theinstitute DECEMBER 2004 VOL. 28, N0. 4 Dan Senese ...theinstitute.ieee.org/ns/quarterly_issues/tidec04.pdf · 1 Dan Senese Leaves Electronic Legacy ... Mick Wiggins (top left);

The

http ://www. ieee.org/the inst i tute DECEMBER 2004 VOL. 28, N0. 4

Dan Senese LeavesElectronic LegacyBY KATHY KOWALENKO

FROM ELECTRONIC LIBRARIES andonline membership renewal to improv-ing the IEEE’s finances, executive directorDan Senese reflects on his accomplish-ments with The Institute as he prepares toretire at the end of 2004 after nine yearswith the IEEE.

As the chief staff officer, he oversees thedaily operations of the IEEE and its morethan 800 employees. The IEEE Board ofDirectors sets the policies of the organiza-tion, and the executive director’s job is toimplement them and to provide input abouthow best to plan the association’s future.

Senese might be remembered mostfor the array of electronic services andproducts created during his tenure—which was his primary mandate when hetook on his job.

“We’ve really focused on doing busi-ness electronically. It’s one of the thingsthat I’m very proud of,” he says. “Welooked at where it was cost-effective, wherewe thought there were useful services, andwe now are delivering very efficient andeffective electronic products.”

Those include what he calls mem-bership administrative tools. Memberscan renew, add services, join a society,update their contact information, pur-chase a product, or subscribe to a publi-cation—all over the Web, totally withouthuman intervention.

But that doesn’t begin to cover the spec-trum of offerings that the IEEE rolled outduring his tenure. Senese points to anexpanding line of electronic libraries, fromthe IEEE Member Digital Library for indi-viduals and the IEEE

Executive directorDan Senese is set toretire at the end ofthis month.

[Continued on page 13]

IEEE UrgesChanges toOnline Piracy BillBY TRUDY E. BELL

DOWNLOADING A SONG or a videoover the Internet may seem inconse-quential to the person doing the copying,but over the years the costs of such copy-right infringement have added up to astaggering sum—US$19 billion worth ofpurloined work, according to U.S. enter-tainment industry groups. Up to 97 per-cent of music, movies, and games on theInternet are illegally traded via peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing services, estimatesthe Recording Industry Association ofAmerica (RIAA). And the RIAA and otherentertainment groups have been com-plaining loudly.

No wonder, then, that the U.S. Senateis working to punish infringers by amend-ing sections of U.S. copyright law tobroaden the definition of who might beliable for infringement. The aim of a newbill is to penalize those who intentionallyinfluence others to infringe—even if theinducers themselves do not. Why? So it’spossible to nab companies whose busi-ness plan calls for manipulating cus-tomers—often children or teens—into“doing the ‘dirty work’ of breaking the law”by making illegal copies of copyrightedworks, said Senator [Continued on page 14]

MICHAEL R. LIGHTNER SELECTED 2005 PRESIDENT-ELECT P. 4

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THE INSTITUTE | DECEMBER 2004 3

1 Dan Senese LeavesElectronic LegacyBY KATHY KOWALENKOAfter nine years at the IEEE’s helm, executive director DanSenese will retire at year’s end. During his tenure heimplemented innovative electronic products and services,changed the corporate culture, and helped get the IEEE’sfinances in order.

1 IEEE–USA Urges Changes To Online Piracy BillBY TRUDY E. BELLUp to 97 percent of music, games, and movies online are traded illegally, raising the ire of entertainment industry groupsand prompting a bill in the U.S. Congress to crack down ontrading. But IEEE–USA says, “Not so fast.”

PRESIDENT’S COLUMN

6 A Year in ReviewBY ARTHUR WINSTONIn 2004, Winston embraced globalization and expanded theIEEE’s global family. But big challenges regarding intellec-tual property and membership value remain for W. CleonAnderson, the next IEEE president.

17 Members Rate IEEE’s ValueBY KATHY KOWALENKOIn a landmark study, IEEE members report why they valuetheir membership. They like networking with their peers atconferences and local meetings, but want more continuingeducation programs and online access to technical resources.

18 Helping Build Bridges To PolicymakersBY PEG GALLOSFew IEEE members get to rub shoulders with the moversand shakers of government and politics, but three fromIndia, Malta, and the United States tell how they advise theirlegislators on science and technology matters.

20 How to HandlePlagiarism: New GuidelinesBY PAT JANOWSKIWith so many technical articles now online, plagiarizing iseasier than ever. To reduce the number of incidents in itspublications, the IEEE approved new guidelines to definethe different levels of plagiarism and the corrective actionsto be taken.

THE INSTITUTEONLINEFind information on these topics and more atwww.ieee.org/theinstitute on 7 December.

Art & photo credits: Page 1: Trevor Dixon (top right);Mick Wiggins (top left); Jordan Hollender (center); Page3: Robert Severi; Page 4: Trevor Dixon; Page 6: JordanHollender; Page 8: Dan Krauss/The New York Times;Page 10: Hulton Archive/Getty Images; Page 12: RyanMcVay/Getty Images; Page 13: Jordan Hollender; Pages14 & 15: Mick Wiggins; Page 16: Peter Horvath; Page18: Robert Severi; Page 20: KRT; Page 21: SteveAllen/Alamy; Page 22: The Maureen and MikeMansfield Foundation (top); John Volakis (bottom).

NEWS4 LIGHTNER IS PRESIDENT-ELECT

IEEE RESUMES SERVICES FOR EMBARGOED COUNTRIES

DIGITAL ARCHIVES EXPANDED

DEPARTMENTS5 LETTERS

5 MARKETPLACE OF IDEAS

8 MEMBER PROFILE

10 BEST PRACTICES

12 PRODUCTS & SERVICES

16 EDUCATION

21 FINANCIAL ADVANTAGE

22 MEMBER RECOGNITION

22 IN MEMORIAM

23 AWARDS

18

CONTENTS

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changes to THE INSTITUTE, IEEE Operations Center, Coding Department, Box 1331,

Piscataway, N.J. 08855-1331, USA.

NEWS Read the complete results of the2004 IEEE election.

CAREER GUIDANCE Advice for successfully navigating theoffice trenches with better communication, from the IEEEProfessional Communication Society

FEATURED CONFERENCE IEEE Industry ApplicationsSociety Electrical Safety Workshop, 8–11 February, Denver, USA

PLUS

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This new member benefit program provides secure storage forimportant family documents, child vital statistics, medical infor-mation and more. With Global Med-Net, your most valuable recordsare available at a moment’s notice – anywhere in the world.

NEW PROGRAMFOR IEEE MEMBERS

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Saving Lives, Protecting Children, Easing Minds

LAST MONTH, THE IEEE reestablishedelectronic communications for its mem-bers in the U.S. trade-embargoed countriesof Cuba, Iran, and Sudan. Members inthese countries were given access to com-munications channels that the IEEE hadsuspended in January 2002 while it inves-tigated the effect of the trade regulationsadministered by the U.S. Department ofthe Treasury’s Office of Foreign Asset Con-trol. The resumption of electronic com-munications coincides with the start of the2005 membership renewal period.

With normal communications re-sumed, members in Cuba, Iran, andSudan can once again create an IEEE Webaccount and use it to access the publica-tions they subscribe to through IEEE

Xplore. They are also able to renew theirmembership, update their contact infor-mation, establish an IEEE e-mail alias, andsubscribe online to IEEE publications.Members in the three countries can also beconsidered for elevation of their membergrades. And anyone wishing to become anIEEE member may join online.

The IEEE continues to be limited byU.S. government restrictions, however, intwo areas: it cannot send funds to theembargoed countries to support IEEEactivities, nor can it formally establish newlocal units like sections and chapters.

For more information on this issue,visit http://www.ieee.org/ofac or sendquestions to [email protected]. •

Lightner Selected for Top SpotMICHAEL R. LIGHTNER has been selected the 2005IEEE President-Elect by members of the IEEE. He willbegin serving as IEEE President on 1 January 2006(pending acceptance of the Teller’s Committee elec-tion-tally report by the IEEE Board of Directors in lateNovember).

Lightner is a professor of electrical and computerengineering and computer science at the Universityof Colorado, Boulder, USA. He will succeed 2005IEEE President W. Cleon Anderson, who takes officeon 1 January 2005.

An IEEE Fellow, Lightner joined the IEEE as a student member in 1971. He hasserved on the IEEE Board of Directors and IEEE Executive Committee, and is the cur-rent vice president of Publication Services and Products.

Of the members who voted, 16 735 selected Lightner. James M. Tien received11 940 votes, and Levent Onural received 5412. •

Electronic CommunicationsResume for Embargoed Countries

Full Run of IEEE ProceedingsTo Be Online by the End of 2005THE FIRST 75 YEARS’ worth of issuesof Proceedings of the IEEE will soon bedigitized so they can be accessedthrough IEEE Xplore, the documentdelivery system. Proceedings appearsmonthly and publishes research, tutori-als, and reviews of electrical and com-

puter engineering technology. The 1963 through 1987 editions will be

available in the first quarter of 2005, whilethe rest of the collection going back to1913 will be online by the end of 2005.Issues from 1988 to the present arealready in IEEE Xplore. •

—Lindsay Elkins

—Lindsay Elkins

—Kathy Kowalenko


MARKETPLACE OF IDEAS

The builders of SpaceShipOne—the

first workable “space tourist” vehi-

cle—say that in a few years travelers

could rocket at least to the edge of

Earth’s atmosphere, approximately 100

kilometers up. Would you be willing to

go if cost was no object? Why?

Paper Trail Is CrucialThere is no reason to expect that elec-tronic voting machines are any more reli-able than the ATM that won’t let you with-draw your money, the corporate Web sitehijacked by hackers, or the supermarketbar scanner that rings up the wrong pricefor frozen orange juice. Yes, well-designed e-voting systems will work cor-rectly most of the time, but to assume atotal absence of real-world failures is irre-sponsible engineering and disastroussocial policy. The odds that we will have to

do a recount are too high to ignore. Avoter-verified paper audit trail is critical togaining the public’s trust.

MICHAEL L. SCOTT Rochester, N.Y., USA

A Knockout PunchOur fascination with a new tool or toynever goes away. E-voting falls into thiscategory because it is dazzling, flexible,quick, and self-checking.

I recommend an alternative: the samepunched-paper, single-card ballot that we

Californians have used for years and thathas been the subject of numerous com-plaints. This system needs only one smalladdition to make it a viable replacementfor e-voting: the card reader should be ableto record the punched preferences as theyare made and then deliver a printout forthe voter to review and verify. Once it isseen that the choices were recorded prop-erly, the punched card could be placed inthe ballot drop-box.

DOR H. HESSELGRAVELos Altos, Calif., USA

Slot Machines Are BetterIt’s clear that electronic voting is notready for prime time. The problem isnot that the technology is inherentlyfaulty but that there is no federal require-ment to do any auditing. Yet this wouldseem to be a minimal requirement toearn the voters’ trust.

As a recent New York Times articlepointed out, slot machines for gamblingundergo much more stringent require-ments and testing than do electronic vot-ing machines.

TOM RYANTucson, Ariz., USA

Would a Lottery Machine Do?Electronic voting is a use of technologyfor technology’s sake, not to solve a prob-lem. Election officials who see a high-tech

solution to a problem as easier to sellpolitically are bolstering the e-votingniche that several manufacturers havecreated for themselves.

Many e-voting machines do not leavea paper trail. The truth is that electronicdata in any type of system cannot beabsolutely guaranteed without a papertrail, despite what the IEEE and engi-neers creating standards would like usto believe.

We need the same level of technologyas the lottery. Everyone understands it,and everybody trusts it. Lottery machinesprovide a paper trail and an easy mecha-nism for a recount.

JOEL A. MUSSMANCoral Gables, Fla., USA

Requesting AuthenticationTalk about electronic voting immediatelybrings up a debate about whether or notwe have a secure system. But the systemis foolproof only if it offers a voter-authentication process, and databasesfor this authentication have not yet beendeveloped. We also must develop an e-voting intranetwork so that the systemis secure.

Unless we take these factors intoaccount, e-voting is not yet ready forprime time.

