As sure as the sun rises, I knew this time would come .... and it has. On January 1, with more than just a little apprehension on my part, the responsibilities of the Houston Section Chairmanship passed from Donald Dunn to me. For the past three years I have been closely involved with the Executive Committee and have had the opportunity to learn more about the size and breadth of this expansive IEEE organization. I've had the opportunity of attending two Region conferences and the International Congress last October in Washington DC. It seems, however, that the more I learn the more I see how much more there is to IEEE. But with the assistance of an extremely strong, talented and dedicated Executive Committee I'm confident we can continue to be one of the leading Sections in the country.

I’d like to pay tribute to Donald Dunn who has led the Section for the past 2 years. Most Section Chairs serve for a single term, and, from what I’m told, they are ready to pass the reins to their successor. But during his first term a situation arose that broke the normal order of succession of Executive Committee leadership, so Donald cared enough about the Section to stay on as Chair for a second term. During his 2-year tenure several key individuals were added to the Executive Committee who quickly caught the enthusiasm, zeal and commitment to carry on the programs that were initiated in the prior years. We're fortunate that Donald will be with us on the Excom for another year in the post of "Past Chair". (I’m thinking that since he served two terms as Chair he should now serve two terms as "Past Chair" -- but I may not prevail in this effort.)

Thanks, Donald, for your visionary leadership and commitment, from all of us in the Houston Section.

Every well run company or organization establishes goals and objectives which guide where they are going and how they are going to get there. The goals we have established each year have been instrumental in helping us achieve what we have over the past several years. During the January Executive Sessions we will be reviewing and finalizing our 2003 goals and they will be published both in the February PocketScope and here on the website. This is YOUR association and we urge everyone to send us your thoughts and ideas so they can be evaluated for inclusion in our Mission Statement and Goals. We have the opportunity to review our goals with our Region 5 Executive Committee on February 1.

2003 promises to be another exciting year for us. We kick off the general meetings with a very interesting and informative session on IEEE standards. Back as a young electronics technician (far too many years ago) my knowledge of IEEE was mostly about the IEEE standards that guided the electronics world I had entered. Daleep C. Mohla will make a presentation titled "The IEEE Process for Developing Standards". Mr. Mohla, who just recently retired from Dow Chemical after 27 years, will provide a step by step account of the requirements set by IEEE to generate one of their Standards. It will also include the time period allowed and the information of the representatives which must be contacted throughout the process. He is uniquely qualified in this area having served on the Standards Board and various Standards committee. The Section meeting is February 27 at the Hess Building. You get the presentation and the dinner FREE if you register at least 2 days prior to the event.