IEEE Central Texas Section

THE ANALOG

Volume 55-11

November 2011

Newsletter of the Central Texas Section of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, Inc.

Archives of The Analog can be found on the CTS web site here.

Published monthly. Deadline for inclusion is the 26th day of the previous month. Send submissions, comments, questions to John Purvis, Editor, john.purvis@ieee.org


CONTENTS


General Interest

Chairman's Column

Membership Development

News of Interest to the Section

Continuing Education

Student Branches

Calls for Volunteers


Local Chapter Activities

Antennas & Propagation/Microwave Theory and Techniques

Joint Circuits and Systems/Solid-State Circuits

Components, Packaging and Manufacturing Technology

Computer Society - Austin

Computer Society - San Antonio

Consultants Network

Electromagnetic Compatibility Society

Electron Devices Society

Engineering in Medicine and Biology

Graduates of the Last Decade

Instrumentation and Measurement Society

Laser and Electro Optics Society

Life Members Affinity Group

Joint Power and Energy, Power Electronics, Industrial Electronics, and Industrial Applications Societies - Austin

Power Engineering Society - San Antonio

Product Safety Engineering Society

Joint Signal Processing/Communications Society - Austin

Joint Signal Processing/Communications Society - San Antonio

Systems, Man and Cybernetics

Technology Management Council - Austin

Technology Management Council - San Antonio

Women in Engineering


Conferences, Events and Other Meetings

Local IEEE Conferences, Events and Workshops

Non-IEEE Meetings and Events of interest suggested by the membership


Miscellaneous

Latest issue of IEEE-USA Today's Engineer

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Events and Information

Career

Tips, Tools and Gadgets

IEEE EXTERNAL LINKS

IEEE

IEEE-USA

IEEE Region 5

IEEE Central Texas Section

Call for Papers

IEEEXplore - full text access to IEEE Publications

What's New at IEEE

SocietyNews from IEEE

IEEE Standards Association

The Spectrum Online - The Magazine for Technology Insiders

IEEE Regional News




General Interest


ELECTION NOTICE
We are holding the 2012 Central Texas Section Officer Elections.  In so doing we are utilizing theIEEE vTools.Voting system.   We have had no additional candidate names submitted by petition.  Therefore, the election is proceeding as scheduled, starting on 1 Nov 2011.    Voting will be permitted until 30 Nov 2011.

IEEE members will have received instructions via email for this election.  Once in vTools, you are asked to select one candidate for each position, or specify a write-in candidate.  In fact there is only one candidate on the ballot for each position except for that of Vice-Chair, San Antonio.  For that position there are two candidates.

Please don’t hesitate to contact me at polhamus@ieee.org if you have a question, comment, or complaint regarding your voting experience.

Thank you in advance for voting --- your vote counts!

Chairman's Column

The election of officers for the Central Texas Section is open.  You need to vote using the vTools voting process described above.  Previous words in this space have described the effort to find candidates for all of the positions.  As I expect to fall heir to the chair of the Nominating Committee, I welcome your thoughts on the process and on any people who should be considered in the future for the five elected officer positions in the section. 

In addition, I expect that the new chairman will be asking for suggestions for the appointed officer jobs. 

In immediate volunteer openings, Royce Johnson <drroyce@quarterinchholes.com> has accepted the challenge of organizing a series of Central Texas Section or chapter lunches in San Antonio for Engineers' Week 2012.  The general idea is to follow the model Thuy Dao put in place in Austin this year.  Her goal was five box lunches provided by five industry sponsors, where the sponsor also provides a speaker on a topic of interest to the sponsor and the IEEE.  Gary Rogers has volunteered to help him.  Thuy Dao <thuybdao@ieee.org>may be able to lead the effort in Austin, but I'm sure she would like some help.  The other thing we need is a set of venues for the meetings.  If you think your company would be a possible host, please contact Royce or Thuy.

The section has had several workshops recently, with successful efforts by the Power and Energy Chapter and the Electron Devices Chapter's Solar Technology Workshop.

The Metropolitan Area Workshop was a success beyond all of our predictions with over 150 paid participants and over 35 new IEEE members recruited.  The sessions sponsored by the Computer, Communications, and Power and Energy Societies, as well as the IEEE-USA Careers Committee were well attended.  At the last minute DeAnne Pearson added a series of mini career consultations to the program.  Thanks to all the other volunteers and to the IEEE Staff and our local Chairs, Thuy Dao and Kenny Rice.

Tom Grim
Chairman, Central Texas Section
t.grim@ieee.org

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Membership Development

New to the IEEE?

The IEEE has developed a website, https://www.ieee.org/start , specifically to support new IEEE members in navigating though the IEEE.  Along with the information on the site, IEEE has created a new member orientation the 3rd Thursday of each month at 9:00 AM EDT and 3:00 PM EDT.

If you are a new member to IEEE OR just want to refresh yourself on what the IEEE offers to its members, check out the site and the orientation. 

Not an IEEE member and have been waiting to join?

Join now with ˝ year dues!  Join IEEE and receive 10 months of membership for the price of six.  If you have been away from IEEE for more than a year, you can re-join for half price!


Did you know about IEEE – IEEE.TV

The IEEE provides an internet-based television network where IEEE member generated special-interest programming about technology and engineering is provided.  There are public programs available and an extensive set of members’ only programs.  Check the most viewed programs at https://www.ieee.tv

Joe Redfield
CTS Membership Development Chair
J.Redfield@ieee.org
210-522-3729

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News of Interest to the Section


Section collecting signatures for new Council on Electronic Design Automation (CEDA) Chapter
We are currently collecting signatures for petition to create a new CEDA Chapter in Central Texas Area. If you are working in EDA domain, or are interested in this area and is a current IEEE number (above student grade) and are in any of the following chapters, AP, MMT, CAS, SSC, Computer Society, ED society, please contact Zhuo Li at zhuoli@ieee.org to get your signature.

