April 24th, 2008 - IEEE Section Dinner Meeting
Topic:   The Return to the Moon Robotics Competition
Speaker: 2008 Robotic Team Members
  Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach Florida


On April 5th, 2008 the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Student Branch of the Daytona IEEE Section sent a team of students to the SoutheastenCon 2008 in Huntsville Alabama.  The purpose of the trip was to participate in a Robotic Competition held in conjunction with the Southeastern Conference.  The theme of the competition was "Return to the Moon." Forty one colleges and universities from all over the southeast portion of the United States entered this competition.
  
The ERAU students built a robot that could autonomously explore and retrieve resources and then transport them back to a lunar base station.   The playing field was a 6 foot by 6 foot plywood deck., partially covered with  with small rocks firmly glued to the plywood surface to form a simulated lunar surface.  The objects to be detected and stored by the robot were wooden blocks of various colors equipped with RFID tags.  The block took on various values based on their color and value noted on the RFID tags.  The autonomous robot had to (1) find the location of the wood blocks with IR sensors, (2) drive to the location of the blocks with the help of the IR sensors and digital compass, (3) sense the worth of the blocks with the RFID reader, (4) pick up the blocks with and store on board the robot, (5) carry the blocks back and deposit them at the base station. To add confusion to the process two robots were on the same playing field simultaneously competing for the same blocks and physical positions.

The speakers for the evening will be several of the members of the Embry Riddle Aeronautical University Robotic Team.  They will describe the design and operation of the robot, and the results of the competition.
                            March 27th, 2008 - IEEE Section Dinner Meeting
Topic:   The Spitizer Space Telescope View of the Solar System
Speaker: Dr. Yan Fenandez , Assistant Professor of Astronomy
  Department of Physics, University of Central Florida

Since its launch in 2003, NASA's fourth Great Observatory, the Spitzer Space Telescope, has devoted over 1500 hours of time looking at various objects in our Solar System.  Its unique vantage point and design have given us an unprecedented infrared view of our neighborhood.  Spitzer has observed near-Earth asteroids whizzing by, icy asteroids beyond Neptune, even a cloud of dust that surrounds planet Earth.  Dr. Fernandez will review some of the highlights of over four years of data collected by this remarkable telescope and will discuss some of the open questions that remain.

Yan Fernandez received his Ph.D.. in Astronomy in 1999 from the University of Maryland and has been an Assistant  Professor at the University of Central Florida's Department of Physics since 2005.  His research area is planetary science with an emphasis on the small bodies of the Solar System.  His studies involve the thermal, physical. and compositional properties of active comets, dormant comets, asteroids, and icy outer-Solar System objects.  His goal is to understand the evolution of our Solar System.  To do this he uses telescopes around the world and in space, including the Spitzer Space Telescope.


        
February 28th, 2008 - IEEE Section Dinner Meeting
Topic:   Radio Astronomy and the Allen Telescope Array
Speaker: William C. Barott PhD, Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

Radio Astronomy is a discipline never satisfied with the current state of technology.  Since its beginnings, scientists have been in search of lower noise systems to delve deeper into the cosmos, and more processing power to analyze the volumes of data generated by their telescopes.  Recent Advances in FPGA technology have enabled a fundamental change in the design of large radio telescopes.  The Allen Telescope Array (ATA) is the first of this generation, which combines high speed DSP with many small antennas to rival more costly large antenna telescopes.  Built by University of California Berkeley and the SETI Institute and funded by Microsoft's Paul Allen, the ATA will consist of 350 separate low-cost antennas ad be capable of a diverse range of coordinated tasks,  including 24/7 simultaneous observing by multiple users.  In this talk, Dr. Barott will discuss the history and future of radio astronomy and SETI, along with his personal experiences as a developer for the ATA Project.

William C. Barott, PhD is an Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.  He is a graduate of Georgia Institute of Technology (BS/MS/PhD), and specializes in antenna, phased arrays, and RF systems.  He has been involved in SETI-related work since his undergraduate years, and joined the Allen Telescope Array project as the primary developer of the ATA beamformer.  He spent the summer of 2007 living at the ATA Hat Creek facility in Northern California.

