Focal points

A review of current developments

Nominations invited
for young engineer award
Nominations are now open for the 1976 Outstanding Young Electrical Engineer A w a r d .
T h i s award is presented e a c h year by Eta
K a p p a N u , the national electrical engineering
honor society in the United States, which thus
r e c o g n i z e s a particularly promising young
engineer. T h e person receiving the honor is
selected from a list of nominations made by
e m p l o y e r s , colleagues, and teachers. O n e or
more honorable mentions usually are awarded
also.
T o be eligible for the current award, a c a n didate must not have reached his or her 35th
birthday as of May 1, 1976, and must have
b e e n graduated not more than ten years ago
from the regular electrical engineering course
( B . S . degree in electrical engineering or its
equivalent) of a r e c o g n i z e d U.S. college or
university. T h e following may make nominations: any member, or group of members, of
Eta K a p p a N u ; any IEEE Section, Society, or
G r o u p ; the head of the Electrical Engineering
Department of any U.S. college or university;
any other individual, or group of individuals,
who, in the opinion of the Eta Kappa N u Award
Organization Committee, are properly qualified
to make nominations.
A w a r d winners are selected on the basis of
meritorious service in the interests of society,
as well as for outstanding achievement in their
c h o s e n profession, as evidenced by their past
performance and future promise. For this
r e a s o n , weight is given not only to technical
contributions, but also to achievements in such
a r e a s as civic affairs, the fine arts, athletics,
and studies made in historical, economic, or
political fields.
Nominations should be made on special
forms available from Prof. P. K. Hudson, D e partment of Electrical Engineering, University
of Illinois, Urbana, III. 61801. The deadline for
receipt of nominations is J u n e 30.

NBS Labs to hold

open House" in May
A s part of the U . S . Bicentennial celebration,
the National Bureau of Standards ( N B S ) has
invited the public to tour its laboratories on
May 6-8. T h e O p e n House at the N B S facility at Gaithersburg, Md., is being held in c o n nection with the 75th anniversary of the
physical s c i e n c e and measurement laboratory, an agency of the U . S . Department of
C o m m e r c e . Gaithersburg is about 20 miles
(32 km) north of Washington, D.C.
N B S helps to develop performance standards and conducts r e s e a r c h in s u c h areas
as e n e r g y conservation, time and frequency,
materials failure, building technology, fire
protection, and computer s c i e n c e . Highlights of the exhibits and tour will include:
the world's largest testing machine, a met20

ric information center, the c o n s u m e r appliance test laboratory, a noise-measurement demonstration, a solar townhouse,
c o r r o s i o n and pollution r e s e a r c h , a nuclear
reactor, the use of smoke detectors, radiation protection, synthetic implants, robots,
a n d glass blowing.
A n " O p e n House Guide B o o k " will soon
be available. T o obtain a free c o p y , write to:
O p e n House, National Bureau of Standards,
Washington, D.C. 20234.
T h e Bureau's other major facility, in Boulder, C o l o . , will host an O p e n H o u s e on O c tober 14-16.

New U.S. stamp honors

invention of the telephone
T h e United States Post Office has issued a new
postage stamp commemorating the invention
of the telephone by Alexander G r a h a m Bell.
The 13 stamp was officially introduced on
M a r c h 10just 100 years after Bell cried,
" W a t s o n , come here, I want y o u ! " a t a
C o n v o c a t i o n on Communications in celebration of the centennial of the telephone s p o n s o r e d by the Massachusetts Institute of
T e c h n o l o g y and the American Telephone and
T e l e g r a p h Company.
For a look at the original patent drawing that
inspired the new stamp, s e e the c o v e r of IEEE
Spectrum for F e b r u a r y w h e r e it w a s reprod u c e d in conjunction with Spectrum's
Bell
centennial article, " T h e marriage that almost
was."

Salaries were up in '75

for university teaching staffs
T h e average salaries of full-time instructional faculty on academic-year (nine/tenmonth) contracts in colleges and universities increased by 6.1 percent from 1974 to
1975, according to preliminary data recently
released by the U . S . Department of Health,
Education, and Welfare's National Center
for Education Statistics.
T h e data also showed that the percentage
of w o m e n among all faculty o n academicy e a r contracts remained at the 1974 level of
24 percent. Actually, the percentage of
w o m e n declined at the ranks of professor,
associate professor, and instructor, while
increasing at the ranks of assistant professor and lecturer, and at the "undesignated
r a n k . " Moreover, the a v e r a g e salaries of
m e n continue to e x c e e d these of w o m e n at
e v e r y academic rank and institutional level,
in both publicly and privately controlled institutions. From 1974 to 1975, w o m e n ' s salaries increased 5.8 percent w h e r e a s men's
salaries increased 6.3 percent. Finally, 60
p e r c e n t of men and 42 p e r c e n t of w o m e n
w e r e tenured, with an overall total of 55
p e r c e n t of institutional staff holding tenure.

