The Analog is the monthly newsletter of the Central Texas Section of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, Inc. New issues are published around the first of each month.  The deadline for inclusion of material is the 26th of the month.  Send submissions, comments, questions to John Purvis, Editor, john.purvis@ieee.org. Archives of The Analog can be found on the CTS web site here.

You can always check on all of the upcoming Central Texas Section activities here

Follow the Central Texas Section in Social Media

From the Central Texas Section Chair

The summer vacation season has come to a close, students are back in school and CTS Chapter meetings are back in full swing. September is filled with interesting meetings from many of the chapters, check out the list below or click here to see meetings for the next few months and plan to attend. Their are also several IEEE workshops planned for September: IEEE 12th International Board Test Workshop - BTW 2014 Sept. 9-12; CTCN/AICN Workshop: Employee, Consultant, Entrepreneur – Skills for a Multi-Faceted Career Sept. 13th; CTS and IEEE Computer Society Rock Stars of Cybersecurity Sept 24th; CTS Joint Chapter of PE/PEL/IE/IA Societies, “IEEE 2014 Grounding Details & Practices Workshop” Oct. 3rd.

Chapter elections for the 2014 chapter officers should be held by November and the results reported to the Section Secretary, Zhuo Li, zhuoli@ieee.org, by December. The entire process was outlined in the May Analog. A member can serve in the same office for up to a maximum of 6 years. By this time, a nominating committee should have identified candidates for the chapter positions. Chapters Officers serve a one year term from 1 January through 31 December. The Chapter Officers shall be an IEEE member of Graduate Student Member, Member, Senior Member or Fellow grade and a member of the parent Society. Elections should take place during the chapter November meeting. If the chapter does not have a meeting scheduled for November then the election should take place during the meeting prior to November.

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

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Membership Development

Annual IEEE Election – VOTE…VOTE….VOTE!

Annual Election Process Has Begun
Look for your annual election ballot package to arrive in August or by early September. All members eligible to vote will receive a paper ballot and a postage-paid reply envelope via first-class mail. Included is information about how to vote electronically. VOTE NOW AT https://www.ieee.org/election.

Not an IEEE Member?
Join IEEE today and get 16 months of membership for the price of 12.  That’s right signup today and renewals will be deferred till the end of 2015.  Checkout the updated benefits of being an IEEE member at https://www.ieee.org/membership

Did you know about IEEE – eLearning Library
Did You Know -
The IEEE has created an IEEE eLearning Library, the premier online collection of short courses and conference workshops.  Login with your IEEE login and view many recorded webinars and training tutorials.  Login as a guest and see public content.  Check it out at https://www.ieee.org/elearning

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

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News of Interest to the Section

New Social Media sites for the Central Texas Section
Thanks to the efforts to Young Professional Chapter Chair Devon Ryan, the Section is expanding it's presence in Social Media. Join our group in LinkedIn, or follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

Please also join in the #Gofor5 campaign on both Twitter and Facebook, allowing members to use the hashtag to share their experiences as part of the IEEE Day celebration.

Three free books on open innovation
These three books - "Innovation Exercises and Insights", "Social Media for Corporate Innovators and Entrepreneurs: Add Power to Your Innovation Efforts", and "Making Open Innovation Work" are available to download and may be of interest to Section member.
Read More . . .

IT Job Prospects Best in Texas, Florida
Texas had the highest percentage growth and the most new positions gained in the first half of the year, adding 8,100 positions this year to employ 143,300 tech workers, nearly a 6 percent jump, according to a report from online jobs portal Dice.
Read More . . .

Forbes Ranks Austin as Third 'Coolest' City in America
Austin is the third-coolest city in America, according to Forbes magazine's recently released list of the coolest cities in the country. It's a considerable jump over the previous year.
Read More . . .

Austin Scores Well on Inc. 5000 List
Austin companies turned in a stellar performance in the 2014 Inc. 5000 list released August 20, 2014, which ranks the fastest-growing private companies in America.
Read More . . .

IEEE-USA Seeks Nominations for IEEE/IEEE-USA New Face of Engineering
If you know an IEEE member 30 or younger with outstanding career, educational and volunteer accomplishments, now is the time to nominate him or her to be IEEE/IEEE-USA’s 2015 New Face of Engineering.