                                             January 24th, 2008 - IEEE Section Dinner Meeting
           Topic:   Forecasting of Foreign Exchange Rates using Artificial Neural Networks
Speaker: Dr. Daniel Plante Associate Professor of Computational Sciences
Stetson University

In a world utilizing only a single currency, investments could be made strictly based on the environment, however, this is no longer the case.  Movement of one currency with respect to another may strongly influence or even overwhelm the rate of return on the investment itself.  Forecasting of exchange rates can itself be treated as an investment vehicle if it can be done so accurately and therefore has been treated with great interest by the research community.  Also, in countries where loans carry high interest rates, corporations and corporate customers often prefer to take loans in foreign currencies with lower interest rates. In order to minimize the currency risk it is common to construct a loan that consists of baskets of currencies.

In this presentation, an introduction to neural networks will be provided along with its application to the prediction of foreign exchange rates.  As a case study, we will focus on the ISD/ISK (US Dollar to Icelandic Krona) exchange rate, as Multi-Currency Instruments are quite popular in Iceland.  Results using various neural network learning algorithms will be provided along with an overview of the state of the art in the field.

Daniel Plante received his Ph.D. in physics from Notre Dame in 1995 and was a research postdoc in atomic physics at Auburn University before entering the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science at Stetson University, where he is presently an Associate Professor of  Computational Sciences.  Daniel's research interests are essentially everything that students interested in working with him are interested in, though his personal favorites are machine learning and artificial intelligence.  During recent years, his research has included finite element grid arrangement,  f financial computing, automated music transcription, multi-server database design, and data mining applied to optimizing software patent similarity.

His work was done in collaboration with Bleeder Mugnusson.  Baldur graduated from Stetson University in December 2005 with a double major in Mathematics and Computer Science.  There he completed his senior research paper on "Currency Predictions for Mult-Currency Instruments" and was awarded the Emmet S. Ashcraft Award, presented to the most outstanding junior in mathematics and computer science at Stetson.  Baldur is presently a Ph.D. student in the School of Operations Research and Information Engineering at Cornell University.



                                   29th November - 2007 - IEEE Section Dinner Meeting
                                             Topic:   From Macro to Micro to Nano Electronics
                                                   Moore's Law and Materials
Speaker: Dr. Mark Law, Chairman of  Electrical and Computer Engineering
University of Florida

The 20th century saw a tremendous increase in electronics capabilities.  We now live in an information age dominated by electronic products in information resources, communication, and entertainment.  How did this happen?  Who were the key players and what were their inventions that changed the world?  What is Moore's Law and how has it driven the semiconductor industry?  Come and learn about the history of the electronics industry and where we are today.  I'll even explain why semiconductor stock prices are so volatile.  What are the challenges for the future?  What strange things happen in the quantum world that will limit future productivity?  Why have CPU clock speeds stopped increasing?  What is nano and how do we get there?  I'll describe some future challenges to provide faster and cheaper technologies.

Mark Law is a professor and chair of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Florida.  He received the B.S. Cpr.E. degree from Iowa State University in 1981, the M.S.E.E. from, Stanford University in 1982, and the Ph.D. degree from Stanford University in 1988.  His current research interests are in integrated circuit process modeling, characterization, and device modeling.  Dr. Law was named a National Science Foundation Presidential Faculty Fellow in 1992, 1993 Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC) Technical Excellence Award, Outstanding Young Alumni of Iowa State in 1994.  College of Engineering Teacher of the the Year in 1996-97, a UF Research Fellow in 1998, and won the 2006 SRC Aristotle Award for Outstanding Graduate Student Advising and Iowa State Professional Achievement Award in 2007.  Dr. Law has written over 200 papers in the area of process and device modeling and has advised 17 Ph.D. students.  He has been involved in almost $15 million of funding during his career, most from industrial sources.  He is an IEEE EDS distinguished lecturer.  He is a member of the American Physical Society, Material Research Society, and American Society for Engineering Education.  He was named an IEEE Fellow in 1998  for his contributions to integrated circuitry process modeling and simulation.

<>           
                                25 October - 2007 - IEEE Section Dinner Meeting
                                                                 Topic:   Identity Theft
                              Speaker: Theresa Ronnebaum and Jay Young                              

With the communications and computer technology now available, our ability to communicate, conduct business, make purchases. and conduct financial transactions has become easier and faster.  However, with this comes the risk that information about your personal and financial identity may be stolen.  This risk has increased dramatically in the past years.  Once stolen, it may take years to rectify the damage done to your credit as well as a considerable financial toll.  Our speaker will discuss these issues and what you can do to reduce the threat.

