Newsletter

December, 2002
Satinderpaul Devgan, Hossein Mousavinezhad, co-editors

In This Issue . . .

• From the President
• 2003 Annual Meeting
• Highlights of the 18th Annual Meeting
• Sherra Kerns is Honored
• ECEDHA Meets with CHECE
• NSF Supports ECEDHA/IEC Workshop
• 2003 ECEDHA Program Schedule
• Fifth ECEDHA EC2000 Workshop
• Schedule for ECEDHA Workshop for "Class of 2004"
• New Chairs Orientation
• SI of IEEE Transactions on Education
• Web-based student tutorials
• IEEE Evaluator Training not being held
• ECEDHA Officers for 2002-03
• ECEDHA Board of Directors and Committee Chairs for 2002-03
• Award Nominations Requested
• Annual ECEDHA Survey Reminder
• Vital Statistics for ECEDHA

ECEDHA to Gather at Turtle Bay in Oahu for 2003 Meeting

The beach at Turtle Bay, surfers on Oahu's famed north shore, and whales on their way back home are just a few of the attractions that await you in March as ECEDHA members and their guests gather for the Nineteenth Annual Meeting on Oahu.

This meeting, to be held March 14-18, 2003, not only will provide ample opportunities to network with colleagues while enjoying spectacular sunsets, but it will also be packed with useful information, expanded sessions for regional groups, and exceptional plenary speakers. Take a moment to review the inside of this newsletter for a complete program outline.

ECEDHA members who attended the 1998 Annual Meeting at Turtle Bay will find a completely remodeled hotel that has undergone a $35 million refurbishing. Guest rooms in the main building have been renovated; a full-service spa has been added, as well as a second pool with a water slide; and many more improvements await you.

Be sure to make your reservation as soon as possible by calling the Turtle Bay Resort at +1-808-293-8811 or +1-800-203-3650.

ECEDHA Workshop for ABET EC2000 "Class of 2004"

On Friday, March 14, 2003, ECEDHA will hold its fifth special full-day ABET EC2000 workshop at the Turtle Bay Resort, for those programs to be visited in the fall of 2004. This meeting is designed to accommodate one person from each EE or CpE program.

You may call the ECEDHA office at +1-312-559-4625 or send an email to kricker@iec.org to have a registration form sent to you. Please see the EC2000 Workshop page on the ECEDHA Web site for additional information.

Highlights of the 18th Annual Meeting

In March 2002, approximately 160 department heads and their guests gathered in Florida at Hutchinson Island for the 18th Annual Meeting. As usual, this meeting provided a little something for everyone.

About 30 representatives from departments facing ABET accreditation in Fall 2003 attended the fourth ABET EC2000 independent workshop presented by ECEDHA. As in previous years, it proved to be quite successful.

About 35 new chairs attended a workshop on Friday afternoon presented by Dave Irwin, Chair at Auburn University. Also on Friday evening attendees gathered for a Welcome Reception and had the opportunity to renew contacts made in previous years.

The opening sessions on Saturday morning featured Mike Birck, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Tellabs, and Taft Broome from Howard University, who spoke about preparing the engineer of the future. Saturday afternoon sessions focused on students and their experiences.

Speakers on Monday's panel focused on new initiatives in computing, biomedicine and imaging, telemedicine, and biotechnology. Breakout sessions provided useful information on ABET accreditation, and Art Broderson of Vanderbilt University spoke about his department's experience during their recent ABET visit.

The annual business meeting and Open Forum were also held on Monday, and attendees voiced their concerns and heard Dr. Pamela Mack of Morgan State and Dr. Rao of the University of Illinois tell of their experiences during recent ABET visits.

Before adjourning on Tuesday, participants heard presentations about new and innovative undergraduate and graduate programs as well as on-line education.

A beautiful location, many information-packed sessions, and some relaxing social events combined to make a successful 2002 Annual Meeting. Members are looking forward to 2003, where the theme will be ECE: Leading the Technology Wave.

