SAMPE Journal - January/February 2013 - (Page 2)

President’s Message Dr. Katie Thorp U.S. Air Force Research Lab, WPAFB Katie.Thorp@frontier.com Happy New Year. I have found that the start of a new calendar year is often a great time to reflect on my life goals and achievements while establishing new plans for the coming year. This kind of self-assessment can be very valuable for our careers, personal lives, health, and financial stability. Each new calendar year gives us a metric around which to establish new habits and form new goals for our lives going forward. I am not merely thinking of the formation of New Year’s Resolutions which are often quickly forgotten. Rather, I am thinking about a broader life assessment and the formation of near-term and long-term goals to define the kind of career that we want to have and the kind of impact that we want to have on the lives of those around us. Without self awareness and reflection, we are limited in our ability to seek out chances for self-improvement and personal growth. This is a great time of year to stop and think about how to best advance our careers and personal impact. One of the best ways to develop new skills and to make a difference in the lives of others is to get involved in a cause or organization that speaks to your interests. Whether that is SAMPE, your local schools, a civic group, a church organization, or coaching a soccer team there are lots of ways that you can focus your time and energy on something that will make a difference. Personally, I have done several of these things and the experiences have taught me two fundamental lessons. One is that through service to others we actually end up being served ourselves. When I make an effort to help another person or dedicate my time to a cause, I almost always end up getting more out of the experience than I put into it. The other lesson that I have learned is that often these activities create unique chances for personal growth and skill development that would not have been possible through my ordinary job experience. For example, getting involved in my local SAMPE chapter early in my career gave me a chance to develop and demonstrate my leadership skills in ways that were not available to me during the daily aspects of my job at that time. A lot of who I am today as an individual, a leader, and a technologist is the result of experiences that I received volunteering my time at SAMPE and other organizations. SAMPE is fundamentally a volunteer-driven organization. It is through the dedication service of volunteers that we are able pull together the technical solutions, conferences, and publications that have been the foundation of SAMPE for decades. If you are looking for ways to improve your technical impact, expand your network, or develop your leadership skills then I encourage you to consider SAMPE as a place to dedicate some time and energy this coming year. There are lots of ways to get involved with SAMPE. You can plan a local industry tour, present a paper at a conference, organize a technical session, join a committee, contribute to a LinkedIn discussion, or become an officer. Each of these activities offer valuable opportunities for personal and professional development. Regardless of whether you chose SAMPE as the place to put your time or not, I hope that you will consider volunteering to serve someplace in your community. I am confident that you will find the experience as rewarding as I have. Until then, I will be in your service. 2 SAMPE Journal, Volume 49, No. 1, January/February 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of SAMPE Journal - January/February 2013

SAMPE Journal - January/February 2013
Contents
President's Message
Technical Director's Corner
Materials & Products
Welcome SAMPE’s Newest Members
SAMPE LinkedIn Communities
SAMPE 2013|Long Beach
SAMPE Proceedings
Perspectives
Europe News & Views
SAMPE Journal Editorial Calender
SAMPE Europe’s SEICO 2013, Paris, France
SAMPE Europe’s SETEC 13 Wuppertal, Germany
Corporate Partners
Industry News
The SAMPE Foundation
SAMPE Tech 2012-A Review
SAMPE Tech 2012-Photo Gallery
SAMPE Tech 2013|Wichita, KS Call for Papers
SAMPE China 2012-A Review
SAMPE China-Photo Gallery
Advertiser’s Index
Resource Center
SAMPE Membership Application
SAMPE Books & CD’s Order Form
Industry Events Calendar
Chapter Contacts

SAMPE Journal - January/February 2013