Theresa Ronnebaum has been employed with the Florida Attorney General's Office since 1999.  She has been with the Office of Statewide Prosecution since September of 2002 as the first federally funded Identity Theft Victim Advocate to Florida.  Mrs. Ronnebaum is also currently working with the Office of Victims of Crime as a consultant on the topic of Identity Theft and how to better assist victims.  Her passion for the criminal justice field began with her prior employment as a county probation officer and as a victim advocate in the sex crimes, domestic violence and child abuse units for the 9th Judicial Circuit State Attorney's Office.  Theresa received her Bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice with a Minor in Psychology from Florida State University in 1995.

Jay Young is a graduate of Broward Engineering College with a BSEE, Nova University with a BSBA.  He has worked for GE, Lockheed Martin, NASA, Public Service Co. of New Mexico, and Florida Power and Light too name a few and has been awarded 2 US patents.  Jay has been a business owner for over 28 years, He is a Member of CrimeStoppers, served on the Community Arbitration Program, Community Citizen Law Enforcement Advisory Committee for Volusia County and currently is a member and past Chair of the Daytona Beach Police Advisory Committee.  He also has had training in Anti-riot management and anti terrorism.  Winner of the Community Service Award and the Golden Circle Award for community service.  He currently serves on the county Land Management and Regulation Commission for Volusia County.

                
                 27 September - 2007 - IEEE Section Dinner Meeting
                                    Topic:  Getting to Know You
                                    Speaker: Members of the Daytona IEEE Section

To kick off the new  season, we thought it would be nice to have an opportunity for our members to get to know each other.  With that thought in mind, we decided to deviate from our usual program of guest speakers and have a more casual, social program.

We all know that it doesn't take much to get an engineer to talk about his/her work.  So, we'll take advantage of what some non-engineering types may consider an annoying "social disorder" and have some interesting, informative presentations.

To begin the program, our officers will introduce themselves and give a brief verbal summary of their background, professional experience, place of current and/or former employment, hobbies and any noteworthy achievement or humorous work event that may interest our members.

After that, we invite the other members in attendance to introduce themselves and give a similar brief background and any related story about his or her career you think may be interesting.  We also invite the members  to introduce their spouse and/or guests.

However, knowing that most engineers have a tendency to get carried away when they get talking about their work, we may be forced to employ 'the hook' after about 4 minutes to give everyone a chance to have their few minutes of fame.  Although we encourage participation, those who aren't comfortable speaking or are in the witness protection program or working undercover with an assumed identity, can just introduce themselves.


                     28 April - 2007 - IEEE Section Dinner Meeting
                          Topic: IEEE Student Section Robot Competition
                 Speakers: Joe Poznanski and members of the student team                                      
This year, the Embry-Riddle IEEE Student Section competed in the hardware competition at the 2007 IEEE SoutheastCon conference.  With the support of the IEEE Daytona Section and the technical experience of Dr. Liu, the team had a valuable and fun learning experience.  As the decision to enter the competition was made relatively late, it was not until November that preliminary design ideas were considered, and not until early January before the club began meeting in its entirely for the "build".  This gave the team approximately 2.5 months to complete the project,  not that much time considering the complexity of the project.  Due to this brevity of time, it was decided to  make the robot as simple as possible, and pursue several launching systems to determine the most accurate and efficient one.  Enough members were in attendance to make this feasible; this allowed everyone to be involved in the actual robot creation progress, regardless of skill level.

Through the course of  its development, the project taught the robot building team everything from basic metal and woodworking, to mechanical and electrical components, to teamwork and cooperation.

This project was especially important to the team as it was primarily composed of freshmen, making this the team's first  robot building experience, and assuredly not the last.  Design consideration to next year's robot are already in the works, and several more facility members as well as IEEE Daytona Section members have expressed an interest in participating.  The presentation will discuss the robot's design, competition results, and the lessons they learned from the project.  Joe Poznanski, Hardware Team Leader, IEEE Student Section and members of the student  team will participate in the lecture.                         


