the engineering independent 1997 back issue index · advancement of engineering. and, i am...

The EngineeringINDEPENDENT

IEEE Los Angeles Area Consultants'Network

1997Back Issue

Index

1997 Newsletter Back Issues

Volume 5, Number 9, November/December 1997.

Candidate Statements for LAACN Election●

LAACN Events Calendar●

Region 6 So. Area Council Meeting●

Junk E- Mail●

Announcements●

Volume 5, Number 8, September/October 1997.

Candidates for LAACN Officers 1998●

General Meetings●

New Member Welcome●

Report on the August Meeting●

Other Southern California NetworkMeetings

●

Volume 5, Number 7, August 1997.


General Meetings●

Call for Nominations●

Chair's Report●

Restarting the Subnetworks●

Volume 5, Number 6, July 1997.

Network Promotions●


Volume 5, Number 5, June 1997.

How To Get The Most From YourMembership

●


Search Update●

Web Site Traffic●

General Meetings●

Volume 5, Number 4, May 1997.

New Web Search Capabilities●

Speakers' Bureau Debut●

General Meetings●

IEEE Tutorials●

Volume 5, Number 3, Apr 1997.

96 PE Exam Stats●

A Web Directory Success Story●

Web Site Updates●

General Meetings●

Volume 5, Number 2, Mar 1997.

Congratulations●

Contract Engineering And The WebDirectory

●

Free Engineering III●

http://www.ieee.org/

P.E. Law Update●

General Meetings●

The Referral System Is It Working?●

LAACN Speakers' Bureau●

General Meetings●

Volume 5, Number 1, Jan/Feb 1997.

General Meetings●

Liability Limitation Clause●

Professional Liability●

How To Get Free Email●

Do Referral Systems Work?●

Return to The Engineering Independent

Web Hosting Services provided by Verio Southern California. © 1997 LAACN. All Rights Reserved.

http://www.laacn.org/news/http://home.verio.com/http://www.laacn.org/list/copynote.htm

IEEE Los Angeles Area Consultants' Network


Volume 5Number 9

November/December,1997

CONTENTS

Candidate Statements for LAACN Election●

LAACN Events Calendar●

Region 6 So. Area Council Meeting●

Junk E- Mail●

Announcements●

Annual Dues Renewal Notice●

Candidate Statements for LAACN Elected Office

Position Statement: Kip Haggerty - Candidate for Chair

Kip Haggerty

Position: I am running for a second and final term to continue the successes we had in 1997. We focusedour referral system on the web site, switched to calendar year dues, published a web-based newsletter,distributed network business cards, and started advertising our web-based referrals. I will build on thisfoundation of accomplishment by working to improve our advertising efforts and to reestablish thesubnetworks to better serve our members regardless of location in Southern California. I will also workfor a better integration of the local and national structures to provide improved services for all networkmembers.

Bio: Kip Haggerty, Ph.D., P.E. (IEEE Senior Member) was an engineer at Hughes Aircraft (1980-94).He and his wife Leslie resigned from Hughes in 1994 to start their own engineering consulting firm.

IEEE Service: LAC Legislative Coordinator and Delegate to CLCPE (1995-97); Second VP, CLCPE(1997); Chair, LAACN (1997); Webmaster, LAACN (1996-97).

Position Statement: Wiley Greiner - Candidate for Vice Chair

Wiley Greiner

I am running for vice chair of the LAACN. From 1996 to 1997 I was treasurer. I have been a consultantsince 1982. If elected I will work to make LAACN a top resource for potential clients seekingconsultants and, to assure that LAACN responds to the needs of its members.

Position Statement: Joseph M. Antuna Jr. - Candidate for Secretary

Joseph M. Antuna Jr.

I have been a member of the LAACN and OCCN since July of 1997. My work is split between twocompanies: Delta Grain, which is a family owned business dealing with commodities in the food industryand my own business, Thor Industries, which provides Electrical Engineering Services, specializing inControl Systems.

I am affiliated with three other professional societies besides the consultants' networks. I am VicePresident of the Southern California Alumni Chapter of Tau Beta Pi. I am a Fellow of the Institute for theAdvancement of Engineering. And, I am Secretary for the Cal Poly Pomona Hispanic AlumniAssociation.

If elected Secretary of the LAACN I will provide my most diligent efforts to provide support and assurethe success of the network's goals. I will realize these efforts by ensuring communication from ourmembers and, looking after the interest and vitality of the network. I look forward to a prosperous andrewarding year for all.

Position Statement: Scott E. Miller - Candidate for Treasurer

Scott Miller

I am running for Treasurer of the Los Angeles Area Consultants' Network. I left Hunt-Wesson inFebruary 1997 to purchase an industrial battery business with four employees and a 12,000 square footshop. I have incorporated electrical engineering services with the battery systems that we sell. Mybusiness enables me to also provide consulting electrical engineering services.As treasurer, I will work for improved financial management of the network. I will apply my experiencein running a business to the network. I will pay the bills on time and keep accurate records as well astrack the accounts receivable.

Thank you for your support.Scott Miller, P.E.

Contents● Masthead● Information Links●

LAACN Events CalendarFor more information, contact Kip Haggerty (310) 679-2440.

November: Joint Meeting with the Buenaventura Section

Date: Thursday November 20, 1997Topic: Networking Workshop

Leaders: Kip and Leslie HaggertyTime: 7:30

Location: The Board Room of the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza

Directions:

The Plaza is located on Thousand Oaks Blvd in Thousand Oaks between Hampshire Roadan Rancho Road. Going North on FWY 101 (Ventura FWY), exit at Hampshire Road.Make a right turn off the FWY exit ramp. Up to Thousand Oaks Blvd (two blocks) make aleft and proceed to the Civic Art Plaza. Drive up (left) into the Plaza parking lot, into theleft parking area if available, or drive straight up into the multilevel parking structureahead. If attendants are present, mention that you're attending the IEEE meeting so theydon't ask for a parking fee.

Info:

Networking is an important mechanism for obtaining consulting assignments andemployment. The objective of this workshop is to help the attendees learn to better interactwith others in group situations to help them build a larger network of contacts. As part ofthe workshop attendees will do the exercises that were part of Stu Levy's acclaimednetworking workshop session at the 1996 PACE Conference.

December: Annual Business Meeting

Date: Wednesday December 3, 1997Topic: Elections, Subnetworks, and other Network Business

Time:6:00 pm Networking6:30 pm Dinner7:00 pm Meeting

Location: Manhattan Village Mall Community Room - Map and Directions

Info:Contact Kip Haggerty (Phone: (310) 679-2440E-Mail: Kip Haggerty) if you would like an appointed position such as a Subnetwork Chair.


IEEE Region 6 Southern Area Council Meeting.Joseph M. Antuna Jr.

The IEEE Region 6 Southern Area Fall Council Meeting was held on Saturday October 25. The locationwas at Cal State L.A. and hosted by the Cal State L.A. IEEE student chapter. The meeting lasted from7:30 AM to 12:30 PM.

The Region 6 Director, John B. Damonte, gave his report on what is occurring in the IEEE at higherlevels. He began by stating that the IEEE is extending its boundaries, ever increasingly, outside U.S.borders. He also said that the IEEE develops a 5 year plan, which is revised every 3 years. This adaptiveplanning ensures that the organization is heading in the right direction. Each Section is required to updatetheir bylaws periodically. Mr. Damontte showed a view-graph of every Section in the L.A. Council andthe dates their bylaws were last revised. Unfortunately, many of the sections in the L.A. Council areoperating with outdated bylaws. Fourthly the IEEE is contemplating over the idea of disseminatingpublications by electronic means. Issues of security and cost-effectiveness are in question. Finally, Mr.

Damonte spoke of the very real possibility of the IEEE providing a service which would provide everymember of the IEEE with an E-Mail address, for a nominal fee.

I gave a legislative report on the status of P.E. law and laws pertaining to safe harbor for independentcontractors.

At 10:15 students broke out for the remainder of the time for a student planning session & SPAC. Thestudents were led by professor Richard H. Cockrum, from Cal Poly Pomona, who is the L.A. Council andRegion 6 Student Activities Chair.

From 10:30 to 11:00 each Section Chair of the L.A. Council gave a report of their activities.

The meeting was bought to a close with a forum with Mr. Damonte. Most questions were related to IEEEparticipation. The forum resulted in a dialogue which brewed fruitful and inquisitive thoughts from theaudience; Hopefully the forum served to bridge the gap for the next meeting.


SICK OF SPAM? DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!

Steve Maas

I get a lot of junk mail. Twentieth-century philosophers may have decried the anonymity and alienationof modern life but, boy, it sure doesn't apply to me. I'm connected to everything. Everyone out thereknows I exist. All they want is to sell me something or lend me money. Last week I received fivecredit-card solicitations on a single day. Thank heavens I have a good paper shredder!