Free e-books from IEEE USA
As a special benefit of IEEE membership, IEEE-USA will be offering one free e-book each month to IEEE members.

The e-book offering for October is "Engineers' Guide to Lifelong Employability: On Résumés." This e-book provides everything you need to know about creating and using résumé and cover letters -- traditional to digital -- in a convenient, easy-to-read format. In it you'll learn:

* The basics of résumé formats, content and delivery
* How to update your résumé
* How to avoid common résumé blunders

"Your résumé should describe your skills and accomplishments plainly enough so that employers can tell within about a minute whether you fit their immediate staffing needs or not," former IEEE-USA Employment & Career Services Chair Jean Eason said.

From Oct. 1 through Oct. 31, "Engineers' Guide to Lifelong Employability: On Résumés" can be downloaded at https://www.ieeeusa.org/communications/ebooks  for free to IEEE Members. The nonmember price is $5.99. Members can purchase other IEEE-USA E-Books at deeply discounted prices and download other free e-books.
 
In November the free publication will be book two in the "Engineers' Guide to Lifelong Employability" series: "Transitioning from School to Work." In December it will be book three, "What Are You Worth?"
 
To learn about the many benefits of IEEE membership, visit https://www.ieee.org/membership_services/membership/join/.
 

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Continuing Education

November 2, 2011: IEEE Communications society, 40G/100G Development and Deployment
11:00 AM Eastern, 8:00 AM Pacific
https://www.comsoc.org/webinars

November 6, 2011:  Full-day tutorial on "Energy Efficient Data Centers and Systems"
Experts from IBM Research - Austin will be presenting an all-day tutorial on the design and use of energy-efficient data centers and systems, in association with the IEEE International Symposium on Workload Characterization (IISWC 2011).  The tutorial will discuss the chief characteristics of power and cooling problems of modern data centers and the servers that they support.  The tutorial will present an in-depth survey of the problems associated with data center and system energy consumption and substantial material on existing solutions to these problems.  It also will cover emerging industrial solutions, including how they address different aspects of the problem and what technical ideas they exploit.  Finally, the tutorial will identify key remaining challenges, opportunities for future research in the area, and a survey of the methodologies available for this research.

Target audience:  Students and professionals interesting in learning more about the challenges of designing energy-efficient data centers and systems, existing solutions to these challenges, and remaining open problems in this area.  No prior knowledge of power management is required.

The tutorial will be presented by Drs. Charles Lefurgy, Karthick Rajamani, Juan Rubio, Wei Huang, and other members of the IBM Research - Austin "Power Aware Systems" team, which drove the development of IBM's EnergyScale server power management mechanisms and leads much of IBM's work on next-generaetion energy-efficient data centers.

For more information or to register, please visit the IISWC 2011 website (https://www.iiswc.org/).

November 7, 2011: Geek Austin Introduction to the Unix/Linux Command Line
Three sessions beginning:
Monday, November 7, 2011 at 7:00 PM
https://geekaustincommandline.eventbrite.com/

November 10, 2011: Free Webinars Essential Skills for the Agile Developer

November 10, 2011: IEEE Spectrum Webinar Series, Accelerating Development of Smart Grid Power Electronics Control Systems with RCP and HIL Techniques
TIME: 2:00 PM EDT / 11:00 AM PDT / 18:00 GMT (Duration: 1 hour)
DESCRIPTION: The design and deployment of grid-tied power electronics control systems historically has been hampered by a lack of rapid prototyping, commercial off-the-shelf embedded systems and real-time HIL simulators that satisfy the demanding requirements of switch-mode power system designers. To address these challenges, National Instruments is involved in a collaborative R&D effort with the National Renewable Energy Lab and other groups to develop a comprehensive new tool chain for power electronics system design based on reconfigurable FPGAs and high level graphical programming tools. Attend this session to see live demonstrations of new hardware/software tools under development and information on how you can become pioneer user and collaborator in the effort.
Registration: https://spectrum.ieee.org/webinar/1951624

November 16, 2011: IEEE SPECTRUM WEBCASTS Scalable Baseband Solutions
2:00 PM EDT / 11:00 AM PT / 18:00 GMT (Duration: 1 hour)
Global mobile data traffic is doubling every two years and at the same time there is increasing pressure on OEMs to deliver solutions which bring flexibility, reduced costs and energy efficiency. Coupled with a drive to innovate and increasingly short new product cycle times this means that  a new approach is needed. Scalable, heterogeneous, multicore, baseband system-on-chip (SoC) products provide a new approach to answer these challenges and help equipment manufacturers improve their R&D efficiency. While providing the cost, power and performance that are required to enable small cells and heterogeneous networks. In this presentation, Freescale will review the challenges engineers face while trying to create the next generation of wireless networks and how smart silicon approaches can help to simplify the task.  https://spectrum.ieee.org/webinar/1942325

November 17, 2011: IEEE Spectrum Webcast Electrostatic Actuation with COMSOL Multiphysics
2:00 PM EDT / 11:00 AM PT / 19:00 GMT (Duration: 1 hour)  
Electrostatic actuation is used in many Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) such as accelerometers, gyroscopes and resonators. For microscale devices, an applied voltage difference can be used to actuate a structure. This webinar shows how to model such electrostatic actuation, as well as adding subsequent analyses such as computing the AC electric response, the biased eigenvalues, and biased frequency response, as well as damping effects.  https://spectrum.ieee.org/webinar/1927822

