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.

Experiences from the IEEE Central Indiana Section, and lessons for greening your Section from IEEE members working at the heart of the issue.

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?

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

Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) has introduced legislation in Congress that will dramatically change America’s skill-based immigration system. Her bills will make it significantly easier for non-Americans with advanced education and skilled to become citizens.

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.

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.

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.

During this time of “No Child Left Behind” and meeting educational standards, students have little time for hands-on projects. For Ronald Rodgers, an elementary school teacher in Indiana, receiving an IEEE-USA Precollege Education Committee (PEC) Teacher Reward/Grant last school year had impacts beyond his expectations.

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.

A recap of news and notable developments in electrical engineering and computer or information technology emerging from the federal government during May and June 2008.

Don Christiansen wonders about young engineers' knowledge of the history of our own profession. Consider the once ubiquitous vacuum tube. How many under-40 engineers are aware of the origins of the thermionic vacuum tube or of its importance during its halcyon years?

How do you get green consumers — and later, the majority — to embrace green technologies? By following a familiar theory regarding the diffusion of innovations.

People tend to get very complacent once they land a new job. After months (sometimes years) of searching, many people think their work is over once they step through their new employer's door. Unfortunately, sitting back at this juncture might lead to outcomes that are far less favorable than a person hoped for in a new employment situation.

In a slowing economy, where are the opportunities? The Semiconductor Industry Association’s (SIA) survey of its member companies looks at degrees, technical skills and positions the companies are having difficulty filling.

The only specific right the U.S. Constitution grants to citizens is ownership of their intellectual property (Article I, Section 8, Clause 8). But employees now working for technical companies, academic institutions and government likely signed a contract that pre-assigned their intellectual property to their employers.

The PE examination consists of 80 independent multiple choice questions and each has to be written by a registered professional engineer. If you are a registered professional engineer, you can write a question for future exams. Find out how.

Before you have retired, you should be able to answer without hesitation: “What do you do?” You might say, “I do a lot of things,” and then (assuming your questioner is interested in more than what you can do to help him or her), launch into your laundry list of new activities in retirement.

With all the concerns of rising gas prices, home foreclosures, rising health care costs, and bills, bills, bills, it is ironic that many people have not given thought to the financial security of their loved one or themselves when either one dies.

As the 21st century gets underway, the U.S. engineering profession finds itself facing major challenges, including the impact globalization and offshoring of U.S. engineering jobs are having on the engineering workforce and profession.

IEEE members are at the vortex of America’s global economic status in the 21st century. In order to help American business remain competitive, it is vital that IEEE members understand sustainable business operations.

A roundup of news and notable developments in electrical engineering and computer or information technology emerging from the federal government during May 2008.

Are you protecting your intellectual capital? A primer on the most common types of intellectual property: trademarks, trade dress, trade secrets, copyrights and patents.

For more than a century, science-fiction authors have played a major role in helping to shape technology innovations. What can we learn from writers of science fiction that will allow us to be more innovative in the real world?

Attitudes and values differ around the globe, and an unintentional mistake can not only reflect badly on you, but could also submarine your business deals abroad. Terry Malkinson reviews Terry Morrison and Wayne Conway's cultural guide to Latin America.

RFID has been a rapidly-adopted technology, largely on the basis of its potential for saving costs and improving productivity in distribution and consumer transactions. The market is estimated at $5 billion now, growing to over $25 billion by 2017.

With a global push to find viable alternatives to coveted — and finite — fossil fuel reserves, renewable and sustainable resources, such as solar energy, are enjoying a resurgence of interest from the engineering and political communities.

The nation's elderly are wealthier, healthier and more numerous than ever before. However, the positive population and financial trends among the elderly population are contrasted by negative trends in the their transportation options.

Perhaps the most troubling aspect of the Broadcast Flag regulation — beyond the MPAA’s influence, the disregard for fair use, and muzzled innovations — was the way the FCC overreached its authority. Despite its repeal, the regulation has had long-lasting consequences.