I suppose it was inevitable then, that the Internet junk mailers have discovered me too. I now get about3-4 junk emails for every legitimate one, and this number is rising. Because it alienates most customers,legitimate businesses rarely use junk email. Most junk email is for illegal pyramid schemes,get-rich-quick schemes, pornographic web sites, questionable weight-loss programs, quack medicalremedies, and similar dreck. Is anyone really interested in this stuff ? Certainly, no one with a three-digitIQ would be. Still, we're overrun by it.

It's easy to view this stuff as a minor irritation: after all, how long does it take simply to delete it all? Notlong, of course. But, that's not the whole story. It's a distraction and an irritation; my email is for mybusiness, not for the hucksters. The amount of this stuff is increasing by the week, and the load onservers is substantial. For example, America On-Line estimates that 30% of the 30 million emails theydeliver daily are junk emails. Even this understates their impact, because junk emails are usually muchlonger than the average.

There are lots of horror stories out there. But the horror stories are really not the point: the big problemwith junk email is that the costs are borne by the taxpayers, ISPs, and email recipients, not by the mailersthemselves. This is one of the big differences between junk email and other forms of direct advertising:the costs of junk phone calls and junk paper mail are largely borne by the mailers. Not so with email.And, unfortunately, this is why junk email can be expected to increase in the future: it is far cheaper thanother forms of hucksterism.

Unless we do something about it. And something is indeed being done. There is an organization called

CAUCE (Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial Email) that has supported a bill introduced by Rep.Chris Smith of New Jersey. This would amend the law restricting junk FAX to include junk email. Ithink it deserves our support. There are also several laws from the pro-spam groups, which will legalizethe status quo. If we don't support the Smith bill, we'll get the others, for sure.

Check out CAUCE. Their site is at http://www.cauce.org/ They have full information on writing to yoursenators and congressmen.


Announcements

The following is the agenda for the November 10th meeting of the San Diego Consultants' Network.

How to Make Money on the Web: Fact or Fantasy? Round Table Discussion-War Stories, Networking,Etc...

Tammy Greenwood, Editorial AssistantColumbus Research, Inc.

Phone: 274-0171 Fax: 274-5932E-mail: [email protected]://www.crilink.com/

The San Diego Consultants' Network has a new Web site.

The Web site is at: http://www.ieeeconsultants.com/Check it out.

For any out-of-work engineers from the LA area.

USC is offering a one-year fellowships leading to a an MS in EE and Computer Science with aspecialization in multimedia and creative technologies. They are available for engineers who have lostemployment due to layoffs in the LA area (and worked or lived in the LA area.)

Call USC for more information. (213)740-8415.Registration is due November 19.

Classes start January 7.Contents● Masthead● Information Links●

http://www.cauce.org/http://www.crilink.com/http://www.ieeeconsultants.com/

THE ONLINE BULLETIN

Welcome to the online bulletinof the LAACN. Check out theinformation links below forviewing, printing a paper copy,submitting an article, etc.

Think about writing an articlefor this bulletin... soon! Also, letus know if you or anothermember received a professionalaward, recognition, orcertification lately so we canmention it.

INFORMATION LINKS

Contents●

Viewing and printing●

Submitting an article●

Past issues●

Joining LAACN●

Member Info andBenefits

●

Meeting Calendar●

Finding a consultant●

Los Angeles Council●

IEEE●

LOS ANGELES AREACONSULTANTS' NETWORK

ChairKip Haggerty

H&A System EngineeringP.O. Box 637

Lawndale, CA [email protected]

(310) 679-2440

Vice-ChairClark BellHF Plus

TreasurerWiley GreinerLA Software

1329 Pine StreetSanta Monica, CA 90405-2611

SecretaryEd Conrow

Acquisition and TechnologyAssociates

Online EditorJoseph M. Antuna Jr.

Thor Industries

WebmasterKip Haggerty

H&A System Engineering

FINE PRINT

© 1996 LAACN, all rightsreserved. The EngineeringIndependent is publishedbimonthly by volunteers of theIEEE LA Area Consultants'Network. The LAACN offersnetworking and referral servicesto consultants throughoutsouthern California.

The discussion of any legalissues in an article in thispublication is presented aseducational material only. Theeditor, the IEEE and theLAACN, and their officers takeno responsibility for anystatements made in thispublication regardingapplicability to existing laws.Always seek the advice of anattorney in any legal matter.

Hosted by Verio SouthernCalifornia.

file:///Zephaniah/Web%20Pages/laacn.org/news/1997/print.htmfile:///Zephaniah/Web%20Pages/laacn.org/news/1997/sample.htmhttp://www.laacn.org/http://www.laacn.org/http://www.laacn.org/http://www.laacn.org/http://www.ewh.ieee.org/r6/lac/http://www.ieee.org/http://socal.verio.net/http://socal.verio.net/



Volume 5Number 8

September/October1997

CONTENTS

Candidates for LAACNOfficers 1998

●

General Meetings●


Report on the AugustMeeting

●

Other Southern CaliforniaNetwork Meetings

●

How to Join as a NewMember

●

Masthead●

Information Links●

CANDIDATES FOR LAACN OFFICERS 1998

Mort Smith, Nominating Committee Chair

The following individuals have volunteered to run for the four elected officer positions noted below:Kip Haggerty - LAACN Chair● Wiley Greiner - Vice Chair● Joseph Antuna - Secretary● Scott Miller - Treasurer●

For all of those members who would like to serve in any of the above elected positions, please submit aCandidate Statement of no more than 150 words by October 31, 1997. These statements should present abrief overview of your current position and affiliations, and an indication of your interest in and plans forcarrying out the duties of the position. Please submit your Candidate Statement to me [email protected] so that they can be published in the November LAACN Newsletter. It is expectedthat voting of the membership will take place by email or US mail in time for the December meeting orin person at that meeting.

We have also had several volunteers seeking appointed office. The following individuals havevolunteered for the appointed positions noted below:

Kip Haggerty - Electronic Communications Chair (Webmaster)● Morton Smith - Nominating Committee Chair● Curtis Barrett - Referral Committee Chair●

We would like to have other members or affiliate members volunteer for the remaining appointedpositions, especially for Subnetwork Chairs so we will have meetings next year. The remaining

appointed positions are:Subnetwork Chairs (Run local geographic area or special interest meetings)● Business Development Chair● Membership Chair● Political/Legal Affairs● Professional Development Chair● Newsletter Editor●

Thanks for your interest and support.Contents● Masthead● Information Links●

GENERAL MEETINGS

Kip Haggerty

October Joint Meeting with Metro LA Section and LA Council Power EngineeringChapter

Date: Wednesday October 15, 1997 (Third Wednesday)

Topics:"Buying and running an electrical business in California" plus "What Services DoesCMTC Provide and How to become a Power Marketer"

Speakers: Mr. Scott Miller and Mr. Jerry Knotts

Time:5:45 pm Social and finger food6:30 to 8:00 pm Meeting

Location:Downtown at the Department of Water and Power Headquarters in the CaliforniaConference Room, 111 S. Hope St. - In downtown Los Angeles next to the 110 and 101freeway interchange.

Info:

Free parking in Customer Parking lot at North end of Bldg off of Hope St. (Tell SecurityGuards you are here for the IEEE Power Meeting). The cost is $7.00 for IEEE memberreserving by Oct 10th, $10.00 for nonmembers and late reservations, $5.00 for students(first 5 students registered are free). Seating is limited to 70, please reserve by callingRoxana Khayyam at 818-405-3715.

TOPICS: The Metropolitan LA Section, Los Angeles PES Chapter, and Los Angeles Area Consultants'Network are proud to present a Joint Meeting on the evening of Wednesday October 15, 1997. Mr. ScottMiller, will present: "Buying and running an electrical business in California." Mr. Jerry Knotts willpresent: " What Services Does CMTC Provide and How to become a Power Marketer"

This event will be held at the Los Angeles Dept. of Water and Power Headquarters located downtown

Los Angeles next to the 110 and 101 freeway interchange at 111 N. Hope St., in the CaliforniaConference Room. The registration and social will start at 5:45 p.m. and includes hors d oeuvres. Themeeting will run from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. The cost is $7.00 for IEEE members reserving by Oct 10th,$10.00 for non members and late reservations, and $5.00 for students (first 5 students registered are free).To make reservations please call Ms. Roxana Khayyam at 818-405-3715. Parking is free in the DWPCustomer Parking lot located at the north end of Bldg off of Hope St. Important; please tell the securityguards you are here for the IEEE Power Meeting.

Buying and running an electrical business in California

Mr. Miller graduated from CSULB in 1990 with a BSEE and obtained his P.E. license three years later.He worked in the oil industry, then as a contract engineer, and finally for Hunt-Wesson. He receivedseveral commendations from Hunt-Wesson and PG&E for the Best Designed/Built customer-ownedsubstation. He left Hunt-Wesson to enter consulting and then purchased a commercial and industrialbattery sales and service business.

