2011 IEEE Region 1 Central Area Industry Day -- Speakers
  Dr. Percy V. Gilbert Dr. Percy V. Gilbert is Vice President, Technology Development, Semiconductor Research and Development Center (SRDC). He has responsibility for development of IBM’s entire portfolio of High Performance/Industry Standard process technologies. His teams drive advancements in high performance device design, advanced metallization techniques and new semiconductor processes. These innovations serve as the foundation of leadership technology for IBM’s multi-billion dollar System’s business and enables strong revenue and profit growth in IBM’s OEM market segments.

Since joining IBM in 2001, Dr. Gilbert has held several key positions in technology, product development and manufacturing. As manager of the 90nm SOI process technology group, Dr. Gilbert drove advances in high performance device design which resulted in significant power savings for OEM products. In 2004, he was appointed Functional Manager of the PowerPC Product Engineering and Verification Group responsible for qualification and product ramp of all PowerPC microprocessors.

In 2005, Dr. Gilbert was promoted to Director, 65nm/32nm Technology Development. His teams successfully developed and ramped technology for the Power6 Server in 2006 and enabled the critically important transition of Games Processors into 65nm. In 2007, Dr. Gilbert was appointed to his current position as Vice President, Technology Research and Development in IBM’s Semiconductor Research and Development Laboratory (SRDC).

Dr. Gilbert holds Bachelors, Masters and PhD degrees in Electrical Engineering all from Purdue University. He has been awarded 10 US patents and is the author of 23 technical papers. He is married and has two children.

Title: Semiconductor Technology: Trends, Challenges and Opportunities
 
  Barry L. Shoop Barry L. Shoop is Professor of Electrical Engineering and Acting Head of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the United States Military Academy at West Point. During his sixteen years at West Point, he has served in a number of leadership positions including Director of the Electrical Engineering Program and Director of the Photonics Research Center. Currently as Professor and Department Head he is responsible for an undergraduate academic department with over 70 faculty and staff supporting ABET accredited programs in electrical engineering, computer science, and information technology. He received the B.S. from the Pennsylvania State University in 1980, M.S. from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School in 1986, and Ph.D. from Stanford University in 1992, all in electrical engineering. He is a Senior Member of the IEEE, a Fellow of both the Optical Society of America and the International Society for Optical Engineering, and a member of Phi Kappa Phi, Eta Kappa Nu, and Sigma Xi. Professor Shoop has been active in the IEEE, serving as the Chair of the Mid-Hudson Section, Director of Region 1, IEEE Secretary and member of the IEEE Board of Directors from 2006 – 2010. He served as the 2010 IEEE Vice President for Member and Geographic Activities and currently serves on the ABET Board of Directors.

DEVELOPING THE CRITICAL THINKING, CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION SKILLS OF UNDERGRADUATE ENGINEERING STUDENTS - A desirable goal of engineering education is to teach students how to be creative and innovative. However, the speed of technological innovation and the continual expansion of disciplinary knowledge leave little time in the curriculum for students to formally study innovation. At West Point we have developed a novel upper-division undergraduate course that delivers disruptive and innovative applications of commercial technologies and simultaneously develops the critical thinking, creativity and innovation of undergraduate engineering students. This course is structured as a deliberate interactive engagement between students and faculty that combines the Socratic method with the Thayer method to develop an understanding of disruptive and innovative technologies and a historical context of how social, cultural, and religious factors impact the acceptance or rejection of technological innovation. The course begins by developing the background understanding of what disruptive technology is and a historical context about successes and failures of social, cultural, and religious acceptance of technological innovation. To develop this framework, students read The Innovator’s Dilemma by Clayton M. Christensen, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Thomas S. Kuhn, The Discoverers by Daniel J. Boorstin, and The Two Cultures by C.P. Snow. For each class meeting, students also read current scientific and technical literature and come prepared to discuss current events related to technological innovation. Each student researches potential disruptive technologies and prepares a compelling argument of why the specific technologies are disruptive so they can defend their choice and rationale. During course meetings students discuss the readings and specific technologies found during their independent research. As part of this research, each student has the opportunity to interview forward thinking technology leaders in their respective fields of interest. This presentation will describe the course and highlight the results from teaching this course over the past three years.
 
