Newsletter Home Jul 2011 Issue

100th Anniversary Once in a Lifetime! Event Registration · Showing Up · DLSEMC course · The Secretary's Pavane · Mentor News · PACE News · RoboFest RoboExpo Conference · UofM Hybrid Vehicles course · EV Battery Tech USA Conference · EMC Design · Ethics Survey Call for Participants · Call of Nominations · Definition of IEEE "Chapters" and "Section" · Science Fair Awards · Chapter IV Activities - New Society Added · In Memoriam · Officers List · Survey · Editorial Note

Members line up to register for the 100th Anniversary Event at the April Spring Conference

Event Flyer

It's here! The 100th Anniversary Event for IEEE Southeastern Michigan Section will be at The Henry Ford Museum, Tuesday, October 11, 2011 starting at 6pm. You and your spouse / companion will enjoy the following at the event:

• Reception and networking with the keynote speaker, the 2011 IEEE USA President, and others in Lovett Hall Lobby
• Robofest Sumo Robot competition demonstration, organized by Prof. C.J. Chung from Lawrence Tech
• Lecture on the history of electricity and electronics during the past 100 years
• Dinner in the Lovett Hall Ballroom
• A night of private viewing of the Museum (a $15 value!)

The keynote speaker will be Dr. Michael Geselowitz from the IEEE History Center at Rutgers. The title of talk is "From Starters to Startups: 100 Years of IEEE & Southeastern Michigan". He will present a non-technical history of the last 100-years of electronics and electricity -- perfect for members as well as spouses / companions! Members who attended the Spring Section Conference already registered early (see photo of members lining up to register!). IEEE members get special discount early registration price of $90 per couple. Hurry! Early registration is open through August 15, 2011. All of the information is on the web site at https://ewh.ieee.org/r4/se_michigan/100.

-by Kimball Williams

A few months ago I was attending a lecture on training new employees for general employment and was startled when the first topic on the list was showing up for work, on time and ready to go. For anyone educated in the USA school system, where regular attendance is the norm, the thought that someone new to a job had to be reminded of this simple fact was a revelation.

"Your active and consistent participation is needed and necessary to accomplish our goals."

Of course we need to be there. If we are not, everything after is not going to happen. At least it is not going to happen to me, and if I keep that up, I won't be asked to come back. In fact, I may be forcefully asked NOT to come back!

Any organization cannot run effectively if some of the people who said they "wanted to do the work" consistently fail to show up. It is no different with a volunteer organization like the IEEE. If someone volunteers to perform some function, or lead some activity and they do not show up, the function or activity is in jeopardy.

Universities don't hire extra professors to cover some who decide that "This is a nice day, so I'll just wander in the park today". Industries don't hire multiple workers to do the same assembly line job assuming that one or more is not going to show up for work. The IEEE doesn't elect multiple officers, or appoint multiple directors in the assumption that one or more will just decide that "today I don't have time for that". There are no extra hands to pick up the work and carry on when someone decides that their promise to be present and help out is non-binding and that someone else must do that instead.

No-none else will do it. The project will fail. The activity will stall. The progress that might have been accomplished will crash and burn!

IEEE Southeastern Michigan Section ExCom Teleconferences

Everyone is working toward the success of IEEE and of our Section. Your active and consistent participation is needed and necessary to the accomplishment of our goals. We need you to do your part. That can only happen when you 'show up'.

Each month, on the 1st Thursday of the month at Noon the Section holds its monthly administrative teleconference. We made this a teleconference so that it would be easy for people to attend. No one has to drive to the meeting. No gas is used. No wear on the tires. Only time is required. Attendance at the teleconferences can be by either by the responsible officer (Say, a Chapter Chair) or any of their co-officers (Such as the Vice-Chair, Secretary or Treasurer).

We also ask that each operating element; Section Officer or Director, Chapter or affiliate group send in a monthly written (e-mail) status update, so we know:

• Everything is OK, and
• You are planning and working toward success of your element, and
• If you need help or funding for special projects, we have a 'heads up'.
• Anything that might be drifting "off into the weeds" can be caught and addressed.

