IEEE Central Texas Section

THE ANALOG

Volume 57-01

January 2013

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 Communications and Signal Processing 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


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

IEEE Member Newsletter https://theinstitute.ieee.org

General Interest

Chairman's Column

Friends,

As my first year as section chairman comes to a close, l want to tell you what an honor it's been to serve this exceptional group. This year has seen the chapters and members receive awards and acknowledgements which you should all be proud of. I am sure 2013 will bring yet more remarkable accomplishments by you and the section.

This was a very active year for IEEE activities in Central Texas. A new chapter of the Council on Electronic Design Automation (CEDA) was formed in the Section. Several Chapters held very successful workshops. The Section sponsored Lunch & Learn Lectures during EWEEK at several local companies. ICICDT 2012 (International Conference on IC Design and Technology), a conference wholly sponsored by your Central Texas Section, was held from May 30 - June 1. The Section co-hosted the Texas Day Luncheon at NIWEEK.

I look forward to 2013 and all the opportunities I know it will bring for CTS.

Happy New Year

Kenny Rice
Chairman, Central Texas Section
krice@ieee.org

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Membership Development

Have you renewed your IEEE membership for 2013?

It is easy to forget and easy to put off.  If you haven’t renewed your IEEE membership, or don’t know if you have, go to your MYIEEE account NOW and check at https://www.ieee.org/myieee  or call 800 678-4333.

OR just renew now to avoid loss of any of your IEEE benefits at https://www.ieee.org/renew .

If you have already renewed, thank you for being part of the Central Texas Section and the IEEE, the world’s largest technical professional association. We have a lot planned for you in the CTS for 2013.

Visit https://www.ieee.org/membership to view all YOUR benefits of IEEE membership.

IEEE GOLD Hosts Upcoming Professional Development Webinar

The IEEE Graduates of the Last Decade (GOLD) sponsors webinars covering a variety of topical areas of interest to the new engineer as well as the engineer well into their career.  There are recorded webinars are available for IEEE members as well as for non-members.  These webinars cover professional development, technical development, as well as IEEE’s humanitarian initiatives.

Go to https://www.ieee.org/gold and browse the recorded webinar topics and check out what’s coming in 2013.
 
Did you know about IEEE – IEEE Spectrum

As a member of IEEE you have exclusive download privileges to view a rich content of IEEE Spectrum articles and features.  Check it out at https://www.ieee.org/spectrum

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

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News of Interest to the Section

Austin Among Top Tech Metros, Says Report
A recent report, detailing the impact of the technology industry on the U.S., says that Austin is one of the top technology metropolitan areas in the nation in terms of high tech employment concentration. The study--issued by the Bay Area Council Economic Institute and sponsored by Austin Technology Council partner Engine Advocacy--ranked Austin as number 14 in the nation for high tech employment concentration, at 10.7% of private sectors jobs in technology. The report, which analyzed patterns of high-technology employment and wages in the United States, said that high tech jobs are a "critical source" of employment and income in the U.S. economy. The highest area of technology job concentration, not surprisingly, was the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara metropolitan area, with 28.8% of jobs in technology in the region.

Congratulations to Central Texas Secion Members Elevated to Senior Member
The last IEEE A&A Review Panel meeting was held on 8 December 2012 in New Brunswick, NJ, USA.  At that meeting the following CTS members were elevated to Senior Member: Maruthi Akella, Andrea Alu, Pio Balmelli, Swapnajit Chakravarty, Deji Chen, Richard Kennedy, Julija Matevosyan, Mark Wadsworth, and Xiaojing (John) Zhang. 

The Best And Worst Master's Degrees For Jobs according to Forbes
Included are Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Mathematics, Information Systems, and Physics among the best.  See https://www.forbes.com/sites/jacquelynsmith/2012/06/08/the-best-and-worst-masters-degrees-for-jobs-2/ for the details.

