IEEE Atlanta Section Report, April 2013

In 2012, the Atlanta Section held a total of 57 technical, professional,
administrative and social meetings.

In 2013, we have so far hosted 17 meetings, including our annual banquet.

Most Fun Recent Activity:

Our annual banquet, with over 100 attendees, featured a guest speaker from the
Georgia Aquarium. His talk was entitled "Engineering the World's Largest
Aquarium" and was entertaining to both engineers and their companions.

Most Successful Recent Activity:

Atlanta has approximately 700 Computer Society members, but for the past
several years no one has been willing to take on Chapter leadership
responsibilities. In late 2012, new leadership was found and the CS Chapter
now has 4 active officers and has held 4 technical meetings, 2 in 2012 and 2
in 2013. The most recent meeting featured demos of robotics and automation --
several great demos were given; members even brought their children. We
anticipate the on-going growth of the CS Chapter in Atlanta.

Member Engagement Activities:

The Atlanta Section provides many opportunities for member engagement. STEM
activities occur throughout the year, hosted by both our WIE affinity group
and our K-12 Chair. One of our most recent events was an elementary school
science day, with over 1,000 students and parents in attendance. Over 30
science activities were presented. The event was sponsored by IEEE, but we
drew on many other societies/groups to help with leading the science
activities. In addition to STEM activities, in 2012 we hosted two Professional
Development meetings (Leveraging Linked-In, and Introduction to Intellectual
Property) and held a highly successful joint PACE/GOLD/Student interactive
networking workshop with modules covering Brain Shift, The Power of "Yes,
And", Active Listening, and Teamwork and Collaboration. The Atlanta Section
also joined with other Area 3 Sections to participate in our annual Area 3
picnic in Warner Robins, GA.

Section Activities Focused Outward:

As mentioned above, many of our member engagement activities are focused
outward. Many of these offer our members the opportunity to work on STEM
activities. We participate in Girl Scout events, local school science nights,
and provide judges for the Future Cities competition and the GA State Science
Fair. We team with other local technical societies outside of IEEE to let
members know about all opportunities which may be of interest. In 2013 we will
be hosting a Metro Area Workshop, which is open to both members and
non-members; we hope to gain new members thru the Workshop. We have also been
giving three annual $1600 scholarships to undergraduate students; earlier this
year the Section ExCom voted to increase those awards and just received
approval from MGA to do so -- we will be giving out four $2000 scholarships
starting this year (administered by the Georgia Engineering Foundation).

Barriers:

Our on-going barrier is identifying and recruiting volunteers.
	
Issues Requiring Action by the Region 3 ExCom or Committee:

No issues at this time.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the Atlanta Section by Jill Gostin,
Section Chair