SIOUXLAND SIGNAL

Volume 8, Number 7 IEEE SIOUXLAND SECTION NEWSLETTER April, 1997

AWARDS BANQUET

VALDEMAR BODIN: PROFESSIONAL ETHICS

WHEN: Tuesday evening, April 22. Notice the change of date from earlier plans!

WHERE: The Holiday Inn
Immediately West of Interstate 29, Exit 132
Brookings, South Dakota.

ACTIVITIES: 5:30 PM Social
6:00 PM Dinner
6:30 PM Program and awards for:
SDSU Chapter of Eta Kappa Nu
SDSU Student Branch of IEEE,
Dordt College Student Branch of IEEE
Siouxland Section of the IEEE
7:30 PM Speaker, Mr. Valdemar Bodin: "Professional Ethics." Mr. Bodin is a consultant in private practice with John T. Moore Associates, Richmond Virginia.
RESERVATIONS: Call (605) 688-4526 by 4:00 PM Thursday, April 17.

SDSU ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT SPAC

Our April meeting (above) will be held in association with the Student Professional Awareness Conference (SPAC) held annually by the South Dakota State University (SDSU) Student Branch of the IEEE and the SDSU Chapter of Eta Kappa Nu. In addition to the awards banquet above, which is a regular IEEE meeting, IEEE members are invited to participate at no cost in other SPAC presentations held that same day. At 2:00 PM on April 22 Dr. Al Kurtenbach, President of Daktronics will speak on "How to Start Your Own Business." After that Mr. Valdemar Bodin (speaker at the awards banquet as well) will speak on "Job Hunting Strategies." Following Mr. Bodin, Mr. Michael R. Andrews, Partner in a consulting firm in Scottsdale, Arizona, will speak, ending at about 5:00 PM. Call the SDSU Engineering Department at (605) 688-4526 for more information and meeting locations if you are interested.

VOTE IN MAY

OFFICER NOMINATIONS

The following nominations for executive committee officers have been received:

Secretary-Treasurer: Steve Hietpas, Murat Tanyel
Vice Chair: Murat Tanyel, Darrick Moe
Chair: Darrick Moe, Jayme Huber

The first person named represents the normal rotation of officers with Steve Hietpas as the new nominee. The second person nominated is the current holder of that office, who could be elected for a second term (all officers are in their first term now).

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE NOMINATIONS NEEDED

Nominations for the Siouxland Section's Executive Committee are still open by petition until our election, which will be held on May 15, 1997. The Section needs you to become part of it's Executive Committee. The following positions will be voted upon:

Please become a part of the Siouxland Section IEEE and make a difference by holding an office on the Executive Committee. I look forward to hearing from you and hope that you will take the challenge of becoming a part of the Siouxland Section Executive Committee. Call, write, fax, visit, or e-mail me with your interest or with a nomination. I can be contacted via the following:

Mr. Dave Nuese / Missouri Basin Municipal Power Agency (MBMPA) / 3005 W. Russell / P.O. Box 84610 / Sioux Falls, SD 57118. Work Phone: (605)330-6965 Fax Phone: (605)334-9753 E-mail: daven@mbmpa.mapp.org

CALL FOR SECTION AWARDS NOMINATIONS

It's time to be thinking about nominations for Siouxland Section Awards. Each year three Outstanding Engineer awards are considered, one for a non-student member of the Siouxland section of the IEEE, one for a student member from Dordt College and one for a student member from South Dakota State University. The minimum requirement for an award is membership in good standing in the IEEE. The award criteria are educational and collegiate achievements 5%; IEEE activities 25%; other professional/technical activities 15%; civil and humanitarian activities 15%; continuing competence 15%; engineering achievements 25%; and professional registration 5%. Awards will be presented at the April meeting. For more information, call Madeleine at (605) 688-4527, or e-mail her: andrawim@mg.sdstate.edu.

Nominations for the Outstanding Engineer Award should be mailed to: Madeleine Andrawis / Electrical Engineering Department / Harding Hall #207 Box 2220 / Brookings, SD 57007.

Nominations for the Engineer-of-the-Year award received to date are: Alfred Andrawis (SDSU), Lew Brown (SDSU), David Galipeau (SDSU), Seth Hansen (Daktronics), and Scott Nagel (Sencore Electronics).