The advantage of buying an existing business is maintaining your cash flow while looking for consultingengagements. However, looking for a business, negotiating and actually buying it can get quitecomplicated and many small businesses hide their income. Mr. Miller will discuss techniques fordetermining actual income before buying the business, how an engineering background can be applied tomany aspects of any business, and maintaining cash flow.

What Services Does CMTC Provide and How to become a Power Marketer

Mr. Jerry Knotts, P.E. is an engineer with the California Manufacturing Technology Center (CMTC) andhe provides consulting services to Power Marketing companies. He helped start and manages PowerProviders Inc. which was one of the first power marketers to be registered with California CPUC andFERC. He has over 25 years experience in small, medium and large companies in positions includingprogram manager, vice president, and vice president/general manager. He has an MBA from Auburn anda BSEE from Penn State. He is also a licensed pilot and a senior member of IEEE.

Mr. Knotts will talk about the technical and business services offered by CMTC. CMTC is a non-profitorganization created and funded by the federal and state government to help small manufactures staycompetitive. Since it was founded in 1992, CMTC engineers and consultants have helped 350 of thestate's small-to-medium manufactures with a range of services from process improvements to businessplans to workforce training. The average cost to use CMTC services is approximately one-third themarket cost. He will also talk about his experience in consulting with Power Marketing and companies.He will also describe how he helped start the power marketing co. Power Providers Inc. and how PowerProviders got licensed with FERC and registered with CPUC.


NEW MEMBER WELCOME

Kip Haggerty

I am pleased to welcome five new members: Harry Dellamano, Richard Doyle, Henry Feltenberg,Stephen Pflanze, and Ken Post.

Harry Dellamano does business as TD Systems in Thousand Oaks. He consults in the areas ofpower electronics, power supplies, analog circuit design, and electromagnetic interference.

●

Richard Doyle does business as Doyle And Associates in La Jolla. Richard is also a past RegionalDirector of the IEEE.

●

Henry Feltenberg does business as Midas Consulting Group in Long Beach.● Stephen Pflanze does contract engineering and is based in Canyon Country. He provides servicesin the areas of analog and digital design and test. He also provides C++ programming on the Unixoperating system. You can learn more about Stephen athttp://www.wisr.net/artist/resume/cover.htm

●

Ken Post does business as Shoreline Consulting Services, Inc. in Huntington Beach.●

On behalf of the network, I extend a warm welcome to our new members.Contents● Masthead● Information Links●

REPORT ON THE AUGUST MEETING

Joe Antuna

Hello members of the LAACN! On our August meeting we had the pleasure of having two presentations.The two speakers were: Curtis W. Barrett, Referral Committee Chair and, Matthias F. Reese III.

Curtis spoke about some free engineering he performed. Free engineering you ask? ... what sort of aconsultant would ever do a thing like that? Well, what he actually did was volunteer, as many people allover the entire U.S. are doing. The effort is called Net Day. One of the main objectives of the plan is tohave every school in the U.S., K-12, both public and private, wired by the year 2000. There areapproximately 140,000 schools that need to be wired to the Internet. To have these networks installed is amonumental undertaking. The program is federally sponsored but, not federally subsidized. So, this is thereason why this entire grassroots effort requires volunteers. Curtis was the organizer in the installation ofthe cabling at a nearby parochial school. Some of the type of people who volunteer their time for NetDay are, telephone installers, and electricians. A person need not be technically skilled to participate.Some people go to provide refreshments and see that things go to go smoothly.

Sponsors are needed to purchase kits which cost from $500 to $600. These kits contain 2,000 ft. ofcategory V cable and additional components. There is a 24-jack master patch panel that connects 5 to 6classrooms. There are two main drops in each classroom. One drop for the teacher and one for thestudents. The computers will then connect to RJ-11 jacks.

If anyone would like to become a sponsor or volunteer in their community they can begin by logging onto the following web site, www.net day.org.

Matt, the featured speaker for the evening, gave a presentation titled, "Time & Billing Software and yourPersonal Computer." The purpose of using a time management program is to report quickly and

http://www.wisr.net/artist/resume/cover.htm

accurately to the client, IRS, and for yourself, what work has been done. The most popular use of a timemanagement program is for billing the client. But, some of its other uses include generating reports foraiding the consultants business plan, value of services offered, amount of work provided to eachcustomer, etc. It can also be used to keep archival records of the client's business.

The time management program that Matt demonstrated to us is called Timeslips (R). He mentioned thatthere are many time management programs on the market but, that Timeslips is the most versatile of thegenre he has seen.

The first step after acquiring Timeslips is to install and configure the program in a tailor made fashion tosuit the particular needs of your practice. The program then keeps track of tasks performed by whom,what was done, when it was done, and at what value. There are a variety of reports that can be accessed.Or, even custom reports may be created. These reports may be done in summary or, detailed fashion. Thebasic operational configuration of the program is achieved by creation of three lists. These lists are Staff(your personnel), Activities(the activities they provide) and Clients. With this information clients can bebilled and their payments recorded. For each client the recording of each task performed requires creationof a slip, which is retained in the programs database. There are two kinds of slips, TIMESLIPS andEXPENCESLIPS. Time slips are used to record tasks billed on a time basis while Expense Slips recordcost of items for the task.

Timeslips is primarily PC based. There is a Macintosh version but, it is not as full featured. The cost of asingle user licensed copy of the program is around $100. For a network version of the program the cost isaround $500 to $600. Timeslips can be used in and of itself or it can be linked to most general ledgerprograms, with an interface program that costs about an additional $70.

Matt gave a demonstration of Timeslips on his laptop. He went through most of the program's features.The power of this program became readily apparent to me after I saw the demo. The program is notdifficult to learn and if used in a regimented way can be an invaluable tool to the consultant.


Other Southern California Network Meetings

October ASME Small Business Meeting

Date: Wednesday October 15, 1997

Topic: "The Business of Being a Consultant"

Speaker: LAACN Member Andrew Hall Cutler, Ph.D, P.E.

Time:6:00-7:15 PM, Networking7:15-8:15 PM, Dinner (Japanese Buffet)8:15-9:15 PM, Talk

Location:

Sambi of Tokyo8649 Firestone BoulevardDowney, CA 90241562-869-1171

Directions:Sambi is located on Firestone Blvd. between Lakewood and Brookshire. It is near the 105and 605 Freeways.

Info:The cost is $22.00 per person. For reservations, call Tosh Fujita at 818-354-8700 or rsvpvia e-mail to [email protected]

TOPIC: Any number of speakers give talks about being in business for yourself where they spout MBAtextbook platitudes - business plan, cash flow, target market - which sound good but are hard to apply.Dr. Cutler's talk is unique in that it consists of practical advice you can understand and use.

Few people start a business by segmenting the marketplace, planning their business, putting aside theright amount of money to cover their cash flow requirements and then executing this plan to perfection.Most people who eventually build a successful practice fall into consulting when they least expect it,blunder around until they bump into opportunities, live in fear of going, broke for years on end, and latermake up a story so it sounds like they knew what they were doing and were confident of success allalong. These made up stories won't help you half as much as the hard lessons learned of what to do, andwhen to do it, that Dr. Cutler presents.

Dr. Cutler will discuss the simplest entrepreneurial activity - consulting. He will explain what to do nowif you plan to go into business for yourself in the foreseeable future. He'll also tell you what to do if youare suddenly 'downsized' and need to generate income - especially since most consulting businesses startthis way.

Dr. Cutler is a registered chemical engineer. He has a Ph.D. in Chemistry and a B.S. in Physics. Hesupports himself through his consulting practice. He has given talks to Chemical Engineering groups andis scheduled to give an extended version of his talk to the Orange County Consultants' Network onOctober 18.

October IEEE San Diego Consultants' Network Meeting

Date: Monday October 13, 1997

Topic:"The Business of Being a Consultant"See above for topic description

Speaker: LAACN Member Andrew Hall Cutler, Ph.D, P.E.

Time:6:00 pm, Dinner7:00 pm, Program

Location:Sizzler Restaurant3755 Murphy Canyon Road (at Aero Drive)Phone: (619) 278-6988

For questions, call John Watson (619) 274-0171 or Kim Premuda (619) 487-1440. For more informationcall John Parry at (760) 941-3738. The Consultants Network meets on the second Monday of everymonth (July and August included) at the same location. All are welcome.