PRADEEP CHATTERJEEJamshedpur, India

The Final Frontier

RESPONSES TOSEPTEMBER’S

QUESTION

RESPOND TO THIS QUESTION by e-mail or regular mail.Space may not permit publication of all responses,but we’ll try to draw a representative sample.Suggestions for questions are welcome. Your answerswill appear in the March issue of The Institute and aresubject to editing for brevity.

E-MAIL: [email protected]

MAIL: The Institute, IEEE Operations Center, 445 Hoes Lane, Piscataway, NJ 08855-1331 USAFax: +1 732 235 1626

Consider Nuclear EnergyAlthough Clint Andrews and Saifur Rah-man in “Getting a Handle on Hydrogen”[September, p. 1] are correct in their state-ment that switching to hydrogen energytoday would increase pollution, they err intheir contention that using renewable energy“is the only way to reduce total emissions.”

Nuclear power offers a more obvioussolution, especially at the production levelsnecessary to displace petroleum-basedtransportation fuels. As people are comingto realize, hydrogen is an energy con-veyance medium, not a primary energysource. How you make hydrogen is thebest measure of whether the fuel has a pos-itive or negative impact on the environ-ment. And yes, nuclear has issues, as do allrenewable energy sources. Carbon dioxideemission, however, is not one of them.

MARK STRAUCHLivermore, Calif., USA

The article presents the prevailing viewthat only renewable energy sources,meaning wind, solar, or biomass, couldprovide the fuel needed to split water mol-ecules into hydrogen and oxygen atomswhile reducing total emissions. A few cal-culations reveal that there might not beenough real estate on Earth to provide thesites needed for these renewable energy

sources. At best, using these energysources exclusively would cause enor-mous dislocation and an economic bur-den on our overpopulated planet.

The fundamental theorem of all envi-ronmental and energy policies ought tobe that limiting the human population toEarth’s carrying capacity is the only long-term solution to the planet’s livabilityproblems. Accepting this reality isunpleasant and therefore unlikely.

SIDNEY W. LEWINTERRedondo Beach, Calif., USA

The article states “using renewable energy… is the only way to reduce total emis-sions.” Excluding nuclear energy from thelist of emission-reducing sources is incor-rect. Nuclear energy, because of cost andoutput characteristics, probably has thebest chance of making hydrogen an eco-nomical and nonpolluting energy source.

G.C. BAKERKentville, N.S., Canada

Paper Ballots Are BetterWe need to start considering the importanceof counting votes in a democracy [“StandingUp for a Better E-Ballot Box,” September, p. 1]. The only option to ensure fairness andaccuracy is hand-cast and hand-countedpaper ballots. Everyone understands the

process of hand-counting paper ballots. Veryfew know what is going on in a black box withelectronic ballots and electronic counting.

I have read that electronic voting can-not be simultaneously secret and fraud-free. As technologists and engineers, wehave an obligation to society to explain thelimitations of this technology to those withless understanding than ourselves. Weneed to take a stand for what’s right, notfor technology for technology’s sake.

ANN TULINTSEFFSeattle

A Step in the Wrong DirectionI was surprised to learn that the IEEEstopped using approval voting for itsannual elections. Basically, approval votingallows members to approve as many of thecandidates as they wish. It is a good solu-tion for three-way races and for choosingmultiple members for at-large positions.

When I inquired at the IEEE Opera-tions Center, I was told the organizationstopped using approval voting because sur-veys showed this option was rarely used,and it complicated the election verificationprocess. The IEEE used to be a beacon ofenlightenment in elections. Rejectingapproval voting was a step backward.

JOHN HERBSTERHouston

Corporate Activities responds: Based on

voting statistics gathered for a multiyear

period through 2001, the IEEE Board of

Directors removed the requirement for

approval plurality voting in IEEE elections

beginning with the 2002 Annual Election.

As Herbster was told, the decision was

made because 80 percent of IEEE mem-

bers were not using approval voting.

However, if it is deemed appropriate,

approval plurality voting may be used for

committee elections.

Not only did the statistics show that

an overwhelming majority of voters did

not use approval voting, but also their

comments indicated that most disap-

proved of it; some even refused to vote

because of it. On the recommendation of

both the IEEE Tellers Committee and the

IEEE Executive Committee, the IEEE

Board of Directors approved revisions to

the IEEE Bylaws that removed the

requirement for approval plurality voting.

LETTERS

What Must be Done Before E-Voting is Safe, Secure, and Reliable?

CORRECTION“Dues Increase” [September, p. 4]misstated students’ dues for 2005.Dues remain unchanged at US$30for students in Canada and theUnited States and $25 for all others.

I have visited with members all over the world at regionalmeetings and conferences—which has reinforced thatwe truly are part of an extended global family, ably com-mitted to the advancement of our profession. It has beenan honor to serve you. Thank you for this once-in-a-life-time opportunity.

LOOKING BACK I would like to conclude the year by shar-ing a few thoughts on our progress with globalization,which has been the theme of my presidency.

Perhaps our most important global achievement has todo with the IEEE’s steadfast belief in free, open scholarlyexchange of information and the worldwide membership weserve. In early April, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’sOffice of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) confirmed theposition we had argued for more than a year: that our entirepublishing process should be exempt from OFAC regula-tions. That enabled us to resume normal publishingprocesses for all authors, regardless of where they live. Fur-ther, we have now reestablished electronic communicationsfor members in countries currently under U.S. trade embar-goes [see p. 4]. After setting up an IEEE Web Account, thesemembers can access their subscriptions through IEEEXplore. They can electronically renew their membership,change subscriptions, and update contact information.

Despite continued world tensions and a stagnantglobal economy, the IEEE global family continues to grow.Almost 38 percent of the IEEE’s more than 360 000 mem-bers are citizens of countries other than the United States.As of October, higher grade membership levels in Region10 (Asia and the Pacific Rim) had 5.5 percent more mem-

bers than in December of last year, and both Region8 (Europe/Middle East/Africa) and Region 7(Canada) have experienced growth, with increasesof 3.1 and 2.1 percent, respectively.

The U.S. National Engineers Week is arguablyour profession’s most successful outreach effort.The IEEE was the co-leader of this year’s program,along with Fluor Corp. in Aliso Viejo, Calif., USA.Through our influential efforts, this year marked the firstglobal celebration of Engineers Week outside the UnitedStates. Based on its success, the global theme will beexpanded for Engineers Week in 2005, which will be sup-ported by the first non-U.S.-domiciled lead corporatesponsor, British Petroleum in London.

LOOKING AHEAD We all are wrestling with the changingworld around us. The economy continues to globalize.The interdisciplinary nature of our work is making ourjobs more complicated. Technology continues to changethe way we communicate. Time remains at a premium aswe seek to strike the right balance between our profes-sional and personal lives. Just as these conditions affect usindividually, they also affect the IEEE. To continue tothrive, the IEEE must adapt.

Challenges lie ahead. Strategic questions include: howwill engineers accomplish their work in the future, and howwill this new style of working affect the way the IEEE enablesmembers to network and to exchange ideas? How will thischange the way the IEEE disseminates its intellectual prop-erty? And perhaps the most pressing question is of the over-all value of the IEEE to its members. The IEEE must meas-

ure the value of what it delivers to you for your dues not onlyin terms of useful products but also in terms of service to,and advancement of, the engineering profession.

The IEEE’s Board of Directors is studying these andrelated strategic questions. I encourage you to getinvolved, provide your insight into these important ques-tions, and shape the future of our organization. Doing soensures a prosperous and secure future for the IEEE andthe engineering profession.

In closing, I want to thank Dan Senese, who is retiringon 31 December [see “Dan Senese Leaves ElectronicLegacy,” p. 1] after ably serving as IEEE’s executive directorfor nine years. We greatly value Dan’s many contributionsin guiding and shaping our staff, as well as his work withthe IEEE Board of Directors. We wish him well.

I also wish to thank the 2004 IEEE Board of Directors,and more volunteers and staff than space here permitsme to acknowledge. I know that Cleon Anderson, whopossesses exceptional leadership skills, will move theIEEE forward as your 2005 president. •

6 THE INSTITUTE | DECEMBER 2004

It seems like just yesterday that I wrote my first column as your 2004 IEEE President.

Today I write my last. How quickly the year has passed. The experience of

the past 12 months has been most rewarding. I have made many new

acquaintances, while also renewing some from days previous.

PRESIDENT’S COLUMN BY ARTHUR W. WINSTON

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Quick Guide

Editorial offices:IEEE Operations Center, 445 Hoes Lane, Piscataway, NJ 08855-1331 USATelephone: +1 732 562 6825 Fax: +1 732 235 1626 E-mail: [email protected] Web: http://www.ieee.org/theinstitute

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The

A Year in Review

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Get the AdvantageThe IEEE Financial Advantage ProgramOffers Exclusive Benefits to IEEE Members

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AS A GRADUATE STUDENT IN 1959 at Stanford Uni-versity in California, USA, IEEE Fellow Raj Reddy special-ized in the burgeoning field of computer science. “Eventhen I knew that the computer would have a profoundimpact on society,” Reddy says, “but I never thought com-puters would be as cheap and widespread as they are.”

Now a professor of computer science at Carnegie Mel-lon University, in Pittsburgh, Reddy is working to exploitthe ubiquity of computers to improve the lives of ordinarypeople. In particular, he tries “to bring the benefits oftechnology to the poor and the illiterate and see if it canimprove the quality of their lives,” he says.

His most recent effort is the PCtvt, an information“appliance” that combines a personal computer, television,

telephone, and videophone. He hopes to build it in quan-tity for about US$250 per unit. The project has beenfinanced to the prototype stage by Microsoft Corp. in Red-mond, Wash., USA, and TriGem, a South Korean computermanufacturer. It was developed with individuals at theIndian Institute of Science in Bangalore, the Indian Insti-tute of Information Technology in Hyderabad, and theUniversity of California, Berkeley, USA. The device ismostly for entertainment—watching television, down-loading movies, or playing games—but it could also beused to send e-mail, set up videoconferences, or downloadschool lessons.

“With so many advances in technology, the time isripe now for thinking of a low-cost multifunction infor-

mation appliance,” Reddy says. “The only thing stop-ping us from building it is that bandwidth to the homewould have to be much wider than it is now.” And for thedeveloping countries Reddy hopes to serve, bandwidthmust be much, much cheaper.

But Reddy has a proposal to solve that last problem. Hewould like to see information superhighways funded in thesame way that traditional modern highways are: by gov-ernment. The way it is now, he points out, telecommuni-cations companies build Internet infrastructures of theirown, resulting in several similar networks in the same area.

“It’s like building 10 parallel highways right next toeach other,” he says. “You’d look at it and say, ‘How fool-ish.’ Besides, no one is making any money.”

Reddy Applies TechnologyTo Help Ordinary Folks BY ERICA VONDERHEID

MEMBER PROFILE

GOVERNMENT-BUILT Instead, Reddy would like to see gov-ernments build Internet infrastructures for their citizensand then turn them over to operating companies to providenot only telecommunications but services such as telemed-icine, online learning, or access to expert advice. For this,the companies would be allowed to charge an affordableamount. Such an arrangement would make high-speedbandwidth available even for the average villager in a devel-oping country and still allow the companies to make aprofit, according to Reddy.

“If I go to average villagers [in a developing country] andsay ‘You have to pay US$30 a month to get this connec-tion,’ they’re not going to do it,” Reddy says. “They’ll saythey earn only $30 a month and can’t spend more than 5cents per day on entertainment and applications such aseducation and telemedicine. Granted, that’s not a lot ofmoney, but when 5 cents a day is distributed over millionsof people [living below the poverty line], that income canbecome a sizable chunk of change for the provider.”

LAUNCHING A CAREER Reddy began his academic careerin 1966 as an assistant professor of computer science atStanford University. He went there after earning a bach-elor’s degree in civil engineering from the Guindy Engi-neering College in Madras (now called Chennai), India,and a master’s of technology degree from the Universityof New South Wales, in Sydney, Australia. In 1969,Reddy joined the Carnegie Mellon faculty as an associ-ate professor of computer science. Later he becamefounding director of the university’s Robotics Instituteand then dean of the School of Computer Science, from1991 to 1999. Now he’s back to teaching, as the HerbertA. Simon University Professor of Computer Scienceand Robotics.