Our Section Secretary, Lora Schulwitz, compiles all the reports together and publishes them before each teleconference so that all Section elements have a chance to catch up with everything that is going on in the Section before the teleconference begins. As a result, when we hold the teleconference, we don't have to "read" our reports into the record-they are already there. We also then have sufficient time to discuss any problems or concerns that need detailed explanation and or discussion and debate. If a vote is needed, we can do it then, and approve an action (such as a funding request) that same day.

All in all, the system is working quite well for those who show up. There lies the problem. Some elements do not show up. (By that I mean that a few Chapters time required to dial the teleconference phone number, or write a short report and send it in.)

"Most of our Section Officers are regular contributors and help out and assist at every turn."

Don't misunderstand. Most of our Section Officers are regular contributors and help out and assist at every turn. (In fact, some actively "cover" for some other Officers who neglect their responsibilities on a regular basis.) The work of the Section is moving forward. We are making progress. I know how much more we could accomplish if most of the Officers participated in most meetings.

Face-2-Face ExCom Meetings

Our next Section Face-2-Face ExCom meeting takes place on Thursday September 22, 2011 registration at 5PM, with dinner provided, and the working business / dinner meeting to begin at 5:30PM. The meeting will take place a the University of Michigan - Dearborn School of Management Fairlane conference center in Dearborn, Michigan. I look forward to seeing you there. Please "show up". ·

Kimball Williams is the Section Chair, and a Technical Fellow of the EMC Laboratory, Denso International America Inc. email: k.williams@ieee.org. ·

Advertisement

-by Kimball Williams

Definition: Pavane : A measured, stately dance in which all steps are known to all the participants.

The Secretary in a professional organization such as an IEEE Chapter, Section or Society acts as the 'spark plug' for the 'engine' that we think of as the Executive Committee (ExCom). By maintaining an awareness of critical event timing and functions and ensuring that the necessary 'spark' is sent to the relevant officers to initiate preparation and follow up action as needed, the Secretary keeps the entire organization functioning smoothly. In its final form, a well functioning organization responding to the Secretary's prompting behaves like a well choreographed dance troop. The cycle of meeting activity for a typical Chapter shown in Table 1 illustrates this.

Table 1: Chapter / Section Administrative Teleconferences / Meetings
Meeting date - 14 days	Send draft agenda to Chair for comment and revision
Meeting date - 12 days	Send revised agenda & last minutes to Chapter Officers
Meeting date - 10 days	Send calendar notice of meeting to Chapter Officers
Meeting date - 7 days	Send e-mail meeting notice to Chapter Officers
Meeting date - 2 days	Send e-mail reminder of meeting to Chapter Officers
Meeting date	Transcribe minutes of the meeting Record attendance at meeting
Meeting date + 1 day	Send draft minutes to Chair for review and comment
Meeting date + 2 day	File vTools: L-31 form for IEEE HQ
Meeting date + 5 days	Send revised draft minutes to Chapter Officers
Meeting date + 7 days	Update next agenda based on revised draft minutes
Meeting date + 10 days	Setup vTools calendar meeting page for next meeting

Of course, as with any dance, all partners in the dance must respond in the proper sequence and at the proper time. As above, for example, the Secretary is dependent on the response from the Chair to the draft agenda sent for comment. If nothing comes back, the rhythm is broken, and the dance falters. In any volunteer organization, time commitments are at the discretion of the volunteer, and it may not always be possible to respond fully, immediately, when the initiative is handed off.

In cases where circumstances force a change in the "steps", it becomes critical to communicate this to the dance partner. A quick e-mail or phone message that confirms;

• I received your document (message/ request/ missive) and,
• Should be able to reply by (date and time as appropriate) is vital.

Table 2: ExCom Meetings for Chapter and Section Secretaries
Meeting date - 10 days	Compose Chapter Report for the Section ExCom
Meeting date - 9 days	Send Chapter Report to the Chapter Chair for Review
Meeting date - 5 days	Send revised Chapter Report to Section Secretary
Meeting date	Ensure Chapter is represented at ExCom Meeting
Meeting date + 5 days	Distribute draft ExCom minutes to Chapter Officers

A similar, though shorter dance occurs between the Chapter Secretary and the Section Secretary as they near the time for the monthly Section ExCom meeting (see Table 2).

Also, the rapid turn around of the meeting minutes to the Chapter Secretaries is vital to ensure that actions at the Section level are communicated back to the Chapters as rapidly as possible. This is especially critical when there is a sudden change in a well publicized Section event, or some vital change in operating methods or policy takes place.