HOW TO JOIN AS A NEW MEMBER

New members may currently join the network and get listed in the directory for the remainder of 1997and all of 1998 for $50, the price of a 1-year membership. Please send a check for $50 (made out toIEEE-LAACN), your IEEE number, and contact information to the Treasurer. If you are not an IEEEmember, then you are applying for a new affiliate membership and need to send a resume also. Forfurther information, see:

Joining LAACN● Member Info and Benefits●


THE ONLINE BULLETIN



INFORMATION LINKS

Contents●




ChairKip Haggerty



(310) 679-2440




SecretaryEd Conrow


FINE PRINT



http://www.laacn.org/http://www.laacn.org/file:///Zephaniah/Web%20Pages/laacn.org/news/1997/print.htmfile:///Zephaniah/Web%20Pages/laacn.org/news/1997/sample.htm

Past issues●

Joining LAACN●


●

Meeting Calendar●



IEEE●

Online EditorClark BellHF Plus



Dues are $50 per calendar year.New member dues are: $50 forcalendar year (Oct 1 to Mar 31)or $25 for remainder of calendaryear (Apr 1 to Sep 31). Pleasemake checks out toIEEE-LAACN and send to thetreasurer.


http://www.laacn.org/http://www.laacn.org/http://www.laacn.org/http://www.laacn.org/http://www.laacn.org/http://www.ewh.ieee.org/r6/lac/http://www.ieee.org/http://socal.verio.net/http://socal.verio.net/



Volume 5Number 7

August 1997

CONTENTS


General Meetings●

Call for Nominations●

Chair's Report●

Restarting the Subnetworks●

How to Join as a New Member●

Masthead●

Information Links●

NEW MEMBER WELCOME

Kip Haggerty

I am pleased to welcome three new members: Joseph Antuna, Robert Daymo, and Robert Eisenhart.

Joseph Antuna does business as Thor Industries and consults in the areas of servo/control systems,process controls, signal conditioning, and telemetry. You can learn more about him and his practice inthe Thor Industries web minisite.

Robert Daymo does business as Compulink Solutions, Inc. He specializes in software development andintegration for real-time embedded systems and test equipment. He also develops applications forWindows 95/NT.

Robert Eisenhart does business as Eisenhart & Associates. He is an expert in microwave circuits andantenna modeling and specializes in electromagnetic simulation software. He is also an IEEE Fellow.

On behalf of the network, I extend a warm welcome to our new members.Contents● Masthead● Information Links●

GENERAL MEETINGS

Kip Haggerty

The August Meeting will feature Mr. Matthias Reese. He will be speaking on Time and Work Tracking:Management and Software Tools. This meeting will be at the Sherman Oaks Galleria. The meeting isscheduled for August 21 (third Thursday -- not Wednesday) starting with informal networking at 6 pm,

dinner upstairs at the food court at 6:30 pm, and the program starting at 7 pm. No reservations required.

Topic: Efficient time and work tracking and billing are valuable components in an office's procedure.These unbillable activities are often time consuming at the least and also a major aggravation to many.

Computer programs are available to relieve the burden of these activities and an overview of two ofthem, Timeslips® and Timesheet® will be presented.

Such programs come in many flavors, very likely one that will fit your style of operation. Many of themcan link with accounting programs and project management packages as desired.

Among the benefits of using such programs are: efficient data entry, archival record availability, e.g., attax time, project management, and the ability to have a flexible view of the company's operation.

The Sherman Oaks Galleria is located just southeast of the Junction of the San Diego Freeway (I-405)and the Ventura Freeway (US-101). It is on the North West corner of the intersection of Sepulveda andVentura Blvds. Go to the first level of the Galleria and find the escalators in the center. Then head east tothe hallway between the Weebies (now out of business) and Goya stores and go down hall to end thenleft through double doors. The Community Room is an old health club and we will be in Room B (restroom is in Room A).

We will be having a September Joint Meeting with the China Lake Section on Tuesday September 23in Ridgecrest. It will be a luncheon meeting and will feature Dr. Kip Haggerty speaking on Being anEngineering Consultant: What Does It Take?

In this talk, Dr. Haggerty will give a brief overview of his firm's start-up in consulting, its road to successin independent practice, and lessons learned. He will then present material on pricing your services,getting clients, and networking. He will also give a brief overview of LAACN member benefits and howto start a subnetwork for meeting locally while tapping into referral services covering SouthernCalifornia.

For more information, see the China Lake Section Web Site.

The September General Meeting has been postponed to October because of business committments. Itwill feature Mr. Bob Gauger, the chair of the coordinating committee of the Alliance of IEEEConsultants' Networks. He will be speaking on Consulting Fee Surveys, Fee Setting, and progresstowards the Consulting Special Interest Group within the IEEE-USA. The meeting date and time will beannounced in the meetings area and in the September/October newsletter.

Also coming up in October is a Joint Meeting with the Metropolitan LA Section and the PowerEngineering Society on starting businesses. It is scheduled for Wednesday October 15, 1997. There willbe two speakers including our own Scott Miller. Scott will be discussing the business aspects of hispurchase of a commercial and industrial battery sales and service business as an addition to starting hisconsulting practice. The second speaker will be a venture capitilist. This meeting will be held indowntown LA at the Department of Water and Power Bldg. California Room (111 S. Hope St., LosAngeles).


CALL FOR NOMINATIONS

Annual elections for the network officers will be held in November or December at the Annual BusinessMeeting. The elective offices are:

Chair● Vice-Chair● Treasurer● Secretary●

To volunteer to run for office or to recommend someone for office, please contact:Mort Smith, Nominating Committee Chair29344 Whitley Collins DriveRancho Palos Verdes, CA 90275Phone: (310) 377-6501Fax: (310) 541-6101

For information on the duties of an officer or the election process, please see the relevant BylawsSection.

Article IV - Executive Committee and Officers1. Article V - Nominations and Elections2.


CHAIR'S REPORT

Kip Haggerty

In my ballot statement last fall I had proposed five objectives for the network and specific strategies forachieving each objective. I am pleased to report that we have implemented those strategies. As a result,we have seen significant accesses to our web site, a continuing stream of directory search requests, and aslight increase in membership. The following is my report on our progress towards those objectives.

Objective 1. Create a network environment that fosters exchange of information and referral ofcolleagues. We have increased meeting frequency to monthly. Our newsletter is now web-based forfaster and more cost-effective publishing. We now have a members-only referral email list for rapiddissemination of referral requests and a public subscription email list for meeting announcements andother general information.

Objective 2. Encourage use of LAACN engineering and technical consultants. We have finalized abudget plan for 1997 that will provide a spending framework for future years. The plan focusestwo-thirds of the budget on promotional activities aimed at clients, including approximately one-third of

the budget for advertizing. The purpose of the advertizing is to get potential clients to use our webdirectory or call our referral voice mail. We have already run four ads in the IEEE LA Council Bulletinand are finalizing the advertising plan for the remainder of 1997. Our referral system now features theweb-based directory of consultants as the primary referral mechanism making it easier for potentialclients to learn of our services. We have also printed high-quality business cards for distribution by themembership. Many members have begun distributing them (contact the Chair if you would like some todistribute). Lastly, we have been recruiting new members to make our web directory a more compellinglocation to search for consultants.

We have also adopted a strategy of holding joint meetings with other IEEE entities and other professionalsocieties. This will allow our members to network with people in industry at companies that constituteour base of potential clients. We have already held joint meetings with the South Bay Harbor Section andAIAA. We have additional joint meetings planned for next fall.

Objective 3. Promote high standards of professional practice. We have switched to chapter-style eveningmeetings with an optional dinner and put together some programs on technical and business topicsrelated to consulting. We have also made the IEEE Code of Ethics available on the web site and passalong information on continuing education and P.E. registration as it becomes available.

Objective 4. Serve the Southern California area. We have alternated the meetings between the South Bayand the San Fernando Valley. We are planning some joint meetings with other IEEE entities to get ameeting of the network into other parts of the LA Council area (from San Diego County in the south toSan Luis Obispo, Kern, and Inyo Counties to the north). We have joint meetings set up with the ChinaLake, Metropolitan LA and Buena Ventura Sections for the fall. We have also made contact with theOrange County and Foothill Sections about possible joint meetings.

We are planning to resurrect the subnet structure soon and use that as a means to provide local meetingswhile continuing to use the LAACN umbrella to provide referral services for all of Southern California(see article on subnetworks). One disappointment in this area was the refusal by the Orange CountyConsultants' Network to participate in a joint web directory. Their Chair declined because LAACN'sannual dues are too low.

Objective 5. Transition smoothly from the paper newsletter and telephone referral system to web andemail services. This has gone well. We have only 16 out of 51 members receiving the newsletter by mailbecause they either lack email or have specifically requested a printed copy. This reduces the workloadon those who volunteer their time to make the network a success and permits greater spending onpromotional activities. The referral voice mail now also includes the web address and contactinformation for the officers to increase the ease with which potential clients can access our referralsystem.

We have also provided Internet education for the membership. We had an article last winter on free andlow-cost email services. We have also presented a tutorial on HTML in both the South Bay and the SanFernando Valley. The tutorial provided the information members need to take advantage of the webminisite membership benefit. An online version of the tutorial is available in the meetings area on theweb site.