  Joe H. Chow Joe H. Chow is a Professor of Electrical, Computer, and Systems Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He received his B.S.E.E. and B.Math degrees from the University of Minnesota, and his MS and PhD degrees from the University of Illinois. Before joining RPI, he worked in the power system business of General Electric Company. His current research interests include modeling and control of power systems, voltage-sourced converted based FACTS controllers, and synchronized phasor measurements. He was a recipient of the Eckman Award from the American Control Council and the Control System Technology Award from the IEEE Control Systems Society. He is currently the chair of the IEEE PES Power System Dynamic Measurements Working Group, and the co-chair of the North America Synchro Phasor Initiative (NASPI) Research Initiative Task Team (RITT).

Synchrophasor Data for State Estimation and Model Identification - This presentation describes the use of power system synchrophasor data for enhancing existing state estimators and creating a new phasor-only state estimator. An algorithm for correcting phase bias in synchrophasor data and applications to dynamic model identification will also be presented.
 
  Xiaochuan Luo Dr. Xiaochuan Luo is a Principal Analyst in the Business Architecture & Technology department at ISO New England Inc. His major responsibility at ISO-NE is research, development and implementation of new technologies to improve the reliability and efficiency of transmission grid. He is the lead power system engineer of the DOE SIDU project at ISO-NE.

Dr. Luo received his Ph.D degree from the Electrical Engineering department in Texas A&M University in 2000. He was a recipient of IEEE Region 1 award in 2007 for his contribution to power system visualization and enhancement of power system analysis in a real time environment. Dr. Luo was a member of the NERC Major System Disturbance Task Force to investigate and simulate the 2003 Northeast Blackout.

Overview of ISO New England’s DOE Smart Grid project - Synchrophasor Infrastructure and Data Utilization (SIDU) - Funded through the DOE Smart Grid Investement Grant (SGIG), ISO New England (ISO-NE) and seven of its transmission owners are deploying over forty phasor measurement units (PMUs), eight phasor Data concentrators (PDCs), and communication infrastructures across the six states in the New England control area. These infrastructure developments, in conjunction with a new set of advanced applications, enable operators to determine grid stability margin in real-time, prevent wide spread blackout through enhanced wide area monitoring capabilities and increased situational awareness. The presentation will give an overview of all components of the ISO-NE’s SIDU project, the benefits that the will be realized, and the challenges associated with the synchrophasor technology.
 
  Kannan Tinnium Power Systems Platform Leader
Electrical Technologies & Systems
GE Global Research

Kannan graduated with a B.S from Osmania University, India in 1991, M.S. and Ph. D in Electrical Engineering from Tulane University, New Orleans in 1993 and 1996 respectively. He then joined Entergy Services, Inc., one of the largest electric power utilities in the US, where he was responsible for bringing new technologies to the transmission system, perform technical studies and recommend solutions.

In 2001, he moved back to India and joined the GE- Global Research Center in Bangalore where he developed and managed a team of technologists doing research in the areas of Power Electronics, Power Systems and Energy Storage.

In September 2009, he assumed the role as a Power Systems Platform Leader in Global Research Center in Niskayuna. He presently oversees the power systems research activities, including Smart Grids across GE Global Research.

Technology Opportunities in Smart Grids - The development of Future Electric Power Grid is a key initiative in the present U.S. administration plan to reduce energy costs, improve efficiency and reliability and enable more renewables and EV penetration. The Electric Power Grid is one of the most complex systems containing several thousands of generators, high-voltage transmission level buses, distribution nodes and millions of load points all integrated and working together to deliver reliable electricity to consumers. This industry is going through an unprecedented change due to aging infrastructure, coupled with increased renewables, distributed energy resources, plug in hybrids/EVs and the emergence of new energy markets requiring the need for a smarter grid. This talk will bring forth the motivation/drivers, GE's interest, and the technology opportunities and challenges associated with this initiative.
 
  Jane LeClair Dr. Jane LeClair is the Dean of the School of Business and Technology at Excelsior College in Albany, New York. Jane had a 20 year career in the nuclear industry in various management positions. She continues to collaborate with the nuclear industry on various projects and is an ongoing consultant with the International Atomic Energy agency. Dr. LeClair earned her Doctorate from Syracuse University and holds an MBA, a Master’s in both Organizational Psychology and Education, and Bachelor’s degrees in Nuclear Technology and Psychology. Jane continues to hold leadership positions in several professional organizations.
 
