Teams from Four Countries Register for Formula Hybrid Competition
Sixteen teams from Canada, Russia, Taiwan and the United States have registered for the 2008 Formula Hybrid International Competition, sponsored by the IEEE and SAE International. The competition will take place at the New Hampshire International Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire, USA, 5-7 May 2008. The event, which challenges college and university students to design, build and race high-performance hybrid vehicles, also includes a fuel efficiency component. Visit the competition website
Afghan Military Academy Graduates First Class of Soldier Engineers
The National Military Academy of Afghanistan, established in 2005 on the site of a former Soviet air academy in Kabul, will soon graduate its first class of engineers. Modeled after West Point, with dozens of its graduates as faculty advisors, the academy strives to create a professional army officer corps that supports Afghanistan’s newly drafted constitution and trains engineers to help rebuild roads, bridges and an electricity grid ravaged by war. The initial 109 graduates, who all have had three years of foreign language instruction, will earn Bachelor of Science degrees in majors like civil, mechanical, systems and information systems engineering. They will be commissioned as second lieutenants in Afghanistan’s national army and serve 10 years on active duty in exchange for the no-cost education they received. Read more
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Student Branch Sparks Interest in IEEE
The IEEE student branch at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts, USA, knows how to make the sparks fly. In November, the branch held its second annual Spark Party – so named because it features demonstrations of devices that generate electricity, along with lots of electric sparks. “The event represents the best things about electrical engineering,” said branch chair Briana Morey, who was instrumental in organizing the party, which proved to be a successful member recruitment and retention tool. A pair of 1.5-meter-tall Tesla coils was the hit of the night. Named after its inventor, Nikola Tesla, a Tesla coil is a type of resonant transformer that produces electricity at high voltage. IEEE Senior Member Rick Ladroga turned on the Tesla coils, set about 1.8 meters apart, and generated gigantic sparks that arched between the coils and cracked with noise. It looked and sounded like “continuous lightning bolts,” said Morey. Read more
See pictures from the event
See articles on the Tesla coils in IEEE Xplore
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Student Programming Contest Coming
IEEEXtreme, the 24-hour online programming contest for IEEE student branches worldwide, will be held on 8 March 2008. The contest features teams of IEEE student members, supported by a Student Branch and advised by an IEEE Member, competing in a 24-hour time span against each other to solve a set of programming problems. More information about the contest, as well as flyers to advertise IEEEXtreme at IEEE Student Branches, can be found at the IEEEXtreme homepage.
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Electrical Engineering Professor Named IEEE Fellow
Electrical and computer engineering professor, Pam Cosman was recently named an IEEE Fellow for her contributions to image and video compression and wireless communications. Cosman is a Professor at the University of California, San Diego, USA, and the Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications. Some of her current projects include video compression with multiple frame prediction, video compression for heterogeneous rate-switching networks, bandwidth allocation among source coding, channel coding and spreading in CDMA systems, machine vision applied to automatic tracking and classification of mutant nematodes, and visibility of packet losses in compressed video. Learn more
295 new Fellows were named. View list
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What Every Engineer Needs to Know About Leadership and Management
Landing the perfect engineering job often means being able to showcase key leadership and management skills, according to an article from IEEE-USA Today’s Engineer. Most engineering positions will require engineers to negotiate, plan, influence, direct, estimate and resolve conflicts – all important management skills. The technical skills that an engineer’s job requires are often only a small percentage of the competencies that are needed to be successful. As engineers advance, leadership and management competencies become more important, regardless of whether or not they are on the “management” track. Learn more
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ICT Deployment Urged Despite Barriers
