IEEE-USA President Russell Lefevre joined other prominent science and engineering leaders in a call to the Presidential candidates to engage in a public debate on science and technology issues.

CAREER WEBINAR SERIES:  On 8 January, Dr. Michelle Tullier provided a presentation on solutions to common networking obstacles, as well as ways to expand your professional network and build powerful relationships.  The session is available for viewing in the IEEE-USA webinar archive.

CAREER WEBINAR SERIES:  On 15 January, career management consultants Ellen Sautter and Diane Crompton explored the world of online networking — including  social networking sites like LinkedIn, Ecademy and Ryze.  The session is available for viewing in the IEEE-USA webinar archive.

On Jan. 17, IEEE-USA and ASME organized a briefing moderated by IEEE-USA Past President John Meredith on New Nuclear Technology for the Congressional Research Caucus.  U.S. Representatives Judy Biggert and Rush Holt also delivered remarks.

On Jan. 22, IEEE-USA President Russ Lefevre meet with staff for the House Science and Techology Committee, its subcommittee on Environment, Technology and Standards and with the offices of U.S. Representatives Maria Cantwell (WA) and Mike Doyle (PA) to discuss implementation of federal innovation legislation.

In January, IEEE-USA President Russell Lefevre unveiled the President's Blog, a new communications initiative to help improve member awareness and engagement with IEEE-USA activities.

During January, IEEE-USA sponsored a student professional awareness conference at Virginia Polytechnic and State University (25 Jan.).

The IEEE-USA Board of Directors meet on 15 Feb. 2008 in Louisville, Kentucky.

U.S. IEEE members joined hundreds of other engineers and scientists in the 2008 Science, Engineering & Technology Congressional Visits Day, on 4-5 March 2008, in Washington, D.C., to deliver the message that federally funded research secures the nation's future.

IEEE-USA staff supported IEEE PSPB participation in a March 20 public meeting by the National Institutes of Health soliciting input on implementation of NIH's Public Access mandate.

IEEE-USA will join with representatives of IEEE P1547, NEMA, NERC and the Gridwise Architecture Council on March 27 in a stake-holders meeting on national SmartGrid standards hosted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

During March, IEEE-USA sponsored student professional awareness conferences at University of Oklahoma (8 March), Brigham Young University (8 March), Louisiana Tech (11 March), Richard Stockton College (12 March), University of Toledo (13 March), University of Florida (18 March), Cleveland State University (26 March), George Mason University (26 March), Christian Brothers University (27 March), and California State University, Fresno (29 March).

The IEEE-USA Student Professional Awareness Committee (SPAC) held their second Student Awareness Professional Workshop (S-PAW) on 29 March 2008 at the Louisiana State University (LSU) in Baton Rouge, LA.

In March, the IEEE-USA Precollege Education Committee held its fourth
90-minute workshops to introduce K-12 math and science teachers to
IEEE/IEEE-USA STEM education resources including the PEC Teacher
Reward/Grant Program, the IEEE-USA PEC Teacher-Engineer Partnership Award and IEEE lesson plans available on-line as part of the Teacher in Service Program (TISP). The workshop was held in conjunction with the JETS TEAMS Competition at the University of New Haven in New Haven, CT on 17 March.
 

Maryland Repeals Computer Services Tax: On April 6, the Maryland legislature repealed a state-wide tax on computer services before it could take effect.  IEEE-USA supported efforts by IEEE Maryland members to advocate in favor of the repeal, including testimony by IEEE Region 2 Director John Dentler before the Maryland House Ways and Means Committee.

IEEE-USA has scheduled its fifth annual Career Fly-In for 7-8 April 2008. U.S. IEEE members are invited and encouraged to come to Washington on those dates to discuss the state of the engineering workforce with Congress.

CAREER WEBINAR SERIES:  On 15 April, Marc Beebe, IEEE manager of Strategic Research and Planning, briefed participants on IEEE U.S. member demographics and preferences.

IEEE-USA was a primary sponsor of the IEEE Conference on RFID, which was held on 16-17 April in Las Vegas, Nevada.

IEEE-USA co-sponsored a congressional briefing on coal liquefaction R&D arranged for the Congressional R&D Caucus on 24 April 2008 on Capitol Hill.

Senate passage of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) on April 24 marked an important step toward obtaining federal protections against the misuse of genetic information. IEEE-USA joined with over 300 organizations comprising the Genetic Alliance to help encourage this Senate action.  more

IEEE-USA's Annual Meeting was held on 26-27 April 2008 in Indianapolis, Indiana.  Over 200 registrants representing all six U.S. regions and their sections participated in the conference, which focused on green engineering.
 

IEEE-USA is a co-sponsor of the 6th Annual Engineering R&D Symposium, a half-day event set for 6 May on Capitol Hill.

At a special congressional reception, IEEE-USA joined with over a dozen other engineering societies in presenting a plaque to Chairman Bart Gordon and Ranking Member Ralph Hall recognizing the accomplishments of the House Committee on Science and Technology in celebration of its 50th Anniversary.

On May 10th, IEEE-USA - along with Scientists and Engineers for America (SEA), a coalition of engineering and scientific organizations - will host a Campaign Education Workshop to teach engineers and scientists how to run for public office.  This one day workshop to be held at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, will involve people from across the political and scientific spectrum.

IEEE-USA is a co-sponsor of the IEEE Technologies for Homeland Security Conference, set for 12-13 May in Waltham, Massachusetts.

IEEE-USA President Russell Lefevre will participate on a panel on "Attracting Professionals Into Aerospace Careers" at Inside Aerospace, n International Forum for Aviation and Space Leaders organized by AIAA on 13-14 May in Arlington, Virginia.

IEEE-USA's Entrepreneurs Committee will hold its first TechMatch Conference on 12 May in Minneapolis, MN in collaboration with LifeScience Alley and their MedTech investment conference. The TechMatch Conference will provide one-on-one meetings for entrepreneurs to meet with Chief Technology Officers, Venture Capitalists, and Angels.

IEEE-USA representatives will participate in the 2008 National Summit on American Competitiveness, to be held on 22 May 2008 in Chicago.  Hosted by the U.S. Department of Commerce, the Summit convene the nation's premier leaders of business, government and academia to discuss what steps the public and private sectors can take to secure America's position as the most competitive economy in the 21st century and beyond.
 

President Russ Lefevre will participate on a panel on 'Electronics and Politics: What the Industry Needs from the Incoming U.S. Administration" at the IEEE Design Automation Conference (DAC) in Anaheim on June
10.

The IEEE-USA Board of Directors will meet on 20 June 2008 in Denver, Colorado.