Suggested Opening Remarks, Welcome, etc.
Corporate sponsors, banquet sponsors, table patrons, distinguished guests,
ladies, and gentlemen, (pause)
(With exuberance)
Welcome (pause)
to the 2004 San Diego County National Engineering Week Banquet.
This week, Feb. 22-28, is National Engineers Week, which is held annually
to honor the engineering profession and increase public understanding of the
contributions of engineers to the world.
My name is Gerald Gerace, General Chair of NEW SD 2004, representing
the national lead society for this year, the IEEE, Institute of Electrical and
Electronic Engineers. My co-chair is Phillip Young, representing next year's
lead society, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
Recognize Various Groups That Made NEW 2004 Possible
While you are finishing your desert and beverage, lets take a moment to
recognize those who have made this celebration of engineering possible in
San Diego throughout the past week and tonight.
As I recognize each group, please wave your hands, hoot, and holler,
Corporate Sponsors for NEW San Diego 2004:
Rick Engineering Company (pause)
Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) (pause)
Banquet Sponsor for NEW San Diego 2004:
Hamilton Sundstrand Power Systems (pause)
University of San Diego, Dept. of Engineering, School Business
Administration
Banquet Patrons (give acronym followed by full name):
AIAA: American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
ASCE: American Society of Civil Engineers
ASHRAE: American Society for Heating, Refrigeration and Air
Conditioning Engineers
ASME: American Society of Mechanical Engineers
CSPE: California Society of Professional Engineers
IEEE: Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers
INCOSE: International Council on Systems Engineering
PESO: Professional Engineers and Scientists Organization
SWE: Society of Women Engineers
SSC: Spawar Systems Center
Olivenhain Water District
Call attention to special events organizers:
Mathcounts (insert brief description and identify organizers)
Discovering Engineering Mall Exhibit (insert brief description and identify
organizers)
Let’s also recognize the "Engineers of Tomorrow" here with us tonight
(sponsored by various universities, societies, and industry).
Where are the Engineering majors from the local universities (SDSU, USD,
and UCSD) and local colleges: Please stand and be recognized Let’s recognize these future engineers of tomorrow (Clap) – let’s hear it
Also, on behalf of all the San Diego Engineering Societies, Universities, and
Industries, I want to extend a warm welcome to all of our guests and families
of engineers. Thank you for joining us and supporting this worthy
celebration.
Finally, lets also thank this year's NEW SD Planning Committee who gave
up many evenings and weekends throughout the year to make this traditional
week long celebration of engineering a success in San Diego for 2004.
Planning committee, please stand and take a bow. (pause)
And a special thanks to Professor Tom Kanneman of USD, the NEW
Coordinator, who keeps the torch of National Engineering Week burning
here in San Diego year after year.
The lead society next year, 2005, will be the American Society of
Mechanical Engineers, ASME. You can start right after dinner (smile).
ASME will be assisted by the Society of Women Engineers (SWE), the
national lead society in 2006.
Background on NEW (transition section)
The National Society of Professional Engineers established National
Engineers Week in 1951. The event takes place each year at the time of
George Washington's birthday, as the first U.S. president had a background
in military engineering and land surveying and established the first call for
an engineering school, which led to the founding of West Point.
President George Bush sent this message to you engineers out their and your
supportive families:
"National Engineers Week highlights the contributions of America's
engineers to our technological progress, infrastructure, strength, and
prosperity. I applaud the professionals, educators, and students participating
in National Engineers Week for your dedication to improving our quality of
life and revolutionizing the way we learn, work and communicate. By
promoting a standard of professional excellence, you help ensure a
promising future for all. Laura joins me in sending our best wishes for a
successful week."
Award Presentations
Now we move on to one of the highlights of the evening.
The Chair of the Awards Committee, Alan Herr, IEEE, will announce the
winners of the various NEW SD Awards: Hold you applause until all
awards have been presented.
When the award presentations are concluded, ask for final round of applause
for the Award recipients, unless Awards Chair has already done so.
Main Event (Guest Speaker)
Our distinguished speaker for this evening was born in Athens, Greece, on
April 14, 1942. He graduated from the Eighth Gymnasium of Athens,
Greece, in 1959 and received B.S.E.E., M.S.E.E. and Ph.D. degrees from the
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, in 1965, 1967 and 1968 respectively.
He has served in his present positions at UCI since January 1997. He served
in number of academic positions at UCLA from 1986 – 1996. He has served
over the years as a consultant to a variety of U.S. and foreign corporations
and the U.S. Government, editorial boards of various professional journals
and author of numerous refereed journal and conference proceedings papers.
He was co-recipient of the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronic
Engineers) S.E. Schelkunoff Prize Best Paper Award in 1985 and in 1998;
and was elected a Fellow of the IEEE in 1986 for "Contributions to the
Understanding of Substrate-Superstrate Effects on Printed Circuit Antennas
and Integrated Microwave Circuits." In 2001, he was named Engineer of the
Year by the Orange County Section of the IEEE.
Please, lets give a warm welcome to
Dr. Nicolaos G. Alexopoulos
Dean, The Henry Samueli School of Engineering
Professor, Electrical Engineering & Computer Science Department
University of California Irvine
(Shake hands and sit down)
If there is time, ask if there are any questions of the speaker.
At the end: Thank you all for joining us and have a great evening.
or conclude the banquet, thanking all for their participation, wishing all a
safe journey home. gcg
tak revisions 2/26/04