VIRGINIA MOUNTAIN SECTION NEWSLETTER IEEE Region 3, Council 9, Section 6 May, 1999 **************************************************** CONTENTS 1. May Meeting: Plant Trip 2. Reservations and Directions for the May Meeting 3. VMS Meeting Report 4. New VMS Members 5. Computer/Control/IES – May meeting 6. - April meeting report 7. - Conf. Announcement 8. New IEEE Video: Eng. as a Profession 9. IEEE Scholarship Award 10. Your Member Benefits 11. IEEE Virginia Mountain Section ****************************************************( 1 ) May Meeting Litton Poly-Scientific Blacksburg Plant Trip Litton Poly-Scientific manufactures motors, resolvers, fiber optic products and related devices at two locations in Blacksburg. Dave Kingma has arranged a tour of the facility on North Main Street which houses the R & D operation as well as manufacturing. A number of engineers and technicians will serve as guides, answer questions, and discuss operations. ****************************************************( 2 ) Reservations for the May Meeting Time: Thursday, May 20, 1999 Place: Litton Poly-Scientific 1123 North Main Street Blacksburg Please make reservations by Monday, May 17, 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: Russell Churchill (540) 731-0655 Vending machines will be available. Directions From I-81 follow US 460 toward Blacksburg. At the fork entering Blacksburg, take the 460 bypass to the Price's Fork Road Exit, beyond the first traffic light, toward downtown Blacksburg. Proceed past the Va. Tech campus to the T intersection with North Main, turn right. Litton Poly-Scientific is on the left about two tenths of a mile beyond the first light. Enter the building at the main lobby on the right-front of the building. OUR 50th 1999 is Special It marks the fiftieth anniversary of our Virginia Mountain Section. Plans to celebrate at the September meeting are already underway. Look forward to celebrity speakers, numerous special guests and memorable dinner. Mark the date, September 16, on your calendar now. ****************************************************( 3 ) VMS Activities Meeting Report The 1999 Student Project Competition was held in the Hancock Atrium at Virginia Tech on April 15. Nine teams involving 20 undergraduate engineering students presented the results of their recent design efforts. A wide array of topics were represented in the student projects. The judges emphasized—more than once—that the high quality of the projects made their job of choosing prize winners a very difficult one. The prize winners were: First Prize Brian Gold for “A hybrid approach to inverse neural network control of nonlinear systems.” Second Prize Mark Hartman for “4 KA, 6 KV emitter turn-off thyristor.” Third Prize Tom Boyer and Darius Parker for “The design and use of a capacitor plate for the removal of adherent cells from culture Petri dishes.” All students received a certificate of participation in the competition. The Prize Winners also received the following cash prizes: 1st Prize $350 2nd Prize $250 3rd Prize $150 Congratulations go to John Bay, Virginia Tech ECE professor and VMS EXCOM member, for arranging this very successful Student Project Night. ... Ed Wheeler ****************************************************( 4 ) New VMS Members - Welcome - According to our latest updates, two IEEE members have recently joined the roster of the Virginia Mountain Section. All have received welcome letters from Dave Livingston describing VMS activities. We hope to see and meet you at future meetings and join Dave in extending greetings to: Michael C. Duralia, Christiansburg Didem Durmaz, Blacksburg ****************************************************( 5 ) Computer/Control/IES May Meeting Sunrayce Team Report Every two years there is a race of full- sized, human-driven, solar-powered vehicles called Sunrayce. Colleges and universities in North America participate in the rayce which is sponsored by the Department of Energy, General Motors, and EDS. This year the rayce is from Washington, D.C. to Orlando, Florida and will be coming through Virginia. A team from Virginia Western Community College is entered in the rayce and at the next meeting of the Computer, Controls and Industrial Electronics Societies, the team will give a progress report on its entry. Time and Date: 5:00 - 7:00 p.m. Tuesday, May 11, 1999 Place: S101, Student Center Virginia Western Community College Directions: From I-81, take I-581 South until it becomes Webber Parkway. Take the Colonial Avenue exit and make a left onto Colonial Avenue. About a mile down Colonial Avenue, turn left into the parking lot and then make an immediate right. Heading towards Webber Hall, the Student Center will be to the left of Webber. Make a U-turn and park in front of the Student Center. ****************************************************( 6 ) Chapter Meeting Report: At the April 6 meeting, Gary Magnus discussed Asynchronous Transfer Mode Technology. Summary For the first time, AT&T data traffic exceeded voice traffic last year, and is growing at the rate of 2000 percent per year. In this