                             22 March-2007 - IEEE Section Dinner Meeting
Topic:  Observations of the Past 50 Years In the Electronics  Field
Speaker: Dr. Albert Helfrick
                                           
This year marks Dr. Helfrick's 50th year as a licensed amature radio operator.  In recongnitation of that milestone he has prepard this presentation of his experinece in the electronic field. This presentation is not so much about him, or even amature radio but more about the incredible inroads made by the electronics industry. The presentation is not all technical, but the techno-crowd will find a lot of interesting material.  He will talk about his first vacuuum radio to the latest low noise "Pseudomorphic High Elecron Mobility Field Effect Transitors" that he has used in space-related communications.  Much of the presentation  is downright funny. There are stories of his day in broadcasting, the U.S. Army in Viet Nam, his college days and his latest endoverse in space communications. 

Dr. Albert Helfrick is chair of the Electrical and Systems Engineering De partment and Mechanical , Civil and Engineering Science Department at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.  He is the author of 14 text books, more than 100 articles and contributions to books.  He is a senior member of the IEEE, technical editor of the IEEE Tranactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems.  He was recently named "Outstanding Engineering Educator" for the Florida Council.  He is an Associate Fellow of the AIAA, a member of the Digital Avionics Technical Committee, Associate Editor of the AIAA's Journal on Aviation Computing, Information and Communications.  He is a Fellow and past officer and board member of the Radio Club of America, the Quarter Century Wireless and the Old Timers Club.                                          



                   22 February-2007 - IEEE Section Dinner Meeting
                                         Topic:  Science of Management
                                                   Speaker: Roger Gurbic

Real life examples of situations, facing engineering managers, are seldom taught in electrical engineering courses. This presentation will illustrate the responsibilities and functions of a manager.  Early management studies such as Maslow's hierarchy and Taylor analysis of tasks will be discussed.  Some of the available management and decision tools will also be discussed


Roger Grubic retired from  Lockheed Martin as a Program Director. His accomplishments include managing the development and testing of the Landsat D Ground Segment ( a program that developed over 1.5 million lines of software) for NASA Goddard.  He led the technical portion of the winning proposal for the USAF GPS Block IIR spacecraft program and later led the GPS Block IIR spacecraft  System Engineering effort.  Roger was the Program Director for the 5D-3 Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP). a weather satellite program for the USAF, and later led the Spitzer Space Telescope spacecraft program, an Infra Red observatory built for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.  During his career at Lockheed Martin and GE Astro Space, he was both a program manager and a functional manager, in the matrix organizations.  Earlier at Bell Laboratories Roger was involved in state of the art digital design for missile systems, software development and the development of a cartridge magnetic tape recorder for PBXs and central switching systems.  He holds a BEE and a MSEE from the Ohio State University and an MBA from Villanova University.  He is a Life Senior Member of the IEEE and the Daytona Section Vice Chairman.

                    28 January-2007 - IEEE Section Dinner Meeting
                                   Topic:  Volusia Beach Damage and Restoration
                                          Speaker: R. P. "Bob" Haviland

<>R. P. "Bob" Haviland is well known for his work on environmental problems.  He will present the results of his study of the beaches of Volusia County, in the form of a slide show.  This includes many beach events of the last 25  years, showing the steady loss of beach, plus photos of major damaging events which have happened.  The processes involved in both normal day-to-day events and those of major storms are covered.  Current and proposed actions of "Beach Restoration" are listed with local examples of results. The effect of recorded sea level rise and the probable future,  plus an approach which will have to be taken some day are included.

Robert P. "Bob" Haviland was one of the early workers in the space program.  He was project engineer for the first two stage rocket, the first object to reach outer space, and the first launch from Cape Canaveral.  He pioneered ablation heat protection and recovery from space.  He conceived the Discover Program, the foundation of satellite reconnaissance.  Retired, he is now active in environmental problems.  Bob graduated from the Missouri School of Mines.  He worked for Schlumberger Well Surveying and then for General Electric for 30 years before retiring.   Since retirement he has spent his time writing and studying environmental problems. He has 7 patents, 16 books and many articles and papers to his name.



