To this end I asked the leaders of two engineering associations to share their wishes for 2003. I hope you find inspiration in their words as we prepare to move into the new year.

After a year when thousands of engineers lost their jobs and engineering unemployment rose to record levels, Bill Reed, president of the American Engineering Association in Fort Worth, Texas, wished for "More jobs, fewer lawyers, fewer bean counters, fewer foreign workers, a Washington office for AEA." He said he also hopes for a "true shortage of technical people and a company with an HR department that actually reads resumes, a company that values experience-[and] therefore the experienced worker-and academics and politicians who put people and the country above themselves."

LeEarl Bryant, outgoing president of IEEE-USA, who will continue to serve as past president of the association in 2003, said she wishes that "all U.S. engineers become employed and that the nation and U.S. employers take steps to make that happen even if it doesn't necessarily help the employer's bottom line."

Specifically, Bryant believes that at a time when the United States faces the threat of terrorist attacks, one of the most important things that the nation must do is "care about the quality of our engineering work force and the quality of the hardware and software we produce and tie it to the stability and security of our nation."

For instance, Bryant warned that if the United States continues to outsource jobs and bring in foreign guest workers to take our engineering and technical jobs, "then we will have a crisis, one where our worldwide economic partners will have the ability to turn away from us."

Most of all, Bryant said, she dreams of "an engineering profession that is understood by our nation, where engineers can hold their heads high, instead of hanging their heads."

Amen.

My wish for 2003 is that engineers speak out and get serious about contacting their legislators, both local and national, about their opinions on engineering unemployment, the trend toward high-tech offshore outsourcing and the hiring of foreign guest workers through H-1B visa and other programs. I hope that engineers can speak with one voice and put an end to the idea of engineers being considered a commodity that U.S. high-tech corporations use up and throw out.

Most of all, to all of the engineers who read EE Times, I wish you the best in health, happiness, jobs, prosperity and the promise of a better future.