  James Antonakos James Antonakos is a Distinguished Teaching Professor of Computer Science and the Faculty Program Director of the Electrical Engineering Technology program at Excelsior College in Albany, NY. James teaches both in the classroom and online, has authored or co-authored numerous books on electronics, computers, and networking, and is A+, Network+, and Security+ certified by CompTIA and ACE certified in computer forensics by AccessData.

An Overview and Outlook on Academia-Industry Collaborations Including the role of IEEE - This presentation begins with a overview of current types of collaboration between academia and industry. Limitations, challenges, and lesson learned will be discussed to identify some best practices. The presentation concludes with examining IEEE's role in promoting academia-industry collaborations.
 
  Silvia Mioc Dr. Silvia Mioc is a Business and Economic Development professional with global experience in display, medical devices and optics industries, in settings ranging from academia and national labs to large companies, startups and non-profits. Dr. Mioc received her PhD in Physics from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and her MBA from the Keller Graduate School of Management. Currently she is the director of Industrial Collaborations and Innovation at the Smart Lighting ERC, an inter-institutional, cross-disciplinary center comprising of about 80 faculty and students at core partners Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Boston University and The University of New Mexico. In this capacity, she manages university-industry collaborations and entrepreneurial activities within the center, driving the creation of an innovation ecosystem that will bring transformative research into society.

Innovation Ecosystem at NSF Engineering Research Centers (ERCs): Smart Lighting ERC - An ecosystem, according to Biology Online, is a system that includes all living organisms in an area as well as its physical environment functioning together as a unit. This metaphor is used to model the backbone of a Generation 3 ERC innovation ecosystem: academia and industry work together to ensure that the results of academic research make it into products with positive impact on society. An overview of the program will be described and the Smart Lighting ERC will be used to highlight key elements.
 
  Renee Devine Renee Devine is Senior Manager, Siemens Power Academy Transmission and Distribution of North America. She earned her B.S. in Management Information System and later MBA in Strategic Marketting from SUNY, Albany. She has over 20 years of experience in academic administration. Prior to joining Siemens, Ms. Devine worked at New York Independent System Operator (NYISO).

Attracting and Sustaining Talent - Renee Divine will talk about the effect that every day events can have on career selection and how the power industry can increase exposure and improve marketing and communications to attract and sustain talent.
 
  Jian Sun Jian Sun received his PhD degree from University of Paderborn, Paderborn, Germany, in 1995. He was a Post-Doctoral Fellow with the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, from 1996 to 1997. He worked in the Advanced Technology Center of Rockwell Collins, Inc., from 1997 to 2002, where he led research on advanced power conversion technol¬ogies for aerospace applications. In 2002, he joined the Department of Electrical, Computer, and Systems Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, where he is currently a Professor. Since 2010, he has also been the Director of the New York State Center for Future Energy Systems (CFES), which conducts research in the broad area of energy, including wind, solar, energy storage, smart grid, and smart buildings. His research interests are in the general area of power electronics and energy conversion, with particular emphasis on modeling, control, as well as applications in renewable energy and aerospace. He has published more than 140 journal and conference papers on these subjects, and holds 8 US patents.

Dr. Sun is a Senior Member of the IEEE Power Electronics Society (PELS). He currently serves as the Editor-in-Chief of IEEE Power Electronics Letters, and was the Guest Editor for the IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics Special Issue on Modeling and Advanced Control. He is the Chair of the IEEE Power Electronics Society’s Technical Committee on Power and Control Core Technologies and an AdCom Member of the IEEE Systems Council. He has been closely involved in several IEEE PELS-sponsored conferences, including PESC, APEC and, more recently, ECCE. He was the General Chair of IEEE COMPEL’06 Workshop, and will be a Co-Chair of the IEEE 2012 ECCE Technical Committee.

