Welcome to our Fall 1999 edition of the KlipschSpeaker Alumni News. Many things have happened since our last newsletter. The Klipsch School faculty and staff opted for an internal search for permanent Head. Interim Head, Steve Castillo, was the only applicant and was supported unanimously. Dr. Castillo became permanent Head at the start of the fall semester. We've been informed that Dr. Alvy Ray Smith will receive an honorary doctorate at the December commencement exercises, the Electrical and Computer Engineering Academy and the Industrial Advisory Group held their annual meetings early in October, and in August, the Klipsch School hosted a very successful 42^nd Midwest Symposium on Circuits and Systems. Since our ABET 2000 evaluation will occur during the fall 2000, we include a lengthy discussion of the historical ABET process as compared with the new ABET 2000 process, and some interesting information extracted from our attempt to interview all two-year and five-year BSEE graduates.

AN HONORARY DOCTORATE

Klipsch School alumni Dr. Alvy Ray Smith, whose extensive work in computer graphics was featured in the Summer 1999 KlipschSpeaker, will be recognized with an honorary doctorate from New Mexico State University during the fall commencement exercises on December 18,1999.

THE ACADEMY

The Electrical and Computer Engineering Academy (ECEA) held their annual meeting at the Klipsch School during October 6-7, 1999. The Academy's Industrial Advisory Group (IAG) met on Wednesday, October 6. The agenda included presentations by Dean Jay Jordan and Head Steve Castillo on the state of the College and Klipsch School. Dean Jordan stressed that the College's ABET 2000 accreditation visit during the fall 2000 is the most critical and pressing issue confronting us at the present time. Paul Furth discussed our efforts with ABET 2000 and outcomes assessment, Steve Castillo discussed Klipsch School development, and gave a presentation on future directions of the Klipsch School. The IAG moved to convene at the Klipsch School in January, 2000, to help with the ABET 2000 outcomes assessment.

The Academy met on Thursday, October 7. Their agenda included presentations by Dean Jay Jordan and Head Steve Castillo on the state of the College and Klipsch School. Dean Jordan reiterated that the College's ABET 2000 accreditation visit during the fall 2000 is the most critical and pressing issue confronting us at the present time.

John Ackerman's and Stuart Warrick's terms on the Board ended. Elections were held. Ben Boykin was elected and Stuart Warrick was re-elected to the Board. The Board then elected Ben Boykin as President, Stuart Warrick was re-elected as Vice President, and Bob Tausworthe was re-elected as Secretary/Treasurer. The Board members and end of terms are Bill Osborne (October 2000), Bob Tausworthe (October 2000), Andrew Lucero (October 2001), Don Wunsch (October 2001), Ben Boykin (October 2002), and Stuart Warrick (October 2002).

The academy heard an IAG briefing which emphasized outcomes assessment and ABET 2000. New members were elected to the IAG which now consists of Stuart Warrick (Chair, 2000), Bill Osborne (2001), Larry Stolarczyk (2002), Joe Kitchell (2002), and Vincent Boudreau (2004). During his financial report, Steve Castillo reported that the academy account contained in excess of $23,000. The academy directed Dr. Castillo to hold $10,000 in reserve and spend the remainder for laboratory equipment, start-up costs associated with new faculty, and special faculty awards. The Academy also moved to set up a development committee to help the Klipsch School secure donors to support the development of endowed chairs.

Six new members were inducted into the Academy.

Vincent Boudreau graduated from the Klipsch School in 1954. After four years with Western Electric, he joined White Sands Missile Range. He held many management positions including Chief Engineer. After retiring from WSMR in 1982, he served as Assistant Vice President of Citizens Bank and as an engineering consultant. He is currently Program Manager for Nichols Research Corporation in Las Cruces.

James Boykin received a BSME degree from New Mexico State University in 1951. After serving as a pilot in the US Air Force, he returned to NMSU and received a BSEE in 1959. He had a long career in the space industry with Rockwell in California, as well Rockwell, Dynalectron, and Service Technology Corporation at the White Sands Test Facility. He retired in 1985 and now is a freelance/self-employed flight instructor and charter pilot.