Finally a response from the Chapter Secretary to the Section Secretary that they received the copy of the last minutes helps the Section Secretary relax and know that their final twirl in the 'dance' was successfully completed.

Table 3: Section vTools Calendar
Meeting date - 45 days	Setup vTools calendar meeting page
Meeting date - 30 days	Send e-mail notice to members (include vTools link)
Meeting date - 1 day	Ck # registered & advise on refreshments
Meeting date + 2 day	Fill in vTools L-31 form to register meeting

Occasionally, some parts of the dance are performed almost 'Solo'. Preparation for a normal monthly membership meeting is a typical example (see Table 3).

As you can see, planning ahead is one of the elements that ensure that the dance is well performed, and that no one missed a step.

Chapter Calendar

There are a number of advantages to taking this long range view:

• Regular meeting dates can be planned well in advance, and venues, menus, support functions (A/V, Computer, Projector, Microphones, etc.) can be anticipated and scheduled.
• By establishing regular meeting days, times and locations, members (and Officers) become used to the routine, and begin to bend their other schedules around the planned meetings.
• Different types of meeting may be noted (administrative, presentation, tours of plants, workshops, classes, PAC's, etc.)
• The schedule can be interleaved with other related events of note: Section and Society Conferences, Section ExCom meetings, Society Symposia, Sister Chapter events of interest to your membership, etc.

Section vTools Calendar

Chapter Web Site

Chapter On-Line Community

Of course, all this activity requires a good tool box, well stocked with the appropriate tool for each task (see Table 6).

Table 6: Tools

ExCom Meeting agenda template Macro to facilitate taking minutes directly using the current agenda ExCom Meeting notice template Section vTools for calendar meeting updates Chapter ExCom attendance spreadsheet Chapter Speakers Planning Spreadsheet Link to IEEE HQ (L31 Form) through the vTools on the web Section Chapter monthly Report Format (Summarize minutes) Blank Roster of the Chapter Executive Committee email contact list for the Chapter membership (SAMIEEE)

With these tools, the individual jobs become only a matter of knowing when to throw which switch, and how far to turn each valve.

With the tools above, and solid long range plan in place, and cooperative fellow Officers, an active chapter keeps a Secretary busy, but not frantic. The 'dance' is indeed 'measured' and, to some degree, 'stately', and with all the 'partners' dancing in time, it can be a pleasure to watch. ·

Kimball Williams is the Section Chair, and a Technical Fellow of the EMC Laboratory, Denso International America Inc. email: k.williams@ieee.org.

IEEE Member Benefit IEEE Member Benefit

-by Kimball Williams

Figure 1: Student Branch Locations
Lawrence Inst Of Tech	Southfield, MI
Michigan State University	Lansing, MI
University of Michigan	Ann Arbor, MI
Oakland University	Auburn Hills, MI
St Clair College Of Technology	Windsor, Ontario, CA
Univ Of Detroit-Mercy	Detroit, MI
Univ Of Michigan-Dearborn	Dearborn, MI
Univ Of Windsor	Windsor, Ontario, CA
Wayne State Univ	Detroit, MI
ITT Technical Institute-Troy	Troy, MI
Eastern Michigan University	Ypsilanti, MI
Kettering University	Flint, MI

The IEEE Mentor Program in Southeastern Michigan Section (SEM) is possibly one of the most ambitious in the country. With 10 University Student Branches (SB) in our Section, we need to link with and support a great diversity of IEEE Student Members located in two countries, 8 in the US and 2 in Canada (see Figure 1).

If you have been counting, you will notice that there are 12 institutions listed here. Eastern Michigan University is building its Student Branch, and is expected to be a fully recognized Branch later this year. Kettering is technically in Northern Michigan Section, but has applied to be part of the SEM Mentor program. We are awaiting a final 'OK' from the leadership in Northern Michigan Section.

The plan is to have 2 Mentors for each school. This will allow sufficient 'overlap' to ensure almost continuous Mentor support for Student Branch activities. Membership is building now, and the Mentors hold regular administrative teleconferences each month on the 1st Monday of the month in the evenings. With as many schools as we have in our Section, we need 20 to 24 Mentors to ensure coverage, so potential new Mentors are most welcome.