The DiscoverE New Faces of Engineering Professional Edition program recognizes our next generation of engineering leaders and is open to IEEE members worldwide. Nominees must have a degree in engineering or computer engineering from a recognized U.S. college or equivalent international educational institution.

The nomination deadline is 17 October 2014. Self-nominations are permitted. To be eligible, engineers must be 30-years-old or younger as of 31 December 2014. You can access the online nomination form here  and, then select “New Faces of Engineering.”

Physics' best-known lectures are now available to everyone on the web
Many have heard of, or even read, the famous Feynman physics lectures. These lectures are now available to anyone to be read online.

IEEE-USA Offering Free E-Book to Members on Developing Leaders & Managers
In September, IEEE-USA will offer “Leading and Managing Engineering and Technology -- Book 2: Developing Leaders and Managers” free to IEEE members.

This e-book examines how high-tech professionals at all levels should lead and manage, and introduces the Individual Professional Contributor (IPC)/knowledge worker. “Success in either of these two options depends on being authentic, being yourself, and recognizing your capabilities and limitations,” author Gus Gaynor said.

Gaynor provides background information for managers and IPCs to make their own judgments regarding how to connect leading and managing -- different in an organization that promotes innovation -- from one focused only on today’s performance.

“Only you can decide whether you meet requirements more effectively by managing and leading simultaneously or by considering managing and leading as two totally independent functions,” he said.

“Leading and Managing Engineering & Technology – Book 2: Developing Leaders and Managers” can be downloaded here  for free to IEEE members. $9.99 for non-members.

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Call for Volunteers


Continuing Education

- - - IEEE - - -
 - - - Other - - -
Spectrum Tech Insider Webinars
Learn from industry experts about latest technology advances via our free Tech Insider Webinars. This page lists upcoming and available 'on demand' Tech Insider webinars. All the live webinars are archived and are available on demand for 12 months. IEEE members can also earn PDH certificates for each webinar. Go to https://spectrum.ieee.org/webinars

Computer Society Webinars
Register now for our latest free live technical webinars. Or check out our past webinars at your convenience.  See this site  for more information. 

Computer Society 2014 Professional Development Courses
Expand your knowledge base by taking a professional development course in your area of technical interest. Half-day webcast formats (3.5 hours) enable you to quickly get up to speed in a specific technology area without leaving your desk. And each are at a low cost of $49. For a limited time, sign up for three courses and receive the fourth one for free.  See the list of training courses. 

ComSoc Training
See this calendar  for a list of upcoming courses. 

Other learning opportunities
IEEE e-Learning Library - https://ieee-elearning.org/
IEEE Online Education Portal
IEEE-USA Webinars (attendees can earn professional development hours -- PDHs)
 CodeAcademy
Learn to code interactively for free https://www.codecademy.com

Corsea.org
A web site that provides an aggregate of university course offerings. Their tag line is "Take the World's Best Courses, Online, For Free." That site is https://www.coursera.org/.  They have 16 course categories, most in technology areas from 16 major universities. 

MIT Open Courseware
MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW) is a web-based publication of virtually all MIT course content. OCW is open and available to the world and is a permanent MIT activity. More can be learned here.

Saylor.org: Free Education
(https://www.saylor.org/). The tag line of the Saylor website is "Harnessing Technology to Make Education Free." Although Saylor.org does not grant degrees, students can download a certificate of completion for successfully passing the exam at the end of each course. There are thirteen areas of study that visitors can choose to explore, including Computer Science, Chemistry, Mathematics, and Mechanical Engineering.

University of Texas Professional Development
UT Center for Lifelong Education provides several courses (these are NOT free). The list can be found here.

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Career

Articles of possible interest
 CTS Job listing
The Central Texas Section receives job postings from time to time. These are posted on the Section Web site. If you have a job to post to the site, send the information to cts-webmaster@ieee.org

IEEE ResumeLab
IEEE members have a new tool to help gain a competitive edge in the employment process. IEEE ResumeLab is a new online service that allows IEEE members to develop a resume or curriculum vitae using specialized tools tailored for each step of the job seeking process. This new product is added to the list of offerings that assist members as they find jobs and develop their careers.

The IEEE Job Site
The IEEE Job Site has undergone a makeover with new features and easier navigation to better serve IEEE members. Its still easy for IEEE members or IEEE member job seekers to conduct job searches or create and upload a resume, but with the use of HTML5 technology, the site boasts a cleaner layout and crisp contemporary design making the IEEE Job Site more user-friendly.

