With all of you probably on summer break, I doubt that many of you will be reading this. But I can hope. I have a mix of new info and things to share.
1. New Newsletter. McGraw Hill has a new newsletter that most of you will be interested in. It is called the McGraw Hill Electronic Newsletter. Designed specifically for those of you who teach at the community college level, it is a mix of news, articles and book info. This first issue is full of interesting material. I urge you to sign up for it. Send an email with your name, school, phone number, and email address to Jean_Schmieder@mcgraw-hill.com. The plan is to publish twice a year. Book reviews of the new versions of the Grob and Malvino texts are there. Take a look.
2. New Relevant Article. I just had a new article published you may be interested in reading. It is titled: "Are We Teaching the Right Subjects in AAS Degree Electronics Technology Programs?" It was published in the online journal The Technology Interface. This is a peer reviewed journal and my initial submission was beat up pretty badly. However, I did manage to get it blessed. Go to http://TechnologyInterface.nmsu.edu. The article is in the April issue.
The Technology Interface is edited and managed by Jeff Beasley at New Mexico State University. He does a super job. Take a look at all the stuff in the back issues. This is a truly an under used treasure trove of information.
3. Conference of Interest. Coming up is the SAME-TEC conference July 24-29 in Albuquerque. This conference is in its third year and targets community colleges teaching electronics, manufacturing and semimconductor technology. It is a great conference and focuses on the issues and technical scope of electronic technology education. It is put on by Maricopa Advanced Technology Education Center in Tempe, AZ. This NSF funded organization has been around since 1996 and has some awesome materials for teaching. Go to www.matec.org and check it out. This conference details are also there. It is a small conference (about 200 or so) but very focused and a great chance to interact with colleagues around the US.
One of the pre-conference workshops is called "Designing The Electronics Technology Curriculum for the 21st Century". It is a full day event with the objective to bring into existence a new curriculum that is more in tune with what employers want and what is relevant today. This is a great chance to put your two cents worth in. I will be there to cheer you guys on. I look forward to meeting you.
Have a good summer and watch this blog for some new contributions shortly.
