Early prototypes of programmable walkers, “smart toilets”; monitoring devices with disembodied voices reminding people about daily tasks; emergency detection and response devices; passive sleep and gait monitors; and a robot named “Pearl” are just a few of the technology efforts that engineers have designed and are testing to help the elderly age with dignity and grace, according to speakers at a workshop on geriatric healthcare on 4 June at Mitretek Systems in Falls Church, Va.

It seems many of today’s sleek and sophisticated but user-unfriendly consumer products, which feature black knobs and pushbuttons on black cabinetry and housings have been designed by artists hoping to win prestigious design awards. Miniscule icons imprinted on or near the controls in dishwater gray do little to help. Where are the engineers who designed the sophisticated stuff that’s inside? And who represents the customer?

Articles written by engineers and other technical experts top the list in credibility rankings over all other information sources. Often, however, the experts focus so heavily on pursuing solutions that they have neither the desire nor the time to write for publication. Here’s an alternative.

As 2003 IEEE-USA president, Jim Leonard wanted to improve relationships between IEEE-USA and other IEEE organizational units. That cooperative spirit was reflected in a 100-year avionics timeline exhibit that premiered at the 100th Anniversary of Powered Flight Celebration in Dayton, Ohio, in July 2003.

DARPA’s first Grand Challenge failed to produce a clear-cut “winner,” but the technology presented and publicity generated were more than enough to convince DARPA managers that the event was a success. In fact, they are already planning a second race that promises an even larger prize.

This is the year for electronic voting. Whether the systems that ultimately will be used will be web-based or touch-screen systems, critical issues such as security, auditing, resources and computer literacy will surely surround them. Many states and the federal government have proposed or enacted legislation to deal with these issues.

Although we have approximately 140,000 miles of track in the United States and thousands of passengers travel by rail each day — 65,000 passengers a day on Amtrak alone — little is currently in place to prevent a terrorist attack. And unlike the uniformity the Transportation Security Administration has brought to airline security, no systematic answer to rail security is apparent.