1998-99 MIT IEEE Annual Report
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Student Chapter of the
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Submitted by:
Lauren B. Fletcher
May 21, 1999
This report is intended to provide information regarding the structure and activities of the MIT Student
Chapter of IEEE for the 1998-99 academic year. Procedural details and bylaws may be found in the
chapter constitution located in the /mit/ieee locker.
I.
General Information
A.
Mailing Lists and Web Page
Three mailing lists exist for the MIT chapter of IEEE:
ieee@mit.edu
goes to ieee-execboard
ieee-execboard@mit.edu
includes all officers
ieee-members@mit.edu
includes all members
The MIT IEEE web page is at: http://web.mit.edu/ieee/www/
B.
Officer Meetings
Officer meetings were held about every two weeks to plan upcoming events. Officer meetings were
held more or less often depending on the amount of business to be discussed as well as officers'
availability.
C.
Membership
Twenty-three new members signed up and were added to the e-mail list. For membership application
forms, the official IEEE Branch Counselor is James Kirtley. The Counselor's Member Number is
05934575, and the School Code is 01031.
Membership can now be initiated online directly from national IEEE. The national IEEE contact
person for membership issues is:
Laura J. Durrett
Manager, IEEE Student Services
E-mail: l.durrett@ieee.org
D.
Finances
Money for the IEEE student chapter is obtained from the MIT EECS Department. An itemized budget
totaling $1,000 was submitted to and approved by the department. Receipts were turned in to Susan
Guralnik (Room 38-459), and checks were mailed out by the department to reimburse students for
costs incurred. IEEE has since been recognized by the MIT ASA, and a student account has been
established. Account number 10818 should be used for all purchases, and reimbursement checks may
now be obtained from Edmund Jones in the Student Activities office, W20-549.
E.
Reserving Rooms
Most events were held in the Grier Room (34-401). Officer meetings were held in the Jackson Room.
Rooms may be reserved through Mibsy Brooks (mibs@mit.edu).
F.
Company Policy
Many companies approached IEEE this year with an interest in cosponsoring events. IEEE decided
not to pursue any offers that appeared to be motivated by recruiting efforts.
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II.
Officers
A.
1998-99 Executive Board
Advisor:
President:
Vice-President:
Treasurer:
Recording Secretary:
Corresponding Secretary:
Corporate Relations:
Membership Liaison:
Publicity Chair:
Webmasters:
Anne Hunter
Lauren B. Fletcher '99
Ishan Anand '00
Binh Truong '99
Brenton Phillips '99
Walter Aldana '00
Jason Miller '99
Angela Chen '00
Ying Cao '01
Rachael Lea Leventhal '01
Gaurav Tewari '00
B.
Elections
Elections for the six highest officer positions were held at the last meeting of the spring semester. The
Membership Liaison, Publicity Chair, and Webmasters were elected at the first meeting of the fall
semester.
III.
Committees
A.
Course VI Feedback Committee
The purpose of the IEEE Feedback form, located on the IEEE web page, is to provide Course VI
students with a way to express their feelings and complaints about the department. (For example, if
they have three Course 6 exams scheduled on the same day, or if a professor has violated an Institute
policy.) Students can also target specific classes as well. This committee will help solve the
problems that are brought to our attention. Responses to comments were placed on the web page as
well. Action resulting from students' feedback included a survey of the Course VI advising system.
Contact: Monisha Merchant.
B.
Student Technical Publications Committee (inactive this year)
This committee oversees and coordinates the electronic publication of technical papers written by
IEEE members. These papers may be the result of laboratory subjects, UROPs, or even Advanced
Undergraduate Projects. It assists the Interchapter Relations Committee by submitting technical
papers to IEEE regional and national conferences. Contact: Ramon Rodriguez.
C.
Faculty and Industry Speakers Committee
The goal of this committee is to provide students an opportunity to interact and meet with Course 6
professors. The sessions are intended to be informal and kept to a maximum of 20-30 students. We
plan on having at least two of these sessions during the term. Contact: Walter Aldana.
D.
