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Call for Grant Applications

The IEEE Foundation accepts grant applications from charitable organizations, for new and innovative projects in January, April and September. The next date for grant applications is 22 April. Please submit your grant application using the online form.

Grant Applications are reviewed by a committee of the IEEE Foundation Board of Directors or the IEEE Life Members Committee. Approval of grants and funding arrangements are announced within one month of each IEEE Foundation Board meeting or IEEE Life Members Committee meeting. Please submit your grant application using the online form.
 
The IEEE Foundation considers projects that:
1. Use technology for humanitarian causes
2. Improve math, science and technology education from pre-college through continuing education
3. Introduce pre-college students to engineering and science
4. Support professional development and conference participation for university students
5. Preserve and promote the history of IEEE associated technologies
6. Recognize major contributions to IEEE associated technologies. 
Please review the IEEE Foundation’s grant guidelines and direct your questions to foundation-office@ieee.org.

IEEE Global Humanitarian Technology Conference Issues Call for Papers

WASHINGTON (11 March 2011) — IEEE Global Humanitarian Technology Conference organizers are seeking technical and non-technical papers on topics related to the role technology can play in improving lives and creating business opportunities for people in emerging nations.

Accepted papers will be presented during the inaugural conference, 30 October — 1 November 2011, at the Renaissance Seattle Hotel. They will also be published in conference proceedings and available through the digital library IEEE Xplore. The abstract deadline has been extended to 30 March.

“We’re looking for all types of papers,” conference chair Paul Kostek said. “In addition to technical ones, we’d like to hear from people who have experience running humanitarian projects. We’re interested in what kind of challenges they faced and how they overcame them.”

Contributed papers, particularly in the following areas, are solicited:
— Health, Medical Technology and Telemedicine
— Disaster Warning & Response
— Water Planning, Availability & Quality
— Power for Off-Grid Users
— Power Infrastructure, Renewable & Sustainable Energy
— Connectivity & Communications Technologies (data/voice) for Remote Locations
— Educational Technologies
— Agricultural Technologies
— Humanitarian Challenges & Opportunities
 
PAPER SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:

For information on submitting a paper, go to http://www.ieeeghtc.org/submissions.html. Submissions must describe original work not previously published or currently under review for publication in another conference or journal. Instructions can be found at  
(http://www.ieee.org/portal/cms_docs/pubs/confpubcenter/pdfs/samplems.pdf). The paper template is accessible at http://www.ieee.org/web/publications/pubservices/confpub/AuthorTools/conferenceTemplates.html.

GHTC 2011 is designed to gather scientists, engineers, technology professionals, academics, foundations, government and non-government organizations, as well as individuals engaged in humanitarian work to discuss and develop solutions for present and future humanitarian needs. An international conference, participants are expected from all over the world. For more information, see http://www.ieeeghtc.org/.  

For exhibit and sponsorship opportunities, contact Wah Garris at myintwa@ieee.org.

IEEE Homeland Security Conference Seeks Technical Papers, Posters, Tutorials

WASHINGTON (15 March 2011) — Organizers of the 2011 IEEE International Conference on Technologies for Homeland Security (HST 11) are seeking technical papers, posters and tutorials in the following areas:

 * Cyber Security
 * Borders & Maritime Security
 * Attack & Disaster Preparation, Recovery & Response
 * Biometrics, Forensics, & Physical Security

Accepted papers will be published by IEEE and presented at HST 11 at the Westin Waltham Boston in Waltham, Mass., USA, 15-17 November 2011. At least one author of an accepted paper will be required to register for the conference and pay the conference fee.  

The event, 11th in an annual series, will bring together leading researchers and innovators working on technologies designed to deter and prevent homeland attacks, protect critical infrastructures and people, mitigate damage and expedite recovery. Input from international partners is encouraged.

Papers should focus on technologies capable of deployment within five years, particularly applied research addressing areas in which breakthroughs are needed. Proposals should be no more than 500 words. Tutorial and poster submissions should include a one-page abstract and one-page biography.

Important 2011 submission dates, by midnight eastern time:
 * Abstract & tutorial proposal deadline — 22 April
 * Tutorial acceptance notification — 13 May
 * Full paper submission deadline — 24 June
 * Paper acceptance notification — 29 July
 * Poster abstract submission deadline — 12 August
 * Poster acceptance notification — 26 August
 * Publication-ready paper deadline — 6 September
 * Tutorial presentation deadline — 9 November
 
All submissions must describe original work not previously published or currently under review for publication in another conference or journal. Instructions can be found at http://www.ieee.org/portal/cms_docs/pubs/confpubcenter/pdfs/samplems.pdf.