Mentor Goals & Objectives

Student Branch Activity

Some Student Branches have remained active, and those usually have two characteristics that we have noted: At least one member of the faculty is interested and willing to assist the Officers, and The Student Branch holds its elections in the spring.

It should be noted that IEEE requires that the faculty advisor must be a member of IEEE and one technical Society above student grade, appointed by the University and approved by the local Section.

A spring election makes sense since this ensures that the new officers have had a chance to watch the Branch in operation, and have the old officers to lead them in their first few weeks of operation. Also, with a spring election of officers, the new officers can hit the ground running when they return to School in the fall semester and the Student Branch is not floundering without elected officers, and no one with experience is present to organize the election.

Student Branch / Section Planned Meetings

Most events will take place at the University Student Branch, or at the University of Michigan - Dearborn, Fairlane Conference Center in Dearborn, Michigan. Exact arrangements will appear on the SEM Section website calendar with details of the event, and the ability for attendees to register to participate.

Anyone interested in volunteering to become a Mentor for one of the universities in the Section should contact Kimball Williams for more information on the program, and how to join. ·

Kimball Williams is the Section Chair, and a Technical Fellow of the EMC Laboratory, Denso International America Inc. email: k.williams@ieee.org.

- by Kimball Williams

"The goal of PACE is to promote the professional interests of IEEE members."

Professional Activities Committees for Engineers (PACE) has as its goal to 'promote the professional interests of the IEEE members as well as provide a mechanism for the communications of members views on their professional needs.' This gives rise to a number of interrelated concerns:

• Ethics
• Employment
• Professional awareness
• Professional training
• Professional certification
• Pre-college education,
• Employer awareness
• Career transition planning,
• Student professional awareness, and
• Technology policy issues

Of course, the question arises, what should/can we do to promote these concerns at the Section and Chapter level?

Ethics

1. Presentations at SEM Conferences, S-PACs, and Membership Meetings may focus at least one element of discussion on ethical considerations.
2. Prepare a SEM general presentation on Ethics that can be used for Chapter awareness programs.
3. Support efforts to promote ethical awareness in our membership at our Spring and Fall conferences

Employment

1. Review of our current 'Jobs' section on the SEM web site, with an eye to ensuring that all listed opportunities are still 'current'.
2. An 'out-reach' to any known 'head hunters' that may find promising candidates through the SEM web site.
3. Investigate the IEEE jobs web site for possible links to the SEM web site to help connect jobs to candidates more easily.
4. Write the first of a series of SEM Newsletter articles on the use of resources for matching jobs to engineers and encouraging the use of available tools.
5. Conduct another SEM based 'Job Fair' where employers and candidates may meet. (In Work)
6. Develop a Chapter level program on the use of IEEE job hunting tools: (First presentation to SEM: Chapter VIII occurred on 4/18/2009)

Professional awareness

1. Develop an appreciation in our young engineers that their career directions are controllable factors in their lives, and that they have choices.
2. Encourage individual personal assessments of our personal career choices.
3. Discuss re-printing some of the excellent articles on professional awareness from other IEEE sources in our newsletter.

Professional training

1. Consider training programs in our Spring and Fall Conferences on the engineering 'soft skills'.
2. Write the first of a series of SEM Newsletter articles discussing the importance of the 'soft skills' in the training of a well rounded engineer.
3. Develop a presentation on the importance of non-technical training and skills to the success of engineers in the 'real world'.

Professional Certification

Pre-college Education

The IEEE ReSeed program trains retired engineers and scientists to return to the class room as assistants to teachers working with young students in fields of science, mathematics, engineering and technology.

The 'SAE' A World in Motion (AWIM) volunteer STEM professionals serves as an in-classroom resource for teachers. As such, volunteers have the opportunity to influence and enhance the ways in which our youth are prepared to meet the challenges of the future. For a short-term, flexible time commitment, 'volunteers' will help make learning fun, help students discover the exciting application of science and math principles, and share information about rewarding careers in your chosen profession.

The third program here in Southeastern Michigan conducted by Dr. C.J. Chung is the ROBOFest program out of Lawrence Technological University which attracts high school students from all over the state to focus their energies on the engineering challenges of designing and building autonomous robots of all types. This is one example where involvement by interested SEM volunteers can help change the future of young minds. (Please note the reference information for all three programs at the end of this article.)

