February 2014
 
Letter from the Editor
Craig Scott, Morgan State University
Dear ECE Colleagues,

What is Diversity? Diversity has varied meaning to each of us. In its simplest form, it is the essence of those things that make us unique.  From diversity we grow as people, as collective institutions, as nations and as a human race. Diversity creates opportunity, it creates a willingness to consider things from another perspective, a propensity to work together, and a willingness to build upon our common strengths.  

 

In this issue there are feature articles that are written to help us grasp the value and potential of sharing a pathway to innovation.


Current Views
Barry Sullivan
Barry Sullivan, ECEDHA
Engineering is Elementary

I did a double take when I read the headline on one of the news stories selected for this issue. Did the article really describe an elementary school devoted to engineering? Then I came across the editorial cited below advocating STEM for preschoolers.

The closest things to engineering subjects available to me in high school--besides the standard math and science curriculum--were a couple of classes in technical drawing. I am glad to see students in high school and junior high enticed into learning basic engineering concepts through extracurricular activities in robotics and rocketry...
 
Featured Articles
A Proactive Approach to Enhancing Student and Faculty Diversity

By Ann Gordon-Ross
  

My career path to academia was by no means an anomaly, but it was a fortunate accident that was propelled by a long series of good decision making, supportive parents/educators, and a lot of luck. In kindergarten, my first experience with a computer was an Apple IIe and Logo programming. My parents, even while struggling with money, purchased an Apple IIe for use at home, and subscribed me to a programming magazine, which allowed me to type in Basic programming code and make an ASCII Santa Claus land on a skyscraping rectangle. I did not know what I was doing, what the numbers and bizarre statements meant, but it was fun. >> Read more

 
Experimental Centric Pedagogy: HBCU Electrical Engineering Programs Collaborate Together for the First Time

By Craig Scott, Mohamed Chouikha, Ken Conner and Yacob Astatke
  

The 13 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) electrical engineering programs have joined together to collectively improve the recruitment, retention and graduation of their students. They are focusing on providing an educational environment that more closely matches the learning styles and interests of their students through the utilization of 'Experiment-Centric Pedagogy,' With the support of the National Science Foundation, industry, foundations and collaborating faculty from institutions with a similarly strong commitment to advancing engineering education, their goal is to make a significant contribution to growing the U.S. STEM workforce. >> Read more

 

 
Sponsored Article
Shaping the Future - What Every Engineering Student Needs to Know about What's Coming Next
  







While 2013 saw some remarkable advances in MCU and wireless technologies that further enable the Internet of Things, 2014 promises the emergence of a more practical Internet of Useful Things.

In basic terms, the Internet of Things (IoT) gives people, animals or physical objects with unique identifiers the capability to transfer data over an information network that doesn't require human interaction or human-to-computer interaction. It involves wireless technologies, MEMS (micro-electromechanical systems) and the Internet.  >> Read more

ECE in the News
Thousands Sign Up for Free Online Courses, But Few Complete 
By Susan Snyder (December 6, 2013, The Inquirer)
  

While Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have attracted millions of viewers and been heralded as a potential way to address skyrocketing tuition, very few of their viewers - 4 percent on average - actually complete the courses, according to the latest study by researchers in Penn's Graduate School of Education.  >>  Read more 

Calling All Girls: Coding is Cool!
By Jan Zverina (January 14, 2014, ECN)
  

The San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) at the University of California, San Diego, in a partnership with other local universities and industry support groups, is launching a non-profit collaborative community program aimed at encouraging and educating young women to learn and apply computing skills. >> Read more 

 

America's Tiniest Engineers: Report From Greenville, South Carolina
By Deborah Fallows (January 20, 2014, The Atlantic)
 

It was the monthly "engineering week" when I visited the A.J. Whittenberg Elementary School of Engineering in Greenville, South Carolina, in January. Volunteers from one of the several local big-name companies in town were teaching special lessons. This week, employees from General Electric, some in purple t-shirts, were teaching about hydro, wind, and solar power sources.  > >  Read more   

 

STEM Starts in Preschool
By Louis Ricciardi (January 30, 2014, The Boston Globe)

Children have a keen, natural wonder about concepts and processes surrounding them. For children ages four and under, structured early education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics sparks the kind of intellectual creativity, critical thinking, and development of habits of mind that lays the groundwork for their entire academic well-being. >> Read more  

 

Special Announcements
2014 ECEDHA Annual Conference and ECExpo
Registration Now Open!
  

