Abstract :
When the second 1940–41 AIEE presidential tour ended February 17th, its president in fulfillment of the business of his office had travelled 27,600 miles, visited 24 Sections and 16 Branches, attended 4 conventions, and addressed more than 50 gatherings; whereupon he said to himself: “I shall spend the next four weeks at my beloved and somewhat neglected California Institute of Technology teaching classes and contributing my bit to the research problems in which I have an interest.” In these days man proposes but Defense disposes. Only ten short days, used in “catching up” the things to be done that had accumulated while attending the highly successful winter convention and making the second tour of Section visits, have elapsed and as we begin this message, we are reluctantly speeding eastward across the continent (a round trip of 5,380 miles) for the purpose of spending two days working as a member of the Society for the Promotion of Engineering Education committee on acceleration of regular undergraduate engineering programs. That committee was appointed to study data submitted by the engineering colleges of the United States and prepare a report which SPEE may use to inform the advisory committee on engineering defense training of the United States Office of Education regarding “the feasibility and advisability of accelerating the regular undergraduate programs of the engineering colleges of the country.”
