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Volume 53-11 |
November 2009 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Dennis Ferguson, Editor, dferguson@ieee.org CONTENTS1. Section Activities2. Chapter Activities3. News & Information
4. Local Conferences5. Other ConferencesIEEE EXTERNAL LINKS
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1. Section ActivitiesChairman's ColumnDear CTS members, At a recent EMBS meeting in San Antonio, we had a great presentation by Mike Henry, the senior mentor of the FIRST organization in San Antonio (https://www.usfirst.org/). Also present was a young woman who had participated in FIRST for the past 6 years... and attributed her current interest in engineering to the program. This is one of a handful of great programs available for us to address the issue of getting kids excited about science and engineering at various stages of their education. Best Robotics (https://www.bestinc.org/MVC/), Future Cities (https://www.futurecity.org/), and FIRST are all programs with which we can help as volunteers. Our coordinator for these type of activities is Dean Schneider, our K-12 committee leader. If you're interested in volunteering to help make these programs succeed, please drop Dean a note. There are many places to help in mentoring, judging, etc. Royce Johnson, our EMBS Chapter Chair, recently put out a specific call for volunteers for one of these programs: The FIRST Lego League in San Antonio is in immediate need of volunteers. The FIRST Lego League is the starting level for intramural competitions in technology challenges. It is growing exponentially in popularity which leads to a call for more judges at the 22 NOV qualifiers in San Antonio. It is like a science fair but with lots more fun and action. If you have questions, please contact Mike Henry at jmhenry@usfirst.org. Finally, take a moment to look over the Section's Strategic Plan now posted on the website. This reflects where we think the organization should be heading in the future, and how we're going to measure our progess. And again, thanks again for all you do for the profession. Garrett Polhamus Back to TOP Membership DevelopmentNew to IEEE? Joined within the last year?The IEEE has a special program to support new members with navigating all the benefits of being an IEEE member. Each month on the 4th Thursday, IEEE hosts two New Member Orientation Webcasts (9:00 and 15:00 EDT). These one hour Webcasts are intended to assist new IEEE members in navigating all the benefits of being an IEEE member. Not an IEEEE Member? Have you been waiting for the right time to join?Join the IEEE this month and receive 14 months of the benefits of being an IEEE member for the price of 12. Begin receiving all the benefits of being an IEEE member NOW. IEEE is the world's largest technical society, bringing members access to the industry's most essential technical information, networking opportunities, career development tools, and many other exclusive benefits. To find out more, go to https://www.ieee.org/membership. Did you know about IEEE - Life MembershipClose to retirement? Don't retire your IEEE membership too soon! IEEE Members who are over 65 and have been dues paying members for over 35 years qualify for IEEE Life Membership with waiver of future dues. Joe Redfield Back to TOP Section & Chapter NewsCentral Texas Future City CompetitionCentral Texas Section of IEEE will be the organizer of the Central Texas Future City competition. This competition, targeted at teams of 7th and 8th graders, is open to all. A team is comprised of 3 students, a teacher/adult, and an engineer/mentor. If you want to be a mentor, or your child, or child of a friend wants to compete, check out the national future city website (www.futurecity.org). We will need mentors for the teams, and judges for the deliverables (software program, essay in advance, and physical model and presentation on the day of the competition), and some day of competition volunteers. The judges for the software program and essay can judge whenever they want, as long as it's before the deadline (early January), and the competition will probably be January 23 (Saturday) at Texas State. Let me know if you're interested, or if your company is interested in sponsoring a specific prize. Central Texas Section - New OfficersPlease congratulate the 2010-2012 Officers of the Central Texas Section. Having received no petition candidates, they are elected by acclamation. They are: Tom Grim - ChairmanThuy Dao - Vice-Chairman Austin Dawn Roberson - Vice-Chairman San Antonio Dina Triyoso - Secretary Kenny Rice - Treasurer Clif Denny IEEE-USA to Host Three Career Workshops at ITC 2009On 5 