2008 AAAS Engineering
Section Meeting
Sheraton Boston Hotel,
Room:
DRAFT MINUTES
1. Introductions:
Gail Marcus, Section Chair, called the meeting to order at 9:30 AM. She asked those present to introduce themselves.
The attendance list is included in Appendix A.
2. Additional
Agenda Items: Dr. Marcus announced that two items have been added to the
tentative agenda shown in Appendix B.
2.1 Theme for the 2009 Annual Meeting (Dr. James
McCarthy)
2.2 The Supercouse (Dr.
Gilbert Omenn)
3. Theme
of 2009 Annual Meeting: Dr. Marcus introduced
AAAS President-elect James McCarthy who gave an introduction to the theme he
had selected for the 2009 AAAS Annual Meeting to be held in
4. Approval
of Minutes: Dr. Marcus asked for comments and possible changes to the draft
minutes of the Section Business Meeting held on February 16, 2007. The draft
was posted on the Section website shortly after the
5. Announcements: Marwan Simaan, Section Secretary, announced that Robert M. Nerem was elected Chair-Elect and Cristina H. Amon was elected Member-at-Large of the Engineering
Section’s Steering Group both effective February 19, 2008. The list of Section Officers and
Members-at-Large for 2008-09 is shown in Appendix C.
Dr. Simaan also announced
that Kristi S. Anseth and Cindy Atman were elected to
the Engineering Section Electorate Nominating Committee. He also announced that as a result of actions
of the 2006 Council meeting, the retiring chair of each section will now serve
as an ex officio member and Chair of the Electorate Nominating Committee for
their section. Dr. Tirrell, retiring chair, has
served in that capacity for the 2007-08 cycle and effective February 19, Dr.
Marcus as retiring chair will serve in that capacity for the 2008-09 cycle.
Dr. Marcus also announced that 34 members affiliated
with the Engineering Section were elected Fellows of AAAS in October 2007. A list of the names of the new Fellows was
distributed and is attached as Appendix D.
The Newly elected Fellows were invited to attend our business meeting
and 8 were able to attend. Dr. Marcus welcomed them, and thanked them for
attending the meeting. She also
encouraged the new Fellow to be active in the section.
6. The Supercourse: Dr.
Omenn and colleagues made a presentation about the Supercourse, asking it if was of interest to the Section.
Attendees noted that Medical Missions for Children, Engineers without Borders,
and the NSF cyber-infrastructure division were either doing similar things or
might be interested in providing funds and support for this activity.
There were also questions concerning how quality is maintained in the Supercourse and who has ownership of the associated
materials.
7. Fellow
Nomination Process: Dr. Marcus asked Marwan Simaan, section secretary to review the AAAS Fellow
nomination process which is the same as in previous years. There are three ways
a candidate can be nominated: By a member of the Steering Group (method 1), by
a group of three Fellows (method 2), and by the AAAS Chief Executive Officer
(method 3).
He discussed the procedure for Fellow nominations by
members of the Steering Group (method 1).
He mentioned that each nomination must include a complete Fellow
nomination form and either a letter of recommendation by the nominator or a
detailed C.V. with a list of publications (although a C.V. is an essential
piece of the required documentation). He
encouraged members of the Steering Group to submit both. He mentioned that for the upcoming
nomination cycle, these materials should be mailed to him so that he receives
it no later than March 30, 2008. Marwan will then forward the materials for all nominees to
Heather Campbell, AAAS Interim Governance Associate, on March 30. Information on the nomination process by a
group of three Fellows (method 2) and a copy of the nomination form can be
found on the AAAS main website. A link
to that website can also be found on our section Website (http://www.engr.pitt.edu/aaas-m). Dr. Simaan also
mentioned that the deadline for Fellow nominations by a group of three Fellows
is May 9, 2008. By May 31, all members of the Steering Group will receive from
Heather Campbell copies of the nomination materials for all nominees, including
those nominated by a group of three Fellows, and by the Chief Executive
Officer. They will also receive a voting
sheet which they will need to fill and return to him by June 29, 2008. Marwan will then
forward all votes to Heather Campbell.
By August 31, 2008 the Executive Office will mail a slate of all
approved nominees to the Council for formal election.
