Backscatter: How to Invent

How does one answer when confronted with the question "How do you invent?" Don Christiansen offers the wisdom of Wilson Greenbatch, inventor of the implantable pacemaker, as a good place to start.

Career Focus: App Development

Apps apps apps — that seems to be all that anyone is talking about these days. But while many of the most talked about apps may be simple or flashy games or programs for mobile devices, the real growth in the field is in serious business productivity or marketing applications. Meanwhile, the need for good app developers is growing at a record pace.

Is Your Resume Marketing You as an All-You-Can-Eat Buffet or Gourmet Dining?

Comparing a resume with a holiday meal might seem far fetched. From a marketing perspective, there are fascinating parallels.

World Bytes: Another Year

Another year is drawing to a close. It would be easy to complain, blame others for the challenges that we face daily, and look to the future with despair. Every generation has its difficulties, and yet, when you stand back and look at the big picture, humanity continues to move forward in a positive way.

Top 10 Ways To Screw-Up Your Engineering Career

Anyone can give you helpful career advice, so Jim Anderson invites you to do something completely different — would you like to know how to screw-up your engineering career?

Career Focus: Systems Engineering

Are you an engineer who likes to think outside of the box, possesses leadership and communication skills, and thrives at improving the connections between greater parts of a whole? Then systems engineering might be a good next step for your career.

Twenty Years of Pension "Improvements"

The traditional defined benefit pension served as the gold standard for retirement security, where the employer took the risk in delivering the promised benefit. But over the past two decades, many firms have turned the risk over to the employees.

Software Risk Management

This article discusses how vulnerabilities, threats, weakness, defects and exploits greatly reduce the ability to ensure acceptable system behavior.

How to Land a New Job Faster: Be Your Own Talent Agent

When competing in today's tight job market, job seekers must do their own planning, packaging, promoting, pricing and selling.

Cover Letters: Too Much "I" Doesn't Leave Room for Me

Cover letters don't need to be tricky. Keep the tone about being of service, and you'll get the audience's attention.

Risk Management and Lean Six Sigma

We live in a world of volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity (VUCA), which is increasing the dimensions of risk that organizations face in today’s competitive environment. However, when we respond rather than react to VUCA, we can capitalize on innovation opportunities that VUCA fosters.

IEEE at Forefront of Efforts to Revitalize Power and Energy Engineering Careers

There has perhaps never been a better time to be a power engineer in the United States. Salaries are strong, interest in renewable fuels is high and Smart Grid efforts promise to modernize the U.S. electric power system.

How to Land a New Executive Position in Today's Engineering Job Market

In the past, job searching best practices included preparing and submitting a strong, meticulously edited resume and waiting patiently to be called for an interview. All that has changed, and if you are still relying solely on your resume to open doors to new opportunities, you could get left behind. Here are a few pointers to help you be a more enlightened (and permanent) candidate.

Effective Leadership Traits

Since the great recession of 2008, the rule with an iron fist approach is no longer effective. Employees aren’t motivated to stay at jobs where they feel little connection or value, so if you are team leader, you must find ways to lead effectively and retain your most valuable asset — your employees.

Backscatter: Computer-Driven Publishing

The editor of traditional print media has clearly defined responsibilities. But the traditional methods of meeting these responsibilities are under stress, and are changing due largely to computer automation.

Is Your Salary Competitive? Find Out with the Latest IEEE-USA Salary Survey and Calculator

We all have questions about our salaries and benefits: Are we getting paid what we're worth? If we switch jobs or move to a new city, what should we expect to earn? Or if you're getting ready to hire an employee, how do you know if you're offering a competitive salary?

IP Engineering Consulting and Professional Licensure

The production and protection of intellectual property (IP) in the electrical and computer engineering discipline is an area that often requires detailed experience and specialized expertise. Here is an overview of typical tasks and considerations that IP consulting engineers face in their practice.

World Bytes: Hyperspecialization

This concept of "hyperspecialization" is particularly relevant for today's knowledge worker. Projects and tasks previously done by one person will be divided into highly specialized small pieces, each completed by a highly skilled specialist; not necessarily a full-time employee of the company, but may be outsourced locally, nationally or internationally.

IEEE-USA Toolkit

Whether you're a student, just starting your career, or getting close to retirement, IEEE has a wealth of resources to help at every stage of your professional life.

World Bytes: Social Responsibility, Business and the Economy

Career Focus: Engineering Management

Taking those first steps into management can be difficult, and there are many questions you might ask before moving forward. Is going into management the right career path for you? Are you right for management? Do you need extra training or skills to become an effective manager? What if it doesn't work out for you? Are the best paths for career growth with your current employer, or must you switch companies before you can advance?

Risk Management: Integrated ERM and Cyber Security

Under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, publicly traded corporations must apply appropriate methods to ensure controls over the organization, one of which is enterprise risk management (ERM). Integrated ERM is a new concept, but without its adoption, other risk management types are either less likely to deliver maximum value or will fail to be sustained.

Seven Easy Steps that Guarantee Faster Executive Job Search Results

Having the right networking connections before you need job lead referrals shortens the duration of a job search and alleviates some of the stress associated with landing a new career challenge — especially in these recessionary times.

Region 3's Jobs Board: Fighting Engineering Unemployment

Unemployment in the United States is at its highest levels since the Bureau of Labor Statistics began tracking it in 1948. To aid unemployed IEEE members in finding jobs, Region 3 has set up a Jobs Board — a network of Employment Assistance Coordinators (EAC) — with the goal of establishing EACs in each of the Region’s 41 Sections.

NCEES Methodology for Scoring PE Exams, plus Recap of April 2011 Electrical and Computer PE Exam Results

A brief overview of how NCEES scores the PE exam, as well as a recap of the April 2011 Electrical and Computer PE exam results.

IEEE-USA Toolkit

Whether you're a student, just starting your career, or getting close to retirement, IEEE has a wealth of resources to help at every stage of your professional life.

How to Review for the PE Exam

A look at some of the options available to help you complete a successful review so that you will improve your chances of passing the PE exam.

Risk-Based Decision Making

Recent events have highlighted the importance of risk-based decision making. Modern systems are becoming more complex and the economic, safety and other consequences of a system failure more serious. Ignoring risks because they are improbable and not worth analysis has proven to be highly risky in itself. Managing the risks of disruptive events is becoming a critical focus for business and society.

(More) Easy Ways to Find Networking Contacts at Target Companies

Here are more easy ways to access the right insiders at target employers to learn about potential new career opportunities before they are advertised so that you are one of the first to put your name forward for a position and participate in the hidden job market.

Have You Adopted the Email Charter?

In June, Chris Anderson and Jane Wulf of TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design), a non-profit organization devoted to “Ideas Worth Spreading,” declared in a blog post that email was getting out of hand for many people and issued a call for an Email Charter.