The IEEE-USA Career Manager 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

What if the NEC had been written by a poet . . .

Study of an Elevation, in Indian Ink by Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936)
 
     This ditty is a string of lies.
But—how the deuce did Gubbins rise?

          POTIPHAR GUBBINS, C.E.,   
          Stands at the top of the tree;   
And I muse in my bed on the reasons that led   
          To the hoisting of Potiphar G.   
 
          Potiphar Gubbins, C.E.,           
          Is seven years junior to Me;   
Each bridge that he makes either buckles or breaks,   
          And his work is as rough as he.   
 
          Potiphar Gubbins, C.E.,   
          Is coarse as a chimpanzee;           
And I can’t understand why you gave him your hand,   
          Lovely Mehitabel Lee.   
 
          Potiphar Gubbins, C.E.,   
          Is dear to the Powers that Be;   
For They bow and They smile in an affable style,           
          Which is seldom accorded to Me.   
 
          Potiphar Gubbins, C.E.,   
          Is certain as certain can be   
Of a highly paid post which is claimed by a host   
          Of seniors—including Me.           
 
          Careless and lazy is he,   
          Greatly inferior to Me.   
What is the spell that you manage so well,   
          Commonplace Potiphar G.?   
 
          Lovely Mehitabel Lee,           
          Let me inquire of thee,   
Should I have riz to what Potiphar is,   
          Hadst thou been mated to Me?

Contributed by James Justin Mercier, P.E., CFM
James.Mercier@txdot.gov

Some Perspectives on Engineering

My source of inspiration to write for the analog this month is Dr.B. Jayant Baliga, the IEEE Medal of Honor recipient and one of the power semiconductor devices pioneers. He is a Member of the National Academy of Engineering, a Fellow of the IEEE, has many books and over 500 scientific articles.

Prof. Baliga invented, developed and commercialized the Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT) that prevents 1.4 trillion pounds of carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere each year, at a cost savings of $300 billion and about 70 Giga watts of power in power generation.

It’s about more than money,
No matter how we start our life, we can become successful in life.

After obtaining his first degree, Dr. Baliga came to the US in 1969 with $50 to do research on technology and ending up receiving award and the highest recognition from the US president.

Love is really all that matters, supportive family members are the key.

Dr. Baliga is a man having a successful life, with supportive, loving family. He is a son of an electric engineer and lived in a house full of electronics and physics books that inspired him to be an electrical engineer, married since 1975, has two sons, later on they were inspired by his success and picked to be electrical engineers too.

People who are ambitious towards their goal enjoy work and work does not seem hard to them.  “The harder you work, the luckier you get” – the more successful you get!

Self-confidence and belief in his abilities helped Prof Baliga to take control of his life and plans. He took advantage of the opportunity came to him from General Electric and worked for them for 15 years. Hard work along with his abundant skills helped him to win 47 awards between 1969 and 2014.

My final word is:

Dr. Baliga wrote in his graduate school application:
“I have a hope to develop a technology that helps mankind”, he did, and we can!

There is a lot to be done in our industry that will help mankind. Journey starts with acquiring confidence through knowledge, passionate hard work with unlimited skills. Nothing comes easily; it took Dr. Baliga 45 years to success. There is no short cut to it. Intense work, with the desire to win is the only way of getting success that we have continuously desired.

Trip Report from Ross Carlton for the 2014 IEEE International Symposium on Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC)

I attended the 2014 IEEE EMC Symposium from 3-8 August 2014 in Raleigh, NC. The Symposium encompassed an entire week and consisted of numerous opportunities for professional development, networking, and giving back to the community. Those opportunities included:
  • Two days of tutorial and workshops
  • Three days of technical sessions
  • Three social events (welcome reception, gala, awards banquet)
  • Exhibit hall (vendors, hardware demos, software demos)
  • EMC Society committee meetings (technical, standards, education, BoD)
  • Chapter officer events (social, dinner, training)
  • Young professionals (GOLD) events (tavern night, luncheon, raffle)
  • And other related industry, standards developments, and user group meetings.
This year there were a number of new events. The embedded Signal and Power Integrity Conference brought in a record number of technical papers in this very timely subject area. The renowned, Henry Ott presented the Keynote Speech to discuss the evolution of EMC Engineering. There was also a special event to honor those famous (infamous?) Maxwell’s Equations.

