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News from the American Society for Engineering Management
Engineering Management International, 1 (1983) 299-300 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V., Amsterdam - Printed in The Netherlands
299
News from the
American Society for Engineering Management 301 Harris Hall University of Missouri-Rolla . Rolla, MO 65401 (314) 3414556 l
FOURTH ANNUAL FOR PAPERS
MEETING
-
CALL
The American Society for Engineering Management 1983 Annual Meeting will be held at the Capitol Hilton, 16th and K.St., Washington, DC, on October 16, 17 and 18, 1983. The host section for the meeting will be the National Capitol Section. The theme of the 1983 meeting is “Modern Tools for Engineering Managers.” A workshop on microcomputers is planned for October 16. Technical sessions are scheduled for October 17 and 18. A commercial exhibit on office automation equipment will be on display at the Hilton. James V. Bertlett Jr., of the National Capitol Section, is chairman of the host Local Arrangements Committee. You can write him at 4236 Coxey Brown Road, Myersville, MD 21733 or call him at 202325-9145 if you have any ideas or can help. Rolland A. Langley has agreed to chair the Technical Program Commttee, assisted by M.G. Jones, A.H. Hansen and J.E. Beavers. Papers will deal with the following four topics: 1. Managing
Other
Engineers
and Scientists
Frequently, managers of engineers and scientists are engineers themselves. As managers, these engineers are required to interface with other engineers and scientists on a variety of technical and managerial levels. To further complicate matters, the types of interactions may be dependent upon the specific background of the staff. The purpose of this technical session is to discuss the manner in which the engineering man-
ager manages a technical staff and how the transition from engineer to engineering manager is effected. 2. Managing in the Computer
Age
The development of computer technology today will soon become synonymous with the industrial revolution of the 18th century. As engineering managers try to adapt to this new era, many challenges must be faced to efficiently optimize the use of the computer, its associated hardware and software. This session should address these challenges and papers should be submitted on topics concerning the computer’s use in project control, planning and scheduling, computer-aided design, word processing, electronic mail and other related items. 3. Organizational Organizations
Dynamics
of
Engineering
Engineering organizations involve interfaces and relationships which differ from those in other business. The decision-making process includes technical, scheduling and economic considerations. The engineering manager may be responsible for technical and admin-istrative personnel, skilled hourly employees or operation of a process. This section propposes to provide a forum for exploring the dynamics of the engineering organization in terms of communications, interrelationships and use of all available tools ro achieve organizational objectives.
300
4. Engineer Period
to
Manager
-
The
Transition
“Engineers do not make managers” is a quote often heard from the critics. However, today’s high technology is more and more demanding so that managers must know something about engineering. As a result, opportunities for engineers to become managers is ever increasing. For the individual engineer it is often difficu!t to divorce himself from doing his job the way he was trained and the way he has practiced during his technical career. Advancing to management arena requires that the stop doing things himself and instead do things through others. Papers in this section should focus on the problems associated with this transition and how the individual engineer can better prepare himself for the transition. In addition, the papers also should focus on how managers can identify potential managers from their engineer ranks and how they can assist the individual engineer in making his transition with ease. SOME REFLECTIONS SECTIONS
ON LOCAL
Local sections are where the action is for many of us in a technical society. Only a fraction of us will manage to cross the country to an annual meeting. But if we belong to a local section, we can benefit from others with common problems, hear speakers with messages of current and local interest and gain professional experience as the “movers and shakers” in making a local group successful. Thus far we’ve chartered six local sections. Each of them has a uniqueness stemming from its location and its current members and leadership. Our National Capitol section, for example, holds monthly luncheons at 11:30 a.m. with an excellent speaker following at noon. The St. Louis section prefers to hold bimonthly evening meetings with a cash bar, dinner and speaker following. The Wisconsin section has experimented with breakfast and even Saturday meetings. The North Texas section keyed in on a large national meeting (MIDCON/ in Dallas) to help them
get launched; St. Louis is cosponsoring a Gateway Engineering Conference to help them gain visibility. More local sections are now being formed. The next one may well be in Saudi Arabia. Sections also are forming in Kansas City; Portland, Oregon; and California. We welcome inquiries by ASEM members who would like to form a section. We respond by sending lists of ASEM members in the region and membership materials. Typically, a core group of a half dozen people meet in a preliminary session. They then develop a strategy and a schedule for seeking membership and holding initial meetings. For best results, good speakers should be lined up for the first two or three meetings, and ample time should be allowed before the first (organizational) meeting for proper promotion. Normally the core group will need to solicit additional members from among their colleagues and acquaintances. In several cases mailing lists of local engineers or of local graduates of cooperating engineering schools have been available, and on several occasions we’ve been able to provide lists of engineering management graduates of one or two other leading schools who live in the area of the prospective section. Once a nucleus has made a commitment to form a section and has scheduled the first several meetings and speakers, ASEM has been willing to underwrite reproduction and mailing costs for promotion up to $200 or so per location. Founding members and those joining the section within 90 days after chartering are designated charter members of the section and receive a special certificate. For continuing support, we provide $5 out of current (1983) dues for each ASEM member attending at least one section event in the preceding (1982) year. Local sections also raise their own support by a one-time “kitty” from founding members, local section dues and the profit from setting luncheon and dinner fees above restaurant charges. If you are interested in local section activity, please contact me or ASEM secretary Mary England at 314-341-4560. Daniel L. Babcock Executive Director