Thurlow Caffey received his BSEE from NMSU in 1957 and MSEE from UNM in 1963. He joined Sandia National Laboratories in 1963 and is currently principal investigator for several projects in applied electromagnetics. He is a senior member of the IEEE and serves as a legislative liaison to the State of New Mexico Legislature.

Paul Kepner received his BSEE in 1953 and MSEE in 1957 from NMSU. He spent five years teaching in the Klipsch School and had a 35 year career with several divisions of Bendix / Allied Signal. He retired in 1994.

Roland Thomas received a BSAgE in 1951 and a BSEE in 1952 from NMSU. He received an MSEE from Stanford in 1953 and a PhD from the University of Illinois in 1959. He served in the United States Air Force for more than 26 years retiring in the grade of Brigadier General. He served as Professor and Head, Department of Electrical Engineering, USAF Academy from 1966-79. Since retiring from the Air Force he has held positions with Kaman Sciences Corporation, Mission Research Corporation, Motorola Government Electronics Group, and was president and founder of TCS, an independent consulting firm. He is the son of Melvin Thomas, Head of the Electrical Engineering Department from 1934-1955, and then Dean of the College of Engineering.

Jerome "Jerry" Shaw received his BSEE from NMSU in 1949. He was presented with an honorary doctorate "for his entrepreneurial accomplishments and for his service and commitment to excellence in education at New Mexico State University." In 1950, Shaw and his brother, William, started Volt Information Sciences, Inc. Today, the Volt family of divisions and subsidiaries spanning the globe represent a Fortune 1000 company with more than 30,000 employees. In 1997, Volt sales were $1.42 billion, and the company grew by $400 million. Jerry Shaw and Volt Information Sciences were featured, in detail, in the Summer 1998 KlipschSpeaker.

Information on the Electrical and Computer Engineering Academy including current membership with biographies, bylaws, eligibility for membership, etc., can be found on the Klipsch School home page at www.ece.nmsu.ece/ecea/ecea.html. If you are interested in knowing more about the Academy or Industrial Advisory Group, becoming a member, or wish to nominate someone, let us know. We will e-mail, fax, or mail the information to you.

ABET- A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

The Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology ABET provides accreditation for engineering programs in the United States as well as foreign countries. Because of the extensive financial and human resources required most engineering colleges try to schedule ABET reviews of all departments at the same time.

The timetable for the review is as follows. NMSU's College of Engineering will request an ABET review during the 2000-2001 academic year. During the 1999-2000 academic year, the departments and the college prepare extensive documents describing the department undergraduate degree programs and the college prepares documentation describing common functions such as co-op, financial aid, advising, shared laboratory facilities, etc. These documents are sent to a visitation team in the early summer. The team is comprised of academic or industrial representatives that can evaluate the degree programs being reviewed. The Klipsch School only offers the BSEE. If we also offered a bachelors in computer engineering, that program would also have a reviewer.

After evaluating the submitted documentation, the review team visits the campus for two days, typically in October or November. The purpose of the visit is to corroborate the submitted documentation and clear up any misunderstandings. The departments, college, higher administration, and facilities such as the library and central computing are all reviewed. The visit terminates with an exit interview with the department heads, deans, vice president, and president. Particular strengths or weaknesses are identified.

The program reviewers submit extensive reports to the team captain who submits an overall report to ABET. Later in the academic year, higher-level ABET committees evaluate all documentation and make a final accreditation. A preliminary report is sent to the institution early in the spring. The institution can respond to the report and try to clear up any inconsistencies or misunderstandings.

A program can advertise that it is fully accredited but cannot advertise the level of accreditation. The highest level of accreditation is 6V, six years before the next visit. The next level is 3R, three years with a report. This is used in situations such as the following: Say for example that an EE department is doing an excellent job but the lab courses are in a building built in 1910 that is totally antiquated, insufficient, and inadequate. However, the university administration informs the ABET team that $25 million is available for a new laboratory building that is currently out for bid and will be complete in two years. Ten million dollars are earmarked for laboratory equipment. In this case, ABET expects a report in three years detailing the completion of the building and laboratories. If the report is satisfactory, accreditation is continued for another three years to coincide with the six-year cycle.