A recap of news and notable developments in electrical engineering and computer or information technology emerging from the federal government during April-May 2008.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

A recap of news and notable developments in electrical engineering and computer or information technology emerging from the federal government in the first quarter of 2008.

On 17 January, IEEE-USA, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and the Westinghouse Electric Company jointly participated in a Congressional Research and Development Caucus briefing on emerging nuclear technology. IEEE-USA coordinated the briefing to assist House members with a shared interest in promoting technical innovation in the United States.

If you’re diagnosed with cancer, will your health insurance cover ALL the costs of your treatment? Find out what your health insurance plan covers and what it doesn’t. Plus, learn about an affordable “back up” that could help you if you’re among the one in three Americans diagnosed with cancer during your lifetime.

Less than thirty years ago, Richard Stallman founded the free software movement, dedicated to the principle that the free sharing of knowledge embodied in executable software is an ethical imperative. Stallman's vision, though derided as impracticable and inconsistent with economic reality, has transformed the global software industry, and is at the very heart of the most important developments in human society since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution.

IEEE-USA E-Books are alive, well — and growing! Whether you are searching for information on consulting, innovation, salary surveys, or personal and professional development, you will find it in the pages of IEEE-USA e-books.

Engineers have been known to grouse that while pop stars and sports figures get lots of attention, engineers labor in the shadows, and, like Rodney Dangerfield, “don’t get no respect.”

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.

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.

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.

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.

The topic may seem dull, but technology export controls are vital to U.S. security and competitiveness. Technology that could help other nations compete with the United States if released — or that could be useful to terrorists — is subject to export controls. The rub comes in weighing the needs of U.S. innovators for greater sales versus the harm to the national interest if the technology is divulged.

According to some, engineering is the most essential profession in the world. Engineers mold the very foundations of almost every device, mechanism, system and substance on which the world's population relies. So, if the United States is suffering from an "engineering gap," where will the nation's future engineers come from?

In today’s world products, money, and people transcends borders. The career-savvy individual will take the time to become informed about other countries, their cultures and ways of doing business. Asia is the world’s largest continent, containing almost 60 percent of the world's population.

The following is a recap of news and notable developments in electrical engineering and computer or information technology emerging from the federal government in January-early February 2008.

Henry Ford and Rudolph Diesel’s initial efforts to fuel their fledgling automobiles involved ethanol and peanut oil, respectively. However, they soon discovered that refined petroleum was a far more efficient source for gasoline and diesel fuel. Are biofuels ready to make a comeback?

When the National Engineers Week Future City Competition hosted its 16th National Finals 18-20 Feb. in Washington, D.C., a record 37 regional championship-winning teams participated. They represented the cream of the crop among the more than 1,100 schools and 30,000 students who competed during the 2007-08 season.

Remember the board game King Chip? Or the Macintosh XL (aka Lisa)? Or PC Jr.? Don Christiansen revisits some of the technologies and technology predictions of the mid-1980s to explore the veracity of the law of engineering obsolescence.

With all of the cellular phones, MP3/PMP devices, GPS units, set-top boxes, DVRs, automobile telematics systems and digital televisions out there, we are surrounded by embedded systems composed of custom hardware and software designs. But, is the United States losing its edge in producing engineers who can make these critical systems work?

Most people can relate to the anxiety associated with being asked to give a presentation to a group of colleagues. Susan de la Vergne offers a few suggestions for improving your technical presentation abilities and effectiveness.

Defined contribution plans provide greater portability of benefits than “traditional” defined benefit plans, but shift the responsibility of saving for retirement from employers to employees. Whether employees are saving enough to secure their retirements is question of some concern. Based on a November 2007 GAO report.