Registration is now open for the 2014 ECEDHA Annual Conference and ECExpo, the largest gathering of ECE department heads from throughout the United States and Canada.

 

The housing reservations deadline is quickly approaching and all department heads wanting to participate in the program MUST secure their hotel reservations no later than February 15. The hotel is nearing a sold out situation, so we encourage you to make your travel plans today.
>> Secure your hotel

 

This year's program is hosted by Stanford University, University of California, Berkeley, and Santa Clara University. Join us as we celebrate our 30th meeting anniversary March 21-25, 2014 at the Meritage Resort and Spa in Napa, California.

 

ECEDHA members will enjoy a world-class educational program focusing on the most pressing issues facing academia and ECE today. Special anniversary activities and spouse programs will also be available.

 

 

 

>> View ECEDHA Annual Conference Homepage

 

>> View Conference Schedule

 

>> View ECExpo Participants

 

>> Secure your Hotel

 

We look forward to having you join us at the 2014 ECEDHA Annual Conference and ECExpo!

ECEDHA 2014 Spouse/Guest Program Announced
  

As we head to beautiful Napa Valley to celebrate our 30th Annual Conference and ECExpo, we know many of you plan to bring a spouse or guest along to enjoy the experience.

 

ECEDHA has put together a special program of activities designed especially for guests and spouses of ECEDHA members and partners.

 

The highlight of the program includes a Saturday luncheon trip on the Napa Valley Wine Train. Guests will enjoy a gourmet luncheon while they travel on a scenic ride through the beautiful wine country of Napa Valley in meticulously restored vintage rail cars.

 

Spouses and Guests may register for the full suite of activities, or register a la carte for the programs they wish to join.

 

For more information, please visit our Spouse/Guest Activity page.

  
For questions, please contact Michelle Klein at mklein@ecedha.org or 312-559-3724.  
It's time for 2014 ECEDHA Membership Renewal
  

2014 ECEDHA membership renewal for ECEDHA department heads is now underway. ECEDHA membership runs on a calendar year beginning January 1 - December 31.

 

Renew your membership today to keep receiving ECEDHA membership benefits including:

  • Access to the ECEDHA Annual Conference and ECExpo  
  • Complimentary registration for ECEDHA's NEW! ECE Webinars  
  • The opportunity to participate in the ECEDHA Annual Survey, a valuable tool in benchmarking your organization in lab and office space, faculty and department head salaries, research budgets, student retention, graduation rates, and much more.  
  • Access to specialized workshops held throughout the calendar year  
  • Complimentary job posting service via the ECEDHA website  
  • And much more!  
  
For questions, please contact Michelle Klein at mklein@ecedha.org or 312-559-3724.  
Upcoming ECE Webinar
Supporting Inductive Learning in Engineering Courses
  
February 6, 2014     11:00 am PT / 2:00 pm ET
 
This webinar explores how MapleSim, the advanced physical modeling and simulation software from Maplesoft, was successfully applied to an instrumentation course. Using MapleSim, students schematically represent electrical and mechanical systems, simulate their changes over time, and examine the analytical equations which underlie the model. These equations, which are generated automatically by MapleSim, are in a form that is similar to what students see in class, so students can examine them to derive further insight into the dynamics of their systems. MapleSim, used in conjunction with traditional hands-on electronics lab activities, permits the students to explore the behavior of the systems of interest in an inductive learning manner more representative of natural, everyday learning.

 

Corporate Profile
  
Mouser Electronics is an award-winning, authorized semiconductor and electronic component distributor, focused on the rapid introduction of new products and technologies to electronic design engineers and buyers. Mouser offers customers 20 global support locations and stocks the world's widest selection of the latest semiconductors and electronic components for the newest design projects.

Mouser's website is updated daily and searches more than 10 million products to locate over 4 million order able part numbers from over 500 manufacturers available for easy online purchase. Mouser.com also houses an industry-first interactive catalog, data sheets, supplier-specific reference designs, application notes, technical design information, and engineering tools.

A part of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway family of companies, Mouser ships globally to over 400,000 customers in 170 countries from its 492,000 sq. ft. state-of the-art facility south of Dallas, Texas. For more information, visit www.mouser.com

Corporate Features
ECE Spotlight Sessions
  
Captured live at the 2013 ECEDHA Annual Conference, ECE Spotlight Sessions offer the opportunity to view short corporate presentations and to learn more about what these companies can offer you.
  
