1:45 pm

Promoting the Wellness Model of Elderly Health Care through Technology and Social Support

Judy Moore, Elaine Raybourne and Jessica Glicken - Sandia National Laboratory
Convention Center Room 110

Within the next 20 years, the nation will be faced with increased pressure on its health care delivery mechanisms as the dramatic aging of our population becomes evident. Presently, two paradigms underlie efforts to maintain the health of the elderly. The first, a medical paradigm, is based on a 'crisis management' approach in which interventions are tried only if an individual's health is critically impaired. The second, a wellness paradigm based on prevention, intervenes to maintain a healthy state and avoid crisis. While both approaches use a combination of technology and social support, the medical paradigm focuses heavily on technology, while wellness interventions rely primarily on social support. This paper will explore wellness interventions that use technology to significantly enhance social support mechanisms, particularly in cases of social isolation arising from geographic distance, psychological state, or physical disability.

Traditional Project Management is insufficient to meet the current and future needs of business. Projects are more complex than ever before and span multiple enterprises. New technologies result in new processes, requiring new management approaches. Project Management has become a necessary discipline in every business area. Companies must ensure that they maintain the skills needed to effectively manage the multiple changes occurring in their environments. As implementation timeframes shrink and the market demands increased agility from businesses, individual employees as well as project managers require knowledge of project management methodologies and techniques. This paper discusses the styles needed by the new project manager in today's business environment.

Transferring knowledge across industries, across product lines, across technologies, across cultures, etc. all involve people having to do something different than they used to. Technologies, across cultures, etc. all involve people having to do something different than they used to. How that change in what they are to do is implemented is where many companies fail in the knowledge transfer - the science/facts/content etc. are usually right, it's the way they are told/shown/instructed what to do that usually is unclear.

TL 9000 - the telecom industry's version of ISO 9000 (International Quality Management System Standard). Again, this is not a "technical" subject but it is a strategic management issue that affects the telecom supplier's operations (e.g. hardware, software, and services) and is becoming a requirement to do business with the telecom service providers. The attachment is over 100 words but an easy read. It's only been in effect one year, but is expected to affect over 10,000 companies worldwide.

In Latin America, the educational level differences between the high and low social classes are really appreciable thus hindering social mobility. The need and urgency to reduce this educational gap is clearly recognized by everyone. Many efforts in educational policies (educational reforms, teachers more specialized, etc.) have been placed. In addition, several studies show that the introduction of computers to the schools, and more specifically educational games, is a proven way to accelerate children learning. The high cost of computers is, however, a good reason for poor schools to keep them away or have just a few. On other hand, some researches using improvised educational handheld devices have shown an amazing improvement in learning when children used them. This paper shows how Motorola designed a new low-cost educational handheld platform and how this design went, in a short time, from a wire-wrap prototype to a complete product ready to go for production.

Telecommuting sounds great, but doesn't always live up to the promise. Careers can suffer when an individual is out of sight of colleagues or seniors, and some individuals need regular interaction with colleagues. This paper describes the criteria to determine if telecommuting is a viable choice, and provides keys to getting started with low risk. The criteria include suitability with respect to the job, the culture, and personal and long-term goals. The paper provides guidelines on building and maintaining contacts with colleagues, successful work environments, participation in essential activities, and leveraging technology for successful telecommuting.

1:45 pm

Marenda Caldwell - United Parcel Service

Convention Center Room C109 (room change)

Ergonomic Aspects of VDT Design: Cognitive and Physical

The purpose of this paper is to summarize findings pertaining to cognitive ergonomics and visual display terminal design and to recommend cognitive and physical design guidelines for design of visual display terminals (VDTs). The suggestions offered are based on human factors standards and anthropometric data.