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Continuing Education


January 16, 2013: Webinar:  LTE Components Drive Multimode Mobile Broadband
Free Online Classes Could Change Engineering Education
Have a hankering to attend Harvard’s computer science classes but can’t afford the tuition? Want to take a course on machine learning at Stanford but can’t move to California? Whatever your circumstances, you can now attend free classes offered by prestigious engineering schools and other universities via the Internet through open online courses. Check out this IEEE Roundup to find out more.
https://theinstitute.ieee.org/ieee-roundup/opinions/ieee-roundup/free-online-courses-could-change-engineering-education


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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: Jordan Dean, email: jdean5@mail.stmarytx.edu

Texas State University - San Marcos (new branch, 2009)
Faculty Adviser: Larry Larson, email: Larry.Larson@TXState.edu
Branch Chair: Adrian Fabian, email: af1362@txstate.edu

Trinity University - San Antonio (https://www.engr.trinity.edu/)
Faculty Adviser: Farzan Aminian, email: Farzan.Aminian@Trinity.edu
Branch Chair: Mohsin Rahim, email: mrahim@trinity.edu

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

University of Texas at San Antonio (https://www.utsaieee.org/)
Faculty Adviser: Shuo Wang, email: Shuo.Wang@utsa.edu
Branch Chair: Michael Starkweather, email: michael.starkweather@ieee.org

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Calls for Volunteers

2012 Future Cities Competition
The Central Texas Future City Competition is in need of volunteers to judge the competition. The IEEE Central Texas Section would like to invite you to be a judge for the 2013 competition in San Marcos on January 19th.

The competition website can be viewed at https://www.futurecity.org and to register to be judge, visit https://futurecity.org/region/competition-judges.

The Future City competition challenges teams that consist of a teacher, middle school students, and an engineer mentor to design a city 150 years in the future. Each year we have a different theme; this year's theme is "Rethink Runoff: Design clean solutions to manage stormwater pollution". Each team has 4 deliverables – 1) a software city, from SimCity, 2) an essay (both delivered before Christmas), and 3) a physical model of their city and 4) a presentation, both due the day of the competition -- held in San Marcos on January 19, 2013.  This is the 30th year for the National competition, and the Central Texas's fourth year.  Note that the regional winning team gets an all-expense paid trip to the National competition, which is held during EWEEK in Washington DC.

We would like to invite you to become a judge for the competition. As a judge, you will “grade” portions (mentioned above) of the students’ project according to a provided rubric.  The Sim City and essay portions are completely done online. Everything is uploaded for volunteers to score. The software city requires the Sim City 4 software to judge. If you do not already have this software, we invite you to judge other portions of the competition. We could really use judges for the day of the competition in San Marcos.

Judges have a lot of fun and support a great cause. I think this would be a great chance to see what these young, potential engineers have been working on. To register to be judge, visit https://futurecity.org/region/competition-judges.

If you have any further questions, you can reach me at carlos.luna@saws.org or Dawn Roberson at ctxfuturecity@gmail.com .

The Christian Academy of San Antonio (C.A.S.A.) is hosting a Science Fair for grades 7-12. 
At this event, the students will have the opportunity to showcase their experiments and compete for advancement to the ASCI Science Fair for private schools in the San Antonio Area.  The event will take place at the school gymnasium on Monday, February 25th .  Judges are needed in order to make this event a success.  Judging will take place between the hours of 8am – 12N.  Students will be available for interviews if necessary.
 
DATE: February 25, Monday
EVENT:  C.A.S.A. Science Fair
LOCATION:  325 Castroville Road, San Antonio, Texas 78207
TIMES:  8am -12N  (each judge will be asked to judge 3 to 5 projects)
NEEDS:  As many volunteer judges as can be spared.
CONTACT E-Mail:  connerc@christianacademysa.org
PHONE #:  school phone number: 210-431-7355

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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