Dr. Simaan mentioned that
the number of Fellows elected through nominations by the Steering Group is
subject to a section quota which is 15 for this year (there is no quota for
those elected through nominations by three Fellows or by the Chief Executive
Officer). He also mentioned that in all
three methods, a successful candidate must receive a majority vote from the
Steering Group. Furthermore, if a
candidate receives more than two negative votes, the candidate will not be
recommended for election to Fellow.
8.
2008 Annual
Meeting: The list of the 2008
Symposia and Lectures sponsored or co-sponsored by the Engineering Section is
included as Appendix E.
9.
Planning for
the 2009 Annual Meeting: The 2009 AAAS Annual Meeting will be held in
9.1 Assistive Technologies
This symposium, suggested by Ted Conway, will look at
how technologies to assist the aging population and people with disabilities
have gone from largely external devices to those that tie into the nervous
system. Dr. Marcus mentioned that she was approached by the Neuroscience
Section about the possibility of co-sponsoring a similar symposium on Neural
Networks and Artificial Intelligence. She suggested that the Section on Information,
Computing, and Communication might also be involved. The contact person for this symposium is Ted
Conway (taconway@vcu.edu)
9.2 Designing Complex and
Interdependent Structures for the Future
This symposium will focus on the topic of
sustainable infrastructures to meet long term and short term goals. These
infrastructures must be able to sustain extreme events such as technological or
natural hazards; homeland security, etc. The contact person for this symposium
is incoming section chair Priscilla Nelson (pnelson@njit.edu)
Sustainable
American Competitiveness in a Global Society
This symposium will consider strategies to
maintain/improve American technological and scientific edge through win-win
partnered innovation implementations. An example of such a strategy is the
development of small technologies with a big impact. The contact person for
this symposium is George Klinzing (klinzing@pitt.edu)
Other possible symposia topics that were suggested and
discussed include:
·
Science and
Engineering for a Sustainable Planet: A symposium to address how industry
and government are mobilizing technology to tackle environmental problems (i.e.
air pollution).
·
Colossal Failures
in Engineering: This is a popular freshman course at MIT and could be the
basis for a symposium that would look at what is happening in engineering today
to ensure that such colossal failures wouldn’t happen again.
·
Sustainable
Nuclear Power for 10,000 Years: A symposium that would look at how
nuclear power can be a source of energy well into the future.
·
Science on the
International Space Station: A symposium that focuses on the scientific
activities conducted on the International Space Station (for example, earth
observation and monitoring).
·
Overcoming
Outsourcing: This was proposed to look at government and industry
collaborations to overcome some of the negative issues associated with
outsourcing.
·
Acoustics for the
Classroom of the Future: The idea of this symposium is that classrooms
have become very noisy and that kids in these classrooms are not able to learn
because they cannot hear well. This
topic has global implications since the World Health Organization has already
established standards and guidelines for classroom noise. It was suggested that such a symposium might
be of joint interest to the linguistics and education sections.
·
Astronomy using
mm waves: This potential symposium would look at telescopes and have how
they have been unlocking the origins of the universe by identifying chemical
traces in space. It was suggested that this might be more appropriate for
the astronomy or physics sections to lead, perhaps with engineering support.
·
Computational
Thinking /Simulation: This symposium would look at how to validate
complex engineering models with simulation and would link to cloud computing.
·
Nanotech
Payback: A symposium that would look at what the payback has been for
·
Non-lethal
Weapons: Engineering and Violence: A symposium that shows how
engineering advances in weapons design have allowed for urban combat that
minimized collateral damage. If such a symposium is acceptable, it would
include speakers from low enforcement agencies, DoD, DARPA, etc.
·
Engineering and
the Entertainment Industry: Looking at advancements in virtual reality in
the video gaming and entertainment industry.
It was then decided that this topic is more suited for a topical
lecture.
Dr. Marcus encouraged all those who have suggested
these ideas to develop them further and submit them on the AAAS proposal
submission website the deadline of April 28, 2008.
Finally, Dr. Marcus asked for suggestions for Plenary
and Topical lectures speakers. The
following are some of the names and topics that were suggested.
For plenary lectures:
Brad Jim Clifton (CEO of Gallup Company): “How
we do Science in the Future”.
Robert Iger (CEO of Disney):
“The Future of the Entertainment Industry”.
