Contact: Chris McManes
Marketing Communications/Public Relations Coordinator
Phone: +1 202 785 0017, x8356
E-mail: c.mcmanes@ieee.org

IEEE Sponsors Four Student Members for Prestigious Washington Internships for Students of Engineering

Washington (18 April 2002) — IEEE-USA, in collaboration with the IEEE Technical Activities Board and the IEEE Life Members Committee, is pleased to announce IEEE sponsorship of four IEEE Student Members in the prestigious Washington Internships for Students of Engineering (WISE) Summer 2002 program. Participating for the IEEE are:

• Jason Frederick, an engineering science and physics major at Trinity University in Texas. Frederick plans to explore the role that powerline broadband can play in bridging the digital divide.

• Trampas Kurth, an electrical engineering major at Kansas State University. Kurth is interested in how the Internet has changed the dynamics of intellectual property and fair use policies.

• Davis Richard Thompson, an electrical engineering major at Columbia University. President of the IEEE student branch at Columbia, Thompson will investigate current genomics legislation and issues related to integration of technology and biology.

• Max Vilimpoc, an electrical engineering major at the Ohio State University. Vilimpoc brings to Washington an interest in cryptography, intellectual property and equal access policy issues.

Three additional IEEE student members are participating in WISE 2002 under sponsorship of other engineering societies. Andrew Lilly, of the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, is sponsored by the Society of Automotive Engineers. Tolani Owasu, of the University of North Carolina-Charlotte, is sponsored by the National Society of Professional Engineers. Mark Rice, of Kansas State University, is sponsored by the American Association of Engineering Societies.

Each year, WISE brings 14-16 outstanding engineering students to Washington, DC for 10 weeks to learn how government officials make decisions on complex technological issues, and how engineers can contribute to legislative and regulatory public-policy decisions. WISE Interns research and present detailed policy papers on such topics as federal strategies to encourage rural broadband access or ensuring electric reliability in deregulated markets. The summer 2002 program begins on 28 May. For more information on the WISE Internships, visit the WISE website at http://www.wise-intern.org; or contact Chris Brantley, IEEE-USA's Director of Government Relations, at c.brantley@ieee.org.

IEEE-USA is an organizational unit of The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers created in 1973 to promote the careers and public-policy interests of the more than 235,000 electrical, electronics, computer and software engineers who are U.S. members of the IEEE. The IEEE is the world's largest technical professional society. For more information, go to http://www.ieeeusa.org.

| Top of Page | News Releases | IEEE News | IEEE | IEEE-USA |

Last Updated: 21 March 2002
Staff Contact:  Chris McManes, c.mcmanes@ieee.org