Power Electronics for Renewable Energy and Smart Grid - Smart grid has many different facets. One focus area of research at RPI is the integration of renewable energy and other distributed resources into the grid. Given the intermittence of renewable sources, a smart grid infrastructure is required to effectively integrate and manage renewable generation, energy storage, and demand response in order to enable deep penetration of renewables. Power electronics is a critical enabling technology for all these applications. In addition to traditional performance metrics such as cost, efficiency, and reliability, new control functions must be developed to support smart grid operation. The ubiquitous use of power electronics also creates new challenges for grid system integration and control. One particular issue is the extended control bandwidth of power electronics and the resulting fast dynamics beyond the grid fundamental frequency. Harmonic resonance, for example, has become a common problem at the grid interface of renewable sources. Traditional power system theory focuses on low-frequency control using phasor-based models, which cannot be used to study fast system dynamics and stability of smart grid.

An impedance-based method has been developed at RPI for the analysis and design of future grids incorporating large numbers of power electronics devices. In this approach, each device is represented by a broadband input or output impedance model, and system stability is studied based on the ratio of system impedances at different interface point. A three-phase system is decomposed into a positive-sequence and a negative-sequence subsystem, and each subsystem can be studied separately. The impedance model incorporates all circuit and control parameters in an intuitive manner, hence can be conveniently used to support hardware and control development. Online identification of grid impedance and adaptive control of individual devices to dynamically shape their input or output impedance to ensure system stability and power quality without requiring communication or human interference are also being developed. The types of devices that have been studied in this framework include wind and solar inverters, energy storage, HVDC converters (both PWM and line commutated converter-based), and STATCOM. Specific systems that are being investigated include wind farms connected to weak grid, offshore wind with HVDC transmission, dc micro grid for integration of renewable and energy storage, and residential distribution network with large number of rooftop solar panels.

To support the fundamental research, a distributed generation test-bed has also been developed at RPI as an experimental platform for small-scale system-level validation and demonstration. The test-bed provides a controlled distribution grid environment that can be programmed to simulate various grid configurations and operation conditions. This talk will give an overview of the ongoing research activities, the capabilities of the test facility, and major findings to date.
 
  Robinson E. Pino Ph.D., Senior Electronics Engineer
Emerging Computing Technology Branch
Air Force Research Laboratory

Dr. Robison E. Pino is a Senior Electronics Engineer for the United States Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) where he leads as principle scientist the Computational Intelligence and Neuromorphic Computing research efforts. Dr. Pino's expertise is within technology development, management, modeling, and characterization. Dr. Pino’s professional experience include working at IBM Microelectronics as an Advisory Scientist/Engineer Development of CMOS technologies and as Business Analyst at IBM's Photomask business unit where he was responsible for development and manufacturing spending, capacity planning, lean manufacturing, and business process automation. In addition, Dr. Pino has been an adjunct professor at the University of Vermont teaching graduate and undergraduate courses in Electrical Engineering, 2007-2009. Dr. Pino was named Distinguished Lecturer of IEEE, EDS, in 2010, AFRL Information Directorate Scientist/Engineer of the Year in 2011, Named Top 200 Most Influential Hispanics in Technology by HE&IT Magazine in 2011, and IEEE Mohawk Valley Section Engineer of the Year in 2011. Dr. Pino received the Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in Electrical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY in 2005 and 2003 and B.E. (E.E.) degree with honors from the City University of New York, City College, in 2002.

Emerging Memristor-Based Neuromorphic Computing Architectures - Nanoscale computing architectures offer exciting possibilities for reaching higher levels of computing systems performance and capacity. However, as amazing as the technological possibilities are, at the nanoscale, so are the challenges for its practical integration within complex computing systems. For example, neuromorphic computing promises to allow for the development of intelligent systems able to imitate natural neuro-biological processes. This is achieved by artificially re-creating the highly parallelized computing architecture of the mammalian brain. In particular, neuromorphic computers are suitable for applications in pattern recognition, i.e. image, voice, etc. In order to achieve high levels of intelligence within systems, neuromorphic computing must exploit novel complex materials and structures to achieve very large scale integration with highly parallel and dense neural architectures. Our recent research efforts at the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), Information Directorate, focus on the development of neuromorphic computational devices, mathematical models, novel materials, and computational applications to develop neuromorphic computing processors. However, in order to achieve nanoscale device powered technologies, we must develop design methodologies that take advantage of the highly non-linear and environment sensitive physical behavior of such novel devices. Therefore, as we work to develop next generation nanotechnologies, we must address technological challenges such as modeling, characterization, integration, and manufacturability. This talk will focus on the technology challenges that we are seeking to overcome to enable Memristor-based nanoscale parallel computing architectures.
 