In 1994, Reddy received the Association of ComputerMachinery’s Turing Award—considered the Nobel Prize ofcomputing—for his work on large-scale artificial intelli-gence systems. He served from 1999 to 2001 as co-chair ofthe U.S. President’s Information Technology AdvisoryCommittee, which has advised U.S. Presidents Bill Clintonand George W. Bush. He has also testified before Congresson issues dealing with technology, such as Internet security.

He has been a university professor since 1984; the bestpart of his position, Reddy says, is that he doesn’t have toreport to anybody and can do whatever he wants. Whichfor him raised the question: what should he be doing?

“When I came back to being a professor [after serving asdean], I could have done research and published papers forthe sake of publishing papers,” he says. “Instead, I wantedto do something that would have an impact on people.”

So he started thinking big, really big—specifically, amillion books big. Reddy launched the Million Book Dig-ital Library, with the goal of scanning a million books ofall kinds into a database. They would be the books onenormally finds in a library, including scientific texts andworks of literature and history, and they would be in sev-eral languages. Reddy wants to post them on the Internetfor anybody to read at no charge. So far, more than 50 000books have been scanned and made available.

“More than 90 percent of the time I spend on the Mil-lion Book project, worrying about who’s going to packwhat books into what boxes to be shipped and scanned bywhom,” Reddy says. “This has nothing to do with scien-tific research, but simply scanning the books and makingthem accessible to anyone in the world is what is neededto make the whole thing happen.”

Another project Reddy is involved with is 100x100Networks (pronounced 100 by 100). It aims to network100 million U.S. homes wirelessly with 100-megabits-per-second bandwidth. That would make the wireless Inter-net as ubiquitous in the United States as the telephone,he notes. Such high-speed networking would change theway people communicate and do business, just as thetelephone did a century ago, Reddy says. •

FOR MORE INFORMATION

To read about the PCtvt, go to http://west.cmu.edu/

executive/pdc/projects/pctvt/pctvt.htm.

For the Million Book project, go to http://www.

library.cmu.edu/Libraries/MBP_FAQ.html.

For the 100x100 Networks, go to http://

100x100network.org.

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I could have published papers for the sake of publishing papers. Instead I wanted to have an IMPACT ON PEOPLE


BY ERICA VONDERHEID

BRINGING A DORMANTIEEE section or chapter backto life is not as difficult as itmay seem, say volunteers whohave done it. Mostly it

requires a few dedicated members willingto brainstorm ways of attracting others backto meetings and enticing people to join.

For its part, the IEEE remains dedi-cated to any section or chapter even if itbecomes dormant.

“Wherever we have dues-paying mem-bers, we want to keep them as an activeand healthy part of the IEEE,” says SeniorMember Robert Scolli.

Scolli is chair of a group of what youmight call troubleshooters, organized tohelp moribund groups get back on their

feet. A joint effort of the Regional Activi-ties and Technical Activities boards,Scolli’s Section/Chapter RejuvenationCommittee is made up of volunteers fromseveral IEEE regions and societies.

A group can become dormant for anyof several reasons, says Scolli. Activemembers may move or pass away, getburnt out, or no longer wish to play amajor role in the group. Sometimes a bigcompany relocates, taking IEEE membersalong with it. Some sections cover vastgeographical areas, and members may nolonger feel like traveling long distancesfor meetings.

A section is a small, local sub-unitwithin one of IEEE’s 10 regions, while achapter is formed around interest in aspecific technology represented by one ofIEEE’s 38 societies. A section forms the

backbone of the chapters in its area andserves as an additional source of help. Sec-tions provide funding for local activities,as well as management oversight for thechapters. “The section is really the mostimportant element in keeping societiesactive and healthy,” Scolli says. “The net-working among sections and chapters tiesus all together as an organization.”

FINDING THE PROBLEM Before the Reju-venation Committee can offer help, itmust be made aware of groups showinga weak pulse. Often this calls for a littlesleuthing. Paperwork, or the lack thereof,can provide important clues. Every sec-tion and chapter must file paperworkregularly with IEEE Regional Activities.For example, all groups send reports ofregular meetings. Another clue is

whether the group sends its regionalboard a roster of newly elected officers;no elections signals little or no activity.

Following these leads, the committeemay then gather more informationfrom Regional and Technical Activitiesstaff and volunteers to diagnose theproblem. Past meeting reports can help.Maybe there are not enough volunteersto fill committees, or members needhelp planning events—which can alsobe attributed to a lack of leadership. Orperhaps the members are there but theyneed a little encouragement.

The Siouxland Section covers parts ofIowa, Nebraska, and South Dakota, inRegion 4 in the central United States. Thesection became dormant in 1999 when itran out of active volunteers and stoppedholding meetings. It took a while to deter-mine that the section was indeed inac-tive, but that fact was firmly established by2002. The Rejuvenation Committee thengot on the case, contacting section mem-bers and recruiting volunteers fromamong IEEE members at local technol-ogy companies. Region officers met withsection volunteers to brainstorm anddevelop a plan to resurrect the section.Siouxland resumed its activities slowly. Ithas held five meetings since 2002.

“Don’t try to get off and running rightaway,” Section Chair Jeff White advises.“Build off the interest generated from thefirst few meetings.”

One of the section’s first meetings, inApril 2003, has became quite popular: anannual daylong workshop covering “softskills” management topics for the work-place. In April of this year, attendance atthe meeting doubled to some 25 people.

Workshop organizers got help fromthe region for that first big event. SeniorMember Don Bramlett, chair of the east-ern area of Region 4, ran the workshop.The section chose workshop themes—such as adopting a leadership style andincreasing productivity through bettercommunication—that would interestmost engineers and perhaps attract newmembers to the section. Also, to makemembership more attractive at this year’sworkshop, a discount on the US$200 reg-istration fee for the workshop was offeredto IEEE members and to nonmemberspledging to join the IEEE.

The Siouxland Section has been grow-ing and now has 177 active members. Italso interacts with two IEEE studentbranches, has a Graduates of the LastDecade (GOLD) affinity group, and isestablishing a chapter of the IEEE PowerEngineering Society.

FOCUS ON STUDENTS Other groups haveresurrected themselves on their own. TheTurkey Chapter of the IEEE EngineeringManagement Society (EMS), for example,

BREATHINGNEW LIFEINTO SECTIONSAND CHAPTERS

BEST PRACTICES

went dormant in 1998 for the same reasonas the Siouxland Section: not enough vol-unteers to run things. The chapter nowboasts 22 active members, up from zero in1998, thanks in part to workshops thatbring engineering management conceptsto students.

Member A. Cihat Eryilmaz, who wasnamed chair of the Turkey EMS Chapter in2002, took control. He focused on studentmembers because, as he puts it, they are aready pool of people already interested in

the IEEE who could be encouraged tobecome active members. He earned thestudents’ interest by holding workshopson project management at a pair of stu-dent branches in 2003. He bumped up thenumber of branches to eight this year, andnext year hopes to visit and hold meetingsat all 20 IEEE student branches in Turkey.Eryilmaz has been asking professors at the

universities to conduct the sessions—which gives him time to visit additionalstudent branches, organize more work-shops, and recruit more members.

As a newly graduated engineer workingat a U.S. Air Force base in Ankara, Turkey,in 1991, Eryilmaz discovered a glaring gap inhis university education: he had never hadany courses on project management. Thisled him to join EMS and learn more aboutthe topic, and eventually to offer his work-shops to students. He laments that many

new engineers in his country still aren’tfamiliar with project management tactics.

“They don’t have any idea what projectmanagement is,” Eryilmaz says. “Theythink it’s Microsoft Project software.” Hesees this state of affairs as a detriment tothe profession, a handicap for students,and a situation he hopes to fix.

The Turkey EMS Chapter is proceed-

ing slowly, with a strategy that begins withstudents and is designed to eventuallyinclude working engineers.

“This year we are walking; next yearwe’ll be running,” Eryilmaz says.

FOCUS ON NONMEMBERS Another chapterthat gained new life on its own is in Region9 (Latin America), the Western Puerto RicoSignal Processing/Circuits and Systems(SP/CAS) Chapter. It had stopped holdingmeetings in 1998, despite a large pool ofmembers in its area and one of the largestIEEE student branches (with more than300 members), at the University of PuertoRico at Mayaguez. The chapter lacked aleader to plan meetings, manage volun-teers, and recruit members.

In late 2003, Member Rogelio Palom-era, now the chapter chair, started organ-izing activities and found he had a lot ofsupport from local members, the region,and other IEEE chapters in the area.

“It was easy for us to reactivate the chap-ter because we had a lot of support,” Palom-era says. The chapter has agreed to hostthe 2006 IEEE Symposium on Circuits andSystems, which is expected to bring morethan 1000 engineers to western Puerto Ricoand earn recognition for the chapter.

To entice nonmember engineers tomeetings, the chapter holds several work-shops and technical lectures every year on

signal processing. These sessions are givenby professors at local universities and byworking engineers. The chapter is alsoteaming up with the local IEEE ComputerSociety Chapter to bring in a distinguishedlecturer—one of a host of IEEE societymembers who have volunteered to travel tochapter meetings to deliver technical pre-sentations on topics of interest.

Like the Turkey EMS Chapter, theWestern Puerto Rico SP/CAS Chapterplans several activities for students. Palom-era says students often come up with ideasfor activities, which the more senior stu-dent advisors can implement. Palomeraalso hopes, like Erylimaz, that he caninvolve student members who will becomeactive volunteers once they graduate. •


Visit the Siouxland Section at

http://www.siouxland.org.

Learn about the Western Puerto Rico

SP/CAS Chapter at http://www.ieee.org/

organizations/society/sp/chapterchairs9.

html or http://www.ieee-cas.org.

Find out more about the Turkey EMS

Chapter at http://www.ieee.org.tr.

For more section/chapter rejuvenation

strategies from Robert Scolli’s committee,

visit http://www.ieee.org/rejuvenation.

SIGN UP TODAY: www.ieee.org/whats-newChoose the FREE newsletters that are right for you.

What’s New @ IEEERead it Here First

Wherever we have dues-payingmembers, we want to keepthem as an ACTIVE ANDHEALTHY part of the IEEE

WOULD YOU DO YOURjob if you didn’t get paid?Many members might besurprised to know howmuch of the organization’s

work is done by volunteers who do itwhile they also hold down their “day”jobs. Finding possible volunteers andthen encouraging them to sign up can bea job all on its own. That is why an IEEEVolunteer Recruitment Toolkit was devel-oped. It offers ideas that can make it eas-ier for section and sub-unit leaders to findand recruit members needed to serve asofficers, editors, reviewers, conferenceorganizers—the list of volunteer jobs justgoes on and on.

IEEE volunteers not only help run theorganization, they profit from the experi-

ence as well. “I have benefited tremen-dously from my volunteer affiliation,”Linda Weaver says. Weaver, an IEEEmember for 24 years, is chief technologyofficer for the Smart Systems for HealthAgency, a company in Toronto that spe-cializes in electronic communicationamong health-care providers. “Throughthe IEEE I have gained a series of men-tors, met very interesting and excitingpeople, traveled to fascinating places, andenhanced my life, as well as the lives ofmy children and husband.

“The IEEE has provided me with theopportunity to learn many skills that I havecarried into my career, including leader-ship, meeting management, negotiation,and communications,” she adds. “Throughthe IEEE network I have also landed new

jobs and contracts for the com-panies I worked for.”

When IEEE Past PresidentMichael Adler published a col-umn on volunteering [“Wanted:Greater Relevance to Industry,”September 2003, p. 6], “we got somany responses,” says CathyDowner, IEEE Regional Activitiesproject manager. “But while some peopleknew they wanted to contribute, they did-n’t always have an idea about what theywanted to do.”

Downer and her colleagues inRegional Activities who were charged withfielding the inquiries began to create whatwould become the Volunteer RecruitmentToolkit, which they posted on the Web.

