Do you have a B.S. or M.S. in engineering, computer science, mathematics, or one of the physical sciences? Are you looking for a change, a challenge, or some more interesting work? UTC now has a Computational Engineering Doctorate program for you to consider. Each student's program of study including possible prerequisite requirements, is tailored to his or her background and research goals. Dr. Briley will be our speaker and will answer your questions about higher education available right here in Chattanooga.

Invocation: Ron Burton

Menu: A buffet lunch for $10 will be available for attendees beginning at 11:30 a.m. Lunch will include a salad, meat loaf, creamed potatoes, English peas, peach cobbler. Reservations are not required, and guests are welcome. For more information, call Judy Driggans at 751-7616 or Tiffany Gibby at 751-3168.

Parking: Free parking (for those who leave a notice on their dash indicating they are with the Chattanooga Engineers Club) is available for attendees at the Days Inn on Carter Street. There is also a parking garage behind the Tallan Building.

CLUB BUSINESS _____________________________________________________________

The Cellar Restaurant would like to raise their lunch price for us from $10 to $10.50. The club may consider in a vote on July 25, raising the amount collected from $10 to $11 for lunch to help cover this increase by the Cellar and also to help pay for lunches of our guest speakers.

Nominations for 2nd Vice President (Membership Chairperson) are still being taken by Tiffany Gibby (tjgibby@tva.gov or 751-3168). The club will hold a special election on July 25 to fill this club officer position. Stephen R. Smith has been nominated.

The club may consider three joint meetings in the Fall (Sept., Oct., and Nov.) with the Student Chapter of the IEEE Computer Society at UTC. The meetings could be in place of our regular Monday meetings or in addition to them. The day of the meeting can be set by the CEC. The location will need to be UTC, because one of Dawn Ellis' goals is to build up the base of attendees at their meetings. We have discussed possible topics of interest to both groups. They will serve Pizza at these meetings and the cost will be $5 per person.

PREVIOUS MEETING __________________________________________________________

Monday, July 18: "Innovation in Educating and Training a Competitive Workforce" - Bill Brock, Chairman of Bridges Learning Systems

Bill Brock gave an inspirational talk focused on giving us ideas and possible actions at a local level to improve the quality of education for our children and the workforce for our companies. His examples showed us that competition will breed innovation. He mentioned that today's world is a networked civilization not only economically but also with regard to information making competition a driving force. China is fast becoming the manufacturer of choice and India the service provider of choice. Where does the US fit in to this new world? We are still the most productive work force and most adaptable society in the world and we must take advantage of those qualities. This means that if we are to compete we absolutely must transform our education systems and undergo a "paradigm shift" in learning and education to be a leader in creativity. This is the approach we take to the development of new products and we should look at education the same way.

He commented that we need more federal funding for educational R&D but the real changes are made at the local level. What can we do to help? Encourage our local Principals to discover facts about schools with similar demographics that are producing better students with the same or less money. We can help them discover what these high performing schools are doing differently. This is how we would benchmark our manufacturing plants and products against those with better products, facilities or processes. Grants and foundations are great, but if we keep doing things the same way, we can expect the results to be the same.

Educational productivity data shows the U.S. isn't performing well, and for Tennessee the results are even worse. Out of 100 students in the United States, only 67 will graduate from high school. Of that 67, only 38 will enter college. Of that 38, only 18 will graduate with a bachelors degree. In Tennessee, only 26 percent of children in the 4th grade can read proficiently. In the 8th Grade, only 21% of the students are proficient in basic math. Putting technology to work for us in the schools could give teachers more time to focus on what each child needs. Also, tools are available to access and track the individual skills and talents of each student. This would provide for individual lesson plans. Children are excited about learning when we treat them as individuals and challenge them to learn more.

Bridges Learning Systems in Annapolis, MD, is one of many systems that educators can use to assess and develop cognitive abilities and perceptual skills. Sources for locating benchmark schools are: www.nc4ea.org and www.just4kids.org. Another useful resource is www.educationtrust.com. Arm yourself with the facts. Share the facts with the Principals of your local schools. Volunteer to help train the teachers in the use of new technologies. Be a part of the solution to improve your local school system. America may not be able to compete in the global economy based on our existing wages. There is a limit to the amount of physical power we have to do any job but there may be no limit to mind power. Let's find out how to best tap this resource just as we would discover how to best make a new product. Then lets put the facts we learn into action, make informed decisions, and begin making America more competitive.

FUTURE MEETINGS ________________________________________________________
(noon in the Tallan Cellar Restaurant at 2 Union Square, unless another location is indicated)

Monday, August 1: "Project Prometheus" - NASA Scientist

Monday, August 8: "Low-Cost Battery-Less Sensors On High Voltage Conductors" - Joe Graziano, Tennessee Valley Authority

Monday, August 15: TBA

Monday, August 22: "Power Systems Developments in China" - Dr. Mo-Shing Chen, University of Texas at Arlington

Monday, August 29: "Where Did All Those Old Tires Go?" - Fred Weinhold, GreenMan Technologies, Inc.

QUESTIONS, SUGGESTIONS? _________________________________________________

If you have any questions or suggestions about program items please contact Judy Driggans at 423-751-7616 or by email at jdriggans@comcast.net. You can find references to other Chattanooga Engineers Club members at our web site: www.ChattanoogaEngineersClub.org.