Today's engineers are also challenged to keep current technically while fitting their self-education into smaller and smaller units of time. Workshops and conferences are becoming more important because of the concentrated education they provide. Magazines, journals and newsletters are also becoming more important because they present more condensed information than traditional transactions. As a Society President, I encouraged creation of an electronic newsletter, new workshops, and a new journal. Our magazine was outstanding. As a Division Director, I will also encourage creation of new services that better serve the needs of the time-pressed engineer.
The electrical engineering community is also becoming more international. It is enjoying great growth in some emerging economies. I am concerned that the present IEEE member cost structure is discouraging many new engineers from joining the IEEE. If elected Division IX Director-Elect, I will work to control member costs to assure that the IEEE remains affordable and vital to the next generation of electrical engineers.
extended campaign statement
The needs of the electrical engineering community are changing and the IEEE needs to change to better serve it.
Engineers are challenged to master ever-increasing technical breadth - often as the result of the emergence of new application areas, such as biotechnology, that span multiple disciplines. In my own work on digital libraries, for example, I needed current information on databases, search, image processing, vision, and rights management. Furthermore, new application areas often bring with them an interest in new technologies. As a Society President, I fostered creation of new Technical Committees, publications, and workshops to address new areas. These included a journal of broad scope for the signal processing community. I participated in the TAB Biotechnology Council � a pioneering cooperative effort that involved IEEE Societies and Societies in other technical fields. I encouraged an electronic newsletter which helped soceity members keep abreast of events of interest to the signal processing community.