Join Us At The 2001 Fellows Awards Dinner Dance Saturday ... · Robert R. Alfano City College of New York New York, NY For development of tunable solid state lasers and ultrafast

Visit our web page at http://www.ewh.ieee.org/r1/new_york/

February 2001 (VOL 48, NO. 6)

PERIODICAL TIME SENSITIVE MATERIAL

Join Us At The

2001

Fellows Awards Dinner Dance

Saturday, February 24th

(See Back Page For Details)

National

Engineers

Week

The week of February 18 to 24, 2001 has been designated as National Engineers Week. This year marks the 50th anniversary of National Engineers Week (E-Week). The National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) founded National Engineers Week in 1951. Since then, it has become an annual event observed by engineers, engineering students, teachers and associates in government and business. By 1990, the scope of the union of National Engineers Week was expanded to include more than 100 participating engineering, scientific and educational societies, and also those influential corporations having a vested interest in increasing public awareness and appreciation of technology and the engineering profession. Although not specifically stated, the mission of the National Society of Professional Engineers is aimed toward influencing and recruiting the next generation of engineers by promoting a program of interesting and challenging design activities. In addition this year, Thursday, February 22, has been designated as “Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day.” Co-Chair of National Engineers Week, IBM, is leading the enterprise by promising 500 engineer participants from its Women in Technology

program. Both NSPE and IBM recognize not only the lack of interest in engineering as a profession among our youngsters, but also the lack of diversity. This subject was already stated in my last column. For the general public, a new web site entitled “Sightseer’s Guide to Engineering” will be unveiled on Monday, February 18, 2001. It is a travel guide that highlights the outstanding engineering sites to visit throughout America. This site will be found at

www.engineeringsights.org.

Additionally, middle school age students are invited to discover “cool things” in engineering at

http://www.discoverengineering.org. A host of other activities are planned and may be viewed at

http://www.eweek.org. IEEE-USA is a steering committee member of National Engineers Week. It will also be the lead society for E-Week 2004. Volunteers are always desirable. If you want to promote an appreciation of the positive contributions engineers make to the quality of life, you can do so by getting involved and being a role model. The web site “50 Ways One Engineer Can Make a Difference” may be found at http://www.eweek.org/2000/Engineers/50ways.shtml.

Jalal Gohari

Chairman’s Column

Robert R. Alfano City College of New York New York, NY For development of tunable solid state

lasers and ultrafast spectroscopic techniques.

Daniel Brand

IBM T.J. Watson Research Center Yorktown Heights, NY For contributions to the development of automated logic synthesis of VLSI chips.

H. Jonathan Chao

Polytechnic University Brooklyn, NY For contributions to the architecture and application of VLSI circuits in high speed packet networks.

Cesar A. Gonzales

IBM T.J. Watson Research Center Yorktown Heights, NY For contributions to MPEG encoding algorithms and leadership in their use.

Wei Hwang

IBM T.J. Watson Research Center Yorktown Heights, NY For contributions to high density cell technology and high speed Dynamic Random Access Memory design.

Mohamed Amin Ibrahim New York Power Authority White Plains, NY For leadership in power system protection through analytical studies of protective relaying performance.

Bernard S. Meyerson IBM T. J. Watson Research Center Yorktown Heights, NY For the invention of ultra high vacuum chemical vapor deposition and its application to low temperature epitaxy of SiGe for the fabrication of heterojunction bipolar integrated circuits for telecommunications.

Michael Alan Picheny

IBM T. J. Watson Research Center Yorktown Heights, NY For contributions to speech recognition systems and products.

Gabriel Taubin

IBM T.J. Watson Research Center Hawthorne, NY For contributions to the development of three-dimensional geometry compression technology and multimedia standards.

Hon-Sum Philip Wong

IBM T.J. Watson Research Center Yorktown Heights, NY For contributions to solid-state image sensors and nanoscale CMOS devices.

Ten New York Section Members are Newly Elected IEEE Fellows

The IEEE Fellow Committee has named 256 IEEE Senior Members to Fellow Grade effective January 1, 2001. Ten are members of the New York Section. Congratulations on

becoming members of the Class of 2001 Fellows.