November, IEEE-USA is partnering with the International Test Conference (ITC) in Austin, Texas, to hold three career workshops geared to helping engineers advance in their chosen professional endeavors. The three workshops entitled: Innovating Your Career-What it takes to Step Yourself Ahead of the Competition, Entrepreneurship and Financing/What You Need to Know Panel Discussion: Angels, VCs and Entrepreneurs, and How to Start a Successful Consulting Practice: The Nuts and Bolts, will be free to ITC registrants and interested engineers in the central Texas area can attend for a nominal fee of $25. Those not wanting to attend the entire conference can register with IEEE-USA to attend just the career workshops. Local IEEE ConferencesSeveral conferences supported by local societies are scheduled for November and December. See Local Conferences below. Back to TOP Continuing EducationThe Engineering Leadership Institute begins its 2009-2010 year with a one-week intensive bootcamp, training engineering managers to:
This program also includes quarterly follow on workshops, geared to the participant's needs. Certification from the Engineering Leadership Institute is available. Register now at https://lifelong.engr.utexas.edu/management/index.cfm. Back to TOP Student BranchesSt Mary's University - San Antonio (https://engineering.stmarytx.edu/ieee/) Texas State University - San Marcos (new branch, 2009 Trinity University - San Antonio University of Texas at Austin (https://ieee.ece.utexas.edu/) University of Texas at San Antonio (http:/www.utsaieee.org/) Student Member NewsHumanitarian Technology Challenge Launches Student Design CompetitionIEEE is sponsoring a Regional Student Design Competition for solutions to one of three humanitarian problems as part of the joint IEEE-United Nations Foundation Humanitarian Technology Challenge (HTC). The competition runs from Oct. 2009 to May 2010. HTC is a partnership among humanitarians, technologists, funders, and others, to develop implementable technological solutions to some key challenges facing humanitarian health and disaster workers today. The participants volunteer their time to collaborate for the benefit of humanity. The Regional Student Design Competition challenges students to provide a working prototype, scale model or detailed engineering design specifications for a project that satisfies one of the three Challenges. The project can be developed by student individuals or by student teams. Teams must be led by an IEEE student member. More information about the HTC project, and detailed descriptions of the challenges, can be found at https://www.ieeehtc.org. Rules for the Regional Student Design Competition can be found at https://www.ieeehtc.org/index.php/htc/students/challenge. Back to TOP Calls for VolunteersIEEE Teacher In-Service Program (TISP)The next CTS offering of the TISP Seminar to Teachers will be given at TES Region 13 in Austin on November 18, 2009. If you woudl like to help in the seminar and be trained to perform the seminar in your local area/school disctrict, please feel free to join us on the 18th of November. Contact Dean Schneider at d.schneider@ieee.org to volunteer or 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. Back to TOP 2. Chapter ActivitiesMultiple Chapter Events
Back to TOP Antennas & Propagation/Microwave Theory and Techniques
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| Topic/Title | Medium Power RF Absorber by Mechanical Means |
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| Speaker | Dr. Vince Rodriguez |
| Abstract | |
| Date/Time | Wednesday, November 11th, 2009, 7:00-9:00pm |
| Cost | Free |
| Reservations | Please register via https://www.ets-lindgrenregistration.com/aps-mtt-meeting-and-tour/ by COB Nov 9 to attend. An accurate head-count is needed for catering. |
| Location | ETS-Lindgren (1301 Arrow Point Dr., Cedar Park, TX, 78613) |
| Notes | Dinner will be provided. Door Prizes will be awarded. |
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No Joint Circuits & Systems/Solid State Circuits meetings are scheduled for November.
The joint Circuits & Systems/Solid State Circuits Societies normally meet on the 2nd Tuesday of every month. This meeting is open to the public and interested parties. Additional details will be posted at the website. If you have any questions about this meeting or this group, please contact renhaoxing@ieee.org or dferguson@ieee.org
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No Components, Packaging, and Manufacturing Technology meetings are scheduled for November.
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No Computer Society- Austin meetings are scheduled for November.