As SWE enters the 21st century, distance learning becomes an increasingly important facet for members to expand their career opportunities. Many engineering professionals need to upgrade their job skills to keep current in a world of ever changing technology. Constraints of daily work and personal life demands on today's engineers make it very difficult to pursue educational and career goals. The 21st century will see a change to the paradigm of institution-centered engineering education. Advances in technology will overcome the barriers of time and space in learning and allow a greater level of interactivity in courses. Colleges, universities and corporations will expand web-based educational programs for engineers with online courses available anywhere and at anytime. There will be an increase in two-way video/audio courses which can be held at specific times and transmitted to a corporation's facility as well as remote locations. Northrop Grumman Corporation has been active in offering online courses to its engineers and is at the forefront of new technology utilizing video teleconferencing equipment to connect distant sites with high-speed ISDN lines. This paper discusses the importance, types and the future of distance learning in engineering.

In our current business economy the competition between companies for both engineering talent and increased capability maturity is as strong as ever. In order to better compete as a large defense contractor, we are dedicating an increasing amount of resources to recruiting, employee retention and engineering productivity. These three initiatives are all significantly boosted by the career development and training opportunities available to our employees. We are in the process of rolling out a three-part program which includes: Mentoring: Senior engineering staff teamed with and counseling new and inexperienced engineers; System Engineering Training: Provides training across functional skills and product domains; and Career Development: Career opportunities worked between supervisor and engineers. A great deal of our business is focused on integration of systems into large-scale systems, as well as interoperability of sub-systems and systems to meet performance requirements. This requires system engineers to have a broad range of product knowledge obtained through many years of engineering experience as well as training across many functional areas and domains. This broad experience and knowledge of defense specific product areas makes it crucial to attract and retain system engineering talent.

How could graduate school help me meet my personal and career goals? Will I have to pay for it myself? Is the application process different from applying to undergraduate programs? How will I have time for all those forms? Come hear answers to all these questions and more as we take you through the entire graduate school application process. We'll consider whether you want to attend as well as how to search for programs, complete requirements, and ultimately choose the best program for you. The presenters are graduate students and longtime SWE members who compiled opinions from many graduate students into the scribe award winning "Guide to the Graduate School Application Process." This talk will be geared toward continuing undergraduate students, but issues related to returning and nontraditional students will also be discussed.

Continuing education, graduate education, life-long learning: Are they the same? What should you expect from continuing your education? Is it always a career boost? When do you know it's time in your career to go back to school? Technical or management? How do educators see the continuing student? What are the alternatives to a traditional graduate degree? - These questions are personal, but we, as citizens of an educated nation must also take a longer look at the competitive advantages in international endeavors that the U.S. enjoys because of our access to graduate education. How can we, as citizens, assure continued access? What can we, as women engineers, do to improve the access, content and applicability of continuing education? Are we, as individuals, taking advantage of an almost unique opportunity - and making sure others do, too?

Starting a Graduate Student Group within Your Student Section

Are you a graduate student looking for ways to make SWE interesting for you? Are you a section looking for ways to get more graduate students involved? Come hear some ways to successfully involve graduate students in your SWE student section. The session will describe tactics for recruitment of graduate students and activities of interest for graduate students. It will address some of the hurdles and stigmas faced by student sections in maintaining graduate students. The presenters are graduate students and officers from sections with graduate student involvement. The session will focus on how to start a successful graduate student committee in your section, including small but effective steps to take when you have few resources.

4:00 pm

Susan Brauer - Motorola

Convention Center Room C111

Changes

A career change can be made at anytime in an individual's life, and one is never too old to be reeducated for the newly chosen career. At thirty-three years of age, married with six children, it became necessary for me to choose a new direction for my life. As a women raised in the fifties and sixties the career options that I believed were open to me were extremely limited. Electrical Engineering as a career was proposed to me as a result of blind luck. The purpose of this presentation is to inform women about engineering as a career choice and to give an example of how it can be accomplished if chosen. When a decision to change one's career is made there are several challenges to overcome. The number of challenges increases if a non-traditional career is chosen. Decisions in education dealing with where and what to study must be made. Fear must be faced-fear of failure because you feel that you may be too old to learn; fear of changes in your relationships with your husband and children. Prejudice is an obstacle to be dealt with. This may be expressed as defeatist attitudes about your potential success expressed by your close friends as well as professors, employers, and even yourself. Career changes take courage and determination but once they are accomplished they are a source of self-esteem and satisfaction. For women who have been raised in a society that still harbors the belief that education and career planning are not necessary for them, but more often than not requires them to work to support their families, it can be a path to independence and self-respect. The burdens of family and life seem to be easier to handle working as and engineer as compared to working in a minimum wage job where little or no education or training is required. Money and an interesting career aren't everything, but they help.

