Please join the IEEE Richland Section’s Professional Activities Committee for Engineers (PACE) as we host

Russell T. Harrison

Legislative Grassroot Activities
March 16th, 2011

5:30 PM Pizza dinner*
6:00 PM talk

Consolidated Information Center (CIC) Room 217
Washington State University, Tri-Cities campus
(http://tricity.wsu.edu/student-affairs/directions.htm)

*Dinner is gratis for IEEE member, $5 for guests. There is no charge for the talk.
Please RSVP to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Abstract

It is a new year, and America has a new Congress. Even though it is early in the legislative year, we can already start to see which issues are likely to be hot in 2011, and which will be dropped from Congress’ agenda. Attitudes have shifted significantly in Washington on dozens of issues that matter to IEEE members: everything from nuclear power to NASA to K-12 science education. How will these changes affect you, your career and your profession?

Join IEEE-USA’s Senior Legislative Representative for grassroots activities Russ Harrison in a discussion about the November 2nd election and its implications for engineers. We’ll discuss energy reform, NASA, high-skill immigration and other issues of interest to technologists and what how the 2010 election will likely affect them. Then we’ll discuss what we, as engineers, can do about it.

Bio

Russell is the Senior Legislative Representative for Grassroots Activities for IEEE-USA, where he is responsible for helping IEEE members in the U.S. interact with, and ultimately influence, elected officials.

Since joining IEEE-USA in 2005, Russell has become one of the most sought-after speakers on the IEEE staff, having addressed nearly 150 local IEEE groups in the United States. His talks focus on current public policy issues, how they will impact the engineering profession and what individual engineers can do about them.

Russell has over 15 years of experience working with legislators at all levels of government on behalf of associations. Prior to IEEE-USA, Russell directed grassroots programs at the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries and the American Iron and Steel Institute. In these positions he represented the recycling and steel industries on Capitol Hill and in state capitols on a variety of issues as a professional lobbyist.

Russell has a BA in Political Science, with minors in History and Communications, from Allegheny College and a Masters in Public Policy from the University of Maryland. He earned his CAE certification in 2009.