IEEE Presidents’ Change the World Competition
Are you making a positive impact on the world? To help celebrate 125 years of engineering the future, IEEE is hosting a global competition for students who develop unique solutions to real-world problems using engineering, science, computing and leadership skills to benefit their community or humanity. Winners could walk away with up to US$10,000 and a trip to the 2009 IEEE Honors Ceremony in Los Angeles, California, USA. The competition runs from 1 September 2008 to 28 February 2009. For more information, read the Competition Flyer
Also be sure to visit the IEEE 125th Anniversary Web site for information on how you can help celebrate IEEE’s 125th Anniversary
Electron Devices Society Announces 2008 Ph.D. Student Fellowship Winners
The IEEE Electron Devices Society has announced its 2008 Ph.D. Student Fellowship winners:
- Ahmed E. Islam, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA
- Jay Mody, IMEC, Leuven, Belgium
- Rusheng Wang, Peking University, Beijing, China
- Jiahui Yuan, Georgia Institute of Technology, USA
The winners will be honored on 15 December at the IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting in San Francisco, California, USA. The award, which includes a plaque and a check for US$7,000 for each student, is presented annually to promote, recognize and support Ph.D. level study and research within the IEEE EDS field of interest. Learn more
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AUB Summer Camp Builds Skills, Serves Communities
About 60 students from the American University of Beirut (AUB) have participated in a summer camp to gain hands-on civil engineering experience while doing community service. Volunteering in many villages in South Lebanon, students worked on various projects in landscape design, architecture, urban design, information technology and computer education, as well as civil and construction engineering. "Students are applying on the ground what they have been learning in the classroom," said Khaled Joujou, Lab Manager at the Department of Environmental and Civil Engineering. "They also learn how to deal with different cultures and societies,” he said, in part by having meals at the homes of villagers. Joujou cited a computer skills workshop scheduled for 15 participants but attended by 120 as an example of the camp’s success. Joining AUB in the initiative were non-government organizations Beit bil Jnoub and UN-Habitat, along with a number of municipalities from participating villages. Read more
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Survey Shows Green Technology Widely Used in Higher Education
Two-thirds of colleges and universities are leveraging green technologies to save energy and aid the environment, according to a recent study by member schools of the Association for Information Communications Technology Professionals in Higher Education (ACUTA). The launch of distance learning and online education programs are seen as essential to implementing energy saving measures, with 65 percent of schools surveyed buying new equipment and instituting these polices. Other widespread green initiatives include recycling computer and networking equipment, buying more energy efficient equipment, simplifying networks and revamping data centers to save energy. More innovative approaches are making use of alternative sources to provide electrical power on campus. Those that reported their schools were not yet green named a lack of budget funds and an inability to access energy efficient equipment. Read more
Learn more about green technologies in IEEE Xplore®
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Engineering Jobs Follow the Money, Should Students Do the Same?
It is no secret that engineering jobs move with the economy. After years of stagnant oil prices, money is now readily flowing into the oil field, with jobs for petroleum engineers up eight percent per year and earnings up a potential 25 percent over 10 years. Because engineering jobs move to where the money is in an economy, each kind of engineering has its own market with vastly different starting salaries. Civil, mechanical and industrial engineering have the most jobs, but median earnings are higher for petroleum, computer hardware and aerospace engineers. Students are encouraged to look at the complete picture of prospects when deciding on a career path and potential earnings, including the fact that almost half of all engineers eventually move to managerial, production and sales roles. Read more
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Tanzania Faces Shortage of Engineers
According to Steven Mlote, Tanzania’s Registrar of the Engineers’ Registration Board (ERB), the country will experience a shortage of at least 19,500 engineers this year. Currently capable of producing only 500 engineers from various institutions of higher learning and colleges against the required number of 20,000 per year, Mlote explained that under such circumstances one local engineer was obliged to serve more than 5,000 people against the stipulated international standard that requires one engineer to serve no more than 50 people. Mlote compared the local context with prevailing situations in other countries such as Vietnam, Malaysia, Australia and Japan whereby one engineer serves 760, 770, 65 and 54 people respectively. The Engineers’ Registration Board recommends that the country’s government and higher learning institutions create an environment in which more students would be encouraged and motivated to study subjects and courses related to engineering. Read more
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Students Develop Smarter Robots
Whether driving on the highway or walking down the street, we pick up on both deliberate signals and unconscious cues to predict what other people are going to do and act accordingly. Robots, however, have trouble following each other around, especially when a leader turns a corner and disappears from sight. Researchers at the University of California-Davis, USA, have come up with a control system that allows a robot to pick up on cues that the leader is about to turn, predict where it is going and follow it. The team of researchers for the project, which includes graduate student Michael Chueh and undergraduate students William Au Yeung and Calvin Lei, developed a control system that could take such behavioral cues into account in making decisions about which way to move. The students tested the system using a small commercially available robot, the Evolution Robotics Scorpion. The robot's camera could identify a target on the lead robot, and the robot's onboard computer could combine the target information with behavioral cue information. Read more
Learn more about smart robots in IEEE Xplore®
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Sunny Skies for Engineering and IT Graduates in Tough Job Market
Surveys show that hiring statistics are gloomy for graduates in business, finance, accounting and management, including those with advanced degrees. But according to Rich Milgram, CEO of Beyond.com, a global network of 15,000 job boards, engineering and IT may be the brightest spots. "For engineering, including computer science, the job market is excellent," says Ralph Mobley, Director of Career Services at Georgia Institute of Technology, USA. Mobley said that upon graduation in May 2008, nearly 72 percent of Georgia Tech’s engineering grads had job offers, as did 78 percent of its computing grads. “We pretty well reflect the national job market in engineering," he said. Graduates who do not have jobs lined up are encouraged to be flexible and expand their searches beyond original preferred locations or industries. Read more
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Makerere Students Team with Global Partners to Build Hybrid Concept Car
The Vehicle Design Summit Vision 200 concept car, a four-passenger hybrid power vehicle designed by a worldwide consortium of engineering students, is being showcased in Italy at the Torino Museum as part of the 2008 Dream Exposition. The only student-designed product at the show, the prototype will appear with vehicles from Ferrari, Fiat and other global manufacturers. Once ready for commercial production in 2010, the car is expected to reduce gas emissions and increase the efficiency of fuel consumption, achieving up to 50 kilometers per liter of fuel (31.07 miles per .26 gallons U.S.). An 11-person team from Makerere University in Uganda, East Africa is among the students from at least 27 leading technology research universities and colleges working on the car, with support from several private companies and institutions. The Makerere team has been tasked with building the main system of the car, developing the low power electronics and the data networking system for the vehicle. Read more
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OSU Students Set World Records with Unmanned Airplane
A team of Oklahoma State University, USA, aerospace engineering students have set world records for duration and closed course distance with their autonomous unmanned aerial vehicle, named Pterosoar-B. Once it is launched, the plane operates with autopilot software which is programmed to respond to disturbances the aircraft faces during flight. “We wanted to learn about the construction technology involved because unmanned planes can eventually do jobs that pilots are not needed for, such as border control and surveying,” said team leader Ryan Paul. Paul and two team members, Cody Pinkerman and Valentin Sanchez, began the summer of 2008 working 16 hours a day to build their airplane and modify the design to set the world record in the F8 category. Ph.D. student Joe Conner, an autopilot expert, helped with the project. The team said they will attempt to set the world record in the straight line distance category this fall. All records set in the aerospace field must be recognized by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale. Read more
Learn more about autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles in IEEE Xplore®
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