Hello Everyone!!
During the month of April the Section received a commendation from The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) recognizing us as a 2007 active member of the President’s Council for “our leadership in support of the University’s academic, research, and public service programs.” On May 3, 2007, Bob Robinson and I attended the ASEF sponsors reception held at UAH. I accepted a plaque on behalf of the Section, from UAH for a Category sponsorship of the Alabama Science and Engineering Fair 2007. Thanks to all of you for your support in volunteerism and taking an active role in the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
On May 1, 2007, Bob Robinson and I attended a meeting to discuss IEEE Huntsville Section’s potential role in serving on the Tennessee Valley BEST (Boosting Engineering, Science, and Technology) Steering Committee and serving in the role of the “A-Team” technical crew during the local hub Competition to be held at Calhoun Community College. Thanks to your recent votes we can confirm our willingness to participate with Tennessee Valley BEST. Stay tuned for more details and calls for volunteers. Meanwhile you find out more about BEST by accessing the following link: http://www.bestinc.org/MVC/ and going to http://www.southsbest.org/ for Regional events. If you interested in serving as a volunteer for this year’s event, please contact me at willie.fitzpatrick@ieee.org.
See the article linked at right on the Workforce Coalition: Education Task Force. Cheryl Guilbeau is leading the Educational Task Force and we need to rally area engineers to support this critical initiative and develop education-industry partnerships to build student interest and skills for the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) workforce of the future. Besides already seeing support from Governor Bob Riley, our area K-12 schools and universities/technical schools are joining with area technical experts (That's you!!!), as we help ensure that our youth are grounded in the basics.
Special thanks to Sonya Hutchinson, Dr. Jon Bendickson, and Will Goins for representing us in the IEEE booth at the NASA Expo that was held on May 2, 2007 at the Marshall Space Flight Center. I understand we had a lot of visitors and may have signed up a few people interested in joining IEEE as well as volunteering as engineering mentors or judges for the Alabama Regional Future City Competition (AFRCC) 2008. We are also looking for volunteers to serve as Engineering mentors, judges, etc. for the AFRCC 2008. See Sonya Hutchinson for more information.
Our next ExCom will be held at the UAH Engineering Building, Room 258, on Wednesday, September 5th, 2007 at 11:15 A.M. See the links at left to browse important meeting dates for our Technical Society Chapters and GOLD affinity group. The SoutheastCon 2008 Committee meets the second Tuesday of each month, also in UAH EB Room 258, please join us and help prepare for this important event next April and check out our conference website. Please contact Eric Grigorian if you are interested in getting personally involved and helping up pull off a very successful regional event. We need lots of volunteers from the Section, professional societies, and student chapter members to make it happen.
The ExCom has appointed Wayne Kendrick as Chair of the Controls System Society for the remainder of the 2007 term. Wayne comes to us with great experience in controls systems design for missile systems, including autopilot and 6-DOF development and analysis supporting AMRDEC and PEO M&S systems for over 20 years. He is currently employed by Digital Fusion, and previously worked for Nichols Research, CSC, and Northrup Grumman. We believe that he will add a lot to Huntsville Control System Society Chapter activities. Outgoing Chair Charlie Bishop will assist Wayne as he begins his term and sets up chapter meetings. Please congratulate Wayne and join him at the next Control Systems Society meeting!!
Many of you are eligible for elevation to Senior Member. Please contact Woody Williams or anyone else on our Membership Committee to get the process started today. Please visit the UAH Professional Development link in our announcement section for access to the latest information on continuing education opportunities at UAH.
Sincerely,
Willie J. Fitzpatrick, PhD
Chair, IEEE Huntsville Section
wfitzpatrick@ieee.org