 

THE CAREER ODYSSEY (Sponsored by DuPont)

FRIDAY

11:00 pm

April Lauper - Kellogg Brown & Root

Convention Center Room C208 (room change)

Become an Engineer - See the World

Do you know the steps needed to get an overseas assignment? Are you aware of the corporate contracts you must sign prior to such an assignment? What about other concerns such as personal safety, foreign customs, location and/or cultural restrictions, taxes, and much, much more. Be aware prior to taking overseas assignment. Being naive and excited about an assignment can produce future disappointment. Come, listen, learn and ask questions on this important topic that is not taught in school but you need to know. This presentation is aimed at those interested in taking a first-time overseas assignment.

1:00 pm

Judi Ahrikencheikh - Agilent Technologies

Convention Center Room C208

Can Diversity Maximize Your Business Potential?

This paper is an exploration of fundamental theories related to diversity concepts including: cultural assumptions, factors that intensify cultural transitions, and ally-building. It will also identify how organizational culture is created, maintained, evaluated, and changed. It will examine the benefits, as well as the costs, of maintaining traditional paradigms in an increasingly diverse workplace. It examines how Agilent Technologies' recruitment and retention of a multicultural workforce requires deliberate and conscientious attention to advertising and hiring practices as well as a commitment to a deliberate process for transitioning new hires, exploring opportunities for working with internship and residency programs as an effort to prepare diverse candidates for a competitive market.

1:45 pm

Patrice Lang- Motorola

Convention Center Room C208

Myths About Mentoring, Networking, and Diversity Programs

This paper will focus on how the use of networking, mentoring and diversity programs should not be used independently for success with in corporate America. Networking is important since the old adage that "who you know" counts more than "what you know" still exists in the corporate culture. It is key that one not only attempts to network with individuals inside the company but also outside at church, family and friend related socials. Mentoring is another key method of obtaining and maintaining success. One must understand that he/she should have more than one mentor. In addition, one must understand that a mentor should be used to discuss career strategies and options; however, the individual should not feel obligated to follow his/her mentors advice religiously. One must determine if the mentor's advice meets his/her career and personal objectives. A mentor does not have to be inside the mentee's race or gender either. The goal is to obtain advice and knowledge on from individuals who either have experienced your goals or have come in close contact with others who have/had similar goals.

 

2:30 pm

Dr. Christina Eggert & Jacqueline DiNuccio - Sikorsky Aircraft

Convention Center Room C208

The Glass Ceiling and Its Effects

In a 1986 Wall Street Journal article, the term "glass ceiling" was popularized to describe the invisible barriers that women (and minorities) confront as they approach the top of corporate hierarchy. The U.S. Department of Labor defines the glass ceiling as "artificial barriers based on attitudinal or organizational bias that prevents qualified individuals from advancing upward in their organizations into management-level positions". The basic problems for women in management and Engineering management are ones of under-representation and of visibility and power. As of March 1994 (per another Wall Street Journal article), 15.1% of all male employees in the workforce were managers, while only 7.5% of all women were managers. This is despite the fact that women comprise almost half of the total workforce. One census of women at the top of the ladder, taken by The New York Times in 1996, showed that women hold just about 2% of the power positions no matter how they are defined - by title, paycheck or responsibility for the bottom line. Men continue to hold most of the management jobs, especially at high levels and unless the rate of women getting into management increases significantly, will continue to do so for the next several decades. The argument made in the past; that when more women entered the workforce pipeline and earned business credentials and education, their numbers in management would increase significantly; has not proven true. Women are in the pipeline, they have the education and business acumen and the desire, but there is still a large gap. The problem has many facets - not the least among them culture and habit - which must be addressed.

