Members Present:  Angela Anuszewski, Donald J. Astor, Hank Barracano, Harry Bell, Bryce Bonzo, Larry Burton, Tom Collins, Charlie Croskey, Allen Gardenhour, Vivek Goyal, J. Hall, J. Kevin Kelly, W. E. Leonhard, Ray Lunnen, Jack Mitchell, Jason Pilny, Corey Poncavage, S. Racunas, Alvin Reiner, Robert Skipper, Tom Walsh, and Mark Wharton.

1.  Opening Remarks - Mark Wharton
        The meeting was called to order at 1:15 p.m. by president Mark Wharton.  Mark welcomed all and took the time for everyone to introduce themselves for the benefit of the newest student members that were present.

2.  SPSEE Graduate Fellowship Fund Report - Mark Wharton
        Mark displayed graphs showing the progress of the SPSEE Graduate Fellowship Fund.  Over the period from Spring 1996 through December 1998 the fund has grown to $183,272.00.  Recently,
$3,000.00 was awarded to Christopher Nordquist (Congratulations Chris!) bringing the total amount awarded to date up to $13,000.00.

3.  EE Department News - Jack Mitchell
        Jack began by thanking the SPSEE for their work on raising money for graduate student fellowships.  He said that Chris Nordquist is an outstanding student working with Theresa Mayer; that he is married, and he can really use the money.
        Jack also indicated that at a recent workshop, the SPSEE graduate student fellowship fund was used as a model for other departments to look to when starting their own fellowship programs.  Jack said that the SPSEE's efforts are right on target for helping to address one of the department's greatest needs (graduate student funding and recruiting).
        Jack mentioned that the department is under new administration due to the promotion of Larry Burton to Associate Dean and the retirement of Jim Robinson.  Now, Jack Mitchell is the Interim
Department Head, Dave Salvia is the Undergraduate Program Coordinator, and Kultegin Aydin
is the Graduate Program Coordinator.
        New faculty have accepted offers to join our department, including Hao Che (U. Texas - Austin, broadband network resource management), Constantino Lagoa (U. Wisconsin - Madison, controls), Doug Werner (ARL, Electromagnetics), and Heath Hoffman (U. C. Berkley, power electronics, will begin in January 1999).  Currently, we are looking for a joint EE/CSE faculty position in VLSI or telecomm.
        Curriculum changes include electives in the junior year, and the re-vamping of EE210, EE310, and EE330 core courses so that things are more relevant and current.  Also, freshmen are now required to take a 1 credit seminar class, and we now offer Jeff Schiano's EE 007 course "Adventures in EE" to fulfill that requirement.  New courses have also been added in DSP and HAM radio.
        Enrollment for the fall includes 640 BS, 119 MS, and 120 PhD students.  Of those, 144 are participating in Co-op.  Currently, there are 47 faculty members.  Looking at the numbers, there is an increase in undergraduate enrollment to the point where we are reaching our cap of 275.

        As a special guest, Jack asked Charlie Croskey to say a few words on the Senior Design Course EE 403W "Industrial Strength" section.  Following the lead of IE and ME and coordinating with the Learning Factory, we are now offering a  special section of the senior design course (two sections scheduled for this spring) where design projects are sponsored by companies, and the companies then act as mentors, provide funds, and even sponsor site visits when appropriate.  Students work in teams of 4-6 and submit biweekly progress reports to their sponsoring company.  Kodak and Lockheed Martin provide prizes for the winning designs.  In fact, one design will be used by the sponsoring company to save over $100,000.00/year!  For more information, please see www.lf.psu.edu or contact Charlie Croskey at clcece@engr.psu.edu.

Action Item:  This is another way that SPSEE can make a contribution to the EE department!  This win-win situation helps the students feel like they are working on 'real world problems', while it is great exposure for the sponsoring company.  Charlie indicates that they are always looking for new ideas and contacts.  So, in order to make this opportunity available to more students (e.g., offer more sections), they need more companies to participate.