A program with some deficiencies may receive an accreditation of 3R, three years before the next visit. Sometimes ABET uses the 3R to force philosophical changes in engineering education. NMSU's College of Engineering in general, and the Klipsch School in particular, have been accustomed to the 6V accreditation. However, in the years around 1988, ABET became concerned with the state of laboratory equipment in engineering programs and set about to force institutions to develop long-term financial plans and firm commitments from institutional administration, boards of regents, the state legislatures, etc. for continuous equipment maintenance, upgrade, and replacement in the laboratories. NMSU's higher administration paid lip service to the College of Engineering's plan, but reneged. Consequently, in 1988, all departments but one received a 3V accreditation. The college had to go through the effort for the three-year visit, the higher administration got the message, a sound plan for continuous equipment maintenance, upgrade, and replacement was put in place, and the reviewed departments were given another 3V in order to put all departments in the same six-year cycle. In 1994, the college underwent another review and all viable programs received the 6V accreditation.

In the years around 1988, the majority of engineering departments accredited were receiving 3R while ABET was trying to change the nationwide institutional and governmental mentality with respect to financial commitment toward engineering laboratories. Many programs nationwide were given 6V accreditation by the review teams, but the accreditation was downgraded to 3V at higher levels in ABET in order to force the philosophical change.

ABET 2000

For the past 30 years, or more, ABET visits have relied on a great deal of bean counting. Have all graduates taken freshman English? Have all graduates taken enough math? Enough humanities and social sciences? Enough engineering science? Enough engineering design? Under ABET 2000, ABET is giving engineering departments more latitude in how they define the quality and content of their programs, but cycles of evaluation and assessment become integral to the programs and must be constantly measured, documented, and incorporated. Because ABET is trying to force a philosophical change, most programs are receiving a 3V accreditation.

The figure below shows the evaluation and assessment cycles. The inner cycle "defines the target" based on what the department objectives are, input from stake holders and constituencies, and the results of assessment of outcomes and evaluation of objectives. The outer loop establishes and measures outcomes and evaluates objectives.

ABET specifies three sets of program objectives which must be evaluated and have outcomes measured. The first two sets are defined by ABET. The third set of program objectives are unique to the Klipsch School.

Klipsch School Electrical Engineering

Program Education Objectives

The Klipsch School is dedicated to providing quality educational opportunities at the baccalaureate and graduate levels in electrical and computer engineering that will prepare students for successful careers in private industry, government and academia. Students graduating with a bachelor's degree will have the necessary technical, communication, and critical thinking skills as a basis for a successful, fulfilling and life-long career in electrical and computer engineering.

1. As for all baccalaureate engineering graduates under the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology Engineering Criteria 2000, the following program objectives are included. Through their graduates, engineering programs must demonstrate:

(a) An ability to apply knowledge of mathematics, science, and engineering;

(b) An ability to design and conduct experiments, as well as to analyze and interpret data;

(c) An ability to design a system, component, or process to meet desired needs;

(d) An ability to function on multi-disciplinary teams;

(e) An ability to identify, formulate, and solve engineering problems;

(f) An understanding of professional and ethical responsibility;

(g) An ability to communicate effectively;

(h) The broad education necessary to understand the impact of engineering solutions in a global and societal context;

(i) A recognition of the need for, and an ability to engage in life-long learning;

(j) A knowledge of contemporary issues;

(k) An ability to use the techniques, skills, and modern engineering tools necessary for engineering practice.

2. In addition, the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology Engineering Criteria 2000 requires that baccalaureate degree graduates in electrical engineering have:

(a) Breadth and depth across the range of electrical engineering topics;

(b) Knowledge of probability and statistics and their applications to electrical engineering;

(c) Knowledge of mathematics through differential and integral calculus;

(d) Knowledge of basic sciences;

(e) Knowledge of advanced mathematics, including differential equations and vector calculus;

(f) Knowledge of engineering sciences ;

(g) The ability to analyze and design complex electrical and electronic devices and systems that contain hardware and software components.

