IEEE Staff Research Articles

Total quality management takes priority at IEEE

Providing world-class service is the key to winning in the marketplace During 1993/1994 the IEEE staff organization has undertaken a major quality initiative to become a worldclass organization. This effort required a major learning and training program, followed by pilot "quality initiatives" in a number of major areas. We begin with the quality principles that provide the foundation for the initiatives, and then move to describe the initiatives and their effects on members, employees, suppliers and the technical communities served by the IEEE.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>

Editorial

As the old saying goes, “All good things must come to an end.” And with this issue of Potentials, my term as Student Editor does just that. It has truly been a rewarding experience for me, and I cannot thanks to some of those who make Potentials a reality; Mary Campbell and Camille Tetta of the IEEE staff; Charles Slivinsky, the hard-working Editor; and the tireless Associate Editor who give freely of their time in order to provide you with a quality publication.

Editorial: Apathy can be a real killer

This is the last time that I write as Student Editor of IEEE Potentials. I will graduate this year with a Master's in Electrical Engineering and move on to the working world. But before I do, I wanted to make some final comments about Potentials and about student life in the IEEE. A lot of time, money, and effort go into each issue of Potentials, not just on the part of the IEEE staff, but also on the part of IEEE members. The Editorial Board, which decides the content of each issue and is responsible for finding authors, is composed largely of IEEE volunteers. Practically every article that appears in the magazine is also written on a volunteer basis by authors in their area of expertise. This phenomenal amount of time invested by volunteers can only mean one thing: they recognize how important students are to the development of the profession.

Treasurer's report

The following report is based on information provided by the IEEE TAB office as of February 16, 1978 on the financial status of our Society as of December 31, 1977. IEEE Headquarters acts as the bursar for our Society, as well as for all other Groups and Societies in the IEEE. The Society's income consists of membership fees, support from the IEEE, interest, sales of Transactions and conference proceedings, IEEE Press sales of books written for our Society, meeting profits, and other income. Expenses are incurred by the Transactions, the Newsletter, meetings, IEEE staff administration, IEEE Headquarters service to the AdCom, and AdCom external costs. Income for 1977 exceeded expenses by about $64,500; income for 1978 is epxected to again exceed expenses by a modest amount. Our capital surplus at the end of the calendar year 1977 was $129,700 (less outstanding loans of $8,000). This cash balance is equivalent to approximately 80% of our annual budget.

Privacy, cryptography and free research

Early in July 1977, Mr. E.K. Gannett, IEEE Staff Director of Publishing Services, received a letter (with enclosures) from IEEE member J.A. Meyer of Bethesda, Maryland. The letter warned that some of those presenting papers at the forthcoming International Symposium on Information Theory sponsored by the IEEE Professional Group on Information Theory and possibly the Institute itself might be subject to prosecution by the Federal Government for violation of the Arms Export Control Act. The circumstances are briefly reviewed. It is concluded that, as the largest engineering society and as one that has already been directly impacted by this issue, it seems reasonable to expect the IEEE to take a strong public position on the principles, to indicate its willingness to defend any member who might be singled out for prosecution, and to press for changes in the laws and regulations. A preliminary step should be a careful study of the relevant regulations and laws by its attorneys. A committee headed by Dr. David Slepian has already been charged by the Governing Board Of the Information Theory Group to study the matter. This committee, possibly augmented by representatives of other IEEE entities, might be given Institute-wide status to recommend detailed procedures.