Sherra Kerns is Honored

At the 18th Annual Meeting in March 2002, ECEDHA presented the Outstanding Leadership and Service Award to Sherra Kerns, Vice Presidentfor Innovation and Research at Olin College of Engineering.

Sherra has been a member of ECEDHA since becoming Chair at Vanderbilt University in 1993. She served the Board in several positions and assumed the presidency in 1996/1997.

Sherra received an A.B. from Mount Holyoke College, an M.A. from the University of Wisconsin, and a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina, all in physics. Throughout her career, she has demonstrated an exceptional commitment to engineering education. She is very involved in engineering accreditation, and her work, in both technical and educational areas, has been recognized with local, national, and international awards. ECEDHA is proud to have presented this award to an outstanding individual.

Award Nominations Requested

Each year, ECEDHA accepts nominations for two awards. The Outstanding Leadership and Service Award is given to current or former ECEDHA members who have provided outstanding leadership and exceptional service to the organization. The Innovative Program Award is given to a department or individual(s) who has developed and implemented a program in EE/ECE education that is particularly innovative.

Nominations, a brief supporting statement, and the sponsor's contact information should be sent to Sally Wood, Chair of the Awards Committee, at Santa Clara University, or to Kathy Ricker at the ECEDHA office in Chicago.

ECEDHA Meets with CHECE

Since its inception, ECEDHA has been a predominately U.S. organization while at the same time allowing members from accredited ECE programs outside of the United States from such places as Canada, Puerto Rico, Mexico, and South America. In fact, 18 of the approximately 30 accredited programs in Canada are members of ECEDHA. At the same time, Canada has a similar organization known as the Canadian Heads of Electrical and Computer Engineering or CHECE.

At the suggestion of CHECE's current president, Dave Lowther, Head of ECE at McGill University, Jim Aylor met with CHECE at its semiannual meeting on October 4, 2002, in New Brunswick to discuss possible closer interaction between the two organizations. The Board is excited about this new relationship and has planned an expanded time slot during the Annual Meeting to allow time for regional groups, including Canadian department heads, to meet and discuss issues of regional importance.

NSF Supports ECEDHA-IEC NanoEngineering Workshop

A successful proposal to the National Science Foundation by ECEDHA and the IEC (International Engineering Consortium) has resulted in financial support for an exciting and timely ECEDHA initiative: the NanoEngineering TecForum and NanoEngineering Education Workshop, taking place January 27-28, 2003 at the Santa Clara Convention Center in California. Electrical and computer engineering department heads (or their representatives) have been invited to participate in this two-day tutorial and workshop with registration costs, and possibly travel costs, supported by the NSF.

The tutorial portion will assist present faculty in becoming educated in this important and rapidly expanding field. A major goal of the workshop is the creation of an undergraduate engineering program through which students can become versed in the technologies of nanoscience and engineering. A second goal will be development of a framework of interdisciplinary nanoengineering graduate degree programs (both M.S. and Ph.D.), which will be accessible to students from various engineering disciplines as well as the sciences.

The two-day event will be held in conjunction with the highly successful IEC DesignCon conference, taking place January 27-30, 2003. DesignCon attracts more than 6,000 design engineers and managers, as well as members of the academic community. More information on DesignCon 2003 can be found at www.designcon.com.

Professor Stephen Goodnick, Chair of the EE Department at Arizona State University and ECEDHA Vice President, will chair the workshop. It will be co-chaired by Jim Aylor, Chair of ECE at the University of Virginia; Kenneth Jenkins, Head of EE at Pennsylvania State University; and Barry Sullivan, Director of Content Development at the International Engineering Consortium, which supports ECEDHA.

