ON ENGINEERING, SCIENCE HIGHLIGHT IEEE TECHNOLOGIES THAT BENEFIT SOCIETY

WASHINGTON (30 September 2008) -- As part of its public-awareness program to promote engineering and technological literacy, IEEE-USA has helped to underwrite almost 600 local television news reports on engineering and science since 2005. The "Discoveries & Breakthroughs Inside Science" TV news reports are distributed to local U.S. television stations in more than 100 cities, transit systems in seven U.S. cities, as well as through the Voice of America and the Roo Online Video Network in more than 60 countries. Stations airing the IEEE-related spots include a mix of ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, Univision, cable and independent affiliates. IEEE-related technology stories have their own Web site at https://www.aip.org/dbis/IEEE .

Recent TV news reports on IEEE technologies that benefit society have included segments on:

  • Engineers who have created a model to forecast the progression of a future pandemic allowing researches to design the best way to distribute food and vaccines to those in need
  • Engineers who have invented a device to bring air samples into contact with genetically engineered biosensors to detect dangerous biological agents
  • Environmental scientists and engineers who have developed mathematical models to calculate the impact of pollution from Europe and Asia on areas in the United States
  • Chemists and engineers who have designed a technology that protects soil and helps promote plant growth to keep topsoil in place over the long term

IEEE-USA President's Column & blog

In his latest column, IEEE-USA President Russell Lefevre looks at the effects the "silver tsunami" -- when the first baby boomers began to retire and apply for Social Security benefits in late 2007 -- could have on the U.S. aerospace and defense work force. See: https://bmsmail3.ieee.org:80/u/12885/153286

Lefevre also blogs regularly on other topics of interest to U.S. IEEE members, including: sustainability, the presidential candidates' stances on high-tech issues, engineering salaries, career management, energy policy, and more. See: https://bmsmail3.ieee.org:80/u/12886/153286

Report: High-Tech Innovations Essential To Improve Cost and Quality of Health Care

The United States should develop a comprehensive strategy on the growing need for technological innovations to help prevent the impending economic crisis in health care, and to improve the quality and convenience of care, according to a report from the 2007 conference "Economic Strategy for Health Care through Standards and Technologies," convened by the Biotechnology Council and NIST, with support from IEEE-USA. See: https://bmsmail3.ieee.org:80/u/12888/153286

Online Resources Provide Presidential, Congressional Candidates' Stances on S&T Issues

Election Day, 4 Nov., is approaching quickly. Do you know where the congressional and presidential candidates stand on science, technology and engineering issues? If not, plenty of time remains to brush up before you head to the polls. This year, IEEE-USA joined with two nonpartisan coalitions -- ScienceDebate2008 and Scientists and Engineers for America (SEA) -- to urge candidates to answer questions on science, technology and engineering issues. Candidates' responses to this year's questions have been posted verbatim online to help voters with their decisions.

To view the Sen. McCain and Sen. Obama's respective answers to 14 questions posed by ScienceDebate2008, go to: https://bmsmail3.ieee.org:80/u/12893/153286

Check out SEA's online database, with information on every viable candidate for Congress this year, as well as presidential candidates, Sen. McCain and Sen. Obama, at: https://bmsmail3.ieee.org:80/u/12894/153286

The non-partisan Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) has also released a report providing a detailed comparison of the positions outlined by Presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama on important national innovation and technology policy issues. See: https://bmsmail3.ieee.org:80/u/12895/153286

If you have questions about SEA, ScienceDebate 2008 or the fall election, please contact IEEE-USA staffer Russ Harrison at r.t.harrison@ieee.org .

Sustainable World: IEEE Experts Advance Solutions to Water Shortage

Population increases and urbanization, especially along coasts, have compromised the worldÕs most precious resource: water. Read More at https://newsmanager.commpartners.com/ieeetw/issues/2008-09-24/1.html

Three Delivery Options for The Institute and IEEE Spectrum

You will have three subscription delivery options for receiving The Institute and IEEE Spectrum in 2009. For more information about these options, including how to choose one when you renew, visit https://bmsmail3.ieee.org:80/u/12570/40069599

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4. Local Conferences

5. Other Conferences

These conferences have been brought to our attention by section members

  • 2008 Workshop on Accelerated Stress Testing & Reliability - "Achieving Cradle to Grave Reliability using DFR and Accelerated Stress Testing" - will be held October 1 - 3, 2008 in Portland, OR

    Please visit our website at https://www.ewh.ieee.org/soc/cpmt/tc7/ast2008/ , and find out all of the important information for our 2008 conference. We are still soliciting presentations for the workshop (papers not required). Our conference is growing every year, and we hope to see you at the historic Benson Hotel in Portland in October.

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