The Restructured Engineer: How I Re-invented Myself and Kept Going

The need to reinvent one’s career is not new. In more than 50 years, this engineer has embarked on five or more careers. How he did it may be instructive to younger members.

IEEE-USA Toolkit

Whether you're a student, just starting your career, or getting close to retirement, IEEE has a wealth of resources to help at every stage of your professional life.

Career Focus: Cyber Security

Cyber crime is on the rise, threatening individuals' privacy, corporate coffers, government secrets, the security of financial institutions, the operation of national infrastructures, and much, much more. But with the rise of these threats also comes opportunities, as new careers are opening up for people to protect us from hackers, cyber criminals, organized crime, and even terrorists.

Backscatter: Making Stuff

Many veteran engineers say that taking things apart when they were young helped lead them to successful engineering careers. Do today’s kids have the same opportunities to experiment?

IEEE-USA Toolkit

Whether you're a student, just starting your career, or getting close to retirement, IEEE has a wealth of resources to help at every stage of your professional life.

Application of Risk Management During Project Definition

Today, more and more companies are looking at enterprise-level risk. For most engineers, the application of risk management will be at the project level. In two of the most regulated markets — aerospace and medical — the FAA and FDA are levying requirements for the performance and documentation of risk management, including allocating risk down to the subcontractor/supplier level.

Easy Ways to Find Contacts to Network into Your Target Employers — Part One

Today's passive, active and future job seekers must be self-reliant and manage both their connections and the steps required for their careers to move forward. Individuals must cultivate appropriate experiences and opportunities to increase their knowledge and value within the job market. But how do you find the right people at the right employers?

Advice for Engineers Who Hate Networking

Many people share a common dislike for networking. However, you don't have to be a master at networking or have a "Type A" personality to succeed. All it takes is a little planning and some strategy, and after all, isn't that what engineers do best?

Backscatter: Euterpe and the Engineer

Do engineers and the muse of music share a special affinity? Put more prosaically, are the aptitudes and skills required by engineers similar to those of performers and composers of music?

Career Focus: Power Engineering

Is power engineering a career in crisis, an industry on hold, or a field ripe for opportunity? Yes to all three. According to experts, the power engineering field is about to undergo a major 1-2-3 punch that will shake it up more than at any other point in its history.

IEEE-USA Toolkit

Whether you're a student, just starting your career, or getting close to retirement, IEEE has a wealth of resources to help at every stage of your professional life.

Getting a Job in a New Industry or Being Hired for a Different Role

Company closings, staffing cutbacks, mergers, consolidations and other circumstances have decreased the number of jobs in certain industries, forcing individuals to seek employment in new industries, while other professionals must switch roles and emphasize different skills to find new positions in the same or different fields.

Engineers Need Exceptional Growth Plans

When it comes to improving on technical competencies, engineers generally know where to go to hone their skills. But there are other subject areas engineers must also be good at, abilities that are equally (sometimes more) important, that aren’t always as easy for engineers to figure out on their own.

Power Engineer Profile: Jay Caspary

Meet Jay Caspary, a working power engineer.

Diversity and Inclusion Fuels Innovation in STEM

A quick look at the demographics of the U.S. population (above) compared to the distribution in science and engineering occupations reveals that the science and engineering labor force is not representative of the U.S. population at all.

Career Focus: Biomedical Engineering

Biomedical engineering is poised to be the fastest growing job of the decade. Does that mean there's a job for you in the field?

Restoring Balance to Your Work and Life

If you're one of those fortunate people whose life is in balance, you may wonder just what is the ‘big issue’ about work-life balance. If you're not one of those people, chances are you believe achieving this balance may not be possible. In either case, you should step back from time to time and evaluate your situation.

Don't Let Doubts About Age Sabotage Your Career

In our consumer culture, we too often value packaging over substance. In response to questions about age, career coach Elizabeth Lions always tell her clients: what you think about, you bring about.

World Bytes: 50th Anniversary of the First Man in Space: Yuri Gagarin

In 1961, Yuri Gagarin, a Russian (9 March 1934 – 27 March 1968) became the first person leave the Earth and venture into space. The Vostok rocket, with Gagarin in a tiny capsule at the top, blasted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Stemming the Tide: New Study Examines Why Women Leave Engineering

Conventional wisdom tells us that many women engineers leave their careers to devote time to their families. But a new study finds the engineering culture is more to blame.

Path to Licensure: A BSSE or BSCS?

A looks at the impact of selecting the Bachelor of Science in Software Engineering (BSSE) or the Bachelor of Science in Computer Science (BSCS) for students who might eventually want to be licensed as a Professional Engineer (P.E.).

Exemption to PE Licensure Under Review

A recent series of disasters and product safety issues involving the failure of engineered systems has prompted several engineering organizations to ask whether engineering licensure laws should be strengthened to better protect the public health and safety.

IEEE-USA Toolkit

Whether you're a student, just starting your career, or getting close to retirement, IEEE has a wealth of resources to help at every stage of your professional life.

Finding a Job in the Hidden Job Market

The majority of today’s new hires find their jobs through personal connections rather than more traditional routes, but most job seekers continue to expend their energy on those old, familiar, less productive search methods — resulting in lengthy, stressful job search campaigns.

World Bytes: On Giving Job Instructions

Supervisors who do not take the time to train their subordinates are frequently kept busy solving problems that would not have occurred had effective job instruction been delivered at the start.

IEEE-USA Toolkit: April

Whether you're a student, just starting your career, or getting close to retirement, IEEE has a wealth of resources to help at every stage of your professional life.

Backscatter: In Praise of a Job Well Done

Former Spectrum editor Donald Christiansen muses on the role and value of the craftsman in the engineering workplace. To him, the craftsman once was, and hopefully remains, an important adjunct to the engineer.

Urgent Retirement Planning for Boomers

The financial press is reporting that consumer debt is down, based in part on Baby Boomers who have realized that they need to step up savings as retirement looms. The first wave of Baby Boomers reach age 65 this year. Over the next 18 years, 78 million of them will reach that age. The last wave still has time to tweak their retirement plans.

Retaining Talent: How Do Your Employees Really Feel about Working for You?

Many employers are feeling the double-edged sword of economic recovery — the exhilaration that the recession may be ending tempered by the stress of depleted inventories and resources, and the constant challenge of revenue growth. The changing landscape is prompting many bosses to examine their relationships with their employees.

Career Focus: Technology Entrepreneurship

Apple. Microsoft. Google. The list of huge companies that began as tiny entrepreneurial startups is legendary, long and varied. But are the same opportunities available for today's engineers? Is it a good time to hang out your shingle, or to work for a startup?

Career Focus: Software Engineering

Software engineering was recently dubbed the best job of 2011 by career site Career Cast, and magazines like Forbes and Fortune have also extolled the virtues and importance of the field. Heck, even toy company Mattel recently introduced Computer Engineer Barbie to help inspire young girls into the profession.