The IEEE

MONITOR Postmaster: Send Address change and returns to the IEEE MONITOR, c/o Membership Services, IEEE Service Center, PO Box 1331, Piscataway, NJ 08855 (ISSN 0164-9205) Published monthly, except for June, July and August, by the New York Section of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc., 24 Chamber Lane, Englishtown, NJ 07726. Phone (212) 460-6363, Fax (212) 529-0463. IEEE Corporate Office, 3 Park Avenue, 17th Floor, New York, NY 10016-5997 Annual subscription: $4.00 per member per year (included in annual dues) for each member of the New York Section: $10.00 per year for non-IEEE members All communications concerning The IEEE MONITOR should be addressed to: The IEEE MONITOR, 24 Chamber Lane, Englishtown, NJ 07726 or e-mail: [email protected]. Responsibility for contents of articles, papers, abstracts, etc. published herein rests entirely with the authors, not the editor, Publication committee, IEEE or its members. Periodicals Postage Paid at New York, NY and additional mailing offices.

Vol. XLVIII No. 6 February, 2001

OFFICERS SECTION CHAIRMAN - Jalal Gohari VICE CHAIRMAN, OPERATIONS - Ralph Tapino VICE CHAIRMAN, ACTIVITIES - Ralph Tapino TREASURER - Robert Pellegrino SECRETARY - Benjamin Schall AWARDS CHAIRMAN - Peter Mauzey P.A.C.E. CHAIRMAN -Peter J. Greco PUBLICATIONS CHAIRMAN - Frank E. Schink

STAFF

EDITOR - Harold Ruchelman ASSISTANT EDITOR - Leon Katz HISTORIAN - Vincent McDonough

ENGINEERS WEEK CELEBRATION Sponsored by

THE METROPOLITAN ENGINEERING SOCIETIES COUNCIL RESERVATIONS REQUIRED Date: Thursday, February 15, 2001 Time: Buffet: 5:30 PM Program: 7:00 to 9:00 PM Where: The New York Academy of Sciences 2 East 63rd Street New York, NY 10021 Keynote Speaker: Dr. Arthur Donovan History Department U.S. Merchant Marine Academy Subject: The Container Revolution in Historical Perspective Proclamation: The Mayor’s Proclamation on Engineers Week will be

read by one of his commissioners. Cost: $30.00 – mailed reservations and check required by February 2, 2001 No “At Door” payment due to limited seating. Please mail your check made payable to MESC or “METROPOLITAN ENGINEERING SOCIETIES COUNCIL” with the below tear-off to: MESC, PO Box 1981, Church Street Station, New York, NY 10008-1981 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

February 15, 2001 ENGINEERS WEEK CELEBRATION Fee Enclosed: __________________ Phone #: ____________________________ First Name: ___________________ Last Name: _________________________ Company: _______________________ Society: ____________________________ Address:_____________________________________________________________ City: ___________________________ State: __________ Zip: ___________ FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, CONTACT WASYL KINACH, e-mail: [email protected], Tel: (212) 669-2203; FAX: (212) 669-2253 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

—————————————————————————————————————————————— IEEE THE INSTITUTE OF ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONICS ENGINEERS, INC.

NY Section

Rail Rapid Transit Vehicle Innovations Forum

April 24, 2001, 6:00 to 8:00 PM Host: Nortel Networks

320 Park Avenue, (50th ST) New York City

The IEEE NYC Section Vehicular Technology Society Chapter will sponsor a technology-sharing forum on the New York City Transit R-143 Rail Car propulsion, control, and signage systems. The lead panelist, Mr. Erwin Schaeffer, New York City Transit’s Project Manager for the R-143 contract, will explain and answer questions on this fleet of new technology, Rapid Transit vehicles. Systems engineers, suppliers, installers, and operators are invited to share insights. Future IEEE NY Section, VTS Technology Sharing forums are being planned for:

Fiber Optic Communication networks for Rail Vehicle control, Automatic Bus Location and Control Systems, and Wayside and Railcar PA and Customer Information Systems

There is a $35.00 charge for the forum and refreshments commencing 5:30 PM. Advance registration is required for admission. IEEE Members and non-members may register for the April 24, 2001 forum by sending $35.00 checks payable to IEEE NY Section to Brad Craig, Louis T. Klauder and Associates, 317 Madison Avenue, Suite 1621, New York, New York 10017. If you are an IEEE member, please provide your membership number and indicate if your interest in participating in one or more of the planned forums. Additional information regarding program specifics can be obtained by contacting Mr. David Horn of Fluor Daniel Infrastructure, at (212) 947-7110, or by e-mail at [email protected].

