The Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) is hosting the 30th bi-annual Pan American Convention of Engineers/Union Pan Americana de Asociaciones de Ingenieria (UPADI), September 19-22, 2006. This is the first time the conference has been hosted in Georgia and by Georgia Tech. Georgia Tech joins a list of sponsoring organizations and societies including UPADI, American Society of Civil Engineers, National Society of Professional Engineers, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, American Society for Engineering Education, Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, Pan-American Federation of the National Associations of Consulting Companies in the Americas (FEPAC), and the World Federation of Engineering Organizations. The convention will be held at the Westin Peachtree Plaza, located in the heart of downtown Atlanta.

"Georgia Tech is committed to providing international educational opportunities through innovative programs and partnerships," said Georgia Tech President Wayne Clough. "The UPADI conference offers an ideal forum to enhance our working relationship with Pan America to insure that the Western hemisphere continues to have a competitive edge in the engineering sector." Clough will be one of the keynote speakers during the event.

The theme of the bilingual conference is 'Building a Sustainable Infrastructure: Education, Technology Innovation, and Economic Development.' Features of the four-day meeting include a series of technical congresses and presentations, along with five plenary sessions focusing on transparency and global ethics, economic development, free trade, sustainability and education. Plenary session speakers include Ciro de Falco, executive vice president, Inter-American Development Bank; Raquel Alfaro, Fund for Fostering Scientific and Technological Research; Carlos Braga, senior advisor, International Trade Department, The World Bank; and Alberto Alemán Zubieta, chief executive officer, Panama Canal Authority.

UPADI is calling for final paper submissions by the June 2006, deadline, as well as inviting students to enter UPADI's Student Design Paper Competition. Submission guidelines can be found at the following links:
- http://www.upadi2006.com/english/papers.shtml
- http://www.upadi2006.com/english/competition.shtml

Founded in 1949, UPADI represents a membership of approximately 2.5 million engineers from 26 member countries in North America, Central America, South America and the Caribbean. The goal of the organization is to advance science and technology to benefit humanity through hemispheric cooperation. The organization seeks to develop action plans, encourage outside funding, and work for the economic development of the nations served. The UPADI conference was last hosted by the United States in 1990 in Washington, D.C.

Registration and conference details for UPADI can be found at http://www.upadi2006.com/english/index.shtml or contact Diana Turner at 404-385-3510 for additional information.