Highlights of the Symposium for me were:
  • Attending the yearly meeting of Technical Committee 4 (EMI Control) where I serve as Secretary. We planned for submitting topics for workshops and special sessioTrip Report ns for the two EMC Symposia planned for 2015 (Santa Clara & Dresden). We also established a team to work on the revision of IEEE 1302 for characterizing the performance of EMC gaskets.
  • Attending the yearly meeting of Technical Committee 2 (EMC Measurements) where I am a long-time member. We planned for the EMC Tutorial sessions for the two EMC Symposia planned for 2015 (Santa Clara & Dresden). The TC continues to focus on emerging methods for Smart Grid and Energy applications.
  • Attending the first meeting of Special Committee 5 (Power Electronics EMC) where I ran the meeting for the officers who were unable to attend.
  • Attending the Technical Advisory Committee meetings representing TC 4.
  • Chairing a 6-paper technical session on Systems EMC.
  • Attending sessions on EMC management and consulting.
  • Toured the 1- meter, boat-shaped, semi-anechoic chamber used to measure emissions from IBM’s server and storage systems at IBM at RTP.
  • Exhibitors
    • EMSCAN (https://www.emscan.com/)  – They have a new flatbed emissions scanner available with a 120um resolution and an integrated spectrum analyzer.  The resolution is sufficient to isolate PCB traces, package pins and bond wires, and large chip-level structures like power buses.
    • Rigol Technologies (https://www.rigolna.com/) – They manufacture a line of test equipment (oscilloscopes, spectrum analyzers, signal generators, etc) that provides excellent value by delivering high performance at a low cost.
    • AE Techhron (https://www.aetechron.com) – They manufacture a line of equipment for aerospace (RTCA DO-160) and military (MIL-STD-461) low-frequency conducted RF immunity testing. They are a new company staking out an unpopulated area of the immunity test regime. Their products are integrated yet flexible and come at a good price point.
    • OnRule (https://www.onrule.com/) – They offer a cloud-based service for managing your regulatory compliance process. The tool integrates a process flow that helps you identify the regulatory requirements applicable to your product, manage the process of achieving the required certifications, publishing those certifications, and managing their expiration.  The service also provides a depository for all of the related documentation.
Overall, I feel that the Symposium provides excellent value for the minimal ~$700 registration fee and nominal travel costs (typically ~$2000). The opportunity to network with peers, receive state-of-the-art training, see the latest in test equipment and tools, and conduct the business of the Society is priceless.

Ross Carlton
EMC Chapter Chair
Ross.Carlton@ni.com
National Instruments

Tips, Tools and Gadgets

As you no doubt have noticed from earlier articles, I am an avid reader of fiction. While I do most of my reading on my iPad, I do use the Kindle, Nook and iBook readers. To manage those books that are not encumbered by DRM, I have found Calibre to be of great use.

Calibre is a Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) tool for managing your eBook library. The features that it provices includes:
  • Library Management
  • E-book conversion
  • Syncing to e-book reader devices
  • Downloading news from the web and converting it into e-book form
  • Comprehensive e-book viewer
  • Content server for online access to your book collection
  • E-book editor for the major e-book formats
I run Calibre on my Mac Mini and I have begun to load Calibre with all of my eBooks to make them more manageable. I can search my library by author or genre, as well as keep track of which eBooks I have not yet read. The program is available for Mac OS X, Windows and Linux. If you have a large library of eBooks on your computer, it may be something that you want to look into.

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. 

John Purvis III P.E.
john.purvis@ieee.org
https://johnpurvis.wordpress.com
IEEE Senior Member, Past Section Chair, Analog Editor

Student Branches and Activities


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

Texas State University - San Marcos
Faculty Adviser: Larry Larson, email: Larry.Larson@txstate.edu
Branch Chair: Kyle Paul, email: kp1352@txstate.edu

Trinity University - San Antonio
Faculty Adviser: Farzan Aminian, email: faminian@trinity.edu
Branch Chair: Niti Nararidh, email: nnararid@trinity.edu

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

University of Texas at San Antonio
Faculty Co-Adviser: Paul Morton, email: PaulMorton@utsa.edu
Faculty Co-Adviser: Lars Hansen, email: Lars.Hansen@utsa.edu
Branch Chair: Patrick Stockton, email: pstockton@ieee.org
Follow UTSA on Twitter