Professional Activities Information Page

This page dedicated to member professional activities information

New York Section PACE Calendar of Upcoming Events. The following are proposed Section activities. Dates and locations will be announced in future issues when they become available. Please plan to attend at a meeting or seminar.

March 14: General Meeting April 11: Financial Seminar May 9: General Meeting June 15: General Meeting

If you have suggestions on areas of professional activities that interest you please contact me. Peter Greco PACE Chairman Tel.: 212-614-3357 Fax: 212-529 5237 email: [email protected]

The Employment Assistance Web Site brings together dozens of job-search resources in a single location. The site includes the following: IEEE-USA’s Listing Service: This highly rated job listing service gives members free information on job openings in every region of the country. To obtain current job listing, set your web browser to www.ieeeusa.org/jobs.html. Entry-Level Employment Assistance Site: If you are an engineering graduate, recent graduate, of IEEE Student Member looking for the first job this is one of the best places to

begin your career. Special entry-level employment services include job listings, links to company sites and job-search tips and techniques: www.ieeeusa.org/EMPLOYMENT/ entry.html IEE-USA’s New Resume Referral Service: Put your resume for maximum exposure! IEEE-USA in cooperation with Resume- Link has established a members-only Resume Referral Service which IEEE members may register, FREE of charge via web registration or by hard copy. Your resume will stay on file for six months (with an option to renew the listing up to a year). Make sure you check out this great new service to promote your credentials! For hard copy registration forms, contact Resume-Link at 614-923-0600 or [email protected].

The Engineers Guide to Lifelong Employability This is a practical complete resource book on locating and obtaining good jobs throughout your career. Features over 200 pages of in-depth text that will allow you to master the engineering job search. IEEE Members: $19.95 Engineering Careers into the 21st Century Offers strategies and insights for engineers working in today’s dynamic professional environment IEEE Members: $20.00

IEEE – USA’s EMPLOYMENT ASSISTANCE WEB SITE: www.ieeeusa.org

EMPLOYMENT AND CAREER ENHANCEMENT PUBLICATIONS

Calendar of Upcoming Events February 15, 2001 (Thursday) 7:00 - 9:00PM Buffet at 5:30 PM

The Metropolitan Engineers Societies Council - Engineers Week Celebration "The Container Revolution in Historical Perspective" The New York Academy of Sciences, 2 East 63rd Street, New York City For more information contact: Wasyl Kinach at (212) 669-2203, or e-mail [email protected]

April 24, 2001 (Tuesday) 6:00 PM The IEEE NYC Section Vehicular Technology Society Chapter "New York City Transit R-143 Rail Car Propulsion, Control, and Signage Systems" Nortel Networks, 320 Park Avenue, (50th ST) New York City For more information contact: David Horn at (212) 947-7110, or e-mail [email protected]

The following New York Section member has been elevated to Senior Member Grade

Congratulations to

Charles I. Lipsky

IEEE Region 1 Recognizes Corporate Friends

The Friend of IEEE Regional Activities Award recognizes support provided to the IEEE and its members by firms, divisions of firms, or individuals.

The following firms are recipients of the Award for 2000:

Con Edison of New York, NY Cornelius Fitzgerald & Co, New York, NY

Cushman & Wakefield, New York, NY Edwards & Zuck P.C, New York, NY

General Electric Company, Fairfield, CT Graphite Metallizing Corporation, Yonkers, NY

John C. Morris Associates, Shrewsbury, NJ Joseph P. Loring & Associates, New York, NY

Parsons Brinkerhoff, Newark, NJ Raytheon Infrastructure, Lexington, MA S. W. Electrical Systems, New York, NY

Tri-Tech Enterprises, Inc., Union, NJ

A representative from each of those firms is invited to receive a plaque or certificate

at the Section’s Fellows Award Dinner Dance on February 24, 2001.