Employer Awareness

In planning is a presentation to employers that will attempt to change their point of view about what a professional society is, does and why every engineer should be active in at least one.

Career transition planning

1. Defining the skill sets needed to succeed in engineering as well as the many related fields in which engineers may find their next job.
2. Developing a 'tool' to assist engineers in the evaluation of their strengths and assets in order to provide the most promising career selection at various times in their career.
3. Locating existing or developing new training for engineers who are changing the course of their career either through desire or circumstances to assist them to prepare for both the technical as well as the emotional challenges they will face.
4. We will write the first of a series of SEM Newsletter articles on making the move to alternative career objectives (management / field engineering / sales / short order cook / etc.) in the next few months.

Student professional awareness

1. Help provide new graduate engineers with an awareness of 'Career' as opposed to 'Job' as they begin their search for employment.
2. Ensure that they are aware of engineering as one of the potential 'Job' choices that can lead to a long and satisfying career. (Presentations to local Student Branches to develop and refine presentation material have begun.)
3. Work with employers to ensure that there is a clear career 'path' for a young engineer with a flare for engineering and an interest in pursuing our line of work.
4. Develop training materials suitable for presentations to students that can be given by our Chapters at local Student Branches, and encourage them to make use of those materials.
5. We will write the first of a series of SEM Newsletter articles encouraging more direct Chapter involvement with local Universities and Colleges.

Measurements

All of these worthy efforts need volunteer assistance to help make a difference here in Southeastern Michigan. If you have time, and are interested in following up on any of these activities, please contact the SEM Director of PACE activities:

Dr. Adel Marzougui
734-213-1240
adel_mar@hotmail.com

ROBOFest
CJ Chung, Ph.D., Associate Professor & Robofest Director
Dept. of Math and Computer Science, Lawrence Tech University
21000 West Ten Mile Rd., Southfield MI 48075, USA
CHUNG@LTU.edu https://qbx6.ltu.edu/chung
Office (248)204-3504
www.robofest.net

IEEE: ReSeed
Retirees Enhancing Science Education through Experiments and Demonstrations
The Center for STEM Education
Suite 520, International Village
Northeastern University
360 Huntington Avenue
Boston, Massachusetts 02115
Phone: 617.373.8380 / 617.373.8380
E-mail:stem@neu.edu
www.stem.neu.edu

SAE: World in Motion
SAE International
1-800-457-2946 / 1-800-457-2946
awim@sae.org
www.awim.org
www.sae.org ·

Kimball Williams is the Section Chair, and a Technical Fellow of the EMC Laboratory, Denso International America Inc. email: k.williams@ieee.org.

-by Prof. C.J. Chung

The IEEE PACE-sponsored Robofest event is organizing a new program called "RoboExpo" which is an annual exposition conference connecting academia, industry, and government sectors involved in robotics in order to share knowledge, demonstrate new products and services, promote R&D, and inspire students to pursue STEM careers. Please go to www.RoboExpo.us to find more information. Robotics and Automation Chapter (XIV) will have a booth during the event on Sep. 26, 2011, Noon~ 5pm, at Lawrence Tech. ·

CJ is a professor at LTU and Founder of RoboFest. email: cchung@ltu.edu.

-by Prof. Judith Carlisle and Prof. Michael Farmer

Ethics is a difficult topic to explore. It seems "obvious" that we should all know how one should behave, and what one should do in various situations. It is another thing altogether to deal with the everyday, and occasionally alarming, ethical situations in which we find ourselves. What are the guidelines that are available to you when it comes to making ethical decisions? What are the ethical beliefs of the organization for which you work? How well are you versed in the ethical policy of your organization? Do you feel that this policy supports you? What do you do when faced with an ethical quandary?

Two faculty members at the University of Michigan-Flint, Judith Carlisle and Michael Farmer, have begun an exploratory study intended to better understand what safety-critical software engineers think about ethical issues --- the ethical responsibilities they face, ethical decisions that they must make, ethical pressures that they are under, and others. If you are a software or systems engineer involved in Safety-critical systems development we'd like you to participate in this study by following the link below to a survey:

https://umflint.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_ahQ5TK3DCwGXrr6

The survey should take 15 to 20 minutes.

