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.

President Barack Obama’s appointees to key science and technology positions, along with his issuance of an official memorandum directing that the integrity of federal S&T activities be carefully safeguarded, have been drawing strong praise from the policy community, including IEEE-USA leaders.

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.

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.

IEEE’s volunteer leaders depend on e-mail communications to carry out their work. Unfortunately, this powerful tool in today’s high-tech society is a two-edged sword. This article provides practical tips on using e-mail to eliminate or mitigate many of the problems that high-volume e-mail users endure.

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.

Today, energy is enjoying a renaissance of sorts. The issue dominates political, economic and social debate—garnering the kind of attention not seen since the energy crises of the 1970s. The economic emergence of China, Brazil, Russia and other large players in world markets have pushed energy prices to unprecedented levels, having widespread impact on global economies, and forcing governments to take action.

A recap of new and notable developments in electrical engineering and computer or information technology emerging from the federal government during March 2009.

Engineering program accreditation in the United States is conducted by ABET with the help of volunteers from its member societies — including IEEE. Currently, IEEE is responsible for evaluating more programs than any other ABET member society. Program evaluators from industry and government are needed.

Anthropologist Brian Fagan’s treatise on climate change looks at the rise and fall of great civilizations during the Medieval Warming Period (800 – 1300 AD) in The Great Warming. And environmentalist Bjorn Lomborg's takes issue with carbon emission alarmists in Cool It.

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.

For easy access, IEEE-USA has now made available select published government reports to IEEE members through the IEEE-USA E-Book Catalog. Members can currently download six government documents for free.

Are engineers really less interested in supporting their local communities than scientists? The last Harris interactive poll on the public’s perception of engineers and scientists says “yes.” But is it true? Today's Engineer suspects that the public is suffering from yet another misconception of engineers.