IEEE NEWS BOARD OF DIRECTORS At its 1 December meeting in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico, the IEEE Assembly elected the following four officers to serve one-year terms on the IEEE Board of Directors beginning 1 January 2001:

Lyle D. Feisel, Vice President - Educational Activities; James M. Tien, Vice President - Publications Activities; Hugo Maria Fernandez-Verstegen - IEEE Secretary; Dale C. Caston - IEEE Treasurer.

At its 15 November meeting in Tampa, Florida, the Assembly of the Regional activities Board elected Maurice Papo, Vice President - Regional Activities. PRESIDENT-ELECT CANDIDATES: Michael S. Adler, Paul J. Kostek, and Arthur W. Winston will be recommended by the Board of Directors to the membership as candidates for 2002 IEEE President-Elect. ANNUAL REQUIRED REPORT NEWS Another year has zipped by and once again it's time to do the dreaded paperwork that goes along with all the great activities that took place throughout 2000. To that end, the packages for meeting and officer reporting were mailed the week of 4 December to Secretaries of all Sections and Councils with Chapters. The financial report packages will be mailed this week (11 December) to Treasurers of all Sections, Councils and Regions. Some important items to note: -- In cases where the position of Secretary or Treasurer is not filled, the packages will go to the Unit Chair. -- Reminder letters were sent to Chapter Chairs to submit reports to Sections (or Council). Please be sure all Chapter reports are included in the Section's package before sending to IEEE headquarters. -- The deadline this year is 23 February 2001. A 10% bonus will be added to the rebate for reports submitted by the deadline. -- For Units participating in the Concentration Banking program, year end statements will be mailed by 15 January 2001. -- Units with IEEE investments will receive additional instructions for financial reporting along with the year end statement that will be mailed the third week of January 2001. -- All forms and related instructions will also be available by 15 December 2000 on the web at www.ieee.org/ra/scs. Select the link for required reporting. If you send reports electronically, you do not need to send hard copy. Questions or comments may be sent to MailTo:[email protected]. GEOGRAPHIC ROSTER ON THE WEB The IEEE Organization Roster, Geographical Organization Roster Part III, is now available to IEEE volunteer leadership via the Internet! The Geographic Roster provides contact information for the volunteer leadership of Regions, Sections, Chapters, Student Branches, etc. IEEE volunteers can access the roster using the IEEE web account. A volunteer may access the data if 1) their name appears in the roster, or 2) they are a member of the IEEE Executive Committee, the IEEE Regional Activities Board or its committees, or 3) an IEEE Society President. The IEEE Technical Activities Board will be added to the access listing after the New Year.

The Roster is available to IEEE volunteers at the following location: http://www.ieee.org/roster.

The data is updated every two weeks with the most recent date listed at the top of each Region's page. The data is pulled directly from the IEEE's membership database, and therefore reflects the most current contact information available from the members. Updates and corrections can be made by the individual volunteer, using their web account, at the URL

