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Badri Roysam,
University of Houston
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Dear ECEDHA Members, Industry Partners, and Colleagues,
Welcome to the pre-Thanksgiving issue of
ECE Source. In this issue, guest editor Miguel Velez-Reyes, George W. Edwards Distinguished Professor, and Chair of the ECE Department at the University of Texas at El Paso, has assembled a stellar lineup of contributors who take an in-depth look at the current state of diversity in ECE, the stubborn challenges we face, potential approaches, and helpful NSF programs like
ADVANCE that are aimed at helping institutions "move the needle" on diversity by taking a holistic approach.
On a personal note, I hope to do much more next year to reach out to middle-school students and their counselors. It is increasingly clear that high-school outreach may be a bit late in the game, especially with regard to creating awareness of ECE careers among the youth. I hope you choose to join me in this endeavor.
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A Message From the Guest Editor
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Miguel Velez-Reyes,
University of Texas at El Paso |
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As ECEDHA works in reimagining ECE, we need to address the challenge that the diversity of ECE students and ECE professionals do not reflect the demographics of our society. Statistics reported by ASEE [1] indicate that, in 2015, of all degrees awarded in Engineering roughly 20% were awarded to women, 5% to African Americans, 10% to Hispanics and much lower for other underrepresented groups. This is in contrast with U.S. population demographics where roughly 50% of the population are women, 14% are African American and 17% are Hispanic. As we look into the future [2], Hispanic and African-American share of the population will grow to 30% and 18% respectively by 2060 and these groups are still highly underrepresented in the Engineering pipeline.
Another point of concern for the ECE Community is that even though the number of degrees awarded in Engineering arose by 6% from 2015 to 2016, degrees awarded in ECE decreased by 17% [1]. This is important to consider as the overall employment of electrical and computer engineers is projected to grow 5 to 7% from 2016 to 2026 [3, 4]. Recruitment, retention, and advancement of student from underrepresented groups in ECE is key for enrollment growth to meet U.S. workforce needs in the future.
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University of Houston ADVANCING STEM Women Faculty through NSF Award
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| Stuart Long, University of Houston |
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The University of Houston (UH) received a five year $3.3M NSF Institutional Transformation (IT) grant to address the issue of the lack of female faculty in STEM fields. Awarded in 2014, the NSF funding established the University of Houston's Center for ADVANCING UH Faculty Success, with the goals of increasing the number and success of women faculty in traditional and social-behavioral STEM fields by recruiting, retaining, and promoting more women and women of color. Activities include increasing developmental opportunities geared towards moving more women faculty into administrative roles, and by creating a lasting infrastructure to facilitate gender equity and inclusivity.
>> Read more
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The Computing Alliance of Hispanic-Serving Institutions
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Ann Quiroz Gates,
University of Texas at El Paso |
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The Computing Alliance of Hispanic-Serving Institutions (CAHSI), an exemplar National Science Foundation
Broadening Participation in Computing alliance, was founded in 2006 to increase the number of Hispanics entering, persisting, and advancing in computing as students, faculty and computing professionals.
Expanding its engagement of Hispanics, the nation's largest minority group, is critical for maintaining a globally competitive computing workforce and ensuring our nation's economic and social health.
Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) enroll almost half of Hispanic students attending college (Conrad & Gasman, 2015), yet HSIs represent less than 6% of postsecondary institutions in the U.S. According to Excelencia in Education (2015), 7% of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) baccalaureate degrees were earned by Hispanics in 2013, and a mere 4% and 3% were master's and doctoral STEM degrees, respectively.
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Representation of Women: How Does ECE Compare to Other Engineering Disciplines?
