Region 5 N.E.W.S.

More than 500 IEEE members from around the world have gathered in Minneapolis from 8 -11 October for Sections Congress 1999, the sixth triennial meeting of IEEE grassroots leadership. This meeting provides Section and Chapter volunteers not only the opportunity to network and learn, but to make critical decisions about the future of the Institute. Region 5 was represented by 52 people from 22 out of the 24 Sections in the Region.

Volunteers met in a variety of Region and subject area caucuses to brainstorm issues and develop recommendations for IEEE to address over the next several years. After crafting forty recommendations, Section delegates voted to prioritize them with the top five recommendations being:

• Membership retention, including multi-year membership discounts and tracking of recent graduate members.
• Various IT improvements to facilitate volunteer administration.
• Leadership resource material for Section officers.
• Database improvements, including consolidation of membership information and query tools
• Continue financial support to Regions, Sections, and Chapters through rebates and reserves (goes to issues in the New Financial Model)

For the entire listing of issues and recommendations, see: www.ieee.org/organizations/rab/sc99/recommendations.html

These issues will be diligently addressed by staff and volunteers and we can expect to see some solutions before Sections Congress reconvenes in 2002. Some past Sections Congress recommendations resulted in member data being available to Sections in an electronic format, the entity web hosting server, majordomo capability, and increased rebates.

FREE MAGAZINE PREVIEW - To receive a free copy of the fourth-quarter issue of Today's Engineer, the quarterly magazine with management, communication and marketing strategies for the fast-track technical professional, go to www.joinup.org/todaysengineer. Sign up for four Year 2000 issues at the member price of $19.95, and receive one free issue before the end of this year. The fourth quarter issue will focus on Internet for managers and includes an article by Dr. Vinton G. Cerf, one of the pioneers of the Internet, projecting some one-billion devices on the Net by Jan. 2003 (a compounded growth rate of 33% every six months).

IEEE-USA RELEASES FOURTH ANNUAL CONSULTANTS DIRECTORY - The Fourth Annual IEEE-USA Directory of Electrotechnology and Information Technology Consultants is now available free in hard copy from the IEEE-USA office. Contact Marnie Clark at 202-785-0017, m.clark@ieee.org. Prospective clients can also access the database of consultants on the Web http://www.ieeeusa-consultants.org/. Consultants who wish to be added to the Web database for the remainder of the year can submit a form at www.ieeeusa-consultants.org/submissions/submit.html.

WORKFORCE ISSUES: OVERVIEW OF RECENT TRENDS IN INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION - Trends in Migration to and Changes in Admissions Policies for Eight Industrialized Countries provides an overview of recent trends in international migration including labor markets, demographic and procedural issues, and particularly the increasing importance of highly skilled but temporary workers. The 20-page report, published by IEEE-USA, covers eight countries: Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States. To order, call 1-800-678-4333, and ask for product number UH2987.

US STUDENT MEMBERS INVITED TO APPLY FOR WISE INTERNSHIP - Each year, IEEE sponsors up to three US student members for the Washington Internships for Students of Engineering (WISE) program. During their ten week summer program, WISE Interns interact with policy-makers in Congress and the Executive and examine public policy issues of concern to engineers. Interns receive a $1,800 stipend, plus travel reimbursement and lodging at the George Washington University in Washington, DC. The application deadline for the Summer 2000 program is Dec. 3. For more information see http://www.wise-intern.org/

OPPORTUNITY FOR FELLOWSHIP AT FCC - IEEE-USA is seeking applications from US members interested in spending a year (June 1999-May 2000) as an IEEE-USA Executive Fellow in the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The Fellow would be assigned to the FCC's Office of Engineering and Technology and would work with FCC's Chief Technologist to help FCC assess and chart it's future in Internet/networking and/or wireless technologies. IEEE-USA is looking for candidates who are US members in good standing with strong technical knowledge in the area of wireless and/or Internet/network architectures and technologies and demonstrated interest in public policy and/or the regulatory process. To avoid the potential for conflict of interest, Fellowship candidates may not presently be employed or possess a significant interest in companies that are regulated by the Federal Communications Commission. Applications are due by December 3, 1999. See http://www.ieeeus!!a.org/forum/govfel/fcc.html.

