VIRGINIA MOUNTAIN SECTION NEWSLETTER IEEE Region 3, Council 9, Section 6 September, 1998 ******************************************************** CONTENTS September Meeting Radford Transgenic Livestock as Bioreactors for Complex Medicines 1 Directions 2 Reservations 3 May Meeting Report 4 VMS Election - 1998 5 WEB Page URL Change 6 1999 Student Competition 7 Election '98 participate 8 PACE PATTER (Conference) 9 Senior membership of VMS 10 1998-99 VMS Schedule 11 Your IEEE Benefits 12 Virginia Mountain Section 13 ********************************************************( 1 ) September Meeting Radford Transgenic Livestock as Bioreactors for Complex Medicines Dr. William H. Velander Professor of Chemical Engineering Virginia Tech Joint meeting with the American Chemical Society Biotechnology is a diverse field that strongly impacts the pharmaceutical industry. However, the pharmaceutical industry has been slow to develop biotechnologies which enable economical methods of manufacturing complex protein therapeutics. Many of these medicines are normally derived from the limited supplies of blood plasma. Safety associated with blood borne diseases and limited blood plasma supplies are difficult issues with plasma derived products. Alternatively, the Pharmaceutical Engineering Institute at Virginia Tech has genetically engineered livestock to produce complex pharmaceutical proteins in milk. The productivity of these livestock is at two to three orders of magnitude greater throughput than is possible using genetically engineered mammalian cells cultured at large scale. Thus, both safety from disease risks and abundant supplies of medicines needed by humans to treat catastrophic diseases like hemophilia, stroke, traumatic bleeding, cancer, and infection has been enabled by this biotechnology. Dr. Velander is lead scientist for the transgenic livestock group at Virginia Tech. His laboratory specializes in the biosynthesis of complex proteinacious pharmaceuticals. He is also a recognized leader in research concerning affinity technology used in the purification of pharmaceuticals and biosensors. He is a biochemical engineer with industrial experience with Merck and Company and has been principal investigator for over 3 million dollars in research in the development of recombinant human proteins produced in the milk of transgenic livestock. His research has been recently published in Scientific American, Discover, Smithsonian, Popular Mechanics, Nature Biotechnology, Biophotonics and featured on CNN's Future Watch. Dr. Velander is a member of the American Chemical Society and the American Institute of Chemical Engineering. Reservations for the September Meeting Date: Thursday, September 17, 1998 Social hour: 5:00 PM Dinner: 6:00 PM Speaker: 7:00 PM Place: Norwood Room in the Bondurant Center for the Arts, Radford. ********************************************************( 2 ) Directions to the Radford meeting place: Take the first Radford exit (109) off I-81 south. This becomes Rt. 177. Continue toward Radford (3 miles) and Rt. 177 will become Tyler Avenue. Harvey's Chevrolet dealer is on the left. The road will T at Norwood street. Turn left onto Norwood street and the Bondurant Center for the Arts is on the left side of the street about 3 blocks down. The Norwood Room is in the Center and we will try to have some sort of sign out advertising the ACS-IEEE meeting. Cost: Members: $12.00 Students: $ 4.00 Guests: $12.00 ********************************************************( 3 ) Please make reservations by Monday, Sept. 14, 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 ********************************************************( 4 ) VMS Activities Meeting Report In May, members of the Virginia Mountain Section of IEEE visited the Roanoke Electric Steel plant in Roanoke. This plant recycles scrap metal, a significantly lower energy cost compared to beginning with ore, to produce a variety of finished steel products. Small groups were led in tours to view the entire process(from receiving the scrap metal, to producing the melt, refining and analyzing the melt, forming the hot steel ingots, and final shaping in the rolling mill, through quality control checks in the laboratory. The plant is a modern facility with sophisticated control and instrumentation systems. At the furnace, a station is provided to allow the raw molten steel melt to be refined to the desired metallurgical specifications. In the rolling mill, electrical systems monitor and control the procedure. An on-site laboratory provides detailed chemical and structural analyses on samples of the plant's output ensuring high quality. This plant trip was informative and was enjoyed by all those present. We can be proud that this modern and forward-looking concern is in our area. Our thanks go to the staff of Roanoke Electric Steel, including Bob Landry, Lloyd Abdelnour, David Brand, and Kyle Ferris. ...Ed Wheeler ********************************************************( 5) VMS Election - 1998 A total of 65 ballots were received in the May 1998 election. This number is about 16 percent of eligible voters in the Section. Your newly elected officers and Executive Committee members, together with number of votes received, are: Chairman: David Livingston: 63 Vice-chair: Edward Wheeler: 60 Secretary-Treasurer: Andy