A Newsletter of the Central Texas Section (www.ieee.org/CTS) of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, Inc.
Published monthly (Deadline is the 25th day of the previous month), John R. Purvis, Editor (j.purvis@computer.org).

Quick Links

Section Activities	Chapter Activities
The Chairman's Column	Joint Communications / Signal Processing Societies	Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society
The Next Section Meeting	Computer Society	Power Engineering Society
Other Important Events and Notes of Interest	Consultant's Network	Women in Engineering
Editor's Notes	Electromagnetic Compatibility Society	Joint Solid-State Circuits / Circuits and Systems Societies
Email List	Engineering Management Society	Laser and ElectroOptics Society
	Product Safety Society	Student Branches

The Chairman's Column

SPRING PLANNING MEETING - JANUARY 17TH

The Section's Spring Planning Meeting will be held on January 17th, 2004 in San Marcos at the Quality Inn (on HWY 35, exit 205). At this meeting all Section Officers, outgoing and incoming, plus each chapter and student branch leaders, will present their presentations on results of 2003 and plans for 2004.

All IEEE Central Texas Section Officers & Staff, All Chapters, Affinity Groups, and Student Branch Officers plus any IEEE member interested in the activities of the Central Texas Section are invited to participate. The meeting will begin at 9 am and conclude around 3 pm. Lunch will be served. Coffee will be provided and you may bring Danish or juice. We had a good 2003 and plan on having an equally good year in 2004, so come and be a part of one of the IEEE's best sections in the World.

NEW SECTION OFFICERS

The following slate was nominated by the Nominations Committee and will be elected by acclamation at the upcoming January Section Planning Meeting:
Chair - John Purvis (Austin)
Vice Chair (San Antonio) - Clif Denny
Vice Chair (Austin) - Sherry Gillespie
Secretary - Tony Petro (Austin)
Treasurer - Garrett Polhamus (San Antonio)

THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES

It's been my pleasure to serve as your Chairman this past year. I look forward to an equally active and exiting times in the years ahead. I know that the Section Leadership will be in good hands in 2004.

As Always

We continue to work to get you more involved in your professional association. We always welcome your feedback (s.atkinson@ieee.org). Please let all our leaders know how we are doing and please feel free to make any suggestions or recommendations.

T. Scott Atkinson
Chairman

Upcoming Section Meetings

• Thursday, January 15 - Joint Section meeting with EMB Society. See details in the EMB Chapter information later in this newsletter
• Saturday, January 17 - Spring Planning Meeting
  To be held in San Marcos at the Quality Inn (on HWY 35, exit 205). All Section Officers, past Section Chairs, Chapter Officers, and Student Branch officers are invited. Each Chapter and Branch will make a short presentation on their activities during 2003 and plans for 2004.
• Thursday, January 22 - Joint meeting with San Antonio AIAA, ASME, ASM, and IEEE
  Topic: Southwest Research Institute's Testing and Modeling Support of the Columbia Investigation
  Southwest Research Institute played an important role in the Columbia accident investigation. The talk will describe the Institute's work and discuss our results. We performed both impact tests at our Ballistics Range and analysis of impact events. High speed video footage of impact tests and computer animations of the large scale numerical simulations will be shown. Details of this work can be found at www.swri.edu/3pubs/ttoday/fall03/LeadingEdge.htm.
  Speaker: Dr. James D Walker, Staff Scientist, Southwest Research Institute program on Space Shuttle Tile tests conducted at SwRI.
  Time: 6:00 PM
  Cost: $18.00 members ($20.00 non-members)
  Location: Randolph AFB Officers Club
  Reservations: RSVP to Pat Kotara at PMKotara@cps-satx.com (preferred) or 353-3634. Limited seating. Reservations must be made by January 19th. Due to security considerations, walk-ins will not be allowed.

Other Important Events and Notes of Interest

U.S. IEEE Members' Median Income Tops $100,000, IEEE-USA Salary Survey Reveals

The median salary for U.S. IEEE members topped $100,000, according to the latest IEEE-USA Salary & Fringe Benefit Survey.

Median incomes from primary sources - base pay plus any self-employment income, commissions, or bonuses - for U.S. members working full time in their area of professional competence increased from $93,100 in 2000 to $101,000 in 2002. When accounting for inflation and stated in 2000 dollars, 2002 purchasing power was $96,677, an increase of 3.8 percent.

