Past Director's Report

One of our nine initiatives over the past two years was encouraging volunteerism, aiding our
members who want to give back to their profession and encouraging more members to think in
that vein.

As past director and chair of the Nominations and Appointments Committee, I have a vested
interest in encouraging members of the Region in finding a niche where they can contribute
and find satisfaction in doing it. If we have any members who want to 'test the waters' ever
so slightly, contact me and we will try to match you up with something you will have fun
doing.

As co-chair for the IEEE-USA Government Relations Committee I plan to keep you informed of
professional activities that are of interest to you, and that you can benefit from. An
upcoming opportunity is Congressional Visits Day, March 4-5, an annual event sponsored by the
engineering societies and the American Association for the Advancement of Physics - to
encourage federal funding of basic research where the payback time is too long to attract the
interest of industry. https://www.ieeeusa.org/policy/cvd/ The goal for the physical sciences
is to double the federal R&D investment over five years. This has already been accomplished
for life sciences. Budgets are tight as we face a recession, but innovation is the path to
prosperity and we need to keep the U.S. at the forefront.

Another event of interest, co-sponsored by IEEE-USA, is the 6th Annual Engineering R&D
Symposium , to be held in Washington, DC on May 6.
https://www.engineeringpolicy.org/RD_Symposium.cfm

This year, I am also serving on the Life Member Committee, which has a charter to receive
donations from interested members, evaluate proposals and disburse funds for the public good,
focusing largely on students who can be encouraged to become engineers.
https://www.ieee.org/portal/pages/committee/lmc/index.xml Life Member affiliate groups
established in sections help keep these experienced members active. They form a pool for
volunteers to section excoms and their meeting activity increases the section rebate. Only
six life members are needed to petition for the formation of a group. Dave McLaren is our
Region 3 Life Member Coordinator. d.mclaren @ ieee.org

Lastly, National Engineers Week is nearly upon us (17-23 February). https://www.eweek.org/
Sections planning some observance may find the attached overview of promotion of engineering
careers to students of interest. Please contact me with your questions, thoughts and ideas on
this or other topics mentioned.

January 19, 2008
George F McClure
g.mcclure @ ieee.org