VIRGINIA MOUNTAIN SECTION
NEWSLETTER
IEEE Region 3, Council 9, Section 6 April, 1998
**************************************************
CONTENTS
1. April Meeting
2. Reservations for the April Meeting
3. VMS Activities
March Meeting Report
4 . WHAT IS A Y P ?
WHAT IS A G.O.L.D. MEMBER?
5 . 1998 IEEE-USA PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES CONFERENCE
"Preparing for the New Millennium"
6 . Computer/Control/IES Chapter
Free magazines
7. Excerpts from the IEEE Leadership Wire
EAB Seeks Engineers For Workshop
8. Alexander Recognized For 'Vision 21'
9. WIE Partners With PBS Series
10. Remaining VMS Meeting Schedule for the 1997-1998 Year
12. IEEE Virginia Mountain Section
**************************************************( 1 )
April Meeting
Lasers in Medicine
Dr. Ronald W.
Waynant
Food and Drug
Administration
Abstract
Lasers, combined with other optical
techniques, have made some important
advances in medicine. Currently lasers
in cosmetic applications are an
expanding field in areas such as skin
resurfacing for wrinkle removal, hair
removal and leg vein reduction as well
as dentistry and myopic correction.
Lasers in photodynamic therapy are
advancing and controversial laser
techniques such as low power laser
therapy (biostimulation) may offer some
value. Lasers coupled with optical
techniques offer new diagnostic devices
such as optical coherence tomography
and infrared optical fibers and
waveguides allow chemical analysis of
skin or tissue surfaces. Other topics
include laser generation of hard x-rays
can allow lower x-ray dose and higher
resolution and higher detection of
obscure targets. Low power lasers can
assist the hatching of an embryo. Future
work will involve lasers in the
biostimulation of diabetic wounds and
the delivery of excimer radiation for
transmyocardial revascularization.
These topics, as well as the author's
experience in transitioning to the
medical field will be presented.
About the Speaker
Ronald W. Waynant has been a member
of OSA since 1964 and served as
President of the National Capitol
Chapter in 1975-76. Educated at Johns
Hopkins and Catholic University, Dr.
Waynant worked at Westinghouse from
1962 - 1969; the Naval Research
Laboratory from 1969 to 1986 and since
1986 has been at the Food and Drug
Administration. His current interests are
in tunable lasers, infrared and short
wavelength waveguides and fibers, and
optical diagnostics of diabetes
complications such as cataracts,
retinopathy and slow healing skin ulcers.
**************************************************( 2 )
Reservations for the April
Meeting
Date: Thursday, March 16, 1998
Social: 6:30 PM
Dinner: 7:00 PM
Talk: 8:00 - 9:00 PM
Place: Donaldson Brown Hotel
VA Tech
Cost: Member or Guest $12.00
Student $4.00
Please make reservations by
Monday, April 12, 5:00 P.M.
Roanoke:
David Livingston (540) 857-6261
Blacksburg:
Ira Jacobs (540) 231-5620
Lexington:
Ed Wheeler (540) 464-7548
Radford and
Christiansburg:
Usha Varshney (540) 731-0655
**************************************************( 3 )
VMS Activities
March Meeting
As expected, Dr. Richard Claus'
description of work within the Fiber and
Electro-optics Research Center
(FEORC) at Virginia Tech was
entertaining as well as informative.
Avoiding technical jargon, he spoke of
little particles and tiny muscles to
explain how mixtures of magnetic
materials, properly coated and treated
will "self-assemble" into useful
structures, far too small to be realized
through other techniques.
His little particles, are truly little,
having dimensions on the order of a few
nanometers and, they are extremely
consistent in their physical dimensions.
Useful devices are constructed by
alternate layering of different materials,
magnetic and non-magnetic. Dr. Claus'
little muscles are the effects of the
capability of aligning or synchronizing
the moments associated with the very
small magnetic domains associated with
the tiny particles. The macroscopic
properties of synthesized devices can be
manipulated by careful control of
materials in, and thicknesses of, these
layers.
...editor
**************************************************( 4 )
WHAT IS A Y P ?
WHAT IS A G.O.L.D.
MEMBER?
No, these are not the answers to a
Jeopardy questions. A YP (Young
Professional) is an engineer with 0-10
years of experience regardless of
chronological age. A G.O.L.D. member
is a Graduate Of the Last Decade with
no regard to age. The YP program was
established in 1995 to increase
participation in the annual PACE
Conference among IEEE members who
graduated in the past ten years. The
GOLD program is an IEEE wide
program to bring Graduates Of the Last
Decade into greater participation in all
aspects of IEEE. If YOU are a
G.O.L.D., you are automatically part of
both of these groups. In many Sections
the GOLD members have formed
chapters which have their own programs
of particular interest and concern to the
more recent graduates. These programs
include social functions, networking
meetings, career presentations, etc. The
GOLD members also participate in the
regular activities of the Section.