Questions: If you have questions regarding this study, feel free to contact us. ·

Judith Carlisle and Michael Farmer are faculty members at the University of Michigan-Flint. email: carlislj@umflint.edu, farmerme@umflint.edu

-by Don Bramlett, P.E., SMIEEE

Greetings to all potential IEEE volunteers and leaders.

This is an open invitation to any IEEE member to learn about the many opportunities to serve in a volunteer or leadership role in IEEE within the boundaries of the Southeastern Michigan Section, from the downriver areas in the south to the northern suburbs, and from Lansing, Jackson and Ann Arbor in the west to the Pointes and Windsor & Essex County, Canada.

We are seeking nominations, including self-nominations, for 2012 Section and Chapter officers. Also, many members participate in some other volunteer role, such as helping to schedule or coordinate some technical meetings, speaking on a subject at meetings, handling administrative duties, supporting the webmaster or newsletter editor, or whatever might interest you.

If you think you might have any interest in helping in some role as a volunteer with the Section or one of our Committees, Chapters or Infinity Groups, please contact me, via phone or email.

On the subject of the elections for 2012 Section and Chapter officers; if you have an interest or question concerning nominations for any of the open volunteer leadership positions, please also contact Don Bramlett as noted above. All Section and Chapter positions are open for nominations.

For brevity, please review the positions listed for the Section and Chapters associated with Technical Societies on the Section website.

Nominations, including self nominations, need to be submitted by September 1, 2011. This will allow the Nominating Committee time to beat the bushes for candidates for the remaining vacant 2012 positions in the Section and Chapters before the formal electronic election process.

Please do not hesitate to contact Don Bramlett with your questions and nominations. He gets lonely and feels neglected without frequent contact. ·

Don Bramlett, P.E., is the Section Advisor, and Immediate Past IEEE Region 4 Director. (office) 313-235-7549, (cell) 313-608-6223, (home) 734-591-1452. email: d.bramlett@ieee.org or bramlettd@dteenergy.com (See page 15 for a definition of IEEE Chapters and Sections.)

Many IEEE members find the terms "Chapters" and "Section" a little confusing. Here is a short description of the terms "Chapters" vs. "Section". After reading this article you will be able to determine which IEEE Chapter(s) you are in, if any, and to which IEEE Section you belong.

"Every IEEE Member, including every student member, is a member of a Section."

In IEEE, the terms "Chapters" and "Section" mean different things. Sections are geographical areas -- they are the main organization for the local area. Our IEEE Section (here in Southeastern Michigan) is called Southeastern Michigan (SEM) Section. Our Section covers a large area around the cities of Detroit, Windsor, Lansing, and Ann Arbor.

Every IEEE member, including every student member, is a member of a Section. Your Section is determined by your current address, so members only belong to one Section. The Sections are govered by the IEEE Member and Geographic Activites (MGA) board. Your Section does lots of local activities, and needs lots of help from local volunteers like you. Helping your Section increases your return on your investment in membership dues. (How? Find out by volunteering.)

A Chapter is a local organization for an IEEE Technical Society. IEEE has thirty-eight Technical Socieites. When you join an optional technical society, you also join the local technical society chapter. The chapters are part of the Section, and they cover the same Southeastern Michigan geographic area as the Section. If you belong to many societies, you also belong to their respective local chapters. SEM has 17 Chapters, representing 23 Technical Societies.

Student Branches are the local IEEE organization for the university. Student Branches, and the univeristy Student Members, are part of the local Section.

Thank you to all of the past and present volunteers of your local Section and your Chapters!

-by Don Bramlett, P.E., SMIEEE

The 54th Annual Science and Engineering Fair of Metropolitan Detroit (SEFMD) was held from March 15 through March 19, 2011 in the Detroit Hall of the Cobo Conference Exhibition Center in downtown Detroit. Judging of student projects was performed on Wednesday, March 16. This year the SEFMD had over 131 schools participate from Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties with approximately 1,378 students having projects on display in two Divisions, the Junior Division (6th thru 8th grade students) and the Senior Division (9th thru 12th grade students). Exhibits were classified into 13 general categories for judging; including engineering, computer science, physics, and environmental science.

For the seventeenth straight year the IEEE Southeastern Michigan (IEEE-SEM) Section has provided a team of volunteer judges to evaluate student projects associated with IEEE fields of interest. The Section expresses its appreciation to the IEEE-SEM Section members who volunteered to be IEEE judges or serve in other roles this year.