http://www.ieee.org/membership/coa.html The corrected data will appear following the next system "refresh", within two weeks. Future plans include an interactive version of the roster. In the interim, to quickly find Sections and their officers, one should use the "Find on this page" function in the "Edit" menu of their browser. To achieve successful "find" results, be sure the page is fully loaded before beginning the search. IEEE volunteers who would like to receive the roster in hard copy should contact their IEEE staff liaison for this purpose. Note that approximately 75% of the IEEE geographic units change their officers in January, and those changes which have been reported are updated by the end of the first quarter. For more information, please contact MailTo:[email protected]. HOW WE DID IT - IEEE BOISE SECTION Editor's note: The following information is based on communication from IEEE Boise Section Chair Dr. Elisa H. Barney Smith, sharing the experiences of the Boise officers in trying to re -activate their Section. During the 1999-2000 year, the IEEE Boise Section's communications and meeting attendance were suffering due to officers moving out of the area and the work commitments of those who remained. The Section was hanging on by a thread thanks only to the activity of the Electron Devices Society Chapter. In late August, we started trying to get things moving again by identifying officers for 2000-2001 for both the Section and the EDS Chapter. While we were able to identify volunteers for every other position, everyone found reasons why they couldn't or didn't want to be Chair of the Section. I had experience as President of my collegiate fraternity alumni association, so I agreed to serve as long as the other members of the Section Executive Committee agreed to help me when I needed it. The candidate for Treasurer put together a Section newsletter. Most important, he was able get this communication into the mail in time for people to get it before the fall picnic. We had 70 people (including student members and spouses) in attendance. The Boise Section hosted the Region 6 Northeast Area meeting 3 weeks after I was officially elected. This was helpful, as there I met some other IEEE people, was given support (and constant nudging about our overdue reports) and found out a lot about IEEE that I hadn't known. I had never heard of the PACE (professional activities) and GOLD (Graduates of the Last Decade) programs before. One attendee was a professor at Montana State who put me in touch with their former student branch chair now working in Boise. That contact is now leading our GOLD group. We are now up to date on all of our IEEE required reporting. We had an excellent Awards banquet in December with 85 people attending. We are on our way towards forming Chapters of the Power Engineering and Computer Societies and a GOLD Affinity Group. Once they are fully operational, it will be easier to keep our Section going strong. Success breeds success. Ask me again at the end of my term how things are going and we'll see if I really did survive! The biggest support came from: a Past Chair (current treasurer) who took care of bringing the Section into compliance with our reporting requirements; the IEEE Region 6 Area Chair who provided personal contact and lots of information about what IEEE Sections do; and the IEEE Headquarters staff's quick response to my questions.

I'm still not sure that we are doing everything right, but hopefully my fellow volunteers in Region 6 will keep an eye on us and let me know if I miss something. CONTRIBUTORS FOR "IEEE POTENTIALS" BEING SOUGHT The IEEE is looking for GOLD members worldwide to interview for a new ongoing column in the IEEE Student magazine, "IEEE Potentials." Your experiences, insight, and decision-making processes would be of interest to our soon to be graduating student members. If you are interested in participating, send an email message to MailTo:

[email protected] subject: Potentials Column, with your name, email address and a brief biographical or career outline. THE IEEE & NEW JERSEY INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY ANNOUNCE PARTNERSHIP IEEE and the New Jersey Institute of Technology’s (NJIT) Division of Continuing Professional Education have announced a partnership designed to promote and encourage continuing education and professional development among IEEE members. IEEE members who enroll in NJIT distance learning courses via the IEEE web site at

http://www.ieee.org/eab/PDI/NJITcourses/index.htm will receive a 10% discount off the price of tuition. The enrollment site joins the IEEE Professional Development Institute (IEEE PDI), gateway website to life-long learning NJIT has been recognized by The National Science Foundation as a leader in the development of engineering education for the 21st century. It provides the flexibility that IEEE members need, offering distance learning as well as traditional site instruction. The IEEE member discount is applicable only to the distance learning programs. For more specific information on NJIT’s current array of graduate, undergraduate, and certificate-bearing courses and degrees, visit their website at www.njit.edu/DL/. "The IEEE is dedicated to providing its members access to high-quality education programs designed to promote their technical vitality and advance their careers,” said Lyle Feisel, Vice President of the IEEE Educational Activities Board. “We are happy that NJIT has joined the IEEE PDI roster and encourage all interested IEEE members to explore NJIT’s well respected academic programs and courses.” “We are delighted to be able to offer our courses to IEEE members at this special rate,” said Dr. Gale Tenen Spak, Associate Vice-President of Continuing and Distance Education at NJIT. “The breadth of courses available from NJIT allows engineers to acquire the skills needed to shift to fields with better employment prospects, to enter newly emerging cross-discipline fields, or to explore ones that match their maturing interests.”

ABOUT NJIT

New Jersey Institute of Technology has long been a leader in the use of varied delivery options for reaching the distance learning student. Capitalizing on almost 20 years of experience in delivery of distance learning courses and its in-house technical expertise, computing prowess, and television and multimedia studios, NJIT holds a continually growing inventory of internally-produced distance learning courses that number over 150 and employs two major methodologies to bring engineering, computer science, management, mathematics, chemistry, physics, and other technical subject to student’s homes, to professional’s desktops, and to the classroom of college students as well as K-12 students. Their commitment to and support of distance learning education had contributed to their receiving recognition from Yahoo! Internet Life for three years in a row as America’s Most Wired Public University. For more information see: http://cpe.njit.edu.