                    30 November-2006 - IEEE Section Dinner Meeting
                                   Topic:  Reliability of Pb-Free Electronics
                                Speaker: Ronald "Ron" Gedney, Consultant 
                                                            

The European Union’s move to Pb-free electronics has been a challenge to electronic packaging technology. From a technical point of view, the move to higher temperature soldering has impacted all components and processes involved in electronics manufacturing. A little known reliability issue has arisen from the use of tin (Sn) plated component leads (terminals) which can form small mono-filament protrusions commonly known as “whiskers”. Tin whiskers have impacted missiles, satellites, nuclear power plants and computer systems – that we know of.

This presentation will discuss how the problem of tin whiskers is being addressed, what is being done around the globe on this issue and its status.

Ron Gedney retired as V.P. Operations from iNEMI in 2002, but continues to do some consulting work on Pb-free electronics. He joined the consortium in 1996, bringing with him nearly 40 years experience in the development, manufacturing and procurement of electronic components and packaging. The bulk of his career was spent at IBM, where he was involved in the development of electronic packages for semiconductors.

Mr. Gedney is a Life Fellow of the IEEE. He is past president of the IEEE Components, Packaging and Manufacturing Technology (CPMT) Society, past General Chair of the Electronic Components and Technology Conference, and past chair of the CPMT Binghamton chapter. Mr. Gedney received the CMPT David Feldman Outstanding Contribution Award, and the IEEE third Millenium Medal. In 2004, he received the SolderTec Global Lead-free Solder Award 2004 “in recognition of his leadership and technical expertise in eliminating lead from electronic assemblies”. He has been granted several patents and has authored numerous articles. He graduated from Tufts University with a degree in electrical engineering.

                   

26 October-2006 - IEEE Section Dinner Meeting
Topic:  Planets, Draft Planets and Small Solar System Bodies
Speaker: Roger R. Hoefer, Curator of Astronomy for Volusia County Schools
and the Museum of Arts and Sciences Planetarium
                             

The recent "demotion" of Pluto to a dwarf planet status has created a lot of public outcry, but the actions of the International Astronomical Union during their convention in Prague this past August are not without historical precedence.  Roger R. Hoefer, Curator of Astronomy for Volusia District Schools and the Museum of Arts and Sciences will explore the history, origins and evolution of the nomenclature that astronomers use to identify the various members of our solar system.  Also included will be some of the latest images of Pluto and extrasolar planets taken by the Hubbell Space Telescope.

Roger is a 1962 graduate of Northwest Oklahoma State University in Alva, Oklahoma with a BA Ed in elementary education. He began his teaching career in Jefferson County Public Schools near Denver, Colorado as an elementary teacher and outdoor education specialist.  He also trained as a planetarium specialist in the school system's planetarium.  In 1959 he was hired as Curator of Astronomy at the Dayton Museum of Natural History in Dayton, Ohio where he was planetarium and observatory director.  He was Planetarium Director and space science educator in the Future Astronaut Training Program at the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center in Hutchinson, Kansas for 5 years before moving to Daytona Beach in 1991.

   
                       28 September-2006 - IEEE Section Dinner Meeting
                                   Topic:  Icelandic Fiber Optic Network
                     Speaker: Charles R. Husbands, Blackhorse Communications, Inc.

Near the peak of the Cold War the North American Treaty Organization (NATO) suggested installing a series of high power long range radar systems in the island nation of Iceland.  The purpose of these radar systems was to provide tracking and identification all aircraft crossing the Atlantic Ocean between Labrador and Ireland.  These radar also allowed aircraft to be tracked in the Arctic Ocean between  Greenland to Scotland. The final solution for interconnecting these radar systems was to design and construct a dual counter rotating fiber optic network around the entire perimeter of the island.

This presentation will cover the design and construction of this Icelandic fiber optic network.  In a cooperative effort between the Icelandic Post and Telegraph (IPT) and NATO  provided a facility was designed to carry not only the radar data but all of the telephone, data and television communications traffic on the island. Because of the unique terrain and environmental conditions encountered in Iceland a unique set of construction techniques were required  to construct this network. This presentation will describe the technical details of  the cable plant, operational hardware and the network control necessary to successfully build and operate this network. 

Charles Husbands holds a Masters Degree in  Electrical Engineering and a Masters Degree in Engineering Management.  He has been a practicing engineer for over 40 years  and is a Senior Life Member of the IEEE.  In 1996 he retired from the MITRE Corporation where he directed a research group in fiber optic technology.  In retirement he formed Blackhorse Communications a   private consulting company specializing in optical and microwave communications.  He has published and lectured extensively on optical networks and communication systems and hold a number of patents in this area.  From 1987  to 1994 he served as a consultant for the United States Air Force to the Iceland Post and Telecommunications service supporting the design and implementation of Iceland's national fiber optic ring network.
            