4.  Engineering Department Building Plans - Larry Burton
        Short term.  Larry talked about the new Leonhard Building to be completed in August (that will house IE which will move from Hammond), and the construction of the other new building across Atherton (that will house Engr. Sci. and Mech. which will move from Hammond).  Crossing Atherton Street by foot is still a problem, so few classrooms have been added into the designs of these new buildings.  Another new building on the horizon will be for CSE (which will move from Pond), and the new College of Information Sciences and Technology (IST).  Construction will begin in Fall 1999 at a cost of approx. $40 M.  As of now, the site is not yet determined.
        Future planning (note this is tentative).  Larry showed very interesting overheads of an "artist's rendition" of what the College Planning Committee and Consultants discussed, including: adding on to EE West, filling in the courtyard, adding on to EE East, removing part of Sackett and Hammond, removing Kunkle, adding an Alumni wing onto the president's house, removing engineering units and replacing them with one large new building.  These proposals are for the long term (upwards of 10 years).  There would be a net gain of 200,000 square feet.

5.  Graduate and Undergraduate Recruiting - Harry Bell
        Harry talked about the efforts of the SPSEE in recruiting graduate and undergraduate students.  In doing so, the SPSEE can help to upgrade the academic quality of the department.  Rob Pangborn will teach a training class on a Saturday in January for people making recruiting phone calls.  The students to be contacted are all in the 3.5-4.0 GPA range and usually have over 1200 SAT scores.  For those in the State College area, use of the department phones are available for this purpose.  For those interested, please keep in touch since the phone calls take place before our next SPSEE General Membership Meeting.  Two sign-up sheets were passed around for undergraduate and graduate student recruiting.  If you did not get a chance to sign up, please contact Harry at  HBell@aol.com.

6.  EE Open House - Tom Walsh
        The EE Open House has moved to the fall semester for the first time this year.  It is one of the department's biggest recruiting efforts for undergraduate students.  Tom suggested that SPSEE members could be there to help out and answer questions from students and their parents.  A sign up sheet was passed around with suggested 1 hour time periods from 9am to 3pm, on Saturday, October 24, 1998.  By the end of the meeting, each hour was filled by two SPSEE members.  Thanks to all who participated!  For more information on the EE Open House, please contact Tom at Tom.Walsh@psu.edu.

7.  Logo Award Presentation - Mark Wharton
        Mark officially presented Corey Poncavage, the winner of the SPSEE logo design contest,  a $50.00 gift certificate to Barnes and Noble.  Corey said that the SPSEE could use both of his designs.  Already, the PSU student chapter of IEEE is now using one of the designs on their new "IEEE Information Kiosk" in the lobby of EE East to advertize the date and time of the SPSEE General Membership meeting.  Congratulations Corey!

8.  Concluding Remarks - Mark Wharton
        Mark opened the floor to comments.  Hank suggested that the SPSEE Planning Committee decide and make public EARLIER as to when the SPSEE General Membership Meetings will be held.  It is very difficult to get hotel rooms on busy weekends on short notice.  Hank suggested time frames on the order of 3-4 months (instead of just 6 weeks).
        Jack Mitchell wanted to comment on the fact that our competitors (e.g., University of Michigan) are now offering up to $15,000/year for 5 years in their 'recruiting package' for top PhD students.  This reinforces the value of the SPSEE Graduate Student Fellowship and indicates that we are moving in the right direction for the long term.  In our short term we need to be more competitive as a department.
        Mark asked Jack to talk about who decides which students receive the SPSEE Graduate Student Fellowship Funds.  Jack said that there is a committee that is approved by the Dean and that a representative from SPSEE should be on that committee.  Jack suggested that the president of SPSEE be that representative.
        After that, Mark concluded the meeting and encouraged everyone to have some cookies and cider provided by the department.