3:15 pm

Rae Ann Dougherty - R & R Strategies, Inc.

Convention Center Room C208

From Employee to Entrepreneur

Magnitude 8.0 on the Richter scale is what happens when you go from an executive corporate position to starting up and owning your own company. Would I do it again? You bet! Moving from employee to entrepreneur is a promising, challenging alternative to working in corporate America. Becoming an entrepreneur addresses the need to have greater control, balance, and meaning to one's work and personal life, because one has the responsibility for creating such balance and meaning. As of 1999, there were 9.1 million women-owned businesses in the U.S.A., generating over $3.6 trillion in sales and employing 27.5 million workers. Starting your own business can be very rewarding. It can also be very risky. To be successful you need to prepare for personal, financial, professional and lifestyle changes. Come to this presentation to learn about some issues to consider and guidelines to use. Topics will include: * Paradigm Shift from an Employee to an Entrepreneur * Personal Transformation Required * Prepare for Your New Professional Situation * Logistics of Starting and Operating the Business As a result you will have a better understanding of how to minimize the risks and maximize your success.

4:00 pm

Marna J. Whitney - Raytheon

Convention Center Room C208 (room change)

Striking a Balance Between Work and Home

This presentation provides real-life examples of how the working woman today strives to balance her "at-work" life with her "at-home" life. Rather than reiterate the many helpful sources available today to aid an individual in finding a work/home balance, this presentation provides the audience with true life responses to a number of issues (such as career advancement, working relationships, one's own well-being, and personal relationships) that play into the balancing act for a working woman, especially in an engineering firm.

THE CAREER ODYSSEY (Sponsored by DuPont)

SATURDAY

1:00 pm NEW

Presented by Erin Sweeney and Natalie Smock

Convention Center Room C108

Financial Well-Being: What Every Woman Should Know

Ninety percent of women will be solely responsible for financial decision making at some point in their lives. American Express Financial Advisors is committee to making sure that all women are 100% ready to achieve financial well-being. This seminar is an educational program that gives women the financial information and confidence they need to make wise financial decisions. It will focus on six key areas of financial planning: understanding your current financial situation, protecting your assets, accumulating wealth for specific goals, managing income taxes, planning for retirement, and estate planning. Other topics to be discussed include asset allocation, the tax control triangle, pension maximization, and unified credit trusts.
 
Erin Sweeney has been with American Express Financial Advisors for two years and regularly makes presents to corporations and individuals. Her BSBA in Finance and Marketing is from the University of Denver.
 
Natalie Smock has a BS in Chemical Engineering from Vanderbilt University. She previously worked on the American Stock Exchange Options Floor and the Bear Stearns Emerging Markets trading desk. She has recently joined American Express Financial Advisors.

2:00 pm NEW

Presented by Erin Sweeney and Natalie Smock

Convention Center Room C108

Financial Well-Being: What Every Woman Should Know

Ninety percent of women will be solely responsible for financial decision making at some point in their lives. American Express Financial Advisors is committee to making sure that all women are 100% ready to achieve financial well-being. This seminar is an educational program that gives women the financial information and confidence they need to make wise financial decisions. It will focus on six key areas of financial planning: understanding your current financial situation, protecting your assets, accumulating wealth for specific goals, managing income taxes, planning for retirement, and estate planning. Other topics to be discussed include asset allocation, the tax control triangle, pension maximization, and unified credit trusts.
 
Erin Sweeney has been with American Express Financial Advisors for two years and regularly makes presents to corporations and individuals. Her BSBA in Finance and Marketing is from the University of Denver.
 
Natalie Smock has a BS in Chemical Engineering from Vanderbilt University. She previously worked on the American Stock Exchange Options Floor and the Bear Stearns Emerging Markets trading desk. She has recently joined American Express Financial Advisors.