Included in the kit are descriptions ofdifferent jobs, from executive section posi-tions—such as chair and secretary—tocommittee and sub-unit (chapter andaffinity group) chairs. “I was impressedwith the job descriptions provided on theWeb site,” says John Meredith—a 40-yearIEEE veteran, longtime volunteer, formerU.S. naval officer, and current employee ofAgilent Technologies in Colorado Springs,Colo., USA. “It is important for people toknow what they are getting into.”

Linda Weaver agrees. “The toolkitmakes it easier to understand the bestways to contribute,” she says, adding thatit “consolidates much of the knowledgegathered from successful volunteers, sec-tions, and other IEEE organizational unitsinto a format that can be used by any vol-unteer. It gives them materials and tools toexplain what volunteering for the IEEEmeans—what you will do, what you willlearn, and how you will benefit. It takesaway some of the administrative workloadbuilt around constantly training and edu-cating new recruits.”

Removing this load is especially impor-tant, considering that those who run thevarious IEEE units are typically workingengineers with little time to seek help. Thetime-saving tools in the kit include a cus-tomizable recruitment brochure and a one-page flier for posting on bulletin boards.

The kit also provides tips for recruiting,plus a list of the 12 needs shared by all vol-unteers, starting with the assignment of aspecific, manageable task that the personis interested in, a defined beginning andend to the task, and written instructions.

Volunteers typically appreciate thefreedom to complete the task where andwhen it is convenient, once the recruiterhas provided adequate training.

It also is important to recognize vol-unteers’ contributions, so the toolkit pro-vides suggestions on how to acknowledgesomeone’s hard work.

FITTING PEOPLE TO THE JOB It isn’t alwayseasy to find people and then connect themwith the right jobs.

“Finding people to volunteer their timeis one of the biggest issues,” Meredith says,adding that he likes the one-on-oneapproach suggested in the toolkit. “WhenI’m at a meeting and I see someone I’veseen before, I always say, ‘Hey, would youlike to do something with the section?’” Thetoolkit’s brochure—customizable for wordsand graphics and presented in simple textin Microsoft Word that is suitable for trans-lation into other languages—can be handedimmediately to such a person. The detailson volunteering and specific contact infor-mation help solidify the personal connec-tion that leads to a successful volunteer.

That kind of personal contact canbecome a critical part of career develop-ment. Meredith looks at volunteering asan extension of his job as an engineer. “Ilook over my years in practice and I lookat things I designed and did, and people Ihelped to grow,” he says. “I have a lot ofpride in that. It’s motivating. Engineerslike to make things happen, to growthings, and I think you can build peopleskills just like you build other things.

“I try to mentor all the volunteers whoI work with,” he adds, “helping developthem for further service to the profession.We must give something back to those weassociate with, just as our parents, teach-ers, colleagues, and friends have men-tored and developed us along the way.” •


To view the toolkit, visit

http://www.ieee.org/vol-recruit.


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First Aid for Mobilizing VolunteersThe IEEE Volunteer Recruitment Toolkit helps leaders find and enlistmembers to serve as officers, editors, and conference organizers

BY PAT JANOWSKI

Enterprise library for small- andmedium-size businesses to theIEEE/IEE Electronic Library forlarge organizations. The three col-lections make more than one mil-lion articles (some dating back to1950) available through the IEEEXplore document delivery system.

“These libraries are helping ourmembers and customers aroundthe world conduct their R&D effortsmore efficiently because informa-tion is readily available to them any-time, anywhere,” he says.

He also points with satisfactionto the host of new online e-publish-ing tools for authors and editors.Journal, transactions, and magazineeditors can create articles, formatthem using templates, proofread thework, and submit annotations, allonline. But the publications are onlyas good as their content, he notes, sothere’s also the Manuscript Centralonline peer-review system developedfor editors and reviewers.

Senese also made note of several otheronline programs introduced in the last sev-eral years, including the e-mail alias servicewith virus protection, secure access for vol-unteers to members’ personal data, and amore efficient way for developing IEEEStandards.

CULTURAL CHANGES None of the electronicservices developed during his tenure wouldhave been possible without changing thecorporate culture that Senese found in1995. He joined the IEEE staff after nearlya decade with Bellcore, now TelecordiaTechnologies, in Piscataway, N.J., USA,where he held a number of positions,including his last as vice president of qual-ity. When he came on board, he encoun-tered a newly installed member databasesystem fraught with problems, few auto-mated processes, and inadequately trainedstaff using outdated computers.

“The IEEE was a reactive organizationback then—the culture wasn’t to proposenew and innovative ideas,” he says. “And thecompany wasn’t investing in its future. Bud-geting for information technology systemswas modest and relatively flat until the newmembership system was put into place.Spending money to train staff on the latesttechnology was low, too. Some of the com-puters our employees were using werecastoffs donated by other companies.”

Senese changed all that by implement-ing process and project management tech-niques, introducing the Malcolm Baldrige

quality approach to IEEE activities, and put-ting a priority on employee training.

“We’ve deployed many educationalprograms for the staff,” he says. “That’simportant because these training toolshelp us provide better service.”

The IEEE also started surveying itsmembers, customers, and volunteersannually to gauge their satisfaction withthe institute’s activities. The findings areused in a variety of ways.

“We established metrics based onthese survey results and other informa-tion, and we use them to monitor our per-formance,” Senese explains. “And we tiestaff compensation to these metrics.That’s something that has really helpedthe organization improve.”

Senese says another change that hasserved the IEEE well was to alter the staff’swork culture. “Our culture now includesthings like putting the member and cus-tomer first and respect for employees andvolunteers; it’s helped us become moreresponsive to our members, our customers,and our volunteer partners,” he says.

“We in management try to lead byexample,” he continues. “We try to getpeople involved in decisions of the organ-ization that affect them—which we callparticipatory management. We hold peo-ple accountable, and we expect that theirword’s going to be their bond. We alsoexpect people to demonstrate innovationand continuous improvement as part ofour culture. And we strive for open, hon-est communication and feedback.”

One of the hallmarks of the IEEE todayis that cross-organizational teamwork ismuch improved, he says.

“We now have teamwork across theentire organization,” he says. “Not toomany things of any significance get doneby one group alone. There are usually part-nerships between various parts of theIEEE. I’m very proud to say that’s part ofthe culture we changed.”

FINANCES All the new programs and serv-ices came with a hefty price tag, whichmeant the IEEE had to get its financialhouse in order.

“We’ve grown to become a US$240 mil-lion organization, yet until recently, thefinancial model we used for budgeting wasdesigned for an organization that was verycentralized,” Senese says. “That meantcosts were not being charged to the unitsthat used those services; today the model isconsistent with the highly decentralizedorganization that we are.”

He says revamping the IEEE’s budget-ing process was difficult “because itchanged the total underpinnings of howwe did our finances. But it’s really made abig difference because it created muchbetter business behavior. These changesled to better decisions being madethroughout the organization relative tosetting priorities and the prices for prod-ucts and how we deal with expenses.”

He notes that a comparison of the netoperating budget results from 2002 tothose from 2001—after the new financial

model was implemented—showedan improvement of more thanUS$17.5 million.

There were tough economictimes shortly after the new finan-cial model was put into place in2001, but “we didn’t sacrifice serv-ice,” he says. “And we didn’t elimi-nate many of the altruistic, goodthings that we do for the publicthat makes the IEEE the greatorganization that it is.”

He also notes that the IEEE didwell during recent difficult finan-cial times. “We weathered the SARSoutbreaks in 2003 that affected ourconference attendance and the eco-nomic downturn that occurredworldwide,” he says. “And we’vecontinued to be a very viable organ-ization financially.”

CHALLENGES AHEAD Senese sayshe feels he is leaving a financiallyhealthy, well-run organization

positioned favorably for the future, but hesees challenges ahead for his successor.These include competitive threats fromfor-profit publishers, open access toinformation, and getting more youngprofessionals to join.

“There’s a movement in the publishingarena of open—or free—access to informa-tion, which could have a significant financialimpact on the IEEE,” he says. “Also, peoplecoming out of school today aren’t as apt tojoin professional associations as a way togive back to their profession. They are look-ing more, as they should, at what’s in it forthem; what’s the value added?”

Senese reports that the IEEE Board ofDirectors is getting much more engaged instrategic issues. As it becomes clearer howthe IEEE should respond, “we can turnthese issues and threats into opportunities,”he notes. “I believe the organization that’sin place today is well positioned to respondwith the right types of talent, skill, andmind-set. It’s the right time for a new per-son to come in and, partnering with the vol-unteers, take the IEEE to the next level.”

Senese has made no firm plans aboutwhat activities he’ll take up in retirement,other than to spend more time with hiswife and two daughters. He also looks for-ward to enjoying his hobbies, whichinclude model railroading and flyingradio-controlled airplanes.

“I’m just going to do some reflectingbefore moving forward,” he says. “But Iwill be keeping a close eye on the IEEEas a member.” •

DAN SENESE from page 1

Senese is proud of the IEEE’s Data Center,which supports myriad

electronic services for members.

We expect people to demonstrate INNOVATION and CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT. We strive for open, honest COMMUNICATION and feedback


Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah), when he introduced the bill inJune. Such a business model underlies recent copyrightsuits against such companies as Aimster, Grokster, Nap-ster, and others relying on P2P technology.

But IEEE–USA says the bill is far too broad, that itswording could implicate not just the badactors persuading others to steal copy-righted music but also manufacturers ofthe equipment used to make the illegalcopies. Such companies could includethose that make file servers and DVDrecorders as well as suppliers of the P2Pfile-sharing software, assert IEEE–USAand other engineering groups. They seethe risk as so significant that they fear the bill, if passedinto law, could chill investment in the development ofinnovative equipment.

In July, representatives of IEEE–USA’s IntellectualProperty Committee (IPC) voiced their opposition beforethe Senate Judiciary Committee. And in September, morethan 40 other organizations joined IEEE–USA in sendinga letter to the Judiciary Committee protesting the bill. Sign-ers ranged from electronics trade associations (such asthe Consumer Electronics Association and the Telecom-munications Industry Association) to individual hardwaremanufacturers (such as RadioShack and Texas Instru-ments) to telephone and Internet service providers (such

as BellSouth Corp., Earthlink, Verizon, and Yahoo Inc.). Inearly October, the Judiciary Committee tabled the issue forthe current year, but many speculate that Hatch will rein-troduce the bill in the new session of Congress in early2005. Meanwhile, here is a rundown of the key issues:

THE “INDUCE ACT” The title of Senate bill S.2560 is the“Inducing Infringement of Copyrights Act of 2004,” but itis known as the “Induce Act.” Sponsored by Hatch and abipartisan group of nine other senators, the act tries to addthe concept of “inducement” into copyright law, whichcould hold liable any party whose products or services facil-itate the infringing of copyrights—and the making of ille-gal copies—even if the inducer does not infringe directly,and even if the product or service has legitimate uses.

The purpose of copyright law is to grant a copyrightowner a temporary monopoly over several powerful rights,in exchange for making public a “highly expressive work”that contributes to culture. That monopoly includes exclu-

sive rights to duplicate, distribute, or perform the work—which the copyright owner may license to earn royalties.Copyright law also imposes stiff penalties, a minimum ofUS$750, for each infringement. Explicitly adding induce-ment would make copyright law parallel to the U.S. Crim-inal Code, whose first sentence declares that whoeveraids, abets, advises, commands, or tempts another to com-mit a crime—say, stealing—is as guilty as the thief whophysically runs off with the goods. Codifying inducementwould put teeth into copyright law and “confirm that cre-ative artists can sue corporations that … now seem tothink they can legally profit by inducing children to steal… with false promises of ‘free’ music,” Hatch stated.

Thus, Hatch and his cosponsors propose to modifycopyright law to declare that “whoever intentionallyinduces any violation … shall be liable as an infringer.”

Despite what equipment and software manufacturersfear, Hatch states that his bill “does not target technology,”nor does it “demonize certain software .… It will notimpose liability on the manufacturers of copying tech-nology merely because the possibility exists for abuse .…The law only penalizes those who intentionally induceothers to infringe copyrights.”