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| Topic/Title | Parallel Computing Goes Mainstream -- An Introduction to Multithreaded and Cluster Computing |
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| Speaker | Dr. Berna Massingill is an Associate Professor of Computer Science at Trinity University. She has been in parallel computing for her whole academic career, including graduate school, postdoc, and at Trinity. She is (one of) the authors of a book on the subject (https://www.amazon.com/Patterns-Parallel-Programming-Timothy-Mattson/dp/0321228111)." |
| Abstract | The days when a supercomputer meant one with a single very fast processor are long gone; for many years high-performance computing has meant parallel computing (i.e., computing using more than one processor), and parallel-computing enthusiasts have anticipated a time when their specialty would become mainstream. That time seems to be arriving at last, with both multithreaded and cluster computing becoming possible with commodity desktop hardware. How to use these platforms to advantage, however, is outside the experience of many programmers. In this talk I will give an overview of the two platforms and what programmers can do to make use of them. |
| Date/Time | Tuesday, November 17th, 2009 - 6:30-9:00 pm |
| Cost | $15 IEEE members, $18 non-members, $4 students |
| Reservations | Please email Yu Zhang, Yu Zhang, or call (210) 999-7399 (so we have a head count for dinner). |
| Location | Skyline Room, Coates University Center, Trinity University, San Antonio, TX |
| Notes | See www.ieee-cs-cts.org for directions and parking information. This meeting is open to the public. |
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Topic/Title | Renewable Energies ... Promises & Issues |
|---|---|
Speaker | Jules Campbell Jules Campbell is a wind power and renewable energy advocate, speaker and consultant. He holds a BSEE from Washington University in St. Louis, a MSE in Energy Systems from The University of Texas at Austin, and is currently pursuing a PhD. His organization memberships include: American Wind Energy Assn (AWEA)as an Advocate; Texas Renewable Energy Industry Assn (TREIA) as an Individual serving on policy committees for wind and concentrating solar; IEEE Sr. Member of PES, PELS and SSCS. Jules is retired from Motorola/Freescale Semiconductor where is was a Fellow of the Technical Staff, Science Advisor Board Associate (SABA), Distinguished Innovator (10 patents), with a total of 22 US patents issued. |
Abstract | This presentation will primarily focus on Wind & Solar with a mention of several other alternatives. |
Date/Time | Wednesday, November 18, 2009, (Please note this meeting date is one week earlier due to Thanksgiving), Networking at 6:00 pm, Business and Program from 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm. |
Cost | Cost: $5.00 minimum charge for the restaurant. Supper is at optional extra cost. |
Reservations | Not required. All interested parties are invited to attend. For more information, contact Ed Gordon ebg@ieee.org, or Kai Wong kaiwong@ieee.org. |
Location | China Star Restaurant, 6134 Hwy 290E, Austin TX, Westbound access road of 290E, just east of I-35. |
Notes |
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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No Electromagnetic Compatibility Society meetings are scheduled for November.
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Topic/Title | There will be no presentation but there will be a social gathering. |
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Speaker | |
Abstract | |
Date/Time | If you have questions please email Thuy Dao at thuybdao@ieee.org. |
Refreshments | Light refreshments are provided |
Reservations | Please RSVP to Christian Catalan at Christian.Catalan@amd.com. We need an accurate count to purchase refreshments. |
Location | Conference room at SVTC. - Map at https://www.sematech.org/corporate/map.htm |
Notes |
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No Engineering in Medicine and Biology meetings are scheduled for November.
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The Engineering Management Society has become the Technology Management Council. Information about meetings can be found in the sections for Technology Management Council - Austin and Technology Management Council - San Antonio
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No Graduates of the Last Decade meetings are scheduled for November.
For more Information contact Jason Polendo jpolendo@ieee.org
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No Laser and Electro Optics Society meetings are scheduled for November.
For more information, contact Ray Chen
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Topic/Title | Early telephony Inventions - Little known Facts |
|---|---|
Speaker | Tom O'Brien is an IEEE Life Member, and has been an IEEE member since 1961 (when he joined the Institute of Radio Engineers). He earned a BSEE from Texas A&M and an MS (Telecommunications) from Southern Methodist University. His professional career includes systems engineering for fighter aircraft flight controls, real-time airline reservations systems, oil industry business systems, and space robotics. He received the Shuttle Astronaut Office's "Silver Snoopy" award for work in spacecraft software. Tom is a Licensed Engineer (P.E.) in Texas. His current interests include woodworking, amateur radio, and youth robotics, and he is a past Chair of the Houston chapter of the IEEE Communications Society. He and his wife Susanne are involved in volunteer work, traveling, and grandparenting. |
Abstract | It should be apparent that the invention of the telephone wasn't done all at once. This presentation examines 15 important patents granted to, or licensed to, the Bell System during the first 15 years after Bell's telephone patent. From the presentation, you will learn the answers to these questions:
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Date/Time | Thursday, November 19th 2009 at 11am |
Cost | $10 Members, $15 non Members |
Reservations | Please RSVP to Bob Harris attexaspi@texas.net. |
| Notes | For additional info: Scott Atkinson, LSM, 481-4932, s.atkinson@ieee.org |
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No Power & Energy Society - Austin meetings are scheduled for November.