For more information on submitting papers, posters and tutorial proposals to HST 11, please visit http://www.ieee-hst.org/cfp/cfp.html or download http://www.ieee-hst.org/cfp/IEEE Call_for_Papers_2011.pdf .
For general information on HST 11, see http://www.ieee-hst.org/ or email information@ieee-hst.org.
 
Nearly 400 people attended the 2010 conference, including representatives from 11 foreign countries. The IEEE Boston Section (http://www.ieeeboston.org/) is producing HST 11 with support from IEEE-USA, the Department of Homeland Security Science & Technology Directorate, IEEE Biometrics Council, IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, MIT Lincoln Laboratory, Raytheon and MITRE. 

 Future Homes will be Energy Self-Sufficient, IEEE Green Technologies Conference Speaker Says

WASHINGTON (22 March 2011) — Can you imagine the day your home produced all the energy it needed and didn’t have to connect to the electric grid? Syracuse University Research Fellow Janet Marsden can.

Marsden, who’s working towards her Ph.D. in the Syracuse School of Information Studies, will present her case during the third-annual IEEE Green Technologies Conference, 14-15 April 2011, at the Hilton Hotel in Baton Rouge, La.

“We have created a grid which is so complex that it is unmanageable,” said Marsden on the 7 March radio program, “The Promise of Tomorrow” with Colonel Mason. “So because we have wireless architecture at this point, what we want to look at is a different way to approach the energy delivery problem.”

Marsden foresees the day homes and businesses have their own solar, wind and geothermal power-producing technology, as well as batteries to store excess energy. She thinks the electric-vehicle battery technology being developed by automobile manufacturers will evolve into applications for buildings.

“You make the house itself a charging station and you do the load balancing by putting the batteries there,” Marsden said. She added that because the U.S. electric grid is more than 100 years old, “we really need to look at what 21st century electrical generation needs to look like.”

To listen to Marsden’s interview, go to http://www.promiseoftomorrow.biz/bizradio/030711/030711.htm.

Because of increasing concerns about fossil fuel costs, supplies and emissions, scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs are more closely examining the commercial viability of renewable energy sources. The IEEE Green Technologies Conference aims to look at solar, wind, nuclear, geothermal, hydro and biomass technologies, among others, as well as alternative vehicle power sources such as fuel cells, gasoline and liquid natural gas electric hybrids and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.

The conference is organized by IEEE Region 5 and the IEEE Baton Rouge Section. Sponsors include the Boeing Co., IEEE-USA, Louisiana State University, the city of Baton Rouge, Entergy, Kawasaki Rail Car and the U.S. Department of Energy. For more information and to register, see http://www.ieeegreentech.org. For the technical program schedule, go to http://www.ieeegreentech.org/TechConf/2011GreenConferenceProgram_3.13.11.pdf.

Texas Senator, Illinois Representative to be Honored for Science, Engineering & Technology Leadership

WASHINGTON (29 March 2011) — Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) and Rep. Daniel Lipinski (D-Ill.) will be honored with the 2011 George E. Brown Jr. Science, Engineering and Technology Leadership Award on Capitol Hill on 6 April.

Hutchison and Lipinski will receive their awards during a reception in the Rayburn Foyer of the Rayburn House Office Building from 5 to 7 p.m. IEEE-USA President Ron Jensen will make the presentation to Hutchison.

Hutchison serves on the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee and is ranking member of the Space, Aeronautics and Related Sciences Subcommittee. In 2006 she was an original cosponsor of the Protecting America’s Competitive Edge Act, the National Competitiveness Investment Act and the American Innovation and Competitiveness Act.

Two of her amendments to the American Innovation and Competitiveness Act — to include NASA in inter-agency competitiveness and innovation efforts, and to focus increased funding for the National Science Foundation (NSF) on physical sciences, technology, engineering and math — were included in the America COMPETES Act of 2007. America COMPETES is designed to promote U.S. innovation and competitiveness so the United States can maintain its global leadership in science and technology, and create new jobs.

Lipinski is a member of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee. As chairman last year of its Research and Science Education Subcommittee, he helped lead House passage of the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010. He is now the subcommittee’s ranking member.

