As little as a decade ago "computer networking" meant watching words creep slowly across your screen; today's computer networks deliver photographs, engineering drawings, CD-quality audio, full-motion video and, for successful entrepreneurs in the new technologies, money.

How these new technologies have been used by successful businesses, and what is coming next, will be discussed by a number of successful Cornell University engineering alumni at the annual conference of the Cornell Society of Engineers, this year titled "eConference @ Cornell, the Broadband Revolution: Changing Communications Technology," April 13-15 on the Cornell campus.

Topics to be discussed include the expansion of fiber optic networks and wireless networking, and the growing use of cell phones and personal digital assistants, such as the Palm Pilot, to access the Internet. The program includes case studies of the growth of several major companies.

"We have assembled a very impressive roster of speakers, representing many facets of the industry, and we are counting on your thoughtful participation to make this a very stimulating conference," said conference chair Robert Maroney '72, president of Sigma Optics of Sunnyvale, Calif., in announcing the event. "We hope the information we provide and the dialogue that follows will help you better respond to the challenges and opportunities this new world brings to us," Maroney said.

Conference speakers include: Ken Goldman '71, senior vice president and chief financial officer of @Home Network; Irwin Mark Jacobs '54, founder, chairman and chief executive of Qualcomm, Inc.; John M. "Jack" Scanlon '64, vice chairman of Global Crossing and president of its subsidiary Asia Crossing; Mayo S. Stuntz, Jr. '71, chief operating officer of the Interactive Services Group, America

Online Inc.; Mario Vecchi '69, vice president for broadband development of America Online; Michael Malaga '86, chairman and chief executive, NorthPoint Communications; Michael J. Zak '75,

general partner, Charles River Ventures; and Charles J. Abbe '63, president and cheif executive of Optical Coating Laboratory and senior operating officer for JDS Uniphase.

Jeffrey C. Hawkins '79, inventor of the Palm Pilot and chair of the board and chief product officer of Handspring Inc., will speak to conference participants via remote broadcast from California, using Cornell's distance learning facility in Ives Hall.

Jack W. Bradbury, the Robert G. Engel Professor of Ornithology and director of the Library of Natural Sounds, will speak at an awards banquet, which will be preceded by a poster session for student projects.

Toby Berger, professor of electrical engineering, will moderate a discussion of faculty research on wireless communications and video transmission, scheduled to include presentations by Zygmunt Haas, professor of electrical engineering, and Venugopal Veeravalli and Sheila S. Hemami , assistant professors of electrical engineering.

In a pre-conference event held jointly with the Johnson Graduate School of Management's Park Fellows Leadership Program, Jay S. Walker '77, founder and vice chairman of priceline.com, will present the Park Distinguished Lecturer address to the William G. Ohaus '49 Memorial Manufacturing Engineering Seminar on Thursday, April at 4:45 p.m. in the Distance Learning Center in Ives Hall.

Further information and registration forms are available online at http://www.alumni.cornell.edu/cseconf/default.html or http://www.engineering.cornell.edu/alumni/conf2.cfm; you can also go to the main College of Engineering web page at http://www.engineering.cornell.edu and follow the conference link.

The Cornell Society of Engineers, with over 2000 members, is the alumni association for the Cornell College of Engineering. It counts among its ranks alumni who have led the revolution in science, technology and industry, as well as alumni who are respected leaders in business, law, medicine, government and many other professions. CORNELL SOCIETY OF ENGINEERS CONFERENCE SPEAKERS

Ken Goldman has served as senior vice president and chief financial officer since joining @Home Network in July 1996. Prior to joining @Home Network, he was SVP/CFO of Sybase, Inc., a leading database and software services company, which he joined in 1992. From 1989 to July 1992, Goldman was vice president of finance and administration and chief financial officer at Cypress Semiconductor Corporation. Prior to Cypress, he was with VLSI Technology.

Jeffrey C. Hawkins, inventor of the Palm Pilot, via remote broadcast from Silicon Valley. He is chair of the board and chief product officer of Handspring, Inc., which in 1998 introduced the $179 Visor hand-held computer. Previously, he was chairman and founder of Palm Computer, 1992-1998.

Irwin Mark Jacobs founded Qualcomm Inc. in 1985, serving as chairman and CEO. Jacobs has led Qualcomm through a period of rapid growth to over 9,000 employees, with international activities in digital wireless telephone and mobile satellite communications and Internet software. Previously, Jacobs founded Linkabit, which merged with M/A-Com in August 1980. In 1994 Jacobs received the National Medal of Technology Award, which is the highest award bestowed by the president of the United States for extraordinary achievements in the commercialization of technology or the development of human resources that foster technology commercialization.

John M. Jack Scanlon became vice chairman of Global Crossing after serving as chief executive officer during Global Crossing's first year as a public company. He has over 30 years management experience in communications and computing with Motorola, AT&T, and Bell Labs. He also serves as chief executive officer of Asia Global Crossing, a partnership of Global Crossing, Microsoft, and Softbank. Prior to joining Global Crossing, Scanlon was president and general manager of the Cellular Networks and Space Sector of Motorola, Inc. Scanlon joined Motorola in 1990 as vice president of the Cellular Infrastructure Group, following a highly successful 24-year career with AT&T and Bell Labs. He holds six patents in computing and communications.

Mayo S. Stuntz, Jr. joined CompuServe Interactive Inc. from Century 21 Real Estate Corp., a subsidiary of Cendant Corp., where he was chief operating officer and executive vice president. Prior to that, he was executive vice president of Six Flags Theme Parks Inc., a subsidiary of Time Warner Inc. As executive vice president of Time Warner Enterprises, he was involved with the company's investment in 3DO and in the development of Court TV and the Quincy Jones Entertainment Co. Previously, Stuntz was executive vice president of Quantum Media Inc., responsible for the development of such television programs as "Totally Hidden Video," "Pictionary," and "The Street," and senior vice president, business management and development, of MTV Networks, where he led the development of VH1 and Nick-at-Nite.

Jay S. Walker is founder and vice chairman of priceline.com. In 1992, Walker co-founded NewSub Services (NSS), which pioneered the practice of using credit card statement inserts as an effective new channel for the sale of magazine subscriptions and other loyalty-based programs. Today, NSS has more than 22 million active customers and its client list includes nearly every leading credit card issuer. Walker serves as chairman of Walker Digital Corp. The key intellectual property and systems behind priceline.com were developed by Walker Digital.

This news release is available at http://www.news.cornell.edu/releases/April00/CSEconference.ws.html, with a link to other Cornell news releases and photographs. For information on receiving Cornell news releases via e-mail, go to http://www.news.cornell.edu/subscribe.html or send a query to cunews@cornell.edu.