Featured ECE Spotlight Session:
   

  
Presenter:
Tom Lee, Chief Education Officer, Quanser
ECEDHA Perspectives
  
ECEDHA Perspectives offer in-depth interviews with leading industry executives.
  
Featured ECEDHA Perspectives:



Coby Kleinjan
Director, Special Accounts
Mouser Electronics 
 

     
 
    
    Mark Pierpoint     
    VP & GM 
    Agilent Technologies
      



 

Produced by: 

ECEDHA
  

In This Issue
Calendar of Events
February 15, 2014
ECEDHA Annual Survey CLOSES for collection (all responses due)
March 21, 2014
Online Education and Distributed Learning Workshop
Presented at the 2014 ECEDHA Annual Conference and ECExpo
March 21, 2014
Presented at the ECEDHA Annual Conference and ECExpo
March 21-25, 2014
The Meritage Resort & Spa
Napa, California
April 17, 2014
ECE Webinar: Equation-Based Modeling
Sponsored by COMSOL 
ECEDHA News
ECEDHA Annual Survey - Extended Deadline - February 15!
  
The ECEDHA Annual Survey is now open for data collection. The survey will remain open through February 15, 2014.
  
To access the survey, visit: https://engineering.purdue.edu/ECEDHA

For questions, please contact Michelle Klein at mklein@ecedha.org of 312-559-3724.

ECEDHA Welcomes its Newest Corporate Member
  
ECEDHA has established a Corporate Membership Program to strengthen the bonds between ECEDHA member institutions and leading industry organizations.

Please join us in welcoming our newest corporate member!




ECEDHA Member and Partner News

Workshop: NSF's Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) Program

 

On February 18-19, 2014, a one and a half-day workshop designed for researchers who aspire to participate in NSF's Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) program will be held in the Washington, DC area. The workshop is by invitation only, and is open to people with research interests in cyber-physical systems who have not previously been funded by NSF as part of the CPS Program. The goal of the workshop is to help aspiring PIs understand what NSF (and importantly, the panels convened by NSF) are expecting to see in a successful CPS proposal.

 

The workshop is scheduled such that participants will be able to arrange meetings in the DC area to coincide with their participation in the workshop.

 

>> Read more

Seeking Nominations for IEEE Representative on the ABET Board of Directors (BoD)

 

The IEEE Educational Activities Board (EAB) is seeking nominations for the position of IEEE Representative  on the ABET Board of Directors (BoD).   Each ABET Director may serve two three-year terms.  Current IEEE Representative Moshe Kam is completing his second three-year term this year.  The representative selected will begin a three-year term starting in October, 2014 and the term is from 2015-2017.

 

The IEEE EAB is seeking individuals with substantial experience in engineering, computing and technology (ECT) education in one or more of the areas in which IEEE is associated within ABET.  These areas include but are not limited to Computer Engineering, Computer Engineering Technology, Electrical and Electronics Engineering and Electrical and Electronics Engineering Technology.

 
>> Read more 
 

Project Connect: International Microwave Symposium (IMS) - Tampa, FL - June 2014

 

ECEDHA members are asked to help in spreading the word to undergraduate students in your departments about a new initiative, IMS Connect, that is planned for the International Microwave Symposium (IMS) 2014 in Tampa this coming June. Project Connect will bring an exceptional group of undergraduate students to the IEEE conference on a travel grant provided by NSF and IEEE.  Approximately twenty students from underrepresented groups in engineering will be carefully selected based on their academic credentials and career goals, through a competitive application process. The deadline for applications is February 28.

 

You can learn more about Project Connect at: http://www.ims2014.org/students/project-connect

 

Workshop: NSF CAREER Program 

 

The CISE Directorate at NSF will host a one-day workshop on writing proposals for the Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) program.  This workshop is scheduled for March 31, 2014 at the Hilton Arlington (950 N Stafford St., Arlington, VA).  The goal of this workshop is to enable junior CAREER-eligible faculty to prepare competitive proposals for the NSF CAREER program.  Faculty members will have the opportunity to improve their skills in proposal writing, experience mock panel reviews, and interact with NSF program directors from the CISE divisions (ACI, CCF, CNS, and IIS), as well as with recent NSF CAREER awardees.  Registration is required by February 21, 2014. 

 

  
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