IEEE–USA’S CONCERNS “What Hatch says and what thebill actually does are two different things,” Andrew C.Greenberg, vice chair of IEEE–USA’s Intellectual Prop-erty Committee, told The Institute. Greenberg is an attor-ney specializing in intellectual property and technologylaw with Carlton Fields, P.A., of Tampa, Fla., USA. “Thelanguage has more in common with complicity in anillegal-drug bill than with patent law,” he says. In prac-tice, he declares, S.2560 as drafted “is so broad it couldeven implicate e-mail.”

Instead, Greenberg and others want to see S.2560modeled after a landmark 1984 U.S. Supreme Courtdecision in the copyright-infringement case of Sony Corp.v. Universal City Studios Inc. Back then, the movie studiosued Sony for inventing the Betamax VCR, which couldrecord copyrighted movies and other programs off broad-cast or cable TV. In its famous 1984 ruling, however,the Supreme Court held that Sony was not liable forcopyright infringement even though some consumerswould use Sony’s machines to make illegal copies ofcopyrighted TV programs. In legal terms, the Supreme

Court declared Sony did not have “secondary liability”simply for inventing a technology that was capable ofinfringing copyrights.

The court reached that decision by importing a rulefrom the U.S. Patent Act: that a company is immunizedfrom secondary liability if a product it makes has substan-tial noninfringing use. The Betamax VCR could also beused, for example, to play prerecorded tapes of movies thatconsumers could legitimately purchase from movie pro-ducers, or that they themselves had made. In effect, “thecourt recognized that a company can’t control what users dowith a product,” Greenberg explains. “Secondary liabilitywould hold a company responsible for the sins of its cus-


Some would like legislation to be as PRECISE as a PROGRAMMING MANUAL, but if rules are overly precise,

you’re telling INFRINGERS how to get around them

ONLINE PIRACY from page 1

tomers.” In a paraphrase of the slogan of the National RifleAssociation, Greenberg summarizes the ruling this way:“Technologies don’t infringe copyrights. Users do.”

But S.2560 “seriously undermines” the 1984 SupremeCourt ruling, Greenberg continues, because the proposedlaw “creates meaningful liability for any technology havinga mere capacity for infringing.” Indeed, he asserts thatunder S.2560, a high-tech company would risk being pros-ecuted for “appearing” to induce infringement merely byinventing a copying technology—even without evidence ofactual intent. “In my view, Sony might have lost 20 years agounder this standard,” Greenberg concludes.

Greenberg says he fears that the wording of the pro-posed law is so vague that it would chill high-tech devel-opments. Companies would not know what they safelycould develop without risking a lawsuit. Nor would theyhave a good chance of winning a summary judgment—that is, a ruling in their favor by a judge before a lawsuitgoes to trial, as is frequently done in cases where both thelaw and the facts seem clear-cut.

However, not everyone on the IPC shares Greenberg’sfears. One who does not is Senior Member Lee Hollaar,former chair of the IPC, and a professor of computerlaw in the School of Computing at the University of Utahin Salt Lake City, USA. Hollaar wrote a paper on theSony decision and inducement that influenced Hatchand others writing the Induce Act. “Liability for induce-ment of copyright infringement has been recognized incourt cases since at least 1971,” Hollaar recounts. Duringthe Sony case in 1984, he says, the Supreme Court actu-

ally used a standard similar to that of the Induce Act tofind that Sony had not induced copyright infringement.

Because of that precedent, he says he feels that todayno additional legislation is necessary, but he adds thatdiscussion of inducement would focus the courts’ atten-tion away from technology and toward bad conduct.According to Hollaar, people have made similarly direpredictions when copyright law has been changed in thepast, but the dreaded outcomes have rarely occurred.

Hollaar told The Institute that, “while some would likelegislation to be as precise as a programming manual, ifyou write rules that are overly precise, you’re actuallytelling infringers how to get around them. And becausefair use [a right granted to users to make limited copies forcertain purposes] doesn’t have a clear definition, any com-pany will face uncertainty if a noninfringing use of itsproduct is to depend on a finding of fair use.

“The fact is, whenever a company invents a new tech-nology, it’s never sure whether it’s going to get sued ornot,” Hollaar continues. “Well, that’s life. Manufacturerswant to live in an era of complete certainty and for the lawto be as prescriptive as a programming manual, so it’sreally easy to scare them. And they want to impose anincredibly high standard so a case will be tossed out ofcourt no matter how unfavorable the facts are.”

FAIR METHODS While legal eagles wrangle over legislativelanguage, engineers are proposing Internet file-sharingmethods that might prove acceptable to both the enter-tainment and high-tech communities. Just one example

is a proposed protocol called Music2Share (M2S) forcopyright-compliant music sharing in peer-to-peer sys-tems. It is described by IEEE Fellow Ton Kalker of PhilipsResearch, Eindhoven, the Netherlands, and four coau-thors in the June 2004 issue of The Proceedings of theIEEE. The decentralized M2S protocol allows download-ers to pay for music with prepaid software tokens. Theprotocol integrates the identification, tracking, and shar-ing of music with licensing, monitoring, and payment.

“Essentially, there’s a need for balance between theneeds of the creative artists and the needs of entrepre-neurial high-tech industries,” says Senior Member GlennS. Tenney, current chair of the IPC and president of Fan-tasia Systems Inc., a consulting company in San Mateo,Calif., USA. “We feel the Induce Act is lopsided towardthe content providers, and we want assurance that IEEEmembers are engineering in good faith.” •

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Links to the Induce Act and statements by the IEEE and

other organizations are found at http://www.ieeeusa.org/

policy/issues/INDUCE.

The letter signed by IEEE–USA and 40 high-tech

organizations is available at

http://www.ieeeusa.org/policy/POLICY/2004/092804.pdf.

Hollaar’s discussion of inducement and the Supreme

Court’s Sony decision is at http://digital-law-online.info/

papers/lah/sony-revisited.htm.

BY WILLIAM LEVENTON

FOR THE PAST 15 YEARS, IEEE Fellow LyleFeisel and his institute colleagues have beenspreading the word about an important butsometimes neglected issue in university-leveltechnical education: the process of accredit-

ing a school’s engineering and science programs.Accreditation signifies that an institutionmaintains standards that qualify its graduatesfor professional practice or for admission tohigher institutions.

Feisel chairs the IEEE Educational ActivitiesBoard’s Committee on Global AccreditationActivities (CGAA), which has carried its mes-sage to 17 countries. The committee sponsorsworkshops to educate the IEEE’s manyregional groups on the criteria that academicprograms must meet to qualify for accredita-tion. For example, graduates of an engineeringprogram should be able to design and conductexperiments and analyze and interpret theresulting data. Courses in the curriculum mustteach these and other specified skills. Theworkshops also encourage IEEE members toget involved in their country’s establishment ofan accreditation process, if there is none, or toplay a role in making or keeping an existingprocess successful. Feisel estimates that engineeringschools in more than half of the countries with IEEEmembers have no accreditation process, relying insteadon less stringent government certification.

During Feisel’s tenure on the CGAA, the committeehas taken its accreditation message to such widespreadlocales as Bangalore, India; Buenos Aires, Argentina;and Bratislava, Slovakia. A CGAA workshop in San Sal-vador, El Salvador, was the catalyst for developing anaccreditation system in Peru, Feisel reports. In addition,he notes, a workshop in Germany had “a significant influ-ence” on the move toward accreditation in that country,as well as on the features of the system that was eventu-ally established. The IEEE has also influenced accredita-tion activities in Austria and Mexico, he notes.

ONE OF THE FIRST The CGAA held some of its earliestworkshops in Mexico. Those in 1991 and 1992 “madeengineering deans in Mexico aware of the benefits of hav-ing an accreditation system,” recalls IEEE Fellow TeofiloRamos, dean of institutional effectiveness at Mexico’sInstituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Mon-terrey. Two years after the 1992 workshop, Mexican offi-cials launched the country’s first accreditation organiza-tion, known as CACEI (based on its initials in Spanish).Since its inception, CACEI accredited 215 engineeringprograms throughout Mexico, according to Ramos.

At the Mexican workshops, the focus was on U.S. accred-itation programs. “Back then, there were very few accredi-tation systems in the world,” Feisel says. “People wanted tohear about what was going on in the United States.”

The Accreditation Board for Engineering and Tech-nology (ABET) sets standards by which U.S. under-graduate programs are judged. The IEEE is one of 30professional engineering and technical societies that

make up ABET, which accredits nearly 2500 engineer-ing, engineering technology, computing, and appliedscience programs at more than 550 colleges and universities in the United States. (Accreditation of uni-versity programs is not a one-time-only process but isrepeated every few years.)

As accreditation systems sprang up around the world,Feisel and his colleagues realized that ABET-style accred-itation wasn’t appropriate for every country. So their work-shops adopted what Feisel describes as a more generalapproach, presenting information about various accred-itation systems, not just those used in the United States.

The new approach made its mark at a workshop lastyear in Espoo, Finland. “I was surprised that so many dif-ferent [accreditation] systems exist in Europe,” says Mem-ber Vello Kukk, a professor at Tallinn University of Technology in Estonia. Kukk was also interested to learnthat more volunteers in academia and industry areneeded to become involved in accreditation.

THAILAND’S TURN One of the more recent accreditationworkshops was scheduled for 6 to 8 November inBangkok, Thailand, a country that does not yet have a for-mal accreditation process for its engineering schools.(The workshop had not yet taken place at press time.)

The workshop would be the first ever held in Region10 (Asia and the Pacific Rim), according to IEEE Fellow

Akinori Nishihara, a member of its planning committee.It would be hosted by the IEEE Thailand Section and theInternational School of Engineering at ChulalongkornUniversity in Bangkok. The registration list included gov-ernment officials, university leaders, and industry exec-utives in the Asia-Pacific region. About 50 people wereexpected to attend.

Feisel and his team were to give an overview of accred-itation fundamentals, as well as describe thevarious kinds of accreditation processes in useand in development around the world. But lesstime than usual was set aside for experts fromoutside the region to talk about their accredi-tation experiences. That was in response to feed-back from past workshop participants whowanted more time to exchange informationabout accreditation programs pursued withintheir own regions.

Region 10 is diverse, with education andaccreditation systems differing greatly from onecountry to another, says Nishihara, who is a pro-fessor at the Tokyo Institute of Technology. Togive attendees a taste of this diversity, about 10of Nishihara’s Asia-Pacific colleagues were sched-uled to talk about accreditation in their countries.

One of his colleagues is Renate Sitte, a sen-ior lecturer on the Engineering and InformationTechnology faculty at Griffith University in

Brisbane, Australia. Her presentation focuses on Australia’stwo approaches to accreditation. One recognizes the edu-cational credentials of people who come to Australia fromother countries; the other involves mutual recognition ofan engineering degree by a number of countries.

Sitte says she hoped the workshop would be a steptoward standardizing accreditation processes in herregion. Standardization would ease the transition for engi-neering students traveling from one country to another,and it would help ensure an even level of excellence inher region’s universities, she says.

According to recent surveys cited by Feisel, past par-ticipants value their workshop experience. Mexico’s Ramosis no exception. The workshops in his country “made meand all the participants aware of the real essence of anaccreditation system and how it can help improve the qual-ity of institutions and programs,” he says.

Looking ahead, Feisel sees the possibility of a work-shop in 2005 in Region 9, which covers Latin America.“Our goals will remain the same,” he says. “We want tohelp engineering education in other countries and helpour members contribute to those education systems.” •


To read about the Committee on Global Accreditation

Activities and its workshops, visit

http://www.ieee.org/organizations/eab/apc/cgaa.


EDUCATION

Worldwide Workshops BoostUniversity Accreditation


Results were mixed when theIEEE surveyed its members lastyear to find out how satisfiedthey were with the organiza-tion’s products and services.

Conferences, local meetings withother professionals, and online collabo-ration such as forums and newsgroupswere important to them, and membersliked what they were getting. Areas wheremembers looked for improvementincluded online access to technicalresources, continuing-education oppor-tunities, and representation of their view-points on public policy issues.

The results of the recently released mem-bers’ study were based on a 42-question sur-vey of more than 3600 members fromaround the world (student and life mem-bers were not included). Wirthlin World-wide of Reston, Va., USA, a well-knownmarket research firm, conducted the studybetween September 2003 and January 2004in coordination with the IEEE Membershipand the IEEE Research groups.

