Remember the COBOL programming language?  Recall what the acronym stands for?  “Common Business Oriented Language”  You may then also recall one of the true-but-forgotten leaders of the computer age: Grace Brewster Murray Hopper

            Known to her colleagues and subordinates as “Amazing Grace,” Hopper’s record of achievement is amazing.  Here are just a few high points, as recounted in The Book of Woman’s Firsts:

• First woman to develop operating programs for the Mark I, an early automatically sequenced digital computer (circa 1945).
• First to develop the concept of automatic programming (1951) that led to COBOL.
• First person to receive the computer sciences “Man of the Year” award (1969).
• First to receive, as an individual, the U.S. Medal of Technology, awarded by President Bush in 1991.

            Born in 1906, Hopper’s earliest computer work came during World War II, after she enlisted in the U.S. Navy.  A graduate of Vassar College with master’s and doctoral degrees from Yale, she retained her naval reserve status after the war while on the staff at Harvard’s applied physics computational laboratory.  In 1966, she was recalled to the Navy to become a commander to supervise standardization of its computer languages and programs.  And in 1973, she became the first woman to be promoted to captain in the Navy while on the retired reserved list.  In 1983, President Reagan appointed her rear admiral.

            Hopper was the oldest officer on active duty in all of the armed services when she retired from the Navy at the age of 80.  After her retirement, she became a senior consultant to the Digital Equipment Corporation, a position she held until her death in 1992.

            What lesson can engineers and others learn from the amazing career of Grace Hopper?  Shun stereotyping.  The success of the youthful, slightly rebellious, mostly male icons of the computer age, while remarkable, can fool us.  The computer revolution has come upon us and advanced so quickly that we tend to think only of today’s personal computer guru’s like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs as the early pioneers, working in isolation in out-of-the-way garages.

            The impressive biography of Grace Brewster Murray Hopper provides an excellent example in the fallacy in stereotypical thinking.  Without her and her lifetime of effort and accomplishment, all in a very traditional service, Microsoft might just be a strange word, and Macintosh Apples merely fruit.

From Licensure Exchange - June 2008 (volume 12 issue 3) - Published by the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES)

NCEES announces changes to Electrical and Computer PE exam

 The Principles and Practice (PE) examination in electrical and computer engineering will have a different look beginning in April 2009. 

According to a memo distributed April 18 to Member Board administrators and representatives of several testing services, the Electrical and Computer PE exam will no longer be a breadth and depth exam beginning with the spring 2009 exam administration. The announcement was provided one year in advance as required by NCEES policy.

Most notably, the exam will become three separate exams divided by subdiscipline. The three exams within the Electrical and Computer PE exam will be referred to as the Power Examination, the Computer Examination, and the Electrical and Electronics Examination.

Electrical and computer candidates to declare subdiscipline

Consequently, as of the April 2009 administration, candidates for the Electrical and Computer PE exam will be required to specify during registration which one of these exams they wish to take.

The current Electrical and Computer PE exam consists of a morning breadth exam and an afternoon depth exam made up of three separate modules. The changes to the specifications resulted from feedback received from a Professional Activities and Knowledge Study (PAKS) conducted by the NCEES subcommittee responsible for overseeing the Electrical and Computer PE exam.

“The results of the PAKS did not support the breadth examination in its current form,” said Frank Loudon, P.E., the chair of the electrical exam subcommittee. “The majority of respondents indicated that the breadth knowledges presently examined are not important for engineers in the computer and power fields of practice. However, many of the breadth knowledges were rated as important for those in the other areas of electrical engineering.”

Electrical engineers specializing in analog design are becoming harder to find.  The vast majority of new electrical engineering graduates are opting for digital design and/or computer engineering as their specialty.  Interestingly, the need for skilled analog designers is becoming greater.  While many of the new gadgets on the market today may seem to be digital in nature, much of what makes them special is really innovative analog design.  However the perception is that “analog” is “old”, and “digital” is “new”.

A recent article in EE Times (”Analog expertise: coveted, lucrative, and rare” - R. Colin Johnson - June 2, 2008) highlights the apparent shortage of analog engineers.  The article states that electrical engineering graduates specializing in digital engineering outnumber those specializing in analog design by at least 10 to 1.  This amounts to only about 1,000 new analog engineers per year in the U.S.  An interesting quote in the article makes the claim that a new digital engineer can often make significant contributions to their employer just six months on the job, while it may take five to seven years of experience before an analog engineer can make significant contributions.  Also it is stated that digital talent can be found everywhere in the world, while it is hard to find experienced analog talent anywhere in the world.

Analog design is more challenging.  Many more variables are involved; there is more to take into account in an analog design.  Unfortunately, many professors skilled in this area have left academia to pursue higher paying jobs elsewhere.  If you are an engineering student, and desire to specialize in analog design, then you should select your college or university carefully. Then you should talk to the placement office and professors to find out about analog interning opportunities. If no active programs exist, you should think about another institution. The odds do not favor your sudden transformation into an analog engineer after graduation.