Tech Digest

A roundup of news and notable developments in electrical engineering and computer or information technology.

IEEE-USA Announces Dates for Energy and Career Fly-Ins

IEEE-USA has announced the dates for its Energy Fly-In and Career Fly-In this spring. These events give U.S. IEEE members structured opportunities to meet the new 112th Congress.

The Changing Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Workforce

In remarks delivered to the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, NSF Director Dr. Subra Suresh discusses the National Science Foundation's role in helping to revitalize the nation's STEM pipeline.

IEEE-USA Toolkit

Whether you're a student, just starting your career, or getting close to retirement, IEEE has a wealth of resources to help at every stage of your professional life.

Six E-mail Mistakes That Can Cook Your Career

While a convenient tool, careless use of e-mail can wreak havoc in the workplace. The more e-mails we send, the easier it is to become overly confident in our mastery of the tool... and to make mistakes. Here are six common e-mail blunders that could cook your career.

White House and Industry Leaders Partner to Promote Entrepreneurship

On 31 January, President Obama announced the “Start-up America” campaign, a public-private partnership to celebrate, inspire and accelerate high-growth entrepreneurship through the United States.

World Bytes: The Peace Corps, JFK, and Sargent Shriver

Backscatter: Usability to the Rescue

Is it beyond our expectations that computer-based products could be so reliable and user friendly that the tech support function would no longer be needed? Displaced tech support personnel might then find more creative employment as usability professionals.

IEEE-USA Toolkit

Whether you're a student, just starting your career, or getting close to retirement, IEEE has a wealth of resources to help at every stage of your professional life.

Your Engineering Heritage: Electrical Technology Comes to the Laboratory

Seven Tips for Building Your Online Network

The proliferation and popularity of social and professional networking sites are driving changes in the traditional résumé, from a single-page print or pdf document to a variety of new media incarnations. How can you spruce up your online image?

Surviving the Unexpected Job Interview

You just found out that the company you work for has been acquired. The steps you take following that news can have a significant impact on whether or not the forthcoming changes provide you with favorable opportunities.

Employment Networks Can Enhance Your Job Search

Employment Networks (also known as job clubs or job networks) are small groups of individuals who come together in face-to-face meetings or electronically to help each other’s employment search.

A Decade in Review: 2001-2010

The decade beginning in 2001 was marked by a string of events that changed our lives and continue to shape our future. From the televised tragedy of 9/11, to the election of America's first African-American President — it was a remarkable ten years, with engineers playing an important role in many of the events.

First Study of Its Kind Examines Innovation by U.S. Businesses

Just how innovative are American companies? Until recently, it was impossible to answer that question quantitatively. But now, for the first time, a new study illustrates the innovation that exists throughout the U.S. economy, how many companies are innovating, and which industries are the most innovative.

Ten things You may not know about Social Networking & Social Networking Sites

With social networks becoming more and more pervasive in our daily lives, Wole Akpose hopes to help make informed and savvy users out of readers by alerting them to potential threats, while also highlighting some of the opportunities that have eluded many users.

Hidden Job Market Secrets: The Right Strategy Makes Looking for a New Job Easy

Candidates are rarely job-hunting experts. Even if you have the qualifications for the job you want, you must use the best strategy for success in today's highly competitive job market. Networking purposefully accelerates campaign progress.

IEEE-USA Toolkit

Whether you're a student, just starting your career, or getting close to retirement, IEEE has a wealth of resources to help at every stage of your professional life.

World Bytes: Movies Can Teach Values

Outlook for 2011

As in past years, this annual survey will examine the outlook in eight areas of significant importance to the U.S. endeavor in 2011: technology, energy, climate change, workforce, employment benefits, immigration, infrastructure and the economy.

Management Books Offer Tips for Engineers

Two books by author Jeffrey Pfeffer provide useful tips on management and career growth. The advice is wide-ranging, from traits that will help you climb the ladder of success to social interaction and posture.

E-mail 101: Tips to Consider Before You Hit Send…

Love it or hate it, e-mail is here to stay, at least for the foreseeable future. It has been called the killer app of the Internet for good reason: it is the most widely used Internet application. Are you using e-mail effectively, or are your missives getting lost in the shuffle?

How to Build a Network in Twelve Days (before Christmas)

The holiday season is ideal for reconnecting, making new contacts and strengthening relationships. The “right contacts” are relationships with hiring decision makers and good connectors. In just 12 days, start building your career nest egg.

New Study Reveals Opportunities for Engineering Education

Are American engineering students prepared for the workplace? Not always, according to a new report that says that U.S. schools are still producing top-notch engineers, but identifies several areas where we can improve how we get students ready for professional practice.

World Bytes: The Royal Engagement

A History of Six Sigma

IEEE member and Six Sigma-certified IT security specialist Wole Akpose provides a look at the history of the sometimes controversial business management strategy developed by Motorola in the 1980s.

Addressing the Looming Shortage of Power Engineers

A recent industry survey by the Center for Energy Workforce Development found that 51 percent of engineers engaged in power generation or delivery for electric, natural gas and nuclear utilities could leave their jobs by 2015, owing to retirements and other attrition. So where will the next generation of power engineers come from?

Biofuel Review Part 6: Job Creation and Government Spending

To create jobs, should nations shift their energy workforce to biofuel industries, given the substantial growth potential and that biofuels require about 100 times more workers than fossil fuels to produce the same amount of energy?

IEEE-USA Toolkit

Whether you're a student, just starting your career, or getting close to retirement, IEEE has a wealth of resources to help at every stage of your professional life.

Six Things Recruiters Will Never Tell You

When recruiters and job seekers aren’t communicating openly and honestly, the relationship is already at a disadvantage. In the spirit of openness, a former recruiter hopes to clear up some of the misconceptions about recruiters that stem from a lack of open communication.

IEEE-USA Toolkit

Whether you're a student, just starting your career, or getting close to retirement, IEEE has a wealth of resources to help at every stage of your professional life.

World Bytes: Tourism and World Peace

Tourism, Progress and Peace, edited by Omar Moufakkir and Ian Kelly, promotes the notion that tourism can be used as a strategy to contribute to world peace

Consulting 101

Have you ever thought about performing consulting work or thought about starting your own consulting company? As an electrical engineer, you possess skills that individuals and companies want, but there are several things you should consider before taking steps toward becoming a consultant.

Forensic Engineering: Is it for you?

You've probably heard the term forensic used in many contexts — especially with the number of TV programs featuring high-tech forensic methods to solve crimes. You may even know someone who has been involved in forensic engineering, and wondered what it would take to get into that line of work.

IEEE-USA Toolkit

Whether you're a student, just starting your career, or getting close to retirement, IEEE has a wealth of resources to help at every stage of your professional life.

Biomedical Engineering Needs Substantial Funding Increase, According to IEEE EMBS President

Substantially increased funding is needed for the United States to maintain its global leadership in biomedical engineering, according to the head of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBS).