“Members gave us data on a broadrange of topics—which will help theIEEE assess both the importance of manyof its products and services and theirmodes of delivery,” says Mike Binder,director of IEEE Membership. “Throughthis study, we are able to see how ourmembers feel about the IEEE, as well aswhat they value in their membership.”

ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT Nearly half therespondents indicated that continuingeducation was very important to them.Some 30 percent expressed that they werehighly satisfied with the IEEE’s currentprograms. More than 85 percent indi-cated they would probably or definitelytake a continuing-education course if theIEEE offered it for free, and more thanhalf said they would likely take a coursefor a fee.

Members also said they prefer contin-uing-education courses to focus on tech-nical subjects instead of on so-called softskills such as time management, leader-ship skills, and managing people.

Standards proved to be another area inwhich the IEEE could be doing better.More than 60 percent said online access tostandards was very important to them, but

37 percent said they were highly satisfiedwith the IEEE’s delivery of this service.

The survey also revealed that U.S.members are concerned that the IEEE isnot adequately addressing threats to theprofession’s future. In particular, therise in outsourcing of U.S. engineeringpositions to other countries is a majorworry. On the other hand, members liv-ing outside the United States responded

that the IEEE is too U.S.-centric. Inanother area, some said the IEEE shouldtake more action to elevate the profes-sion’s stature.

Members were able to add writtencomments, and many did. Some mem-bers called on the IEEE to lower the priceof services, specifically for conferencesand standards.

“Understand my professional needs andpropose specific courses and training ses-

sions, hopefully with certification, whichwould improve my technical knowledge andmy competencies,” one member wrote.

VALUE OF MEMBERSHIP The survey alsoexplored the reasons why members belongto the IEEE [see chart “Membership Val-ues,” below]. Most said it’s to remain tech-nically current in their field or to obtaintechnical publications.

“The most important aspect of myIEEE membership is access to knowledgeand information,” one respondent said.“This enables me to communicate moreeffectively on business issues with mystaff and peers.”

Among other major reasons individualsjoin the IEEE are to enhance their careeropportunities and to join technical societies.

When asked where they typically gofirst to get IEEE technical content,

nearly 60 percent cited an online source,either a society Web site or the IEEEXplore document delivery system, while34 percent still chiefly turn to a printcopy of a publication. The survey alsoshowed that the most popular IEEEservices are its conferences, products,and e-mail aliases.

For an organization that relies so heav-ily on members who volunteer their time,

the study revealed that some 80 percent ofrespondents said they have never volun-teered, while only 7 percent said they cur-rently hold a volunteer position.

Many members say they didn’t realizethe great variety of products and servicesoffered by the IEEE until they took thesurvey. No wonder, then, that a numberof members noted that the organizationshould do a better job of promoting thefull range of its programs. •

MEMBERSHIP VALUES

66%

59%

39%

30%

31%

30%

32%

29%

20%

19%

26%

13%AN IEEE E-MAIL ALIAS

ACCESS TO DISCOUNTS ON SERVICES

PARTICIPATE IN LOCAL IEEE ACTIVITIES

OBTAIN REDUCED REGISTRATION FEES

FOR CONTINUING EDUCATION

SHOW SUPPORT FOR THE PROFESSION

A PROFESSOR SUGGESTED IT

NETWORK WITH OTHERS IN THE PROFESSION

ENHANCE STATURE WITHIN THE PROFESSION

ENHANCE CAREER OPPORTUNITIES

JOIN IEEE SOCIETIES

OBTAIN IEEE PUBLICATIONS

REMAIN TECHNICALLY CURRENT61%

53%

43%

40%

34%

31%

29%

27%

21%

17%

17%

16%

3%

N/

REASONS MEMBERSJOINED THE IEEE

REASONS MEMBERS REMAIN WITH THE IEEE

A

MEMBERS RATE IEEE’S VALUEFEATURE

Survey shows respondents like networking with peersbut want more continuing education BY KATHY KOWALENKO

FEATURE


BY PEG GALLOS

SUALLY IEEE MEMBERShave little influence or inter-action with government offi-cials. But a few are able tobridge that gap by taking onadvisory roles to government.

Here’s how three of our members havefared in India, Malta, and the United States:

Member Rahul Tongia, a research fac-ulty member at Carnegie Mellon Univer-sity, in Pittsburgh, Pa., USA, finds the timeto give advice to the International Insti-tute of Information Technology in Indiaas well as to the United Nations. A mem-ber of the university’s computer sciencedepartment and its engineering and pub-lic policy department, he volunteers for“work that has value” and that concerns“rich real-world and relevant topics.”

How did he become a governmentadvisor? “To some extent, in developingnations like India, the chance of becominga government advisor is based on eitheryour position in society or your personalconnections,” explains Tongia, a citizenof India.

In Tongia’s case, it was personal con-nections. His work during the last decadeon information technology and telecom-munications projects puts him in touchwith colleagues who had been top advi-sors to the Indian government. E-mailand frequent visits make possible his roleas, basically, a long-distance advisor.

Tongia, who does research at CarnegieMellon, uses his volunteer work to extendhis own understanding of his technicalareas and to extend his networking oppor-tunities with others. He notes that, as inother countries, government officials inIndia are not technology specialists.

“Government officials’ lack of technicalknowledge is especially an issue in high-tech or IT [information technology] policy,where the pace of change is so fast,” hesays. “The Indian government runs manytelecommunications services, and so itmust design and run networks and buyand install equipment.

“Unfortunately,” Tongia says, “seniorgovernment officials who have begun togain some technical understanding can be

transferred quickly. They do their best toglean information from the Web and updatetheir skills at training programs offered byequipment vendors. Nevertheless, policyoften is determined without enough seri-ous analysis by highly skilled people.”

One advisory role was not enough forTongia. He also took on the vice chair-manship of the United Nations Informa-tion and Communication Technologies

Task Force Working Group on Low-CostConnectivity Access. This group is lookingfor inexpensive ways to bring the WorldWide Web to less developed regions inAfrica and elsewhere. A citizen of Chad,for example, would have to pay eight years’salary for one year of basic Internet con-nectivity. In the United States, by contrast,the service costs on average less than 1 percent of a year’s salary.

Tongia also sees his advisory experi-ences with the U.N. and India as topics forresearch papers.

“Given my interdisciplinary fields atCarnegie Mellon, the work I do manifestsitself in my research,” Tongia says. “Myadvisory and discussion roles certainlymesh with the academic and researchneeds of the university.”

REAL-WORLD GUIDANCE On a Mediterreanisland, Member Charles V. Sammut is asenior lecturer in physics at the Univer-sity of Malta in Msida. He teaches quan-tum mechanics, electromagnetic theory,and microwave physics, and supervisespostgraduate students.

“I decided a few years ago to open upthe prospect of work outside the univer-sity,” he says. He was eager to break awayfrom the “academic ivory tower”—as heputs it—and, like Tongia, apply his skillsto real-world problems.

As a result, he is a salaried projectmanager for two of his country’s agen-cies, the Ministry of the Environment andthe Malta Communications Authority.He’s working on a progress report onMalta’s three-year plan to decrease thecountry’s greenhouse gas emissions. Thereduction is required under an agreementadopted in 1992 as part of the UnitedNations Framework Convention on Cli-mate Change.

The framework was a forerunner of theKyoto Protocols, which in 1997 establishedconstraints on greenhouse gas emissions.Malta was one of 186 nations that signedon; the United States did not. Sammutand a colleague at his university, AlfredMicallef, supervised four working groupscomposed of 30 specialists—from clima-tologists to economists—who inventoriedthe output of greenhouse gas emissions inMalta, including those produced by burn-ing fossil fuels in vehicles and methanefrom waste. Their research has helped findways to reduce emissions. Sammut is alsoworking on another project, identifyingfuel cells and other technologies that couldhelp reduce air pollution.

Sammut’s second government advisoryproject is closer to his own area of special-ization. For the Malta Communications

Members Help Build Bridges to Policymakers

Emily Sopensky,IEEE-USAEngineering andDiplomacy Fellow,advises the U.S.State Departmenton upgrading itsinformationtechnologysystems.

Policy often is determined without enough serious analysis

by HIGHLY SKILLED PEOPLE

U

Authority, a semiautonomous governmentorganization, he is monitoring electro-magnetic emission levels from cellphonebase-station antennas to establish expo-sure patterns. He is collecting data on 400sites around the country and is measuringelectromagnetic fields at 150 of them.

There is a downside to the work in thatit takes him away from his family morethan suits him. “I can’t chip in and help athome as much as I would like,” heacknowledges. But the payoff is that hisexpertise is helping his nation.

“For me, that is quite satisfying,” he says,adding that his contacts sometimes help hisstudents find jobs once they graduate.

GOVERNMENT FELLOW As an IEEE–USAEngineering and Diplomacy Fellow, EmilySopensky’s portfolio at the U.S. Depart-ment of State, in Washington, D.C.,includes two major department-wide ini-tiatives dealing with upgrading theagency’s information technology systems.To do that, she is taking time out fromrunning her own business, The Iris Co.,in Austin, Texas, where, as a business con-sultant, she works on marketing commu-nication projects for different companies.Sopensky performs such tasks as produc-ing product and facilities brochures, plan-ning special events, supervising trainingsessions, and writing and editing execu-

tive reports, news releases, white papers,and newsletters.

“At the State Department, I found myskills in communication were just as highlyvalued as in my business,” Sopensky notes.

One IEEE–USA Engineering andDiplomacy Fellow is chosen each year toserve at the Department of State. The fel-lowship provides an opportunity for anengineer to lend technical expertise to thedepartment and help raise awareness ofthe value of an engineer’s input, whilethat person learns about the foreign policyprocess. Fellows receive a US$55 000stipend from IEEE–USA, plus US$5000in relocation assistance.

Sopensky has proposed several projectsin her advisory role. One is a detailed record-keeping project for the State Departmentcalled the State Messaging and ArchiveRetrieval Toolset, known as SMART.

Diplomats still share documents witheach other through hand-delivered diplo-matic pouches that may have to travelfrom one side of the globe to the other. Ina world of e-mail and instant messaging,that mode of communication is certainlyoutdated, notes Sopensky. SMART aims torevamp this archaic messaging system byupgrading the department’s communica-tions systems.

“There are certain innovations in man-agement and procurement being used in

the SMART effort that might be useful inother areas of the State Department,”Sopensky says. For example, being ableto communicate electronically with StateDepartment outposts means they can bebrought quickly up to date on new poli-cies—which improves the accuracy andtimeliness of their information.

For the Office of eDiplomacy in theState Department’s Bureau of Informa-tion Resource Management, Sopensky isworking on setting up virtual consulateson the Web to improve communicationbetween State Department offices inWashington and U.S. embassies and con-sulates abroad. The Web sites, which willbe managed by the overseas outposts, willalso help U.S. citizens find informationabout a country they may plan to visit orlive in. The information ranges fromadoption services offered in the country todriving regulations to residency require-ments to the names and locations of lan-guage schools.

She also has been busy compiling acomprehensive list of the State Depart-ment’s Internet, intranet, and classifiedWeb sites. Ideally, Sopensky says, thedepartment will update the list periodi-cally to eliminate duplication, andthrough surveys, try to gauge whether itsWeb-based communications are as user-friendly as they can be.

Sopensky is also involved with upgrad-ing the State Department’s videoconfer-encing capabilities. She is supervising thetesting of low-cost, low-bandwidth tech-nology and 3-D equipment that couldbring videoconferencing to the agency’smore remote and less technologicallysophisticated outposts.

Despite her full plate, Sopenskyrecently organized an IEEE-sponsoredconference in Boston that brought in aca-demics and professionals to update StateDepartment officials on advances in theInternet and other communications tech-nology.

“I feel it is important for those devel-oping policy to understand what tech-nologies are not only here but are aroundthe corner,” she says. •


Sopensky’s report from the U.S. State

Department to the IEEE–USA Government

Fellows Committee details her progress so

far. Read it at http://www.ieeeusa.org/

policy/GOVFEL/reports/sopensky1.html.