November 17, 2011: LTE for the Wireless Engineering Practitioner: Fundamentals & Applications
online
9:00am - 4:30pm EDT
Earn 0.6 IEEE CEUs for participating. Broken into two parts, there are two 15 minutes breaks during this course as well as a one hour break from noon to 1:00pm EDT.
https://www.comsoc.org/training/training-calendar/lte-wireless-engineering-practitioner-fundamentals-applications-1

November 28, 2011: Geek Austin, Introduction to scripting with Bash
Four sessions beginning:
Monday, November 28, 2011 at 7:00 PM
https://bashscripting.eventbrite.com/

December 1, 2011: Engineering Ethics UT CLEE
An overview of the basic tenets of Engineering Ethics and the ethical obligations of Engineers. A design-based model of Engineering Ethics that will enable engineers to: Identify and articulate ethical problems, When possible, anticipate and avoid ethical problems, Generate options for resolving ethical problems...  See https://lifelong.engr.utexas.edu/epd/course_1.cfm?course_num=1389

December 9, 2011: Strategic Decision and Risk Management, UT CLEE
Dates:     December 5-9, 2011
Registration:     $2340 Early (by October 17)
$2600 Regular
Call for CPARM discounts
Location:     Federal Reserve Conference Center, Houston, TX
Contact:     Patty Harris
1.866.234.3380
scpd-sdrm@stanford.edu
Register:    https://strategicdecisions.stanford.edu/texas

January 9, 2012: Geek Austin, Introduction to SQL using
Eight sessions beginning:
Monday, January 9, 2012 at 7:00 PM
https://introductiontosql.eventbrite.com/

February 21-22, 2012: White Box/Black Box Software Testing in an Agile Environment , UT CLEE
Black box and white box are test design methods. Black box test design treats the system as a "black box", and does not explicitly use knowledge of the internal structure of the software to test the system. Black box test design focuses primarily on testing functional requirements...

Agile testing is a software testing practice that emphasizes testing from the perspective of customers who will utilize the system. It represents the close collaboration between the test creator and the developers in order to ensure that the test scripts can be rapidly created and are robust in the test environment. Agile testing does not emphasize rigidly defined testing procedures...   See https://lifelong.engr.utexas.edu/epd/course_1.cfm?course_num=1398

Master of Science in Systems Engineering -- ONLINE at Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
Credentialed systems engineers are sought after in today's job market.  This degree is co-designed by WPI's faculty and customer base.  Courses are based on the needs of today's engineer. Get the scientific,  engineering, and business knowledge required in systems engineering.  Program begins January 2012 -- INQUIRE NOW.
https://bmsmail3.ieee.org:80/u/18837/32170

IEEE Communications Society Free Tutorials
Each month, IEEE Communications provides a selection of FREE tutorials, thanks to our corporate sponsors. Their support enables us to provide these tutorials to you at no charge.  A valuable opportunity for you to benefit from the expertise of presenters at IEEE Communications events.  https://www.comsoc.org/free-tutorials

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Student Branches

St Mary's University - San Antonio (https://engineering.stmarytx.edu/ieee/)
Faculty Adviser: Djaffer Ibaroudene, email: dibaroudene@stmarytx.edu
Branch Chair: Ug Igboanugo, email: uigboanugo@mail.stmarytx.edu

Texas State University - San Marcos (new branch, 2009)
Faculty Adviser: Larry Larson, email: Larry.Larson@TXState.edu
Branch President: Eduardo Gonzalez, email: eg1196@txstate.edu

Trinity University - San Antonio (https://www.engr.trinity.edu/)
Faculty Adviser: Farzan Aminian, email: Farzan.Aminian@Trinity.edu
Branch Chair: Paurakh Rajbhandary, email: paurakh.rajbhandary@trinity.edu

University of Texas at Austin (https://ieee.ece.utexas.edu/)
Faculty Adviser: Sriram Vishwanath, email: sriram@ece.utexas.edu
Branch Chair: Alex Scheuermann, email: chair@ieee.ece.utexas.edu

University of Texas at San Antonio (https://www.utsaieee.org/)
Faculty Adviser: Yufang Jin, email: Yufang.Jin@utsa.edu
Branch Chair: Kevin Messenhimer, email: kmessen@gmail.com

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Calls for Volunteers

Future Cities
The Central Texas Section sponsors the middle school competition Future City, and we have a record number of teams registered!  You can help in a variety of ways!
 
1.  Mentor a team.  Each team needs a mentor.  You would probably meet with them weekly, so you would need to live/work near a team.  Commitment:  a couple of hours/week.
2.  Judge.
 - Each team submits a City generated using SimCity and an essay in advance, and they need to be judged.  All of this is done online, so you can judge whenever!  Commitment:  about ten hours between Thanksgiving and MLK weekend.  We provide you a copy of SimCity.
 - Day of competition judge:  Each team gives a 6 minute presentation, and shows off the model they built, both which need to be judged.  Commitment:  Jan 21, 2012 in San Marcos - most of the day.
3.  Sponsor for Special Awards.  You (or your company) can sponsor a special award for these teams to compete for - examples can be found on the FutureCity website (https://www.futurecity.org).
 
