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VIRGINIA MOUNTAIN SECTION NEWSLETTER
IEEE Region 3, Council 9, Section 6 October 1997
CONTENTS
*****************************************************
1- October Meeting
2- Reservations for the October Meeting
3- Take Advantage of Your Member Benefits
4- Remaining VMS Meeting Schedule for the 1997-1998 Year
5- Executive Committee Meetings
6- HELP
7- VMS Activities
September Meeting
8- Executive Committee Meeting
9- IEEE and PUBLIC POLICY
10- PACE Report
11- Support of Science, Mathematics and Technology
Education in the Virginia Area
12- MEMBERS
DID YOU GET YOUR BS IN ENGINEERING BEFORE
1990 ?
13- VMS Home Page
14- Chapter Chairmen
15- FYI
***************************************************** (1)
October Meeting
(Joint with the Power Engineering Chapter)
Deregulation of the
Electrical Power industry *
Teddy Aaron
American Electric Power (AEP)
The electric power industry, the nation's last monopoly, will
soon see dramatic change in the way business is conducted.
With many players, the federal government, state
governments, and utility customers, the transition will not be
easy.
The price of power will be determined by a competitive
market and the "local wires business" will be allowed a rate
of return based on performance or reliability. The electric
exchange would allow purchases of power in one-half hour
increments 24 hours in advance.
The economic issues associated with deregulation seem
enormous, but actually may become secondary to the
physical challenge of generating, transmitting, and
distributing electric power with existing facilities. AEP is
currently involved in a joint project with EPRI and
Westinghouse Corporation in the development of new
technology to direct power flow through the transmission
system. The Unified Power Flow Controller (UPFC) is the
first of its kind in the world. Using UPFC devices utilities
will soon be able to steer the flow of electricity throughout
the transmission network.
AEP and many other electric utilities are looking for ways to
increase reliable electric service to the customer and to do so
at the lowest possible cost.
About the Speaker
Ted Aaron, PE, is District Manager in the Christiansburg
District of American Electric Power. He received an EE
degree from Tennessee Technologica in 1980. He has held
the positions of Energy Services Engineer, Electrical
Engineer, Senior Electrical Engineer, Area Line
Superintendent, Area Superintendent and his current position
as District Manager. Aaron has attended the AEP/Ohio State
University Management Development Program and is a
registered professional engineer.
Aaron is a member of the Montgomery County Electrical
Review Board, and has served as Director for the United
Way and YMCA.
* This is a change from the previously announcement
program.
***************************************************** (2)
Reservations for the October Meeting
Date: Thursday, October 16, 1997
Social: 6:30 PM
Dinner: 7:00 PM
Talk: 8:00 - 9:00 PM
Place: AEP Auditorium, Christiansburg Industrial Park
From the east and south: I81 exit 118, north on Rt. 11 about 1/2
mile. Right into the Christiansburg Industrial Park (between the
Exxon station and Pizza Hut), left onto Prospect to the end. AEP,
brick green-roof building. For further information, call Mr. Aaron
or his secretary at (540) 381-2521.
Cost: Member or Guest $12.00
Student $ 4.50
Please make reservations by Monday, October 13, 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
Progress But:
HELP STILL WANTED
See HELP, Below
***************************************************** (3)
Take Advantage of Your Member Benefits
CONTINUING EDUCATION
CURRENT TECHNICAL INFORMATION
IEEE INFORMATION RETRIEVAL
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HERE ARE SOME OF THE PERSONAL BENEFITS IEEE MEMBERSHIP
BRINGS YOU:
Receive your own personal subscription to SPECTRUM.
Become an active part of your local professional community.
Enhance your career by networking with technical experts.
Save with low member prices on IEEE products.
Attend top technical conferences at low member rates.
Increase your professional prestige.
Join a technical society.
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 Registration
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.ee.vt.edu/ieeevms/
and select: IEEE Quick Links, then Member Services (No.11)
***************************************************** (4)
Remaining VMS Meeting Schedule for the 1997-1998 Year
November 20, 1997 (Spouses' Night)
Bev Fitzpatrick
Technology Impact on New Century Region
Hotel Roanoke
_________________
January 15, 1998
Charles Alexander
TBA
Donaldson Brown Hotel
Blacksburg
_________________
February 19, 1998
Student Papers Competition
Various Topics
Donaldson Brown Hotel
Blacksburg
__________________
March 19, 1998
Richard O. Claus
Fiber Optics and Electro-optics at Virginia Tech
Donaldson Brown Hotel
Blacksburg
____________________
April 16, 1998
IEEE Distinguished Lecturer:
Ronald W. Waynant
Applications of Lasers in Medicine: Current/Future Status
Donaldson Brown Hotel
Blacksburg
__________________
May 21, 1998
Industrial Field Trip
Manufacturing
Roanoke or Salem
__________________
***************************************************** (5)
Executive Committee Meetings: 5:30 p.m. on: October 16, 1997; January 16, 1998; March 16, 1998; and April 21, 1998
***************************************************** (6)
HELP
In the last issue we announced the appearance, at the first of the
VMS year, of a full year schedule for meetings, activities and
(nearly) complete list of speakers. We proclaimed the event to be
a welcome change that we hope continues.