In late December 2007, President Bush signed into law the Energy Independence and Security Act (H.R.6). The bill requires auto manufacturers to improve fuel economy standards to 35 mpg by 2020, and boosts ethanol production five-fold by 2022. The legislation also includes a $95 million competitive grants program designed to spur electric vehicle technology development, as well as language calling on NIST to work with the IEEE and others to develop standards for emerging "Smart Grid" technologies. But does it do enough to achieve the nation's ambitious energy independence goals?

A recap of new and notable developments in electrical engineering and computer or information technology emerging from the federal government and its research partners at year end in 2007.

IEEE understands how stressful and expensive it is for parents today to plan and pay for their children’s college education. To help alleviate some of the strains associated with putting a child through college, the IEEE has partnered with College Parents of America, the only national membership association dedicated to advocating and to serving on behalf of current and future college parents.

OK, so engineers don’t glad-hand as many strangers as would a politician. And at technical meetings, we're likely to seek out colleagues in our own fields and neglect others. But does that make us nerds?

You know that your potential employers are going to Google you. Here's what you can do to present your online self in the best possible light.

One of the best ways to enhance your career and ensure your employability is by improving your writing skills.

Historically, American transportation systems have been plagued with problems of congestion, pollution and safety. Should transportation systems give people what they want or what they need?

After graduating from college, Eric’s first week on the job as an engineer was full of leadership and management challenges — but he didn’t realize it at the time. He was just getting the work done that he was told to do. Just ordinary work for an entry-level engineer...or so he thought.

A recap of new and notable developments in electrical engineering and computer or information technology emerging from the federal government and its research partners in late October and November.

TE recently caught up with William C. Miller, an internationally recognized expert on values-centered corporate innovation for more than 20 years.

How can you — the potential academic author — help to ensure your book's success? It pays to think about the marketing before you even write your first word…

Good engineering managers are well paid because they have a very difficult job that not many people with engineering backgrounds want — and even fewer are highly qualified for the role. Here are five simple ways for executives to help their engineering managers succeed.

A long, dismal history of election fraud, in both rural areas and big cities, tells of the election process' legacy of susceptibility to corrupt elements. So, will e-voting make things better — or worse?

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

IEEE-USA President John Meredith and the Semiconductor Industry of America (SIA) President George Scalise sent a joint letter to Congress on 11 October outlining a common position on skill-based immigration reform.

It takes many dedicated people, both professional staff and volunteers, to carry out the important work of the IEEE. Needless to say, the IEEE needs a steady supply of volunteers.

Do engineers consider ethics in engineering practice unworthy of discussion? Superfluous? A waste of time? Boring? Don Christiansen isn't sure…

For some, the statement “Thank goodness it’s Friday” leads quickly to anxiety over having to return to work on Monday. With some simple strategies, you can enjoy an attitude reversal that may even have you saying, “Thank goodness it’s Monday.”

As a student, your primary focus should be on your school work, but neglecting money management can have dire consequences. If nothing else, having unmanageable debt at the outset is a bad way to start a career.

Patrick Meyer reviews 15 reliable resources for students studying energy policy or environmental policy…

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

Perhaps not well known by many IEEE members, Golden was described as “a main architect of American science policy in the 20th Century” in his New York Times obituary, an acknowledgment of his influence in defining the federal government’s expanded role in science and technology after World War II.

On 19 September, experts from a vast array of industries and sectors converged to discuss one of the most promising technologies for the future of the American automobile industry: plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV). The primary take-home message: PHEVs are coming.

Local TV news is the medium from which about 40 percent of the American public gets its news, and 44 percent of the U.S. public over 18 years of age chooses local TV news as its top source of science and technology information, according to NSF's 2006 Science and Engineering Indicators. IEEE-USA has joined a coalition of science and engineering societies to support better science on local TV news.

2005 AAAS Mass Media Science and Engineering Fellow Abby Vogel spent the summer of 2005 as a science reporter at the Richmond Times-Dispatch. She says the experience helped her to find her career, and she believes that IEEE membership means volunteering to help current and future engineers realize theirs.

Get to know a little bit about one of IEEE-USA's key volunteers: Paul Kostek.