TI Wants to 'Thank an Engineer'

What would our lives be like today without the creative contributions of engineers? How would we get along without inventions like notebook computers, remote controls, streaming video and high-speed Internet, to name a few?

TI's "Thank an Engineer" short video series provides several humorous answers to these questions with a funny look at a world without all the innovations engineers have created. In the process, TI salutes the technically gifted men and women who have enhanced the world in so many ways.

You are invited to watch these videos, share them with your friends, family and colleagues. You may view and share videos from www.ti.com/thanks.

Study: No Shortage of U.S. Engineers

Agree or disagree?

"U.S. colleges and universities are graduating as many scientists and engineers as ever, according to a study released on Oct. 28 by a group of academics. But that finding comes with a big caveat: Many of the highest-performing students are choosing careers in other fields. The study by professors at Rutgers and Georgetown suggests that since the late 1990s, many of the top students have been lured to careers in finance and consulting."

The rest of the article can be found here:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33533739/ns/business-businessweekcom/

Email Funny - How to Fail a Test With(out) Dignity

Like me, I'm sure most people have seen this, but it did make me laugh today, so I thought I'd share.

How to Fail a Test with Dignity

How cool is science?!? Thanks to a fellow ASME ECE (thanks, Julie!), I read this really interesting article on CNN, and thought I'd share: www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/09/16/liquid.glasses.self.refraction/index.html.

Joshua Silver, a University of Oxford physics professor developed self-refraction eyeglasses that can help people in developing nations correct their vision without ever seeing an optometrist.

Per the article, the secret of the self-refractive glasses is their lenses. Inside each lens is a memberane filled with oil - the wearer can then adjust the oil in the lenses to the level needed to best correct their vision using a syringe on the side. Once the lenses have been adjusted, they are sealed and the syringes removed, and voila - glasses without visiting an optometrist (and based on the statistics in the article, this is definitely a good thing - did you know that in Ghana, there is only one optometrist for every 8 million people?!?).

Ice Cream and Champagne Social for Early Career Engineers

When: Sunday, November 15, 2009, 8:30 PM EST
Location: 2009 ASME IMECE in Orlando, FL
Website: http://www.asmeconferences.org/Congress09/Dinners.cfm

Join the ASME Committee on Early Career Development for this special event of fun socializing, ice cream and champagne! Early career engineers and graduate students get a rare opportunity to mingle with ASME leaders and network professionally, as well as find out what their peers in Engineers Without Borders have been up to. If you want to learn more about how ASME is making the world a better place through the efforts of the ASME Foundation and EWB-USA, please join us for this unique one-hour event.

Don't forget your business cards!

2009 Proxy for Election of Society Officers

Just a reminder that your 2009 Proxy for Election of Society Officers came packaged with your 2009 issue of the ASME Mechanical Engineering magazine. The proxies are due back by 10:00AM on October 23, 2009.

2009 ASME Nominating Committee Selections

I just returned home from the 2009 ASME Annual Meeting, and I wanted to post a link to the 2009 ASME Nominating Committee Selections. (Hopefully I'll also have other updates from the 2009 AM in the next few days once I catch up on some sleep.)

http://www.asme.org/Governance/Nominating/Nominating_Committee.cfm

Nominating Committee
The following ASME members have been selected by the
2009 Nominating Committee for the following positions.

President
Robert Simmons
Board of Governors Robert
Sims Edmund Seiders Richard Benson
Vice
President of Career & Professional Advancement Jennifer
Jewers
Vice President of Public Awareness Willard
Nott
Vice President of Standardization and Testing Bruce
Harding
Vice President of Financial Operations Karen
Ohland
Vice President of Affinity Communities Cassandra
Dugal


Thank you to all the candidates.

As indicated in the quoted article above, thank you to all the candidates, and everyone who participated in the process - the candidates, NC, advisors, supporters, and staff!

YEC Meeting in Palm Desert, CA

There will be a Young Engineers Correspondents meeting at the 2009 ASME Annual Meeting in Palm Desert, CA. You can meet and welcome the Incoming Chair (Meredith) and Incoming Vice-Chair (Steve) of the YEC. As always, it should be an enjoyable meeting and allow you the opportunity to network with other Early Career Engineers (0-10 years post college, under 35 yrs old).

Details are as follows:
Time: 3:00pm - 4:00pm
Day: Sunday, June 14, 2009
Location: Springs Ballroom - Salon D

This meeting is open to all attendees
** Listed in the program as: Knowledge and Community - Young Engineer Correspondents

A "Greener" Water Bottle

When I was in Washington, DC in April at the Engineering Public Policy Symposium, I noticed something different in the Rayburn House Building. No there hadn't been any major renovations or redecorating done since I'd last been there; instead, the typical plast water bottle had been replaced. By what, you ask? By this: http://www.natureworksllc.com/. It's a biopolymer that's compostable. I thought it was uber-cool, and definitely a step in the right direction. It's (obviously) not as eco-friendly as using a non-disposable water bottle such as those made by Nalgene or Sigg, but as you can see here - http://www.greenerdesign.com/news/2008/10/01/corn-based-water-bottles - the House actually composts them instead of sending them to a landfill, which is kind of neat.

ECE Opportunities

See below for a recent post on ASME PeerLink's Young Engineer Correspondents site (http://peerlink.asme.org/COP/YECorrespondent/Forum/FullThread.fusion?ThreadID=3285):

ASME offers early career engineers (0-10 years out of college) the opportunity to get involved at the national level. Please take a moment to review the following upcoming opportunities (with mid-January deadlines) for yourself and/or to forward to other colleagues that might be interested. It’s a great way to gain professional development skills and network with other engineers.

* ECLIPSE is seeking interns (2009-2010)http://www.asme.org/Governance/Volunteer/Early_Career_Leadership.cfm Funded travel and leadership lessons from the top.Application deadline: January 11, 2009)

* Young Engineer Correspondents are seeking a Vice-Chair Electhttp://www.asme.org/Communities/EarlyCareer/Young_Engineer_Correspondents.cfm Practice your leadership skills. (Application Deadline: January 12, 2009)

* Leadership Training Conference (LTC) is seeking Early Career Delegateshttp://www.asme.org/Communities/EarlyCareer/Leadership_Training_2.cfm Intensive training opportunity. (Application Deadline: January 16, 2009)

* CL&D’s Committee on Internship Program (manages ECLIPSE) is seeking 2 new members (2009-2010)http://volunteer.asme.org/vobb/VolunteerPositions.cfmBegin a leadership path.(Positions to be filled ASAP)