 Evolutionary Planar Transmission-Line Structures: Their Physics and Practicality

Speaker

 Professor Ching-Kuang Clive Tzuang

Abstract

 This presentation will review the milestones in the development of planar transmission-line structures and discuss their impact on modern integrated circuit technology and system applications.  The microstrip transmission line was first reported by Grieg and Engelmann 60 years ago.  It consists of a conducting strip supported by a dielectric substrate above a much wider ground plane. This invention led to the subsequent development of many new types of guided-wave structures including slotlines, coplanar waveguides, and other uniplanar configurations for a variety of applications.  In 1971, rigorous field-theoretic techniques made possible the accurate determination of the dispersion characteristics of a microstrip. The spectral-domain immittance approach to the Green’s function derivation explicitly revealed the hybrid nature of the TE and TM waves propagating within the structure. The fast formulism together with efficient numerical algorithms allowed deeper insights into the complex modes in such structures.  Another important domain of knowledge is leaky-mode phenomena, which exist in nearly every planar transmission-line structure known to date.  This line of investigation led to the development of a class of large antenna arrays that can be readily designed by the modal theory.  In 1997, the study of a microstrip with a periodically perturbed ground plane opened the era of synthetic planar transmission-line structures. The periodically loaded microstrip can support additional complex and leaky modes in the form of space and/or surface waves. Furthermore, it can achieve a slow-wave factor exceeding the square root of relative dielectric constant of the supporting substrate, facilitating the miniaturization of a microwave device without introducing substantial losses. Another form of the non-uniform periodic guided-wave structure, the so-called composite right-left-handed (CRLH) transmission-line metamaterial, represents a new advancement in planar transmission-line development, enabling the synthesis of exotic passive components.  Recent studies have shown that non-resonant CRLH transmission-line metamaterials can exhibit a slow-wave factor larger than 20 on a typical monolithic integrated-circuit substrate, thus can be a potentially powerful candidate for terahertz electronic apparatus.

Date/Time

 Thursday, January 17, 2012, 2pm

Cost

None

Reservations

 No

Location

 ACES 2.402

Notes

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Council on Electronic Design Automation (CEDA)
https://ewh.ieee.org/r5/central_texas/ceda


Topic/Title

No meeting scheduled at thist time

Speaker

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Reservations

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Notes

The CEDA chapter normally meet on the 3rd Mondy 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 zhuoli@ieee.org.

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


Topic/Title

No meeting scheduled at thist time

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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

No meeting scheduled at thist time

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

Topic/title

 Internet of Things (IOT), m2M – Smart Converged Gateway for Smart Grid, Smart Cities

Speaker

 Kwok Wu, PhD, Head of Embedded Software and Systems Solutions, Freescale Semiconductor

Dr. Kwok Wu has many years of diverse experience in advanced embedded systems and software. He has delivered high-performance scalable software platforms and products for Freescale’s Power Architecture, Starcore DSP, ARM, and ZigBee Systems-on-Chips (SoCs) in the wireless broadband networking, telecommunications, enterprise, consumer, automotive, industrial, smart energy, and health segments.

Kwok has been selected as 2012 Innovator of the Year by ECD – Embedded Computing Design Magazine for his platform approach to Wireless Smart Gateways

https://embedded-computing.com/articles/2012-solutions-freescale-semiconductor/

He also received the Innovative Networking Product Award, Broadband World Forum 2011with Secured Broadband multi-service Gateway and Best Networking and Communication Product Award, Smart Metering at Australia & New Zealand Summit 2012. He is an award-winning industry veteran and sought after speaker.

He has held various executive management positions at AT&T Bell Laboratories, Lucent Technology, Actel,  AMD, Lattice and Freescale Semiconductor.

Kwok is member of IEEE Computer Society, and holds a Treasurer position at the Austin Chapter of IEEE Communications Society and hold a PhD, EECS (Computer Engineering) from the University of Texas at Austin.

Abstract

 This presentation introduces the Freescale smart wireless converged platform integrating with Oracle’s Java Embedded ME/SE technology to connect Smart Grid, Smart Home, Smart Buildings for m2M (machines-to-machines, machines-to-Mankind) using Zigbee-based 802.15.4 wireless sensor network (WSN).

The last-mile of smart Grid integrating smart meters, smart home/building’s Home Area Network (HAN) using 8308nSG for home energy management and Neighborhood Area Network (NAN) using multi-core P1025 Data Concentrator for Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) are described.

This Internet of Things (IOT) can also be extended to various market segments such as building/factoring automation, safety/security and medical/health monitoring connecting the Zigbee wireless sensor network with the smart gateway and smart mobile devices for remote monitoring and control.