  Michael Liehr CNSE Vice President for Research
College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering,
University at Albany, State University of New York,
Albany, New York

Michael Liehr is Vice President for Research, Associate VP for Business, Alliances and Consortia and Professor at the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering in Albany, NY. His technical focus at CNSE is the establishment of a Center for CMOS Derivative Development. Prior to joining CNSE, he was an IBM Distinguished Engineer responsible for strategic production alliances and factory synchronization and was a member of the IBM Academy of Technology. He holds a PhD in physics and is PMI certified, has published over 100 papers and 20 patents.

Pioneering Innovation to Drive an Educational and Economic Renaissance in New York State - In these turbulent economic times, with shrinking margins and narrowing markets, the financial realities associated with developing new equipment, processes and materials required for the extension of Moore’s law are daunting. In this presentation we outline an approach that allows attracting industry to New York State, aiming to drive an economic renaissance in the State by focusing on high-growth, high-tech industries. The College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE) leverages industry partners, academic and government resources in effective partnerships to enable accelerated R&D. This unique consortium environment creates a viable financial and technical foundation that enhances knowledge-based development of integrated electronics while reducing costs. CNSE provides facilities, tooling, a portion of operating expenses, and operates the clean-room facilities. Partners provide engineering resources, tooling, process IP to enable R&D and customize for their applications, and a portion of operating expenses. Material suppliers, government entities and other academic institutions participate as partners on a customized basis. Partners have access to IP, R&D results, and manufacturing expertise and gain early access to equipment, supplier BKMs and create synergy with other partners. The state-of-the-art facilities enable faster development cycles with know-how contributions from industrial leaders. Other parties may have access to IP, R&D results, and wafer processing based on available advanced processes. The existence of advanced facilities, tool and material suppliers, together with IDMs under one roof, combined with strong government support, creates a unique environment that fosters cross-partner joint development activities. The knowledge sharing and close physical proximity results in a fast and economical advanced node R&D. The presentation will highlight a number of examples of successful industry-government consortia, ranging from semiconductors to photovoltaic to nano-bio and medicine.
 
  Imed Zine-El-Abidine Mr. Imed Zine-El-Abidine received the Ph.D. degree from the University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada, in 2006. Imed spent two years at the Telecommunication Research Laboratories (TRLabs) of Calgary where he focused on building highly linear and efficient Radio Frequency power amplifiers. He then acquired five years experience in microfabrication techniques at the cleanroom facilities of Calgary (AMIF) and Edmonton (Nanofab) where he developed new processes in the field of RF MEMS (Radio Frequency MicroElectroMechanical Systems) and MEMS Packaging. He joined CMC Microsystems in 2007 as a Senior Engineer in Micro and Nanotechnology Fabrication. He was involved with projects related to GaN MMIC process, MEMS and Nanotechnology related products. He is currently the Client Technology Advisor, Microsystems and Nanotechnology. CMC Microsystems builds partnerships among Canadian government, industry and universities to enable microsystems discovery, applied research and technology development.

Enabling Microsystems R&D in Canada - CMC Microsystems enables and supports the creation and application of micro- and nano-system knowledge by providing a national infrastructure for excellence in research and a path to commercialization of related devices, components and systems. This is achieved by delivering industry-calibre tools, technologies and support as part of its program contributing to microsystems R&D conducted in 45 universities. Faculty members, graduate students and their industrial collaborators, all part of Canada’s National Design Network, gain advantage from services to design, manufacture and test microsystems concepts that have academic merit and are often directed at future applications in industrial sectors. The first part of the presentation will introduce the CMC model on how to work with leading suppliers from across Canada and around the world to offer products and services in microelectronics, MEMS, photonics, microfluidics and embedded software. The second part will present a few examples of collaborations between industry, academia and CMC that enhance product and services enabling microsystems R&D.
 
  Troy Wood Ms. Troy Wood joined Synopsys in 1999 and is currently university alliances manager in the Corporate Marketing and Strategic Alliances Group. Previously, Ms. Wood held marketing communications program manager positions for Synopsys’ strategic alliances, system-level design and intellectual property groups. Prior to joining Synopsys, Ms. Wood was responsible for marketing communications at Ultratech and Novellus Systems. She holds a BS in Business Administration/Marketing from California State University, Chico.