THE TECHNOLOGICAL ODYSSEY IN COMMUNICATION

THURSDAY

1:45 pm

Dr. Aaron N. Silver - Raytheon

Convention Center Room C101

Deploying Cost-Effective Software Quality Metrics Using Dynamic Process Modeling: A Methodology and Case History

The identification and deployment of a "minimal" set of necessary and sufficient cost-effective metrics comprising Programmatic (cost, schedule, size, effort, complexity, and risk), as well as Performance Parameters (defects and defect density/containment), Quality Attributes (reliability, maintainability, dependability, survivability, portability, etc.), and Computer Science (cyclomatic complexity, unique & common operands and operators, etc.) entities is described within the context of a "Raytheon Six Sigma" operational environment. Essentially, these techniques are based primarily upon the "Balanced Scorecard" perspective (developed by Dr. R. S. Kaplan & Dr. D. P. Norton at the Harvard Business School) which defines achievable stretch goals (in the areas of Finance, Customer, Process, and Learning perspectives) for Cost/Effectiveness, Waste Reduction, and Process Improvement activities.

3:15 pm

Terri Helmlinger - N.C. State University

Convention Center Room C101

Trends in Professional Development: What Technology is doing to Continuing Education

New technology is affecting the education field in two very salient ways. First, the emergence of new technologies in traditional jobs and the emergence of new "technology" jobs are creating an exponential increase in the demand for continuing education and professional development for the existing workforce. Secondly, as is true with the provision of any other business function, the relatively new option of e-learning is adding to the blend of choices. The dynamic created by these new forces is revolutionary for traditional education providers. This paper provides insights to the data that track these changes and offers likely trends in continuing education and professional development for the future.

THE FUTURE OF EXPLORATION

FRIDAY

1:00 pm

Dr. Chris Barret - NASA Marshall Space Flight Center

Convention Center Room C210 (room change)

So, What's an RTG and Are They Safe?

When one considers space missions to the outer edges of our solar system and far beyond, our sun cannot be relied on to produce the required spacecraft (s/c) power. Solar energy diminishes as the square of the distance from the Sun. At Mars it is only 43% of that at earth. At Jupiter, it falls off to only 3.6% of Earth's. By the time we get out to Pluto, solar energy is only .066% what it is on Earth. Beyond the orbit of Mars, it is not practical to depend on solar power for a s/c. However, the farther out we go the more power we need to heat the s/c and to transmit data back to Earth over the long distances. On Earth, knowledge is power. In the outer solar system, power is knowledge. Solar arrays only operate at 19% efficiency, are very vulnerable to damage from radiation and temperature extremes, and cannot be used for even nearby missions that operate in extended darkness, or under the surface of a planet or moon. Twenty-six U.S. space missions, from the Transit to Cassini, have used radioisotope power systems and heater units to take space crafts to the far reaches of our solar system and have demonstrated an outstanding record of safety and reliability. Radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTG's) have proven to be safe, reliable, maintenance-free, and capable of providing both thermal and electrical power for decades under the harsh environments of deep space.

1:45 pm

Linda J Mullen - Rockwell

Convention Center Room C210 (room change)

Biophotonics: Using Light to Explore the Body

The noninvasive and early detection of biological tissue abnormalities with submillimeter dimensions, such as cancerous tumors, is a challenge. The well-established X-ray and ultrasound techniques lack the resolution to detect such small objects. In addition, the risk of tissue ionization prevents the use of X-rays for routine examination. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has submillimeter resolution, but the cost of this technique is still high for general use. The need for a safe, inexpensive, and efficient method for the early detection of tissue imperfections has led to the investigation of optical imaging techniques. Light in the red to infra-red portion of the optical spectrum is minimally absorbed as it propagates through tissue and can therefore be used to noninvasively probe internal structures. The existence of this transmission window, combined with the highly forward-directed scattering of light, allows for substantial penetration of light in tissue. However, the high degree of optical scattering degrades image contrast and resolution. Several techniques have been developed that show great potential for improving optical imaging in the body. This paper will review these techniques and report on their progress in both laboratory and clinical trials.