Contact me with any questions!
Dawn Roberson
Central Texas Future City Regional Coordinator
ctxfuturecity@gmail.com

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Local Chapter Activities

Antennas & Propagation/Microwave Theory and Techniques (APS/MTTS)
https://ewh.ieee.org/r5/central_texas/ap_mtt/


Topic/Title

No meeting scheduled at thist time

Speaker


Abstract


Date/Time


Cost


Reservations


Location


Notes

We are looking for anyone interested in presenting at our next meeting.  If interested please contact Jeremy Pruitt @ jeremy.pruitt@ieee.org

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Joint Circuits and Systems/Solid-State Circuits (CASS/SSCS)
https://ewh.ieee.org/r5/central_texas/ssc_css/

Topic/Title

Handheld CMOS NMR Biosensor

Speaker

Nan Sun
Nan Sun is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. He received the B.S. degree in electronic science and technology from Tsinghua University, Beijing, China in 2006, where he ranked top in the Department of Electronic Engineering and graduated with the highest honor and the Outstanding Undergraduate Thesis Award. He earned the Ph.D. degree in engineering science from the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Harvard University in 2010. 
Dr. Sun received the 1st-class Outstanding Student Award from Tsinghua University each year from 2003 to 2006. He won the Top Prize in the Intercollegiate Physics Competition in 2003. He is the recipient of Samsung Fellowship, Hewlett Packard Fellowship, and Analog Devices Outstanding Student Designer Award in 2003, 2006, and 2007, respectively. He also won the Harvard Teaching Award in three consecutive years: 2008, 2009, and 2010.
 
His research interests include: 1) developing micro- and nano-scale solid-state platforms (silicon ICs and beyond) to analyze biological systems for biotechnology and medicine; 2) low-cost medical imaging systems; 3) miniature spin resonance systems; 4) analog, mixed-signal, and RF integrated circuits.

Abstract

I will present our work that showcases how silicon RF chips can be used not only for wireless RF applications, but also for biomolecular sensing aimed at low-cost disease screening. The main function of the RF chip is to manipulate and monitor the dynamics of protons in water via nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). Target biological objects such as cancer marker proteins alter the proton dynamics, which is the basis for the biosensing. The high sensitivity of the RF chip made possible the construction of an entire NMR system around the RF chip in a 100-g platform, which is 1200 times lighter, yet 150 times more spin-mass sensitive than a state-of-the-art commercial benchtop NMR system. The system can become a useful addition in pursuing disease detection in a low-cost, hand-held platform.

Date/Time

Nov 2 (Wednesday) 6:30PM

Cost

Reservations

https://meetings.vtools.ieee.org/meeting_view/list_meeting/8971
will provide pizza

Location

UT Campus ACES2.402

Notes


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 zhuoli@ieee.org

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Components, Packaging and Manufacturing Technology (CPMT) - Austin
https://cpmtaustinchapter.org/

Topic/Title 3D Full-wave, Package-Board Simulation Aided by the Cloud
Speaker Dr. Dipanjan Gope
Date/Time November 17, 2011 (Thursday)
6:00PM - 7:30PM
Cost
Location Freescale, Building B
            7700 Parmer Ln
            Austin, TX 78729
Notes  For more information, please visit https://cpmtaustinchapter.org/ or contact Nanju Na at 512-286-9677

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Computer Society - Austin (CS)
https://www.austin-cs.org/

Topic/title

Evolution of Technologies to Tackle Big Data

Speaker

Rohit Jain, distinguished technologist, HP
 
Rohit Jain is the Neoview CTO and Manager of Database Performance Services at HP.  Rohit has 35 years of experience in applications and databases, out of which 22 years has been in the development and deployment of relational databases for OLTP, Business Intelligence, and Advanced Analytics.  Rohit has been a solutions architect, consultant, developer, development manager, architect, product manager, CTO, and services manager of database products offered by Tandem, Compaq, and HP, such as NonStop SQL/MP, SQL/MX, and Neoview.

Abstract

The Large Hadron Collider at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research. CERN scientists can generate 40 terabytes of data every second during experiments.  Boeing jet engines can produce 10 terabytes of operational information for every 30 minutes they turn. A four- engine jumbo jet can create 640 terabytes of data on just one Atlantic crossing; multiply that by the more than 25,000 flights flown each day.  Twitter serves more than 200 million users who produce more than 90 million "tweets" per day, or 800 per second. Each of these posts is approximately 200 bytes in size. On an average day, this traffic equals more than 12 gigabytes and, throughout the Twitter ecosystem, the company produces a total of eight terabytes of data per day..

What are the challenges that companies face as they try to deal with such huge volumes of data?  What technologies are they using to capture, store, search, share, analyze and visualize this massive amount of data?  This talk will attempt to provide some answers to these questions.

Date/time

Wednesday, November 16, 2011, 6:30 - 8:45 pm

Location

HP facility in Austin. The address is 14231 Tandem Blvd, Austin, Tx 78728.

Cost

None

Reservations

Pizza and Drinks

Notes

Follow the Austin chapter on Twitter @AustinIEEECS, and please feel to tweet with our tag for relevant content to our community.

We've officially launched the LinkedIn group for our the Austin chapter of the IEEE Computer Society.  Feel free to sign up at the following URL:  https://www.linkedin.com/groups?about=&gid=4064900.


