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Workshop on How America Invents Act Will Affect Best Business Practices Coming to Arlington, Va., Friday; Live Webcast Also Available
WASHINGTON (15 October 2012) — Are you ready for the biggest change in patent law in more than 140 years? Find out how you can protect yourself in light of the America Invents Act with a “Workshop on How the AIA Will Affect Best Business Practices.”
Sponsored by the IEEE Intellectual Property Professionals Initiative, the event will be hosted by George Mason University on Friday, 19 October from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Webcast live.
The workshop is designed for inventors, engineering and intellectual property managers, and attorneys advising inventors and business leaders to mitigate their risks, protect their inventions and adapt their R&D and business practices to the new law. Find out what new rules went into effect on 16 September and what changes are in store for 16 March, 2013.
“This is the time to review your patent and innovation processes to optimize your business operations or risk losing significant protection for your inventions,” Former IEEE-USA Intellectual Property Committee Chair Keith Grzelak said. “This seminar will provide lawyers, inventors and business people with a list of critical issues that might not be clear from the legislative and regulatory language of the America Invents Act.”
In addition to Grzelak, an IP attorney and principal at Wells St. John P.S. (Spokane, Wash.), speakers include David Boundy, vice president and assistant general counsel for intellectual property at Cantor Fitzgerald (Boston); Adam Mossoff, professor of law, George Mason University School of Law; Robert Sterne, founding director of Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox, P.L.L.C. (Washington); Carlos Villamar, patent attorney, The Villamar Firm, P.L.L.C. (Falls Church, Va.); Janet Gongola, patent reform coordinator, United States Patent and Trademark Office; and Dr. Rick Neifeld, patent attorney, Neifeld IP Law, PC (Alexandria, Va.).
The event will be held at George Mason’s Founders Hall (room 134),
3351 Fairfax Drive in Arlington, Va. It is two blocks from the Virginia Square — GMU Metro Station on the Orange Line. Underground parking is also available.
To register, see http://www.ieeeusa.org/IP-Pros/Workshops/Oct2012/default.asp.
**IEEE-USA IN ACTION** New Video: ‘Putting the I in IEEE-USA’
WASHINGTON (19 October 2012) — IEEE-USA has been striving for nearly 40 years to support the professional interests of U.S. IEEE members. How we do that is captured in a new video, “Putting the I in IEEE-USA,” where you will find the “I” in IEEE-USA is all about you.
The video shows how you can take advantage of IEEE-USA products, services and activities to support and advance your career. It includes things like the IEEE-USA Salary & Benefits Survey, government fellowship opportunities and the IEEE-USA Consultants Database.
You can run the video at your next IEEE section or society meeting to show your fellow members how they can better utilize all IEEE-USA has to offer. It’s available for download, along with other valuable resources, at http://www.ieeeusa.org/about/media.
The video is also on IEEE-USA’s YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/ieeeusa.
Rapid DNA Analysis Technology to be Presented at IEEE Homeland Security Conference
WASHINGTON (24 October 2012) — Current DNA analysis methods require expert users in a controlled laboratory environment and take weeks to months to produce results. The ANDE system from NetBio would allow the generation of CODIS-quality DNA profiles by non-technical users in a field environment in less than 1.5 hours.
NetBio CEO Dr. Richard Selden will discuss the system during the 2012 IEEE International Conference on Technologies for Homeland Security (HST ’12), 13-15 November in Waltham, Mass., outside Boston.
Selden will present Dr. Melissa May’s paper, “Field-Deployable Rapid DNA Analysis: Fully Integrated, Fully Automated Generation of Short Tandem Repeat Profiles from Buccal Swabs.” In it, May discusses the critical components of the integrated system and demonstrates how it is able to produce high-quality DNA profiles for human identification in a compressed time frame.
“NetBio’s Rapid DNA Analysis system has the potential to revolutionize the use of DNA as a biometric for law enforcement, military and homeland security applications,” said May, NetBio’s senior director of strategic planning. “It generates DNA profiles in approximately 80 minutes and can be operated by a nontechnical user outside the laboratory.”
HST ’12 will bring together global science and technology thought leaders to foster homeland security technology innovation. The Technical Program Committee reviewed 233 abstracts and accepted 117 combined papers/posters (50.2 percent acceptance rate). The accepted papers will showcase emerging technologies in:
* Cyber Security
* Attack & Disaster Preparation, Recovery & Response
* Borders & Maritime Security
* Biometrics & Forensics
The event will also feature business panels that address effective business strategies in the current homeland security market.