This month more good things happened, thanks to the efforts of
our new Chairman, Dave Livingston. He has also started the year
off with a bang. Take a look at the revised Mountain Section
structure on the last page. Seven committees have been
established and, with one exception, are already chaired.
OK, so who needs more committees? The VMS does if it is to
serve the membership in a more complete manner than it has.
Alphabetically, from the top of the committee list:
# We start with a vacancy in the Awards committee (HELP).
There is a number of awards provided by IEEE to recognize
member achievement. Believe it or not, some of our
members become eligible from time to time. They have not
been recognized because the Section has fallen down in its
job of finding these people. We need HELP here.
Happily, the rest of the list is in better shape.
# Russell Churchill, has already been active in getting a
number of members upgraded to Senior Member status and
is continuing in this effort. (See MEMBERS, Part 12, below)
# Anbo Wang, Lynn Abbott, and Wayne Scales have pledged
to make a real effort to find nominees (for Section offices)
who want to, and will, work to make the Section better.
# Dan Jackson has been doing the work of PACE chairman
for years, energetically and well (take a look at PACE
Reports on our Web Page), but on a rather informal basis.
We think he should feel a little better about the whole thing
being in place officially.
# Usha Varshney has already demonstrated her expertise in
getting programs together. Her assistance on a broader scale
and, hopefully for more than this year, will be a great help
in generating and keeping interest in our meetings.
# I hope that John is able to do something about publicity for
the Section. The local area should be more aware of IEEE.
Some non-engineers might be interested in what we do
and/or some of our speakers' talks.
# Ira Jacobs has a real interest, and likes to get involved with
the students. Now he can do it officially. I suspect that the
students can only benefit by having a closer contact with the
Section through someone knowledgeable in IEEE doings.
Don't get complacent now, just because a few committees have
been established and chaired. This is only the beginning of a
long road road to a better Section. No committee should have
more than a small number of members, but one, as is mostly the
case here, can always use help. Demonstrate your willingness to
give at least a little assistance in service to the community, the
profession and yourself. Contact any of the Officers, ExCom
members, or a specific committee chairman and offer some.
... editor
***************************************************** (7)
VMS Activities
September Meeting
The kick-off meeting for the VMS 1997-98 year was attended by
some 34 professionals and students. The speaker was Dr.
Leonard A. Ferrari, Professor and Head of the Bradley
Department of Electrical Engineering at Virginia Tech. Dr.
Ferrari opened his presentation by saying that his Department
would soon be called Electrical and Computer Engineering in
recognition of the fact that Computer Engineering programs had
become such a significant portion of the departmental activity.
Dr. Ferrari listed funding sources for the department particularly
a $10M budget for research. He also explained the addition of
ten new faculty members during the current academic year. After
commenting on the areas of strength of the department, Dr.
Ferrari introduced several innovative curricular developments in
Electrical Engineering. The first of these was the concept of a
Virtual Corporation consisting of students and faculty from his
department and from the College of Business and the College of
Veterinary Medicine at Virginia Tech. The Virtual Corporation
concept would pull together the many facets of a corporate
enterprise such as design, development, marketing, sales and
human resources. Two such Virtual Corporations are being
formed at the present time: the Distributed Information System
Corporation (DISC) and the Personal Electric Rapid Transit
System Corporation (PERTS). The DISC project will develop a
medical information system that would include multimedia data
such as real-time images for on-site hospital use and remote
access; the PERTS team is designing a prototype rapid transit
system to run between downtown Blacksburg and a nearby
shopping complex.
Dr. Ferrari made us aware of MVEC which is a cooperative
effort between a consortium of four large industrial companies
and six universities and colleges in Virginia: Virginia Tech,
UVA, William and Mary, VCU, George Mason and Old
Dominion, and the industries are IBM, Motorola, Siemens and
Toshiba. The effort has already resulted in pledges of funding for
major facilities in Richmond and Northern Virginia and the
acquisition of faculty in several of the universities.