2:30 pm

Denise Dulaigh - Raytheon

Convention Center Room C210 (room change)

Using Software to Model and Simulate a Satellite System

Ideas for new satellite systems start with some broad objectives and these objectives are narrowed down into requirements. These requirements are reviewed and modified to meet design and money constraints. As satellite systems become more complex, the ability to meet these requirements becomes harder. While the overall objective is to communicate with or observe something, the system will be built with what can be realistically achieved within the design constraints. This paper will describe modeling and simulation of a satellite system using software analysis tools. These tools will help to visualize the constraints that may occur on the payload or with communication to ground stations and other satellites. This will be followed by some of the specifics of mission analysis that are evaluated by the software tools to aid in the design of the satellite system.

3:15 am NEW

Emily Jean Mounce - Santa Clara University

Convention Center Room C210

From ROVs to AUVs: Integrating Automatic Control for Mantaris, Santa Clara University's Third ROV

Underwater research is an exciting field to work in although difficult because of the extreme environmental conditions. Engineers have developed a variety of robots that are used in underwater applications. Santa Clara University (SCU) began to build such robots in 1998 when an anthropology student was interested in searching for a sunken whaling fleet off the cost of Alaska. Since then, SCU has focused on building remotely operating vehicles, ROVs. These vehicles are tethered and driven by a pilot who is guided by a camera on the vehicle. Autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) are not tethered and look like small submarines. These vehicles are used in research for such areas as underwater vents and geological studies.

THE TECHNOLOGICAL ODYSSEY

THURSDAY

1:00 pm

Kim-Marie Levis and Andrew Mawer - Motorola

Convention Center Room C208

Assembly and Solder Joint Reliability of Plastic Ball Grid Array with Lead-Free Versus Lead-Tin Interconnect

Many governments, particularly in Japan and Europe, have proposed laws reducing or eliminating the use of lead (Pb) and other toxic substances in products in an effort to decrease landfill pollution and ground water contamination. Thus, there exists a need for lead-free components in order to comply with government standards and to meet market demands for "green" products. As the semiconductor industry moves towards environmentally friendly components, it is important that their assembly and reliability be well characterized. This paper will describe experiments performed to determine the interconnect reliability of a peripherally leaded 1.0 mm pitch, 324 PBGA with lead-free (tin-silver) versus conventional (tin-lead-silver) solder balls.

1:45 pm

Gina L. Jones - United Parcel Service

Convention Center Room C208

Process Improvement and Reengineering through Service Parts Logistics

Industrial Engineering's impact on defining third party logistics (3PL) in the after-market sector -Issues to be addressed: Why is Service Parts Logistics significant to industry? How has Service Parts Logistics impacted: Post sales services? Customer / vendor partnership? Performance measures? How does this re-define or broaden the IE discipline?

2:30 pm CANCELLED

Lynn Feagan - NorthStar Battery Company

Convention Center Room C208

Building a State of the Art Battery Manufacturing Facility

NorthStar Battery Company is a new company as well as a new kind of company. Although we will not be in full operation until July of 2001, we will operate a state of the art recombinant lead-acid battery factory. The facility that is currently being constructed will have a production capacity of approximately 600,000 batteries per year. I wanted to discuss the steps we haven taken in the design and construction of this facility to prevent adverse affects to the environment as well as provide a healthy and happy environment for all the employees.

