President's Message

Proactive, not Reactive

Dick Snyder

2011 MTT-S President

SOS…State of Our Society: Succinctly put, we’re the best now, but even better is yet to come! Currently, the Society comprises about 25% of the microwave engineers on this planet, but our influence transcends the mere numbers. Publications, conferences, presentations, educational initiatives, regional support…these resources are provided well in excess of the proportionate representation we have in the microwave world.

I have adopted a slogan for 2011, and it is “Proactive, not Reactive”. This means that our Society will be reaching out, offering appropriate assistance to conferences, workshops, microwave meetings of all kinds, and to microwave engineers participating in these events. We will not wait to be asked, but will seek out those in need and deserving of our help. Our assistance can range from offering the expertise of our world-class Technical Coordinating Committee to any conference technical program committee, providing timely reviews for journal or conference papers, conference technical co-sponsorship, up-front (“seed”) funding for conferences, outright grants, supplementing travel funds, standards development efforts, scholarships, fellowships...a very wide range of possibilities. It is my goal to provide these opportunities to microwave engineers and students anywhere in the world. I would like to see our various committees comprised of qualified and contributing representatives from all ten IEEE regions of the world. While sensitive to demographics, the emphasis here is on “qualified and contributing”. The Society needs skilled and energetic contributors.

I thank my predecessors for having left the Society in a very strong and influential position. However, as mentioned, we comprise only about 25% of the microwave engineering community. I can see no reason for this, unless we have not convinced the community that the benefit of membership outweighs the obligations of, and barriers to, membership. To me, belonging to the MTT-S is a right that one earns. Not everyone has the ability or perseverance required to become a microwave engineer. If you are gifted with these attributes, then you can earn the right to belong. If your studies and efforts in microwave engineering have been successful, then in my opinion you should now have access to membership and the major benefit that stems from it. That benefit is the opportunity to network with your professional and intellectual peers! You will be considered an “insider” in our field, with pathways clearly marked for professional advancement. Your employer will respect the fact that you have earned something valuable and unique. Your professional opinions, forged in the fires of peer critique, will now be recognized as expert, and accorded greater weight. Most importantly, you will have earned the respect of your professional colleagues, and that is indeed a lifetime benefit.

The long-term goal of our Society can be summed up in a few short words: “to become indispensable”. We have embarked on a journey that will see us continue to earn the reference “indispensable”.

So, I will close by once more extending to you, the microwave professional, a very personal invitation to join in the 2011 efforts of the MTT-S for the mutual benefit of our global community. I’ll look forward to hearing your suggestions, problems, even complaints…and to working with you!