MINUTES OF 1998 BUSINESS MEETING AAAS SECTION ON ENGINEERING

Pennsylvania Convention Center, Philadelphia, February 13, 1998, 8:00 - 11:00 p.m.



1. Section Chair Ray Bowen opened the meeting at 8:05 p.m. and asked those present to introduce themselves. A list of attendees is appended. The Chair noted that several people, Chair-Elect Joseph Bordogna, among them, had other commitments which caused them to miss the meeting following its rescheduling due to President Clinton's address earlier in the day.

2. The Secretary read the names of officers and committee members who had been elected during the 1997 Section election. These were: Chair-Elect -- Martin C. Jischke; Member-at-Large of the Section Committee -- Gail H. Marcus; Nominating Committee Members -- Richard J. Goldstein and David A. Hodges..

3. Secretary Lear reviewed the process for nomination and election of AAAS Fellows. He then read the names of the following Section M members who had been elected to the grade of Fellow in 1997: Stuart L. Cooper, E. James Davis, George Emanuel, Woodie Claude Flowers, Norman L. Fortenberry, Arnold G. Frederickson, Martin E. Glicksman, Alan R. Greenberg, D. Lynn Johnson, Jerome S. Schultz, K. Sharma, Martin Sichel and Soroosh Sorooshian.

4. The Secretary announced the time and location of thirteen symposia during the current annual meeting for which Section M was the primary sponsor or the co-sponsor. He also noted that in the annual meeting program a large number of other symposia and topical lectures were identified as ones that should be of interest to engineers.

5. The Chairman called for topics of symposia that the Section might propose and sponsor at the 1999 AAAS meeting in Anaheim. After considerable discussion of each topic suggested, the following were chosen by consensus as ones that Section M should present at the February 15 planning session for the Anaheim meeting:

Nanotechnology: A Frontier for Multidisciplinary Research -- Bordogna (not present at meeting, draft proposal delivered to Bowen and Lear earlier in the day) .

Challenges and Opportunities in Sustainable Development -- Richard Wright (NSPE representative, not present at meeting, suggested several symposia in a letter to Lear prior to the annual meeting).

Partnership for Advancing Technologies in Housing (PATH) -- Wright.

Critical Infrastructure Protection -- Maulbetsch. .

Partnership for Advancing Infrastructure and its Renewal (PAIR) -- Wright.

Earthquake Hazards Reduction -- Wright.

Mechanical Thermophysical Microtechnology -- Maulbetsch.

It was agreed that at the 1999 planning session, Bowen and Lear should be alert to joint-sponsorship opportunities that might arise from proposals by other sections having interests which overlap those of Section M (e.g., Information, Computing, and Communication; Industrial Science and Technology; Societal Impacts of Science and Engineering; Geology and Geography; Education).

6. The Council members present (Seebass and Maulbetsch) reported that there were no items on the Council agenda which required action by the Section Committee. .

7. A discussion of the role of the Engineering Section in technology literacy had been proposed earlier, as an agenda item at the business meeting, by Section Committee Member-at-Large Alice Agogino. The Secretary had informed her that the topic had been placed on the agenda and had asked her to lead the discussion. Since Dr. Agogino was one of those who could not attend the meeting due to the change in time, the Chair chose to omit consideration of the matter at the current meeting.

8. Under Other Business the Chair called for discussion of a questionnaire which the AAAS Committee on Sections had sent to all sections with a request for response following their 1998 business meetings. The questions were in two categories:

AAAS Fellow Selection Procedures

The four questions asked under the first category were: (1) would a search and screening committee for each section be useful in the review of Fellow nominations, (2) are there ways in which the number of three-fellow nominations could be increased, (3) should additional letters of recommendation be required for Fellow nominations by the Section Steering Group, and (4) does the Section have other ideas for improving the process of nominating and electing Fellows?

The consensus responses by those present at the Section M business meeting were: (1) the Engineering Section has no problem with the current Fellow selection process but suggests that sections should have the option of creating such a committee if it appears that it would be useful, (2) the Association could do a much better job of publicizing to the membership, the existence of the three-Fellow route for nomination of Fellows, (3) the question does not seem to be relevant, since there is no requirement that a Steering Group member write a letter of recommendation when suggesting the name of a potential nominee (biographical information on all potential nominees is circulated to the Steering Group for ordering if the number is greater than the Section quota and later the Steering Group votes again to determine which names should be forwarded to the Council as Section nominees), and (4) Section M is satisfied with the nomination and election process.

AAAS Section Composition and Activity.

Under the second category there were three questions: (1) would the existing sections suggest changes or additions to proposed criteria for consideration and appproval of the formation of new AAAS sections; (2) what is the perceived rationale for the current composition of AAAS sections, and does it meet the declared goals of AAAS; and (3) in what activities should sections be engaged which would further the objectives of AAAS?

Responses from Section M were: (1) the current system seems to work reasonably well. However, it would be useful to require that each section demonstrate a given level of activity (e.g., sponsoring symposia for the annual meeting) within a specified length of time -- in other words, there should be a well-defined method for "sunsetting" sections if they become inactive; (2) the general perception is that a section is formed when a specified number of AAAS members let it be known that their professional interests are not being addressed adequately by existing sections. Whether the present array of sections best meets the needs of their members and furthers the goals of AAAS is questionable, since the sections have been formed over the years in an ad-hoc fashion and with great disparity in size; and (3) it was suggested that local sections of the professional engineering societies in the geographical area where the AAAS annual meeting is being held be uged to become involved with Section M in organizing and attending symposia in their fields of engineering specialization.

The Chair called for a Section financial report. Secretary Lear noted first that since allowed travel of Section officers and Council delegates was paid directly by AAAS, the only funds under the control of the Section were used primarily for partial support of annual meeting speakers at symposia or topical lectures in areas of primary interest to the Engineering Section membership. Requests for travel support by speakers in a particular disclipinary area are sent to the relevant section secretary by the AAAS Business Manager. Lear reported that for the current annual meeting, Section M had received requests for support from speakers in five symposia which were being sponsored or co-sponsored by the Section. Partial travel support had been granted by the Engineering Section (following conversations with the Secretaries of other interested sections, particularly Industrial Science and Technology) for a total of $2186. The Section had a beginning budget for 1998 of $4127.04, received a 1998 allocation of $1550, for a total available 1998 budget of $5677.04. After payment of the travel expenses above plus $85 for refreshments at the business meeting, the remaining balance for 1998 is $3020.04. This amount is available for any expenses by the Section during the remainder of 1998. There are usually no Section expenses after the annual meeting, so the remaining balance for 1998 shown above should be the beginning balance for 1999.

9. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 10:42 p.m.
 

W. Edward Lear, Secretary
 
 

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