3:15 pm

Carol Lee Cobb - Intel

Convention Center Room C208

Fulfilling Customers' Desires Today: An Internet eBusiness Case Study

Are you frustrated using the Internet? Do you find yourself wasting time by cutting and pasting information from web pages into your favorite programs? Do you wish that you could easily maintain your websites through something as simple as email? Do you wish that your various bank and credit card statements were automatically imported into Quicken* or Money*, with you doing nothing more than receiving a "smart email?" Well, we are closer to the dream of a customer-friendly Internet than you might think. Attend this course to see how real people and companies are implementing a customer-friendly vision to solve real problems today! If you work with website or software developers, you may be particularly interested in the free course demos that you can share with your companies and clients. We will demonstrate the following Customer to Business (C2B) and Business to Customer (B2C) events: C2B: Webpage updates via email C2B: Website database automatic updates B2C: Information extraction into a spreadsheet B2C: Information extraction into an application, such as Quicken*, or Outlook.*

* Note, I am not selling any product or service. The course demos are shareware and will be provided free. Intel has worked

with the industry to create these demos and is sharing the demos to many audiences to drive excitement about this customer-friendly vision of the Internet. After attending this class, you should have the knowledge and tools necessary to: -Show the simplicity of enabling e-Business for Everyone. -Relate customer-friendly Visions (3rd generation, .NET, SFA, etc) to tangible project ideas. -Use a real-world demo to share what you have learned with your companies and clients, to get them inspired and committed to creating customer-friendly e-business projects today.

4:00 pm

Gloria Montano - Institute for Women and Technology

Convention Center Room C208 (room change)

Increasing the Impact of Women on Technology

The percentage of engineers who are women went from 4% in the late 1970s to 8% in the late 1990s. While some may believe that doubling the percentage is significant, 4% in 20 years is just not good enough especially compared against the strides made in medicine, law and business. With so many programs aimed at addressing the shortage of technical professionals, why is progress so slow? This paper begins with a brief exploration of the effectiveness of existing programs. It follows with a description of a new program from the Institute for Women and Technology, the Virtual Development Center (VDC). The VDC seeks to increase the participation by women in technology by leveraging the need for products in the marketplace that are highly valued by women. The VDC accomplishes this through diversified participation in structured brainstorming, enriched student projects and virtual collaboration. Lastly, a few of the project successes from the first two years will be presented.

 

THE TECHNOLOGICAL ODYSSEY

FRIDAY

9:30 am

Elizabeth Babyak - Engineering and Education Consultant

Convention Center Room C106 (room change)

Tips on Exciting Engineering Outreach Classroom Presentations

The goal of this paper is to provide guidelines to help anyone do a memorable engineering outreach presentation in a classroom environment in grades kindergarten through twelve. It includes tips on how to deal with students at the various levels, tips on how to deal with teachers and administrators, and detailed ideas for presentations. This paper is based on twenty years of experience in giving engineering presentations to all levels of students. These presentations started out as being able to instantly glaze over the eyes of every student in the classroom and have developed into exciting, hands-on experiences that the students enjoy and remember. The change in presentation style occurred because of an instinctual realization that there had to be a better way than just talking at the students. The search for a better way has included studying good instructional techniques and the constructivist approach to learning as part of a master's degree program in education. In writing this paper it is hoped that others can skip the initial trial and error learning stage (and the need to get a degree in education!) and can jump right into giving presentations that get students excited about science, math, technology, and engineering.

10:15 pm

Tasha Palmer - Chemical Engineering Graduate Student at UCLA

Convention Center Room C106 (room change)

A Lexicographic Approach to Reaction Cluster Synthesis

Increasingly stringent environmental regulations point to source reduction as the most promising environmental management strategy for pollution, because addressing pollutant formation at the design stage is more effective than finding ways to handle pollution after it has been formed. As a result, concerted efforts toward cleaner production have a greater potential to attain economically-attractive, environmentally-benign processes.