PUBLISHER'S STATEMENT The IEEE MONITOR is the official news publication of the New York Section of The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. The New York Section is comprised of the five boroughs of New York City (Brooklyn, Bronx, Manhattan, Queens and Staten Island) plus Rockland and Westchester Counties. The publication reports on events and activities of interest to the general membership composed of electrical and electronics engineers and computer scientists, presents topical feature material relevant to the engineering profession, and carries the monthly IEEE society chapter calendar of events as a service to its readers. CIRCULATION The IEEE MONITOR is distributed to all IEEE members in the New York Section plus additional subscribers. Monthly circulation as of December, 1999 is 6,200. ISSUE AND CLOSING DATES The IEEE MONITOR is published monthly except June, July and August. Advertising order deadline is the first of the month preceding issue date. Camera ready material is due on the 5th of the month preceding issue date. MAILING INSTRUCTIONS Address all correspondence concerning advertising to: IEEE Monitor 24 Chamber Lane Englishtown, N. J. 07726 DISPLAY ADVERTISING RATES Display advertising space is available in full and fractional page sizes. To qualify for frequency discounts, advertiser must furnish publisher with a schedule of insertion dates. Schedule may be changed by notifying publisher prior to regular deadline date. 1X 3X 5X 9X Full Page $630 $599 $567 $536 2/3 Page 490 470 441 417 1/2 Page 395 375 356 336 1/3 Page 280 266 252 238 1/4 Page 225 214 203 191 1/6 Page 165 157 149 140 Bus. Card 85 81 77 72 Col. Inch 35 33 32 30 Covers

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New York Section, IEEE Officers of the Executive Committee

2000-2001

Title Name & Address Phone*, Fax Number & E-mail

Chairman Jalal Gohari Parsons Brinckerhoff Two Gateway Center, 18th Floor Newark, NJ 07102

(973) 565-4843 [B] (973) 824-7007 [F] [email protected] [E]

Vice Chairman Chapter Operations

Ralph Tapino Con Edison Communications 29-76 Northern Boulevard Long Island City, NY 11101

(718) 752-7503 [B] (718) 752-7550 [F] [email protected] [E]

Vice Chairman Section Activity

Ralph Tapino Con Edison Communications 29-76 Northern Boulevard Long Island City, NY 11101

(718) 752-7503 [B] (718) 752-7550 [F] [email protected] [E]

Treasurer Robert Pellegrino Con Edison 708 1st Avenue 7th Floor New York, NY 10017

(212) 338-4004 [B] (212) 679-3857 [F] [email protected] [E]

Secretary Benjamin Schall Con Edison 4 Irving Place Room 1550-S New York, NY 10003

(212) 460-2109 [B] (212) 679-3857 [F] [email protected] [E]

Junior Past Chairman

Michael A. Miller Con Edison 4 Irving Place Room 1214 New York, NY 10003

(212) 460-4911[B] (212) 533-8763 [F] [email protected] [E]

Senior Past Chairman

William Perlman Tri-Tech Enterprises, Inc. 2810 Morris Avenue Union, NJ 07083

(908) 810-8555 [B] (908) 810-8566 [F] [email protected] [E]

ENGINEERING VERSUS LAWYERING

After watching the Gore quest for the White House since Election Day I started thinking about the real difference between engineers and lawyers and their effectiveness in society. To me the outcome of the Gore quest was obvious from a logical engineering approach. Since I don’t have a political bone in my body, I only vote for the candidate who will best protect me, and my loved ones, from a foreign invader. I can take care of my health and the education of my children, but I just don’t have the cash to build a missile defense system, and back in the 50’s I lived through the “bunker-in–the–backyard” scenario.

Before going into the effectiveness of the law profession as practiced in the U.S. today, I want to take you back to the ancient city of Athens, a city having a population of only about 30,000 people.

We all know to some degree the marvels of these people from their column architecture to their philosophy and their political genius in the development of democratic principles. They were master builders’ as well as master thinkers from philosophy to engineering. However there was one professional the Greeks didn’t require and that was a lawyer. That is correct there were no ancient Greek lawyers. Think of a city without litigation, a truly fault-free accident scenario. All the brainpower of Athens went into something they believed was truly effective.