Stevenson: 61 Executive Committee John Bay: 32 Russell Churchill: 52 Ira Jacobs: 48 David Kingma: 30 Industrial Electronics Chair: David Geer: 45 Industry Applications Chair: Andy Stevenson: 44 Microwave Theory & Techniques/Electron Devices (no candidate listed): Power Engineering Chair: Ted Aaron: 43 Congratulations to all. ...editor ********************************************************( 6) NOTICE: WEB Page URL Change Expanded Coverage Easier to Use The URL for the VMS Home Page is changing from: http://fiddle.ee.vt.edu/ieeevms/ to: http://fiddle.ee.vt.edu/ieeevms/ The old URL is still working but may be subject to disconnect in the future. This change has to do with moves to the new engineering building at Tech. PLEASE CHANGE YOUR BOOKMARKS OR FAVORITES FILES ACCORDINGLY. The Page has been completely redesigned for easier use and greater coverage. With current and past issues of IEEE USA, PACE reports, The Leadership Wire, Quick Links to all IEEE Services and more, it is a great way to keep in touch with National, Regional and Section business. Visit us soon and see what's available. Your suggestions for changes or additions are welcome ...editor ********************************************************( 7) 1999 Student Competition NEW Format - Prizes The annual VMS Student Competition is changing. This year, instead of the formal presentation of papers, we will be holding a "Science-Fair" for undergraduates. In addition, the number of awards and the dollar amounts will both increase. Details are still being worked out, but it is not too early to begin thinking about what you might demonstrate, display, or discuss. Dr. John Bay of VA Tech. our new Student Activities Chair (see last page) will have more information as it becomes available. Keep in Touch ********************************************************( 8) ELECTION '98 PARTICIPATE ! YOU and your VOTE can make a difference in the IEEE election. Only YOU with the rest of the IEEE membership can approve amendments to the IEEE Constitution. It takes a 20 percent quorum of the voting membership casting ballots with two thirds of those voting in favor to approve an amendment. The amendment on the 1998 ballot is to reduce this quorum to 10 percent. Our problem is that since 1993 less than 20 per cent of the IEEE members have been voting. The Board of Directors recommends a "yes" vote on the amendment and WE NEED YOU TO VOTE. Besides the constitutional amendment there are other important contests on the ballot. All IEEE voting members are eligible to vote for the IEEE President-Elect. Three good candidates listed in reverse alphabetical order: Joel Snyder Ray Findlay Bruce Eisenstein. All USA IEEE voting members are eligible to vote for the IEEE- USA President Elect. Again three candidates but in normal alphabetical order: Mike Andrews Merrill Buckley Charles Lessard. For the first time ever in 1998 all voting members will be able to elect the IEEE Vice President-Technical Activities. This year you will be voting for the 1999 VP-Technical Activities and the 1999 VP Elect - Technical Activities. See the ballot for the candidates. Get your ballot NOW and mark "yes" for the constitutional amendment and mark your choices for all the individual offices. ONLY YOU CAN MAKE THE CHANGE ! YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE ! ...Dan Jackson - PACE Chair ********************************************************( 9 ) PACE PATTER By the time you read this column the IEEE-USA Professional Activities Conference will have taken place in Phoenix , but I am writing beforehand. This is the only annual IEEE conference devoted entirely to non-technical, career-related skills information and training. The theme was "Preparing for the New Millennium" with an opening plenary at which Dr. John R. Reinert, IEEE-USA President, spoke on "Launch Pad 2000: What Will Our Future Hold?" The conference participants attended workshops grouped into several topical tracks; everyone could attend any session regardless of the track. There were two tracks each on Careers and Career Skills. Two tracks targeted primarily Graduates of the Last Decades (GOLD), the other two were aimed toward more experienced engineers although both groups crossed over to attend specific sessions. Another track had workshops on personal skills and the last track, Professional Activities, addressed the training and information needs of IEEE section and society professional activities chairs. Although the conference schedule was full there was still much opportunity to network during the breakfasts, lunches, and dinners and during the resort sponsored social hours before dinner. Luncheon programs included a panel on Educating Engineers for the Next Millennium and a forum for the candidates for IEEE President-Elect and the IEEE-USA President-Elect to outline their platforms and answer questions. This year there are three candidates for each of those offices. You have received your ballots; VOTE!! Social events included a theme dinner on Saturday night, and the reception and banquet in connection with the annual IEEE-USA Awards ceremony. This ceremony is always a highlight of the conference. It is a honor and a privilege to recognize individuals for their accomplishments and achievements in advancing the professional objectives of IEEE-USA. In addition