The survey also mirrors recent unemployment trends. The number of members reporting involuntary unemployment jumped from less than one percent in 2001 to four percent in 2003. This is the highest level of member unemployment ever recorded, more than double the levels reached in the recession periods of the mid-1970s and early 1990s. Nevertheless, U.S. IEEE members were out of work at a much-lower rate than their non-IEEE counterparts.

The U.S. Department of Labor reported that the unemployment rates for all electrical and electronics engineers reached an all-time high of 7.0 percent in the first quarter of 2003, and stood at 6.7 percent in the third quarter. The third-quarter jobless rate for computer hardware engineers increased to 6.9 percent, while the rate for network and computer systems administrators reached 7.6 percent.

The Web-based survey is based on 2002 data from the largest number of complete responses (11,137) since the survey was first administered in 1973, and is the IEEE's most accurate portrait of U.S. member compensation. The survey can be taken any time, and members who do so receive free one-year access to the IEEE-USA Salary Service. This career-management tool, along with the survey, is available at https://www.ieeeusa.org/careers/salary/. It provides U.S. IEEE members with an individual salary calculator for each year they take the survey, and additional features - such as a personal salary history - are scheduled for introduction in 2004.

IEEE-USA Calls on Congress to Enact L-1 Visa Legislation to Protect U.S. and Foreign Workers

Congress should enact legislation requiring that the use of L-1 visas not displace U.S. workers, according to a position recently adopted by IEEE-USA.

L-1 visas, which have no annual limit, were originally intended to enable multinational corporate executives, managers and employees with special skills to work temporarily at subsidiaries in the United States. The program is increasingly being used, however, to move foreign guest workers into the country as a source of lower-cost contract labor, resulting in the displacement of U.S. workers. Several foreign corporations have established U.S. subsidiaries for that specific purpose. The L-1 visa has become more attractive since the annual limit on H-1B visas fell to 65,000 on 1 Oct.

A 2003 General Accounting Office report cited State Department figures showing that the number of L-1 visas issued rose from 38,307 in FY 1998 to 57,721 in FY 2002. This increase parallels the rise in U.S. high-tech unemployment. In 1997, electrical and electronics engineers were unemployed at a rate of 1.0 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. By the third quarter of this year the figure was 6.7 percent.

IEEE-USA is also urging Congress to require U.S. companies to pay L-1 visa holders prevailing U.S. wages and establish other appropriate safeguards for U.S. and foreign workers. The entire position statement is available at https://www.ieeeusa.org/forum/POSITIONS/L1visa.html.

2004 CPS Electric Service Standards

Copies of the newly adopted 2004 edition of the CPS Electric Service Standards are available in San Antonio at the following locations:
1. CoSA Business and Development Center (One Stop Center) 1901 South Alamo Street
2. CPS Gugert Storeroom (Meter Can Distribution Center) 100 Gugert Street
3. City Hall (2nd floor, City Clerk's Office) 100 Military Plaza (Corner of South Flores and Commerce)
4. Eastside Service Center 4919 East Houston Street
5. Northside Service Center 2362 North West Loop 410
6. Southside Service Center 7242 South Zarzamora Stree
The 2004 CPS Electric Service Standards are effective January 1, 2004. If you have any question please contact Geraldine M. Flores at 210-353-3381 or Tony Valdez at 210-353-2988.

2004 ACM/IEEE International Workshop on Timing Issues in the Specification and Synthesis of Digital Systems (TAU 2004)

The IEEE Circuits and Systems Society will sponsor the conference entitled "2004 ACM/IEEE International Workshop on Timing Issues in the Specification and Synthesis of Digital Systems (TAU 2004) (#9713)". This conference will be held February 2-3, 2004 in Austin, TX.

For further information, please contact, Mr. Charles J. Alpert, 11501 Burnet Road, MS 904-6G016, Austin, TX 78758, +1 512 838 1045, +1 512 838 4036 (Fax), alpert@us.ibm.com, or Conference Services Dept., at IEEE Operations Center at +1 732 562 3878.

INTRODUCE A GIRL TO ENGINEERING DAY CELEBRATED GLOBALLY

Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day, now in its fourth year, is slated for 26 February 2004. Girl Day encourages engineers, particularly women engineers, to make the world of engineering come alive for young females. Since its inception, an estimated one million girls have experienced engineering firsthand each year, with more than 110 organizations participating in 2003. To learn more and for suggestions on how you can participate, visit: www.eweek.org/site/News/Eweek/girlsday.shtml.