Kelvin Droegemeier (
For topical lectures:
Brad Allenby (
Jeanette Wing (NSF): “Computational
Thinking”.
Henry Petroski (Duke):
“Engineering and Design”.
Joe Bordogna (Penn):
“The Global Science
Jack Lenahan (Whitaker
Foundation and Northwestern): “Bioengineering”.
Dan Atkins (NSF): “Cyberinfrastructure”.
10. New
Business: Dr. Marcus invited all
attendees to get more involved in Section activities. Dr. Nelson, the chair-elect, brought up the
question of what could the section do to increase the involvement of our
members in the section activities. More specifically, should we try to recruit
more engineers to come to the AAAS Annual Meeting? Should we look to
partner more with other sections?
11. Adjournment:
The meeting was adjourned at 12:30 PM.
Submitted by:
Marwan A. Simaan
Section Secretary
February 20, 2008
Appendix
A
Attendance List
1.
Gail H. Marcus,
Chair
2.
Marwan Simaan, Secretary
3.
Linda Katehi, Board Member
4.
S. K. Sundaram
5.
Steve Carleton
6.
Sarah Banas, AAAS International Office
7.
Peter Bainum, Representative, American Astronautical
Society
8.
George Klinzing, Newly Elected Fellow
9.
K.T. Thulasiraman, Newly Elected Fellow
10.
Ching-Chung Li, Newly Elected Fellow
11.
Jeffrey Freidberg, Newly Elected Fellow
12.
Priscilla Nelson,
Chair-Elect
13.
Anice Anderson
14.
Ted Conway
15.
Raphael Lee,
Newly Elected Fellow
16.
Paul Dimotakis, Newly Elected Fellow
17.
David Lubman, Representative, Acoustical Society of
18.
Frank Severance
19.
C. L. Max Nikias, Newly Elected Fellow
20. Peter T. Cummings, Newly Elected Fellow
Appendix B
AAAS
2008 Engineering Section Business Meeting
Friday February 15, 2008
Place: Sheraton Boston Hotel
Room:
TENTATIVE AGENDA
1. Introductions
2. Approval of minutes of previous meeting
3. Announcements
(a) Officers for 2008-2009
(b) New Engineering Section AAAS Fellows
4. Discussion of Fellow nomination process
5. Discussion of proposed symposia and seminars for the 2009 Annual Meeting
6. New Business
2008-09 AAAS
Section on Engineering Steering Group
(Officers and Members-at-Large,
effective
Officers |
Members-at-Large |
Priscilla P. Nelson, Chair (2009) New
Jersey Institute of Technology Fenster Hall 380 323 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. Tel:
(973) 596-3220 Fax:
(973) 642-4079 E-mail: pnelson@njit.edu |
Frances H. Arnold (2009) Div. of Chemistry & Chemical Engineering MC 210-41 California Institute of Technology Tel:
(626) 395-4162 Fax:
(626) 568-8743 E-mail:frances@cheme.caltech.edu |
Gail H. Marcus, Retiring Chair (2009) Consultant, Nuclear Power Technology
and Policy Cabin E-mail: ghmarcus@aol.com |
Herbert H. Richardson (2010) Texas Transportation Institute The Tel: (979)-845-8552 Fax: (979)-845-9356 E-mail: herbert-richardson@tamu.edu |
Robert M. Nerem, Chair-Elect (2009) Petit
Institute for Bioengineering and Biological Science 404-894-2768 Fax:
404-894-2291 |
Debbie A. Niemeier (2011) Dept.
of Civil and Environ. Engineering Tel:
(530) 752-8918 Fax:
(530) 752-7872 E-mail:
dniemeier@ucdavis.edu |
Marwan A. Simaan, Secretary (2010) Department of Electrical Engineering 348 Benedum Hall Tel:
(412) 624-8099 Fax:
(412) 624-8003 E-mail: simaan@pitt.edu |
Cristina H. Amon
(2012) Faculty
of Applied Science & Engineering 416-978-3131 Fax:
416-978-4859 |
Appendix D
New AAAS Fellows elected in October 2007
Engineering Section
·
Pulickel
M. Ajayan, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
·
Nadine
N. Aubry,
·
Alexander
A. Balandin,
·
Sanjay
Banerjee,
·
Robert
F. Cleveland Jr., Federal Communications Commission
·
Thomas
A. Cruse, Air Force Research Laboratory
·
Peter
T. Cummings,
·
Paul
E. Dimotakis, California Institute of Technology
·
Brig
Elliott, BBN Technologies
·
Jeffrey
P. Freidberg, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
·
·
Steven
M. Girvin,
·
Chennupati
Jagadish,
·
George
E. Klinzing,
·
Julia
A. Kornfield, California Institute of Technology
·
Raphael
C. Lee,
·
Ching-Chung
Li,
·
Bindu N. Lohani, Asian Development Bank
·
Toh-Ming
Lu, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
·
Pinaki Mazumder,
·
James
L. Merz,
·
Chrysostomos L. Nikias,
·
Patrick
G. O'Shea,
·
Yannis A.
