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Overview
2009 was a year of challenges and
opportunities for the high tech
community. From December 2008 through
February 2009, job reductions high tech
employers announced job reductions that
totaled over 160,000. As those plans
turned to reality, engineering
unemployment spiked in the second
quarter, reaching a record 8.6 percent
for electrical engineers. Amidst these
discouragements, a new administration
arrived in Washington, one more
interested than most in using technology
to address the nation's problems. In
short, it was a year in which our
members needed us to follow our motto,
"building careers and shaping public
policy."
The first part of this webinar will
be devoted to IEEE-USA's new and updated
resources for members who have lost
their jobs, or fear losing them. This
includes help for job seekers, for
consultants and those who want to
consult, either as a career or as a
bridge to new employment, for
entrepreneurs and want-to-be
entrepreneurs, and for those who simply
want to enhance their job security.
The second part will be devoted to
IEEE-USA's work with the U.S. government
to influence science and technology
policy. Areas of particular focus in
2009 included energy, communications,
intellectual property, research funding
and the engineering work force.
About the Speaker
Gordon Day was the 2009 President of
IEEE-USA. He is a past president of the
IEEE Photonics Society (formerly LEOS),
and a candidate for IEEE President-elect
in the 2010 election. He spent 33 years
at the National Institute of Standards
and Technology, contributing to some of
NIST's best known research programs in
optoelectronics, and managing the NIST
Optoelectronics Division. Since retiring
from NIST in 2003, Day has served as a
science advisor to Sen. Jay Rockefeller
and as the Director of Government
Relations for the Optoelectronics
Industry Development Association. He is
a Fellow of the IEEE, the AAAS, the
Optical Society of America, and the
Institute of Physics (UK). He received a
Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the
University of Illinois.
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