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Computer Society - San Antonio (CS)
https://www.ieee-cs-cts.org/

Topic/Title

Closed-loop Control of Clinical Sedation, Reinforcement Learning for Patient-Specific Propofol Anesthesia: A Human Volunteer Study

Speaker Dr. Brett L. Moore, Senior Product Development Engineer in Research and Development, Kinetic Concepts Inc.
Abstract
Date/Time Tuesday, November 15, 6:00 Networking, 6:30 PM Dinner, 7:30 PM Program
Location Conference Room B
  University Center
  St. Mary’s University
  San Antonio, TX
Cost

Dinner, $15 Members, $4 students, $18 Non-Members

Reservations

Please email Dr. Djaffer Ibaroudene, dibaroudende@stmarytx.edu , or call (210) 431-2050

Notes See website for directions and parking,
  https://www.ieee-cs-cts.org

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Central Texas Consultants Network Affinity Group
https://ewh.ieee.org/r5/central_texas/cn

Topic/Title Design for Testability for Integrated Circuits
Speaker Luis Basto
Speaker Bio Luis is a member of the Front-End Solutions team at Cadence Design Systems.  The primary focus of his current job is to help customers resolve front-end design issues particularly in the area of DFT.  Luis has over 23 years of design and DFT experience in the semiconductor industry working for Motorola, AMD, Analog Devices, Texas Instruments, and Cadence.  He has worked as an individual contributor as well as managed design teams globally.  He is a Senior Member of the IEEE and has been awarded 6 US patents in the area of design and DFT.  He has a BSEE from the University of Houston and an MSEE from Southern Methodist University.
Abstract

Moore’s Law is helping pack ever more functionality and circuitry onto a silicon wafer.  This makes access and testing of the highly embedded devices more difficult.  This presentation will cover what is design for testability as it applies to digital designs, some fundamental test theory, and common DFT methodologies as practiced today.

Date Wednesday,  November 16, 2011
 Networking at 6:00 pm;  Business and Program from 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm
Location

PoK-e-Jo’s,  2121 W. Parmer Lane at Lamplight Village,  Austin  TX  78727

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.  https://www.ewh.ieee.org/r5/central_texas/cn/index.htm
Notes


Do a friend a favor. Bring your colleagues to grow the Consultants Network.

More information on Consultants Networks: https://www.ieeeusa.org/business/whatis.asp

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Electromagnetic Compatibility Society
https://ewh.ieee.org/mu/ctx-emcs/

No meeting scheduled at this time.

Topic/title

No meeting scheduled at thist time

Speaker


Abstract


Date/time


Location


Cost


Reservations


Notes


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Electron Devices Society (EDS)
https://ewh.ieee.org/r5/central_texas/eds/

Topic/Title

No meeting scheduled at thist time

Speaker


Abstract


Date/Time


Refreshments


Reservations


Location

Meeting Location: Rio Grande Conference room at SVTC
Map: https://www.sematech.org/corporate/map.htm

Notes

Sponsoring the Solar Technology Workshop, September 16.  See IEEE Meetings section for details. 

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Engineering in Medicine and Biology (EMBS)
https://ewh.ieee.org/r5/central_texas/embs/index.html

Topic/Title No meeting scheduled at thist time
Speaker
Abstract
Date/Time
Cost


Reservations
Location


Notes

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Engineering Management
https://www.ewh.ieee.org/r5/central_texas/ems

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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Graduates of the Last Decade (GOLD) Affinity Group

Topic/Title No meeting scheduled at thist time
Speaker


Abstract
Date/Time


Cost
Reservations


Location


Notes Welcome from the new Chair of IEEE CTS GOLD,

It is my pleasure to serve as the Chair for CTS GOLD.  I am excited about implementing Social Events, Networking Events, Workshops/Seminars, Focus Groups, Career Guidance Mentorship, and much more. 

I am usually tied to a computer deep in the basement, as most Information Technology workers are, so I am truly excited to plan and participate in events that get me away from staring at a screen.  I enjoy any chance to be outdoors, especially if it is with Remote Control 1/8 scale gas powered buggies, which is one of my favorite hobbies.  I will plan an R/C event if other members enjoy R/C as well, just utilize my contact details below to let me know. 

As the GOLD Group matures, events, discussions, and useful resources will be posted on the following sites.
Events: https://goo.gl/d8D0D
Linkedin Group: https://goo.gl/aVi3O
Facebook Group: https://goo.gl/2wQ4Z

I am planning a kickoff event, so make sure you visit the resource pages above to get the latest news.

Thank you,
Troy Green
Chair, IEEE CTS GOLD
troy.green@ieee.org

More information on GOLD: https://www.ieee.org/membership_services/membership/gold/index.html

GOLD Launches Mentoring Connection Webinar
Are you interested in becoming a mentor or finding a mentor to help with  your professional development? If the answer is yes, check out a free new IEEE Graduates of the Last Decade (GOLD) webinar aimed at
helping mentors and mentees connect with each other. Learn more at https://bmsmail3.ieee.org:80/u/17953/32170

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Instrumentation and Measurement Society

Topic/Title

Embedded Instruments: Enabling IC and Board Testing, Debug, and Access

Speaker

Al Crouch, Chief Technologist and R&D Director at Asset Intertech
Al Crouch is Chief Technologist, Core Instruments and Director of IJTAG R&D at Asset Intertech in Austin, TX. He received his BSEE and MSEE from the University of Kentucky after serving six years in the U.S.. Air Force. After graduation, he worked at Texas Instruments in the Defense Systems Group as a Design-for-Test Engineer. He then worked at Digital Equipment Corp. as a Test Automation engineer. Al spent ten years at Motorola Semiconductor working mostly in the Microprocessor and Embedded-Core space as a DFT lead/manager where he earned the Distinguished Innovator award for being an inventor on more than ten issued patents. Al then worked at Inovys, a Low Cost Structural Test start-up as the Chief Scientist where his role was to link the Design-Space to the Test-Space to make the test, debug, characterization, and yield-learning more efficient. His current work at Asset Intertech involves developing products to access and operate embedded instruments using IJTAG-based tools. He has published extensively in trade journals and conference publications and is the author/co-author of several textbooks on design for test.

Abstract

Modern chips have a wealth of embedded content and are becoming more complex in architecture with SOCs being made up of multiple cores and known-good-die being stacked into SIPs and POPs — and more recently the push for 3D IC using Through Silicon Vias (TSV’s).