Phillis,
·
Fritz
B. Prinz,
·
Govind Rao,
·
Robert
J. Schoelkopf,
·
Edmund
G. Seebauer,
·
Marion
J. Soileau Jr.,
·
Joseph
M. Sussman, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
·
Krishnaiyan
Thularsiraman,
·
Nai-Chang
Yeh, California Institute of Technology
·
Peter
W. Zandstra,
·
Jean
W. Zu,
Appendix E
2008 Annual Meeting Symposia and Seminars of Interest to Engineers
1. Symposia and Seminars Sponsored
by the Engineering Section
Friday February 15:
Friday, 8:30 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. |
90-Minute Symposium |
Friday, 10:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. |
90-Minute Symposium |
Friday, 1:45 p.m. - 3:15 p.m. |
90-Minute Symposium |
Friday, 1:45 p.m. - 4:45 p.m. |
180-Minute Symposium |
Friday, 1:45 p.m. - 4:45 p.m. |
180-Minute Symposium |
Friday, 3:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. |
90-Minute Symposium |
Saturday February 16:
Saturday, 8:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. |
180-Minute Symposium |
Saturday, 8:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. |
180-Minute Symposium |
Saturday, 10:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. |
90-Minute Symposium |
Saturday, 10:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. |
90-Minute Symposium |
Saturday, 1:45 p.m. - 3:15 p.m. |
90-Minute Symposium |
Saturday, 1:45 p.m. - 4:45 p.m. |
180-Minute Symposium |
Saturday, 1:45 p.m. - 4:45 p.m. |
180-Minute Symposium |
Sunday February 17:
Sunday, 8:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. |
180-Minute Symposium |
Sunday, 10:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. |
90-Minute Symposium |
Sunday, 1:45 p.m. - 4:45 p.m. |
180-Minute Symposium |
Sunday, 3:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. |
90-Minute Symposium |
Monday
February 18:
Monday, 9:15 a.m. - 10:45 a.m. |
90-Minute Symposium |
2. Symposia and Seminars
Co-Sponsored by the Engineering Section
Friday
February 15:
Friday, 8:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. |
180-Minute Symposium |
Friday, 8:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. |
180-Minute Symposium |
Friday, 10:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. |
90-Minute Symposium |
Friday, 1:45 p.m. - 3:15 p.m. |
90-Minute Symposium |
Friday, 1:45 p.m. - 4:45 p.m. |
180-Minute Symposium |
Friday, 3:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. |
90-Minute Symposium |
Saturday
February 16:
Saturday, 8:30 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. |
90-Minute Symposium |
Saturday, 10:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. |
90-Minute Symposium |
Saturday, 1:45 p.m. - 4:45 p.m. |
180-Minute Symposium |
Saturday, 3:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. |
90-Minute Symposium |
Saturday, 3:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. |
90-Minute Symposium |
Sunday
February 17:
Sunday, 8:30 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. |
90-Minute Symposium |
Sunday, 8:30 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. |
90-Minute Symposium |
Sunday, 8:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. |
180-Minute Symposium |
Sunday, 1:45 p.m. - 3:15 p.m. |
90-Minute Symposium |
Sunday, 1:45 p.m. - 4:45 p.m. |
180-Minute Symposium |
Sunday, 3:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. |
90-Minute Symposium |
Monday
February 19:
Monday, 9:15 a.m. - 12:15 p.m. |
180-Minute Symposium |
Monday, 9:15 a.m. - 12:15 p.m. |
180-Minute Symposium |