For further information, see:

Article on Free Email (Jan./Feb. 97 Issue)● HTML Tutorial● Meetings Info● Business Card● Firms Index● Member Info and Benefits●


RESTARTING THE SUBNETWORKS

Kip Haggerty

The area served by our network runs from San Diego County in the south to San Luis Obispo, Kern, andInyo Counties in the north. We have established a budget, a promotions and advertizing plan, and aweb-based directory to ensure that potential clients are served as our first priority. We have also puttogether a program of monthly meetings at various locations in Southern California.

Our Bylaws allow for subnetworks of the LAACN led by appointed Subnetwork Chairs. Now is the timeto reactivate the Subnetwork structure to provide meetings better aligned to the needs of the membership.I would like to have several Subnetworks functioning by January 1998 so that General Meetings will beplanned and hosted by the Subnetworks rather than the Network Chair. Subnetworks can be used toprovide local meetings in locations such as:

San Fernando Valley● South Bay● Orange County● Ventura/Santa Barbara Counties● Foothill Section Area● China Lake Section Area●

Subnetworks can also be used to set up a special interest groups such as a group of members interested inforensics or computer consulting. The advantage of this approach is that a Subnetwork can be establishedrapidly to meet an interest or a need of the membership and can be easily disbanded after it is no longerneeded. All the while, the interface to potential clients for referrals is through the LAACN referralsystem and promotional activities.

The process is simple. Someone proposes a Subnetwork. Someone volunteers to be the SubnetworkChair. The LAACN Chair appoints this person as Subnetwork Chair to the Executive Committee, whichwill vote on confirmation of the appointment. If confirmed, there is a Subnetwork.

The Subnetwork Chair would be responsible for meetings of the Subnetwork. This includes selecting ameeting frequency, place, date and time, scheduling the meeting room, submitting a meeting notice, andproposing an annual budget for the Subnetwork's meetings.


HOW TO JOIN AS A NEW MEMBER

New members may currently join the network and get listed in the directory for the remainder of 1997 athalf price ($25). Please send a check for $25 (made out to IEEE-LAACN), your IEEE number, andcontact information to the Treasurer. If you are not an IEEE member, then you are applying for a newaffiliate membership and need to send a resume also. If you delay until October 1, then pay the full $50and get the last quarter of 1997 plus all of 1998 -- all for the low price of one year. For furtherinformation, see:

Joining LAACN● Member Info and Benefits●


THE ONLINE BULLETIN



INFORMATION LINKS

Contents●



Past issues●

Joining LAACN●


ChairKip Haggerty



(310) 679-2440




SecretaryEd Conrow


Online EditorClark Bell

FINE PRINT



Dues are $50 per calendar year.New member dues are: $50 for

http://www.laacn.org/http://www.laacn.org/file:///Zephaniah/Web%20Pages/laacn.org/news/1997/print.htmfile:///Zephaniah/Web%20Pages/laacn.org/news/1997/sample.htmhttp://www.laacn.org/


●

Meeting Calendar●



IEEE●

HF Plus



calendar year (Oct 1 to Mar 31)or $25 for remainder of calendaryear (Apr 1 to Sep 31). Pleasemake checks out toIEEE-LAACN and send to thetreasurer.


http://www.laacn.org/http://www.laacn.org/http://www.laacn.org/http://www.ewh.ieee.org/r6/lac/http://www.ieee.org/http://socal.verio.net/http://socal.verio.net/



Volume 5Number 6July 1997

GENERAL MEETINGS

Kip Haggerty

The July Meeting will featureMr. Bob Gauger, the chair ofthe coordinating committee ofthe Alliance of IEEEConsultants' Networks. He willbe speaking on Consulting FeeSurveys, Fee Setting, andprogress towards theConsulting Special InterestGroup within the IEEE-USA.This meeting will be at theManhattan Village Mall inManhattan Beach. It isscheduled for July 16 (thirdWednesday) starting withinformal networking at 6 pm,dinner at the food court at 6:30pm, and the program starting at7 pm. No reservations required.

Manhattan Village Mall is onthe southeast corner ofSepulveda Blvd. and RosecransBlvd. in Manhattan Beach, CA.We will be meeting in thecommunity room down the hallbehind the food court in thecenter of the mall. The room isacross from the mallmanagement office and nextdoor to the security office.

P.E. LAW UPDATE

Kip Haggerty

There are three bills in theCalifornia Legislature relating toprofessional engineering (P.E.)law that are of interest to IEEEmembers. The CaliforniaLegislative Council ofProfessional Engineers (CLCPE)has taken positions on these bills.The bills and the CLCPEpositions are:

AB 969 (Cardenas) P.E.Act Rewrite (opposeunless amended)

1.

SB 704 (Rainey) ChemicalEngineering Practice Act(support)

2.

SB 828 (Greene) BoardReauthorization (supportfor original bill)

3.

Background. California P.E.Law is a bit convoluted. Civil,electrical, and mechanicalengineering are practice actbranches. Therefore, the practiceof those three fields, along withuse of the branch titles isregulated. One cannot practice orcall oneself an electrical engineerunless registered as aprofessional electrical engineer

NETWORK PROMOTIONS

Kip Haggerty

Our referral systems include ourweb directory, email and voicemail. In order to get potentialclients to use these resources,we need to promote theirexistence. The executivecommittee has adopted twomethods: print advertising andnetwork business cards.

Advertising: We have alreadyrun four ads in the IEEE LosAngeles Council Bulletin. InJuly, we will be firming up ouradvertising plan for theremainder of 1997. Underconsideration are:

Continue ad in LACBulletin

●

LA Business JournalResource Directorylisting

●

Others to be proposed●

If you have an ad proposal forconsideration by the executivecommittee, please send me thedetails including cost and targetaudience.

Network Business Cards: The

The August Meeting willfeature Mr. Matthias Reese. Hewill be speaking on Time andWork Tracking: Managementand Software Tools. Thismeeting will be at the ShermanOaks Galleria.

(continued on page 2 column 2)

NEW MEMBER WELCOME

Kip Haggerty

I am pleased to welcome threenew members: Iser Flaum,Richard Goodpasture, andKenneth Junkert. Iser doesbusiness as CompulogicSystems, Inc. and consults inthe areas of digital hardware,embedded system software, andDSP. Richard consults in theareas of data acquisition, test,and VHDL. You can learn moreabout him and his practice in theMarkenrich Corporation website. On behalf of the network, Iextend a warm welcome tothem.

by the state. For the electricalengineering branch, this has beenthe law for over thirty years.

The law also provides anexemption for industrialcompanies (also Federalemployees and a few otherexemptions) for engineeringwork, but not titles. Those of youperforming electrical engineeringfor such a company will note twothings.

You practice electricalengineering at yourcompany

1.

Your title is not electricalengineer

2.

You are authorized to practiceelectrical engineering by the factthat you are an employee of acompany subject to other meansto protect the public, such asproduct liability law. You are notauthorized to use the title. Thecompany bears the responsibilityfor ensuring your competenceand providing training.


business cards promote both thereferral services and thenetwork. We had tent-stylecards printed and they stand outnicely on a display table. Pleasegive them out to your clientsand at meetings.

If you would like to distributenetwork business cards, pleasepick them up at a networkmeeting or contact me to havesome mailed to you.

THE ONLINE BULLETIN

Welcome to the online bulletinof the LAACN. Check out theinformation links on the page 2for viewing, printing a papercopy, submitting an article, etc.


Page 2 The EngineeringINDEPENDENT


http://www.markenrich.com/

INFORMATION LINKS



Past issues●

Joining LAACN●



IEEE●


LOS ANGELES AREACONSULTANTS'

NETWORK

ChairKip Haggerty




SecretaryEd Conrow





© 1996 LAACN, all rights

... MEETINGS

(continued from page 1 column 1)

The meeting is scheduled forAugust 21 (third Thursday -- notWednesday) starting with informalnetworking at 6 pm, dinner upstairsat the food court at 6:30 pm, andthe program starting at 7 pm. Noreservations required.

The June Meeting had a very lowturnout. It calls into question ourmeetings plan. Perhaps monthlymeetings or meetings in the SanFernando Valley are not wanted bythe membership. Perhaps theincrease in business activity has usall a little too busy for networkmeetings. Our most successfulmeetings have been joint meetingswith other IEEE groups and otherprofessional societies. Oneapproach may be to only schedulejoint meetings (and one year-endbusiness meeting) and have four tosix meetings per year. If you haveany thoughts on this, please let meknow because planning for nextyear will have to begin soon.

For more information, contact:Kip Haggerty, LAACN Chair● P.O. Box 637● Lawndale, CA 90260● [email protected]● (310) 679-2440● Fax: (310) 679-9667●

see the meetings area on the website:

http://www.laacn.org/●

... P.E. LAW

(continued from page 1column 2)

The other branches ofengineering, such as controlsystems, chemical andnuclear, are title act branchesfor which only use of the titlesis regulated. For example, onecannot call oneself a controlsystems engineer withoutbeing registered, but one canperform those parts of controlsystems engineering that arenot part of any regulatedpractice act branch withoutregistration.