The Section wishes to thank the seven (7) IEEE members, and their companies/institutions, for taking the time to volunteer and help to make the Science Fair a more pleasurable and meaningful experience for the middle school and high school students who participated.

The IEEE-SEM judging team was composed of the following five (5) volunteers:

Don C. Bramlett, PE, SMIEEE, FESD, FMSPE
Detroit Edison (DTE Energy)

Laurence G. Dishman, Ph.D.
Wayne State University

William Quinlan
American Axle and Manufacturing

Sat Basu
Detroit Edison (DTE Energy retired)

Amar Basu, Ph.D.
Wayne State University

Other IEEE/SEM Section members served in other capacities at the SEFMD, such as Paul Ostrowski, Ph.D, CCE, SMIEEE (General Category Judge Coordinator) and Dave Morris, Ph.D. (General Category Judge) Mitre

The judges had the opportunity to view and evaluate a number of exhibits, especially some interesting projects in areas pertinent to IEEE fields of interest. The judges and the high school students in the Senior Division had the pleasure to interface and discuss in depth some of the principles, scientific techniques, engineering approach, experimental results and applications pertinent to the projects.

The IEEE-SEM Section, based on the evaluations of the panel of judges, awarded two (2) First Place Grand Awards, consisting of a personalized certificate and a cash award for each awardee. These awards were presented to:

Senior Division

Samantha Myers , a sophomore at Divine Child High School in Dearborn for her project entitled 'Solar Panel Efficiency: A More Colorful Future.'

The panel of judges also determined that the IEEE-SEM Section would provide five (5) Honorable Mention Awards to other noteworthy projects in the Junior Division. Each Honorable Mention Award consisted of a personalized certificate for each awardee. These awards were presented to:

Timothy Clish, in the 7th Grade at St. Michael Elementary School in Livonia for his project entitled 'Check the Charge.'

Vivian Obia, in the 8th Grade at Ivan Ludington Magnet Middle School in Detroit for her project entitled 'The Effect of Magnetic Fields on the Flow Rate of Diamagnetic Liquids.'

Kate Morris in the 8th Grade at Our Lady of Good Counsel Elementary School in Plymouth for her project entitled 'Does Temperature Effect the Strength of an Electromagnetic.'

Bryce Paputa, in the 8th Grade at Novi Middle School in Novi for his project entitled 'Artificial Intelligence in Mastermind.'

Jason Liu, in the 8th Grade at Detroit Country Day Middle School in Beverly Hills for his project entitled 'Which Windmill is More Efficient.'

For further information on the Science Fair judging and project abstracts go to www.sefmd.org .

The IEEE/SEM Section plans to continue to staff other panels of special awards judges at both the Michigan Regional Future City Competition and the SEFMD in 2012, and in subsequent years. These are just a couple of the pre-university education programs that the IEEE-SEM Section promotes. ·

Don Bramlett is the Section Advisor. email: d.bramlett@ieee.org

-by Xueyang (Jessie) Duan, and Dr. Tayfun Ozdemir

This year, Chapter IV continues to grow and becomes a joint chapter of four societies including ED, MTT, AP, and PHO. PHO, the Photonics society, officially joined the chapter in March, 2011. Meanwhile, our team expanded to eight officers for more detailed duties. The officers' meetings were held twice for the first half of this year for team coordinating.

As a joint chapter, we invited professionals with wide technical background as speakers for seminars. In March, we hosted Dr. Ronan Sauleau from the Antenna & Microwave Department, Institute of Electronics and Telecommunications of Rennes (IETR), University of Rennes, France. His talk was about the 'Antenna Research at IETR'. As a speaker for the 2011 IEEE SEM spring conference, our chapter hosted Dr. Tal Carmon of EECS department, University of Michigan, who presented a talk on 'Harnessing Radiation Pressure'. Most recently, we hosted Dr. Sajeev John from department of physics, University of Toronto, Canada. He gave a lecture on 'Photonic Band Gap Materials: Light Trapping Crystal'. This seminar was attended by over 90 professionals and students. Soon in September, we will be hosting Dr. Herbert S. Bennett from Physical Measurement Laboratory, NIST, as our speaker.