NATIONAL ENGINEERS WEEK 2000 TO HIGHLIGHT A CENTURY OF ENGINEERING ACHIEVEMENTS - Plans for the most ambitious National Engineers Week in the 49-year history of the event have been unveiled by the National Engineers Week Committee. The week, February 20-26, 2000, will showcase a host of new projects and programs intended to spread the message of engineering's importance to society, but plans also include a concerted effort by engineering societies and businesses to actively recruit minorities and women into their ranks.

One effort aimed at raising public awareness of engineering is the selection of the Great Engineering Achievements of the 20th Century, to be announced during E-Week 2000. Considering the staggering engineering accomplishments of the past one hundred years - the US moon landing, construction of the Hoover Dam, creation of the interstate highway system, invention of the artificial heart, computers and the Internet - the selection is certain to be a challenge. For more information see http://www.eweek.org/.

COMPANY LIAISON PROGRAM CD-ROM - The Membership Development Committee authorized a Company Liaison Pilot program last February led by Bill Harrison of Region 3. Companies have been quite helpful in suggesting what they would like to see IEEE do to help them keep their employees' expertise state-of-the-art. Bill and his team are working with IEEE Education Services to explore cooperative possibilities. They have produced a CD-ROM, distributed to all Sections Congress attendees, containing helpful support information. Contact w.hunter@ieee.org.

BAKKEN PACEMAKER DESIGNATED AS INTERNATIONAL MILESTONE OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING - A medical invention has a new place in the history books this week. Medtronic co-founder Earl Bakken's prototype of the first transistorized, wearable pacemaker was designated as an "IEEE Electrical Engineering Milestone." Bakken's external, transistorized pacemaker, developed in 1957-58, was an important step in the transition from desk-top to fully implantable devices. Prior to Bakken's invention, cardiac pacemakers were bulky, vacuum-tube units operated by AC power. The devices greatly restricted patient mobility, and power failures could be disastrous. Bakken produced the prototype for Dr. C. Walton Lillehei, a leading pioneer in open-heart surgery at the University of Minnesota. Bakken's pacemaker, the first designed for clinical use and the first to be used on humans, was successfully used for treating children who had developed heart block after surgery. The ! ! unit was produced commercially by Medtronic, and liberated hundreds of patients from their power-cord tethers, demonstrating the safety and effectiveness of the pacemaker for long-term use.

MEMBERSHIP JUST KEEPS GROWING - For the fourth consecutive year, applications for new membership have continued to show double-digit growth: 1999 is up 17% over 1998. However, the growth is far from evenly split in all ten IEEE geographic Regions. While Region 10 wins the growth prize by showing a growth of 21.1% in the past year (with Regions 9 and 8 close behind at 17.3% and 10.2% growth rates, respectively), Region 7 (IEEE-Canada) is showing a slight loss (-.9%) and US Regions, with the exception of Region 6, are showing growth rates of less than 1.2%. Region 5 tied with Region 1 for the lowest growth rate, 0.9%. For R5, membership in higher grades grew 1.2% to 26,045 and student members dropped 1.4% to 3616 for a total R5 membership of 29,661.

Overall new membership statistics:

Member Category	1999	1998	% Change
Higher grade	24,723	17,961	+37.6%
Student	31,002	28,420	+9.1%
Affiliates	10,943	7,770	+40.8%
Reinstate/Readmit	8,164	9,799	-16.7%
Total	74,832	63,950	+17.0%

ENCOURAGE MEMBERS TO RENEW ONLINE - Web Renewal is being offered to all members for the 2000 membership renewal at www.ieee.org/renewal/. Last year the online renewal was available to selected Regions and nearly 34,000 members renewed on the Web. With the online system open to all members at all grades, this year's goal is 100,000. This year also for the first time, members who allowed their membership to lapse in 1999 can reinstate their membership using the same electronic renewal form-a great new membership recovery tool for you! Check SAMIeee for members with an AR designation. Contact them now to reinstate IEEE membership on the Web.

ALL YOUR MEMBERSHIP QUESTIONS ANSWERED - The IEEE Membership department has compiled a listing of key Web pages for membership information at: www.ieee.org/membership/keyurls.html. These pages contain answers to questions about such topics as the benefits of membership, IEEE dues, what publications are included in which Society memberships, and how a membership grade can be changed. For more information, contact Maria D'Alessio, IEEE Regional Activities.