Volunteers - the Backbone of the Society
Hello all, and Happy Spring! (OK, OK, maybe it’s more like ‘in like a lion’ than ‘out like a lamb’ where you live, but the promise of spring is there nonetheless...)
Thoughts of spring lead me to thoughts of renewal. Just as planting bulbs only once gives several years of blooms, so also must these bulbs be fed, split, and sometimes replaced to assure optimum displays. So, although bulbs are called “perennials,” they are not “eternals.”
Our volunteers are the same. We have volunteers that we count on, year in and year out, to do the important jobs that the Society needs doing - like being a local or national officer, program chair, session chair, Journal or Advancing Micro author, or even editor! Where do these volunteers come from?
It’s not a matter of where they come from; it’s more a matter of who they are. They are YOU. They are, or should I say WE are, people who want to not only reap the benefit of membership, but contribute to the Society. We want to share our knowledge and ideas, our time and talents, our interests and visions. How can we do that? Through volunteering. Where can you help?
Anywhere! Get involved in your local chapter... read the website (www.imaps.org) for Call For Papers and submit an abstract... volunteer your talents to the national office (imaps@imaps.org). Are you good at website design? Database management? Pulling together a conference? Have a great idea for one of our National Technical Committees (NTCs)? Submit it! The list of Chairs of the NTC can be found on the website, and we are always looking for new ideas.
Most volunteers start out at the chapter level - working to help put together a technical program, working to get sponsors for the meetings, organizing a local or regional meeting, agreeing to run for chapter office, whatever! Start local, if you’d like, and work your way up as the time and spirit allows. It may seem like ‘those folks’ don’t need any help, or are really well organized already; however, you’d be surprised at the warm welcome you receive when you show up offering to help!
At the beginning of this article I spoke briefly about renewal. How does that tie in? Very simply - volunteers need to be renewed, on a pretty regular basis. We cannot keep looking to the same small group of volunteers to do the ongoing job of the Society. We must have a crop of new recruits coming up behind the present group of volunteers, in order to have an orderly ‘changing of the guard.’ In order to do that, we need YOU to help out and get involved! So, what interests you?
I look forward to hearing your thoughts and ideas on volunteers. Write to me at Mary.McDonald@Motorola.com.
Newly Elected Northwest Regional Director
Anwar Mohammed graduated in 1977 with a B.Sc. Degree in Chemical Engineering from In-diana Institute of Technology in Fort Wayne, Indiana and obtained his MBA from St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas, in 1983. He is presently pursuing his M.Sc. in Microelectronics Packaging at San Jose State University with a graduation date of September, 2001. Anwar has been involved with the microelectronics industry since 1977 when he joined CTS in Berne, Indiana, as a R&D Engineer, fresh out of college. He has worked in different roles in many different companies like CTS, Zenith, National Semiconductor, Micro Module Systems, Spectrian, and now he is a Senior Manager at Ultra RF, a state of the art wireless company dealing with Si and SiC wireless devices. Ultra RF is a division of Cree Inc. Anwar has authored and presented many papers in the microelectronics field, a good number of them under the aegis of IMAPS. He has also co-authored several patents in the microelectronics industry. He has been a member of IMAPS as early as 1978 working with the Indiana Chapter during his employment with CTS. He was also the General Vice Chair for IMAPS during the Silver Jubilee Symposium and Conference in San Francisco in 1992. Email Anwar at anwar.mohammed@ ultrarf.com
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