President's Message
This Newsletter column demonstrates one of the strengths of your CPMT Society. With the deadline looming and my schedule full, I asked a few of our regular contributors what they thought would be most the most important reminders for you, our members.
Vote and Renew
Marsha Tickman, our executive director, is stationed at IEEE
headquarters in New Jersey. She wants all members to remember:
1. Our Election ballots for CPMT Board of Governors will be mailed
by the time you read this. Please take a few minutes to review
the candidate information and vote. As a continuation of our globalization
effort there are 4 out of 10 candidates from outside the USA.
IEEE elections typically have low participation, but CPMTers are
typically more engaged. Let's try to get more than 20% to return
their ballots to show our respect for the volunteers that are
running. Remember your vote counts (they are mailed back to New
Jersey, not Florida).
2. IEEE membership renewal notices have been sent (via e-mail
or regular mail) recently. We all benefit if you stay active in
CPMT and hence IEEE. Please renew as soon as possible so you do
not forget as you become busy with the-year end celebrations.
Remind yourself of the advantages you experience through networking,
publications, continued education, and conferences. Most of us
are frugal engineers and we sometimes think delaying a necessary
expense is the same as saving money…please, don't delay.
Pink Slip Blues
Some of our volunteers suggested that employment is on the
minds of most of our members. For example, students are wondering
where the great job market of a few years ago has gone; well established
engineers are worried about the health of their company with full
knowledge that they are higher paid than most workers; and engineers
working in a host country are now feeling like they are "hanging
by a thread." In fact, if you are not a little concerned
about the immediate future of your career you must be a close
relative of your boss. IEEE-USA reports the unemployment for
EEs rose from 4.1 to 4.8% over a recent 3 month period. The other
95.2% are not unaffected but rather often see their salaries frozen
and their work load increase as their company struggles to survive.
How can CPMT help? In the past year we have described the
IEEE job search help found at [www.ieee.org/jobs] and the ability
to advertise your consulting services at [www.ieeeusa.org/consultants].
In addition, your activity within CPMT has resulted in a personal
network. By talking /e-mailing to those you have met at conferences
or with authors of publications in your areas of interest you
can find out which companies and fields are expanding and which
are contracting. Your CPMT colleagues will be glad to serve as
references in your job search and will often be aware of possible
job openings unknown to yourself. These employment downturns are
another reason you want to stay active in your CPMT Society. Remember,
you are not as alone as you first feel when your job disappears!
Too Many Packagers?
Related to the downturn in technology economic health, is the annual question "Are there too many/few Packaging and Component engineers?" From my position at a University that has a strong packaging/ component/ manufacturing program, the more pertinent question might be "Are engineers in this fast moving field keeping current enough to add value to their employer?" There are seldom too many value-adding engineers. Use every option you have (including CPMT activities) to keep current. However, this said, with the many telecommunication companies laying-off engineers there is certainly the appearance that we have too many engineers. However these perceptions are cyclic; in a few years we will see many editorials on the need to double the number of engineers.
Healthy Budget
In every IEEE candidates' position statement are comments on improving the balance sheet for the Institute. In contrast, your CPMT Society has maintained a healthy financial reserve for about 6 years (after near bankruptcy). We are continually modifying the way we budget publications, continued education, and conferences so that a small percentage (~10%) flows to a Society fund to support new initiates and our efficient infrastructure. However, as publications transform to the Internet and conference attendance fluctuates we must continue to refine our charging methods.
The Plot Thickens
Several of the articles in this Newsletter and many papers in our transaction are addressing the issue of when System-on-a-chip or System-in-a-package are advantageous. This is one of the exciting themes currently in our field. Enjoy.
--Rao Tummala, President of CPMT Society