The need for access to embedded instruments for debug, validation, test and yield analysis on various occasions during a chip's life-cycle are driving the industry toward "standard" solutions instead of collections of ad hoc instruments and access mechanisms. These solutions include IEEE 1149.1, 1500, 1149.7, and P1687 and a number of defacto instruments provided by EDA companies, FPGA companies, and chip and core designers. The presentation will cover how the embedded instrumentation can be used to accomplish more efficient testing on chips as well as on boards or in-system and the impact of the common access methods.

Date/Time

November 14, 2011 - Reception 6-6:15pm, Presentation 6:15-7:30pm

Cost


Reservations

https://ieeectxiandmoct2011.eventbrite.com/ or email kristi.hummel@ni.com

Location

National Instruments Building C 1S13, 11500 N Mopac Expwy, Austin, TX 78759

Notes



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Laser and Electro Optics Society

No meeting scheduled at this time.

For more information, contact Ray Chen

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Life Members (LM) Affinity Group - San Antonio

Topic/Title
Speaker
Abstract


Date/Time
Location
Cost


Reservations Members must register for the tour by 5:00 pm on October 10. 
The tour is limited to the first 30 registrants.  RSVP to:
      Tom O'Brien Ph. 210-845-4966 or t.p.obrien@ieee.org
US citizenship status must be stated during registration. 
NotesMonthly Seminar "Designing with Solar Technology"
Joint Meeting with IEEE Communications Chapter on October 27,  2:00 pm – 3:00 pm 
Topic: Autonomous Aero-Visual and Sensor Based Inspection Network for Power Grid and Asset Monitoring        No lunch, but light refreshments will be served

LOCATION:   Southwest Research Institute
6220 Culebra Road, San Antonio
        Administration Building, 1st Floor Conference Room



More information on LM: https://www.ieee.org/societies_communities/geo_activities/life_members/index.html

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Power and Energy Society - Austin (PES)
https://www.ewh.ieee.org/soc/pes/centraltexas/austin

Topic/Title We will not be holding our Thursday evening technical meetings at El Gallo for the remainder of this year. We will resume our regular monthly meeting schedule in January.

December 2011 Announcement "TXI Hunter Cement Plant Tour"
Speaker
Abstract Tour:    The Electrical Supervisor will give a brief talk on the plant electrical system then take us on a tour. They will provide a bus or a 15 passenger van to take tours to the actual Quarry. The tour will take roughly two hours and lunch will be provided afterwards.
Date/Time Saturday December 3, 2011
9:00 AM meet at site
Location TXI Hunter Cement, 7781 FM 1102, New Braunfels, TX 78132
Cost
Reservations Please RSVP by the morning of Thursday, December 1 to Steve Pearson at pearssteve@gmail.com if you plan to attend.  Please include the number of people which can be expected in your group. 
Notes Recommended Dress: Tennis shoes (no sandals or open toes), clothes that may get dusty or dirty. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE): TXI will furnish all PPE but feel free to bring your own if desired.

Directions
This facility is next to I-35 South in between San Marcos and New Braunfels in Hunter, Texas.

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Power and Energy Society - San Antonio
https://ewh.ieee.org/soc/pes/centraltexas/sanantonio

Topic/Title No meeting scheduled at thist time
Speaker


Abstract


Date/Time
Location


Cost
Reservations Please RSVP to Christina Gaydos @ 210-658-7250.
Notes

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Product Safety Engineering Society (PSES)
https://www.ewh.ieee.org/soc/pses/

Topic/Title No meeting for November - Combined Nov-Dec Meeting
Speaker Daniece Carpenter, Worldwide Regulatory Compliance for Dell Inc.
Abstract Excerpts from the Product Safety Symposium in October
Date/Time December 6, 2011, 6:30 - 8:00pm
Cost Use the link below to find out the cost and to make your last minute registration for this event: https://www.psessymposium.org
Reservations

Definitely required!

Location Dell Parmer Campus, Parmer South Building 4, Victoria Conference Room (just inside the visitor’s entrance)
Notes

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 6:30pm, with the program starting at 7:00pm. For further information about the PSES, please contact Dale Ritzen at (512) 651-5338.

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Joint Signal Processing/Communications Society - Austin
https://www.cts-comsoc-sp.org/

Topic/Title


Speaker


Abstract


Date/Time


Location

AT&T Labs
9505 Arboretum Blvd,
Austin, TX  78759

Cost


Reservations

For reservation, please check https://comsoc102611.eventbrite.com

Notes



Check our website https://www.cts-comsoc-sp.org for details.

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Joint Signal Processing/Communications Society - San Antonio
https://www.cts-comsoc-sp.org/

Topic/Title

No meeting scheduled at thist time

Speaker


Abstract


Date/Time


Location


Cost


Reservations


Notes


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Systems, Man & Cybernetics Society

Topic/Title

No meeting scheduled at thist time

Speaker


Abstract


Date/Time


Location


Cost


Reservations


Notes

For further information, contact David Akopian david.akopian@utsa.edu

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Technology Management Council - Austin
https://www.austin-tmc.org/

Topic/Title No meeting scheduled at thist time
Speaker
Date/Time
Location
Cost
Registration
Notes Receipts and Certifications for PDHs will be available.  Doug will have a limited number of copies of his book available for purchase.

int meeting with the Women in Engineering chapter

Contact Leslie Martinich (lmartinich@ieee.org) for more information about the Austin TMC.