1996-1997 OPERATING YEAR SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

TOUR OF ALUMAX EXTRUSIONS INC

On Thursday, May 15, our monthly meeting will be held in Yankton. We will gather at JoDean’s Steakhouse and Lounge, (Highway 81 North) for dinner and then proceed as a group to Alumax. The dinner will start at 6 p.m. with a social time and executive committee meeting preceding that at 5:30.

Alumax processes and extrudes aluminum into a variety of shapes and products. They have an automated painting process and ship out over one million pounds of aluminum per month. Alumax is one of Northwestern Public Service’s largest customers with a peak load of over four megawatts.

A NEW ORDER FOR THE U.S. MEMBER

by William W. Middleton, 1996 USAB liaison to the IEEE Strategic Planning Committee

Much has been written over the last several years about perceived IEEE member needs in the 21st century. Actions such as a revised mission and organization of the Strategic Planning Committee, the appointment of several study groups to produce reorganizational proposals, and a series of retreats to pursue member ideas and suggestions culminated in a major restructuring of the IEEE Bylaws approved by the Board of Directors in December 1996, with some entities implementing them as soon as 1997.

All of the Institute is affected to a greater or lesser degree. As a rank-and-file member, one might ask, "What has all this got to do with me?" This is a fair question that requires an honest answer.

The importance of these changes may be likened to the changes wrought in 1972 by passage of the constitutional amendment creating a professional dimension and responsibility to the IEEE, which before had been characterized as educational and technical. The recent Board of Directors actions carry this mission several steps further by placing additional emphasis on globalization and other aspects of the strategic plan and, most importantly, by providing major entities with increased responsibility for their own operations.

U.S. members will see a new organization ¾ a newly designated IEEE-United States of America (IEEE-USA), with enhanced autonomy. Concomitantly, U.S. members will elect an IEEE-USA President (who also sits on the IEEE Board of Directors and the IEEE Executive Committee as a director) and members-at-large for the IEEE-USA Board of Directors (BOD), along with the Regional Directors elected by the Regional constituencies (11 of the 17 voting members). These officers will constitute the member-elected representation on the governing body. This fall, U.S. members will vote on an IEEE-USA 1998 President, a 1998 president-elect and two members-at-large on the IEEE-USA's BOD.

The desire to elect their governing leaders has been an issue among U.S. members almost since USAB's inception in 1974. Interestingly, IEEE is giving autonomy to U.S. members by having USAB develop their own Bylaws. This was also given to the other major IEEE entities. Change will appear in some form in the Educational, Standards, Regional and Technical Activities Boards.

The entire approach to dues, fees, and assessments, has been revised to make the basic dues ($86) the core cost for IEEE membership which applies to all members. Entity dues reflect a new category ¾ member-choice payments approved by the entity members ¾ and only binding on voluntary members of that entity. Assessments have been capped at the 1996 level, and any changes are subject to the IEEE Board of Directors' final approval. Now, all payments, dues and fees alike, also reflect the cost to support new services and products.

The new Bylaws clarify the role of IEEE-USA as responsible for U.S. government relations in all aspects relating to professional activities. We are also responsible for legislative filings and lobbying activities. These two issues reflect a very clear decision and message to reorganize IEEE-USA more effectively as the overall U.S. member body, removing some of the confusion and conflict regarding the IEEE global vs. U.S. responsibility.

Our work is not over, it has just begun. It is up to the revamped IEEE-USA Board of Directors to optimize the latitude provided in a more democratic body for representing the interests of the U.S. member. Further, each member now has the right and privilege to vote for a significant segment of IEEE-USA's governance.

The hopes of those who have worked so diligently on reorganization changes, not only those affecting IEEE-USA, will only be realized if a significantly greater number of members vote in the upcoming elections. You, the members, are the key.

IEEE SIOUXLAND SECTION
C/O DORDT COLLEGE ENGINEERING DEPT.
498 FOURTH AVENUE NE
SIOUX CENTER, IA 51250

OFFICERS OF IEEE SIOUXLAND SECTION FOR 1996-1997

Please send comments or items to include in the newsletter to the newsletter editor (listed above). The deadline for the next newsletter is
Thursday, April 24. Send address corrections to IEEE headquarters or call them at (800)-678-IEEE.

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