We, the present leaders of the Virginia
Mountain Section, need your help in
planning activities and programs which
will be of interest to you, the Young
Professional, as well as to the more
mature professional. We are looking for
a YP who would be interested in
attending the 1998 Annual Professional
Activities Conference in Phoenix, AZ
Sept. 4-7, 1998, Labor Day Week-end.
This conference covers all those career
related topics which are extremely
important to all engineers but which
often are overlooked until one is facing a
lay-off or other career change. Most, if
not all, the cost will be covered by
PACE or the Section, or possibly your
employer as this is a continuing
education opportunity. If any one is
interested, please contact Dan Jackson
.
We also need some GOLD members
who would be interested in getting some
leadership and management experience
at low risk. The Section needs
volunteers for various Section and
Chapter officer and committee positions.
There is also the opportunity to form a
GOLD chapter within the Section if
enough interest is expressed by you as
GOLD members. If you are interested in
any of these opportunities contact Dan
Jackson or any
one of the officers listed elsewhere in
this Newsletter.
Without your input we will not know
what kind of programs you want.
Without YOU as active participants the
IEEE cannot continue as the world's
largest technical professional society
with 320,000 of the world's best
engineers.
...Dan Jackson - PACE Chair
**************************************************( 5 )
1998 IEEE-USA
PROFESSIONAL
ACTIVITIES
CONFERENCE
"Preparing for the New Millennium"
Phoenix, Arizona
September 4-7, 1998
The 23rd Annual IEEE-USA
Professional Activities Conference will
be held at The Pointe Hilton Resort at
Squaw Peak in Phoenix, Arizona, over
Labor Day weekend, September 4-7,
1998. The theme of the conference is
"Preparing for the New Millennium."
The conference will cover a wide range
of professional and career issues of
interest to industry and engineering
professionals including career planning,
professional skills management,
professional networking, personal
financial management systems,
influencing and interacting with
customers, mentorship, applied strategic
planning, organizational ethics and
diversity, and influencing public policy.
Some of the workshop and plenary
topics will be targeted to engineers with
ten or less years of professional
experience. All registrants may earn
continuing education units (CEUs) from
the International Association for
Continuing Education and Training
(IACET) for conference participation.
Your employer may be willing to cover
some of your expenses as many topics
covered will make you a more valuable
employee.
There are other activities available as
The Pointe Hilton at Squaw Peak is a
family resort with golf, tennis, a
waterpark, and horseback riding among
the activities offered. There are many
points of interest in the city of Phoenix
and the state of Arizona. The special
room rates have been very economical
for a four star resort; about $ 80 per
night for a two room suite. Bring your
family for a special vacation while you
learn more about career issues.
...Daniel W. Jackson, PACE Chair
**************************************************( 6 )
Computer/Control/IES
Chapter
IEEE Computer/Control/
Industrial Electronics Chapter
Free Magazines!
The IEEE Control Society provides a
limited number of free issues of its bi-monthly
magazine, Control Systems, as an incentive
to attract new members.
This magazine specializes in articles on
control applications, rather than theoretical
development, and is more accessible to practitioners
(like myself) who have been out of school for
more than a few years.
The current issue contains articles on H-infinity
control for oil well drill strings, distributed
intelligent control for a mine refrigeration
system, and experimental evaluation of
non-linear adaptive controllers. Also covered
are a software environment for gain scheduled
controller design, low velocity friction
compensation, and experimental results in
robust lateral control of highway vehicles.
In addition to technical articles, the Magazine
also includes coverage of Control Society
conferences, employment opportunities,
and, unlike the Transactions, advertisements!
(mostly for lab equipment and software).
If you have been away from control theory
for awhile, or just have an interest in what
control engineers think about, here is a chance
to get your feet wet.
For a free copy of the current issue, contact
Dave Geer at d.geer@ieee.org. A few copies
of recent back issues are also available.
Dave Geer, Chapter Chair
**************************************************( 7 )
Excerpts from the IEEE
Leadership Wire
EAB Seeks Engineers For
Workshop
Educational Activities is seeking
volunteers to attend the IEEE workshop
"Technological Literacy Counts," set for
9-10 Oct. in Baltimore, Md., USA.
The goal of the workshop is to open
communication lines between the
engineering and the academic
communities in order to foster
technological literacy for K-12 students.
The workshop planning committee is
scheduling plenaries, panel sessions, and
breakouts for engineers and educators.
The committee will select 150 engineers
and educators interested to take part in
the activities.
Volunteers interested in attending should
send their biographies and a statement of
why they are interested in attending the
workshop to Barbara Coburn,
Educational Activities:
e-mail "b.coburn@ieee.org";
telephone 732-562-5498.