                               27 April-2006 - IEEE Section Dinner Meeting
                             Topic:  Design of a High Bypass Turbofan Engine
                    Speaker: Kristina Malakle - Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

Senior aerospace engineering students forming the fictitious company Enginuity Technologies from Dr. Attia's Air Breathing Propulsion Detail Design Course will present their final design project.  Seniors Christopher Cassann, Ed Schurr, George Tolls, Jon Delmonico, Matt Gonce, Naiara Petralanda, Robin Hertherington, Ron Driggers, Rhan Rafty and Kristina Malakle were challenged to design an entire high bypass turbofan engine. The presentation will include a basic overview of aero gas turbine engines and their components.  Enginuity Technologies' EX9-A, is an exciting innovative turbofan design including advanced technology such as carbon fiber composite fan blades, foil bearings, active noise control and much more!  Enginuity Technologies' will present their design in 3-D CAD renderings.  This presentation should be exciting and one not to be missed.

Kristina Malakle is a member of Enginuity Technologies and a graduating senior.  She has been a member of ERAU-IEEE  for the last three years.  Kristina has been an active participant with IEEE and has served as Recruiting Committee Chairman and as the ERAU Student Branch Chairman.  Kristina is looking forward to an exciting career as an aerospace engineer and intends on staying active with the IEEE.

                       23 March-2006 - IEEE Section Dinner Meeting
                                          Topic:  Pictures in Sound
                        Speaker: Tracy Wichmann - Daytona IEEE Section

Everybody knows that sounds are made up of many frequencies.  In music they  are called harmonics.  Most sounds are very complex but what makes them  recognizable is a combination of frequencies and the times that they occur.
Professor Wichmann has devised a signal processing technique which he calls Diacoustic Analysis.  That is the use of sounds to detect failures, or implending failures, in machines.  It works by breaking the sound signal into a time vs. frequency pattern.  Now it is well known that the time resolution of a signal is inversely proportional to its frequency (Gabor's Theorem).  Using a family of sine/cosine wavelets, the Diacoustic technique extracts the frequencies present in a sound over 10 octaves (10-10,000 Hz) with time precision that varies with frequency.  Thus there  is a 1/10 of a second interval for the 10 Hz component up to a 0.0001 seconds for a 10 kHz component.  It is shown that for the case of automotive engine exhaust, these pictures reveal defects that are hard to detect by hearing alone.

Mr. Wichmann graduated from MIT with a degree in Physics.  He did his graduate work at Ohio State University majoring in Electrical Engineering.  He also attended UCLA and took numerous special courses in Communication Theory and Computer Programming.

He began his career at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in the Electronic Countermeasures Research Section and continued to specialized in Electronic Warfare until his retirement.  He worked for many companies as an employee and a consultant and spent the last 15 years with Hughes Aircraft Company in the Radar  Systems Group.  He developed many signal processing algorithms and wrote numerous computer programs to exploit information from enemy signals or generate signals to deceived enemy radar, navigation and communication systems.
                     

                      9 February 2005 - IEEE Section Dinner Meeting
            Topic:  2005 DARPA Autonomous Vehicle Grand Challenge Program
                            Speaker: Remo Pillat - University of Central Florida

 In 2004 the DARPA Grand Challenge field test of autonomous ground vehicles ran from Barstow California to Primm, Nevada and offered a  $ 1 million prize. However. the prize  went unclaimed as no vehicle of the 15 finalists were able to complete the difficult desert route.  In 2005 the Grand Challenge Prize was increased to $ 2 million.  The Stanford University Racing Team claimed the prize completing the course of 132 miles in a winning  time of 6 hours, 53 minutes.  This presentation will  concentrate on the major challenges faced in a developing an autonomous vehicle for long distance operation in a hostile environment.  Focus was placed on the interdisciplinary character of the work effort and the  application of this technology to future autonomous vehicles.