IEEE–USA is accepting applications for

Engineering and Diplomacy Fellowships

beginning in January 2006. The deadline

for postmarking your application is 21

February. Visit http://www.ieeeusa.org/

policy/GOVFEL.

High-Limit Insurance ProgramNow Available to IEEE Members in France



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BY PAT JANOWSKI

IF A BURGLAR MADE OFF with your stereo, youwould know what to do. But what if a professionalcolleague stole your words? Plagiarism—the act ofusing someone else’s work without giving propercredit—is a crime of intellectual property, and one

might argue that it is just as serious as a crime of realproperty. Yet the rules of what constitutes plagiarism andhow it should be dealt with are not always clear.

With that in mind, the IEEE Publication Services andProducts Board (PSPB) has approved new guidelines forthe IEEE that define different levels of plagiarism andset corrective actions to be taken for misconduct [see side-bar, “The Five Levels of Plagiarism”].

It used to be much more difficult to plagiarize than itis today. Another person’s work might have been copiedlaboriously by hand or, later, more easily with a Xeroxmachine; now someone’s words can be lifted quickly witha couple of mouse clicks. Electronic dissemination ofinformation during the past few years has been an impor-tant contributor to increased reports of plagiarism withinthe IEEE and elsewhere. The PSPB took action because ofthe dramatic increase in complaints.

Fortunately, there are two sides to the mouse-click equa-tion. “What allows people to cut and paste others’ work intotheir own also allows offenders to be found, almost as eas-ily,” says Bill Hagen, the IEEE’s intellectual property rightsmanager in Piscataway, N.J., USA. Authors can now usepowerful search engines to find with relative ease unsanc-tioned use of their work—a nice way to say their work wasplagiarized. “Authors were letting us know about more andmore incidents of plagiarism,” says Hagen.

Acccording to Michael R. Lightner, IEEE vice president,Publication Services and Products, and 2005 IEEE presi-dent-elect, “The IEEE publishes approximately 450 000pages a year, under a hundred different editors, hundredsmore associate editors and over 300 conference publicationchairs. With this volume, you’re bound to have violations.”

Lightner notes that the IEEE has always had proceduresin place to deal with plagiarism, but they weren’t uniform.“Some parts of the IEEE would impose a very harsh penalty,and others would have a milder one,” he says. The PSPB’snew guidelines address the disparities. “We felt it wasincumbent upon us to examine what we were doing andcome up with some uniform processes, definitions andprinciples throughout the institute,” he says.

Part of the inconsistency might have stemmed fromconfusion about the different levels of plagiarism. Some pla-giarism is intentional, and some comes from sloppy workpractices. Other times it results from a misunderstandingof what constitutes plagiarism. The guidelines now outlinefive levels of plagiarism, as well as the corrective action to betaken for each one. Actions can range from a written apol-ogy to the original author to the temporary suspension of theoffending party’s IEEE publishing privileges.

MAKING THE RIGHT CITATIONS “So much of research andtechnology is based on work that preceded it,” Hagensays. “Authors should check that their own writing isoriginal. They can incorporate what might have beendone previously if they cite it properly.”

It’s not always easy to spot an incident of plagiarism,however, before it’s too late. “Conferences are a particu-lar problem,” Hagen says, “because of the large numberof papers usually involved. Papers get reviewed for qual-ity, but since most conference proceedings have a fasterreview cycle than periodicals, reviewers may not have anopportunity to recognize plagiarism.”

And, when sections of a published conferencepaper are found to have been plagiarized, it may notalways be easy to find the person to complain to. It’smuch easier to complain to an editor of a regularlypublished journal.

“The thing to do with a conference paper,” Hagensays, “is go to the next higher level, to ask the vice pres-ident for publications of the society sponsoring the con-ference, or the equivalent, to consider the situation.”

FITTING SANCTIONS By the time a decision is made thata paper has violated the plagiarism guidelines, it usuallyhas already been printed. A key question is whether topermanently remove it from the electronic record—apolicy recently adopted by one major for-profit publisher.“The IEEE’s decision was to permanently mark theonline paper as being in violation of our plagiarismguidelines with a digital watermark [that remains withthe paper permanently] but not to remove the docu-ment,” Lightner says. “We decided it was more importantto preserve the historical record and to maintain consis-tency between what exists in print and online.”

According to Hagen, plagiarism is likely to becomemore of a problem, if only because in the past the prac-tice may have gone unnoticed. “As search tools get moresophisticated the opportunity increases for more cases tobe found,” Hagen says. “For example, the next version ofIEEE Xplore will have a full-text search function that willallow users to enter longer strings of characters andwords and increase the chances of finding duplicate ormultiple instances of the same text in different papers bydifferent authors.”

Lightner credits two volunteers, former PSPB VicePresident Pete Morley and PSPB member Ken Dawson,as well as Hagen and Ken Moore, director of IEEE Bookand Information Services, with taking leadership rolesand doing a tremendous amount of research and work onthe plagiarism guidelines.

The PSPB Operations Manual contains the new policyin Section 8.2 of Publication Guidelines, under the heading“Adjudicating Different Levels of Plagiarism.” It is postedat http://www.ieee.org/organizations/pubs/pab. •

12345


How to Handle Plagiarism:

New Guidelines

THE FIVE LEVELS OFPLAGIARISM

Uncredited verbatim copying of a full paper.Results in a violation notice in the later article’sbibliographic record and a suspension of theoffender’s IEEE publication privileges for up tofive years.

Uncredited verbatim copying of a large portion(up to half) of a paper. Results in a violationnotice in the later article’s bibliographic recordand a suspension of publication privileges for upto five years.

Uncredited verbatim copying of individual ele-ments such as sentences, paragraphs, or illustra-tions. May result in a violation notice in the laterarticle’s bibliographic record. In addition, a writ-ten apology must be submitted to the originalcreator to avoid suspension of publication privi-leges for up to three years.

Uncredited improper paraphrasing of pages orparagraphs (by changing a few words or phrasesor rearranging the original sentence order). Callsfor a written apology to avoid suspension of pub-lication privileges and a possible violation noticein the later article’s bibliographic record.

Credited verbatim copying of a major portion ofa paper without clear delineation of who did orwrote what. Requires a written apology, and toavoid suspension, the document must be cor-rected.

The guidelines also make recommendations fordealing with repeated offenses.

PUBLISHING


BY WILLIAM LEVENTON

MORE THAN A third ofIEEE members live outsideNorth America, and thenumber is growing. Butmost of the organization’s

nontechnical benefits are available onlyin the United States and Canada.

Unfair? Members living in other coun-tries say it is, and they regularly mentionthe lack of benefits. “If we pay the samedues, we would like to have the same serv-ices,” says Christian Borgert, a memberfrom Germany.

Spurred by their concerns, the IEEE isworking on several programs meant to closethe benefits gap. The aim is to expand theIEEE Financial Advantage Program(FAP), which offers a variety of ben-efits to members, including lifeinsurance, financial services,and business products. The members’ IndividualBenefits and ServicesCommittee (IB&SC), towhich Borgert belongs,oversees FAP, which is managed by IEEEMember Benefits staff.

Accident insuranceis offered already inFrance, and a life insur-ance program is comingto Germany. These productsare part of a pilot programoffering various low-cost groupinsurance plans to members in cer-tain sections of Region 8 (Europe, the Mid-dle East, and Africa). The program is beinglaunched in two phases. In Phase 1, whichbegan in July, a high-limit accident insur-ance policy that covers accidental deathand dismemberment was offered to mem-bers in France. CNA Insurance Co. Ltd., aninternational firm with offices in Paris,underwrites the program. In Phase 2, theIEEE plans to introduce insurance pro-grams in 2005 to Germany, Ireland, Italy,and the United Kingdom.

A likely product in Germany will belife insurance, says Borgert, who pre-sented the idea to volunteers at a Region8 conference in Stockholm, Sweden, inOctober. It was well received. “Tariffs arechanging in Germany now to favor salesof life insurance, and we will be dis-cussing this in greater detail with repre-sentatives of the German offices of theEuropean branch of Marsh Affinity GroupService,” Borgert says. Marsh, which is

the administrator of the IEEE’s NorthAmerican group insurance programs, hasoffices around the world.

LINKED VIA THE WEB There are reasons foroptimism about the new programs,according to Markus Snowden, chair ofIB&SC. For one thing, he notes that bothCNA and Marsh already are well-known inFrance, Germany, and other EuropeanUnion countries. And they have the expe-rience of operating in those countries.

In addition, the pan-European projectwill take advantage of the Web. Links to thenew French program have been posted onthe FAP and the France Section Web sites.Members can click their way to a French-

language Web site for more informationabout the program and to submit an appli-cation. Similarly, literature for other IEEEsections will be in the country’s officiallanguage or the customary language ofbusiness in that country.

Next on the agenda are group insur-ance plans for Ireland, Italy, and the UK.Snowden expects the FAP and Marsh toconduct member surveys soon to identifyfavorable products and price ranges. Planslikely will be launched in Ireland, Italy, andthe UK sometime in 2005, Snowden says.

The FAP has also reorganized its Website so that its programs are grouped accord-ing to IEEE region. Lynn Koblin, manager ofIEEE Member Benefits, says she hopes thatthis change in format will help membersfind the products they qualify for. The newformat also removes the visual emphasis onprograms available only to U.S. members.

But the new programs are not the IEEE’s

first efforts at offering FAP benefits outsideNorth America. Several products alreadyexist in some regions, and others have beentested, if unsuccessfully. For example, a creditcard issued by MBNA is available in the UKas well as in Canada and Puerto Rico.

Another longtime product is the Gate-way Insurance Program, which offers med-ical insurance for travelers and is under-written by the Insurance Company of theState of Pennsylvania (USA), a part of theinternational insurance group AIG. Avail-able to members in any country, four differ-ent Gateway plans cover medical expensesfor accidents and illness that occur whenmembers travel out of their home country.

LESSONS LEARNED IEEE’s early offeringsresulted in important lessons, albeit insome cases by trial and error, according toKoblin. For example, some members werecritical of a UK credit card program thatfailed to include Ireland. Koblin explains

that Ireland could not be included becausethat section was very small in terms ofmembers, and the card provider’s min-imum membership requirementscalled for a much larger population.

In Mexico (Region 9) in 2001, lackof interest accounted for the demise ofa group insurance program. In launch-

ing the program, Marsh and its Mexi-can-based insurance brokerage partner

used an attractive direct-mail package writ-ten in Spanish to promote a group of planssimilar to those offered in the United States.IEEE’s section chairs in Mexico supportedthe program, even signing promotional let-ters endorsing it. Despite these efforts,fewer than 10 people bought the insurance,Koblin reports.

Why the difficulty in establishing sucha program? Koblin says one reason may bethe tendency for insurance providers topull the plug on programs when demanddoesn’t immediately materialize. The Mex-ican group insurance program was avail-able for just a few months before beingdiscontinued, despite the considerableamount of development time that wentinto it, notes Koblin.

Another reason for the lack of successmay be what Koblin calls “the U.S.-centricperspective” of program providers. As anexample, Christian Borgert cites a short-lived Mexican credit card that was basedon “a general misunderstanding of theneeds of Mexican members. The approachwas to have the program controlled by U.S.banks.” Instead of working with Mexicanbanks, he says, the program dealt with an

American bank, which required Mexicanmembers to transfer funds to the UnitedStates to get the card.

Today, Borgert and Koblin are work-ing with Marsh in Europe to develop pro-grams aimed at local populations. Koblinexplains that local purchasing habits, pay-ment preferences, and other factors areunder consideration.

In other cases, benefit offerings havehit legal and regulatory roadblocks. Forinstance, the Canadian province of Que-bec in Region 7 requires product litera-ture to be provided in French as well asEnglish. Such bilingual literature was notinitially developed, owing mainly to thecost of translation.

At the behest of the IEEE TransnationalCommittee, the IEEE sought and recentlyreceived a waiver of the bilingual regula-tions because the organization has nophysical presence in the country and doesnot own the content of the insurance lit-erature posted on the FAP Web site. Some-time this month, therefore, members inQuebec will have access to all the sameinsurance plans as other Canadians.