Date/time

 January 16, 2013
6:30 PM

Location

 THE ADVISORY BOARD - BUILDING 7 (map)
Room Number: Suite 100
12357-C Riata Trace Parkway
Bldg 7, Suite 100
Austin,  Texas

Cost

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

Topic/Title A Wizard-based configuration software package for SOHO routers
Speaker Michael Anthony Perez is a founding member of and events coordinator for the 10BitWorks HackerSpace in south San Antonio and a lead developer at Innervent, a San Antonio based customized software-as-a-service (SaaS) business. He has earned a B.S. in Software Engineering and is currently earning an M.S. in Software Engineering from St. Mary's University of San Antonio. He recently earned his Technician license for amateur radio operation and is studying for his General license. His call-sign is KF5QVO.
Abstract Consumer-grade routers, sometimes referred to as small office, home office (SOHO) routers, are for the most part easy enough to setup for the average user -- if the user has no special use cases. Often, these routers are capable of much more than basic DHCP connections but the average user might never know. Influenced by Ubiquiti's Firmware Challenge, I present a Wizard-based configuration software package for SOHO routers. A wizard-based GUI guides the user in a non-technical dialogue about their network usage and then using an Expert System, configures a dd-wrt based firmware image to be flashed onto the router.
Date/Time Tuesday, January 22, 2013; Dinner 6:30, Networking 7:15, Program 7:30
Location Conference Room B, University Center, St. Mary’s University, San Antonio, TX
Cost Dinner will be in the St. Mary’s Cafeteria downstairs in the University Center.  They have an all you can eat buffet for $8.50 plus tax.  Each person will pay for his or her own meal.  We will have a block of tables so we can sit together – look for Small IEEE Computer Society Signs on the tables.  Dinner is optional. You are welcome to skip dinner and come only to the technical presentation.
Reservations Not Required but for head count please email Dr. Djaffer Ibaroudene, dibaroudende@stmarytx.edu , or call (210) 431-2050
Notes See our website for directions and parking,
  https://www.ieee-cs-cts.org
You can see more about this meeting at:
https://meetings.vtools.ieee.org/meeting_view/list_meeting/15903

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

Topic/Title Enabling Cyber-Physical Systems with Real-Time High-Performance Computing, Measurement and Control.
Speaker Igor Alvarado, Business Development Manager for Academic Research, National Instruments
Speaker Bio Mr. Alvarado is a Mechanical Engineer (Kansas State University, 1984) and currently works with National Instruments (NI) as the Business Development Manager for Academic Research.  He has been with NI for more than 13 years, and has more than 25 years practical experience in the design, development and deployment of real-time, measurement and control systems that involve high-performance numerical methods in C, C++, FORTRAN and NI LabVIEW using PC-based and embedded technologies for a wide spectrum of research projects and industries including lean manufacturing and manufacturing automation.  He has also been involved in the design and implementation of novel approaches for teaching/learning science and engineering at the university level, with a special emphasis on hands-on learning and experimental research.  He is an active member of several professional societies, including the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM), the International Society of Automation (ISA), the American Physical Society (APS) and the Ibero-American Science and Technology Education Consortium (ISTEC).  Mr. Alvarado has taught courses to engineers and scientists involved in instrumentation, control and automation applications in industry and academia.  He has been an invited speaker at numerous leading universities, national and international meetings.  Over the past 25 years, he has served as a consultant or advisory board member for several institutes, colleges, universities, corporations and research laboratories.
Abstract In this presentation we describe a new generation of modular, heterogeneous, reconfigurable and embedded real-time high-performance computing systems (RT-HPC) to enable Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) that combine sensing, communications, computing and control of "systems of systems" such as the Smart-Grid or a swarm of unmanned robots.  The RT-HPC systems discussed in this presentation make use of parallel processing and heterogeneous architectures for solving complex, computationally intensive scientific and engineering problems that involve input/output signals, within real-time constraints.  The heterogeneous architecture takes advantage of the state-of-the-art multi-core CPUs, Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) and Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) to perform scientific and technical computations in real-time, with streaming temporal/spatial data (inputs) and online actuation/control (outputs).  We will present examples of a wide spectrum of applications and scientific/engineering challenges that can be tackled by CPS, using RT-HPC systems in such industries as Energy, Transportation, Communications, National Security, Health and others.
Date Wednesday,  January 23, 2013
Networking at 6:00 pm;  Business and Program from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm
Location PoK-e-Jo’s,  2121 W. Parmer Lane at Lamplight Village,  Austin  TX  78727
Cost $5.00 minimum charge for the restaurant.   Supper is at optional extra cost.
Reservations Not required.  All interested parties are invited to attend.
Notes For more information, go to:  https://ewh.ieee.org/r5/central_texas/cn/

If you are interested in professional career development and cross-training in varied technical fields, please consider joining the Central Texas Consultants Network.  And bring a colleague!
 