3. Finally, program objectives particular to New Mexico State University are that baccalaureate degree graduates in electrical engineering are:

(a) Able to apply critical thinking skills to solve problems in electrical engineering;

(b) Able to apply computers to assist in solving electrical engineering problems;

(c) Given opportunities to explore specialties pertinent to their career choices;

(d) Given opportunities to experience the profession first-hand through co-ops or internships;

(e) Able to obtain meaningful employment or continue with graduate education.

During the summer Klipsch School professors Paul Furth and Sheila Horan, with the help of several paid undergraduate students, attempted to interview all two-year and five-year BSEE graduates. Out of 120 graduates, 38 were successfully interviewed, a success rate of 32%. Most surveys were done by a 20 minute telephone call. Some were done by email or fax, if requested. Following are some interesting excerpts from the surveys.

Oral communication 4.53

Written communication 4.29

Interpersonal skills 4.39

Lifelong learning 4.37

Teamwork 4.61

Ethics and professional behavior 4.50

Registration as a Professional Engineer 2.24

Oral communication 3.45 (-1.08)

Written communication 3.61 (-0.68)

Interpersonal skills 3.50 (-0.89)

Lifelong learning 3.89 (-0.48)

Teamwork 4.0 (-0.61)

Ethics and professional behavior 3.79 (-0.71)

Registration as a Professional Engineer 2.75 (+0.52)

My education in the Klipsch School prepared 4.16

me for my career.

My academic program enabled me to design 3.82

and conduct experiments.

My academic program enabled me to analyze 4.13

and interpret data.

My academic program enabled me to design a 4.16

system, component, or process to meet

desired needs.

My academic program enabled me to identify, 4.45

formulate, and solve engineering

problems.

4.37

Overall, on a scale of 1 to 5, how well would you say that your education in the Klipsch School prepared you for your career. The number represents the average of the 38 responses.

4.03

CIRCUITS AND SYSTEMS

On August 8-11, 1999, the Klipsch School hosted the 42^nd Midwest Symposium on Circuits and Systems at Corbett Center. Nearly 275 participants attended the symposium, which exceeded organizers' expectations by 15%. Short courses and plenary sessions covered hot topics in circuits and systems, such as high-speed/high-resolution analog-to-digital conversion, high-speed analog image processing, and fuzzy computing. In all, 310 papers were presented by researchers from 31 countries. On the last evening of the symposium, participants were invited to attend a banquet at the two-year-old New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum, located on University avenue near A-mountain. Mariachis, the beautiful Organ Mountains at sunset, and New Mexico cuisine highlighted the relaxing evening. The Museum has mock-ups of a horse and calves for calf roping practice. Many of the attendees tried their skill at this cowboy art. Many of the visitors, especially the international ones, were really taken with the uniqueness of Las Cruces and the flavor of the wild west.

The Midwest Symposium is the longest continuous conference in the IEEE Circuits and Systems Society. Hosting it at NMSU brought great visibility to the Klipsch School, NMSU, and the State of New Mexico. Klipsch School faculty and staff worked long and hard to make the symposium a success. Dr. Jaime Ramirez-Angulo was the General Chair, Dr. Paul Furth, the Program Chair, Dr. Lonnie Ludeman, the Publications Chair, William Smith, the Webmaster, and Cher Quijano, the Administrative Assistant.

KLIPSCH SCHOOL SUPPORTS

STARDUST

Klipsch School faculty and students supported the development of the STARDUST spacecraft telecommunications subsystem which operates within NASA's Deep Space Network (http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov). STARDUST is a NASA Discovery mission launched last February and will encounter the comet Wild-2 in January of 2004. The spacecraft will collect comet dust and a sample-return capsule will land in Utah in January of 2006. The Klipsch School supported the Physical Science Laboratory (PSL) who was a subcontractor to Lockheed Martin Astronautics (LMA). LMA teamed with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the development and operation of the spacecraft. The telecommunications subsystem sends commands to the spacecraft and receives spacecraft housekeeping data as well as the scientific data associated with the comet encounter.

