Eastern North Carolina Section Report

The Eastern NC Section of the IEEE has had a lively year. Our
Communications and Power Engineering Chapters have been meeting regularly,
and our Computer and Engineering in Medicine and Biology Chapters are
re-starting under new leadership after a period of inactivity. We also
have a group starting a new Electro-Magnetic Compatibility Chapter, which
will give us a total of five chapters covering eight IEEE societies.
Section meetings include our annual IEEE Family Day, to be held June 30 at
Durham Bulls Athletic Park. Hopefully, we can provide something for
almost every one of our 3000+ members. 

The ENCS had a major change in leadership in 1998. Two-term Chair Mike
Stember, as well as the Vice Chair Chalan Aras, both left the area to
pursue new careers out west. Upon Mike's recommendation, the section
excom asked Charles Lord, 1993 Section Chair and 1995 Southeastcon Chair,
to step in as interim Chair. Charles was elected into the position by the
membership and will serve for the rest of the year. The former Treasurer
was also removed from his office after he neglected to turn in the
1997 L-50 report and did not turn over the section financial records after 
numerous requests. The records were recovered by the Chair and new
Treasurer and a thorough audit was made of Section finances. Fortunately,
no irregularities were found and the L-50 was submitted to Piscataway. 

Irregardless of the personnel problems within the section, we are now
thriving with exuberant volunteers. All of the standing committees now
have a group of volunteers working to serve our membership and find new
ways to provide that service. New initiatives for 1998 include the
videotaping and distribution of section and chapter meetings for those
members in geographically isolated areas or in time conflict situations
with the live presentation. We are also developing short courses and
tutorials for our members, based on both the IEEE courses as well as
locally-generated courses. 

Strategic initiatives include our web project, continued Sections Congress
support, and the Southcon show. As the first section in the NC Council to
set up a web site, we have currently re-vamped our site while also
supporting those NC sections that do not otherwise have a web site by
providing them a site on our server. We currently host and maintain web
sites for the Western NC and Winston-Salem sections as well as the NC
Council (Charlotte and Central NC both have their own sites on the IEEE
Entity Hosting Server). This inter-sectional support and cooperation is
part of Dr. Silvia Middleton's TEAM NC, a new concept in Council teamwork
and mutual support. Our section is also making plans for SC99, having
sent a representative to all Sections Congresses, we recognize the power
and importance of this event. Last but certainly not least, we are
planning for the anticipated return of the Southcon trade show to our area
in 2000. The 1997 show was a new and exciting chapter in R3 and ENCS
history and we look forward to a long and rewarding relationship.

Our current officers are: 

Chair: Charles Lord
Treasurer: Lorrie Tomek
Secretary: Chris Seigl 

(the program chair responsibilities are currently being shared by Lorrie
Tomek and Communications Chapter Chair Thomas Powell) 

Come visit us at https://www.rtpnet.org/~ieee !!! 

--
Charles J. Lord, PE
c.j.lord@ieee.org