11:00 am

Pamela J. Waterman - EngineeringInk

Convention Center Room C106 (room change)

Star Trek Replicators - The Future is Here with Rapid Prototyping

Push a button and create a three-dimensional part. It's no longer science fiction. This paper describes the more than one dozen commercial systems that turn 3D CAD data into a solid object you can hold in your hand. The basic approach uses software to slice the file information, then it controls a hardware system that builds up a physical model in incremental layers. Compared to traditional, "subtractive" machining methods (e.g., milling, turning, grinding), this rapid production process employs one of several "additive" methods based on joining particles or layers. Depending on the particular system, the base material can be a plastic, ceramic, wax, sand, metal, paper, or fiber, and come in liquid, powder, filament and sheet form. Final products range from simple prototypes for feasibility designs and vendor/marketing communications, to complex parts for end use or production tooling. Though most often used to speed up design cycles or produce highly detailed, small quantity parts, rapid production is even making its way into designer drug production and medical bone-substitute fabrication. Not happy with your prototype part? With one system, you can even wash the bio-degradable starch-based object down the office drain.

1:00 pm

Elizabeth Bierman - Rockwell Collins

Convention Center Room C106 (room change)

Scripting: An Automated Test Tool

At Rockwell Collins, we are beginning to automate our testing process with a procedure called scripting. In the past, a normal project would have around 500 tests to run during a formal qualification test to provide the customer "proof" that the software they are receiving is accurate. This process takes around two to three weeks of running tests all day long. With scripting, this time frame can be greatly reduced. A script is a computer program using the language Python. The Python language is an interactive scripting language that is easily extendible and is publicly available. The script file may be written in any test editor and then saved with a .py extension. This is convenient for the author. A script will take the exact test previously run manually and transfer it into a software code used in Python. We use scripting mainly because it saves time and money. The other reasons scripting is used include: the tests are easily repeatable, consistent, they eliminate human error, and an expert is not need to run the test. We have had great success in our scripting process to date and have received positive feedback from our customers. The scripting of tests will increase in functionality and use over more programs in the future.

1:45 pm

Paniz Ebrahimi - University of Southern California

Convention Center Room C106

Statistics of Polarization Dependent Gain in Raman Fiber Amplifiers due to Polarization Mode Dispersion

Polarization mode dispersion (PMD) has recently emerged as one of the critical hurdles in achieving high-performance optical transmission systems and networks. At the same time with the recent availability of high power pump lasers, Raman amplification has become feasible for commercial high density fiber-optic communication systems. Raman fiber amplifiers are highly attractive for their low equivalent noise figure and wideband gain. However, the Raman gain coefficient is polarization sensitive. We will show that polarization dependent gain (PDG) in Raman fiber amplifiers is a statistical parameter that depends on the PMD of the fiber. The PDG distribution has been characterized by simulation and verified by experiment.

2:30 pm

Laura Mendicino - Motorola

Convention Center Room C106 (room change)

Addressing Environment, Safety and Health Issues in Semiconductor Technology Development and Manufacturing

The Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors is a comprehensive document that provides a 15-year outlook on technology requirements and possible solutions for the semiconductor industry. It is used primarily by suppliers of equipment, materials, software and services to the semiconductor industry as a guidance document for their future development. The Roadmap is divided into many technology areas dealing with design and test of devices, manufacturing processes, metrology, and simulation. In addition to these areas, there are crosscutting thrust areas that address challenges in several areas. The environment, safety and health (ESH) thrust is an example of such an area, with most focus on process technologies such as interconnect, photolithography, front end processes, factory integration, and assembly & packaging.

3:15 pm

Sharon Lamb - Motorola

Convention Center Room C106 (room change)

Performance Analysis of Processors for Embedded Applications

The complexities of current applications and microprocessor systems require that designers incorporate reuse, self-checking and automation into a well-defined process. What this means and how it applies to analyzing processors (specifically for embedded applications) is discussed. The process enables repeatable and reliable measurements; measurements which are a critical element of analyzing applications and processors. In today's market, performance means fast with the additional parameters of small, cheap, and low power. These characteristics must be designed in. To achieve performance, designers look at how to make the program that processes the application (such as music) execute fast in a small amount of memory. Hardware architects look at how to design the processor and peripherals to best meet the application requirements of small, cheap, low power, and fast.

 



GUIDELINES FOR AUTHORS and INSTRUCTIONS FOR PAPER SUBMISSION