Remo Pillat received his MS in Computer Science from Ilmenau Technical University,Germany.  He is currently a Ph.D. student in the Computer Vision Lab at the University of Central Florida (UCF).  His interest in Germany included image metrology with an Atomic Force Microscope, and Indoor and Outdoor robot navigation and localization. In 2004, he participated in an exchange study program between his home university and UCF, where he was one of the first members of UCF's Grand Challenge Team.  During the qualification and contest period of the DARPA Grand  Challenge.  Remo was the Chief Software Developer for UCF's autonomous car.  His current graduate work involves research in the area of 3D Robot  vision.

                    19 January 2006 - IEEE Section Dinner Meeting
             Topic:  Managing Electrical Power Distribution System Reliability
                                     Speaker: Elmer Lee Pettit, Jr.

Fifteen years ago, in conjunction with the Quality Improvement Program, Florida Power and Light  made a major effort to improve service reliability using reliability tools and techniques. In this presentation we  will look at that effort.  It will how the distribution system works, how reliability is measured, and how it can be modeled.  We will then look at what causes service interruption and how operation can improve reliability.

Elmer Lee Pettit Jr. (M'58) received his BS Degree in Electrical Engineering from Vanderbuilt University and his MS in system Science from Polytechnic University, NY.  He is a "C" Course graduate in General Electric's Advanced Course in Engineering and a registered Professional Engineer in Florida and Maryland. Mr. Pettit joined Florida Power and Light Company (FTP) in 1958 and except for five years with the General Electric Apollo Support Department, worked at FPL until his retirement in September 1993.  His technical interest at FPL included distribution system analysis, protective device coordination, long range planning and reliability modeling. He developed the "FEEDPRO" distribution  analysis software package and has authored and conducted training courses, including "Protection DEvices Coordination" and "Distribution Design for Reliability". He has also developed an expert system for fuse sizing and capacitor bank placement on distribution circuits.  Mr. Pettit is presently a consulting engineer specializing in power distribution systems and is Treasurer of the IEEE Daytona Section.

                     17 November 2005 - IEEE Section Dinner Meeting
                        Topic:  Satellite Communications: Today and Tomorrow
                         Speaker: Dr. Sajjad H. Durrani - Distinguished Lecture

Satellite communications technology has made tremendous advances since its inception in the mid-1960s. The industry continues to flourish in spite of occasional setbacks.  The talk will give an overview, followed by a brief discussion of the basic concepts and techniques involve; typical satellites and earth stations; and the major services currently available. It will touch upon domestic and international regulatory issues, and discuss the trends.

Dr. Durrani's career since 1949 includes more than 10 years of teaching, 10 years with industry, followed by 18 years with NASA.  At NASA he held research and management positions at Goddard Space Flight Center and Headquarters. After his retirement in 1992 from NASA he worked until 1998 for the Computer Science Corporation. Since then he has served as a Guest Lecture with the International Space University in Strasbourg, France, as a consultant to Pakistan under the UN Development Program (1999), and IEEE Executive Fellow with the Federal Communications Commission in Washington, D.C. (2000-2001).  He has been named an IEEE Engineering and Diplomacy Fellow to work as a Technical Advisor with the US Department of State in 2004.

                         20 October 2005 - IEEE Section Dinner Meeting
                                  Introductory Analysis of High Level Systems
                                          Speaker: Robert P. Haviland  

R. P. "Bob" Haviland was one of the early workers in the nation's space program.  He served as Project Engineer for a number of space projects including the development of the first two-stage rocket, the launch of the first object to reach outer space, and the first missile launch from Cape Cavernal. Bob pioneered the use of ablation coatings to provide heat protection, enabling successful reentry and recovery of space material. Bob is credited with conceiving the Discovery Program, the foundation of using satellites for reconnaissance purposes.

In retirement he is now active in examining solutions to environmental concerns.In this presentation Bob will examine the concept of "systems."  Systems exist in almost every field.  We have computer systems, mechanical systems, the solar system, and even the Ponzi Pyramid System.  Despite the casual use of the term there is no formal definition of what constitutes a system.  In this presentation a test will be developed to show that a system has been created.  This process will then be extended to formalize the common concept of sub-systems, systems and super-systems and provide examples of this designation.