Koblin describes two obstacles to devel-oping insurance programs in Regions 8, 9,and 10: the lack of other affinity partner-ships, like other engineering groups, thatthe IEEE can team up with to access pro-grams, and the relatively small size of theIEEE membership in each separately regu-lated country. To boost the size of the insur-ance-purchasing group, Koblin hopes thatsome providers will be willing to pool IEEEmembers with those of other Europeantrade and professional associations, a suc-cessful strategy for small group plans in theUnited States. A broader-based programwould help create a sustainable and reason-ably priced insurance product, she explains.

Koblin is optimistic about the future ofthe FAP outside North America.

“Unlike the operation in Mexico, inwhich the underwriter moved away fromthis business, Marsh has been investingheavily—in time and program develop-ment—to help make FAP successful inbringing nontechnical benefits to IEEEmembers,” she says. The regional Web sitesdeveloped by Marsh and CNA Insurance(at their own expense) should prove attrac-tive sources of information to members andbecome useful selling tools. •


To read about the Financial Advantage

Program’s offerings, visit

http://www.ieee.org/fap.

FINANCIAL ADVANTAGE

Benefits Gaining a Global Reach


His most famous design is perhapsthe helical antenna, used widely in spacecommunications and other applications.It allows waves passing through the upperatmosphere not to be affected by Faradayrotation, which occurs when the upper-atmosphere plasma causes a linearlypolarized electric field to be rotated as itpasses through.

John joined the faculty at Ohio StateUniversity in Columbus, USA, in 1946,

where he concentrated his researchon electrical engineering and radioastronomy. He designed and super-vised the construction of the 110-meter-wide “Big Ear” radio tele-scope built in 1951 in Delaware, Ohio,USA. With the Big Ear, John and histeam discovered some of the mostdistant objects at the edge of the uni-verse and produced a nearly completesurvey of the sky using radio waves.The now famous WOW signal, a one-time radio sequence possibly of extra-

terrestrial origin, so called because theresearcher analyzing the data printoutwrote “Wow” next to the signal, wasdetected in 1977 by Big Ear.

John also was closely identified withprojects related to the Search for Extrater-restrial Intelligence (SETI). He edited andpublished Cosmic Search [Cygnus Quasar]in 1979, the first magazine on SETI.

John wrote hundreds of technical arti-cles, and his textbooks made complex sub-jects accessible to students. In addition toAntennas, his books include Electromagnet-ics with Applications and Radio Astronomy.

John retired from Ohio State in 1980,but continued to work at his Big Ear facil-ity until the late 1990s. •

BY RONALD J. MARHEFKA IEEE FELLOW

JOHN DANIEL KRAUS was a hands-oninventor, an antennas researcher, aninsightful theoretician and, most impor-tant, an inspirational educator. I co-authored with John the third edition of thetextbook Antennas [McGraw-Hill, 2002].

He studied physics at the Universityof Michigan in Ann Arbor, USA, where heconducted research on atomic particleaccelerators. He received his Ph.D. inphysics there in 1934. However, early onhe developed an interest in subjectsrelated to electrical engineering. For exam-ple, he was an avid amateur radio opera-tor who used the call sign W8JK. It wasduring the long hours spent at his hamradio station that he became fascinated bythe discovery of radio noise emanatingfrom space, and how radio waves, ratherthan visible light, might someday improveexploration of the universe.

During World War II, John lived inWashington, D.C., where he worked forthe U.S. Navy asa civilian scientistresponsible fordemagnetizingsteel ships to pro-tect them frommagnetic under-sea mines. Healso worked onradar counter-measures at Har-vard University’sRadio ResearchLaboratory in Cambridge, Mass., USA.

John began developing innovative andwidely used antennas in 1937. Among hisfirst designs were the W8JK closely spacedarray, named after his amateur radio callsign, and the corner reflector. The W8JKantenna is used today by amateur radiooperators, while the corner reflector is usedextensively for television antennas.

BY LINDSAY ELKINS

SENIOR MEMBER CAROLE CAREY canboast a long list of accomplishments at theIEEE. She has held several leadership posi-tions including chair ofthe Baltimore (USA)Section and the liaisonfrom the RegionalActivities Board (RAB)to Women in Engi-neering (WIE). As liai-son she attended WIECommittee meetingsand kept the RABinformed of WIE activ-ities. She is currentlyserving as the RAB liai-son for 2004. She hasalso been the IEEEEngineering in Medicine and Biology Soci-ety liaison to the IEEE Standards AssociationBoard.

Now as a Mike Mansfield Fellow, she isworking full time in Tokyo at Japan’s Min-

istry of Health, Labor, and Welfare. The two-year Mike Mansfield Fellowship Program(named after the former U.S. ambassadorto Japan and U.S. senator and congress-man from Montana) was established by the

U.S. Congress in 1994. Theprogram’s goal is to help U.S.federal government employeesdevelop a better understandingof Japan and how its govern-ment works and to establishrelationships with their coun-terparts in government, busi-ness, and academia. Careywent to Japan in July of thisyear from her job as an expertregulatory scientist with theU.S. Food and Drug Adminis-tration (FDA) in Rockville, Md.

“To participate in such aunique program where I can exchangeideas with colleagues in my counterpartagency in Japan is a rare opportunity,”Carey says. “I feel the fellowship will helpme build professional relationships and

improve the communication between theJapanese and U.S. governments.”

Carey spent the first year of the pro-gram in the United States studying theJapanese language intensively and attend-ing classes on the country’s history, cul-ture, politics, and economic policies. Shealso took seminars geared toward broad-ening her overall knowledge of the country.

She is now spending her second year inTokyo. When she returns to the UnitedStates in July 2005 she will serve at leasttwo more years in the FDA, likely workingon projects involving Japan.

AN ENGINEERING START Carey has had adiverse career since she received a bache-lor’s degree in electrical engineering fromJohns Hopkins University in Baltimore, in1988, and her master’s in computer engi-neering from Loyola College of Maryland,also in Baltimore, in 1998. With her bache-lor’s degree, she joined W.R. Grace Wash-ington Research Center in Columbia, Md.,USA, as a research assistant and applicationengineer. There she designed experimentallaboratory setups and conducted experi-ments on catalyst requirements formethane oxidation for researchers devel-oping synthetic fuels and materials for high-temperature superconductivity applications.

In 1988 Carey took an electrical engi-neering position with Energetics Inc., also inColumbia, where in support of government

programs she handled duties related to themitigation of electromagnetic fields onpower lines. She also performed technol-ogy assessments of new alternative sourcesof electric power for various applications,including batteries for electric vehicles.

Carey went to the FDA in 1990 to jointhe medical device program and partici-pate in national and international standardsdevelopment programs for medical equip-ment. She worked in various sectors there,most recently as a regulatory scientistresponsible for reviewing the safety andeffectiveness of complex cardiac devices,such as implantable pacemakers, beforethey are allowed to reach market.

Under the Mansfield fellowship, a typi-cal day finds her at meetings to learn aboutthe medical device regulatory processes andprocedures of the Japanese government.She recently visited the National Institute ofAdvanced Industrial Science and Technol-ogy in Tsukuba to get an overview of itsfunctional and organizational structure, andshe has toured the labs at the Institute forHuman Science and Biomedical Engineer-ing, also in Tsukuba.

“I hope to bring back enough technicalknowledge and regulatory expertise toassist in future collaborations between theU.S. and Japan that might help us reducethe time to market safe and effective med-ical devices to benefit the public in bothcountries,” she says. •

MEMBER RECOGNITION

Carey in Japan on MikeMansfield Fellowship

John Daniel Kraus,Antenna Pioneer

JOHN DANIEL KRAUS: 94

DIED 18 July 2004

MEMBER GRADE Life Fellow

EDUCATION Bachelor’s, master’s, and

doctorate—all in physics from the University

of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA

FIELDS OF INTEREST Electromagnetics,

antennas, and radio astronomy

CAREER MILESTONES Civilian scientist

with the U.S. Navy during World War II.

Worked at Harvard University’s Radio Re-

search Laboratory in the 1940s. Took a fac-

ulty position at Ohio State University in 1946

VOLUNTEER ACTIVITIES IEEE Detroit

Section chair, 1940. Member of

the Editorial Board of IRE Proceedings for

15 years. Founded the John Kraus Antenna

Award from the IEEE Antennas and

Propagation Society in 2004

AWARDS IEEE Centennial Medal, 1984;

IEEE Edison Medal, 1985; IEEE Heinrich

Hertz Medal, 1990; IEEE Antennas and

Propagation Society Distinguished

Achievement Award, 2003

Carol Carey

IN MEMORIAM

John Daniel Kraus


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■ IEEE Medal of HonorFor an exceptional contribution or an extraordinary career in the IEEE fields of interest. Sponsor: IEEE Foundation

■ IEEE Alexander Graham Bell MedalFor exceptional contributions to theadvancement of communicationssciences and engineering. Sponsor: Lucent Technologies

■ IEEE Edison MedalFor a career of meritorious achievement in electrical science,electrical engineering, or the electrical arts. Sponsor: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

■ IEEE James H. Mulligan Jr. Education MedalFor a career of outstandingcontributions to education in the fields of interest of IEEE. Sponsor: The MathWorks Inc., National Instruments Foundation,Pearson Prentice Hall, and Xilinx, Inc.

■ IEEE Founders MedalFor outstanding contributions in the leadership, planning, andadministration of affairs of great value to the electrical and electronics engineering profession. Sponsor: IEEE Foundation

■ IEEE Richard W. Hamming MedalFor exceptional contributions toinformation sciences, systems, and technology. Sponsor: QUALCOMM, Inc.

■ IEEE Jack S. Kilby Signal Processing MedalFor outstanding achievements in signal processing. Sponsor: Texas Instruments, Inc.

■ IEEE Jun-ichi Nishizawa MedalFor outstanding contributions to materialand device science and technology,including practical applications.Sponsor: The Federation of Electric PowerCompanies, Japan and the SemiconductorResearch Foundation

■ IEEE Robert N. Noyce MedalFor exceptional contributions to the microelectronics industry. Sponsor: Intel Foundation

■ IEEE Dennis J. Picard Medal for Radar Technologies and ApplicationsFor outstanding accomplishments in advancing the fields of radartechnologies.Sponsor: Raytheon Co.

■ IEEE Simon Ramo MedalFor exceptional achievements in systemsengineering and systems science.Sponsor: Northrup Grumman Corp.

■ IEEE John von Neumann MedalFor outstanding achievements incomputer-related science and technology.Sponsor: IBM Corp.

■ IEEE Honorary MembershipFor meritorious service to humanity in IEEE’s designated fields of interest.Sponsor: IEEE

CORPORATE RECOGNITIONS■ IEEE Corporate InnovationRecognitionFor outstanding and exemplarycontributions by an industrial entity,governmental or academicorganization, or other corporate body,which have resulted in majoradvancement of electrotechnology. Sponsor: IEEE

■ IEEE Ernst Weber Engineering Leadership RecognitionFor exceptional managerial leadershipin the fields of interest to the IEEE.Sponsor: IEEE

IEEE SERVICE AWARDS■ IEEE Richard M. Emberson AwardFor distinguished service to thedevelopment, viability, advancement,and pursuit of the technical objectives of the IEEE. Sponsor: IEEE Technical Activities Board

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IEEE PRIZE PAPER AWARD■ IEEE W.R.G. Baker AwardFor the most outstanding paper reporting original work in any of the IEEE transactions, journals,magazines, or proceedings.Sponsor: IEEE W.R.G. Baker Prize Paper Award Fund

■ IEEE Donald G. Fink AwardFor outstanding survey, review, or tutorial paper in any of the IEEE transactions, journals, magazines, or proceedings.Sponsor: IEEE Life Members Committee

IEEE Sections, Societies, and individual members are invited by the IEEE Awards Board to submit

nominations for medals, recognitions, and prize papers to be presented in 2006. The deadline for

the Board to receive nominations is 1 July 2005.

For nominating information, visit the Awards Web site at http://www.ieee.org/awards or contact: IEEE Awards Activities, 445 Hoes Lane,Piscataway, NJ, USA 08855-1331; telephone: +1 732 562 3844; fax: +1 732 981 9019; e-mail: [email protected].

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