The flaw in the law is that as aregistered control systemsengineer, one cannot practicethose parts of control systemsengineering which are alsopart of electrical ormechanical engineering. Thatis one problem the rewrite isintended to fix. Otherproblems are related todifferences in our law fromthe other 49 states that make itharder for California engineersto receive comity registrationin other states.

AB 969. The P.E. Act Rewriteis a two year bill that will beheard next January. Amongthe provisions in the bill thatstand out are:

Expansion of theindustry exemption

●

Board action on title act●

file:///Zephaniah/Web%20Pages/laacn.org/news/1997/print.htmfile:///Zephaniah/Web%20Pages/laacn.org/news/1997/sample.htmhttp://www.laacn.org/http://www.laacn.org/http://www.ewh.ieee.org/r6/lac/http://www.ieee.org/http://socal.verio.net/http://socal.verio.net/http://www.laacn.org/

reserved. The EngineeringIndependent is publishedbimonthly by volunteers of theIEEE LA Area Consultants'Network. The LAACN offersnetworking and referralservices to consultantsthroughout southern California.


or subscribe to the IEEEMajordomo mailing list:usab-laacn-announce by sending anemail message to:

[email protected]

with the following in the messagebody:

subscribe usab-laacn-announce

Map and Direction Links

July: Manhattan Village Mall

August: Sherman Oaks Galleria

branchesGrace period for titleact branches

●

Overlap of practicebranches

●

Continuing professionalcompetency (CPC)

●

Code of ethics●

Expansion of the IndustryExemption. This controversialprovision exemptsindependent contractors toexempt industries. It may be amute point because similarlanguage has been added toSB 828 which is underconsideration in the Assemblyand will likely pass.

Board Action on Title ActBranches. Originally, the billauthorized the Board to holdhearings on the title actbranches and decide whichones to elevate to practice actstatus and which ones toderegulate. This isunacceptable to thelegislature.

(continued on page 3 column1)



... P.E. LAW

(continued from page 2 column3)

The Board will hold thehearings this fall and make itsrecommendation to thelegislature next January. Thetitle act branches willindividually either bederegulated or elevated toregulation of the practice by thelegislature.

Grace Period for Title ActBranches. This applies to thosepracticing engineering in a titlebranch without registration andare not covered by the industryexemption. It provides a graceperiod of at least two years forthose engineers to getregistered.

Overlap of Practice Branches.It is fact that engineeringbranches overlap. The new lawwill recognize and allow foroverlap among practiceregulated branches. Forexample, if control systemsengineering is elevated topractice status, then it will belegal for a registered controlsystems engineer to performthose parts of control systemsengineering which overlap withmechanical and electricalengineering. If, on the otherhand, control systemsengineering is deregulated, thena control systems engineerwould be prohibited from

Code of Ethics. This wouldauthorize the Board to draw up acode of ethics for registrants andmake it easier to take actionagainst unethical practice.

CLCPE has taken a position ofoppose unless amended on thisbill. Many of the objections maybe removed by the results of theBoard hearings next fall.

SB 704. This is also a two yearbill. It would elevate chemicalengineering to practice status.The chemical engineers proposedthis bill because the Boardbacked off of elevating allNCEES tested branches ofengineering to practice status. Itwill probably either be includedin AB 969 or will slow downpassage of the rewrite. CLCPEsupports this bill and is listed asa cosponsor along with AIChE.

SB 828. The Board is subject tosunset provisions in the lawauthorizing its existence. TheBoard ceases to exist next year ifnot reauthorized by thelegislature. This only wouldeliminate the Board and not theP.E. Act itself. If the Board is notreauthorized, then enforcementof P.E. Law would go toDepartment of Consumer Affairsstaff and there would not bepublic hearings on regulatoryactions.

Unfortunately, the controversialexpansion of the industryexemption to nonemployees hasbeen tacked onto this bill. As

FORENSIC CONSULTING

Kip Haggerty

Forensic consulting can be aninteresting and challengingbranch of a professionalconsulting practice. TwoSouthern Californiaorganizations which generallymeet monthly are San DiegoForensic ConsultantsAssociation and ForensicConsultants Association OrangeCounty. Anyone may attendtheir meetings, and memberscover a wide range ofprofessional disciplines.Regular membership, includingdirectory listing, requires someforensic experience and legalreferences.

LAACN Vice-Chair Clark Bellwas recently admitted as aMember of the NationalAcademy of Forensic Engineers(NAFE). This organization wasformed 15 years ago "toadvance the art and skill ofengineers who serve asengineering consultants tomembers of the legal professionand as expert witnesses incourts of law, arbitrationproceedings and administrativeadjudication proceedings."

Requirements for admission as aNAFE Member includeProfessional Engineerregistration and minimumrequirements for: years oftechnical and forensic

http://www.electriciti.com/sdfca/http://www.electriciti.com/sdfca/http://www.electriciti.com/sdfca/http://www.forensic.org/http://www.forensic.org/http://www.forensic.org/http://www.nafe.org/http://www.nafe.org/

performing any part of electricalor mechanical engineeringunless she obtained aregistration.

Continuing ProfessionalCompetency. This would haveallowed the Board to establish aCPC program. The legislaturebelieves such programs areineffective and this has beenremoved from the bill.

NEW MEMBERS

New members may currentlyjoin the network and get listedin the directory for theremainder of 1997 at half price($25). Please send a check for$25 (made out toIEEE-LAACN), your IEEEnumber, and contactinformation to the Treasurer. Ifyou are not an IEEE member,then you are applying for a newaffiliate membership and needto send a resume also.

Wiley Greiner, LAACNTreasurer

●

1329 Pine Street● Santa Monica, CA90405-2611

●

amended, the bill has passed theSenate and is now underconsideration in the Assembly.This particular provision is partof the P.E. Act rewrite and moreproperly should be debated inthat context. Apparently twogroups are doing battle over thisamendment. The ConsultingEngineers and Land Surveyors ofCalifornia (CELSOC) is activelyopposing the expansion of theindustry exemption. TheCalifornia Software IndustryAssociation (CSIA) is supportingthe expansion of the exemption.CLCPE has written to SenatorGreene to inform him that oursupport was for the original billwithout the expansion of theindustry exemption.Note: Mr. Haggerty is theLegislative Coordinator for theIEEE Los Angeles Council andSecond Vice President of theCalifornia Legislative Council ofProfessional Engineers(CLCPE). Los Angeles Councilis a member of CLCPE.

Further information●

experience, number of forensiccases, and testimonies underoath subject to crossexamination. A NAFE Memberis also considered a BoardCertified Diplomate in ForensicEngineering by the NAFE.

LAACN is consideringpresenting a talk on forensicconsulting and possibly aworkshop, if there is sufficientinterest. Let Kip Haggerty orClark Bell know if this topicwould draw your attention.

SAN DIEGO CN

The next meeting of the IEEESan Diego Consultants'Network (SDCN) will beMonday, July 14, 1997. Dinneris at 6:00 p.m. and the programis at: 7:00 p.m.

Location: Sizzler Restaurant at3755 Murphy Canyon Road (atAero Drive). Phone: 278-6988.Questions: Call Juan Parry -941-3738 Agenda: What ToolsWork for Consultants? OurMarketing Efforts.



Volume 5Number 5June 1997

GENERAL MEETINGS

Kip Haggerty

The June Meeting will be heldat the Sherman Oaks Galleria inthe San Fernando Valley. It isscheduled for June 18 (thirdWednesday) starting withnetworking at 6 pm, dinnerupstairs at the food court at 6:30pm, and the program starting at7 pm. No reservations required.Due to schedule conflicts, MattReese's talk on "Time and WorkTracking: Management andSoftware Tools" has beenpostponed to August.

This month's topic isIntroduction to HTML and willbe presented by our networkweb team. In addition to theLAACN web directory andsearch engine, each membermay put up mini-web site for hisconsulting business. Thesemini-sites may contain up to50K of HTML pages andgraphics and are located in thefirms area on the web site.

The focus of this meeting willbe to provide enough basicinformation for the members to

HOW TO GET THE MOSTFROM YOUR MEMBERSHIP

Kip HaggertyUpdate your directorylisting

1.

Do this for two reasons. First,people are searching thedirectory. On average, we getabout three searches per day.Second, if your contactinformation is incorrect, then theinterested party cannot contactyou. This happened last month. Iwas called by a person who triedto call one of our members whohas apparently moved. I couldnot help them.

Put up a minisite for yourbusiness

2.

Your membership includes webspace for your business whereyou can electronically publishinformation about your practice.Several of our members havetaken advantage of this benefit.We will be repeating the webworkshop we put on in the SouthBay (February meeting) at theAugust meeting in the SanFernando Valley to assist you inputting together web pages foryour business.