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Technology Management Council - San Antonio (TMC)

https://webinabox.vtools.ieee.org/wibp_home/index/CH05214
Topic/Title No meeting scheduled at thist time
Speaker
Abstract
Date/Time
Location
Cost Attendance is free. You will need to pay for your lunch at Aldaco’s.
Registration Please email Michael Frye (mfrye@uiwtx.edu) an RVSP by Tuesday, Sept. 13.
Notes

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Women in Engineering Affinity Group
https://www.austin-wie.org/

Topic/Title No meeting scheduled at thist time
Speaker
Date/Time
Location
Cost
Registration
Notes Receipts and Certifications for PDHs will be available.  Doug will have a limited number of copies of his book available for purchase.

Joint meeting with the Austin Technology Management Council chapter

Contact Leslie Martinich (lmartinich@ieee.org) for more information about the Austin TMC.

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Conferences, Other Meetings and Events

Local IEEE Conferences, Events or Workshops

October 30-November 2, 2011: 2011 Formal Methods in Computer-Aided Design (FMCAD). 

AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center Austin, TX, USA.  https://www.ieee.org/conferences_events/conferences/conferencedetails/index.html?Conf_ID=19796

November 6-8, 2011:  IEEE International Symposium on Workload Characterization (IISWC 2011)

IISWC is dedicated to the understanding and characterization of workloads that run on all types of computing systems. New applications and programming paradigms continue to emerge as the diversity and performance of computers increase. On the one hand, computing workloads evolve and change with advances in microarchitecture, compilers, programming languages, and networking/communication technologies.  On the other hand, improvements in computing technology are usually based on a solid understanding and analysis of existing workloads. Whether they are PDAs, wireless and embedded systems at the low end or massively parallel systems at the high end, the design of future computing machines can be significantly improved if we understand the characteristics of the workloads that are expected to run on them. This symposium, sponsored by IEEE Computer Society and the Technical Committee on Computer Architecture, will focus on characterizing and understanding modern computer applications commercial and scientific computing.

Conference website:  https://www.iiswc.org

Program sessions include:

Keynote address by Dr. Steven Keckler, Nvidia
Session 1: Performance Analysis and Prediction
Session 2: Data Center Computing
Session 3: Ongoing research in workload characterization (posters)
Session 4: Mobile Computing
Session 5: Only Analysis and Instrumentation
Session 6: High Performance Computing
Session 7: Microarchitecture Analysis
Session 8: GPU Computing
Full conference program: https://www.iiswc.org/iiswc2011/program2011.html

Registration fees (https://www.iiswc.org/iiswc2011/registration2011.html):
IEEE Member:  $475/$575 (before/after Oct 4)
Non-member: $595/$720
Student member: $250/$300
Student non-member: $300/$350
IEEE Life/retired:  $250/$300
May 14-17, 2012: 2012 IEEE-IAS/PCA Cement Industry Technical Conference - J.W. Marriott Hill Country Resort, San Antonio, TX. 

November 8-10, 2011: 2011 International SpaceWire Conference

Marriott Plaza Hotel, San Antonio, TX, USA
https://www.ieee.org/conferences_events/conferences/conferencedetails/index.html?Conf_ID=18975

December 4-6, 2011: 2011 IEEE International Workshop on Genomic Signal Processing and Statistics (GENSIPS)

San Antonio, TX, USA
https://www.ieee.org/conferences_events/conferences/conferencedetails/index.html?Conf_ID=19269

May 14-17, 2012: 2012 IEEE-IAS/PCA Cement Industry Technical Conference, San Antonio

J.W. Marriott Hill Country Resort, San Antonio, TX, USA
https://www.ieee.org/conferences_events/conferences/conferencedetails/index.html?Conf_ID=18155

May 30 - June1, 2012: 2012 IEEE International Conference on IC Design & Technology (ICICDT)

Freescale Semiconductor 7700 W Parmer Lane, Austin, TX, USA https://www.ieee.org/conferences_events/conferences/conferencedetails/index.html?Conf_ID=19537

June 3-8, 2010: 2012 IEEE 38th Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (PVSC)

Austin Convention Center, Austin, TX.  https://www.ieee-pvsc.org/


Non-IEEE Meetings and Events of interest suggested by the membership

November 1, 2011
Event:     Agile Austin Meeting
Date:     November 1, 2011
Time:     6:00pm - 8:30pm
Location:     Pervasive Software, 12365-B Riata Trace Parkway
Speaker:     Cheng Leong
Title:     Better Living Through Git
 
Description:     Distributed Version Control Systems (DVCS) provide several features over centralized version control that can help you deal with the complexity inherent in modern software development. In this talk, we will contrast Git, a popular DVCS, with Subversion. We will discuss Git's object model and contrast it with Subversion's model in a few common scenarios: sharing a version with others, resolving an incoming version conflict, applying a single change to multiple branches, and managing merges between branches. We will illustrate how developers and business stakeholders can proactively manage risks through tactical and strategic use of Git features, and give guidance for when to use each technique.
 
Speaker Bio:     Cheng Leong has developed software for a dozen companies over the last 17 years. Last year he became a Certified Scrum Master and development manager, and then spent the rest of the year converting his team from Scrum to Lean, identifying people's strengths by day, and planning the migration of NetSpend's Subversion repository to Git by night. This year he has returned to his own personal strength, developing software, and is now happily recovering.

Outside of work, he commutes by bicycle weekly, plays ultimate sometimes, organizes a Rice Austin happy hour monthly, and volunteers with Austin Software Mentorship to discuss professional software development with UT students.
 
