IEEE Central Texas SectionTHE ANALOG |
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Volume 53-01 |
January 2009 |
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Newsletter of the Central Texas Section of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, Inc. Published monthly. Deadline for inclusion is the 25th day of the previous month. Send submissions, comments, questions to Kevin Nickels, Editor, k.nickels@ieee.org Editor's Note: Dennis Ferguson dferguson@ieee.org has agreed to take over as ANALOG editor, effective for the February edition. It's been an honor to serve you for the last year and a half, and has reminded me of all the wonderful things that the IEEE volunteers in the Central Texas Section do for our membership. Keep it up! And members, thank a volunteer this year - and consider joining them. CONTENTS1. Section Activities
2. Chapter Activities
3. News & Information
4. Local Conferences5. Other ConferencesIEEE EXTERNAL LINKS
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1. Section ActivitiesChairman's ColumnFriends, As I close my first year as section chairman, let me say what an honor it's been to serve you and this exceptional group. This year has seen the section and its members receive accolades and plaudits of which you should all be particularly proud. I know 2009 will bring yet more remarkable accomplishments by you and the section. As your officers prepare their plans for 2009, we find that we too have been affected by the downturn in the economy. As such you can expect to see a little belt-tightening as we finalize next year's budget at our January planning meeting. Nevertheless, we will maintain a sustained effort to support the chapters as they continue to grow their programs within the section. In particular, you'll notice the approval of two new chapters in the immediate future: a Joint Antennas and Propagation and Microwave Theory and Techniques Chapter, and a Communications and Signal Processing Chapter-San Antonio. Watch for upcoming announcements on the activities associated with these new groups. I look forward to 2009 and all the opportunities I know it will bring for CTS. And finally, Happy New Year to all of you and yours. Garrett Polhamus Back to TOP Membership DevelopmentRecognizing New IEEE Fellows in the Central Texas SectionIEEE Fellow status is granted to an IEEE Senior Member with an extraordinary record of accomplishments in any of the IEEEÕs designated fields of interest. The honor is conferred by the IEEE Board of Directors. For the Class of 2009 there were only 302 Fellows designated throughout the IEEE. The CTS is honored to have six of these new fellows in are area. Please congratulate these new Fellows, they are:
Do want to make a difference as an engineer and have fun at the same time?Each year there are a number of science fairs in Texas in which the brightest high school students compete for scholarships, cash and other prizes along with the opportunity to advance to state and international competitions. As an engineer, one of the biggest gifts you can give is the gift of being a judge for these outstanding students. Not only do you have the opportunity to interact and contribute to the students, but also participate with other extraordinary engineers in the community. The local regional fairs (29 counties) are the Jr. Academy of Science and Alamo Regional Science Fair and are held in San Antonio. In addition, the ExxonMobil Texas Science and Engineer Fair is held in San Antonio. Judges are needed for each of these fairs. For more information, please contact John and Rose Perez at jeperez@swbell.net or Robert Fanick at rfanick@swri.org. And I might add that I have judged several of these fairs in the past and have had a blast. Come out and have some fun making a difference! Have you been renewed your IEEE membership for 2009?Don't know? Check it out though your MYIEEE account. Login at: https://www.ieee.org/myieee or simply call 1 800 678-4333. CTS 2008 Fellows will be announced in December 2008. At least one CTS member will be on the list. Watch for the announcement in the January Analog. Congratulations to the new CTS Senor Members and Happy Holidays! Joe Redfield Back to TOP Continuing EducationWebinars from IEEE Spectrum