                       22 September 2005 - IEEE Dinner Meeting
                Topic: Central Florida, A Hotspot for Modeling and Simulation (M&S)                                                        Technology
                         Speaker: Robert L. Wittman Jr., MITRE Corporation  

Robert Wittman Jr. holds a Masters Degree in Software Engineering from the University of West Florida and a Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from the University of Central Florida. He works for the Mitre Corporation as an architect for the Army's next generation simulation system. Central Florida is a hotspot for modeling and simulation (M&S) technology and it continues to grow at a rapid pace.  Not only  will you find a number of world-class M&S research and educational facilities in the area, but Central Florida is also home to a range of DoD sponsors and contracting organizations.  Additionally, there are growing demands and support for other "secure" and entertainment  gaming technologies.  This presentation explores  the variety of existing and emerging M&S activities and technologies in and around Central Florida.

       1 June 2005 - May Meeting and IEEE Life Member Chapter Trip
        Topic: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Museum and Missile Launch Facilities  

The Life Member Chapter of the Daytona Section of IEEE will tour the Air Force Station,  Museums and Missile Launch facilities located south of the NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The Air Force Base was the assembly and launch facility which supported  the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo Missions.  The base is still the major launch facility for most of the nation's commercial and military satellite programs.  After the 3.5 hour tour an al carte lunch will be provided in the Port Canaveral area.

                            21 April 2005 - IEEE Dinner Meeting
                                     Topic: Pico Satellite Design Effort
          Speaker: Pico Satellite Design Team, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University  

In late September 2004 a team of student at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University began work on the design of the Pico Satellite. The Pico Satellite is being developed as part of the Florida University Satellite competition.   The purpose of the Embry-Riddle satellite design is to count lighting strikes from its Low Earth Orbit of approximately 800 km in altitude.  The satellite will detect lighting over a predetermined geographical areas and will record the number of lighting strikes during a prescribed detection time.  The goal of the competitive satellite design effort is to encourage Florida Universities to develop satellite systems.

                        24 March 2005 - IEEE Dinner Meeting
                        Topic: Moons, Methane, and Saltwater Oceans
               Speaker: Roger R. Hoefer, Curator of Astronomy for Volusia County
                            Schools and the Museum of Arts and Sciences
                                    Planetarium in Daytona Beach

Roger Hoefer will discuss recent discoveries by NASA's Mars Exploration Rovers (MER) and ESA's Express orbiter combined with information from the Galileo and Cassinni/Huygens mission.  These studies have added to a growing list of discoveries that have exobiologists around the world excited about the possibility of finding life on other bodies in our solar system.  Roger R. Hoefer has a BA Ed. in elementary education from Northwest Oklahoma State University. In 1969 he was hired as Curator of Astronomy at the Dayton Museum of Natural History in Dayton, Ohio where he was planetarium and observatory director.  He was Planetarium Director and space science educator in the Future Astronaut Training Program at the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center in Hutchinson Kansas before taking his present position in Daytona Beach in 1991.


                         24 February 2005 - IEEE Dinner Meeting
                   Topic: Analyzing Legacy Systems with the Architecture Analysis
                                     and Design Language (AADL)
               Speaker: Dr. David P. Gluch, Professor in the Department of Computer
                     and Software Engineering at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University  

Dr. David P. Gluch research interest is model-based software engineering with a focus on high dependability performance-critical systems analysis and verification.  His current research centers on the extension and application of the SAE Architecture Analysis and Design Language (AADL) standard. Dr. Gluch has a Ph.D. in physics from Florida State University and is a senior member of IEEE.  He has co-authored a book on real-time UNIX systems and authored numerous technical reports and professional articles.

                              20 January 2005 - IEEE Dinner Meeting
       Topic: Spectral Sliced Technology Applied to Optical Local Area Network
         Speaker: Charles R. Husbands, Consultant, Blackhorse Communications  

Charles Husbands holds a Masters Degree in Electrical Engineering and a Masters Degree in Engineering Management.  He has been a practicing Engineer for over 40 years and is a Senior Life Member of the IEEE.  In 1996 he retired from the MITRE Corporation where he directed a research group in fiber optics technology.  In retirement he formed Blackhorse Communications a private consulting company specializing in optical and microwave communications systems. He has published and lectured extensively on optical networks and communication systems and holds a number of patents in this area.  In this presentation he will describe a  Wavelength Division Multiplexing technique developed by spectrum slicing select wavelengths from low cost LED components.  This technique can be deployed to increase the bandwidth capacity of existing optical networks.