WEB SITE TRAFFIC

Leslie J. Haggerty

Hit Report: We continue to doquite well in the number of hitsour site is receiving. Althoughhits only measures the totalnumber of times files from oursite are downloaded, the trendthis year continues to be quiteencouraging. The monthly totalsfor 1997 are:

Jan 2,300● Feb 2,900● Mar 3,600● Apr 4,200● May 4,600●

In May we averaged about 150hits per day. Since inception(7/11/96 to 5/31/97), we havebeen hit from 56 differentcountries around the worldincluding countries on everycontinent except Antartica. Thetotals are as follows:Total Hits: 27,503Total Transfers: 187.5 MBAverage Hits: 88 /dayAverage Transfers: 600 KB/day

The following trend appeared inMay. Clark Bell's hfplus page

http://www.laacn.org/firms/index.htmhttp://www.hfplus.org/

put together their ownmini-sites. Come learn thebasics of putting together webpages and how to make use ofthis valuable member benefit.Then put your own electronicbillboard on the informationhighway.


NEW MEMBER WELCOME

Kip Haggerty

I am pleased to welcome threenew members to our network:George Huling, Karen Owens,and Louis Ungar. George andKaren do business together asDisciplined SoftwareConsulting (DSC). You canlearn more about them and theirpractice in the DSC webminisite. Louis works in thearea of automated testequipment and does business asA.T.E. Solutions, Inc. On behalfof the network, I extend a warmwelcome to them.

Distribute networkbusiness cards

3.

Give out our new business cardsto your clients and atprofessional meetings. It can beas easy as placing them on thedisplay table at an IEEE meeting.I also glue them inside copies ofthe national directory along withmy business card to distribute tomy clients and at professionalmeetings.

Attend network meetings4.

Our meetings are youropportunity to expand yourcontacts through networking.This is especially true when wehold joint meetings with otherparts of the IEEE or othersocieties. The joint meetings area strategy adopted by theexecutive committee, becauseour members need to meet otherprofessionals who work forcompanies that may be interestedin engaging consults.(continued on page 3 column 3)

broke into the top ten hitrecipients. Not countinggraphics, Clark's home pagewas the third most popular pageon our site right behind theLAACN home page and thebrowseable directory. Clarks'minisite home page is nowreceiving about 30-40 hits perweek.

THE ONLINE BULLETIN

Welcome to the online bulletinof the LAACN. Check out theinformation links on the page 2for viewing, printing a papercopy, submitting an article, etc.




INFORMATION LINKS



Past issues●

Joining LAACN●



IEEE●



ChairKip Haggerty




SecretaryEd Conrow





© 1996 LAACN, all rightsreserved. The Engineering

... MEETINGS


The Sherman Oaks Galleriais located just southeast ofthe Junction of the SanDiego Freeway (I-405) andthe Ventura Freeway(US-101). It is on the NorthWest corner of theintersection of Sepulvedaand Ventura Blvds. Go to thefirst level of the Galleria andfind the escalators in thecenter. Then head east to thehallway between theWeebies and Goya storesand go down hall to end thenleft through double doors.The Community Room is anold health club.

The July Meeting willfeature Mr. Bob Gauger, thechair of the coordinatingcommittee of the Alliance ofIEEE Consultants' Networks.He will be speaking on"Consulting Fee Surveys,Fee Setting, and progresstowards the ConsultingSpecial Interest Groupwithin the IEEE-USA." Thismeeting will be at theManhattan Village Mall inManhattan Beach. It isscheduled for July 16 (thirdWednesday) starting withinformal networking at 6 pm,dinner at the food court at6:30 pm, and the programstarting at 7 pm. No

For more information aboutmeetings, contact:

Kip Haggerty, LAACN Chair●

P.O. Box 637●

Lawndale, CA 90260●

[email protected]●

(310) 679-2440●

Fax: (310) 679-9667●




[email protected]




June: Sherman Oaks Galleria

July: Manhattan Village Mall

MEMBERSHIP NUMBERS

Kip Haggerty

The individuals below currently donot have IEEE or LAACN affiliatemembership numbers on file.

Barkan, Yale● Buyco, Ishmael H.● DiCenzo, Alan● Hays, Lyman V.●

file:///Zephaniah/Web%20Pages/laacn.org/news/1997/print.htmfile:///Zephaniah/Web%20Pages/laacn.org/news/1997/sample.htmhttp://www.laacn.org/http://www.laacn.org/http://www.ewh.ieee.org/r6/lac/http://www.ieee.org/http://socal.verio.net/http://socal.verio.net/http://www.laacn.org/

Independent is publishedbimonthly by volunteers of theIEEE LA Area Consultants'Network. The LAACN offersnetworking and referral servicesto consultants throughoutsouthern California.


reservations required.

The May Meeting was ourfirst joint meeting withAIAA, the IEEE Networkfor Entrepreneurs, et. al. Itwas a very informative paneldiscussion on "Using SBIRContracts to Help a GrowingSmall Business." The fourpanelists provided veryuseful information for thoseof our members that maywant to pursueentrepreneurial ventures anduse SBIR funds to furtherthose goals. I want to thankMr. Richard Denison of theAIAA who set up andmoderated the program. Welook forward to workingwith AIAA on future jointmeetings.

Be sure to watch themeetings area on the website for our unfolding plansfor August and the fall. Wehave tentatively schedulednetworking workshopsjointly with the OrangeCounty and Buena VenturaSections for September andNovember respectively.October is tentatively a jointmeeting with South BayHarbor Section and theMotion Picture IndustryAssociation. December willbe our annual businessmeeting and officerelections.

Kaleta, Gary J.● Wells, Donald R.●

Please supply your IEEE number tothe chair (see top of this column) orrequest an affiliate number from thechair if you are not an IEEEmember. This information is usedfor online directory update,verification of eligibilty for electedoffice and voting on Bylawsamendments, and will be used for aplanned members only area on theweb site.



WHERE'S YOURARTICLE???

Check out the link on submittingan article and start writing.

Put your article with HTML intothe body of an email messageand send it to the online editor. Itis not necessary to put anythingelse in the email body.

Please note that if you use aspecial HTML editor, you mayfind that the article hasadditional tags in it which makeit a full HTML document file.Before sending off the article byemail, please edit out those tags,and make any other changes sothat it will conform to the samplearticle.

ANNUAL DUES UPDATE

Kip Haggerty

The following individuals needto pay their proration through theend of 1997. The three withasterisks are in arrears.Membership will be dropped forany member whose dues aremore than 3 months in arrears.

SEARCH UPDATE

Leslie J. Haggerty

We are now tracking the searchterms when people search ourdirectory. In May, there were 89searches. Nine specified an areacode. Twelve wanted consultantswilling to work for contractengineering firms. No one in thedirectory has requested theirlisting state that they are willingto do so. If you are willing towork for contract engineeringfirms, contact the chair to modifyyour listing. Most (71) searchedthe full text of the entry with 17searching by IEEE category andone by name.

There were 82 different searchterms requested which are listedbelow. If the term was used morethan once, the number of timesappears in parenthesis.

* revelation* revelationtechnologies* revelationtechnology* RF (2)* Security (2)* software (3)* switchgear* t1 (2)* targeting

* test* testequipment/systems* transferfunctions* transistor* utility* westVirginia (2)* windowsNT* WindowsNT (2)* WindowsNT security

... MOST FROMMEMBERSHIP


Volunteer for a networkoffice

5.

The more volunteers we have,the more effort that can bedirected towards promotion ofour referral mechanisms. Also,by holding an elected orappointed office, you get yourname posted in additionalplaces to increase yourvisibility. All volunteers gettheir names and contact

file:///Zephaniah/Web%20Pages/laacn.org/news/1997/sample.htmfile:///Zephaniah/Web%20Pages/laacn.org/news/1997/sample.htmfile:///Zephaniah/Web%20Pages/laacn.org/news/1997/sample.htmfile:///Zephaniah/Web%20Pages/laacn.org/news/1997/sample.htm

Member Date Due Dues

DiCenzo,Alan *

6/6/97 $28

Hays, LymanV.

9/17/97 $14

Way, John L.*

5/25/97 $30

Wells,Donald R. *

4/16/97 $35

Please send checks (made out toIEEE-LAACN) to the Treasureralong with your IEEE number,LAACN affiliate membernumber, or request for anaffiliate number.

Wiley Greiner, LAACNTreasurer

●


●

New members may currentlyjoin the network and get listed inthe directory for the remainder of1997 at half price ($25). Pleasesend a check for $25, your IEEEnumber, and contact informationto the Treasurer. If you areapplying for a new affiliatemembership, please send aresume also.