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| Topic/Title | Power Monitoring |
|---|---|
| Speaker | Greg Labo with Schneider Electric |
| Abstract | |
| Date/Time | Thursday, November 19th, 2009 - 6:00pm Social, 6:30pm Dinner, 7:00pm Program |
| Cost | $10 members, $15 non-members, FREE for students (Cash only please, no checks or credit cards) |
| Reservations | Please RSVP to John Brogan @ 210-342-0586, or jabrogan@ieee.org |
| Location | Grady's BBQ, 6510 San Pedro, San Antonio (210-806-8036) |
| Notes | For more information please go to our web site at https://ewh.ieee.org/soc/pes/centraltexas/sanantonio |
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No Product Safety Engineering Society meetings are scheduled for November. To avoid the holidays we will have a combined November/December meeting on Tuesday, December 1st.
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No Joint Signal Processing/Communications Society - Austin meetings are scheduled for November.
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Topic/Title | Early telephony Inventions - Little known Facts |
|---|---|
Speaker | Tom O'Brien is an IEEE Life Member, and has been an IEEE member since 1961 (when he joined the Institute of Radio Engineers). He earned a BSEE from Texas A&M and an MS (Telecommunications) from Southern Methodist University. His professional career includes systems engineering for fighter aircraft flight controls, real-time airline reservations systems, oil industry business systems, and space robotics. He received the Shuttle Astronaut Office's "Silver Snoopy" award for work in spacecraft software. Tom is a Licensed Engineer (P.E.) in Texas. His current interests include woodworking, amateur radio, and youth robotics, and he is a past Chair of the Houston chapter of the IEEE Communications Society. He and his wife Susanne are involved in volunteer work, traveling, and grandparenting. |
Abstract | It should be apparent that the invention of the telephone wasn't done all at once. This presentation examines 15 important patents granted to, or licensed to, the Bell System during the first 15 years after Bell's telephone patent. From the presentation, you will learn the answers to these questions:
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Date/Time | Thursday, November 19th 2009 at 11am |
Cost | $10 Members, $15 non Members |
Reservations | Please RSVP to Bob Harris attexaspi@texas.net. |
Location | TBD - North Central San Antonio Meeting Room to be announced on website https://www.ewh.ieee.org/r5/central_texas/satx/ |
Notes |
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Topic/Title | Navigating the Rapids and Eddies of Your Design Flow |
|---|---|
Speaker | Ken Albin is a Senior Member of Technical Staff at Advanced Micro Devices in Austin, Texas. He is currently working in the AMD Verification Center of Expertise focusing on verification methodology and metrics. He earned BSEE and MSEE degrees at Kansas State University in 1981 and 1984 respectively. Prior to joining AMD, Ken worked in the Processor Technology department at Rockwell-Collins in Cedar Rapids, Iowa; formal verification research firm Computational Logic Inc; and on advanced verification tools and methodology at Motorola/Freescale Semiconductor. |
Abstract | Why do bugs cost more the later they are found? Why are projects over budget? How can we get a handle on the design process? System on Chip development requires a complex, staged design flow. It is usually clear there is room for improvement, but where exactly? This presentation describes an intuitive model of staged development which can be used to measure, analyze, and improve the design flow. |
Date/Time | Wednesday November 11th from 11:30am - 1:00 pm |
Cost | No cost for meeting, $18 for lunch |
Reservations | Registration is required via the Austin TMC website. RSVP to https://www.austin-tmc.org. |
Location | Mirabelle Restaurant, 8127 Mesa Dr, Austin, TX 78759-8632 just north of the intersection with Spicewood Springs. |
Notes |
Contact Doug Russell for more information about the Austin TMC.
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No Technology Management Council - San Antonio meetings are scheduled for November.
Contact Nils Smith (nils.smith@ieee.org) for information about the San Antonio TMC.
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Jointly held with the Technology Management Society - Austin (see above).