Dr. Ferrari also discussed a new program in Wireless
Communications and indicated that distance learning would be a
major emphasis of the new program, in sharp contrast to some
existing programs that emphasize real estate and hardware. He
also commented that multimedia would be strongly featured in
the program.
Dr. Ferrari received a warm response from an appreciative
audience and was thanked by VMS Vice-Chairman, Dr. Usha
Varshney, who presented a Certificate of Appreciation to Dr.
Ferrari on behalf of Virginia Mountain Section.
The program was closed by Chairman, Dr. David L. Livingston,
who urged the members to participate in the upcoming VMS
monthly meetings.
... Usha Varshney, Vice-Chairman
***************************************************** (8)
Executive Committee Meeting
The Executive Committee will meet before the regular meeting,
at the AEP building auditorium, at 5:30 PM, on the 16th.
***************************************************** (9)
IEEE and PUBLIC POLICY
PLEASE PARTICIPATE
The Virginia Council is in the process of drafting a letter to the
Virginia Legislature which will indicate the interests of Virginia
IEEE members in legislative actions which are relevant to
electrical and computer engineering and the associated
educational processes. The purpose of this letter is to both
remind the legislature that we are interested in how legislative
actions affect electrical engineering and to offer our expertise in
these matters.
The national IEEE has devoted some effort to developing
policies and topics which can be and have been included in
letters to government. However, the Virginia Council felt that
input from the grass-roots level of membership should also be
represented. They have therefore charged that each section in
Virginia submit a list of the top ten issues that should be
addressed in this letter. Examples of issues include professional
registration, the re-certification process, academic support, etc.
I am going to attempt to respond to the charge of the Council
with your assistance. Please send me a prioritized list of the
issues which are important to you by October 31, 1997. E-mail
is the preferred medium:
d.livingston@ieee.org,
but you can also send them by regular mail:
David L. Livingston,
Engineering and Industrial Technologies Division,
Virginia Western Community College
PO Box 14007 Roanoke, VA 24038.
Thanks in advance for your participation.
... Dave Livingston
***************************************************** (10)
PACE Report
IEEE-USA HOLDS PROFESSIONAL
ACTIVITIES CONFERENCE
The IEEE-USA Professional Activities Conference was held over
Labor Day Weekend in St. Petersburg, FL., approximately 280
IEEE volunteers gave up their holiday to become better educated
about issues of concern to the members. A broad range of
subjects was covered in six concurrent tracks and six plenary
sessions. The plenarys covered such topics as precollege
education; "Professional Vitality: The Making of the Complete
Engineer," "The Stake of Industry, Government, Academia and
the IEEE in Fostering Federal Support for Research &
Development," and "US Engineering Labor Markets: Deja Vu
All Over Again."
One of the topical tracks was "Service, Image, Outreach." This
had six sessions with twelve presentations from Total Quality
Management to Science for All Children. A second track on
"Government and Industry Relations" had six sessions with six
presentations covering such issues as a Technology Perspective
on the Role of Government in Restructuring the Electric Power
Industry to A Guide to Effective Meetings With Legislators. A
third track of six sessions on "Professional Vitality" covered
topics from Software Engineering and Licensure to US
Competitiveness and the Workforce. The fourth track was PACE
Leadership Training in five sessions covering Planning Your
PACE Program to an actual Mini M-PAC(Member Professional
Awareness Conference).
Tracks 5 and 6 were designed with the Young Professional in
mind. (Young in this case does not apply to chronological age,
but to length of time as a professional.) These are also know as
Graduates of the Last Decade(GOLD). "Surviving and Thriving
in the Corporate Jungle," and "Career Strategies" covered twelve
topics such as financial planning, leadership training, job market
tips and trends, and steering your career toward personal goals.
All sessions, including the student paper competition and the
section poster competition, were open to all attendees from
GOLD to life members regardless of the track. The goal of the
Professional Activities Conference is for the attendees to take
information back to the sections and share it for the benefit of all
members. You can help by letting your PACE chair know what
you are concerned about. Ask him about the conference. The
conference proceedings are available from the IEEE Service
Center, 1-800-678-IEEE, IEEE Catalog No. UH 2972-0-0-1-0.
For further information about the conference, or professional
activities contact: Daniel W. Jackson, (540) 774-0484; e-mail
.
... Dan Jackson, PACE Chair
***************************************************** (11)
Support of Science, Mathematics and Technology
Education in the Virginia Area
(Adapted from the National Capital Area Council SCANNER)
Numerous recent surveys and studies have indicated that the
most urgent problem facing the public is the need for improving
the quality of precollege education with emphasis on science,
mathematics and technology subjects. There is now an increased
awareness by the public that business and industry require a
technologically literate workforce.