Sustainable development of science, technology and mathematics education in Nigeria is hindered by a range of obstacles discussed in a recent paper published by Dr. Ayodele Ogunleye, Dr. C.O. Oke and Dr. B.F. Adeoye, all of the University of Lagos. Inadequate funding, poor infrastructures and a lack of materials, relevant curriculum and teacher training are cited as some of the problems plaguing the country’s educational system. The team recommends e-learning as a solution, although current access to the telephone lines and internet needed for information and communication technologies (ICT) is low and costs to implement and maintain the technologies are high. Institutions of higher education and private companies within the region are urged to prioritize investments to accelerate both the availability of e-learning programs, as well as the development of teacher education programs critical to the successful use of ICT. Read more
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Canadian CPRGlove to Get U.S. Clinical Trials
Corey Centen and Nilesh Patel, electrical and biomedical students at McMaster University, will see their invention – a glove designed to guide users correctly through cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) – undergo clinical trials at The University of Pennsylvania in early 2008. Known for supporting innovation, the Ontario Centers of Excellence is giving US$80,000 to Atreo Medical Inc. (founded by Centen, Patel and Sarah Smith) to help the company develop and market the product for sale. Using an LCD screen and sensors, the CPRGlove can be used in CPR training and testing, as well as real emergencies. The CPRGlove was recently selected by Time Magazine as one of the best health inventions of 2007. Read more
See related content in IEEE Xplore
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Innovation in Engineering Education Prize Awarded to Colorado Professors
Lawrence Carlson and Jacquelyn Sullivan, faculty members at the University of Colorado at Boulder, have won the 2008 Bernard M. Gordon Prize, the National Academy of Engineering’s top educational honor. The US$500,000 award recognizes their founding of the Integrated Teaching and Learning (ITL) Program to offer interdisciplinary, hands-on learning throughout K-16 engineering education in the Boulder area. The focal point for the program is the ITL Laboratory, which promotes engineering’s human connections through real-world problem solving in open, interactive and experimental spaces. In addition to inspiring CU-Boulder engineering students, the program offers weekly classes to 1,700 local public school students in grades 3-12. The ITL team also helped develop national programs for K-12 engineering education and the TeachEngineering digital library of lessons and activities, which is free to educators worldwide. Read more
Find out more about IEEE's role in programs for K-12 students
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Entrepreneurial Skills Through India’s MSMEDI Program Developed
India’s drive toward fast-paced industrialization is creating a number of business and employment opportunities in the country’s small and medium enterprise sector. In response to this trend, the Micro Small and Medium Enterprises Development Institute (MSMEDI) of the Union MSME (Micro Small and Medium Enterprises) Ministry is offering a business skills program that helps technically trained entrepreneurs develop the skills needed for success in a changing work environment. The 22-day program covers a variety of potential sectors in emerging industries, including product process design, manufacturing, quality management, export opportunities, marketing and the preparation of projects with field-level exposure. The MSMEDI is currently conducting the program at the Bhubananda Orissa School of Engineering and is in discussions to bring the program to other institutions in India. Read more
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IEEE Foundation Announces 2008 Grant Deadlines
The IEEE Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the IEEE, is now accepting 2008 grant applications for new and innovative projects. Committed to improving the technological literacy of society from childhood through adulthood, the IEEE Foundation awarded more than US$250,000 in grants during 2007 to projects supporting the advancement of the engineering field. During 2008, unsolicited applications will be accepted from IEEE units and other organizations working in areas of relevance and importance to the IEEE and its membership. Projects should achieve one or more of the following objectives:
- Improve primary and secondary science, technology and math learning
- Encourage pre-university students to consider engineering as a career path
- Increase the public’s understanding of the role of engineers and technology in society
- Preserve the history of IEEE-associated technologies
- Tap the technological expertise of IEEE members
- Demonstrate ability to be replicated
Application deadlines:
18 April 2008 for June Consideration
5 September 2008 for November Consideration
All applications will be considered for funding by both the IEEE Foundation Board of Directors and the IEEE Life Members Committee. Questions should be directed to the IEEE Foundation Administrator at +1 732 981 3435 or foundation-office@ieee.org.
Learn more
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