Summer is out, school is getting back in session, and the Houston Section will begin the second half of 2004.  We’ve had a great year so far, and I expect greater things for the second half of the year.  Thank you all for your efforts and contributions.  We have several activities, as well as some interesting speakers lined up for the remainder of the year.  Come and join us at the next section meeting on September 23, 2004!           

The speaker for the September meeting will be Darby Vicker.  Since graduating from Iowa State University in May 2000, Darby has been working in the Applied Aeroscience and CFD group, EG3, at NASA’s Johnson Space Center.  His experience includes applying the Chimera CFD technique to the X-38 Crew Return Vehicle and the Space Shuttle Launch Vehicle.  The topic of discussion at the section meeting is titled “Computational Fluid Dynamics Analysis for the STS-107 Accident Investigation and Return-To-Flight Effort.”   

Our 3^rd Annual IEEE-Houston Scholarship Golf Tournament is fast approaching.  Mark your calendars and set aside October 15 to participate in this event.  Proceeds from the event will go to providing $1,000 scholarships to Section member family and children.  Due to the success of the 2^nd Annual Scholarship Tournament, we will be awarding five (5) scholarships this year and look forward to increasing that number further in 2005.  Come join us for a wonderful time.  We need your support! 

The word got out about the five (5) scholarships being awarded this year.  We have received many scholarship applications to consider.  Thank you for applying and I wish you the best of luck.  We will be announcing the scholarship winners in the next few weeks.

We have a call for Sections Congress (SC) 2005 Speakers.  The SC 2005 Program Committee is accepting nominations for session speakers.  SC 2005 will be held October 14-17 2005 at the Tampa Marriott Waterside, Tampa, Florida, USA.  The theme of the event is "Promoting a World-Class Volunteer Community".  The three program tracks are:  Membership; Section Operations; and Relationships.  The Relationships track is entirely new for 2005, and will address the relationships between IEEE Sections and internal and external organizations and the community.

To nominate a speaker, visit http://www.ieee.org/sc2005 and click on "Nominate a Speaker".  Each submission allows for three speaker nominations. If you'd like to submit more speaker nominations, please submit another form.  The deadline for submitting speaker nominations is September 15, 2004.

Remember the Executive Committee and I look forward to your feedback comments.  If you are interested in getting involved in the local IEEE section, let us know, volunteer members are always needed.  I encourage all of you to become more active, and see the rewards and benefits your membership gives you.  It is a great way to network with professionals within the electrical engineering community.  Join us at one of the upcoming meetings, we look forward to meeting you.