Industry/University Cooperation: Implementation in Synopsys University Program - Producing well-trained engineers for the semiconductor industry poses unique challenges to educational systems worldwide. Universities require access to modern tools and design methodologies as well as practical approaches which can be learned only by doing design and research on real processors with real-world complexity. The Synopsys University Program provides valuable tools and resources to provide students hands-on experience combining theoretical knowledge with practical skills. Work with IBM to develop ready-to-use lectures and labs in a digital design flow using Synopsys EDA tools and 90nm Educational Design Kit, along with the IBM PowerPC 405 processor will be highlighted.
 
  Kathy Grise Kathy Grise, IEEE Future Directions Program Director, works directly with IEEE volunteers, IEEE staff, and consultants in support of new initiatives, and is the IEEE staff project lead for Cloud Computing and the IEEE Technology Navigator. Prior to joining the IEEE staff, Ms. Grise held numerous positions at IBM, and most recently was a Senior Engineering Manager for Enablement in the IBM Semiconductor Research and Development Center. Ms. Grise has a BA from Washington and Jefferson College, Washington, PA, having majored in mathematics and foreign languages.

IEEE Future Technological Directions and Collaboration - The IEEE Future Directions team fosters technological innovation and excellence for the benefit of humanity by seeking out new and existing technologies for integration into IEEE’s intellectual property (IP). Current activities are focused on providing resources for technologies, information, standards, publications, conferences, education, and collaboration associated with Smart Grid, Life Sciences, and Cloud Computing.

Supporting easier access to IEEE’s IP, a new interactive, dynamic web based online tool has been developed, called the IEEE Technology Navigator (TechNav). TechNav enables students, faculty, and professionals, IEEE members and non-members to discover engineering content and events relevant to them. Coverage includes Technical Societies and Organizational Unit’s, through educational products, conference and publications materials, and standards. An overview of the tool’s capabilities will be given with the emphasis on how TechNav can help you.
 
  Jim Warnock Jim Warnock is currently the circuit design team leader for IBM's System z microprocessor development effort. After receiving the PhD degree in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he joined IBM in Yorktown Heights, NY, where he has worked on high-speed microprocessors including IBM’s S/390 G4, POWER4, the Cell Broadband Engine, POWER7 and the zEnterprise 196. Dr. Warnock's interests include VLSI circuit design tools and methodology, clocked storage elements, design for test, and design-technology interactions. Dr. Warnock is a Distinguished Engineer in IBM’s Systems and Technology Group and a member of the IBM Academy of Technology.

Design Challenges for High-Frequency Microprocessor in 14nm Technology - As technology scaling runs up against fundamental physical and electrical limitations, new design challenges will emerge, associated with the novel device structures expected to become commonplace in the 14nm technology node. In addition, wire interconnect optimization and reliability analysis will become key focus areas for high-speed microprocessor designers, as materials and metallurgies are pushed to their limits. This talk will describe some of the implications of these trends and their likely impact on high-performance digital microprocessor design.
 
  Pedro Gonzalez Pedro Gonzalez has over 20 years of work experience in the corporate recruitment, university admissions and career advising profession. He built the university relations strategy for developing a national and international pipeline of university prospects from the top engineering schools for GLOBALFOUNDRIES.

Prior to his role at GLOBALFOUNDRIES, he worked at Siemens Management Consulting, as Senior Manger of Recruitment and People Development. In that role he handled HR operations and led a strategic recruitment plan that identified top candidates from leading U.S. and European business schools for consulting roles in the New York City office. He also served as Director of MBA Career Resources & Admissions for the Lally School of Management & Technology at RPI in Troy, NY where he counseled MBA students on their career options in preparation for the job market and managed the student recruitment process.

Pedro Gonzalez also worked at Drexel University in Philadelphia as Director of MBA Career Services; San Jose Sate University as Director of Student Outreach; and SUNY Stony Brook as Assistant Dean of the Graduate School. His corporate recruitment experience includes roles as an executive recruiter in San Francisco and manger of a university recruiting program for an IT consulting firm in Silicon Valley.

Pedro has two career articles published in the 2006 Encyclopedia of Career Development (Sage Publishing). One article addresses informational interviewing and the other discusses resume writing.

