A Message from Rulei Ting
Communications Certfication, Chair

To those of you who sat for the IEEE WCET Certification Exam this past month, best of luck to you as you await the results. You will receive notification of your score report in another few weeks. At any time you can log on to your account with PES to see if your score is available. Raw score reports will land in your email in-bin. If you passed the exam, a physical copy of the IEEE WCP Certificate will be mailed to you in a presentation folder so that you can proudly display it. You'll also get it via email so you'll have an idea of what it looks like.

The IEEE WCET exam will be offered again this Fall. Applications are now being accepted through 7 September. Complete the application today if you're not already an IEEE WCP credential holder and further demonstrate your commitment to the profession and your own personal continuing professional development. In the near future we will be offering a combination package where you can purchase a seat for the exam in addition to the 5-day virtual intensive course we offer via ComSoc Training. Both the exam seat and the course are offered at a more practical price for individuals and group rates are also available. This is one way we're working to make getting certified easier for you; first by making it more affordable across the board for everyone, and second by providing you with a one-ticket purchase to ease reimbursement if that's applicable to you. It needs to be clearly noted to you that the course can help in your preparation for the exam but that ComSoc Training does not offer any specific course that teaches what's on the exam or is geared to help you pass the WCET Certification Exam. This bundled option is being made avaialble in response to the interest show by many who have taken the course and also sat for the exam.

Continuing on our theme of breaking new ground and offering more options to you, I am pleased to let you know that we will be running a 3-day in-person course at IEEE ICC in Ottawa, Canada this 10-12 June 2012. This will be the first time we make a live in-person course available to others who can't physically be there to also attend online. While we can't include breakfast and lunch or shake your hand and meet you personally via the online course, you will have the benefit of being able to participate in the course remotely and still ask your questions online using the GoTo Webinar panel. Lee Vishloff will be with us in Ottawa lecturing all three days, Joel Basco will be supporting the course for all technical related issues and Marilyn Catis will be online and behind the scenes facilitating. It will be a lot of fun.

I hope you enjoy reading the rest of this issue, packed as usual with the latest industry news to help you manage your career, highlights on what's going on related to certification and training and where we'll be at local upcoming events.

  In This Issue:

• ComSoc Training Schedule for May and June
• Get Certified in 2012: WCET Applications Accepted Now Through 7 September
• Upcoming Meetings and Events
• Industry News

 ComSoc Training Schedule for June

3-Day Intensive Wireless Communications Engineering: Current Practices
In-Person Instruction at IEEE ICC in Ottawa, Canada
10-12 June 2012
Instructor: Lee Vishloff
Price: $1600 - non member
$1450 - IEEE/ComSoc member
Registration to the course is separate and in addition to conference registration for IEEE ICC if you would like to attend the conference as well. Breakfast and lunch are included on Sunday and Monday.
Earn 2 IEEE Continuing Education Units for participating. Get the full course details.

Virtual 3-Day Intensive Wireless Communications Engineering: Current Practices
Webcast from in-person course taught at IEEE ICC in Ottawa, Canada
10-12 June 2012
Instructor: Lee Vishloff
Price: $725 - non member
$625 - IEEE/ComSoc member
Register by 18 May and save $100. Registration open through 28 May 2012.
Earn 2 IEEE Continuing Education Units for participating. Get the full course details.

 Get Certified in 2012: 
 WCET Applications Accepted Now Through 7 September

Now is a great time to understand if you are ready to get certified in wireless by IEEE. Review a list of 10 steps to make the determination if completing an application is right for you. Applications are being accepted now through 7 September and you will be able to schedule your exam on a date between 23 September and 27 October 2012 at a local testing center. Learn more about IEEE WCET Certification at www.ieee-wcet.org.