Introducing the IEEE - CTCN Officers for 2013 !!!
 
Chairman:  Bill Martino
Vice-Chair / Web Master:  Sergio Liberman
Secretary / Treasurer:  Jody Everett
Communication Manager:  Bob Baker
Program Manager:  Kai Wong

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

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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


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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
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Abstract
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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
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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 (I&M)

Topic/Title

 Preventing Large Hadron Collider at CERN From Melting Away: Using FPGAs for Collimator Control

Speaker

 Dr. Ravi Marawar, National Instruments
Dr. Ravi Marawar is Senior Program Manager in the Big Physics and Science group at National Instruments. The Big Physics segment serves customers building control, measurement and diagnostics systems for Physics projects such as accelerators, tokomaks and telescopes. As part of broader Science focus, the group is also responsible for strategy and activity related to scientific research into alternative energy areas such as LENR. Prior to joining the Big Physics group, Ravi spent 12 years building and leading the Academic Marketing and Relations program at National Instruments. He received his   Ph D in Atomic and Molecular Physics from Rice University in 1992. He has been employed at National Instruments since 1996.

Abstract

 Scientists of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN have been searching for the Higgs boson particle for years, and finally announced that they have found a “Higgs-like” sub-atomic particle. The Higgs boson particle is predicted by the Standard Model of particle physics to explain why particles have mass. Protons are smashed into each other at high energies in order to look for Higgs-Boson. The energy of proton beam is so high that it can melt a 1,100 pound clock of copper. A collimator is used to absorb stray protons and ensure an optimal proton beam. Attend this talk to learn how the engineers at CERN are using FPGAs and Real-Time operating systems to control the collimator and synchronize the control system around the 27 km radius of the LHC. Other large control systems used for fusion experiments and telescopes will also be discussed.

Date/Time

 January 21, 2013 - Reception 6-6:15pm, Presentation 6:15-7:30pm

Cost

Reservations

 https://meetings.vtools.ieee.org/meeting_view/list_meeting/15977 or email <ieee.cts.iandm@ieee.org>

Location

 National Instruments Building C 1S13

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 Today's United States Patent System
Speaker John Lyons
Abstract The US Patent System has undergone some major changes in recent years, some for the better and some for the worse.  John Lyons will discuss those changes and what they mean for the future of invention and innovation.  Attendees may send questions in advance to t.p.obrien@ieee.org
Date/Time January 24, 2013 (Thursday) / 11:30 AM.
Location Location: Lion & Rose British Restaurant & Pub
842 NW I-410 Loop
San Antonio, Texas
Cost We will order individually from the lunch menu, and the restaurant will provide separate checks.
Reservations Tom O'Brien, t.p.obrien@ieee.org or 210 481 3443, or use IEEE vTools.
Notes


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/PELS/IAS/IES)
https://www.ewh.ieee.org/soc/pes/centraltexas/austin

