Once again, the engineering profession will be celebrating National Engineers Week from February 22 - 28. Our theme is "Turning Ideas Into Reality". The "kickoff" to this year's celebration was the joint annual dinner of the IEEE and ASME on February 5 at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. The featured speaker was Dr. William A. Beckman from the University of Wisconsin. He took us through poignant illustrations of the importance of and the potential economic impact of solar-thermal energy conversion.

Several Worcester County IEEE board members participate in programs fostering the goals of engineers week. One important goal is to promote an understanding of the engineering profession. To this end, mentoring programs are in effect at local middle schools. Anyone wishing to become involved in their own local school should e-mail Stan Tanenholtz at stanenholtz@bentley.edu for information regarding ways to contact schools, give a presentation and provide activities to involve students.