The Right Career Strategy Prevents Job Searching Tragedy

Most people know someone who is or was recently in the job market. Today’s recruiting practices have veered 180 degrees from where they were just five short years ago. Social media have revolutionized the way candidate pools are selected and refined, and internet job boards are no longer the only game in town. The mediums have changed, but the basics remain the same: having a purposeful network is the smart way to prepare in advance for a faster, more effective job search campaign.

2010 Salary Survey Reveals Positive Changes Along with Reductions and Gaps

How does your salary compare to others in your industry? Are you making enough, or too little, or maybe bringing home a bit more bacon than your peers? What about other compensation? How do your benefits stand up compared to the rest of the industry? And what about your technical field — is it offering you all of the compensation that you deserve? You can find the answers to these questions — and many more — in the 2010 IEEE-USA Salary & Fringe Benefits Survey.

FE Exam to Begin Move to Computer-Based Format

The 8-hour, 180-question Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam is about to undergo some major changes. NCEES is set to begin the process of converting FE and Fundamentals of Surveying (FS) exams from paper and pencil to computer-based testing (CBT).

A Coast-to-Coast Festival Infused with Innovation

What happens when you combine the best minds in STEM education with best practices in entrepreneurship? One striking result is the forthcoming USA Science & Engineering Festival, whose special events will blanket the country in October and culminate in a two-day exhibition bash on Washington, D.C.’s National Mall.

Make a Great First Impression – in Person and Online – By Marketing Yourself Remarkably

Career connections are increasingly made via online social networking sites, eclipsing the traditional face-to-face events. Be prepared to share your information in a short and persuasive card format that will give new contacts some important information about you, and directs them to where they can learn more about you.

IEEE-USA Toolkit

Whether you're a student, if you're just starting your career, or if you're getting close to retirement, IEEE has a wealth of resources to help you at every stage of your professional life.

Needed: Support for Professional Science Master's Degrees

One of the most important innovations in graduate science education is now well under way at American universities: the professional science master's degree (PSM). At last count, and following remarkably rapid growth over the past two years, more than 200 of these innovative graduate degrees are now available at close to 100 North American universities.

The Engineer's Pledge

As advocates for the engineering profession and believers in the power and creativity of engineering, WGBH decided to create the Engineer’s Pledge — a call for engineers, supporters, students, teachers and counselors to uphold the reputation of engineering and help support the livelihood of the field.

FE Other Disciplines Module: not the easy option

NCEES published an article in its August 2010 Licensure Exchange that reveals interesting — and perhaps surprising — results for the FE Other Disciplines module from 2005-2010.

World Bytes: Scouts of America 100th Anniversary

Employment Meltdown Solution: Technology + Talent + Teamwork = Jobs

In October 2007, the world began experiencing a financial market collapse. The Financial Times estimates that since the beginning of the 2009 U.S. stimulus program, about 400,000 public service jobs have been added to the economy, but about 2.7 million private-sector jobs were lost. As a result, the U.S. unemployment rate has remained stubbornly high. What can we do to reverse the trend?

Develop Leadership Skills Through Volunteering

Leadership skills include planning projects, managing time, motivating individuals, giving feedback and building teams. Many employers consider these skills — often termed soft skills — more important than experience or college education in defining successful business leaders.

A Dozen Reasons Why You Should Obtain Your P.E. License

Many engineers obtain their professional engineer (P.E.) license because it is a specific job requirement. Many others choose not to obtain a P.E. license because it is not a direct job requirement. Meanwhile, there are compelling considerations for becoming a licensed professional engineer that are larger than the immediate minimal requirements of a current job.

Determining How Your Employer Measures Your Performance

If you haven't taken the time to discuss and find out what your manager and other upper-level superiors consider important or the performance required for a promotion, you could be wasting a lot of time and energy.

IEEE-USA Toolkit

Whether you're a student, if you're just starting your career, or if you're getting close to retirement, IEEE has a wealth of resources to help you at every stage of your professional life.

World Bytes: The Measure of a Person

IEEE-USA Toolkit: Resources for the Member

Whether you're a student trying to select a focus, if you're just starting your career, or if you're getting close to retirement, IEEE has a wealth of resources to help you at every stage of your professional life.

New IEEE-USA E-Book Helps Engineers to Strategize, Prepare and Plan for an Effective Technical Presentation

Technical Presentations – Book 1: Strategy – Preparation & Planning, is a new release from IEEE-USA E-Books, and the first in a four-part series that will help readers to prepare, write and effectively deliver technical presentations.

Asking for a Raise is Easier than You Think, Even in Bad Times

Do you feel underpaid and deserving of a higher salary? Are you thinking about asking for a raise, but unsure how to go about it? Do you cringe at the thought of approaching your boss? This article provides guidelines for making the task less intimidating — and hopefully getting you the raise you want and deserve.

How Do You Get Women to Stay in Engineering? Nerd Girls Has the Answer

Professor Karen Panetta's Nerd Girls education program (long supported by IEEE) is about to get a huge boost. MPH Entertainment, the producers of the popular "Dog Whisperer" TV show, are currently casting a Nerd Girls reality show developed from Panetta's curriculum.

The Jobless Recovery — Are We There Yet?

Since the last business peak, 8.4 million jobs have been lost in the United States. In May, there were 15 million unemployed. The official unemployment rate ignores workers who have given up looking for work, those with part-time jobs who can’t find full-time jobs, and workers who settled for work they found outside their skill set. The numbers are discouraging, but are we headed in the right direction?

Four Ways to Broaden Your Job Search for Results

When facing a job change, it’s easy to get caught up thinking there is only one way to find work — by applying online. However, studies have shown that when it comes to achieving results, online job shopping isn’t as effective as other strategies.

A Champion of Engineering Makes an Eloquent Case

In his latest book, The Essential Engineer: Why Science Alone Will Not Solve Our Global Problems, Petroski eloquently challenges a fundamental and profound bias in our society — the relegation of engineers and engineering to second-class status among professions.

The Innovation Delusion

In the United States, innovation has become almost synonymous with economic competitiveness. But will our economy be able to flourish if our companies just specialize in innovation, but produce overseas? NYU Research Professor Ralph Gomory argues that we need to do more than produce exciting new ideas; we must also be able to compete in large productive industries.

World Bytes: The Great American Bike Race

Bridging the Divide Between Scientists and Engineers and the Public They Serve

Many people are leery of the science behind things like childhood vaccinations, global warming and the safety of Yucca Mountain as a nuclear waste repository. Perhaps, though, if scientists and engineers better understood the public and how its views are shaped by, among other things, ideology, values, priorities, misinformation, and yes, a poor understanding of science, the public would be more accepting of generally sound scientific data and theories.

IEEE-USA Toolkit: Resources for the Member

Whether you're a student trying to select a focus, if you're just starting your career, or if you're getting close to retirement, IEEE has a wealth of resources to help you at every stage of your professional life.