For more information and to register, visit www.ieee-hst.org or contact Bob Alongi at information@ieee-hst.org or 781-245-5405.
HST ’12 is produced by IEEE with technical support from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Science & Technology Directorate and the IEEE Nuclear and Plasma Sciences Society. IEEE-USA is providing organizational support.
Study Guide for New Software Engineering Exam Now Available
WASHINGTON (31 October 2012) — A study guide for those planning to take the new software engineering exam is now available from IEEE-USA. It includes 40 representative questions and solutions, a suggested reference list and test specifications.
The Principles and Practice of Engineering (PE) Software Engineering exam — PE Software exam — will be offered by NCEES, The National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying, for the first time in April 2013.
IEEE Fellow Dr. Phillip Laplante, a professor of software engineering at Penn State University’s Malvern, Pa., campus and chair of the Software Engineering Licensure Examination Development Committee, said the study guide is an essential tool in preparing for the exam.
“All prospective exam takers would be well-served to review the book to help identify weaknesses in their knowledge prior to taking the exam,” Laplante said.
The study guide is $39.99 for IEEE members and $49.99 for nonmembers. http://ieeeusa.org/communications/ebooks/info.asp?Keyword=career&Product=Software+PE+Exam+%96+Sample+Questions+and+Solutions#=
PE Software exam registration begins 17 December. Check http://ncees.org/exams to find out about your state’s approval and registration process. See exam specifications at http://engineers.texas.gov/downloads/ncees_PESoftware_2013.pdf.
Many state licensing boards have long contended that because software engineers play a significant and expanding role in the design and operation of safety-critical systems, they should be regulated in the same manner as other engineering disciplines. Projects affecting public health, welfare and safety — such as electric grids, traffic control systems and water treatment plants — require licensed engineers to verify that design work is done properly.
The PE Software exam was developed under the auspices of IEEE-USA, the IEEE Computer Society, the Texas Board of Professional Engineers and the National Society of Professional Engineers.
“The exam is the result of a comprehensive survey study of several hundred software engineering professionals and the hard work of a dedicated committee of practicing software engineers with extensive experience in a wide range of mission-critical systems,” Laplante said.
For more on the licensing of software engineers in an FAQ article from Laplante, see http://theinstitute.ieee.org/ieee-roundup/opinions/ieee-roundup/answers-to-faqs-about-software-licensing.
IEEE-USA Free E-Books to Members in November & December Focus on ‘Best of Backscatter’ Series & ‘Doing Innovation: Creating Economic Value’
WASHINGTON (15 November 2012) –- As a special benefit to IEEE members in November, IEEE-USA is offering a free e-book, “The Best of Backscatter from IEEE-USA Today’s Engineer – Volume 1.” The free e-book for members in December will be “Doing Innovation: Creating Economic Value – Book 1: Perspectives on Innovation.”
“The Best of Backscatter” is a compilation of articles written for IEEE-USA Today’s Engineer by Donald Christiansen, former editor and publisher of IEEE Spectrum magazine and an IEEE fellow. A sampling of articles includes: “ABET’s EC2000: How’re We Doin’?;” “Reality and the Virtual Engineer;” “The Engineer: Professional or Business Practitioner?;” “About Working Together … or Not;” “Engineers as Inventors;” and “Engineers Can’t Write? Sez Who!”
“The Best of Backscatter from Today’s Engineer – Volume 1” can be downloaded at http://www.ieeeusa.org/communications/ebooks/files/vn20382n/Best-of-Backscatter-Vol1.pdf for free to IEEE members. The nonmember price is $5.99.
Gerard H.(Gus)Gaynor, Retired 3M director of engineering, wrote the first e-book in IEEE-USA’s Innovation Series, “Doing Innovation: Creating Economic Value – Book 1: Perspectives on Innovation.” He penned the series out of his concern that “while innovation appears to receive considerable attention in the academic and business media, these so-called innovations provide little, if any, consistent and significant economic growth.”
Topics in Book 1 include, among others: Ambiguities Associated with Innovation; Basic Concepts Associated with Innovation; Continuum from Idea to Innovation; Types of Innovation; and How Innovation Takes Place.
To purchase IEEE member-only products and to receive the member discount on eligible products, members must log in with their IEEE Web account.
Call for Authors
IEEE-USA E-books seek authors to write an e-book or a series on career guidance and development topics. If you have an idea for an e-book that will benefit members on a particular topic of expertise, email your proposal to IEEE-USA Publishing Manager Georgia C. Stelluto at g.stelluto@ieee.org.