Special Issue of IEEE Transactions on Education

As part of ECEDHA's continuing effort to help provide guidance for electrical and computer engineering education, we have partnered with the IEEE Education Society to publish a special issue of IEEE Transactions on Education dedicated to "A Vision for E&CE Education in 2013 and Beyond." As is well known, E&CE education is rapidly evolving as the pace of technological innovation in society accelerates. The information revolution has focused considerable attention on educational needs relative to information science and engineering, while blurring traditional engineering sub-disciplines. Papers were solicited from electrical and computer engineering departments, as well as industry, government, and other interested professionals, on their vision of the undergraduate curriculum that E&CE departments should be offering in 2013 and beyond to adequately prepare their students for the future. A number of manuscripts have been received to date-full-length papers identifying the expected curriculum in 2013 and beyond.

ECEDHA Members Gather at ASEE Annual Meeting

Traditionally, ECEDHA members attending ASEE and FIE annual meetings get together for dinner at a convenient location. ECEDHA members were treated to an excellent dinner in the ASEE Annual Meeting in Montreal, Canada in June 2002.

Web-Based Student Tutorials Being Planned

A joint committee of ECEDHA and the IEC has been formed to investigate ways to develop on-line education modules that can assist engineering students and faculty. This effort will determine the means by which the IEC's successful program of on-line education for practicing engineers, Web ProForum tutorials, can be extended to the academic community. In designing Web ProForum tutorials, a carefully constructed template was developed to facilitate learning by busy professionals. Few of these users are able to dedicate long periods of time to education, so the tutorial construction permits well-planned modularity. The IEC's on-line tutorials are currently averaging more than 80,000 users per month accessing more than 180,000 educational sessions.

This effort began with a student survey, which is available at www.iec.org/survey/student.html. Based on the survey results and students' experiences with the Web ProForum tutorials, the following plan will be implemented: (1) define the format of the student ProForum tutorials; (2) define the subjects that are candidates for the program, considering student, faculty, and industry input; (3) survey students and department heads regarding the proposed topics; (4) develop a series of Beta ProForums for use by universities and departments. Based on results of this initial program, an implementation plan will be developed, including aspects such as relationships with universities, content origination, intellectual property, economics, production, distribution, and quality control.

Representing ECEDHA in this effort are Bob Janowiak, ECEDHA Executive Director, Wayne Bennett, ECEDHA Board Member, and John Orr and Roger Webb, past ECEDHA Presidents. To familiarize yourself with the capabilities of modular on-line education, visit IEC's Web site at www.iec.org and participate in some of the Web ProForum tutorials.

ECEDHA 2003 ANNUAL MEETING -- Tentative Schedule

For the most up-to-date record of program agenda for the 2003 Annual Meeting, please check the ECEDHA web site at http://www.ecedha.org/2002-03/agenda.html.

Guest Program - Saturday, March 15, 2003

After enjoying a continental breakfast at the Resort, guests will depart for a full day of entertainment at the Polynesian Cultural Center, where the /imgs/newsletter, history, and hospitality of seven Pacific cultures come alive. The day's activities will include a luncheon, and guests will return to Turtle Bay Resort by 4:00 pm.

Schedule, ECEDHA Workshop for ABET EC2000 "Class of 2004"

ECEDHA 2004 Annual Meeting

For your planning purposes, ECEDHA will host its 20th Annual Meeting at the Renaissance Orlando Resort in Orlando, Florida, March 19-23, 2004. This is a comfortable hotel, close to all the Orlando attractions, so you might want to plan a few extra days with the family to enjoy the sights.

New Chairs at Annual Meeting

The ECEDHA officers would like to extend a special invitation to the 2003 Annual Meeting to those individuals who are new to the role of department chair this year. On Friday, March 14, 2003, from 5:00 pm to 6:30 pm, Dave Irwin, Chair of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Auburn University, will present an interactive workshop for new chairs. Dave provides some very valuable and witty insights, as well as practical guidelines for those of you new to the job. This workshop also offers new chairs an early opportunity to meet colleagues who are facing some of the same challenges.

IEEE ABET Evaluators' Training Session

Please note that the IEEE will NOT be holding an Evaluators' Training Session during the ECEDHA 2003 Annual Meeting. Training sessions are tentatively set for March 28 in Las Vegas, April 25 in Dallas, and at ASEE in Nashville on June 22. These dates are tentative and you should review the ABET or IEEE Web sites for exact dates and details.