Topic/Title Integral Fast Reactors
Speaker Dr. Eugene G. Preston, PE, Consultant, Austin, TX
Dr. Preston has been serving as an independent consultant to the power industry on matters of power generation and transmission since 1998. From 2005 through 2008, he served as an Adjunct Professor to the University of Texas at Austin. From 1970 through 1998, he held various positions of increasing responsibility at Austin Energy in areas of power system engineering, planning and management. Dr. Preston received his BS in Electrical Engineering from UT-Arlington in 1970. He received his MS and PhD in Electrical Engineering from UT-Austin in 1979 and 1997, respectively.
Abstract In this presentation, Dr. Preston will discuss advanced nuclear reactors known as Integral Fast Reactors (IFRs). Are they a solution to world energy? Climate change? Are they one of the US government’s best kept secrets? After you learn more about these nuclear reactors, you can decide.
Date/Time Tuesday, January 22, 2013
6:00 to 6:30 PM Social
6:30 to 7:00 PM Dinner
7:00 to 7:30 PM Business Meeting
7:30 to 8:30 PM Program
9:00 PM room closes for the benefit of long distance drivers and early risers
Location El Gallo Mexican Restaurant, 512-444-2205
2910 S Congress (directions below)
Austin, Texas
Cost IEEE Members and accompanying spouses: $11 to $17 for dinners ($2 non-meal participants)
Visitors (non-IEEE members): $14 to $20 for dinners ($5 non-meal participants)
IEEE Student Members: $3 for dinner (no charge for non-meal participants)
Student Visitors (non-IEEE members): $6 to $10 for dinners ($2 non-meal participants)
All: $2 for non-alcoholic beverages
A bar is available for those who care to purchase a beer or other alcoholic beverage
Reservations If you plan on attending, please RSVP by sending an e-mail to ieee.pi2.austin@zxtech.net.
Notes

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

Topic/Title Safety of Laser Products: An Overview of IEC 60825-1
Speaker Wade Munsch, Product Safety Engineer, MET Laboratories, Inc.
Abstract This presentation will focus on the various requirements of IEC 60825-1 including an overview of each section with the intent of digging into the particular requirements in future presentations.
Date/Time Tuesday, January 15, 2013 - 6:30pm to 8:00pm
Cost None
Reservations N/A
Location Dell Parmer South Campus, Building PS4, Victoria Conference Room (Right inside the door)
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://sites.ieee.org/ct-comsp/



Topic/Title

 No meeting scheduled at thist time

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Joint Communications and Signal Processing Society - San Antonio (Com/SP)
https://ewh.ieee.org/r5/central_texas/satx

Topic/Title

 No meeting scheduled at thist time

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Systems, Man & Cybernetics Society

Topic/Title

 No meeting scheduled at thist time

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Notes

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

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

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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
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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

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

  • January 16-18, 2013: IEEE International Committee on Electromagnetic Safety (ICES), Technical Committee TC95
    ICES/TC95 and its subcommittees will meet 16 - 18 January 2013 at the Tri-Service Research Laboratory at Fort Sam Houston.  These committees set maximum permissible exposure limits for 0-300 GHz used internationally.  They also recommend measurements and computations related to the limits.  An example is IEEE Std C95.1™-2005, IEEE Standard for Safety Levels with Respect to Human Exposure to Radio Frequency Electromagnetic Fields, 3 kHz to 300 GHz.  Standards are revised periodically by the committees.  Attendance requires a registration fee of $150.  IEEE membership is not required.  For further information please contact Dr. B. Jon Klauenberg bertram.j.klauenberg.civ@mail.mil or Ron Petersen r.c.petersen@ieee.org.

  • January 20-23, 2013: 2013 IEEE Topical Conference on Wireless Sensors and Sensor Networks (WiSNet)
    Renaissance Austin
    Austin, TX, USA
    https://www.radiowirelessweek.org/

  • January 20-23, 2013: IEEE Radio and Wireless Symposium (RWS)
         Renaissance Austin. https://www.radiowirelessweek.org/

  • January 20-23, 2013: 2013 IEEE Topical Conference on Power Amplifiers for Wireless and Radio Applications (PAWR)
    Renaissance Austin
    Austin, TX, USA
    https://www.radiowirelessweek.org/

  • January 20-23, 2013: 2013 IEEE Topical Conference on Biomedical Wireless Technologies, Networks, and Sensing Systems (BioWireleSS)
    Renaissance Austin
    Austin, TX, USA
    https://www.radiowirelessweek.org/

  • January 21-23, 2013: 2013 IEEE Topical Meeting on Silicon Monolithic Integrated Circuits in Rf Systems (SiRF)
    Renaissance Hotel
    Austin, TX, USA
    https://www.silicon-rf.org/sirf2013/

  • January 23, 2013: Wireless OTA Tour and BBQ
    Technical tour of the wireless labs at ETS-Lindgren.  This will be held on Wednesday, January 23, 2013 with a pick up at the RWW conference host hotel – The Renaissance Arboretum – at 5:45 pm.  A BBQ dinner and transportation are provided at no charge, provided a reservation is received in advance.
     