Backscatter: When Designers Should Say "No"

Faced with a design challenge, whether it be to refine an existing product or system or to meet some ambitious new demand, the usual procedure is to itemize the desired new design features—that is, the “needs” and the “wants.”

Protecting Your Personal Information on Facebook

Social Networking is the new fad of the twenty first century, and Facebook has become the face of social networking globally, with more than 400 million users. A casual look at most Facebook profile often yield a wide net of information — a treasure trove for all sorts of people, including identity thieves.

NASA Seeks to INSPIRE Teens to Study Science & Technology

NASA's manned space shuttle program may be about to end, but that doesn't mean that the space agency is done getting young people to look to the stars. In fact, the agency has a multi-faceted education program that helps students from Kindergarten through college, as well as teachers at all levels.

World Bytes: Problems with a Former Supervisor

The New Job Search Paradigm: A Darn Good Résumé Is Not Enough

Today's job seekers must employ different strategies and more actively engage employers if they want to stay ahead of the competition and improve their chances for success. When a job search stalls, getting back on track requires looking beyond what's on your résumé and the channels you're using to distribute it.

Your Internet Image Could Be Sabotaging Your Career

With all the knowledge available at the click of a mouse, the internet can really help accelerate your career. But beware, not-so-private information from your past posted on social networking sites and elsewhere online could be an instant career killer. Explore some of the dos and don’ts about putting your private and professional information on the internet.

Reverse Innovation: Changing the Path of Global Development

Where will the next big, innovative idea come from? What will it be? Will it be a cell phone with gadgets galore, made in Japan and priced high for early adopters? Or will it be a functional yet inexpensive netbook, designed and built in India for all of the world to use?

IEEE-USA Toolkit: Resources for the Member

Whether you're a student trying to select a focus, if you're just starting your career, or if you're getting close to retirement, IEEE has a wealth of resources to help you at every stage of your professional life.

Save an Engineer, Save the World

Mike Anderson believes that for the United States to continue to foster S&T innovation, we need to to convince pre-college students that STEM-related subjects are interesting and important, and that there is a future in STEM-related careers.

Employment Data Gives Cause for Optimism About Engineering Rebound

Job market experts, including members of IEEE-USA’s Career and Workforce Policy Committee (CWPC), say they are cautiously optimistic about signs of recovery in American engineering labor markets, rebounding from the severe recession that has plagued the U.S. and world economies over the past two years.

Writing Cover Letters That Get Read

Some think the cover letter is the place to list all the reasons why they are a good fit for a position. Others are so overwhelmed by the task that after looking at a blank screen for hours, they end up rewriting a summary of their resume. Here are some tips that can help you when it comes time to draft this important piece of the job search puzzle.

Turn Contacts into “Career Insurance”

Job searching today poses many complex hurdles for the rare, perfect candidate, and is far more challenging a marketing project for almost everyone. There is a way around these barriers and also avoiding them in the future by focusing your job search on the unadvertised or hidden job market and maintaining a rich network.

World Bytes: Your Ideas Have Been Stolen by Co-Workers

How to Ace the Million Dollar Interview Question

Accepting a job offer frequently entails negotiating the terms of employment. However, if you prepare yourself in advance, you can spare yourself some last-minute angst.

Environmental Engineering Poised for Growth in United States

Times are tight and traditional electrical engineering jobs are becoming scarcer. But some specialties are doing better than others, and one area you might consider to maximize your future job potential is environmental engineering.

World Bytes: The Disposable Worker

Employee or Independent Contractor? — Déjà Vu All Over Again?

Organizations representing self-employed independent contractors are gearing up for another battle in a long and contentious war in Congress over the “common law test” that the Internal Revenue Service uses to decide whether workers should be classified as employees or as independent contractors for Federal tax purposes.

Why Should You Become a Licensed Professional Engineer?

When contemplating professional licensure, the central question for many electrical, computer and software engineers is: How will licensure benefit me?

But You Don't Look Like an Engineer …

Two female engineering professors often find that people do a double take when they tell them what they do.

Writing Effective and Responsible Job Reference Recommendations

In today’s tightly contested job market, personal recommendations can play a critical role in determining who gets the job offers. What do you do if asked to provide one?

Satisfaction: Why do people give up engineering?

“Don’t follow in my footsteps.” These days, seemingly every conversation about the future of engineering includes an apocryphal story about an engineer who advises his children to find another line of work because engineering has no future. Yet until a recent set of surveys and analyses, we knew little about who stays in engineering, why people leave the field, and what happens to them after they leave.

Top 10 Online Time Wasters @ Work

It's five o'clock and you're wondering: where did the day go? Today's Engineer's Abby Vogel looks at ten of the biggest time traps that can pass the time... but not always productively.

When It Comes to Your Career, Don't Play the Waiting Game

Still waiting by the phone, hoping a recruiter will call? Don't bother; your job search will be better served by taking and active approach — and staying on top of both your job leads, and the people who are helping you to find them.

Outlook for 2010

As in past years, this annual survey examines the outlook in eight areas of significant import to the U.S. endeavor: technology, energy, climate change, work force, employment benefits, immigration, infrastructure and the economy.

Holiday Social Networking Leads to the Hidden Job Market

Traditionally, the holiday season is the most active networking time of year with lots of social gatherings, printed greetings and gift exchanges. The explosion of social media has dramatically impacted how we network year-round. Take the opportunity now to expand your connections using the variety of social networking platforms that enable you to keep up with your existing contacts and establish new relationships on a continuous basis.

Is It Your Time To Be an Entrepreneur?

Whatever the reason, you’ve decided to start your own company and be an entrepreneur. How do you get started, and what does it take to be successful?

Want to be an Innovator? New E-Book Series Tells You How

A new series of e-books, Doing Innovation: Creating Economic Value, offers advice on how to be an innovative thinker, how to inspire innovation within an organization, understanding the process of innovation, and more.

World Bytes: Olympic Games Venue

Five Web Sites I Love... and You Might, Too

Today's Engineer's Students Voice Editor Sarah Rovito shares some of her favorite sites.

Backscatter: Contending with the Downside of Offshoring

An NAE study initiated in 2006 concluded that “offshoring appears to have contributed to the competitive advantage of U-S.-based firms in a variety of industries, and the negative impacts of offshoring on U.S. engineering appear to have been relatively modest to date.” However, the study did note severe impacts in some industry sectors and for some jobs.

Snooping Employers — Be Aware of Your Online Profiles

Due to high unemployment and hundreds of e-mails daily for an open position, hiring managers and recruiters are going online to investigate possible candidates — before the interview process even begins.

My AAAS Mass Media Fellowship Experience

When Wendy Hansen first began her Mass Media Fellowship at the Los Angeles Times, she wondered what she had gotten herself into. Ten short weeks later, she had found here calling.