In the modern world a country that is truly a marvel is Japan. It is a small county with limited natural resources and yet it became a world leader in electronic manufacturing. Its auto industry was the mouse that woke the sleeping Detroit giant. Henry Ford, grandson of the famous Henry, knew that something was wrong when there were more Japanese cars in his employee parking lots than there were Fords. Unlike ancient Athens, there are Japanese lawyers, but consider in Japan there is one lawyer for every 10,000 people while in the U.S. there is one lawyer for every 400 people. We have over 20 times the number of lawyers per capita. Notice there is no shortage of engineers or math teachers in Japan. When a people are not focused on litigation it can focus on the education of children.

Note that I am not bashing lawyers, in a way, round about, as it may seem, I am actually

complimenting them. What made ancient Athens so effective is that would be lawyers focused their intelligence to the development of an effective democratic system as well as new inroads in philosophical thought. And of course it can be assumed that a number of them went into design work. I have worked with many lawyers and found them to be highly intelligent and have greater communicating skills than many of my engineering colleagues.

The difference between engineering and the law profession is that engineers work in teams to solve a problem while lawyers take an adversative stance to solve a problem. The current election problem was eventually solved at great expense with really no gain for either party. Bush won on Election Day according to the existing election rules and Gore lost. The final results after a large adversative expense remained the same.

It has been said that we have too many lawyers because we have a litigious society. The question is, are the lawyers somewhat responsible in affecting society in regard to litigation, or are they just supplying a needed service.

Engineers must work in teams to solve a problem. The most famous team was the one that was assembled in Los Alamos during WWII to develop what they referred to as “the gadget” or better known to us as the atomic bomb. It is the team approach of engineers that makes them highly effective. Politics plays no role in the solution to engineering problems.

One of the definitions of a professional includes that a true professional is actually seeking to eliminate his job. Doctors want to eliminate all illness and lawyers want the truth to be told by all parties. Engineers want to eliminate all work through use of machines, computers, and robots. A perfect lie detector will do away with most lawyers, judges and jurors. Although engineers want to eliminate all work, it is an impossible task. You must realize there of course there will always be work, man just can’t resist eating the forbidden fruit that caused all work in the first place. Because man inherently does not always choose the proper action, he must always work to correct it. Come to think of it, because man does not do things properly in the first place, you will probably need lawyers to litigate the resulting disputes.

Romano's Forum by Mario Romano

Join Us for Fun and Entertainment at the Fellows Award Dinner

Dance at the Greentree Country Club

The 2001 IEEE Fellow Awards Dinner Dance Honoring the New York Section’s Fellow and Region 1 Awardees will be held on Saturday evening, February 24, 2001.This year our dinner dance will be held in the beautiful Greentree Country Club, Davenport Neck, New Rochelle, New York, 914-636-8500, conveniently located near the New England Thruway and the Bronx River Parkway.Festivities will begin at 6:30 P.M. with a sumptuous cocktail hour with a variety of eight hot d’oeuvres, assorted cheese, fruit, and grilled vegetable displays.Your appetizer will be a hot antipasto. For the main entrée you can choose between Filet Mignon, chicken, or fresh Norwegian salmon. Aside from assorted pastries, cordials, and liquors there will be dancing to live music. Black Tie Optional.Reservations for the affair may be made by completing the coupon below and forwarding it to Ralph Tapino at the address indicated no later than January 24, 2001.A special rate of $ 60 per ticket is available for IEEE members, $85 for Non-members, and $ 120 for Sponsors. Organizations wishing to be Industry Sponsors may obtain additional information and cost by contacting: RalphTapino at (718) 752-7503 or William Perlman at (908) 810-8555.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MEMBER RATE RESERVATION FORM

Send to: Ralph Tapino, Con Edison Communications, 29-76 NorthernBoulevard, Long Island City, NY 11101 Phone: 718 752-7503

Name:______________________________ Company:_____________________Address:__________________________________________________________ City:________________________________State:__________Zip:___________IEEE Member #:______________No. of Tickets @ $ 60_____Amount Enclosed: $___________Make Checks Payable to: IEEE, NY Section

Greentree CountryClub

FADD

2001

The Event

Of The

Century