VIRGINIA MOUNTAIN SECTION
NEWSLETTER
IEEE Region 3, Council 9, Section 6
October, 1998
Contents
**************************************
October Meeting 1
Reservations for the Meeting 2
VMS Activities
September Meeting 3
Section Awards 4
WEB Page URL Change 5
1999 Student Competition 6
New VMS Members 7
IEEE Computer Society Award 8
PACE PATTER 9
Sections Congress '99 10
Pilot IEEE Course on WEB 11
AISE Seminar 12
1998-99 VMS Schedule 13
Your IEEE Benefits 14
Virginia Mountain Section 15
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October Meeting
Data VS Information
A New Battleground In Automation
Dr. Kami Razvan
Durability Corporation
In industry, business, and private
organizations, there appears to be great
confusion about "information" as
opposed to "data". People have a lot of
data and are wasting a lot of time and
resources by not utilizing the latest
technologies available to derive and
disseminate information from it. The
advent of Internet and corporate
Intranets can permit all companies to
make a quantum leap in allowing group
interactions and sharing of
"information". Too much data is sitting
at everyone's desktops and too many
people are doing the same thing over
and over again. Why?
Durability Corporation recently
developed an enterprise laboratory
information system for White Oak
Semiconductors in Sandston, VA. Dr.
Razvan will present a case history
involving a computer workstation to
control 16 environmental chambers and
relay "information" to desktops
anywhere in the facility. He will present
the project in the context of what he
believes to be a serious industry
problem: Data versus Information.
Near the close of the talk there will be a
general statement about the Year 2000
problem.
About the speaker
Kami Razvan holds a Ph.D. in
Engineering Science & Mechanics from
Virginia Tech.
His company, Durability, Inc., was
founded in 1993 with a grant from
Department of Energy to commercialize
knowledge gained in his doctoral work.
The company started with the idea of
bringing to the market place a mobile
high speed dynamic characterization
platform for detecting "damage" in
composite materials. Back then, it was
strictly a materials company with
emphasis on Advanced Composite
materials and structures. Today's
Durability is a lot more! In five years it
has expanded to provide a wide array of
services and products.
Durability's scientific and engineering
personnel now provide solutions
ranging from turn-key design of
automated high performance dynamic
materials test systems, to
enterprise/laboratory automation
solutions, to large scale Supercritical
Fluid Extraction instrument design and
analysis.
********************************************************(2)
Reservations for the October Meeting
Date: Thursday, October 15 1998
Social hour: 6:30 PM
Dinner: 7:00 PM
Speaker: 8:00 PM
Place: Custom Catering
902 Patrick Henry Drive
Blacksburg
Directions: From I-81 Exit 118 follow
directions to Blacksburg center where
South Main becomes North Main. (Just
past Town Hall on left - modern flat
white statues on lawn). Continue north
on North Main through three traffic
lights, not counting the one at So/No
Main juncture. Turn left on Patrick
Henry Drive at fourth light. Custom
Catering is one block down, on the
right.
Cost:
Members: $12.00
Students: $ 4.00
Guests: $12.00
Please make reservations by
Monday, Oct. 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:
Russell Churchill (540) 731-0655
********************************************************(3)
VMS Activities
Meeting Report
Last month, members from the Blue
Ridge Section of the American
Chemical Society and the Virginia
Mountain Section of IEEE conducted
their first joint meeting. Joint meetings
are an effective way to learn about
current activity in allied fields. This
was certainly the case here. Please let
your section leaders know if you agree
that additional joint meetings should
be held in the future.
For this first joint meeting, we were
fortunate to have Dr. William H.
Velander, a professor of chemical
engineering at Virginia Tech, speak on
the use of transgenic livestock to
produce complex human medicines.
This area promises to significantly
impact human health.
Dr. Velander began by focusing on the
human proteins required to treat
hemophilia. He contrasted the present
method of gathering these proteins,
complex industrial processes, with the
method used with, say, a transgenic pig.
The striking differences are, according
to Dr. Velander, safety and cost.
Presently we start with enormous
quantities of human blood—sometimes
millions of liters—to obtain a liter of
serum with a few milliliters of the
protein. This fact makes the process
both costly and a hazard to human
health. In the patient suffering from
hemophilia receives regular preventive
treatment, the present cost is around
$100,000 per year—a level which
exceeds the ability of most to pay.
Extracting the serum from such a large
volume of human blood also raises the
specter that the serum might contain
human pathogens, perhaps hepatitis or
HIV. Dr. Velander predicts that, by
using transgenic livestock, we can
reduce the costs by at least a factor of
40, and significantly reduce the risk to
human health.
Dr. Velander detailed just a few of the
applications of his group's research in
these proteins. By permeating the
transgenically derived clotting factors
with antibiotics, doctors would be able
to place antibiotics at the trauma site.
