SPSEE

Minutes of the 12th General Membership Meeting
Friday, May 23, 1997

MINUTES

Members Present: Henry Barracano, Harry Bell, Dean Bradford, Larry Burton, Tony Canike, Tom Collins, Jack Gido, Bob Horst, Kevin Kelly, Nick Luckas, Ray Lunnen, Bill Middleton, Al Reiner, Fred Thompson, Tom Walsh, Mark Wharton

1. Welcome and Introduction, by Harry Bell

The meeting was called to order at 1:00pm by president Harry Bell, who welcomed the out of town members to the Penn State campus.

2. Department News, by Larry Burton

Larry reported on activities and developments in the department of Electrical Engineering.

• Enrollment of BS degree students in the department of Electrical Engineering is declining, although MS degree enrollment is increasing slightly.
• The department has added four new faculty and staff positions.
• There have been some recent changes to the undergraduate curriculum. The core courses have been renumbered and some of the lab sections have been combined with recitation sections.
• The review by ABET went well. The department received a favorable rating and some pretty positive comments.
• Five awards were received by Electrical Engineering; the most of any of the engineering departments. One recipient of an Outstanding Service award was our own Harry Bell.

3. SPSEE Graduate Fellowship Fund, by Mark Wharton

The fund topped $100,000 in collected balance in December and was officially recognized as a fellowship by the University. As of the Spring meeting, the fund principal balance is $114,514 and the interest balance is $9664.

A committee consisting of Larry Burton, Harry Bell and Mark Wharton met in early Spring to select two primary and three alternate candidate recipients for the fellowship. Our two primary and two of the alternates, however, have turned down their invitation to study at Penn State. We are awaiting word from the third alternate candidate.

4. Graduate Student Recruiting, by Harry Bell

Harry reported that recruitment efforts have not gone as well this year as in years past. Of the 12 top applicants contacted by the membership only two accepted. Usually the acceptance rate is much higher. This year the reasons given for not accepting were not monetary. The major reason mentioned was lack of a good technical match to the candidate's personal interests. Larry mentioned that the 12 recruits were the cream of the crop, and that there were still more applicants to the graduate program that the department can accept.

5. EE Department Home Page, by Harry Bell

Harry Bell has volunteered to run a project that will attempt to improve and reorganize the EE department home page. It will include a link to SPSEE.

All members who have access to the Internet are asked to visit the EE Department's home page at http://www.ee.psu.edu . Send your comments and feedback to Larry Burton at lcbece@engr.psu.edu .

Also, have a look at the engineering department's home page at http://www.engr.psu.edu and compare the other engineering department's home pages to the EE department's home page.

6. Appointment of Nominating Committee, by Harry Bell

The two-year terms of the following Officers and Directors are due to expire at the conclusion of the Fall 1997 General Membership Meeting:

Officers:
• President - Harry Bell
• Vice President - Bill Middleton
• Secretary / Treasurer - Mark Wharton

Board of Directors, two year terms:
• Jack Gido
• Robert Horst
• Carol Knauff
• Ray Lunnen

Accordingly, a committee consisting of Larry Burton and Harry Bell will nominate a slate of candidates for a vote at the Fall meeting.

7. Ideas for New Projects, by Harry Bell

Four new project ideas were presented by the membership for consideration:

• Quality Control Feedback - Ray Lunnen outlined a project that would result in information sharing between membership. Topics would be product design, research and project activity by Penn State EE graduates.
• Logo - Bill Middleton suggested that the Society needs a logo.
• Alumni Resume Service - Tom Walsh wants to provide a posting place for EE resumes with a link on the department home page.
• High School Students - Dean Bradford related the accomplishments of some high school honor students from an article in USA Today. He suggested that SPSEE sponsor a project that would assist bright high school students with ideas but no facilities to experiment with or test their ideas.

8. Other News

The Fall General Membership Meeting will be held on Friday, October 10, 1997.

Mark J. Wharton
Secretary
BSEE 1971
05-23-97

Web page last updated on August 4, 1997, supported by: Tom.Walsh@psu.edu