If you were fortunate enough to attend the President's Winter Meetings in Albuquerque, New Mexico, you know firsthand the trials and tribulations that some of us went through during those meetings. Of course, we had the usual meetings of the usual committees and such, but there were also some new meetings held, like the one new task force established by the Society President, Bob Bailliet, to "reinvent Divisions". What would you have done if you were involved with this task force? Do you think that Divisions need to be "reinvented"? Maybe they do, but how that will be accomplished will take more than a one hour meeting. But, the task force is on the right course, and the

Chairperson, Leo Staples, did an excellent job of starting the job. In future meetings and in E-mail correspondence there will be a lot of dialog regarding this subject.

Did you ever wonder just where and how your professor, or any of your teachers, got the questions they were so "willing" to share with you and your classmates? Of course, they were not so willing to share the answers that we struggled to find when taking the test. I remember when I took the professional engineers exam and I wondered "who came up with these questions, and when would I have ever had to solve a problem like this". But, in spite of the wondering question, like others before me, I answered the question to the best of my ability and lo and behold passed the exam.

Regarding the previous paragraph, the planner for ISA 2001 College Bowl could use your help and the help of your co-workers with some solid questions to test the students. Since now we are wondering just where your "Prof." got the questions, where do you think the questions will come from for the student's practical test? That's right, from the rank and file of engineers, designers and technicians just like you who have the practical experience and are aware of the day to day technical challenges that a career in Control Systems offers. If you have good ideas for some questions for the students, submit them and the answers, of course, to Laura Crumpler lcrumpler@isa.org at ISA headquarters. She'll welcome the questions and so will the students taking the challenge.

Laura Crumpler

c/o ISA

Post Office Box 12277,

Research Triangle Park, NC 27709

And in the meantime, if you have any questions about any of the more than 20 Divisions of the Society, please let me know. dutch.keen@att.net

Till next month,