* 802.1H* acoustics (3)* adhesive* Automatic (2)* brad fox (2)* cics* circuit* circuits* cobol*communications(3)* computers (7)* Control* datacommunication* datatransmission* db2* design (2)* e1* electrical* electricalengineering* electro-optics* electronicengineering (2)* electronics* engineer (2)* engineering*EnvironmentalConsultants* fiber optics* Firewall* forensic (3)* free* hauser* hauzer

* hoosier* houzer* howser* hubs* Infrared* InfraredSystems* inspection* Internet (2)* junction (2)* juryconsultant losangeles (2)* lasers* leakage* macintosh* management(4)* market* marketing (3)* Mathcad* metrology*microprocessors* nas* NEPAEnvironmental(3)* network (4)* networks (2)* networks -LAN/WAN -other* Non linearControl* NonlinearControl* notebook* osterhues* Pelster* portables (4)* power* printed* reliability (3)

information posted on theofficers page on the web site.Anyone maintaining a portionof the web site gets their namelisted at the bottom of thatpage with an email link andalso a listing on the web sitecredits page. In addition,elected officers get their namelisted on the network businesscards and newsletter.

Get listed in theSpeakers' Bureau

6.

Get added visibility by addingyour listing to the LAACNSpeaker's Bureau. This is anew feature of the web site andwe hope to have a goodselection of speakers andtopics listed. The idea is tocreate added visibility andcredibility for our members bypublicizing those available togive talks to professionalsocieties.

Links to further information:Directory Update Form● Firms Area● HTML Tutorial● Sample Business Card● Upcoming Meetings● Officers Page● Volunteer Opportunities● Speakers' Bureau Entry(Removed due to lack ofinterest)

●

Speakers' Bureau Page(Removed due to lack ofinterest)

●



Volume 5Number 4May 1997

GENERAL MEETINGS

Kip Haggerty

Last month was our first jointmeeting with a Section. Themeeting went quite well andwe were rewarded withinsights from the panel ofFilm technology expertsassembled by Ron Pizer. Wealso enjoyed the betterfacilities and food offered byThe Lakes at El Segundo. Abig thank you goes out to Ronfor putting the panel together,Lyn Shaw (South Bay HarborTreasurer) for handling themoney and reservations, andthe South Bay Harbor Sectionfor picking up the tab for thepanelists' dinners.

The May Meeting will be apanel discussion on "UsingSBIR Contracts to Help aGrowing Small Business."The date is Thursday, May22, 1997 from 11 am to 1 pm(note the day and timechange). The meeting will behosted jointly by the LACJoint Chapter of EngineeringManagement, Education andProfessional Communication

Each panel member willdescribe his company with anemphasis on how SBIRcontracts help the businessgrow as well as some of thespecial features required tomake the business successful.There will be time fordiscussion among panelmembers as well as questionsfrom the audience. Each panelmember has at least one activePhase II SBIR contract. Thepanelists are:

Jay Ebersohl is President ofAdvatech Pacific, Inc. which islocated at San BernardinoAirport. Although the businessis relatively young, he alreadyhas an Army Phase II contracton 'Characterization andQuantification of MissileDebris Hazard to Aircraft'.

Dr. Nahum Gat is President ofOpto-Knowledge Systems, Inc.which has the very popularInternet site call TechExpo. Thecompany has several Phase IIcontracts including one fromDARPA on a 'LWIR ImagingSpectrometer' and a NASASTTR Phase II on 'NeuralNetwork for Remote Sensing'.

For more information aboutmeetings, contact:

Kip Haggerty●

LAACN Chair●

P.O. Box 637●



(310) 679-2440●

Fax: (310) 679-9667●




[email protected]




May: TRW - Space Park

June: Sherman Oaks Galleria

THE ONLINE BULLETIN

http://www.laacn.org/

Societies and the AmericanInstitute of Aeronautics andAstronautics, Los AngelesSection, CALSAT Programs.The meeting is co-sponsoredby the Los Angeles AreaConsultants Network and theIEEE Network forEntrepreneurs. This is anopportunity to meet somesuccessful entrepreneurs andnetwork with some aerospacepeople.

The meeting will be held inRedondo Beach at TRW -Space Park, Building S, ParkPatio Cafe (formerly theWaitress Dining Room).TRW is located on the southside of Marine Avenue inRedondo Beach betweenAviation and Redondo BeachAvenue (formerly Freeman).The meeting will be held inBuilding S which is just southof the parking lot halfwaybetween Aviation andRedondo Beach Avenue.

To attend, please call Jodie atthe AIAA's Western Office(800) 683-AIAA or Fax (310)643-7509. Pizza and softdrinks will be available for$6.00 based on RSVP.

Dr. William C.L. Shih isPresident of Physical Research,Inc. The company, which hasbeen in business for more thana decade, has had many PhaseII contracts. An example ofactive Phase II work is the AirForce sponsored contract on'Magneto Optic Eddy CurrentImager for Application toEngine Inspection'.

Dr. Dennis Wonica isPresident of another successfulyoung company called Lightec.Recently, the company wasawarded a Navy Phase IIcontract on a 'LaserCommunication and TrackingSystem for Naval Aircraft.

The June Meeting will featureMr. Matthias Reese, III. He willbe speaking on Time and WorkTracking: Management andSoftware Tools. This meetingwill be at the Sherman OaksGalleria in the San FernandoValley. It is scheduled for June18 (third Wednesday) startingat 6 pm.

Welcome to the fourth onlinebulletin of the LAACN. Check outthe information links on the page 2for viewing, printing a paper copy,submitting an article, etc.

Think about writing an article forthis bulletin... soon! Also, let usknow if you or another memberreceived a professional award,recognition, or certification latelyso we can mention it.


Volume 5Number 4May 1997

INFORMATION LINKS



Past issues●

Joining LAACN●



IEEE●


LOS ANGELES AREACONSULTANTS'

NETWORK

ChairKip Haggerty




Secretary

ANNUAL DUES ANDMEMBER NUMBERS

Kip Haggerty

Current LAACN policy onmembership is to dropmembership of members whosedues are more than 3 months inarrears and remove them fromthe directory. Dues are $50 percalendar year. For new members,the dues are $50, if paid betweenOct 1 of the previous year andMar 31 of the current year, or$25 for the remainder of theyear, if paid between Apr 1 andSep 30. Current members havebeen given a prorated duesamount to get them currentthrough the end of 1997. Pleasesend checks (made out toIEEE-LAACN) to the Treasureralong with your IEEE number,LAACN affiliate membernumber, or request for anaffiliate number (and a resume ifyou are applying for a newaffiliate membership).

Wiley Greiner● LAACN Treasurer●

Kip Haggerty●

LAACN Chair●

P.O. Box 637●



(310) 679-2440●

Fax: (310) 679-9667●

The following individuals are inarrears more than 3 months andneed to bring their dues up todate immediately or will bedropped from membership andremoved from the directory.

Member Last Paid Dues

Lazar,Homer

1/14/96 $48

We need the followingindividuals to pay theirproration through the end of1997. Please help yourvolunteer officers by payingyour proration promptly. Thesooner the calendarization ofdues is completed, the soonerthe officers can focus onbudgeting for promotionalactivities.

file:///Zephaniah/Web%20Pages/laacn.org/news/1997/print.htmfile:///Zephaniah/Web%20Pages/laacn.org/news/1997/sample.htmhttp://www.laacn.org/http://www.laacn.org/http://www.ewh.ieee.org/r6/lac/http://www.ieee.org/http://socal.verio.net/http://socal.verio.net/

Ed ConrowAcquisition and Technology

Associates







●

IEEE members may join thenetwork and get listed in thedirectory by sending a check forthe new member dues amount tothe Treasurer and submittingtheir directory listing using theweb form. For members withoutthe ability to fill out electronicforms on the web, they maysubmit their entries by email oron a floppy disk, but the listingsmust be submitted in the properformat. Contact the Chair fordetails.

For those individuals, who arenot IEEE members, but whowish to join as an affiliatemember, the procedure is thesame, except new applicants foraffiliate membership need tosubmit a resume along with theirdues check and need to beapproved by the executivecommittee. Dues checks will bereturned in cases whereapplications for affiliatemembership are not approved.Renewing affiliate membersneed only pay their dues.

For those of you listed as nothaving an IEEE or LAACNaffiliate number on file, pleasesend your IEEE number to (orrequest an affiliate numberfrom):

Member Last Paid Dues

DiCenzo,Alan

6/6/96 $28

Hays,Lyman V.

9/17/96 $14

Way, JohnL.

5/25/96 $30

Wells,Donald R.

4/16/96 $35

The individuals below currentlydo not have IEEE or LAACNaffiliate membership numberson file. Please supply your IEEEnumber to the chair or requestan affiliate number if you arenot an IEEE member. Thisinformation is used for onlinedirectory update, verification ofeligibilty for elected office andvoting on Byl

the engineering independent 1997 back issue index · advancement of engineering. and, i am...

Documents