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12.07
- 01.08
A Year
with the IEEE-USA President
By John W. Meredith
As 2008 approaches with a
multitude of IEEE activities behind me, I have
taken a pause to look back at the events of
2007. It was an honor to serve as your
president. This experience has been personally
rewarding and it has given me some memories that
I will always cherish. I would like to share
some of my experiences over the past year and
leave you with some thoughts about the road
ahead.
The most rewarding experience
was meeting so many of you at numerous IEEE
events. As I started the year, I had a goal to
visit each of the IEEE’s six U.S. regions. I
accomplished this and was able to meet many
volunteers during my visits to the various
regional executive committee meetings and other
IEEE events. These included the IEEE-USA Annual
Meeting, Congressional Visits Day, the Future
City Competition National Finals and several
IEEE-USA committee workshops and meetings. I was
also pleased to attend the IEEE RFID 2007
symposium and the Plug-in Hybrid Electric
Vehicle conference, both of which IEEE-USA
co-sponsored. Our volunteers participate in many
activities that truly make a difference for the
profession and the public. It was highly
gratifying to witness the dedication and
enthusiasm of volunteers throughout the land.
The IEEE-USA president is often
called on to represent the IEEE in events
sponsored by outside organizations. This
representation is important because it promotes
the image of the IEEE and creates good will. It
also supports our goal of elevating the
profession and serving the public. I attended a
number of meetings that were devoted to this
purpose. For example, I attended a couple of
National Academy of Engineering events,
including the annual awards banquet and a
conference on progress towards goals outlined in
the Rising Above the Gathering Storm
report. I also attended a Congressional R&D
Caucus event, the National Summit on American
Competitiveness sponsored by the Department of
Commerce, a meeting with executives of the
Semiconductor Industry Association, two American
Association of Engineering Society board
meetings, and the National Council of Examiners
for Engineering and Surveying annual meeting.
These events gave me an opportunity to meet many
colleagues in our sister societies as well as
our many constituents.
Because IEEE-USA is one of the
IEEE’s six major units, I was also a member of
the IEEE Board of Directors. This required me to
serve on the IEEE Executive Committee and
fulfill a number of other duties aimed at
supporting the overall goals and objectives of
the Institute. I served on the IEEE Strategic
Planning Committee and the IEEE History
Committee as a liaison to the Executive
Committee. These opportunities gave me the
opportunity to work with other IEEE senior
volunteer and staff leaders.
Because my travels often took me
to Washington, D.C., I was able to work with
many IEEE-USA staff members on numerous
occasions. Our staff, led by IEEE-USA Managing
Director Chris Brantley, is an able, dedicated
and hard-working group. I have enjoyed working
with all of them. We volunteers owe a debt of
gratitude to our colleagues in the Washington
office who are constantly working behind the
scenes to support all of us.
My busy schedule and many
responsibilities could not have been done
without support from many IEEE-USA volunteer
leaders. Like our staff, volunteer leaders are
dedicated and devote many hours to IEEE
activities. It was gratifying to observe
progress on so many fronts. Countless numbers of
volunteers, led by capable volunteer leaders,
made this progress possible.
IEEE-USA has a long list of
achievements for 2007. A small sample of these
achievements include:
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The America Competes Act,
which IEEE-USA staff and volunteers
supported through many efforts, was signed
into law. This landmark legislation is
designed to improve American competitiveness
and innovation. It is significant because it
authorizes $43.3 billion in federal spending
for basic research. This will ultimately
create jobs for scientists and engineers,
but more important is the multiplication
effect that will result from investment in
basic research.
-
Partnered with IEEE’s New
Technology Directions Committee to
co-sponsor conferences highlighting homeland
security, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles,
RFID, and healthcare bioeconomics. These
events covered technical aspects as well as
policy issues relating to newly emerging
technologies. Russ Lefevre, IEEE-USA’s
incoming president and chair of the New
Technology Directions Committee, led this
successful effort.
-
The IEEE-USA Innovation
Institute was launched with a Webinar in
July and a pilot workshop in early November.
Several IEEE sections are interested in
hosting future workshops, and three are
scheduled for 2008. The role of the
Innovation Institute is an important part of
IEEE-USA’s strategic focus. Indeed,
innovation drives the growth of a high-tech
economy. The Innovation Institute was
created by 2006 IEEE-USA President Ralph
Wyndrum.
Needless to say, 2007 was a year
of achievement. I thank all volunteers and staff
for these contributions.
As I look ahead to 2008, I am
confident that IEEE-USA will see even greater
achievements. President-Elect Lefevre is a
proven IEEE leader. He has experience in many
volunteer positions, including service as
IEEE-USA’s technology policy vice president and
as a 2001 IEEE-USA congressional fellow. I wish
him well as he leads IEEE-USA in the coming
year.
I am grateful for all of the
talented and dedicated volunteers who are
working to make a difference. It is important
that all volunteers become involved. Organize
and carry out programs in your local section or
chapter, and participate in IEEE-USA committee
work. Make your concerns known to your local,
state and national political leaders. It is
important that engineers influence public
policy. I also encourage all volunteer leaders
to focus on issues of interest to the public.
Organize programs in your communities with
non-engineers as participants.
Remember, our role as engineers
is to make the world a better place. This
requires us to influence events beyond our
laboratories, offices and workbenches. We all
need to innovate and to lead to make this
happen.
So, as I write to you for the
last time as IEEE-USA president, I again thank
you for your support this past year. I wish
everyone a great 2008.
Happy New Year.
John W. Meredith, P.E., is
2007 IEEE-USA President.
Comments may
be submitted to todaysengineer@ieee.org.
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