IEEE Council of EDA to Sponsor Discussions on Professional Ethics, Designers' Perspectives during ICCAD.

2003 APS Professional Ethics Task Force Chair to Lead Event

NEW YORK -- The IEEE Council for Electronic Design Automation (CEDA) will sponsor a discussion on professional ethics during the International Conference on Computer-Aided Design (ICCAD) Tuesday, November 7, from 1-1:45 p.m. in the Sierra/Cascade Ballroom at the Doubletree Hotel in San Jose, Calif.

Dr. Frances A. Houle, chair of the 2003 American Physical Society (APS) Task Force on Professional Ethics and a research staff member at the IBM Almaden Research Center in San Jose, will lead the discussion. This event, part of CEDA's popular Distinguished Speaker Series, is open to all conference attendees.

Additionally, CEDA is a sponsor of the ICCAD Designers' Perspectives Technical Track offered to provide designers' views and experiences on critical topics in electronic design. To be held Tuesday, November 7, in the Siskiyou Ballroom, it will focus on critical issues, including design for robustness, analog and verification.

Dr. Houle will cover several levels of professional ethics, ranging from fabrication, falsification and plagiarism defined as misconduct by the U.S. government, to harmful behaviors such as failure to cite previous work in a paper. She will define elements of professional ethics, and ways to develop good judgment, citing situations and an examination of past events. In addition, she will outline how to handle suspicions or allegations of unethical behavior.

Frances Houle received a Ph.D. degree in Chemistry from the California Institute of Technology, and is in the Science and Technology department of IBM's Almaden Research Center. Her current research interests include chemical modification of solid surfaces and films, materials and techniques for nanoimprint lithography, photolithographic image stability and pattern transfer on the sub 50nm length scale, and development of stochastic methods for simulation of complex chemical reactions. Her recent professional service includes General Councilor and member of APS's Executive Board, in addition to being the chair of the 2003 APS Task Force on Professional Ethics.

"Professional ethics is an important and relevant topic for CEDA to tackle," says Andreas Kuehlmann, CEDA's vice president of Technical Activities. "All too often, it is assumed that engineering students can pick up the basics of ethical behavior during their education. This lack of explicit focus on ethics can lead to misunderstandings or an impression that ethical thinking is unimportant in the workforce."

For information about ICCAD, visit: http://www.iccad.com.

Details about CEDA are available at its website located at: http://www.ieee-ceda.org.

About the Council on EDA

The Council on Electronic Design Automation (CEDA) is IEEE's focal point for multiple EDA disciplines. Its goal is to bring increased value to IEEE members by coordinating EDA activities, enabling new initiatives, fostering interdisciplinary research and recruiting young talent to EDA. It also will increase visibility for IEEE-sponsored EDA events such as the Design Automation Conference (DAC) and International Conference on Computer Aided Design (ICCAD) and its technical publications. Its charter spans theory, implementation and use of computer aided design (CAD) tools to design integrated electronic circuits and systems. Its website is located at: http://www.ieee-ceda.org.