Lipinski holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and a master’s in engineering-economic systems. He has for the past six years sponsored the House resolution recognizing the goals and ideals of National Engineers Week. http://lipinski.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1398&Itemid=59

Lipinski also cosponsored “IEEE Engineering the Future Day,” the 2009 House resolution that recognized IEEE on its 125th anniversary. http://www.ieeeusa.org/communications/releases/2009/051309.asp

The event will also feature a number of exhibits demonstrating how a strong federal commitment to scientific and engineering research spurs U.S. economic growth. “A Hands-on View of Planet Earth,” from the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology, will include real-time demonstrations of seismic and other activities that can change people’s lives in an instant. The recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan will be highlighted.

The George E. Brown Jr. Science, Engineering and Technology Leadership Award is presented annually by the Science, Engineering and Technology Work Group (SETWG) to members of Congress who are effective advocates of federal investment in science and technology. It is named for the late Rep. George E. Brown Jr., a longtime member of Congress who made outstanding contributions to federal support for science and technology throughout his congressional career.

The award is presented annually in conjunction with SETWG’s Congressional Visits Day (CVD), the preeminent yearly event during which hundreds of scientists and engineers from around the country come to Washington for two days of briefings and visits to their members of Congress. About 250 people are expected to participate in 2011 CVD events (6-7 April). www.setcvd.org

SETWG, of which IEEE-USA is a member, is an information network of professional, scientific and engineering societies, higher education associations, institutions of higher learning and trade associations. It is concerned about the future vitality of the U.S. science, mathematics and engineering enterprise. http://www.agiweb.org/cvd/setwgrst.html

This news release is available at http://www.ieeeusa.org/communications/releases/2011/032911.asp.

Congress to Hear Testimony Today in Support of IEEE-USA’s High-Tech Immigration Position

WASHINGTON (31 March 2011) — Bruce Morrison, a former member of Congress and chairman of Morrison Public Affairs Group, will testify in support of IEEE-USA’s high-tech immigration position on Capitol Hill today.

Morrison is one of four witnesses who will speak before the House Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Immigration Policy and Enforcement. The hearing — “H-1B Visas: Designing a Program to Meet the Needs of the U.S. Economy and U.S. Workers” — will be in the Rayburn House Office Building, room 2141, at 10 a.m.

Here are excerpts from his written testimony:

“It is clear from the debates over H-1B during the past 15 years that there will be continuing controversy over the ‘right’ contours for that category. You are hearing different views on that controversy today. But while this debate continues, there is a more pressing problem that can and should be addressed: facilitating the employment of the many advanced-degree graduates of STEM* programs in America’s top universities. While the percentages vary by school and program, it continues to be the case that a majority of these graduates are foreign-born. This statistic should be a matter of concern, and an effective response to the underrepresentation of American students in STEM graduate programs is imperative. But this condition has existed for decades and any correction will take decades, as well.”

“In May and June, another class of advanced-degree STEM graduates will join the workforce. Whose welcome mat will be most attractive? America has always won this competition in the past, but our competitors are increasingly aggressive in pursuit of this talent pool. And globalization has made it easier for multinational companies to go where the talent goes, rather than insist that the talent stay in America. With our unemployment so high, we desperately need to hold onto these jobs — those filled by Americans and those that can be filled by foreign-born graduates on their way to becoming Americans — as well as the jobs that their work will create.”

“In short, there are no problems for which green cards are not a better solution than temporary visas. And there are no problems with the H-1B program itself that a system built on green cards will not help to fix. So we are asking this subcommittee to change the subject — from H-1B to green cards — at least long enough to address the opportunity to retain this spring’s new STEM graduates permanently in America and to help their predecessors to not continue having to wait in endless lines for their dates to come up in the green card queue.

“Today the bipartisan leadership of the Judiciary Committee and this subcommittee received a joint letter from IEEE-USA and the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA). It is remarkable. Organizations composed of the largest high-tech employers on the one hand, and the largest organization of high-tech workers on the other, agree that Congress should focus on green cards, not guest worker visas. This is a sign pointing in the direction that we hope this subcommittee will go.”  

* STEM is science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Morrison’s entire written testimony is available at http://www.ieeeusa.org/policy/policy/2011/033111b.pdf.

IEEE-USA’s joint letter with SIA in support of green cards is at http://www.ieeeusa.org/policy/policy/2011/033111a.pdf

For more on IEEE-USA’s position on “Ensuring a Strong High-Tech Workforce through Educational and Employment-Based Immigration Reforms,” see http://www.ieeeusa.org/policy/positions/Immigration1110.pdf.