    Details on the tour and reservation information are available via the RWW website at https://www.radiowirelessweek.org/highlights/ (click on technical tour shown on the left sidebar or go direct to https://www.ets-lindgrenregistration.com/wireless-ota-tour/).

    This is a great learning opportunity that we would like to open up beyond MTT Society members to all Central Texas Section members that may be interested in wireless test and measurement education.
     
    Note you do NOT have to be a registered RWW conference participant to attend this technical tour.  I

  • January 26, 2013: IEEE Central Texas Section Spring Plan meeting
    Please register at https://meetings.vtools.ieee.org/meeting_view/list_meeting/15649.

  • April 7-10, 2013: 21st IEEE Symposium on Computer Arithmetic, AT&T Conference Center, Austin, Texas, USA.  See https://www.arithsymposium.org for information
    Deadline for paper submission: Sept 10, 2012

  • April 21-23. 2013: 2013 IEEE International Symposium on Performance Analysis of Systems and Software (ISPASS)
    Renaissance Austin Hotel 9721 Arboretum Boulevard
    Austin, TX, USA
    https://ispass.org/ispass2013/

  • May 29 - June 7, 2013: 2013 50th ACM/EDAC/IEEE Design Automation Conference (DAC)
    Austin Convention Center
    Austin, TX, USA
    https://www.dac.com/

  • June 2, 2013:2013 ACM/IEEE International Workshop on System Level Interconnect Prediction (SLIP)
    Austin Convention Center 500 East Cesar Chavez Street Austin
    Austin, TX, USA
    https://www.sliponline.org/

  • June 2-3, 2013: 9th IEEE International Conference on Microelectronics System Education (MSE) to be held on June 2 -3 2013 in Austin Texas.

    MSE is the premier conference dedicated to furthering undergraduate and graduate education in designing and building innovative microelectronic systems. MSE is co-located with Design Automation Conference (DAC) providing the participant a unique opportunity to attend both conferences.

    Topics of Interest
    The MSE conference provides an excellent opportunity for educators and industry to work together to ensure continued excellence in the field of microelectronic systems.  Of particular interest is incorporation of emerging trends in the microelectronic system industry and research into the classroom.
    Papers are invited in (but not limited to) the following areas:

    Pedagogical innovations using a wide range of technologies, including nanometer-scale integrated circuits, low-power design, nanotechnology, application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), multicore/many-core processors, graphics processing units (GPUs), sensor networks, and embedded systems. Educational techniques including novel curricula and laboratories, assessment methods, distance learning, textbooks, and design projects. Industry and academic collaborative programs and teaching. Preparing students for industry, entrepreneurship, academics, and/or research.

    Submission
    Papers submitted to MSE 2013 should not exceed four (4) pages in length. Submissions must comply with IEEE Computer Society formatting requirements.  Submissions in PDF or postscript format may be submitted on-line at https://www.mseconference.org.  Submissions will be judged on originality, appropriateness, technical strength, assessment, and other relevant criteria.
    Important Dates
    Submission of papers:                   January 15, 2013
    Notification of acceptance              March 15, 2013
    Submission of final papers              April 8, 2013

  • October 7-9, 2013: 2013 IEEE Symposium on Product Compliance Engineering (ISPCE)
    Westin at the Domain
    Austin, TX, USA
    https://www.psessymposium.org/

  • December 3-5, 2013: 2013 IEEE Global Conference on Signal and Information Processing (GlobalSIP)
    Austin Convention Center 500 East Cesar Chavez Street Austin
    Austin, TX, USA
    https://www.ieeeglobalsip.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.


Non-IEEE Meetings and Events of interest suggested by the membership
January 5-6, 2013: Girl Develop It - Intro to HTML/CSS - 10AM-2PM
Want to learn how to build your own website? Already have your own Tumblr/Wordpress/etc site, but want to have more control over it? Interested in learning to program but want to start small? This class is for all of you! This 2-class HTML/CSS course runs the weekend.
https://www.meetup.com/Girl-Develop-It-Austin/events/93485802/

January 10, 2013: Door64 Happy Hour South
Thursday, January 10, 2013 | 5:30 – 8pm
Location: Texican Cafe  4141 Capital of Texas Highway, Austin, Texas 78708
Registration at https://door64.com/tech_happy_hours.