IEEE Virtual Museum - World War II: How War Impacted Technology; How Technology Impacted War

The IEEE Virtual Museum (www.ieee.org/museum) takes a look back at a tumultuous time in history with its latest exhibit, World War II: How War Impacted Technology; How Technology Impacted War. Visitors to the site can read a primer on the causes of the war and explore some of the technologies that transformed the way war was fought, such as the airplane, aircraft carriers, and the submarine. Also, they'll learn about the technologies that grew out of wartime urgency--radar, the jet engine, nuclear weapons, and rocket technology. In addition, they'll find out about the people serving on the battlefields and on the home fronts who created and used technology in new and innovate ways, setting the stage for the technology boom in the latter half of the 20th century.

2004 IEEE International Symposium on Performance Analysis of Systems & Software (ISPASS)

IEEE Computer Society will sponsor the conference entitled "2004 IEEE International Symposium on Performance Analysis of Systems & Software (ISPASS)" (Meeting #9780). This conference will be held on March 10-12, 2004 in Austin, TX.

For further information, please contact, IEEE Computer Society, Conference Services, 1730 Massachusetts Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20036-1992, +1 202 371 1013, +1 202 728 0884 (Fax), or Conference Services Dept., at IEEE Operations Center at +1 732 562 3878.

2004 IEEE Region 5 Technical Conference

The 2004 IEEE Region 5 Technical Conference will be held in Oklahoma City, OK, April 2-4, 2004. Student and general IEEE members are invited to submit original and high-quality papers for presentation and publication in the 2004 Region 5 Technical Conference Record. The technical program will be organized around the following three engineering tracks:
• Computer & Circuit Applications
• Biomedical Engineering
• Power & Industrial Applications
Abstracts must clearly and concisely state the specific results, why they are important, and how they relate to prior work. Authors must indicate for which track their paper is being submitted. Please limit abstracts to one page. The technical committee must receive abstracts electronically no later than 10 November 2003. All papers will be presented during the Technical Conference on Friday, 2 April 2003.

Please submit abstracts tonita.patel@ieee.org. All submissions will be acknowledged by e-mail within two weeks of receipt. Further information can be found [here].

Foundations for Ethical Education in a Post-Enron Age

On April 16, 2004, the Murchison Chair of Free Enterprise at the University of Texas at Austin will co-sponsor a conference entitled "Foundations for Ethical Education in a Post-Enron Age." The IEEE Society for the Social Implications of Technology will co-sponsor invited talks on engineering ethics, and the SSIT Spring Board of Governors meeting will be held in conjunction with the conference on April 17. For more information on the conference, including a call for papers, see https://www.engr.utexas.edu/cofe/ethics2004.

The Texas Symposium on Software Engineering (TSSE) Austin, Texas, August 27-28, 2004

TSSE is a new software engineering conference, providing a forum for managers, practitioners, researchers and educators to discuss the most recent trends, experiences and concerns in the field of software systems engineering. In order to accelerate community learning, this conference will focus on identifying and discussing successes, failures and lessons learned in software systems development. This will help crystallize the critical issues impacting software engineering professionals and their organizations for the next decade.

TSSE will be held at the UT Pickle Research Campus (Commons Building) in Northwest Austin, TX. For more information about the location venue please see: https://www.utexas.edu/facilities/commons/attendees.html

For more information about this conference as it becomes available, please check the UT ARISE web site later this year at: https://www.ece.utexas.edu/arise/

2004 IEEE Workshop on Signal Processing Systems

The 2004ÊIEEE Workshop on Signal Processing Systems (SiPS' 04) is an annual workshopÊ that is co-sponsored by the Signal Processing Society and the Circuits and Systems Society.Ê SiPS' 04 will be held in Austin, Texas on October 13-15.

2004 IEEE Information Theory Workshop

he IEEE Information Theory Society will sponsor the conference entitled "2004 IEEE Information Theory Workshop (ITW) (#9676)". This conference will be held October 24-29, 2004 in San Antonio, Texas.