Sam Mares (BSEE, '85) is the PSL program manager who lead the NMSU team of PSL engineers, Klipsch School faculty and students. Mares oversaw the development of the telecommunications subsystem and was aided by PSL engineers Thomas Greenling (BSEE, '88), Tracy Hooker (BSEE, '86), Scott Cannon (BSME, '86), Dr. Bruce Blevins (PhD, '76) and a number of student employees from the College of Engineering and the Klipsch School. NMSU students were involved in the overall subsystem design/performance verification and also supported flight hardware development. NMSU/PSL was responsible for the design and fabrication of five spacecraft antenna systems.

Dr. Steve Horan, Professor and Director of the Klipsch School's Manuel Lujan Tele-Engineering Program, oversaw the work of Rune Andreassen (MSEE, '96) who performed link analyses to ensure the functionality of the telecommunications subsystem. Keith Marians (BSEE, '98) supported PSL engineers during the subsystem design and component source selection. Klipsch School professor Dr. Russ Jedlicka's EE 491 / EE 541 Antennas class analyzed and verified the design of several of the spacecraft antenna systems.

PROF BROWN SCHOLARS

The Klipsch School of Electrical and Computer Engineering announced the Professor Harold Brown Scholars for the 1999-2000 academic year. Each of the Scholars will receive a scholarship from the Professor Harold Brown endowment. In general, the scholarships are used to attract the best high school seniors into the Klipsch School and to support outstanding Klipsch School juniors and seniors. In all cases, selection of the students is based on demonstrated scholarship. The Professor Harold Brown Scholars are:

Ryan Ahrens (Freshman, Albuquerque)

Matthew Alsleben (Sophomore, Alamogordo)

Laura Boucheron (Junior, Albuquerque)

David Brumit (Sophomore, Carlsbad)

Duane Evans (Senior, Las Cruces)

Sharon Hoard (Junior, Alamogordo)

Carson Honaker (Senior, Framington)

David Hunter (Junior, Las Cruces)

Juan Macha (Sophomore, Sandy, Utah)

Brian Martinez (Sophomore, Albuquerque)

Richard McClanahan (Sophomore, Gallup)

Christopher Nail (Senior, Albuquerque)

Julee Pfeiffer (Senior, Las Cruces)

Jesus Saenz (Sophomore, El Paso)

Brian Thompson (Sophomore, Farmington)

Bonnie Tolk (Junior, Albuquerque)

Clayton Wauneka (Sophomore, Farmington)

KLIPSCH SCHOOL ENROLLMENT

Based on the fall enrollment figures, the Klipsch School has 473 undergraduate students and 106 graduate students for a total of 579. The breakdown of undergraduates is: freshmen - 111, sophomore - 121, junior - 78, and senior - 129. there are 67 masters and 39 PhD students. The undergraduate enrollment has increased for the third consecutive year, from the low point in 1996 when the undergraduate enrollment was at 408. The graduate enrollment has remained stable since 1997 between 100 and 120 graduate students after falling from a high of 188 in 1994. The excellent job market is forcing the Klipsch School to be especially aggressive in recruiting top students into its graduate program. The increasing undergraduate enrollment is putting a strain on Klipsch School teaching and laboratory facilities. Maintaining an undergraduate to graduate enrollment of about 4.5 to 1 and ensuring that our students maintain good access to state-of-the-art laboratory facilities will provide a challenge to the Klipsch School in the coming years.

WHAT OUR STUDENTS ARE DOING

On September 22, New Mexico State University held its annual Engineering Career Fair. Over 90 organizations participated, making it one of the largest career fairs in the Southwest. Recruiters continue to tell us how well they like our students and the education they are receiving. Demand continues to be very strong.

Klipsch School MSEE graduate Atle Borsholm won second place in the graduate student paper contest for a paper based on his MS thesis at the October, 1999 International Telemetering Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. Professor Stephen Horan taught a one-day short course on radio propagation basics at the conference. Professor Stephen Horan and his student Ru-Hai Wang, Assistant Professor Sheila Horan, Assistant Professor James Le Blanc and his student Rodney Rogers, and Professor Tom Shay and his students David Hazzard, John MacCannell, G. Lee, Emily Selves, Dan Moore, Jason Payne, and Chris Garrett all presented papers at the conference describing their research work.