January 16, 2013: Door64 Happy Hour North
Wednesday, January 16, 2013 | 5:30 – 8pm
Location: The Park at the Domain  11601 Domain Drive, Austin, Texas 78758
Registration at https://door64.com/tech_happy_hours.

January 17, 2013: Door64 Happy Hour Central
Thursday, January 17, 2013 | 5:30 – 8pm
Location: Annie's Cafe   319 Congress Avenue, Austin, Texas 78701
Registration at https://door64.com/tech_happy_hours.

January 19, 2013: Houston Mini Maker Faire: Custom Minifigs, Singing Sashimi, and More
The first ever Houston Mini Maker Faire is coming right up on Saturday, January 19th, at the Stafford Centre, and it’s shaping up to be an interesting show.   See https://blog.makezine.com/2013/01/02/houston-mini-maker-faire-custom-minifigs-singing-sashimi-and-more/ for more details

February 15, 2013:  Door64 STEM Job Fair
Door64 will be hosting nine STEM job fairs in 2013.  Attendees are required to include a LinkedIn profile that demonstrates a science, technology, engineering, or math (STEM) education or experience, and employers will be recruiting for current and future position exclusively with STEM components.  The first STEM job fair will be on February 15.  For registration and exhibiting information, please visit https://door64.com/stem_job_fair

March 30, 2013: Data Day Texas 2013
GeekAustin and Big Data friends
Saturday, March 30, 2013 from 8:30 AM to 6:00 PM (CDT) Austin, TX

The first Data Day Austin, held almost 2 years ago, sold out weeks before the event. So many folks came to join from Dallas, San Antonio, and Houston, this time it was decided to simply call it Data Day Texas.

See  https://data-day-texas-2013.eventbrite.com/# for more details

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

March 5, 2013: Change the World Challenge
The Siemens We Can Change the World Challenge, a national environmental sustainability competition for grades K-12, is now accepting applications for the 2012-2013 program. Through project-based learning, students learn about science and conservation while gaining 21st-century skills. The deadline for all entries is March 5, 2013. Additional information is available at https://www.wecanchange.com. 

March 15, 2013: Space Settlement Design Contest
The NASA Space Settlement Design Contest is intended for students in grades 6-12, although younger students may enter. Individual or teams from anywhere in the world may enter. Grade levels are judged separately, except for the grand prize. All participants will receive a certificate.https://settlement.arc.nasa.gov/Contest/  

Career

The IEEE-USA Career Manager (https://www.ieeeusa.org/careers) is organized into eight categories designed to help you manage and advance in your career:

* Career Management Interactive Workshop
* Salary Service
* Consulting and Entrepreneurship
* Professional Development Webinars
* Employment Assistance and Job Search
* IEEE Online Distance Learning
* E-Book Library
* IEEE.tv

Tips, Tools and Gadgets

I hope all and their families have had an enjoyable holidays. 

I started a few months ago writing about Web tools. 

As most of you know, connections are based upon IP addresses.  Every time we use a device to access the internet, weather it be a PC or mobile device, we are operating from an IP address.  But what is that IP address?  We may not always know what the IP is of the device we are operating.  While that is not always needed, we may want that information from time to time as we investigate one problem or another.  A quick way to find out the IP that is assigned to any device is to visit https://whatismyip.com or https://www.hostgator.com/ip.shtml with any web browser. 

One thing we may want to know is if an IP has been blacklisted for because of email SPAM.  While this usually does not apply to our personal device IPs, it may be valuable if we get email bounced back.  One good source to check to see if an IP is on a blacklist is https://mxtoolbox.com.  Go to that URL, then in the Domain name box enter "Blacklist:" followed by the IP you want to check on.  Then click on the "MX Lookup" button.  This site will search several (45 the last time I tried it) of the common email blacklists. 

One other tool that can be useful is https://www.mensus.net/browser/ipis.shtml to find out who owns an IP and what region of the world the IP is associated with.  This is particularly useful when you have contact from an IP from outside the US. 

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.