Additional Information
Cost:     Free
Map Directions:     Riata Trace Parkway is between Duval and Oak Knoll off 183. From 183: exit Oak Knoll Drive, turn right at Riata Trace Parkway. 12365-B is 0.8 miles on right (map)
More Info:    https://www.agileaustin.org or info@AgileAustin.org
Agenda:     Sign-in and Networking     6:00 - 6:30 PM
Announcements, Presentation    6:30 - 8:30 PM

November 5-6, 2011
Second Annual Texas Science and Engineering Festival (TSEF)
It is with great enthusiasm that MAES announces the Second Annual Texas Science and Engineering Festival (TSEF).

The Texas Festival is modeled after the highly successful Austin Science and Engineering Festival. With an estimated 20,000 people in 2010, attendance at the first Austin Science and Engineering Festival (ASEF) proved that STEM is fun!

Fueled by the best scientific and educational resources in the area all geared towards making science interesting, relevant and fun, the ASEF committee worked in partnership with the community to develop an annual initiative to engage and excite Texas in the wonders of science and engineering.

This year we expand the festival to the entire state of Texas with the first state-wide Texas Science and Engineering Festival. The Texas Science and Engineering Festival will be an even larger celebration, jam-packed with the smiling faces of our future scientists and engineers as they explore the myriad of STEM-related activities – lectures, exhibitions, plays, workshops, and more. There will be something for everyone!

As a partner, your name and logo will be prominently displayed on the Festival website. There is no funding required from our partners. Partners are encouraged to:

• promote the festival
• provide volnteers

Where Will You Be When Science Takes Over Texas?

The two-day Expo will be held at the Austin Convention Center on November 5-6, 2011. We invite you to become a partner of the Texas Science and Engineering Festival.

This will be a great opportunity for your organization to gain additional public awareness and recognition. Please join us in encouraging the youth of America to embrace and pursue the opportunities available in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Join us at the Texas Science and Engineering Festival, one of the largest celebrations of science and engineering. We look forward to another exciting, interesting and fun festival.

You can find out more at https://texassciencefestival.org

November 10, 2011
What: Door64 Happy Hour, sponsored by NextGen Healthcare, a division of QSI
Who: Door64.com members
When: Thursday, November 10th, 2011 / 5:30pm - 8:30pm
Where: Six Lounge, 117 West 4th Street, Austin, TX 78701
How (much): Free!
Food: Provided!
Registration: https://door64.com/nov2011

November 10, 2011
Central Texas Electronics Association Electronics Design & Manufacturing Tech Forum & Expo
Norris Conference Center at Northcross Mall in Austin.  Registration Via SMTA Website: https://www.smta.org/expos/#austin
This event is free for SMTA and IMAPS members and non-members as well.
Event Location: Norris Conference Center at Northcross Mall (backside), 2525 West Anderson Lane, Austin, Texas


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Miscellaneous

September issue of IEEE-USA Today's Engineer includes these features:

Career Focus: Engineering Management
Taking those first steps into management can be difficult, and there are many questions you might ask before moving forward. Is going into management the right career path for you? Are you right for management? Do you need extra training or skills to become an effective manager? What if it doesn't work out for you? Are the best paths for career growth with your current employer, or must you switch companies before you can advance?

YOUR CAREER, YOUR LIFE
  • Risk Management: Integrated ERM and Cyber Security
  • Seven Easy Steps that Guarantee Faster Executive Job Search Results
  • Region 3's Jobs Board: Fighting Engineering Unemployment
SHAPING PUBLIC POLICY
  • IEEE-USA Position Statements -- What are They, Why do we Need Them and What do They do for Me?
ENGINEERING EDUCATION
  • Assessment Exam for Electrical/Electronics Engineering Technology Programs Now Available
LICENSURE & REGISTRATION
  • NCEES Methodology for Scoring PE Exams, Recap of April 2011 Electrical and Computer PE Exam Results
STEM EDUCATION
  • Zero Robotics Lets High School Students Program Robot Satellites in Space
RESOURCES
  • IEEE-USA Toolkit
  • Tech News Digest
SHORT CIRCUITS
  • World Bytes: Social Responsibility, Business and the Economy

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Events and Information

AT&T Invests $1M To Promote Science, Engineering To Girl Scouts
In a move to boost the ranks of women in science and engineering, Dallas-based AT&T announced that it has contributed $1M to an effort by the Girl Scouts of the USA, to boost interest in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) to undeserved high school girls. AT&T and the girl Scouts said they are launching IMAGINE: Your STEM Future, an initiative to introduce young women to careers in science, technology, engineering, and math. The contribution is among the largest ever made to the Girl Scouts of the USA for science education. The funds will go towards providing activities for high school girls to team up with At&T employees and other volunteers to participate in science related experiments and activities. Two of the Girl Scout Councils are in Texas; the Dallas and San Antonio area councils are two of the 18 Girl Scout Councils involved in the effort.

Career

The IEEE Job Site: A Decade of Helping Job Hunters
It's been 10 years since IEEE launched its members' Job Site. Today the site has about 5000 employers regularly posting on average about 1300 openings each month. Learn how the Job Site can help you at https://bmsmail3.ieee.org:80/u/18838/32170


IEEE Career Alert

eWeek Careers at https://eweek.com

Tips, Tools and Gadgets

I had in mind something a little different this month.  It is another podcast that I listen to, but this one is for pure entertainment purposes.  One of the podcasts I started listening to a year or two ago is "Stuff You Missed in History Class Podcast" from https://howstuffworks.com.  The topics vary widely, and often focus on what we would generally consider obscure topics, events or people in history: Alchemy, Admiral Yi Sun-sin, the Mistress of Murder Hill, the Radium girls, the list goes on.  If you want something a little different, and you like history you will want Missed added to your podcast playlist. 

If you have comments, or suggestions as to something I should mention in a future issue, please let me know at john.purvis@ieee.org.  I look forward to reading your comments and suggestions.