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Susan Lord,
University of San Diego |
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In terms of underrepresentation of women in undergraduate studies, how does Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) fare when compared to other engineering disciplines? A recent
study
by Lord, Ohland, and Layton,
reported at the 2017 European Association for Education in Electrical and Information Engineering (EAEEIE
)
Conference in Grenoble, France
,
uses a
large
multi-institution longitudinal dataset, the Multiple-Institution Database for Investigating Engineering Longitudinal Development (MIDFIELD)
to examine undergraduate engineering student outcomes in the USA
. This work considers outcomes for women and men in
Electrical Engineering (
EE
)
and compares them to those in the other four largest engineering disciplines in the USA: Chemical, Civil, Mechanical, and Industrial Engineering. This
includes
over 94,000 men and 24,000 women who ever enrolled in one of these five disciplines
including first-time-in-college and transfer students.
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CMD-IT: Diversity in Computing
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| Valerie Taylor (Above) & Jerri Barrett, CMD-IT |
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CMD-IT is the national Center for Minorities and People with Disabilities in Information Technology. This 501c3 nonprofit is focused on the following under-represented groups: African Americans, Native Americans, Hispanics, Pacific Islanders, and People with Disabilities. CMD-IT's mission is to ensure that under-represented groups are fully engaged in computing and information technologies, and to promote innovation that enriches, enhances, and enables these communities, such that more equitable and sustainable contributions are possible by all communities.
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Approaching Software Design with "Good Code" in Mind
By: Dr. Val Lynch, CEO, AND Technology Research; Steve Norman, Manager - Global Ecosystems, Renesas Electronics Europe
Good code is code that is obviously correct. This was said to me early in my career and is a mantra I have adopted and can recommend. If the code is obviously correct it will be easy to read, easy to maintain, and easy to test. So, how is good code created? Essentially that starts with good design, and this article begins by describing some of the key elements required to achieve a good design.
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Now Renewing 2017-2018 Membership!
- 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.
- The opportunity to attend the 2018 ECEDHA Annual Conference and ECExpo
- Complimentary job posting service via the ECEDHA website
- Complimentary registration for ECEDHA's ECE Webinars
Looking for your membership packet? P
lease contact Megan Bekolay at
mbekolay@ecedha.org
or 312.559.3724
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ECE Insights
ECE Insights offer in-depth interviews with leading industry executives.
Featured ECE Insights:
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Jim Keady
Vice President of Sales
Continental Resource (ConRes)
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Jonathan White
CAE Director
Synopsys
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November 16, 2017
Webinar: Rethinking Electronics Fundamentals
Sponsored by National Instruments
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November 17-19, 2017
WECEDHA Regional Meeting
Hosted by the University of California, San Diego
San Diego, CA |
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March 16, 2018
ABET Workshop
Presented at the ECEDHA Annual Conference
Hyatt Monterey - Monterey, CA |
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March 16-20, 2018
ECEDHA Annual Conference and ECE
xpo
Hyatt Monterey - Monterey, CA
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On Demand Webinar
Sponsored by Keysight Technologies
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On Demand Webinar
In Partnership with National Instruments, ISTEC, LACCEI, and Tecnológico de Monterrey
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On Demand Webinar
Sponsored by COMSOL
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On Demand Webinar
Sponsored by National Instruments |
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On Demand Webinar
Sponsored by Keysight Technologies |
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On Demand Webinar
Sponsored by National Instruments |
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ECEDHA Member and Partner News
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Workshop on the Challenges of the Climate Change
Catholic University of America (CUA) host its first International Workshop on the "Challenges of the Climate Change" organized by the Engineering Center for Care of Earth (ECCE) at CUA.
The workshop focuses on new and more effective technologies that enhance productivity and profit for private industries; decrease costs for citizens and public bodies; and have a lower impact in terms of carbon emissions with the ultimate goal of achieving global clean energy technology performance breakthroughs and cost reductions. Moreover, actions aimed at increasing resilience of urban environment will be addressed.
Workshop Date: November 16, 2017
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THE BRIDGE Magazine of IEEE-Eta Kappa Nu (IEEE-HKN)
The magazine of IEEE-Eta Kappa Nu is THE BRIDGE, which publishes a variety of features and content relevant to ECE students, faculty, and professionals. The magazine is electronic and open access with PDF versions of the current and prior issues.
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