to the workshops for IEEE members there were four seminars specifically for their spouses: Native Americans of the Southwest, Line Dancing, Architecture of the Southwest, and Tax-Free Investing. Although the Virginia Mountain Section did not have a GOLD member attending this year's conference we plan to send one next year. If you are GOLD, let me know if you are interested. Dan Jackson <d.jackson@ieee.org ...Dan Jackson - PACE Chair ********************************************************( 10 ) Senior Membership of VMS Senior Member grade in the IEEE is a recognition of "significant" work accomplishment and cannot be gained by passing a test or just by being around for a long time. It can only be attained by having the respect of your peers. You can apply or be nominated for Senior Member but you must have three references from Senior Members or Fellows. If you have ten years of professional experience (including the time acquiring a degree) you may be eligible. To get details contact: Russell Churchill, VMS Membership Development Chair, (540) 731-0655 e-mail: arcova@swva.net On the next page there is a list of current Senior Members and Fellows in the Virginia Mountain Section. Most of these people are available as references. Feel free to contact them. Dan Jackson... PACE Chair Senior Members of IEEE in the VMS Section B. ADKINS, LS W. ALDERSON, LS A. ANDERSON, LS JAMES ARMSTRONG, SM PETER ATHANAS, SM R. AVENT, SM INDER BAHL, F G. BALAZS, LS DR. DAN BARR ,P.E., SM JOHN BAY, SM A. BEEX, SM B. BENNETT, LS IOANNIS BESIERIS, F W. BLACKWELL, LF CHESTER BOESEWETTER, LS CHARLES BOSTIAN, F EDWIN BRAUNER, LS MERUIN BROWER, SM GARY BROWN, F JOHN BURNS, SM JOHN CARROLL, SM B. CHAUSSE, LS DAN CHEN, SM RUSSELL CHURCHILL, SM RICHARD CLAUS, SM G. COLLISON, LS R. COREKIN, SM HUGH DAVIDS, LF NATHANIEL DAVIS, SM W. DAVIS, LS WILLIAM DAVIS, SM D. DE WOLF, F F. DEAN, LS PATRICK DOOLEY, SM L. EDDY, LS ROGER EHRICH, SM W. ELMORE, LF AICHA ELSHABINI-RIAD, F ANDREW FARRAR, LS LEONARD FERRARI, F R. GASPAROLI, LS FESTUS GRAY, SM EDWARD GRIFFIN, SM DONG HA, SM H. HARTSON, SM WALTER HILL, SM M. HOLCOMBE, LS M. HOPKINS, LS GUICHAO HUA, SM QIN HUANG, SM DANIEL JACKSON, S S. JACKSON, LS IRA JACOBS, LF ROBERT JOHNSON, SM WALTER JONES, SM G. JORDAN, LS J. KEPNER, LS RAMU KRISHNAN, SM JIH-SHENG LAI, SM LAWRENCE LANGLEY, LS A. LEE, LS FRED LEE, F TED LEONARD, SM GARY LEWIS, SM G R E LEZAN, LS CLOVIS LINKOUS, LS Y. LIU, SM G. MASTERS, LS W. MCDONALD, LS DAVID MCELROY, SM WAYNE MICHIE, SM SCOTT MIDKIFF, SM LAMINE MILI, SM D. MILLER, LS C. MOODY, SM S. MOSELEY, LS HOWARD MOSES, SM W. MUTSCHLER, LS F. NARDI, LS E. NASCHOLD, LS A JACKSON NEWCOMB, LS LEE NICHOLS, LS E. PAIGE, LS STEVEN PEAK, SM J. PEEBLES, LS A. PHADKE, F GLEN PICKELSIMER, SM TING-CHUNG POON, SM TIM PRATT, SM JOHN PRICE, LS DUARD PRUITT, LS THEODORE RAPPAPORT, F JEFFREY REED, SM SEDKI RIAD, F FREDERICK SAAL, F AHMAD SAFAAI JAZI, SM SUBHAS SARKAR, SM HAUSILA SINGH, SM R. SNEDEGAR, LS O. SRYGLEY, LS F. STEPHENSON, F A. STEVENSON, SM WARREN STUTZMAN, F KWA-SUR TAM, SM YOSEF TIRAI-GEFEN, SM WILLIAM TRANTER, F JOSEPH TRONT, SM C. VAN EPS, LS H. VANLANDINGHAM, SM V. VERHEYDEN, LS LOREN WALKER, F STEPHEN WALKER, SM ANBO WANG, SM LAYNE WATSON, F EDWARD WHEELER, SM J. WHITMORE LS ********************************************************( 11 ) 1998-1999 MEETING SCHEDULE ____________________________ September 17,1998 Joint meeting with the American Chemical Society Norwood Room Radford University William H. Velander, chemical engineering: Virginia Tech Transgenic Pharmaceuticals ____________________________ October 15,1998 Donaldson Brown Hotel Virginia Tech Kami Razvan, Durability Corporation Automation with Labview ____________________________ November 19,1998 Spouses' Night Hotel Roanoke John Marsh, former Secretary of the Army Ethics in the technical fields ____________________________ January 21,1999 Joint meeting with the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Moody Hall Virginia Military Institute Jan Helge Bøhn mechanical engineering faculty, Virginia Tech Rapid Prototyping ____________________________ February 18,1999 Joint meeting with our Industrial Applications Chapter Donaldson Brown Hotel Virginia Tech Walter Hill General Electric Harmonics from Pulse Width Modulated Converters ____________________________ March 18,1999 Joint meeting with our Power Engineering Chapter Roanoke/Christiansburg IEEE Distinguished Lecturer TBD ____________________________ April 15,1999 Hancock Atrium Virginia Tech Student project night ____________________________ May 20,1999 Litton Poly-Scientific Blacksburg Plant trip ____________________________ EXCOMM meetings will be held preceding the meetings in October, January, February and March ********************************************************( 12 ) 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 IEEE Internet Project Info on IEEE RABFacts System 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 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 IEEE Quick Links, then Member Services (No.11) ********************************************************( 13 ) 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 Russell 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.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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