For analog design information you can visit http://electronicdesign.com/subject/analog

 Amateur Radio (aka ham radio), once a popular hobby of many electrical engineers and other electronic enthusiasts, has less participants but is still alive and well.  By the mid-‘80’s ham radio clubs at technical schools and engineering universities had been largely replaced by computer clubs and activities.  Advances in the internet and wireless technologies drew others away.  And the long-standing requirement to pass a Morse code test to obtain the needed FCC license proved a barrier for many desirous to be a ham.

Amateur radio, often called ham radio, is both a hobby and a service in which participants, called “hams,” use various types of radio communications equipment to communicate with other radio amateurs for public service, recreation and self-training.

Amateur radio operators enjoy personal (and often worldwide) wireless communications with each other and are able to support their communities with emergency and disaster communications if necessary, while increasing their personal knowledge of electronics and radio theory. An estimated six million people throughout the world are regularly involved with amateur radio.

The term “amateur” is not a reflection on the skills of the participants, which are often quite advanced; rather, “amateur” indicates that amateur radio communications are not allowed to be made for commercial or money-making purposes.

Amateur radio. (2008, June 9). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 19:54, June 10, 2008, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Amateur_radio&oldid=218094873

An indication that amateur radio is still doing OK however is the recent Dayton Hamvention.  This is the 57^th convention since 1952.  Wireless System Design magazine has an interesting review of this convention.  They report that nearly twenty thousand attended the event and that the conference gave a clear view of the latest activities and products.  The author states, “My main impression was that ham radio is definitely alive and well and just as much fun as ever for us geeky radio guys. It is a great way to play around with the latest technology. Too bad more young people aren’t interested.“

So how do you become a licensed amateur radio operator?

In the United States, the process involves passing a test and completing a form (FCC Form 605).  Proficiency in Morse code was phased out as a requirement for all license classes on February 23, 2007.

From the FCC web site: “Operation of an amateur station requires an amateur operator license grant from the FCC. For individuals entering the amateur service, or upgrading their license operator class, there are three classes of license, each authorizing privileges corresponding to the qualifications required. The classes of license, from highest to lowest are: Amateur Extra Class, General Class, and Technician Class.”

See the FCC site “Amateur Radio Service - Licensing” for more details.

You can get exam preparation material and more information from the American Radio Relay League (ARRL).

TradePub.com provides online subscription services provider for B2B magazine publishers. And now TradePub.com goes beyond magazines, providing a comprehensive collection of content for professionals in over 33 industry verticals, with extensive reach through 1000’s of B2B partner sites worldwide.

While subscriptions to all the trade publications on the TradePub.com web sites are free ( to professionals who qualify), some publications offer a limited “free trial period” followed by a solicitation for a paid subscription should the reader wish to continue receiving the magazine. TradePub.com never invoices for subscriptions.

Why are valuable magazine given away?  Doing business in today’s competitive environment requires a serious commitment to stay abreast of trends and technology, and every business needs a technology infrastructure to perform effectively and efficiently. Trade publications and their advertisers want to give you information you need to do business. It’s worth it to them to give you the magazine free because you have a genuine need for the information and products described therein. Advertisers need a vehicle to deliver their message to you which justifies spending advertising dollars to give subscriptions for free.

TradePub.com includes an extensive list of free Engineering magazines, white papers, downloads and podcasts.  The professional engineer should be able to find the titles that best match their skills and interests; topics include electronics, civil engineering, design engineering and bioengineering. It is easy to complete the on-line application form and submit it.

Visit the site periodically to check out features such as Top Ten Publications and New Publications.

No doubt this has been suggested before, but perhaps we should spell “engineer” with an “i” to more accurately reflect the nature and value of our work.

In the United States in recent years so many other professions and trades have begun to use the word “engineer” that it has lost some of its meaning.  For example “domestic engineers” (maids) and “sanitation engineers” (garbage collectors) are squeezing out electrical engineers and civil engineers in the minds of the general public.  Outside of the U.S. the engineering profession is still highly respected.  Why?

Well one reason may be the English word “engineer” itself.  In the English language the word “engineer” is derived from the word “engine”, so it is natural to associate engineers with operators of trains and other heavy engines.  But look at the word for engineer in these other languages:

Ingenieur (French)

Ingeniero (Spanish)

Ingegnere (Italian)

Inenieur (German)

Inzynier (Polish)

Inzineir (Slovak)

Notice that in all of these languages the word for engineer begins with an “i.”  That is because the root word is derived from the word “ingenuity.”  Certainly this is not surprising - engineers are ingenious!  They take dreams and turn them into reality.  Everything in our modern technological society was at one time touched by the creative mind of an “ingineer.” 

More qualified engineers obtaining professional licensure and using the “P.E.” designation after their names would help raise respect for the profession, but maybe a change in spelling of the word engineer might help as well!