IEEE-USA E-Book: Doing Innovation: Creating Economic Value – Book 2: Developing a Workable Innovation Process

Developing a Workable Innovation Process is the second in a series of e-books by Gerard “Gus” Gaynor, a retired 3M Director of Engineering, on Doing Innovation: Creating Economic Value.

Disability Insurance: 3 Tips To Help Speed You Through Underwriting

Because disability coverage is medically underwritten, your application must be approved by the insurance company before benefits can be put in force. Here are a few things you can do to help the underwriter review process run as smoothly as possible.

Hire the Right Person the First Time

The high unemployment rate has created a false confidence among company hiring managers — from small business owners to Fortune 500 companies — because large pools of applicants are available. Rather than be fearful of making a hiring mistake, here are some ways to ensure you make a good, profitable hire the first time.

IEEE-USA’s "Engineers Make a World of Difference" Online Video Competition

Mechanical engineering student Samantha Caldwell says that winning the IEEE-USA 2008-09 student video competition was one of her most rewarding and exciting experiences.

World Bytes: Direct Downward Communication

How Winning the IEEEXtreme Programming Challenge Shaped My Future

Manel Martinez started programming early in life — at age seven — when he received his first computer as a Christmas present. Little did he know then that that same Amstrad CPC would be instrumental in his team winning the 2006 IEEEXtreme 24 Hour Programming Challenge.

Do You Need an Executive Talent Agent?

Executive talent agents and headhunters may appear to produce the same outcome, but there is an unmistakable distinction — the two professions are paid by, loyal to and represent parties that may have disparate priorities and contrary interests related to the same recruiting transaction.

Backscatter: It's Not Just Digital

Today's ECE students might equate the term “digital systems” only to modern electronic digital systems based on binary integrated circuits. (So might many veteran engineers!) Historically, of course, digital systems in the broadest sense included a variety of items having information represented in discrete states.

Toastmasters: Becoming a Better Communicator and Leader

What makes the difference between those engineers who succeed and those who fall short of their potential? The answer lies in the “soft skills” that make individuals stand apart from the pack.

Software Engineering PE Examination Development Approved

NCEES recently approved development of a PE exam for software engineering. IEEE-USA will serve as the lead technical society sponsoring the examination with cooperative agreements from other organizations, including the IEEE Computer Society and NSPE.

Disability Insurance: The “Forgotten” Safety Net

When most people talk about having “enough” insurance, they’re usually referring to life insurance. But if your family relies on your paycheck to make ends meet, your loved ones could find themselves in a worse financial situation if you become disabled than if you were to die.

World Bytes: Turning Down a Promotion

You've been offered a promotion. Should you accept it or turn it down? It's easy to say “yes”; knowing the right way to say “no” can be just as important to your career.

Why Haven't I Been Hired Yet?

When you’re unemployed, you can feel trapped in an endless cycle of hopping online, looking for jobs, applying electronically… and repeating the process day in and day out (all while hoping for a speedy end to the entire ordeal). So how do you break the cycle?

world bytes: innovation decline?

Five Web Sites I Love... and You Might, Too

For your reading pleasure, and to serve as proof that there is intelligent life out there on the Internet, Today's Engineer is profiling interesting and useful Web sites for your edification. What's in your bookmark list?

Hidden Job Market Secrets Revealed

Today’s job market remains extremely tight. Executive talent agent Debra Feldman offers practical advice to job seekers looking for new career opportunities that will be satisfying and hold promise for future growth and advancement. For those looking for a new career challenge today, it's not just what you know or even who you know, but who knows what you know.

Small Business Loan Program Reauthorization Stalled in Congress

Congress missed a 30 July deadline for reauthorizing the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) loan program and the similar Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program, but agreed to continue the programs until at least 30 September.

Backscatter: Tweet, Tweet

Defenders of proper English are concerned about the effects of communicating via the Internet. Some decry the attempts to “squeeze a short novel” into 140 characters through the use of mashed grammar, creative misspelling, and a plethora of awkward abbreviations. But a glance into history yields some interesting precursors to the tweeting phenomenon.

IEEE-USA e-Books: The Best of Backscatter from Today’s Engineer (Vol. 2)

world bytes: E-mail and Leadership

Maintaining Career Competitiveness in Uncertain Times

Whether your career is on hold, hurtling along full steam ahead, or just creeping along at a snail's pace, now is a good time to step back and think seriously about what it is you want from that large portion of your life that you invest in work.

IEEE-USA Forms Alliance with Small Business Administration

Can Generation Y Be Your Solution to Growth During This Recession?

You might think Generation Y (GenY) professionals would be the least equipped to weather a recession, let alone be the solution to a company’s survival during a recession. But are you underestimating their potential?

Health and Exercise While Traveling

With challenges posed by today's travel demands, it is more important than ever to be prepared and to be physically fit prior to and maintain your exercise regime while traveling. With effective planning and some creativity, exercise can easily be incorporated into your travel routine.

Maximizing Your Employability: Remaining Highly Marketable in Any Economy

Knowledge has been described as the only source of sustainable competitive advantage in an information economy. Since knowledge is the primary product of knowledge workers, it is also the primary source of their employability.

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Backscatter: The Parts Box

Creative inspiration comes in many forms. For Don Christiansen, ideas often spring forth from his "parts box" of clippings, articles and partially written columns. Do you have a parts box? And what do you keep in it?

Rebuilding Your Nest Egg

After the economic freefall of 2008, when the Standard & Poor’s 500 index fund plummeted 39.8 percent, and American family wealth fell by 18 percent, many professionals are looking to rebuild their 401(k) plans and IRAs, perhaps also altering their retirement plans.

Engineering Licensure: Q&A With NCEES President-Elect David Whitman

Today’s Engineer recently sat down for a Q&A with IEEE member and IEEE-USA Licensure & Registration Committee member David Whitman, Ph.D, P.E., who was recently elected to be next year’s president of the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES) – the organization that develops, scores and administers the U.S. engineering licensure examinations.

world bytes: State of Management

Network Purposefully To Accelerate Your Executive Job Search

Job hunting has become a contact sport. Be prepared for some rough and tumble times. This job market is all about relationships. Your network, and not just what you know, is the key to finding a new opportunity — the more people who know what you know, the faster the path to a new job.

Understanding the Mess: Buffet's Letter to Berkshire Hathaway Shareholders

Excerpts from a compelling commentary from Warren Buffett's letter to shareholders in the 2008 Berkshire Hathaway annual report. Buffett's letter not only describes the performance of Berkshire Hathaway affiliated companies, but includes the author's commentary on what went wrong and why in U.S. and global financial markets between 1998 and 2008.

What Should Be Patentable?

It seems like that question is answered by the patent statute, which since 1793 has indicated that “statutory subject matter” — what can be patented — is “any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof.” But when it comes to new technology patents, things aren't always so simple.