What is more, the antibiotic would
naturally remain at the site throughout
the healing process. Other variations
would be to deliver chemotherapy or
radiation treatment to the extraction site
after tumor surgery. This could be
accomplished by permeating the clotting
factors with these substances.
Chemotherapy or radiation could be
made perhaps much more effective here
since, being tied to the clotting factors,
they will be preferentially delivered to
the tumor site and can thus be made
more potent than possible when treating
the entire body.
Some of the techniques and processes
pioneered here will be commercialized,
with some companies locating plants in
our region.
...Ed Wheeler
********************************************************(4)
Section Presents Awards
Russell Churchill, Ira Jacobs and Usha
Varshney were recently presented
plaques for outstanding service to the
Section.
Russell and Ira were recognized for
their efforts leading to the success of the
Southeastcon 97 convention. Usha, who
is now in the Washington DC area,
received the award for her pace-setting
work as Vice Chair during the 1996 -
1997 Section year.
It is appropriate that the Section
continually demonstrate its appreciation
of the efforts of the volunteers who keep
it functioning and provide specific
acknowledgment for exemplary service.
Congratulations to all three.
...editor
********************************************************(5)
CORRECTION:
WEB Page URL Change
The reported "change" to the URL for
the VMS Home Page in last month's
issue was obviously incorrect.
The pending change is from:
http://fiddle.ee.vt.edu/ieeevms/
to:
http://fiddle.visc.vt.edu/ieeevms/
As mentioned, the elimination of the old
URL is not a certainty but it is
advisable to switch your bookmarks to
the new one.
The Page has been completely
redesigned for easier use and greater
coverage. As well as Section news,
announcements and information, current
and past issues of IEEE USA, PACE
reports, The Leadership Wire, Quick
Links to all IEEE Services and more,
have been added. Visit us soon and see
what's available.
Your suggestions for changes or
additions are welcome
...editor
********************************************************(6)
1999 Student Competition
Format - Prizes
Plans for this season's VMS Student
Competition beginning to crystallize.
According to competition Chair, John
Bay, the contest will include a poster
session to be held on the Virginia Tech
campus on April 15, 1999. Total cash
prizes of up to $750
will be awarded.
A student application form is being
prepared and will be distributed to all
institutions. It should be submitted,
along with a 200-word abstract by Feb.
1, 1999. Students should also plan to
submit a short paper/extended abstract
(1-2 pages) along with the presentation
of their poster.
We will get the word out later on the
exact time and place of the poster
session.
Keep In Touch
********************************************************(7)
New VMS members
Welcome
Over this past summer, 16 IEEE
members have 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
all of you at future meetings and join
Dave in extending greetings to:
James Baker Steven Balentine
Blacksburg Wytheville
Randall Burrier Laure Chipman
Shawsville Salem
John Critchfield Jeremy Crossen
Blacksburg Blacksburg
Fletcher Hinson Matthias Imhof
Christiansburg Blacksburg
Clovis Linkous Daniel Pearson
Blacksburg Roanoke
Barry Polakowski Sanjay Raman
Blacksburg Blacksburg
Binoy Ravindran Mohammed Saleh
Blacksburg Roanoke
Ramona Stetson Seng Tan
Roanoke Roanoke
********************************************************(8)
IEEE Computer Society Award
to
I. Jack Good
On October 15, I. Jack Good,
Distinguished Professor Emeritus,
Department of Statistics, will receive
the 1997 IEEE Computer Society
Award for his contributions to
mechanical code breaking activities at
Bletchley Park, UK, during World War
II, and to the early Manchester
machines.
The presentation will be made by Dr.
Barry Johnson, President, IEEE
Computer Society, 1997. Following the
presentation Dr. Good will give a short
talk on his experiences.
Location: 113 McBryde Hall, Virginia
Tech.
Contact: J.A.N. Lee, 540 231-5780,
janlee@cs.vt.ed
********************************************************(9)
PACE Patter
Do you want to have your voice heard
in Washington? These days it certainly
would be nice to think that some one
was listening to us. At the recent IEEE-
USA Professional Activities Conference
Mark Pullen, a member of the
Workforce Committee, told us how to
set up a Grass Roots Information Pilot
(GRIP) program. This two year
program would focus on improving our
ability to influence legislation at the
federal level.
Volunteers and IEEE-USA staff would
select priority focus issues and mobilize
the grass-roots network. The program
would rely primarily on Internet-based
communication tools to inform and
mobilize the network which would use
these same tools to communicate with
congressional representatives. The basic
problem is to attract interested IEEE
volunteers to become activists in this
grass-roots network. If you are at all
interested in learning more about this
pilot program or in becoming part of the
solution contact me at