The IEEE, with over 230,000 U.S. members, provides major
support to precollege science, mathematics and technology
education.
In Virginia, the Second Virginia Technology Summit was held
in Richmond on May 21. It was attended by 425 leaders from
Virginia-based businesses, educational institutions, state and
local governments, professional societies and trade associations
The Summit identified the development of a highly-skilled
technologically literate workforce as one of the four policy issues
critical to the success of technology-based economic growth in
Virginia.
The Virginia Coordinating Council* (VCC) is currently
developing plans for forming regional and local alliances for
science, mathematics and technology education composed of
representatives from engineering and scientific societies,
educational organizations, business, industry technology councils
and government organizations. These alliances would provide
support to over 150 school districts in the Commonwealth of
Virginia. The VCC is also participating in the programs of the
Virginia Mathematics and Science Coalition, which is an
alliance of leaders of the education, corporate, and public policy
sectors, working together to revitalize mathematics and science
education in pre-kindergarten through graduate school. The
Coalition is using education standards developed by national
organizations as guides to improve mathematics and science
education in Virginia. It has also developed and implemented in-
service training courses for teachers and influenced various
public policies affecting the teaching profession and standards of
learning in mathematics and science education.
* The VMS has an input. See last month's issue of the
Newsletter.
... editor
***************************************************** (12)
MEMBERS
DID YOU GET YOUR BS IN ENGINEERING BEFORE
1990 ?
Senior membership is available to engineers, scientists,
educators, technical executives and originators in IEEE-
designated fields who have been in professional practice for at
least 10 years and have shown significant performance for at
least five of those years. A BS counts for three years, an MS one
more and a PhD one more, for a total of five years. Therefore,
you should start looking at applying for senior member grade
only seven years after completing your BS, not ten years.
Significant performance is defined as publication of
engineering/scientific materials, technical direction/management
of important engineering or scientific work (with evidence of
accomplishment), recognized contributions to the profession,
development or furtherance of important scientific or
engineering courses in a "recognized educational program" or
similar contributions in technical editing, or patent prosecution
or law.
Qualified members are encouraged to apply for senior
membership. For more information or to obtain a senior member
application package contact our new membership committee
chairman,
Russell Churchill,
e-mail: arcova@swva.net tel: (540)-731-0655
or, Dan Jackson:
e-mail: d.jackson@ieee.org tel: (540)-774-0484
...Dan Jackson
***************************************************** (13)
VMS Home Page
The Virginia Mountain Section Web Home Page
(http://fiddle.ee.vt.edu/ieeevms/) has recently been modified
and expanded to make it easier to use and include more
information about the Section, the Region, and National, and
items of interest to engineers.
You will find quick access to schedules, details about the
Section, numerous publications and articles normally not
distributed to the general membership (in complete format).
Links to professional, federal, and private organizations and
groups active in national issues affecting our profession. There
are also more than a dozen direct links to particular IEEE
services such as Educational, Employment Assistance,
PE-Licensure. Standards and Publications, Address and
Membership Info Changes, and more.
Check it out and use the autofeedback to the editor (available on
the main page) to let us know what you would like to see there to
make it even better.
... editor
***************************************************** (14)
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.
... editor
***************************************************** (15)
FYI
IEEE Virginia Mountain Section
VMS OFFICERS
Chairman: David Livingston
d.livingston@ieee.org (540) 857-6261
Vice Chairman: Usha Varshney
varshney@usit.net (540) 731-0655
Sec./Treasurer: Ed Wheeler
wheeler@vmi.edu (540) 464-7548
VMS EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Lynn Abbott
e-mail: abbott@vt.edu (540) 231-4472
Russell Churchill
arcova@swva.net (540) 731-0655
Ira Jacobs
ijacobs@vt.edu (540) 231-5620
Andy 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
Walter Hill
hill-wa@salem.ge.com (540) 387-8619
Microwave Theory & Techniques/Electron Devices
Hausila Singh
hsingh@gtc.itt.com (540) 563-8639
Industrial Electronics/Computer/Control Systems
David Geer
d.geer@ieee.org (540) 387-7359
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
varshney@usit.net (540)-731-0655
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
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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
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e-mail: address.change@ieee.org
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(Changes are forwarded to the Newsletter)
Visit the VMS WEB page:
http://fiddle.ee.vt.edu/ieeevms
Section and Chapter organization, 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 are welcomed - make them
on-line.