Back to TOP Student BranchesBranch Liaisons Needed St Mary's University- San Antonio (https://ieee.stmarytx.edu/) Trinity University - San Antonio University of Texas at Austin (https://ieee.ece.utexas.edu/) University of Texas at San Antonio (https://www.utsaieee.org/) Student Member NewsCall for student papersIEEE is holding a student paper contest in conjunction with the upcoming Region 5 meeting, to be held Apr 17-18, 2009 in Lubbock, TX. https://www.r5conferences.org/. The Region 5 Paper Contest has three levels: Local, Area and Region. Look at the Central Texas Section website www.ieee.org/CTS for deadlines and instructions for submission. Central Texas Section award $4000 in grants to UT-San Antonio, St. Mary's University and Trinity University.This was a competitive process where the schools submitted proposals for projects to be funded. Robotics projects were popular as they are a fun way for students to practice what they learn in the class room. It also gives a leg-up on Region 5 robotics competition where UTSA finished in 2007. Community outreach was another popular project where students take design kits into K-12 schools to demonstrate what engineers do. On behalf of our section schools, thanks to CTS for their continued support. Why You Should Stick With IEEEEach year about half the IEEE student members who graduate don't renew and move up to full members--they just drop out. But if they don't renew, these graduates will miss out on a load of benefits that could come in handy as they enter the workforce. Check out the top reasons you should keep your membership after you graduate at https://bmsmail3.ieee.org:80/u/13927/40069599 Back to TOP Calls for VolunteersStudent Paper Contest JudgesIEEE is holding a student paper contest in conjunction with the upcoming Region 5 meeting, to be held Apr 17-18, 2009 in Lubbock, TX. https://www.r5conferences.org/. The Region 5 Paper Contest has three levels: Local, Area and Region. We need some volunteers to judge the CTS and Southern Area entries. Please contact Clif Denny at c.denny@ieee.org for more information or to volunteer. IEEE Teacher In-Service Program (TISP)The IEEE CTS will be hosting its first Teacher In-Service Program (TISP) seminar for local educators on February 20th at TEA Region 20 in San Antonio from 9 am to 4 pm. Any CTS Member who wishes to volunteer to help with the seminar is invited to attend. Please contact Dean Schneider, CTS K-12 Committee Chairman at d.schneider@ieee.org for more information. The IEEE Teacher In-Service Program is sponsored by the IEEE Education Activities Board (EAB) and features IEEE Section volunteers developing and presenting technologically oriented subject matter to local pre-university educators in an in-service or professional development setting. TISP allows IEEE volunteers to share their technical expertise and to demonstrate the application of engineering concepts to support the teaching and learning of science, mathematics and technology disciplines. For more information about TISP, please go to https://www.ieee.org/web/education/preuniversity/tispt/index.html , or contact Dean Schneider at d.schneider@ieee.org. National Engineers Week Future City Competition needs your help, supportWe are in earnest need of your help. Through mentoring, judging, or sponsorship of the 2008-09 National Engineers Week Future City Competition, you and your colleagues can make all the difference. Middle-school students with a keen interest in engineering and those committed to helping them realize their dreams are now preparing for the North Texas Regional event. All are in need of any assistance you can provide, no matter how great or small. HOW YOU CAN CONTRIBUTEThere are a number of different ways for you and your organization to become involved in this year's North Texas Regional Future City Competition (https://www.dfwfuturecity.org/part.html ):
BACKGROUNDThe Future City Competition is the nation's largest not-for-profit engineering education program. Its purpose is to encourage students to pursue a technical career, to address important environmental issues in our world, and to realize their vision of a city of the future. The winner of our regional event will go on to compete in Washington, DC during National Engineers Week. All of it is possible only through the combined efforts of volunteers and sponsors.The students are challenged in a series of fun, hands-on applications to present their unique set of solutions to the real-world problems of creating a livable city. To do so, they will adopt the principles of every branch of engineering to support their assertions. Each competing team is asked to first generate a computerized design of a future city, then build a scale model of that city using as many recycled materials as possible. Additionally, they will research and write a paper - this year's challenge is water conservation. The students must create a home system that minimizes (or eliminates) the use of municipal or externally supplied water for daily requirements. Finally the teams will publicly present their projects to a panel of judges. However you decide to help us, we thank you for your consideration. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please feel free to contact me. My information is provided below. You can also visit the official web site at https://www.dfwfuturecity.org to learn more on how you and your organization can make a difference to the next generation of engineers. Jean Eason Back to TOP 2. Chapter ActivitiesMultiple SOCIETY Events
For more information on the SACCESS meeting, please contact Brian Campion @ bcampion@caci.com.