Moreover, we have started planning for the 2012 Great Lake Technology Symposium (GLTS). Mr. Zachary J. Lemnios, director, DR&E, DoD, has been confirmed as the keynote speaker of the symposium. Additional details regarding the symposium will be announced soon, and we expect larger attendance than the first symposium held in 2010. ·

Xueyang (Jessie) Duan is the Chapter Secretary and a Graduate Research Asisstant at University of Michigan. Dr. Tayfun Ozdemir is the Chapter Chair and President of Virtual EM Inc.

Chapter IV web page is at https://www.ieee-sem.org/ChapterIV/ChapterIV.html

Angela C. Sodan, Ph.D. 1955 - 2011

Angela passed away April 21st, 2011 after a courageous battle with cancer. Angela served as the IEEE SEM Director of Technical Activities and as the Chair of the IEEE SEM Women in Engineering Affinity Group. Angela came here 10 years ago from Berlin, Germany where she is survived by her mother Christel, her brother Dr. Halge Sodan, his wife Korneilia & their daughter Beatrice Sodan to whom she was Godmother. Angela had a PhD in Computer Science & was a professor at the University of Windsor. She was involved in numerous research projects. Most recently, her article on multiprocessing appeared as the cover article in the IEEE Computer March 2010 issue.

Paul Ostrowski, C.C.E., Ph.D. 1954 - 2011

Paul passed away suddenly on April 9, 2011. Paul recently served as Chapter Chair of the IEEE Engineering in Management and Biology Society SEM Chapter. In years past, Paul served in many SEM Section Offices. Paul graduated from Cornell University with a degree in Biomedical Engineering, and completed his post-graduate education at the University of Michigan. He served for 16 years as the Chief of Biomedical Engineering at the John D. Dingell VA Medical Center in Detroit, Michigan and for the Veteran's Integrated Service Network. He served on the national Veterans Administration Medical Devices Expert Panel. His professional interests focus on medical equipment technology management and development, especially in patient safety, systems design, telemedicine, imaging and neurology.

Section Chair	Kimball Williams
Section Vice Chair	(vacant)
Section Secretary	Lora Schulwitz, Ph.D.
Section Treasurer	Mark Ciechanowski, P.E.
Section Senior Past Chair	Randy Stevenson, Ph.D.
Section Junior Past Chair	Chris Mi, Ph.D.
Director of Marketing	Robert Neff
Director of Technical Activities	(vacant)
Director of Professional Activities	Adel Marzougui, Ph.D.
Director of Membership Activities	Momand Berri, Ph.D.
Director of Student Activities	Trisha Taylor
Director of Educational Activities	vacant
Section Advisor	Don Bramlett, P.E.
Section Webmaster	Scott Lytle
Newletter Editor	Mark Ciechanowski, P.E.
Graduates of the Last Decade (GOLD) Committee Chair	Lora Schulwitz, Ph.D.
Women in Engineering Committee Chair	vacant
Chapter I Chair (Signal Processing, Circuits, and Systems)	Jeff Dulzo
Chapter II Chair (Vehicular Technology)	Mengyang Zhang
Chapter III Chair (Aerospace, Electronics Systems, Comm.)	Elizabeth Chesnutt, Ph.D.
Chapter IV Chair (Trident)	Tayfun Özdemir, Ph.D.
Chapter V Chair (Computer)	Subra Ganesan, Ph.D.
Chapter VI Chair (Geosciences and Remote Sensing)	Adib Nashashibi, Ph.D.
Chapter VII Chair (Industry Applications, Power Engineering)	Kevin Taylor
Chapter VIII Chair (Electromagnetic Compatibility)	Scott Lytle
Chapter IX Chair (Industrial and Power Electronics)	Kevin Taylor
Chapter X Chair (Technology Management Council)	Liang Downey
Chapter XI Chair (Engineering in Medicine and Biology)	vacant
Chapter XII Chair (Control Systems)	Momand Berri, Ph.D.
Chapter XIII Chair (Education)	Dean Aslam, Ph.D.
Chapter XIV Chair (Robotics and Automation)	Leandro Barajas
Chapter XV Chair (Systems, Man, and Cybernetics)	Oleg Gusikhin
Chapter XVI Chair (Computational Intelligence)	Chaomin Luo, Ph.D.
Chapter XVII Chair (Nanotechnology)	Dean Aslam Ph.D.

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