Congratulations to the following AEA Members, Recipients of the 1997 Tibbetts Award: Morgenthaler Ventures, Menlo Park, CA Ortel Corporation, Alhambra, CA SatCon Technology Corporation, Cambridge, MA SDL, Inc., San Jose, CA

The American Electronics Association (AEA) was founded in 1943 by 25 California electronics firms seeking to compete for a more equitable share of the nation's government contracts. Today, the trade group represents more than 3,000 companies based in technology communities throughout the United States. Through a broad range of member services and industry advocacy programs, AEA is dedicated to strengthening the U.S. electronics and information technology industry's global competitive position.

AEA's spectrum of member opportunities includes financial conferences, management programs, compensation surveys, group advantage member services, an industry statistics program, local council networking, and public policy programs. An AEA workforce skills standards program is underway under a U.S. Department of Labor grant.

A seasoned public affairs staff based in Washington, D.C. provides strong yet flexible public policy programs for international and national issues. These experts represent AEA members and the industry in such areas as taxation, trade, global market access, and government procurement. The interests of high tech companies in California are served by a professional public affairs office in Sacramento.

The association has offices and councils located in Europe (Brussels) and Japan (Tokyo). A new office was opened recently in Beijing, China. AEA member companies are all U.S. based and span the breadth of the electronics food chain, from silicon to software to all levels of computers to systems integration. Although the giants of the industry are AEA members, almost 70 percent of its membership is comprised of small and medium size companies.

The trade group's unique council structure encourages executive networking and grassroots participation in the association at the local level. In addition to scheduled monthly meetings and regional issue meetings, many councils operate active state government affairs programs. The association operates via a committee structure reporting to a 65-member-executive Board of Directors.

The American Electronics Association has grown with the U.S. technology community. It reflects industry concerns and responds to industry needs. For more than 50 years, AEA has been the accepted voice of the American electronics and information technology industry.

Please visit our website at www.aeanet.org