Social Committee
The main goal of this committee is to provide social events that will bring the department's students
and faculty together in a relaxing atmosphere.
The main activities of this committee include
organizing and publicizing the socials and helping out in other IEEE events, such as the sophomore
banquet and general IEEE meetings. Contact: Binh Truong.
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E.
IAP Business Seminar Committee
This committee organizes an IAP seminar for entrepreneurial students interested in starting their own
companies or joining startups after graduation. Several MIT alumni describe their experiences
starting Course VI related companies. The speakers explain the process of creating a company, give
advice, and answer questions. This event is jointly sponsored with the Sloan 50K group and the Sloan
E-Center. Contact: Jason Miller.
F.
IAP Programming Contest Committee
Work with Mil-3 to repeat the previous year's successful computer programming contest. Other
companies have also expressed an interest in sponsoring a contest. This committee will investigate
those options. Contact: Jason Miller.
G.
Interchapter Relations Committee
Foster relations between MIT chapter of IEEE and other chapters in the Boston area. Also keep
members informed about IEEE national conferences and activities. Contact: Lauren Fletcher.
IV.
Events
September 14, 1998 Career Services Seminar: How To Get A Great Job In EECS
Representatives from the Office of Career Services gave a special presentation tailored to Course Six
students. About 100 students attended. Issues discussed included: JobTrak, resumes, interviewing,
how to choose a job offer, deciding between graduate school and getting a job, and differences
between startups and established companies. The contacts for this event are:
Marianne Wisheart
Director of Recruiting
Phone: 253-4733
E-mail: wisheart@mit.edu
Hannah Bernstein
Career Development Counselor
Phone: 253-4733
E-mail: hannahb@mit.edu
October 1, 1998
General Meeting
This meeting included officer introductions, membership information, elections of three new officers,
committee reports, and committee sign up sheets. Dinner was provided.
October 21, 1998
IEEE Eastern Section Student Chapter Meeting
Two members and Anne Hunter attended this sectional IEEE meeting held at the Franklin Institute in
Boston. Representatives of local IEEE student chapters shared ideas and experiences from their own
IEEE activities.
October 5, 1998
Course VI Sophomore Banquet
This banquet was held to welcome all sophomores to Course VI. Faculty and student representatives
spoke briefly and informally about the department and affiliated organizations. Pizza was provided.
IEEE assisted with publicity, set up, food, and clean up.
November 6, 1998
Faculty Speakers Program: Informal Talk With Professor Gerald Wilson
A group of 20 students gathered on a Friday afternoon to learn more about the life of one of the
leading faculty members involved with Course 2 and Course 6. Professor Wilson talked to students
about his experiences at MIT and the challenges he has faced while he has been here. The discussion
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ranging from past to future challenges for the Institute and for students, was a major topic that
stimulated students' interests in the talk. Overall, students were very pleased with the informal
atmosphere of the talk, and at the same time, they were very impressed with the knowledge that
Professor Wilson was able to provide for MIT students. Reservations were taken by e-mail for the
first 30 students who responded. Pizza was served.
January 25, 1999
Business Seminar: Entrepreneurial Careers in EECS
In conjunction with the MIT Entrepreneurship Center, IEEE organized this business seminar which
focused on the process of starting a company and the experiences of three engineers involved with
startup companies. This event provided an opportunity for students to meet 50K teams who were
looking for engineers to help grow their teams. Presenters included:
Yonald Chery, EE '97
Founder and CTO of 1997 $50K winner Virtual Ink.
<http://www.virtual-ink.com>
Rock Gnatovich
President, Spotfire, Inc.
<http://www.spotfire.com>
Steven P. Yang, EECS '98
Software Developer, Direct Hit
<http://www.directhit.com>
Steps for setting up up the business seminar:
1) We used the MIT Entrepreneurship Center to find the three speakers. Our contact was Matt
Utterback who did most of the leg work for us. We had to call speakers to invite them to come and
answer any questions they have about what to say, logistics, etc.