The Telemetering Scholarships for this year were also awarded to the following students.

Monte Giles 1999-2000

Jemma Gomez 1999-2000

Timothy Hartley 1999-2000

Edward Rede 1999 Fall 1999

Zaid Amro Spring 2000, on Co-op Fall 1999

Sharon Hoard Spring 2000, on Co-op Fall 1999

FACULTY/ STAFF HIGHLIGHTS

Drs. Phillip De Leon and James LeBlanc have been awarded a one-year, $125,000 grant from the Air force Research Laboratory's Human Effectiveness Directorate. The grant investigates application of their previous research in the separation of individual speech signals from a mixture of speech signals to advanced audio/speech interfaces.

Dr. Mike Giles recently received a $171,500 grant from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research for a project entitled "Improving the Performance of Air Force Adaptive Optics Systems Using High Resolution Spatial Light Modulators with Deformable Mirrors". The second and third year of the research are renewable at $200,000 per year. The research is a joint effort between the Air Force and the Army Research Laboratory's Intelligent Optics Laboratory in Adelphi, Maryland, and is a direct result of Dr. Giles' six-month sabbatical with them in 1997.

The New Mexico Space Grant Consortium (NMSGC), hosted by the College of Engineering and the Klipsch School, has been awarded another five-year renewal contract by NASA. The award was based on the results of a ten-year review process in which NASA ranked NMSGC 8th in the nation among Space Grant programs. There are 52 Space Grant programs, one in each state, in the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. The Space Grant and Land Grant models are similar in that each has a research, education, and public service mission in their charter legislation. The director of the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium is Dr. Patricia Hynes.

On Friday, September 17th, the Particle Astrophysics Lab hosted a Workshop for Teachers from the Roswell Public School System as part of a grant entitled "Incorporation of Scientific Ballooning into Science Education" sponsored by NASA's Initiative to Develop Education through Astronomy and Space Science (IDEAS) Program. The Director of the Particle Astrophysics Laboratory is Dr. Steven Stochaj.

Dr. Stochaj recently received a grant from NASA's FY99 Partnership Awards for Innovative and Unique Education and Research Projects. The project is titled "Simulation of Extensive Airshowers Using Beowulf-Class Systems" with the amount, $138,000 over two years.

Dr. Wiley Thompson retired on July 1, 1999, after 31 years of teaching, research, and service with the Klipsch School. Dr. Thompson served for many years as the graduate advisor and was director of the highly successful Electronic Vision Analysis Laboratory (EVAL). His research contributions were extensive and he received the College of Engineering Bromilow Lecture Award for Excellence in Research.

KLIPSCH SCHOOL NOTES

We now have the KlipschSpeaker on our web site. Locate http://www.ece.nmsu.edu/alumni/ alumni. html, select KlipschSpeaker and bring up the issue you want.

It's important to us that all of the Klipsch School alumni receive the quarterly KlipschSpeaker. We get our mailing labels from the Office of the Vice President for University Advancement, but we know there are Klipsch School alumni who are not in the database. We want to include these alumni, but we don't know how to find them. Please send us addresses of alumni not receiving the KlipschSpeaker.

We can also provide the KlipschSpeaker as an attachment to an e-mail message for those alumni who prefer electronic service. This may be especially attractive to foreign alumni. If you want e-mail delivery, send your name and e-mail address to jtaylor@nmsu.edu. Indicate any special requirements.

If you haven't already, please check the Klipsch School's web page at http://www.ece.nmsu.edu. Our web page tells about the Klipsch School students, faculty, programs, and research. Look us up. The NMSU web page address is http://www.nmsu.edu. You can get to our web page from NMSU's or directly at the address above. The University has a calendar of events web page at http://www.nmsu. edu/general/calendar. If you want to get in touch with us, obtain additional information, or tell us something about you or other alumni, contact the Klipsch School Head, Dr. Steven Castillo at 505-646-3115 or e-mail to scastill@nmsu.edu, or Dr. Javin Taylor, Associate Head and KlipschSpeaker Editor at 505-646-1239 or e-mail to jtaylor@ nmsu.edu, or use the Klipsch School fax number, 505-646-1435.