Pedro served four years on the Board of Directors for the MBA Career Services, a national professional organization of MBA career advisors and is the co-founder of the Latino College Expo, the oldest and largest college fair in New York City targeting Latino high school students.

He earned his undergraduate degree in Sociology from SUNY New Paltz and his master’s degree in Urban Policy from the New School University in NYC. He also completed graduate courses in Adult Education and Organizational Theory at Temple University.

Building a University Relations Program: New Generation Workforce Development  for High Tech - In one year, GLOBALFOUNDRIES has executed a national and regional strategy of student recruitment that relies on employer branding at some of the top engineering schools in the United States. This strategy also encompasses a partnering model with regional community colleges on curriculum development and early outreach. The challenge is to create a high impact recruitment model that strategically positions GLOBALFOUNDRIES as a national employer of choice for engineering students across the US while serving as a catalyst for regional workforce development that benefits  not only GLOBALFOUNDRIES but other high tech companies in the region.
 
  Mohamad Sawan Mohamad Sawan received the Ph.D. degree in 1990 in Electrical Engineering, from Sherbrooke University, Canada. He joined Polytechnique Montréal in 1991, where he is currently a Professor of microelectronics and biomedical engineering. His interests are the design and test of analog, digital, RF, MEMS and optic circuits and Microsystems. Dr. Sawan is a holder of a Canada Research Chair in Smart Medical Devices, and he is leading the Microsystems Strategic Alliance of Quebec (ReSMiQ). Dr. Sawan is founder of the Polystim Neurotechnologies Laboratory. He is founder and cofounder of several international conferences such as the IEEE NEWCAS, ICECS, and BioCAS. He is also cofounder and Associate Editor (AE) of the IEEE Trans. on BioCAS, and he is Deputy Editor-in Chief of the IEEE TCAS-II. He is Editor and AE, and member of the board of several international Journals. Dr. Sawan published more than 500 peer reviewed papers, two books, 10 book chapters, and 10 patents. Dr. Sawan received several awards, among them the Bombardier Award for technology transfer, and the Barbara Turnbull Award for spinal cord research. He is Fellow of the IEEE, Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering, Fellow of the Engineering Institute of Canada, and Officer of the Quebec’s National Order.

Smart Brain Interfaces for Sensing and Subsequent Treatment - Emerging Brain-Machine Interfaces for diagnostic and recovery of neural vital functions are promising alternative to allow studying the neural activity underlying cognitive functions and pathologies, detecting mind driven decisions, etc. This talk covers RF integrated circuits and systems techniques used for the design and integration of Microsystems intended for harvesting energy to power up such bioelectronics devices and to bidirectional exchange of data with external base stations. Inductive links are used to comply with required power budget, and data rates specific for up and down links, which are intended for recording and data transmission respectively. Global view of a fully implantable CMOS-based devices will be given and case studies of continuously record EcoG signals intended to onset detection of epileptic seizures, and for intracortical visual stimulator will be described.
 
  Bruce Fardanesh Bruce Fardanesh is the Chief Technology Officer of the New York Power Authority (NYPA). He is responsible for all new technology development and implementation to benefit NYPA’s core business in the areas of generation and transmission.

Dr. Fardanesh received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Sharif University of Technology in Tehran, Iran in 1979. He also received his M.S. and Doctor of Engineering degrees both in Electrical Engineering from the University of Missouri-Rolla and Cleveland State University in 1981and 1985, respectively. His research areas of interest are power system analysis, modeling, dynamics, operation, and control. He is the author or co-author of 30 journal articles and over 50 conference papers as well as many technical reports. His research activities include power system optimization and optimal operation, development of new power system analysis tools, development of educational software for animated simulation of electric machines as well as application of advanced Flexible AC Transmission Systems (FACTS) controllers in power systems. He has also been teaching graduate and undergraduate courses in power systems and electric machine areas for over 25 years.

As the nation's largest state-owned electric utility, the Power Authority is committed to promoting innovative technologies for the benefit of its customers and all New Yorkers. As part of that commitment, Dr. Fardanesh serves on the EPRI Research Advisory Committee (RAC) and is a senior member of the IEEE as well as a member of CIGRE. He is also a member of the advisory board for the Center for Future Energy Systems (CFES) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI).

Title: Implementation of Smart Grid Applications at NYPA – Present and Future
 
 

 

 

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