environment it is not surprising that digital technology is becoming more important for long haul communications. ATM differs from the older TDM systems in that fixed synchronous time slots are replaced by interleaved cells which can be assigned different priorities. Thus voice cells, which require guaranteed maximum delay, can share the same physical channel with less time-critical data. Large data packets are broken up into smaller ATM cells, each with its own priority and routing tags. This prevents high priority cells from getting stuck in line behind a large, slow data packet. At the edge of the network, the User Network Interface uses 16 bits of the header for a virtual channel identifier, and eight for virtual path. This allows switches to establish a dynamic path through the network that can change with time and the availability of physical facilities. Four bits are used for payload type and cell loss priority, which together imply class of service. The remaining header bits are used for flow control and error checking. ATM interface servers provide different protocols for different traffic types. One of these is the ATM Forum LAN Emulation, LANE. This allows existing Ethernet and Token Ring traffic to run over ATM, transparent to the LAN devices. LANE version 2 adds server-to-server communications, which allow enhanced services such as multi-cast. A typical ATM network may contain video sources and displays using MPEG2 codecs, user workstations connected via a LANE Ethernet switch, and other sources of voice, video and data connected directly to an ATM multiplexer. ATM offers the advantage of one network for all traffic, and is compatible with existing cable plant. It simplifies network management and expects to have a long architectural life. Gary finished his talk with a projection of the ATM market. From about $3.6 billion in 1998, the market for services and equipment is expected to grow to $9.4 B by 2001, with services accounting for an increasingly larger share. Ten engineers from local industries attended the meeting. Discussion was lively, and the number of probing questions indicated the keen audience interest. Copies of the presentation are available. Contact Dave Geer at d.geer@ieee.org or 387-7359. For more details from the talk visit our Web Site at http://fiddle.visc.vt.edu/ieeevms and follow the paths to The Control Chapter page, Last Meeting. ****************************************************( 7 ) Conference Announcement 1999 American Control Conference June 2-4, San Diego, California A 3-day conference on developments and advances in control strategy is organized by the American Automatic Control Council, an association of eight professional societies - AIAA, AIChE, AISE, ASCE, ASME, IEEE, ISA, and SCS. The American Control Conference (ACC) will have over 160 sessions of six papers each, two days of short-courses, software and textbook exhibitors, and over 1000 attendees. While in the past the conference has emphasized the theory and concepts, presently the organizers are moving to include a strong applications and industry practice component. This year over 20% of the presentations are application oriented. Specific features include seven tutorial sessions on the basics and industrial experience with advanced technology. Tutorial titles and organizers are: ? DSP Control of Stiff Systems - Mike Masten and M. Ehsani ? Inferential Control and Its Industrial Applications - Babu Joseph ? Automated Multivariable System Identification - Wallace Larimore and Dale Seborg ? Sliding Mode Control and Nonlinear Systems Applications - David Young and Umit Ozguner ? Statistical Process and Controller Monitoring - Ali Cinar and Michael Piovoso ? Neural Networks for Control - Marty Hagan and Howard Demuth ? Model Predictive Control Technology - Tom Badgwell, Jim Rawlings, and Ken Muske In addition there are application sessions on process control, vehicle and traffic control, drive control, manufacturing control. Others include nonlinear control, product quality control, adaptive control, fuzzy control, and optimization. For more information on the program and for registration information visit the conference web page at http://www.mu.edu/acc1999/ ****************************************************( 8 ) New IEEE Video Series Captures Engineering As Profession PISCATAWAY, NJ, 15 March 1999 - Now available from the IEEE is the Engineering Profession Videotape Series, Volume II. Included in this volume are the six lectures that were recently given at North Carolina State University as part of the school’s engineering graduate program. The six- videotape series seeks to prepare graduating seniors and recent graduates for entering new careers in industry and government. The following topics are presented: ? Engineering Ethics ? Maintaining Professional Vitality ? Employee Benefit Options ? Safety Engineering ? Managing Investments & Financial Planning ? Intellectual Property Protection The series also includes a PC disk containing abstracts and authors’ biographies, and PowerPoint presentation notes. 