2008 National Engineer's Week

February 17 - 23, 2008

This year's theme is "Engineers Make a World of Difference."

The 2008 Engineer's Week dinner meeting is being held in conjunction with the Shenandoah Section of the Roanoke Chapter of ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers). Other local societies also participate.

Take pride in your profession and come help us celebrate National Engineer’s Week. Our speaker has assured us that the program will be appropriate for engineers and non-engineers so please bring your spouse or significant other to the meeting. Students are very welcome, too.

Date: Thursday February 21, 2008

Speaker: Dr. William A. Wulf, University Professor - Department of Computer Science, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA; President Emeritus, National Academy of Engineering - "The Evolving Role of Engineers in a Technological Society"

Presentation notes:

Dr. Wulf discussed several subjects of interest including:

1. National Academy of Engineering: In addition to a brief discussion of the function and operation of the National Academy of Engineering.
2. Dr. Wulf briefly mentioned several of the Top 20 Engineering Achievements of the 20th Century.
3. He is presenting a seminar to liberal arts freshmen titled "Responsible Citizenship in a Technological Democracy" and encouraged the audience to reach out in the local community with similar concepts to help create more responsible citizens. To assist you, we have reproduced his course notes with his permission.

Biographical Information:

Bill Wulf received the first Computer Science Ph.D. ever awarded at the University of Virginia in 1968. He then joined Carnegie-Mellon University as Assistant Professor of Computer Science, becoming Associate Professor in 1973 and Professor in 1975. In 1981 he left Carnegie-Mellon and founded Tartan Laboratories and served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer until 1988. In 1988-1990 he was Assistant Director of the National Science Foundation. In 1990 he returned to the University of Virginia as AT&T Professor and University Professor. Bill Wulf is a Fellow of the National Academy of Engineering, a Fellow of ACM, a Fellow of the IEEE, and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 1997 he was elected President of the National Academy of Engineering, which operates under a congressional charter and presidential executive orders that call on it to provide advice to the government on issues of science and engineering. He has directed over 25 Ph.D. theses and is the author or co-author of three books, two patents and over 100 papers.