FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Lisa Reyes
Phone: +1-312-559-3325
E-Mail: lisa@hkn.org
CHICAGO – November 16, 2006 – Eta Kappa Nu (HKN), the honor society for electrical and computer engineering, inducted Frontier Associates founder and Managing Director Abe M. Zarem as the newest Eminent Member last month at the Frontiers in Education (FIE) Conference Awards Luncheon. Nearly 500 people were in attendance.
HKN Executive Director Roger Plummer commended the honoree, saying, "Dr. Zarem is highly regarded as a scientist, technologist, master communicator, team builder, entrepreneur, and mentor capitalist; he exemplifies all the qualities an industry leader must have to advance their field of interest and contribute significantly to humankind."
The Eminent Member distinction is HKN's highest membership classification. It is conferred by the HKN Board of Governors upon the few whose attainments and contributions through leadership in engineering have resulted in momentous benefits to society.
Dr. Zarem is also Distinguished Visiting Executive in Science and Technology and Senior Advisor in Technology Transfer and Commercialization for the California Institute of Technology Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Additionally, he occupies the position of Distinguished Senior Advisor for Neuroscience Technology Transfer of the Brain Research Institute for the University of California at Los Angeles. He is also a member of the Urology Advisory Board of the UCLA School of Medicine and acts as senior advisor for strategic business development for a number of advanced-technology corporations.
Throughout his distinguished career, Dr. Zarem has been engaged in an extraordinarily broad spectrum of academic, civic, industrial, governmental, and professional management activities encompassing many fields of endeavor and for which he has received numerous honors.
His achievements include developing the "Zarem camera," a high-speed camera with no moving parts, designated by the U.S. Navy as the world's fastest. He has served as special advisor on technology transfer and the application of scientific research to many distinguished industrial, academic, and national leaders—including the king of Spain and the vice president of the United States—to improve how people live, work, and play. A model of the "world's first practical space ion engine," which Dr. Zarem's company, Electro-Optical Systems, designed, now resides in the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C.
In 1963, Dr. Zarem was named senior vice president of Xerox; he left in 1970 to initiate a private, technical, and management consultancy that became the underpinning of Dr. Zarem's later contributions to management training and consulting with special attention to the understanding and development of strategic thinking and executive leadership.
In 1975, Dr. Zarem returned to Xerox Corporation as founder and chief executive officer of Xerox Development Corporation (XDC). XDC achieved extraordinary success in a few short years following his suggestion for pursuing innovative means of identifying and capturing unusual business opportunities related to "inventing the future."
Dr. Zarem received his B.S. in electrical engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology, where he was elected to the Hall of Fame, and he has received the Distinguished Alumni Award from California Institute of Technology, where he earned his Ph.D.
He is a member of Tau Beta Pi, Eta Kappa Nu (Delta), and the National Academy of Engineering and a fellow of the AIAA and IEEE. He won HKN's Outstanding Young Electrical Engineer Award in 1948. Over the past two decades, he has continued his very active role as a strategic business development advisor in information technology and telecommunications, embracing interactive distance learning, telemedicine, education, and entertainment, fulfilling his lifelong goal and objective "to identify talent and to challenge it to greater achievements."
For more information, please contact Lisa Reyes at lreyes@hkn.org or +1-312-559-3325 or visit www.hkn.org.
About Eminent Member Award
Eminent Member is the highest membership classification of Eta Kappa Nu. Established in 1950, the Eminent Member Award is conferred by the Board of Governors upon those select few whose attainments and contributions to society through leadership in the fields of electrical and computer engineering have resulted in significant benefits to humankind. These attainments and contributions may be in the areas of corporate management, government, education, or professional society activities. To nominate an individual for this award, contact Kathy Ricker, HKN administrative director, at kathy@hkn.org.
About Eta Kappa Nu (HKN)
Eta Kappa Nu is a 102-year-old honor society for electrical and computer engineering students and professionals. With more than 250,000 members and nearly 200 active university chapters, HKN recognizes excellence in academic accomplishments, leadership, outstanding character, and service. The International Engineering Consortium manages the headquarters function of Eta Kappa Nu. For more information, please visit www.hkn.org.