Upcoming Meetings and Events

IEEE International Conference on Communications (IEEE ICC)
Ottawa, Canada
10-15 June 2012

9th Annual IEEE Communications Society Conference on Sensor, Mesh and Ad Hoc Communications and Networks (IEEE SECON)
Seoul, Korea
18-21 June 2012

 Industry News

Three Regional Carriers Team Up for Femtocell-as-a-Service

Cellcom, Airvana and Taqua -- three regional wireless carriers operating in a number of New England and Midwest U.S. states -- have teamed up to provide what they are calling femtocell-as-a-service. Dubbed FemtoCloud, the small cell core uses a cloud-based infrastructure and is geared mostly toward rural customers. [Telecompetitor]

South Florida Sees High-Tech, Wireless Job Growth

Sothern Florida, especially Broward County, is becoming a new hub for wireless research and development. More than 15% of all new jobs created in South Florida from 2010 to 2011 were considered to be at least "moderately" high-tech. [Sun Sentinel]

Sony Cutting 10,000 Jobs, Refocusing on Wireless

Japan's Sony Corp. announced it will cut 10,000 jobs in the coming months -- but most of those cuts will come from its TV production business line. The company said it will increase its focus on wireless, specifically its Xperia line of smartphones, for which it plans to triple sales to $22 billion a year. [Mobility Techzone]

Webinar to Address Developing M2M Networks

A one-hour webinar discussing how to develop secure, scalable and reliable M2M networks will be held on May 31. Iain Davidson of Freescale and Bob Monkman of QNX Software Systems are the presenters. [EE Times]

ST-Ericsson Cuts 1,700 Jobs in Strategic Refocus

Chipmaker ST-Ericsson, which had a net loss of $841 million last year, announced it will cut 1,700 jobs and move some of its R&D employees back to one of its parent companies, STMicroelectronics. The company will now focus on chips for smartphones and tablets. [Mobility Techzone]

Tablets to Overtake Cell Phones & Laptops

According to predictions from Forrester Research, tablet computers will become consumers' "preferred" computing devices in the next four years. Forrester expects total sales of 760 million tablet devices in 2016. [Computerworld]

RIM Gives Free Phones to Software Developers

Research in Motion gave "thousands" of free BlackBerry 10 prototypes to software developers at its annual conference. RIM said it hopes the gesture will help kick start development of apps for the new touchscreen device. [RCR Wireless]

Disney Develops Touch-Sensitive Mobile Device Technology

A team from Disney Research and Carnegie Mellon University has taken the idea of touchscreens to the next level. Their new Touché sensing technique collects input on multiple frequencies -- not only from contact but also from gestures, body language, lighting and other factors. Touché is currently just a proof-of-concept application. [Cellular-News] [Disney Research]

Apple Adding 500 Jobs in Ireland

A new three-story office block will be built to house the 500 new employees that Apple says it will hire at its European headquarters over the next 18 months. The company currently employs 2,800 people in Cork, Ireland. The new staff members will include technical support, online sales, manufacturing and finance and cover the Middle East, India and Africa. [TheNextWeb] [RTE News Ireland]

Sprint Launches 3G/WiMax/LTE Mobile Hotspot

A new mobile hotspot from Sprint and Sierra Wireless supports 3G, WiMax and LTE and can connect up to eight users. The Tri-Fi mobile hotspot goes on sale this week. [Techcrunch]

Webinar to Address Challenges of Rural Broadband

Rural broadband deployment offers both challenges and opportunities for providers. Waiman Lam, Senior Director of Wireless Solutions for ZTE USA, will address the issues related to working in rural environments during a May 31 webinar. [Fierce Wireless]

AT&T Plans Trials of Home Automation Service

Residents of Atlanta and Dallas will be able to trial a new wireless home automation service from AT&T this summer. The Digital Life service will use both Wi-Fi and mobile networks to monitor water and energy use and home security. [Computerworld]

Oxnard and Navman Make $25 Million Supply Deal

Navman Wireless will buy at least $25 million in products that can be used to track and monitor vehicle fleets from CalAmp Corp, a subsidiary of Oxnard. CalAmp will also set up an R&D facility in Auckland, New Zealand, to be staffed by 14 Navman employees. [Chicago Tribune]

Egyptian Engineer Wins $100,000 Innovation Prize

Mohammed Sanad, a professor at Cairo University, has won the $100,000 in the Innovation Prize for Africa, which was established last year by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and the African Innovation Foundation. Sanad developed a base-station antenna that can be easily upgraded as more advanced mobile networks are rolled out in developing countries. [AllAfrica]

EPFL Scientists Develop Single Antenna with Two-Antenna Strength

A team of scientists at Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne(EPFL)  has developed a single antenna that can transmit two signals at once. They have named their new technique "Beamspace MIMO" and they say it can reduce or eliminate the need for multiple antennas. [PhysOrg]