From the President

ECEDHA continues to provide service to its members in many ways. The most visible is the organization and running of an annual meeting. Our next meeting will be held March 14-18, 2003. The program, "Electrical and Computer Engineering - Leading the Technology Wave," will have sessions on many areas of interest to our membership. The preliminary program includes sessions on Small-School Issues, Public Policy Advocacy, Gender Issues, The Future of ECE Education, Accreditation, Virtual and Remote Labs, Department Building, and Nanotechnology, as well as Regional Group Meetings and the Open Forum.

As always, there will be time for members to participate in sessions and to network with other department heads. A major advantage of these annual meetings is the opportunity to speak with other department heads whose problems are similar to your own.

Another service to members is the New Chairs Workshop, given by Professor David Irwin of Auburn University. It is a must for those who are new to this role.

The ECEDHA EC200 Workshop is another popular feature at the Annual Meeting. It is based on participant involvement and is a sharing of best practices. This Workshop will be held on Friday, March 14th and is for programs to be evaluated in Fall 2004.

Another of ECEDHA's services to members is through the regional associations. Several regional groups, including Canadian department heads, will hold meetings during the 2003 Annual Meeting. These smaller group meetings facilitate the sharing of information and solutions among schools in a geographic region or among schools with similar programs. To further enhance the benefits of these regional groups, the ECEDHA Board of Directors has approved the formation of a Regional Associations Committee to help new groups form and to further the service of existing groups.

The ECEDHA Board of Directors has outlined a proactive role for ECEDHA in discussing the future of E&CE and implementing programs to catalyze change in educational content, delivery, and student support. These goals will help to focus the Association's efforts in many areas, including Public Policy, Distance Education, Web-Based Education, Graduate Education, New Technologies (Nano, Info, Bio), Gender Issues, and Membership Services.

I am looking forward to seeing old friends and those of you who are new to the role of department chair at the meeting in March.

Dave Soldan, ECEDHA President 2002-2003

ECEDHA Officers for 2002-2003

On July 1, 2002, David Soldan, Head of E&CE at Kansas State University, took the reins as President of ECEDHA. Dave is joined by Steve Goodnick of Arizona State University as Vice President and Ken Jenkins of Pennsylvania State University as Secretary-Treasurer. Pradeep Khosla, Carnegie Mellon University, and Sally Wood, Santa Clara University, are serving as Members-at-Large.

Vital Statistics on ECEDHA

• ECEDHA Membership: 2001-277; 2001-277
• Annual Meeting attendance: 2001-183; 2001-160
• Annual Budget: 2001-$153,00; 2002-$152,000

ECEDHA Board of Directors and Committee Chairs

President
David L. Soldan, Kansas State University

Vice President
Stephen M. Goodnick, Arizona State University

Secretary-Treasurer
W. Kenneth Jenkins, The Pennsylvania State University

Junior Past President
James H. Aylor, University of Virginia

Senior Past President
John A. Orr, Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Members at Large
Pradeep Khosla, Carnegie Mellon University Sally Wood, Santa Clara University

IEC Representative
A. Wayne Bennett, Mississippi State University

Executive Director, Assistant Treasurer
Robert M. Janowiak, IEC

Awards Committee Chair
Sally Wood, Santa Clara University

Nominating Committee Chair
James H. Aylor, University of Virginia

Survey Committee Chair
Rodney Soukup, University of Nebraska, Lincoln

Accreditation Issues Committee Chair
John Orr, Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Web Committee Chair
James H, Aylor, University of Virginia

Newsletter Editor
Satinderpaul Devgan, Tenessee State University
Hossein Mousavinezhad, Western Michigan University

Annual Survey Reminder

Annual Survey forms were e-mailed to all department heads in November 2002 and will be due by January 24, 2003. Please note: Survey results are only provided to those department chairs that participate in the Annual Survey. The Annual Survey provides a significant amount of information to all of us, so we encourage all department to participate.