How Technology Leaders Can Thrive in Tough Times

As anxiety and uneasiness continue into the second quarter of 2009, companies are looking for ways to trim spending and improve their bottom line. Even though technology often encompasses a small percentage of a company’s cost expenditures, executives inevitably turn their attention to technology budgets. But cutting back on technology may not be the answer to today's economic woes.

World Bytes: Surviving the Economic Downturn

In today’s challenging economic environment, job eliminations and hiring freezes are commonplace. Human resource decisions are made that are beyond our control. However, you can control your preparations for an economic downturn — and your response, should you experience a layoff.

The Technology Paradox: A Digital Economy Without a STEM Workforce?

The talent pool of STEM workers across the United States is insufficient to properly support the American economy through the next decade, according to a new book, Winning the Global Talent Showdown: How Businesses and Communities Can Partner to Rebuild the Jobs Pipeline.

GOLD Launching Your Career e-Book Series: Lifelong Learning

John Meredith’s e-Book, the fourth in the GOLD Series, entitled Launching Your Career: Lifelong Learning — Your Key to An Enjoyable and Rewarding Career, is a guide for engineering students who are preparing to start their career, as well as engineers who are in the early phases of their careers.

Get Fit for Career Success

With the growing understanding of the benefits of wellness, lengthening life span, and the increasing cost of health care, the importance of adopting a healthy lifestyle is transforming the lives of many citizens.

Backscatter: Thinking Inside the Box

The symbolism of engineering has evolved as engineering design has gotten more complex and abstract.

Managing Young Employees: Recruiting and Retaining Them

There are at least 70 million Millennials in the United States, and they constitute 21 percent of our work force — 32 million workers. How should management approach working with today's young engineers?

Career Outlook for Engineers in Today's Economy

Engineering graduates — and those already in the workforce — face uncertain times in today’s chilling economic climate.

world bytes: The President and His Information

Investing in Turbulent Times

Considering the devastating impact the current economy is having on U.S. workers, the current economic climate could certainly be considered the worst of times, or it could be viewed more optimistically as the best of times, if you are able to take advantage of some of the once-in-a-lifetime “bargains” that are likely available in the stock market.

Special to Today's Engineer: Geek Girl

Margaux is a typical nine-year-old girl, and proud to be a Geek Girl. She shares her refreshing perspective as a youngster who loves, of all things, math and science.

Transitioning from College to Work

Each year, an average of 1.5 million young adults will leave the relative comfort of college and enter the uncertainty of a new job. If you are one of these recent graduates, these tips can help ease your transition.

The Perils, Pitfalls and Pleasures of Blogging

Does blogging on your own time put you in any risk from your day job? Can it damage your career, or could it help? And if you decide to blog, what steps should you take to protect yourself?

Engineering Career Skills Symposium

Why did the leaders of the IEEE Engineering Technology Student Chapter at Texas A&M University decide not to attend a host of classes one day last October? Did they suddenly become slackers? Not at all. They skipped classes to attend a 23 October symposium, “Engineering Career Skills for the Future: Energy in Transition.”

GOLD e-Book Series Continues with Practitioners Guide to Leadership

Launching Your Career: A Practitioners Guide to Leadership is the third e-Book in the IEEE-USA GOLD series. This leadership guide is a thought-provoking, inspiring self-reflection, and provides practical examples of how to move forward as a leader in the workplace, your volunteer organization, and even at home.

Companies that Practice Succession Management Reap Rewards

Succession management has been bandied about as a topic of interest in companies and technology departments for years. Recently, succession management has enjoyed increased interest, as the need for skilled talent becomes more critical.

Backscatter: Engineering as Art

Can the fruits of engineers’ labors be considered art? What of those of electrical engineers in particular?

Improving Public Understanding of Engineering

Can the United States continue to lead the world in innovation, asks the National Academy of Engineering (NAE). NAE suggests the answer may depend on how well the public understands engineering.

Outlook for 2009

IEEE-USA editor for technology policy George McClure looks at the prospects for technology, energy, climate change, work force, employment benefits, immigration, infrastructure and the economy in the new year.

New E-Books Address GOLD Careers and Management of Technology

IEEE-USA has released three new career-related e-books. Two of the books kick off the "Launching Your Career" GOLD e-book series, which is dedicated to helping graduating students, recent graduates and young engineers on important career topics. The third e-book provides an overview of the Management of Technology (MOT) discipline.

Getting Back into the Game: It's All About Connections

To be competitive, senior level executives returning to the job market have some unique challenges, not the least of which is the gap in their employment history.

world bytes: Reflections on Turning 60

Backscatter: The Global Engineer

n theory, globalization is supposed to equalize global wages and raise the global standard of living. Everyone is supposed to benefit. So, what's the problem?

Managing Market Volatility

Market volatility is often referred to as a normal market occurrence. However, when it involves your money, it takes on a new perspective. There is no guaranteed solution to managing market volatility and the stock market, but the following tips can help.

Sample Exam Books Available for Restructured PE Exam

The Principles and Practice of Engineering (PE) exam for electrical and computer engineers is assuming a new structure in the spring of 2009.

Why Companies Don’t Train Engineers

Businesses stand to lose a great deal when they don’t practice succession management — like management continuity and their best engineering pros.

IEEE-USA E-Books: Engineering the Art of Negotiation

John G. Shulman, President and CEO of the negotiation consulting and training firm, Alignor, has written two informative e-books on Engineering the Art of Negotiation.

Innovation Management Masters Program Helps Engineers Fuel Value Creation

At Carnegie Mellon University, the new interdisciplinary Masters program in Engineering and Technology Innovation Management (E&TIM) is designed for engineers who are passionate about creating value from technological innovation.

Backscatter: Bootlegging

To the average citizen, bootlegging conjures up visions of Prohibition-era Chicago, hidden stills in the mountains of Tennessee, and fast boats delivering illicit spirits at dusk to numerous ports on the North Shore of Long Island. More recently, bootlegging refers to the practice of selling someone else’s intellectual property without permission or compensation.

A Bad Boss Can Send You to an Early Grave

Most everyone has been there at one time or another, working under a tyrant who somehow manages to survive in this world without people skills. If you haven’t had a boss like this, you should consider buying a lottery ticket — and soon. You are that lucky.

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Be Part of the Best Team

An organization's ability to be competitive at what is does rests on acquiring the right talent, deploying it properly, and continually evolving to meet changing needs and situations. In today's rapidly changing world, how can you be part of the best team?

IEEE-USA Volunteer Spotlight: John Twitchell

Meet IEEE-USA's VP of Career and Member Services.

Engineers: Your Oceans Need You!

Are you looking for a "green" job in an environmental field? How about a job where you put your skills to work doing some good for the world? Or maybe you're just looking for a job that will challenge you. In any of these cases, a career in oceanic engineering could offer exactly what you are looking for.

world bytes: Craftsmanship

Backscatter: The Changing Engineering Workplace

The engineer’s work environment is not what it used to be. Many who began their careers in the mid-20th century did not work from a cubicle and none had a computer workstation. If they had a desk, it was often shared. In the case of U.S. engineers, they had little or no contact with the vendors, customers or other engineers outside the United States.