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Some 89 percent of job seekers in Europe, the United States, and Canada would consider an industry job change to secure new employment, according to a new Monster Worldwide survey. Forty-nine percent of those polled are currently seeking a new career direction, while 11 percent said they would consider a job change due to lack of jobs in their current industry. Some 18 percent said their current industry is suffering, 22 percent said they would take the first job they could find, and 11 percent said they wouldn't consider taking a job in another industry. Spanish workers were the most willing to make a change, with 92 percent indicating they would switch careers. Forty-four percent of the Spanish respondents said they would take the first job they could get. In Switzerland, 67 percent are considering a career change, compared with 69 percent of Austrian respondents and 14 percent of US respondents. "Those struggling to find employment in their current industry could use this time to consider pursuing their passions or think about retraining," stated Norma Gaffin, director of content for Monster.com. "The current economic climate may have forced the hand of many jobseekers, and for anyone looking to make a career change." Read more at Careers.
Engineers in Taiwan say that industrial production of an ultrathin, flexible loudspeaker made mostly out of paper could begin by the end of 2010. The Industrial Technology Research Institute says that the speakers, made from a sandwich of paper, metal, and a special polymer, will likely go in car-audio systems made by Taiwanese manufacturers. Read more at Speakers.
Rambus cofounder Mark Horowitz and his colleagues at Stanford say they've invented a new family of logic circuits that let designers tune a transistor characteristic critical to balancing power loss and performance even after the chips have been constructed. Without expending any extra energy, the new logic circuits boosted the performance of a field-programmable gate array by 35 percent. Read more at Logic.
EEE and IBM announced a publishing agreement to disseminate some of the leading technical articles and papers in computer hardware, software and information systems to a wider audience of researchers and interested readers around the world. The IBM Journal of Research and Development, which now includes the IBM Systems Journal, is one of the top-cited journals in the field and addresses the latest advancements in computer science. Beginning in the first quarter of 2010, all papers ever published in the IBM journals will be available exclusively in the IEEE Xplore digital library.
The IBM Journal of Research and Development, and IBM Systems Journal, which have been published online since 1998, merged into one fee-based online publication in 2009. The production of future editions of the current publication, the IBM Journal of Research and Development, will be handled by IEEE. IBM will be responsible for the content acquisition and peer review, while IEEE assumes the article production, copy editing, data conversion, online hosting and maintenance. Read the full press release at IBM Journal.
"Advancing technology for the benefit of humanity" is the theme of the IEEE 2008 Annual Report, which has just been released. The report highlights IEEE initiatives and activities that demonstrate how the organization is implementing the strategic Envisioned Future and Core Purpose: to foster technological innovation and excellence for the benefit of humanity. The 2008 report also features profiles of a few IEEE members who are leveraging technology and engineering to benefit human welfare.
All IEEE members also are being offered an electronic version. Read the full report at: 2008 Annual Report.
IEEE is sponsoring a Regional Student Design Competition for solutions to one of three humanitarian problems as part of the joint IEEE-United Nations Foundation Humanitarian Technology Challenge (HTC). The competition runs from Oct. 2009 to May 2010.
HTC is a partnership among humanitarians, technologists, funders, and others, to develop implementable technological solutions to some key challenges facing humanitarian health and disaster workers today. The participants volunteer their time to collaborate for the benefit of humanity.
Three challenges have been identified:
Reliable Electricity: Availability of electric power for lighting and other electronic devices in resource-constrained environments. Important for education, communications, and economic development.
Data Connectivity of Rural District Health Offices: Capability of exchanging data among remote field offices and central health facilities. Important for accessing treatment protocols, creating and monitoring health trends, and sharing results of treatments.
Individual ID Tied to Health Records: Consistent availability of patient medical records. Important for ongoing treatment of patients, especially migrants and those with long-term diseases.
The Regional Student Design Competition challenges students to provide a working prototype, scale model or detailed engineering design specifications for a project that satisfies one of the three Challenges. The project can be developed by student individuals or by student teams. Teams must be led by an IEEE student member.
More information about the HTC project, and detailed descriptions of the challenges, can be found at https://www.ieeehtc.org. Rules for the Regional Student Design Competition can be found at https://www.ieeehtc.org/index.php/htc/students/challenge.
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The International Test Conference will be held November 1-6, 2009 in Austin TX. For more information, see https://www.itctestweek.org.
IEEE Conference Search can be found at https://www.ieee.org/web/conferences/search/index.html.
See also https://www.wikicfp.com - A place to organize and share Calls for Papers.
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