The Region 5 Technical and Leadership Conference will be held in Baton Rouge April 11 – 13.  Your Executive Committee is pledged to keep abreast of the happenings in IEEE Regional and National and will all attend this important annual event.  Many of you will recall that the Houston and Galveston Sections cosponsored the Conference last year and for one, I can say that it will be a treat to be just an attendee without all the worries that come with hosting such an event.  We’ll report on the conference in next month’s PocketScope

Just a reminder of the April Section meeting. Todd Smithgall, Space Alliance’s Chief Architect will make a presentation on the project he is heading entitled ”Space Shuttle Cockpit Avionics Upgrade”.  Should be a good one. 

OTC is growing once again into a big event here in Houston.  In the late 70’s and early 80’s it was one of the main events to come to Houston.  With the oil bust the show took a big hit, but over the past couple of years it is rebounding very strong.  IEEE is one of the sponsors of the event and has a booth at the event.  This is a great opportunity to meet members and bring them up to date on what’s happening with IEEE here and nationally and to sign up new members to the organization.  This year’s show is at the Reliant Center on May 5-8 and we’ll need several members to help man the booth.  If you would like spend a few hours talking to fellow engineers please give John Lucey a call at 713-945-5923 or send an email to John.Lucey@CenterPointEnergy.com

Ned R. Sauthoff, Ph.D., Chair, IEEE-USA Nominations and Appointments Committee has issued a call for Nominations for several IEEE USA Positions to help in identifying U.S. IEEE members who may be interested in, and well-qualified for, service in the following IEEE-USA  offices:

•      IEEE-USA President-Elect (2005)

•      IEEE-USA Member-at-Large (2005-2006)

•      IEEE-USA Secretary-Treasurer (2004)

•      IEEE-USA Vice President - Career Activities (2004)

•      IEEE-USA Vice President - Member Activities (2004)

•      IEEE-USA Vice President - Professional Activities (2004)

•      IEEE-USA Vice President - Technology Policy Activities (2004)

These are the officers who direct the day-to-day operations of IEEE-USA, provide leadership for our volunteer committees, oversee their financial performance, and promote new entrepreneurial activities. Nominees must be IEEE Senior member grade or higher, and must be from IEEE Region 1-6. We are especially interested in nominations of Senior members who are also Graduates of the Last Decade (GOLD) members.

If you would like to be considered or know of someone that would please forward their names to me and I’ll take it from there. 

The Engineering department at the U of H has a new class for elite Senior Engineering Students and is looking for mentors in business for these students. This is a wonderful opportunity for practicing engineers to give back to the young engineers that will begin their careers in the next year. You may even find a prospective employee!   You can direct any questions about the program to Brad Miller at bradsmail@earthlink.net. Unfortunately, Brad says it is difficult to reach him at his office at school – though if you want to try the number is: 713-743-4186.  But email is probably the best. 

It’s not surprising, but good news, nonetheless, to note that most members value their membership in IEEE.  This is borne out by a recent study in which it was found that overall, 82 percent of the respondents to the 2002 Measures of Success survey indicated they are satisfied or highly satisfied with the IEEE. Publications ranked among the highest areas of member satisfaction in 2002 and membership renewal process also earned high marks, with 90.8 percent of respondents indicating satisfaction with it. You can read the rest of the results at http://www.theinstitute.ieee.org/inst_art.jsp?isno=03031&arnumber=03031_3w.featuresuccess&section=41.

For mid-level software professionals, passing the IEEE Computer Society Certified Software Development Professional (CSDP) exam could give them the edge on the competition. The test is being given from 1 April to 30 June at Prometric Testing Centers in various cities in the United States and Canada. Candidates also can take the test at centers in Brazil, China, Hungary, India, Ireland, Japan and Russia. Members can even take a pencil-and-paper version on 2 May at the Software Technology Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. To apply for the exam, visit http://www.theinstitute.ieee.org/inst_art.jsp?isno=03031&arnumber=03031_3w.deadlinescs&section=2