> home
> About
> Contact Us
> Editorial Info
> IEEE-USA

06.11

By Terrance Malkinson

Claude Stanley Choules, considered to be the last known verified combat veteran of the First World War (1914-1918) died in Perth, Western Australia on 5 May 2011 at the age of 110. Born in the small British town of Pershore, Worcestershire, he began training with the British Royal Navy while the war was raging at the age of 14 in 1915. In 1918, while on the battleship HMS Revenge, he watched the surrender of the German High Seas Fleet. Serving during the Second World War as acting torpedo officer and a chief demolition officer in Australia, he remained in the service until his retirement in 1956. With his wife of 80 years he was healthy and active until the last few years of his life. He regularly swam in the ocean until the age of 100 and published his first book at the age of 108.

World War I (“the great war”) involved all of the world's large powers, assembled in two opposing alliances; the Allies and the Central Powers. More than 70 million military personnel were mobilized in one of the largest wars in history. More than 9 million combatants were killed, 20 million wounded, and 7 million missing. The four imperial powers — the German, Russian, Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires were militarily and politically defeated.

"In Flanders Fields" is one of the most notable poems written during World War I. Canadian physician and Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae wrote it on 3 May 1915 after he witnessed the death of his friend.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Choules avoided celebrations of the Armistice, because he was against the glorification of war. His autobiography The Last of the Last was published in 2009. At his death, Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard stated "Mr. Choules and his generation made a sacrifice for our freedom and liberty we will never forget".

Other Bytes

Here are some of the things going on in and around the community:

• A practical guide to social entrepreneurship is the theme of the cover story in the May issue of Inc. [www.inc.com]. Six articles discuss innovative socially responsible business models and provide profiles of their entrepreneurs. In the lead profile “Regulate Me Please” [pp. 72-80] Adam Bluestein discusses the story of plastics manufacturer Fred Keller and how he built a west Michigan plastics manufacturer while embracing rather than resisting the industries stringent regulatory environment, achieving the highest standard for socially responsible business. Following this [pp.82-94] the five other socially responsible profitable business models that include a drop-in writing center, a nonprofit eye tissue bank, an employment agency for former prison inmates, organic farming on conventional farmland, and a food waste composting business are described. A link is provided in the article to further information including a start-up guide for prospective social entrepreneurs and video interviews [www.inc.com/social-entrepreneurs-2011]

• Forbes annual ranking of “The World’s Biggest Companies: The Global 2000” is provided by Scott DeCarlo and Bruce Upbin in the 9 May 2011 issue [187(8):80-88, www.forbes.com ]. Leading the overall ranking as the World’s biggest private company is JPMorganChase with a market value of $182.2B, followed by HSBC Holdings and General Electric. Leading the ranking in sales is Wall-Mart, profits-Nestlé, assets-FannieMae, and market value-ExxonMobile. A link is provided in the article to the complete Global 200 listing as well as company profiles.

• An article by Daniel Fisher et al., “Urban Outfitter,” in the same issue of Forbes describes Siemens Chief Executive Peter Löscher belief that an explosive growth of megacities is about to occur worldwide [pp. 90-98]. Today, 3.5B people live in cities worldwide by 2050 it is estimated that this will grow to 6.2B resulting from mass migrations from rural to urban areas. Infrastructure and services will need to be provided. Most of this growth is expected to occur in emerging markets like Asia, Africa, and Latin America. As comprehensively described in the article Siemens envisions this as a huge business opportunity.

• Although the forecast as previously described is migration to urban areas, people still will need food. In “Why Farmers Need a Pay Raise” Julian Cribb describes how global commercial trends threaten the livelihood of farmers as well as the global food supply [The Futurist, 45(3):43-45, May-June, 2011]. As stated in the article's introduction, it is estimated that “world food production would have to increase 70% by 2050 to adequately feed the growing world population.” The author provides a number of strategies for solving this food challenge.

•  “7 Radical Energy Solutions” is the title of a series of descriptions of “long-shot technologies that could drastically change the energy game” in Scientific American, [304(5):39-45, May 2011, www.scientificamerican.com]. As stated in the articles introduction the failure rate of these ideas might be high however should any of these exotic technologies succeed it could significantly improve energy security and efficiency. Innovative concepts include: fusion-triggered fission, solar gasoline, quantum photovoltaic’s, heat engines, shock-wave auto engines, magnetic air conditioners and cleaner coal. Links are provided to further information on these projects, some of which are being funded by the US Department of Energy.

• An examination of the government’s role in greening the building industry is provided by Kylie Wroblaski and Janelle Penny in “Innovating or Interfering?” [Buildings, 105(4):32-38, April 2011, www.buildings.com]. Government is taking a role in greening the building industry both through its own building projects and as a motivator to the private sector. The authors discuss the government’s role in greening public and private buildings.

• With the increasing diversity of the workforce some employers are changing their corporate policy on supporting employee religious practices. Fara Warner discusses how some employers are allowing workers to embrace their spiritual beliefs while on the job in her article “With Their Blessing” [Workforce Management, 90(4): 20-25, April 2011, www.workforce.com]. As stated in the articles introduction “religion and spiritual belief may be a deeply private matter for some employees, but it is a part of who they are.” The author discusses the legal and social aspects of this emerging area of corporate policy. Experiences of companies that have embraced workplace religious diversity are discussed.

Terrance Malkinson is a communications specialist, business analyst and futurist. He is currently an international correspondent for IEEE-USA Today's Engineer, an associate editor for IEEE Canadian Review, and a member of the editorial advisory board of IEEE The Institute. He was Vice-Chair of the IEEE-USA Communications Committee (2004-2010), and editor-in-chief of IEEE-USA Today's Engineer Digest (2004-2008). He was an elected Senator of the University of Calgary and an elected Governor of the IEEE Engineering Management Society as well as an elected Administrative Committee member of the IEEE Professional Communication Society. He has been the editor of several IEEE conference proceedings, and past editor of IEEE Engineering Management. He is the author of more than 420 publications, and is an accomplished triathlete. His career path includes being an accomplished technical supervisor and medical researcher at the University of Calgary a business proposal manager for the General Electric Company, an associate for Sears Canada Inc. and research administrator with the School of Health and Public Safety/Applied Research and Innovation Services at SAIT Polytechnic in Calgary Canada.

The author is grateful to the professional support of the Haskayne School of Business Library at the University of Calgary. He can be reached at todaysengineer@ieee.org.