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02.09
On 2009
IEEE-USA President Gordon W. Day
By Georgia
C. Stelluto
|
Q |
Why did you decide to
become an engineer? |
|
A |
I don’t remember
deciding. I grew up on a small farm in
one of the most rural parts of Illinois.
I’m pretty sure that none of the 50
students in my high school class had
ever met an engineer when we graduated,
but somehow three of us managed to
collect seven engineering degrees. We
grew up watching Mr. Wizard on
television and seeing Sputnik cross the
sky. Our fathers taught us practical
physics and skills in building and
repairing things. An engineering career
offered upward mobility. And we were
lucky to live in a state where there was
an elite engineering school with very
low in-state tuition. When we started
college we found that a lot of our
classmates had similar backgrounds. |
|
Q |
Electrical
engineering is a pretty broad field.
What’s your specialty? |
|
A |
That was something else that just
happened, mostly unplanned. When I was
in college, lasers were new toys for
many electrical engineers. I spent my
graduate school years building various
types and trying to understand how they
worked. Then I got a lucky break. The
National Bureau of Standards (now NIST)
offered me a post-doc in Boulder, and
shortly after I arrived my boss gave me
the chance to work on one of his most
important projects, a new measurement of
the speed of light obtained by
separately determining the frequency and
wavelength of a very stable laser. The
team added a couple of significant
figures to the value and that led, ten
years later, to a new definition of the
meter. After that project, almost every
opportunity that came my way involved
optics and measurements: laser
radiometry, measurement standards for
optical fiber, and new methods for using
optical fiber to measure electric
current and voltage. Then, the last nine
years before I retired, I managed the
NIST Optoelectronics Division. |
|
Q |
Did you say that you are retired? |
|
A |
My wife doesn’t think
so. After I retired from NIST in 2003, I
worked part time as a consultant. Then
IEEE-USA gave me the chance to spend a
year as a Congressional Fellow, which I
spent working as a science advisor to
Sen. Jay Rockefeller. After that I
worked a couple of years helping the
Optoelectronics Industry Development
Association in government relations. Now
I’m mostly an IEEE volunteer and
occasional consultant. |
|
Q |
What was it like to work in the
Senate? |
|
A |
I really enjoyed it. I learned a lot
about how the Legislative Branch works
and generally felt useful. For most of
the year, I was the only person in the
office with a science degree, so I
fielded, or at least tried to, any
science questions that came up. I did
research on technology policy issues,
built support for science funding and
STEM education in other Senate offices,
and put together a bill on homeland
security that Sen. Rockefeller
introduced. I helped out with some of
the routine work, meeting constituents,
interacting with government agencies,
drafting letters, vote recommendations,
speeches, and the like. I made some good
friends in the science policy community
and met a few people who are more famous
now than they were then (note picture
above). |
|
Q |
Tell us about your family. |
|
A |
Katherine and I recently celebrated our
40th anniversary. She’s a science
reference librarian, now retired. Her
brother is also an electrical engineer
and as a young woman she was determined
that she would not marry one, but she
eventually wised up. We have two
children. Our daughter and son-in-law
are both on the music faculty at Knox
College, in Illinois. Our son and
daughter-in-law live near Boulder. He’s
a product manager for a recreational
equipment company and she’s a graphic
designer. We have three grandsons,
ranging in age from five months to six
years. |
|
Q |
What is your idea of perfect
happiness? |
|
A |
 Spending
time with our grandchildren.
(Pictured: Gordon with Riley, age 1 day) |
|
Q |
What else do you do for fun? |
|
A |
When we have time, Katherine and I both
work on family genealogy. We like to
travel. We have stacks of books waiting
to be read. And in the past few years
I’ve been working on my woodturning
skills. |
|
Q |
Why do you volunteer for the IEEE? |
|
A |
Truth be told, it’s a selfish activity.
Most of my prior IEEE volunteer roles
have been in Technical Activities. I
worked on publications, then
conferences, then Society management,
and eventually had the privilege of
being a Society President. In each case,
the experience made me a better engineer
and a more valuable employee. There’s
also the personal satisfaction of
working with other volunteers to do
important things well. The professional
networking has been valuable. And
besides that, I’ve made lots of new
friends and had a lot of fun. I’m sure
I’ve gained more than I’ve given. |
|
Q |
What is your greatest hope for your
year as IEEE-USA President in 2009? |
|
A |
Last year was my first opportunity to
become immersed in the work of IEEE-USA,
“Building Careers and Shaping Public
Policy,” as our motto says. It’s a
unique and impressive organization,
created and paid for by U.S. members to
support their professional interests. I
hope that the fresh eyes and ideas I
bring to the organization can help it
continue to grow in effectiveness.
This is an exciting time to be part
of the public policy community. We are
in the midst of important national
conversations about jobs, energy, the
environment, communications,
intellectual property, and health care,
among others. These are issues that our
members care deeply about, and on which
we have the expertise to make important
contributions. We have been working hard
to develop positions in many of these
areas, and look forward to helping our
members influence the direction of our
government.
This is also one of those times when
many of our members are becoming more
concerned about their jobs. We, along
with other parts of IEEE, have many
career development tools that can be
useful to members at any stage of their
careers. You can find them at the
IEEE Careers Portal. This year we
are working to make them more easily
accessible to all U.S. members. |
|
Q |
Anything else you’d like to say to
our members? |
|
A |
Yes, thank you for giving me the honor
and privilege of leading IEEE-USA this
year. |
Georgia C. Stelluto is IEEE-USA's publishing
manager, managing editor of IEEE-USA Today's
Engineer Digest, and editor and manager of
IEEE-USA's
e-book publishing program.
Comments may be submitted to
todaysengineer@ieee.org.
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