1999/6 hrs./6 VHS Tapes IEEE order numbers: NTSC – EV5533-QVE; PAL – EV5534-QVE IEEE List Price: $155.00; IEEE Member price: $125.00 Volume I of the Engineering Profession Videotape Series is also available for purchase from the IEEE. Order from the IEEE Customer Service Department, 445 Hoes Lane, PO Box 1331, Piscataway, NJ 08855-1331, USA. Shipping and handling charges apply. E-mail: customer-service@ieee.org ****************************************************( 9 ) IEEE TO AWARD $10,000 SCHOLARSHIP AT INTEL SCIENCE FAIR PISCATAWAY, NJ, 8 April 1999 - IEEE Educational Activities announced today that, at the 1999 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) to be held from 2-8 May in Philadelphia, a $10,000 scholarship will be awarded to the high- school student whose project best shows "outstanding achievement in the research and presentation of engineering knowledge in electrical engineering and information technology or other IEEE fields of interest." This "IEEE Presidents' Scholarship" will be the single largest award given by an association at this year's fair. The winner will receive $2,500 per year for each of the four years of undergraduate study, provided "an IEEE field of interest" remains his or her declared major. In addition to the monetary award, the student will receive a plaque; a free IEEE Student Membership; and a CD-ROM and two videos that take an in-depth look at engineering careers. Beginning in 1950, the International Science and Engineering Fair is the only worldwide competition for students in the ninth through twelfth grades. In 1997, Intel committed significant funds to become the title sponsor of this prestigious program. Considered by many in education to be the most enlightened program for science and engineering, INTEL ISEF provides for scholarships, internships, special awards, and travel grants totaling $2 million to be awarded to deserving students each year. The IEEE has committed to providing a scholarship package at the next four Intel Fairs – a total of over $40,000. ****************************************************( 10 ) Take Advantage of Your Member Benefits CONTINUING EDUCATION CURRENT TECHNICAL INFORMATION IEEE INFORMATION RETRIEVAL Ask*IEEE Document Delivery Service INFO: EMAIL: askieee@ieee.org CAREER TRANSITION SUPPORT ? Employment Services ? Job Listings ? Entry Level Resources ? Resume Listing Service ? Job Fairs ? Job Search Tools and Advice LINKS TO OVER 30 OTHER EMPLOYMENT RESOURCES SUCH AS: THE ACADEMIC POSITION NETWORK ADAMS JOBBANK ON-LINE AMERICA’S JOB BANK CAREERBUILDER OTHER ? Electronic Communications Services ? Directory Service (Aliases) ? Electronic Mail Services ? Mailing-Lists and Discussion Groups ? Majordomo Tutorial for ListOwners ? Usenet Newsgroups - ieee.* hierarchy ? Public Information Retrieval ? Anonymous-FTP Server ? File-Retrieval via E-Mail ? Traveling the Information Highway with Bob Alden ? 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The IEEE Financial Advantage Program Program Highlights: IEEE Gold MasterCard and VISA Gold IEEE Mutual Funds IEEE Group Insurance IEEE Conference Management and Travel Program Benefits and Services: Business Services Education Services Financing, Planning & Investing Home Services Insurance Plans/ Supplements Travel & Conference Registratio For access information and details on any of these, take your browser Directly to the IEEE at: http://www.ieee.org/member.html Or to the VMS Home Page at: http://fiddle.visc.vt.edu/ieeevms/ select (6) Links to IEEE , then (12) Member Services ****************************************************( 11 ) IEEE Virginia Mountain Section VMS OFFICERS Chairman: David Livingston d.livingston@ieee.org (540) 857-6261 Vice Chairman: Ed Wheeler wheeler@vmi.edu (540) 464-7548 Sec./Treasurer: Andy Stevenson stevenson-ac@salem.ge.com (540) 387-8471 VMS Executive Committee John Bay bay@vt.edu (540) 231-5114 Russell Churchill arcova@swva.net (540) 731-0655 Ira Jacobs ijacobs@vt.edu (540) 231-5620 David Kingma dkingma@swva.net (540) 382-0956 Junior Past Chairman: David Livingston d.livingston@ieee.org (540) 857-6261 Virginia Council Representative: Ed Wheeler wheeler@vmi.edu (540) 464-7548 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 VACANT Power Engineering Ted Aaron Tea45@aol.com (540) 381-2521 COMMITTEE CHAIRS Awards : Ira Jacobs ijacobs@vt.edu (540) 231-5620 Membership Development: Russell Churchill arcova@swva.net (540)-731-0655 Nominations: David Livingston d.livingston@ieee.org (540) 857-6261 Anbo Wang awang@vt.edu (540) 231-4355 Lynn Abbott abbott@vt.edu (540)-231-4472 PACE : Dan Jackson d.jackson@ieee.org (540)-774-0484 Program : Ed Wheeler wheeler@vmi.edu (540) 464-75 Publicity : John Fennick j.fennick@ieee.org (540) 552-0052 Student Activities: John Bay bay@vt.edu (540) 231-5114 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@listserv.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.visc.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.visc.vt.edu/ieeevms Section/Chapter meeting notices, and reports. 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