Multiple Chapters
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| Topic/Title | Software Performance Engineering in a Distributed Computer System |
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| Speaker | Ganesh Kamat, Sr. Research Engineer, Southwest Research Institute |
| Date/Time | Tuesday, January 20, 2009 6:30 networking, 7:00 dinner, 8:00 program |
| Cost | $10 IEEE Members, $13 Non-members, $0 students |
| Reservations | RSVP to Yu Zhang by Monday before meeting, (210) 999-7399 |
| Location | Conference Room B, University Center, St. Mary's University, San Antonio, TX |
| Notes | See www.ieee-cs-cts.org for directions and parking information. This meeting is open to the public. |
| Abstract | Performance issues related to enterprise wide distributed computer system are not considered early on. It becomes very critical at the time of deployment and customer acceptance which in turn leads to delayed deliveries, customer dissatisfaction and costly rework. With the popularity of Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) and web services in the enterprise there is a need to determine when the server could be overloaded, how the network latency affects the performance, what is the throughput of the system etc. In this talk, I will give an overview of some of the aspects of Performance Engineering and provide insights into how we went to solve a typical problem at SwRI. |
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| Topic/Title | Anti-counterfeiting technologies |
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| Speaker | Jay Fraser is a technology entrepreneur with strategic planning, new business development, marketing and technology transfer and commercialization background. He is President of Tracer Detection Technology Corp., a company involved in document security, brand protection, and separately, covert tracking technologies. It is completing commercialization of its anti-counterfeit solution, and is continuing its work with the Department of Defense to enhance its chemical track, trace and locate system. |
| Date/Time | Wednesday, Jan 14, 2009 (Regular meeting is on 2nd Thursday) Networking at 6:00 pm, Business and program from 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm |
| Cost | $5.00 minimum charge for the restaurant. Supper is at optional extra cost. |
| Reservations | Not required. All interested parties are invited to attend. |
| Location | China Star Restaurant, 6134 Hwy 290E, Austin TX. Westbound access road of 290E, just east of IH 35 |
| Abstract | Despite attempts of existing technologies, the problem of counterfeit products and documents persists. Advanced capabilities of counterfeiters have thwarted earlier attempts to solve the problem. Also, many existing solutions have either shown security flaws or require an infrastructure build-out. In addition to representing a significant cost to industry and brad owners this presentation will highlight some of the more problematic areas in which counterfeiting effects everyone's lives and will touch on some of the solutions being offered or developed. |
Do a friend a favor. Bring your colleague to grow the Consultants Network attendance.
The Consultants web directory is to be found at https://www.alesu.com/xltrp/ieeecons/listzero.htm
Do the Consultants Network a favor. Give a talk or get a speaker for one meeting this year. Email the bio and summary to the Chairman.
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| Topic/Title | Organic Electronics |
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| Speaker | Dr. Manuel Quevedo-Lopez, University of Texas at Dallas |
| Date/Time | Thursday January 22, 2009 6:00-7:30PM |
| Refreshments | 6:00-6:30PM |
| Reservations | RSVP to Christian Catalan at Christian.Catalan@amd.com. We need an accurate count to purchase refreshments. |
| Location | SEMATECH Room F-C - Map at https://www.sematech.org/corporate/map.htm |
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For more Information contact Jason Polendo jpolendo@ieee.org
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For more information, contact Ray Chen
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We are looking for a few more volunteers to round out our Chapter's planning Committee. We currently have three, Scott Atkinson, Bob Harris and Ernest Franke. We meet monthly for lunch to review IEEE, Central Texas Section and Chapter activities. Interested folks should contact scott.atkinson@fullarmorgroup.com or 210-481-4932.
If a Life Member is not receiving email from our Chapter, please contact Scott Atkinson at scott.atkinson@fullarmorgroup.com or 210-481-4932.
For more information, contact Scott Atkinson
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| Topic/Title | TBD |
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| Speaker | TBD |
| Date/Time | January 20, 2009, 6:30pm |
| Cost | none |
| Reservations | Call Dale Ritzen (512) 651-5338 for details and directions. |
| Location | Dell, Parmer Campus, Parmer South Building 4, Victoria Conference Room. |
Mark Your Calanders -- January topic is TBD, in February Dale Ritzen will be speaking on the safety of amusement park rides, and we have scheduled a talk by someone who has come through fireman training in March.
We encourage you, others in your organization, or other interested parties to participate in our meetings. The PSES meets on the third Tuesday of every month at 6:30, with the program starting at 7pm. For further information about the PSES, please contact Dale Ritzen at (512) 651-5338 or Gary Schrempp at gary_schrempp@dell.com.
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| Topic/Title | Network Simulation |
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| Speaker | Anue Systems |
| Date/Time | Thursday, January 15, 2009 at 6:30pm |
| Cost | Free |
| Reservations | Please RSVP to Steve Crowl scrowl@ieee.org so that we may provide a guest list to our host. |
| Location | AT&T Labs - 9505 Arboretum Blvd, Austin, TX 78759 |
| Directions | Yahoo Map |
| Abstract | TBS - check our website for updates |
Upcoming Meetings:
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The IEEE Technology Management Council (Austin Chapter) is embarking on a year-long series: "Effective Engineering Leadership." This series of events is designed to help engineers and engineering managers develop the skills they need to become more effective, with take-away that they can implement immediately.
We will meet on the 2nd Tuesday of each month, beginning in October (October 14) at Amplify, 2608 Brockton Drive (Brocton and Burnet) at 6:30pm-8:30pm. Drinks and snacks will be provided.