A detailed report on the survey, " S a l a ries, Tenure, and Fringe Benefits of FullT i m e Instructional Faculty, 1975-76," will
be published w h e n responses have been
completed. T h e preliminary statistics cited
c o v e r 2782 (91.9 percent) of the 3055 r e porting units.

ARPA funds multiuniversity

engineering research project
T h e Advanced R e s e a r c h Projects A g e n c y of
the U . S . Department of Defense has funded
a multiuniversity electrical engineering r e s e a r c h project in the amount of $550 000
for the first 15 months of an effort that may
require several years to complete. Participants in ihe project, entitled " C o m p u t e r Aided Engineering of Semiconductor Integrated C i r c u i t s , " include the University of
Florida, Stanford University, Louisiana State
University, and a fourth university yet to be
designated. Fairchild Camera and Instrument Corporation will also contribute to the
project. Directed by David P. Kennedy (F),
the Electron D e v i c e Research Center at the
University of Florida will monitor the total
effort.
T h e purpose of the project is to undertake a program of research and d e v e l o p ment on topics related to the design, d e v e l opment, and engineering of semiconductor
integrated circuits. T h e primary thrust will
be twofold: the development of mathematical models applicable to the design and d e velopment of I C s , and the implementation of
these models into computer programs that
can serve as engineering tools for the semiconductor industry.

Aviation-related papers
eligible for student award
T h e Radio T e c h n i c a l Commission for A e r o nautics (RTCA) will award a $1000 honorarium
in memory of William E. Jackson for a student
paper in a field related to the National Airspace
S y s t e m ( N A S ) o r its equivalent in countries
other than the United Statespreferably
dealing with electronic systems that are part
of that N A S . T h e scholarship award and personalized plaque will be presented at the
R T C A Annual A s s e m b l y in Washington, D . C ,
in November.
T h e award is a memorial to J a c k s o n ' s 40
years of pioneering in the development and
implementation of the present airways, air
traffic control, and aviation communication
systems, and a tribute to his encouragement
of aspiring engineers. T h e first award w a s
conferred in 1975 o n Peter V . Hwoschinsky,
a graduate student at the Massachusetts Institute of T e c h n o l o g y , for his thesis, "Flight
T e s t and Evaluation of O m e g a Navigation for
General Aviation Aircraft,"
Deadline for receipt of papers for the 1976
award is J u n e 30. Further information may be
obtained from the R T C A Secretariat, Suite
655, 1717 Street, N.W., Washington, D . C .
20006; telephone (202) 296-0484.
IKK s p e c t r u m APRU. 1 9 7 6

how to get your

money's worth in a
$495 function generator

1. Precise F r e q u e n c y C o n t r o l with Kelvin-Varley divider that gives y o u 10-turn

resolution and stability.

2. Get D C Signal O n l y
of the power amplifier to
output merely b y using
trigger mode to switch
A C signal.

out
the
the
off

3. V a r i a b l e
Start/Stop
control permits varying
s t a r t / s t o p point 3 6 0 degrees in trigger, gate, pulse
and burst modes.

4. C a l i b r a t e d
Sweep
W i d t h control uses KelvinVarley divider to set stop
frequency to let y o u know
precisely where y o u ' r e
sweeping without measuring with a counter.

5. Ramp T i m e sets the

duration of the ramp and
the sweep time in the sweep
mode and also independently sets repetition rate and
duty cycle in pulse mode.

more reasons the Exact Model 506 sweep function generator

is the most waveform generator ever sold for $495:
TWO-IN-ONE. A main generator for sine, square,
triangle, pulse and sync, plus a ramp generator for
sweeping or triggering the main generator, or for
use as an independent signal source.
WIDE BANDWIDTH. 0.1 Hz to 5MHz frequency
range, with ramp time of 10 ^sec to 100 sec.
(.01 Hz available on the main generator.)
SWEEP. Ramp generator can sweep main generator
over a 1000:1 range. Sweep width adjustable from
zero to 3 full decades.
PULSE. Independently variable width and repetition
rate.
T R I G G E R / G A T E . Both generators can be triggered
(one shot) and gated (burst) independently.
SEARCH MODE. Main generator can be swept
manually over 3 decades.
VERSATILE RAMP. Ramp available at main output
and via its own connector. (Convenient for x-y and
Bode plots.) Ramp gate output connector on rear
panel can be used as a pen lifter or for blanking
or unblanking.

C O M P A C T . Only 10cm high, 38.3cm wide,

30.7cm deep. Weighs only 4Kg. Simple maintenance because all components values, test points
and calibration adjustments are printed on the P.C.
card, identified and easily accessible.
LOW COST. Model 506 only $495. Model 507
with linear and logarithmic sweep, $595. Model
504 with trigger and gate, but without sweep,
$450.

D R O H

E X A C T
I electronics, inc.

Subsidiary of Dana Electronics, Inc.

BOX 160, HILLSBORO. OREGON 97123
(503) 648-6661 TWX 910-460-8811

C i r c l e 17 o n R e a d e r S e r v i c e C a r d
IEEE s p e c t r u m APRIL 1976

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