Penn State Behrend
    School of Engineering
    5101 Jordan Road
    Erie, PA  16563-1701

    Office:  REDC 242C
    Phone:  (814) 898-6153
    Fax:(814) 898-6125
    Email: Ralph-Ford@psu.edu

Ralph M. Ford
Service and the Scholarship of Service

University Service

• Chair of Penn State Behrend Electrical, Computer, and Software Engineering Programs, 1996-2004.
• Chair of the Faculty Council of Penn State Behrend, 2002-2003.
• CEO & Dean Search Committee, 2002-2003.
• Member of ECEDHA (Electrical and Computer Engineering Dept. Heads Association), 2000-2004. My presentation at the 2002 annual meeting on Teamwork and Design.
• Society of Women Engineers, Faculty Advisor, 1995-2000.
  • Helped the group to estaablish first chapter on our campus.
  • Received Best Student Advisor Award, 1996.
• Various committees in the past and present, including Computer Committee, Promotion & Tenure committee, and the Annual Evaluation Committee.

Service to the Profession

• Professional Society Memberships
  • IEEE, senior member.
  • International Society for Optical Engineering (SPIE), member.
  • American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), member of engineering dean's council.
• IEEE Service
  • MGAB Nominations and Awards Committee, 2007-present .
  • Region 2 conference coordinator, 2003-2007.
  • Chair of Erie Section, 2001-2002.
  • Vice-chair of Erie Section, 1997-2000.
• ABET program evaluator (electrical and computer engineering), 2002-present
• Fulbright scholar reviewer for the Council for the International Exchange of Scholars. Review Fulbright applications for Central Europe (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia), 2006-2009.
• Conference Committee Member, International Optical Engineering Society (SPIE) Conference on Machine Vision Applications in Industrial Inspection, 2003-present.
• Chair of the Penn State Behrend Faculty Organization, 2002-2003.