For further information, please contact, Ms. Sonny C. Matous, Texas A&M University, Electrical Engineering Dept., Room 237 WERC, College Station, TX 77843 3128, +1 979 862 8657, +1 979 862 4630 (Fax), sonny@ee.tamu.edu or Conference Services Dept., at IEEE Operations Center at +1 732 562 3878.

IEEE Rural Electric Power Conference

The IEEE Industry Applications Society will sponsor the conference entitled "2005 IEEE Rural Electric Power Conference". The conference will be held May 8-10, 2005 in San Antonio.

Information Theory Workshop

The 2004 Information Theory Workshop will be held in San Antonio, Texas October 24-29, 2004

Kudos

• After a quick scan of the summary report, it appears that our Section has again lead the whole world in Senior Member upgrades with a wopping 98 qualified members being upgraded in 2003

Central Texas Section Society and Affinity Group Chapter Activities

Communications/Signal Processing Societies Topic: Simplifying Carrier Networks LEC/CLEC Networks Then LEC/CLEC Networks Now Carrier Networks - Laying the Foundation Calix Networks C7 Simplified Services Platform Optionality and Capital Efficiency Architecture Applications Carrier Networks - Future Speaker: D. Todd Murphy, P.E., Director of Sales - Major Accounts, Calix Networks Date: Thursday, Jan 15 Time: 6:30pm - 9:00pm Location: SBC Laboratories, Inc. (SBC-TRI) 9505 Arboreturm Blvd., Austin, TX Reservations: If you plan to attend, please send Email to Howard Headrick at hfrjr@swbell.net for planning purposes.

Computer Society - San Antonio [for more information] Topic: No meeting planned for January Speaker: Date: Time: 6:30 - Social; 7:00 - Dinner; 8:00 - Program Cost: $10 for members, $13 for non-IEEE members, $2 for students Reservations: RSVP to Kevin Nickels 210-999-7543 Location: Skyline Room, Coates Center, Trinity University, San Antonio, TX

Computer Society - Austin [for more information] PLEASE CHECK WEB SITE BEFORE THE MEETING Topic: Application Specific DRAMs Speaker: Betty Prince, CEO, Memory Strategies International Date: Wednesday, January 28 Time: 6:30pm Location: TBD - check Chapter web page

Consultant's Network [for more information] Officers for 2004 will be elected at the January meeting Topic: Confluence - an Electronic Design Automation Alternative Speaker(s): Jim Brakefield with IEEE Date: Thursday, Jan 8 (2nd Thursday) Time: 6:30pm - Networking, 7:00pm - Program Location: China Star Restaurant, 6134 Hwy 290E, Austin, Texas, located at the north east corner of IH-35 and 290E The consultants' web directory has been updated. The directory is to be found at https://www.alesu.com/xltrp/ieeecons/listzero.htm

Electromagnetic Compatibility Society [for more information] Topic: TBD Speaker: TBD Date: TBD Time: 6:30 Social, 7 PM Lecture Location: National Instruments

Engineering Management Society [for more information] No meeting planned for January If you are interested in the Engineering Management Society, contact Steve Prough, Vice-Chairman, sdprough@aol.com.

Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society Topic: Telemedicine - A Case for Medical Technology Management The global desire to access the quality and the scope of health-care services offered by the tertiary medical centers is continuously growing. This desire is becoming more evident as communities subjected to geographical isolation are joining in the victorious global telecommunication crusades. Recent developments in the telecommunications, information technology and medical devices fields hold the promise of improving access and utilization of healthcare related sources. Yet without a proper understanding of the technology management issues, resources required, national policies, and of the community needs, the probability of implementing a successful telemedicine program is null. Telemedicine is an emerging industry with the potential to revolutionize the delivery of care to the benefit of health-care systems, providers, and patients. Future expansion will deliver services to the benefit of providers, economy, and patients. This presentation will share with the audience current issues associated with the management of biomedical engineering technology as highlighted through the implementation of international telemedicine programs. Speaker: Dr. YADIN DAVID, P.E., H.S.P., F.A.I.M.B.E., F.A.C.C.E. Date: Thursday, Jan 15 Time: Social 6 PM, Dinner 6:30 PM, Meeting 7:15 Cost: TBD Reservations: David G. Kilpatrick, P.E., 210-6951406, d.kilpatrick@ieee.org, or John R. Purvis III, P.E., 512-823-7654, j.purvis@computer.org, before 1/13 Location: Palmer's, 216 West Moore, San Marcos, 512, 353-3500, www.palmerstexas.com/map.html For information contact David Kilpatrick