Are You Prepared for a Career Crash?

When a person loses a job, he or she experiences shock, anger, disappointment, fear and the feeling of loss. We eventually dust ourselves off and begin to rebuild by searching for another job. Through networking, submitting résumés, interviewing and selling ourselves to perspective employers, we eventually land a new job.

The Experts Never Told You About These Three Retirement Challenges

When it comes to retirement, it’s not just what you have that matters, but how you re-invent yourself so that you retire with a sense of meaningfulness and significance. Continuous learning is one of three key ways to do that, according to the research findings tracking retiree and retirement trends since 1993.

Why Should Engineers Be Concerned About Copyright Law?

Intellectual property is rarely on the minds of today’s young engineers — but it should be. Some may be familiar with patents, which grant an exclusive monopoly to the patent holder for a period of 20 years, but fewer are familiar with copyrights.

Consulting: The Dawn of a New Era

In recent years, the engineering profession’s employment landscape has been dramatically reshaped as a result of growing job dissatisfaction, downsizing, outsourcing, layoffs, and early retirements, to name but a few of the contributing factors. Many engineers have moved from salaried positions to independent consulting practices.

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Changes for Becoming a Licensed Engineer

Today’s Engineer sits down for a Q&A with Richard Schwarz, P.E., chair of IEEE-USA's Licensure & Registration Committee, to talk about recent changes to the requirements for becoming a licensed engineer.

Phased Retirement — The Time Has Come

A Perfect Storm described the confluence of three storm systems in the north Atlantic. In demographics and retirement security, we have another perfect storm, with the third element being greater longevity in retirement.

Retirement is Great... I Didn't Plan it That Way, But You Should

We don’t all retire the same. We each have our own interests, needs and aspirations. Some of us make an easy transition to retirement, while others find retirement unaffordable, unexciting, unfulfilling, and maybe even lonely. By planning early in and continuously throughout your life and career, you may be able to enjoy a comfortable and fulfilling retirement.

Eight Unusual Ways to Improve Your Soft Skills

Electrical engineers, computer scientists and other technology professionals need years of education to qualify for jobs in their fields. And yet, even with all of this training, many of these same people working in high-tech fields find themselves held back in the workplace because they lack business-critical interpersonal, writing and presentation skills.

Women of Color Ace Electrical Engineering

Many are rising in their versatile specialty, others have moved into related technical fields. At last count, women made up only 8 percent of the EE work force. Women of color account for just a fraction of those, but it’s a vibrant fraction.

Are You Getting All You Can from Organization Memberships?

There are many reasons for attending industry-related meetings and joining organizations, like the IEEE, or community groups.

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Innovation — Every Engineer’s Role

Because it is so important to continuing business success, and because opportunities for innovation are everywhere, innovation can be a vital ingredient for career success for every engineer.

IEEE WIE Supports Showcasing Diverse Engineering Role Models

IEEE Women in Engineering (WIE) is at the forefront of diversity issues. Although the primary goal of WIE is to build a community of women and men supporting the advancement of women at all stages of their careers, WIE has become the diversity arm of IEEE.

Banneker Institute Steers African-American Youngsters Towards STEM Education and Careers

The Banneker Institute serves as a catalyst in the pursuit of increased African-American participation in STEM careers. In 2007, it declared “The Decade of Blacks in Science,” a national effort to promote STEM outreach activities at the local level.

Lights... Camera... Engineering!

Students, warm up your video cameras! It's almost time to enter IEEE-USA's second annual "How Engineers Make a World of Difference" online video competition for the chance to win thousands of dollars in college scholarships.

IEEE PES Works to Meet Power & Energy Engineering Education & Workforce Needs

Are there the makings of a "perfect storm" scenario for meeting future workforce needs in the electric power and energy industries? Many people, both casual observers and passionate participants alike, have strongly answered “yes” to this question. Why?

world bytes: International Internships

Who Want$ to Be a Millionaire?

Osceola McCarty, a washer woman from Mississippi, donated $150,000 to the University of Southern Mississippi in 1995 for student scholarships. Her secret? Hard work, diligent saving, frugality and living within her means. If Ms. McCarty can accumulate this amount of money, surely an engineering graduate should be able to do at least as well.

Why Employee Retention Strategies Do Not Work

Because recruiting is expensive and time-consuming, and the pool of available talent is shrinking instead of growing, employee retention is fast becoming the most cost-effective strategy for keeping up with business needs. Experts suggest that you can buy employee loyalty with salary, bonuses, perks, patting them on the back and even letting them bring their pets to work. Yet employees still leave. What is an employer to do?

A Callout to the Twenty-Something Engineer

Some members of Gen Y are wondering why they don’t seem to fit in with their colleagues, and yet they remain hopeful they will find the right job and situation that will take full advantage of their talents and aspirations.

Career Advice for Mid-Career Engineers

A fulfilling technical career path generally requires some form of growth to be rewarding. In addition, if you’re expecting to prepare for increased responsibilities, you’ll be looking to increase engineering, professional and business skills.

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Patents — 10 Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Making Them

Intellectual property is usually a company’s most valuable asset. While trademarks and copyrights are generally understood, patents are generally misunderstood, resulting in the loss of millions of dollars to companies every year. Learn how to avoid the 10 most common mistakes made regarding patents.

Backscatter: Early Adopters

Early adopters are valuable to those who introduce innovative high-tech products. These early customers may be either individuals or corporations. It is estimated that perhaps 10 to15 percent of the individual purchasers of a product fall into the early-adopter category.

Outlook for 2008

In the short term, forecasting is hard to do, matching a development with a timeline. That said, IEEE-USA's government relations editor George McClure provides an overview of changes and trends in eight categories that are likely to affect all of us, in one way or another, in 2008: technology, energy, climate change, workforce, employment benefits, immigration, infrastructure and the economy.

Résumé Tips for Engineers Over 40

In study after study, more and more engineers over age forty are reporting age bias in their job search, and engineers are increasingly wondering what they have to do to get a job in the second half of their careers.

What’s Keeping Women Out of IT?

The dearth of women in IT and programming, and declining numbers of women enrolling in undergraduate computer science majors in the United States has many causal factors, and has been studied extensively since the 1980s. Yet the underlying causes are so intertwined that it is difficult to separate them. Some sociologists suggest that many of these causes may reflect the pervasive effect of the gender system. Confounding the issue are technological and cultural changes.

College or University? The Choice is Yours

Post-secondary education is expensive and choosing your educational provider is a decision requiring careful thought. A decade ago, the decision was much easier. Today, the choice of an educational provider is complex; a wrong decision has huge financial and time implications.