2) This event was run with the support of 50K, in order to get more publicity, to get better speakers,
and to draw a larger crowd. The incentive for the 50K is that they will have access to Course 6
students who usually don't attend 50K events. The 50K team should be contacted about this event in
the fall to pick a date which does not conflict with any of their events.
3) The room was reserved through Anne Hunter.
4) Pizza was ordered and we paid for it. In past years the 50K has helped to cover the cost of the
food. In one year the 50K advertised our event as a "Team Building dinner" (see 50K for info about
Team Building events).
5) Planning for this event should be done late in the fall.
February 4, 1999
Feedback Committee: "Food For Your Thoughts"
Milk and cookies were provided for students as they filled out surveys evaluating the Course VI
advising system. A booth was set up in Lobby 34, and IEEE members encouraged students to
complete the forms before and after classes in 34-101 throughout the day. Over 150 surveys were
collected.
February 26, 1999
Social Hour: Visitors from the University of Delft, The Netherlands
Thirty EECS students from the University of Delft visited MIT as part of their USA Study Tour. A
Friday Social Hour was held to welcome them. About 30 MIT students attended and enjoyed Chinese
appetizers while mingling with the visiting students.
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March 5, 1999
Industry Speakers Program: Scott Fullam of Pocketscience
Scott Fullam (sfullam@pocketscience.com), President of the Silicon Valley startup company
Pocketscience, came to MIT and spoke with 20 students about the challenges surrounding a startup
company. Scott talked about the risks in forming a startup and the difficulties of making a startup
successful. The students, who for the most part had an interest in either starting a company or joining
a startup, asked many questions about the lifestyle of a startup and the major hurdles that surround
startup companies.
April 7, 1999
Course VI Freshman Open House
The Freshman Open House was held to provide information for freshman considering declaring
Course VI. Sandwiches and cake were provided in Lobby 34, followed by brief speeches by Course
VI faculty and student representatives in Room 34-101. The open house was advertised in 6.001 and
6.002 lectures as well as outside of Room 26-100. IEEE helped with speaking arrangements,
publicity, set up, food, and clean up.
April 14, 1999
General Meeting and Elections
A very brief and poorly attended general meeting was held to elect new officers. Pizza was provided.
May 16, 1999
Outstanding Advisor Award Presentation
An award for outstanding advisor, as determined from the Course VI advising surveys, was presented
to Professor Paul Gray, in absentia, at the Annual EECS Spring Party. A plaque was purchased from
Ace Trophy. It will be placed in the EECS Undergraduate Office, and a name plate will be engraved
for the recipient each year.
V.
Recommendations
Described below are suggestions that were discussed as potential events and/or improvements for next
year:
A.
Programming Contest
There was no programming contest this IAP because of a lack of interest from MIL3. MIL3 said that
their developers were too busy to create a new contest problem and run the contest at MIT. The MIL3
contact was Erika Bohrer at ebohrer@mil3.com. Last year's winners were: Jason Woolever '00, John
Holmes '99, Jef Pearlman '99, Dan Adkins '01.
B.
6-1 Social
It was recommended that a social be held for 6-1 sophomores to promote class unity and also to make
students aware of other students who share similar interests in the unfortunately declining EE side of
Course VI. Contact person is Pammy Mukerji (pmukerji@mit.edu).
C.
IEEE Faculty Members
It was suggested that IEEE faculty members be invited to speak at general meetings about the
activities and benefits of IEEE beyond the student chapter. Many Course VI faculty members are
IEEE Fellows.
D.
Other IEEE Chapters
Local IEEE student chapters expressed an interest in participating in joint activities with the MIT
chapter. In addition to inviting students to appropriate MIT IEEE events, a social could be held to
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allow students from other schools to meet one another. Also, students from local chapters could be
invited to watch 6.270 with MIT IEEE members.
E.
Member Involvement
Much of the work IEEE accomplished this year was achieved by the officers. Member involvement,
especially toward the end of the year, declined dramatically. Since IEEE does not require its members
to contribute a minimum number of hours to the organization, other efforts should be made to include
members. Suggestions include targeting younger students during sophomore year, encouraging more
members to join committees, bringing in interesting speakers, and providing more social activities for
the chapter.
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