Topics we will cover, over the course of several months, include:
Plan now to join us in November for another fantastic event in this series!
| Sponsors | Technology Management Council, in conjunction with the Women in Engineering |
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| Topic/Title | Managing from Within |
| Speaker | Israel Gat |
| Date/Time | January 13, 6:30-8:30 |
| Location | Amplify, Burnet and Braker |
| Notes | This meeting is free and open to the public. See www.austin-tmc.org for details and to RSVP. |
Contact Leslie Martinich (lmartinich@ieee.org) for more information about the Austin TMC.
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Contact Nils Smith (nils.smith@ieee.org) for information about the San Antonio TMC.
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| Sponsors | Technology Management Council, in conjunction with the Women in Engineering |
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| Topic/Title | Managing from Within |
| Speaker | Israel Gat |
| Date/Time | January 13, 6:30-8:30 |
| Location | Amplify, Burnet and Braker |
| Notes | This meeting is free and open to the public. See www.austin-tmc.org for details and to RSVP. |
Women in Engineering has been an Affinity Group of the Central Texas Section since the Fall of 2002.
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If you're a teacher looking for hands-on projects for your first-year class in electrical engineering, computer engineering, or computer science, your search could be over. Eight projects are available that cover such things as designing a prosthetic hand and developing error-correction codes for wireless communication systems. The projects were winners of IEEE's Real-World Engineering Project contest. There's more at https://bmsmail3.ieee.org:80/u/13926/40069599
Four IEEE journals were the most frequently cited in their fields, according to the 2007 Journal Citation Reports. Find out which IEEE journals made it to the top of the list at https://bmsmail3.ieee.org:80/u/13931/40069599
WASHINGTON (11 December 2008)-- The United States should deploy universal broadband and increase energy efficiency, among other things, to promote economic growth and spur job creation, two IEEE-USA presidents said in a letter presented to President-Elect Barack Obama's transition team.
IEEE-USA made some of its recommendations in a meeting with four members of Obama's Science, Technology and Innovation Transition Task Force at AeA's Washington headquarters on 5 December. IEEE-USA was one of roughly 50 organizations invited to share ideas on what the new administration could do to stimulate the economy within Obama's first 60 days in office.
"Technology and innovation remain the cornerstone of our nation's economy," 2008 IEEE-USA President Russ Lefevre and 2009 President Gordon Day wrote. "Any plan for creating jobs and economic growth begins with encouraging innovation that promotes those new ideas and products and, ultimately, results in jobs."
IEEE-USA made recommendations in six areas: research & development investments, broadband, health care, energy infrastructure, small business and long-term priorities.
By expanding ubiquitous broadband access into rural areas, more people could compete for technology-based jobs without relocating. Plus, the incentive for high-tech companies to establish operations in these lower-cost areas is enhanced. This helps keep jobs in the United States.
"As with the universal deployment of electricity and telephone service, universal broadband service, coupled with new Internet applications, will generate economic and social gains that far exceed the investment in the enabling infrastructure," the presidents wrote.
IEEE-USA believes that by investing in such things as Smart Grid technologies, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and clean, renewable energy sources, U.S. energy efficiency will increase.
"We also need to increase our electricity reliability by upgrading our aging national transmission grid," presidents Lefevre and Day wrote. "These steps can stimulate economic activity, create jobs and ensure that our country has abundant supplies of reliable and affordable electric power."
The letter is available at https://www.ieeeusa.org/policy/policy/2008/120508.pdf
The failure to recruit and retain more women in electrical and computer engineering is a major reason the representation of women in U.S. engineering as a whole has remained so low for so long. Last year, only 18 percent of all bachelor's degrees in engineering awarded by U.S. schools went to women. Read more at https://spectrum.ieee.org/dec08/6983
Chinese researchers at Tsinghua University and Beijing Normal University have built speakers from a film of carbon nanotubes that's simple, flat, transparent, and so flexible that it works even when pasted to a moving flag. Read more at https://spectrum.ieee.org/dec08/7070
The IEEE recently announced its class of 2009 Fellows, which consists of members from around the world who have demonstrated an "extraordinary record of accomplishments in any of the IEEE fields of interest." They join a group of thousands of other IEEE distinguished Fellows who have contributed to the advancement or application of engineering, science and technology. The IEEE Board of Directors awards the honor of Fellow to no more than 0.1 percent of the voting membership as of 31 December of the preceding year. To view the list of 2009 Fellows, visit https://www.ieee.org/web/membership/fellows/Fellows_Class_of_2009.html or to learn more about the IEEE Fellow Program, please visit https://www.ieee.org/fellows.
Read the Membership Development column for a list of fellows from the Central Texas Region!
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