299
News from the
American Society for Engineering Management 301 Harris Hall University of Missouri-Rolla . Rolla, MO 65401 (314) 3414556 l
FOURTH ANNUAL FOR PAPERS
MEETING
-
CALL
The American Society for Engineering Management 1983 Annual Meeting will be held at the Capitol Hilton, 16th and K.St., Washington, DC, on October 16, 17 and 18, 1983. The host section for the meeting will be the National Capitol Section. The theme of the 1983 meeting is “Modern Tools for Engineering Managers.” A workshop on microcomputers is planned for October 16. Technical sessions are scheduled for October 17 and 18. A commercial exhibit on office automation equipment will be on display at the Hilton. James V. Bertlett Jr., of the National Capitol Section, is chairman of the host Local Arrangements Committee. You can write him at 4236 Coxey Brown Road, Myersville, MD 21733 or call him at 202325-9145 if you have any ideas or can help. Rolland A. Langley has agreed to chair the Technical Program Commttee, assisted by M.G. Jones, A.H. Hansen and J.E. Beavers. Papers will deal with the following four topics: 1. Managing
Other
Engineers
and Scientists
Frequently, managers of engineers and scientists are engineers themselves. As managers, these engineers are required to interface with other engineers and scientists on a variety of technical and managerial levels. To further complicate matters, the types of interactions may be dependent upon the specific background of the staff. The purpose of this technical session is to discuss the manner in which the engineering man-
ager manages a technical staff and how the transition from engineer to engineering manager is effected. 2. Managing in the Computer
Age
The development of computer technology today will soon become synonymous with the industrial revolution of the 18th century. As engineering managers try to adapt to this new era, many challenges must be faced to efficiently optimize the use of the computer, its associated hardware and software. This session should address these challenges and papers should be submitted on topics concerning the computer’s use in project control, planning and scheduling, computer-aided design, word processing, electronic mail and other related items. 3. Organizational Organizations
Dynamics
of
Engineering
Engineering organizations involve interfaces and relationships which differ from those in other business. The decision-making process includes technical, scheduling and economic considerations. The engineering manager may be responsible for technical and admin-istrative personnel, skilled hourly employees or operation of a process. This section propposes to provide a forum for exploring the dynamics of the engineering organization in terms of communications, interrelationships and use of all available tools ro achieve organizational objectives.
300
4. Engineer Period
to
Manager
-
The
Transition
“Engineers do not make managers” is a quote often heard from the critics. However, today’s high technology is more and more demanding so that managers must know something about engineering. As a result, opportunities for engineers to become managers is ever increasing. For the individual engineer it is often difficu!t to divorce himself from doing his job the way he was trained and the way he has practiced during his technical career. Advancing to management arena requires that the stop doing things himself and instead do things through others. Papers in this section should focus on the problems associated with this transition and how the individual engineer can better prepare himself for the transition. In addition, the papers also should focus on how managers can identify potential managers from their engineer ranks and how they can assist the individual engineer in making his transition with ease. SOME REFLECTIONS SECTIONS
ON LOCAL
Local sections are where the action is for many of us in a technical society. Only a fraction of us will manage to cross the country to an annual meeting. But if we belong to a local section, we can benefit from others with common problems, hear speakers with messages of current and local interest and gain professional experience as the “movers and shakers” in making a local group successful. Thus far we’ve chartered six local sections. Each of them has a uniqueness stemming from its location and its current members and leadership. Our National Capitol section, for example, holds monthly luncheons at 11:30 a.m. with an excellent speaker following at noon. The St. Louis section prefers to hold bimonthly evening meetings with a cash bar, dinner and speaker following. The Wisconsin section has experimented with breakfast and even Saturday meetings. The North Texas section keyed in on a large national meeting (MIDCON/ in Dallas) to help them
get launched; St. Louis is cosponsoring a Gateway Engineering Conference to help them gain visibility. More local sections are now being formed. The next one may well be in Saudi Arabia. Sections also are forming in Kansas City; Portland, Oregon; and California. We welcome inquiries by ASEM members who would like to form a section. We respond by sending lists of ASEM members in the region and membership materials. Typically, a core group of a half dozen people meet in a preliminary session. They then develop a strategy and a schedule for seeking membership and holding initial meetings. For best results, good speakers should be lined up for the first two or three meetings, and ample time should be allowed before the first (organizational) meeting for proper promotion. Normally the core group will need to solicit additional members from among their colleagues and acquaintances. In several cases mailing lists of local engineers or of local graduates of cooperating engineering schools have been available, and on several occasions we’ve been able to provide lists of engineering management graduates of one or two other leading schools who live in the area of the prospective section. Once a nucleus has made a commitment to form a section and has scheduled the first several meetings and speakers, ASEM has been willing to underwrite reproduction and mailing costs for promotion up to $200 or so per location. Founding members and those joining the section within 90 days after chartering are designated charter members of the section and receive a special certificate. For continuing support, we provide $5 out of current (1983) dues for each ASEM member attending at least one section event in the preceding (1982) year. Local sections also raise their own support by a one-time “kitty” from founding members, local section dues and the profit from setting luncheon and dinner fees above restaurant charges. If you are interested in local section activity, please contact me or ASEM secretary Mary England at 314-341-4560. Daniel L. Babcock Executive Director