Power Engineering Society [for more information] Topic: TBD Speaker: TBD Date: TBD Time: TBD Cost: $10, free for students Reservations: For further information, please contact Susan Thompton or Steve Kanetsky, at 512-326-3380 Location: El Gallo Mexican Restaurant, 2910 S. Congress Ave, Austin, TX

Women in Engineering [for more information] Topic: My Life in Program Synthesis Speaker: Elaine Kant, Ph.D., founder and president of SciComp Inc. Date: Tuesday, January 6, 2004 (1st Tuesday, bi-monthly) Time: 6:00-8:00pm Location: La Madeleine Cafe, 3418 N. Lamar at 35th St. 512-302-1486 The WIE Officers for 2004 are: Sherry Gillespie, Chair, Vicki Almstrum, Vice-Chair, and Anne Rudack, Secretary/Treasurer.Ê

Joint Solid-State Circuits / Circuits and Systems Societies Topic: No meeting planned for January Speaker: TBA Date: TBA Time: TBA Location: TBA For further information, contact Gerald Garcia at gerald.garcia@ieee.org

Product Safety Engineering Society (currently meeting as a Working Group under the EMC Society TC-8 Product Safety Technical Committee) Topic: TBA Speaker: TBA Date: Jan 27 (4th Tuesday of the month) Time: 6:30pm Location: Crossroads Systems, 8300 N. Mopac The new Product Safety Engineering Society provides a forum for the exchange of ideas, techniques and information in all aspects of product safety, regulatory compliance and related professional issues. The Central Texas chapter meets monthly for presentations and discussions relating to those subjects. The meeting is open to all interested parties at no charge. Of special value is the wide knowledge base of the recognized product safety professionals who regularly attend and present at the meetings, providing information and relating their experiences to the group. We encourage you, others in your organization, or other interested parties to participate in our meetings every month. The PSES meets at Crossroads Systems, 8300 N. MOPAC in Austin, on the fourth Tuesday of every month except in November/December. A combined monthly meeting is held in early December to allow members and guests to enjoy the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. For further information about the PSES, please contact Dale Ritzen at (512) 651-5338. Learn more at https://www.theinstitute.ieee.org/inst_art.jsp?isno=09031&arnumber=09031_9w.newssociety§ion=5

Laser and Electro-Optics Society Topic: Laser-Nanosphere Interaction and Its Applications for Nanoscale Materials Processing Fabrication technology on the nanometer scale has attracted much attention in the last decade due to the industrial demand for smaller and smaller structures for the manufacture of quantum devices and extremely high-density recording media. As a result, a lot of structuring techniques such as lithography and ion beam patterning have been investigated for nanofabrication. However, most of these techniques are limited either by their inability for large-area fabrication or by the optical diffraction limit and in most cases the high manufacturing costs. In this talk, I will introduce a new nano-patterning technique-"Nano-manufacturing using Near-Field Laser Optics (Nano-NFL)" based on laser-nanosphere interactions. To achieve the near-field effect, a monolayer of silica nanospheres was formed on a silicon substrate by self-assembly. By shining the laser beam through the monolayer of nanospheres, nano-patterns (holes or bumps) can be produced directly on the silicon substrate in a massively parallel fashion. We also applied Nano-NFL for direct nano-patterning of glass using a visible laser beam of nanosecond pulse width. It is found that non-linear absorption in the optical near-field is the primary reason for the creation of nano-features on glass. Nano-patterned substrates can be used for growing isolated quantum-dots or for single molecule study. Speaker: Professor Shaochen Chen from the Mechanical Engineering Department of UT Austin Date: Thursday, January 22 Time: 10:00AM Location: MERB2.114 (Pickle Research Campus, Burnet Rd., Building 160) For information contact Ray Chen raychen@uts.cc.utexas.edu.

CTS Student Branches St. Mary's University [for more information] Trinity University University of Texas at Austin [for more information] University of Texas at San Antonio [for more information]

Editor's Notes

The goal of this newsletter is to provide the more than 4700 members of the Section with up-to-date and meaningful information. We welcome contributions and suggestions that will improve the newsletter. Please contact the editor, John Purvis at j.purvis@computer.org if you have any thoughts or suggestions. The deadline for submission is the 25 th of the month.
 

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