**************************************************( 8 )
Alexander Recognized For
'Vision 21'
IEEE Past President Chuck Alexander
received the 1998 Distinguished
Engineering Education Achievement
Award from the Engineers' Council at
its 43rd Anniversary Honors and
Awards Gala Banquet in February.
The annual award is presented for
distinguished accomplishments in the
field of engineering education.
Alexander was recognized for his
international contributions in
establishing "Vision 21" and promoting
its important elements across the globe.
The Engineers' Council represents more
than 30,000 engineers in the Los
Angeles area who belong to various
engineering societies. A crowd of 800,
made up of engineers and their families,
attended this year's banquet.
**************************************************( 9 )
WIE Partners With PBS Series
The IEEE Women in Engineering
Committee is acting as an outreach
partner for "Life by the Numbers," a
television series about mathematics
coming to PBS in April 1998 from
WQED Pittsburgh.
"Life by the Numbers" shows
mathematics in daily use by people in all
walks of life. The series reveals the
important role that math plays in sports,
work, education, exploration, chance,
technology, and life in general.
More information on this program can
be found on the Web at
"www.mathlife.wqed.org"
For more information on WIE activities,
contact the committee via e-mail at
"women@ieee.org" or visit its Web site
at "www.ieee.org/women/".
**************************************************( 10 )
Chapter Chairmen
Places have been reserved in the Home
Page for any and all kinds of
information about your Chapter:
History, function, requirements,
activities, schedules, flash
announcements, meetings, speakers ... .
Send your material to the editor or
submit it with the auto-mail feature on
the Web Page:
http://fiddle.ee.vt.edu/ieeevms
... editor
**************************************************( 11 )
Remaining VMS Meeting Schedule for the 1997-1998 Year
Date Speaker Topic Place
May 21, 1998
Industrial Field
Trip
Steel Production
Roanoke Electric
Steel
Roanoke, VA
Executive Committee Meetings: Last one this season at this (April) meeting
**************************************************( 12 )
IEEE Virginia Mountain Section
VMS OFFICERS
Chairman: David Livingston
d.livingston@ieee.org (540) 857-6261
Vice Chairman: Usha Varshney
Sec./Treasurer: Ed Wheeler
wheeler@vmi.edu (540) 464-7548
VMS Executive Committee
Lynn Abbott
e-mail: abbott@vt.edu (540) 231-4472
Russel Churchill
arcova@swva.net (540) 731-0655
Ira Jacobs
ijacobs@vt.edu (540) 231-5620
Andy Stevenson
stevenson-ac@salem.ge.com (540) 387-8471
Junior Past Chairman:
Anbo Wang
awang@vt.edu (540) 231-4355
Virginia Council
Representative: vacant
VMS Chapter Chairs
Industry Applications
Andy Stevenson
stevenson-ac@salem.ge.com (540 )387-8471
Industrial Electronics/Computer/Control Systems
David Geer
d.geer@ieee.org (540) 387-7359
Microwave Theory & Techniques/Electron Devices
Hausila Singh
hsingh@gtc.itt.com (540) 563-8639
Power Engineering
Subhas Sarkar
vtc@roanoke.infi.net (540) 345-9892 x-152
COMMITTEE CHAIRS
Awards :
Vacant
Membership Development:
Russell Churchill
arcova@swva.net (540)-731-0655
Nominations:
Anbo Wang
awang@vt.edu (540) 231-4355
Lynn Abbott
abbott@vt.edu (540)-231-4472
Wayne Scales
wayne@starchild.ee.vt.edu (540)-231-5622
PACE : Dan Jackson
d.jackson@ieee.org (540)-774-0484
Program : Usha Varshney
Publicity : John Fennick
j.fennick@ieee.org (540) 552-0052
Student Activities:
Ira Jacobs
ijacobs@vt.edu (540)-231-5620
NEWSLETTER
Editor: John Fennick
j.fennick@ieee.org (540) 552-0052
e-mail Newsletter Subscription
Send the one-line message:
SUBSCRIBE IEEEVMS your-name
to: listserv@vtvm1.cc.vt.edu
Anyone may submit material for the Newsletter
Deadline: Monday following each meeting
Submit To: Editor
Change of Address
VMS Web Page: http://fiddle.ee.vt.edu/ieeevms/
US Mail: IEEE Service Center
445 Hoes Lane, PO Box 1331
Piscataway, NJ 08855-1331
e-mail: address.change@ieee.org
Tel: 800-678-IEEE
Fax: 732-981-9667
IEEE Web: http://www.ieee.org/i3e_mailer.html
(Changes are forwarded to the Newsletter)
Visit the VMS WEB page:
http://fiddle.ee.vt.edu/ieeevms
Section/Chapter meeting notices, and reports. Past
issues of the Newsletter, PACE Patter, etc. Links to
everything in IEEE, as well as the VMS. Articles,
organizations, and activities affecting our profession.
Contributions welcomed - make them on-line.