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Young Engineering Students Feted for Innovative Ideas
Through its HP Innovate 2008 program, Hewlett Packard India has recognized and rewarded outstanding young engineering graduates as a way to build academic connections with universities. The winners were revealed at a recent ceremony in Bangalore, India, where the IIT Kharagpur team garnered first place for their research paper on Fuzzy Logic Based Protection for Image Resizing by Seam Carving. Meanwhile, other students presented their research papers on network security, multimedia and gaming and embedded technology, among other topics. Read more
Electronic Engineers Learn ‘Tools of the Trade’ in Cyberspace
Electronic engineering students may soon be learning the tools of their trade in cyberspace, thanks to a researcher at the University of Portsmouth, Hampshire, United Kingdom. Ifeyinwa Chika, a Ph.D. and Research Student in Portsmouth’s Electronic & Computer Engineering Department, is creating a program that will replace an entire electronics workbench with an online or ‘virtual’ laboratory learning environment. The program will allow students to construct and simulate electronic circuits in a realistic and convincing way by logging on to any computer with an internet connection to access the software. “This tool means students will have an electronics workbench at their fingertips,” she said. “The only difference is that it will be on a computer. It will help them grasp the fundamental concepts of electronics.” Read more
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Starting Salaries Higher This Year for New Grads
The average U.S. starting salary offer is higher for 2008 graduates than last year's alumni, according to a recent study by the National Association of Colleges and Employers. Hiring is expected to increase by eight percent. "Employers are showing interest in graduates from all sectors," says Nathan Lippe, Senior Career Adviser for CBcampus.com. "But, they're also seeing extra competition in certain fields. As a new graduate, your best bet is to research your industry and know what you're worth to get the most out of new job and salary prospects." Graduates with technical degrees, such as computer science majors, saw their average offers rise 7.9 percent to US$56,921. Collectively, engineering graduates enjoyed a 5.7 percent boost, with average offers of US$56,336. Specialized majors saw even higher increases. Read more
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Building the First “E-Varsity” in Nigeria
The transformation of the Rivers State University of Science and Technology (RUST) in Port Harcourt, Nigeria to become the first information technology-driven school in the country is underway, according to newly appointed Acting Vice Chancellor, Professor Barineme Fakae. The university is already in partnership with IT companies around the world and has established a portal that makes it mandatory for anyone conducting business with the school to do so online. The e-library project for the school now has more than 70,000 journals dating back to 1937. With the e-library, Fakae said the students and other users will have access to up-to-date books in all fields and be able to compete with their counterparts in any part of the globe. The university has already started discussions with Zinox Computers, Intel and Microsoft so the school's interactive portal is best utilized. A computer acquisition scheme, to make laptops available for all students and staff, is already underway, along with a plan for wireless internet service. Read more
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Carbon Footprint of The Man Calculated
The Man is not only keeping us down, he's got an annual 8.5 ton carbon footprint, more than double that of the average global citizen, according to a new paper released by a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA professor and his class. The Man, of course, is not actually a real person, but the way that counter-cultural Americans have referred to the system of established infrastructure in the United States. The MIT class, in a paper to be presented at the IEEE International Symposium on Electronics and the Environment later this month, estimated that no American could get their total share of energy usage below 130 gigajoules – more than twice the global average. This is because the basic infrastructure of the United States, including police, roads, libraries, courts and the military is allocated equally to all citizens of the country. When that load is added to the energy any one particular person consumes, each and every U.S. resident is carbon-heavier than other countries' citizens. Read more
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Job Forecast Still Sunny for Graduates
Ever notice that, even in the midst of an industry downturn, companies rarely suspend their campus recruiting efforts? That's because companies in cost-cutting mode will willingly trade the salaries of experienced employees for those of recent graduates. A Forbes.com article says that the newest entrants to the talent pool should ignore economic indicators such as the unemployment rate. "It's not unusual for the new college grad marketplace to not correspond with the economy at large," says Kathy Sims, Director of the Career Center at the University of California at Los Angeles, USA. "I've been in this for 30 years, and you rarely see a connection." Read more
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Virginia Tech IEEE Student Branch Named Society of the Year
The IEEE Student Branch at Virginia Tech, USA, has been named Society of the Year by the university’s Student Engineering Council. According to the council, the branch was awarded the honor because of their extensive accomplishments throughout the year. In this past year, the dedicated student members have started a Hands On Practical Electronics (HOPE) program and created two new societies: Women in Engineering and the Computer Society. The branch has also raised over US$2,500 for Relay for Life. Congratulations to the branch! Visit the Virginia Tech IEEE Student Branch web site.
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Foreign Student Survey Claims to Put People into ‘Tribes’
A survey conducted by a United Kingdom market research firm seeks to place foreign students into specific ‘tribes’ in an effort to uncover university choices of students from other countries. For the study, carried out by i-graduate, students were asked a series of questions relating to their country of study and college of choice, then placed into categories like the seeker, the Bono, gekko, kid and surfer. While the director of i-graduate claims the study acts as a way to prevent stereotyping, others say it promotes stereotypes. Read more
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Headset Seeks to Muffle MRI Sounds
A team of engineering students from the University of Florida, USA, has produced a headset geared towards lessening the traditional, industrial-sounding noises that go along with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examinations. Through the use of existing air phones, sound is transmitted through two tubes to small microphones attached to an amplifier and a signal processor several feet away. The noise is muffled once that processor makes contact with an algorithm and creates a sound signal that is opposite from the acquired signal. Read more
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High School Prepares Students for Hi-Tech Future
The Academy of Information Technology and Engineering in Connecticut, USA, prepares its students for the future by incorporating technology into every aspect of its curriculum. As a college preparatory magnet high school, the buildings are filled with natural daylight; students are given a laptop with WiFi Internet access onsite; and are offered a choice of more than 30 electives, including architectural design, CAD technology and civil engineering. Despite reports showing a decline in the technological know-how of U.S. students when compared to other countries, the school is seen by many of its students as providing a crucial training ground for future careers in engineering. Read more
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Xtreme Programming Contest Results Announced
IEEEXtreme 2008, a worldwide contest in which teams of student members, supported by an IEEE Student Branch, advised and proctored by an IEEE Member, compete to solve a set of programming problems, took place last month with over 350 participants on 130 teams from 31 countries. The first place winner was the University of North Texas, USA, with Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar and University of Cyprus coming in second and third, respectively. For complete results, read more
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UAE’s Higher Education Goals Continue to Increase
The growth of the United Arab Emirates’ higher education area has led top international universities to construct a base in the country and to indulge in the interests of UAE-based students. Some experts believe the propensity is a signal of how the search for knowledge serves both the federal and local government’s interests. Aside from public colleges, which teach roughly 38,000 UAE nationals, foreign universities are establishing themselves in larger numbers in the UAE to meet the rising demand for higher education. Several experts see the action as being a positive one for many students who now have greater access to educational opportunities. Read more
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