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Useful IEEE Links

IEEE

IEEE-USA

IEEE Region 5

IEEE Central Texas Section

What's New at IEEE

SocietyNews from IEEE

IEEE Regional News

      

Call for Papers

IEEE Standards Association

IEEEXplore - full text access to IEEE Publications

The Spectrum Online - The Magazine for Technology Insiders

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

Other Region 5 Section Newsletters


Conferences, Meetings and Events

Local IEEE Conferences, Events or Workshops

  • September 6, 2014: IEEE Central Texas Section Fall Planning meeting.
    Please register at https://meetings.vtools.ieee.org/m/26633. We need at least  one representative from each Chapter. Please send your slides to Zhuo Li (zhybear@gmail.com) before the meeting. You can check out the presentations from previous year here

  • September 9-11, 2014: 2014 IEEE International Board Test Workshop (BTW)
    Cisco Systems
    12515 Research Blvd.
    Building 4
    Austin, TX

  • September 13, 2014: Employee, Consultant, Entrepreneur - Skills for a Multi-Faceted Career
    7700 West Parmer Lane, Austin, TX
    An IEEE workshop co-hosted by CTCN and AICN (Alliance of IEEE Consultants’ Networks) and co-sponsored by CAS/SSC, CEDA, COMSOC/SP, EdSoc, TMC, and WIE.

    Today’s most successful engineers likely will perform many and varied roles during the course of a career. This full day conference addresses the challenges we all face staying ready to serve today’s marketplace. Attend in order to hone your personal interaction skills, stay abreast of emerging technical markets, and learn from the experience of speakers who have been successful employees, consultants, and entrepreneurs in the course of their working lives. Whether you are a student, new graduate, or seasoned professional, attend this workshop and sharpen the talents you need to enjoy a flexible, fulfilling, lifelong, career. During this full-day workshop six nationally recognized speakers will share experiences and knowledge gained during their individual, wide-ranging, careers.

    For more information and to register visit https://meetings.vtools.ieee.org/m/27533

  • September 13, 2014: ELECTRIC UTILITY POWER SYSTEMS Amazing Technical Challenges and Opportunities
    LCRA Redbud Center, 3601 Lake Austin Blvd., Austin, TX Saturday, September 13, 2014, 8:00am to Noon

    Free Event – Join Us – Breakfast is on us!
    Electricity and the systems that deliver it to our homes, businesses and schools are central to our economy and our quality of life. But few people understand the technically complex networks that we rely on when we turn on a light, charge our cell phones, watch TV, reach into the refrigerator or crank up the air conditioner (again). Electric utility power systems don’t just happen. They are consciously and deliberately created by interdisciplinary teams of electrical, mechanical and civil engineers – to name just a few.
    This half-day program will introduce attendees to the fascinating world of electric utility power systems. There will be presentations on the economic impact of electric utility power and on the anatomy of modern electric utility power generation, transmission and distribution. The program will conclude with a panel discussion about the technical challenges and opportunities facing electric utilities for the next 100 years.

    Warning! If you are an undergraduate or graduate, your peers will be shaping the future of electric utility power systems for the next 100 years. If you are passionate about having a career with great professional impact, you may leave the event with a new career focus!

    There is no cost for this event, but there is limited seating. Therefore, all attendees must pre-register for this event using the online web link below. Registrations will be accepted on a first-come-first-served basis until available seating has been exhausted.
    https://meetings.vtools.ieee.org/m/27773

    If you have any questions or need any additional information regarding this event, please contact Joel Sandahl at joel.sandahl@ieee.org.

  • September 22-26, 2014: 2014 IEEE International Symposium on Precision Clock Synchronization for Measurement, Control, and Communication (ISPCS)
    Hilton Austin
    500 East 4th Street
    Austin, TX
    https://www.ispcs.org/2014/index.html

  • September 24, 2014: 2014 Rock Stars of Cybersecurity
    Austin, TX
    Secure Your Business Operations from Threats

    The unprecedented Target breach and government spying scandal have put cybersecurity in the global spotlight. With cyberattacks on the rise, it is now even more important to learn how to identify weaknesses and protect company infrastructure from incursions.

    At the Rock Stars of Cybersecurity conference, well-respected cybersecurity authorities from leading companies will deliver case studies and actionable advice that you can immediately put to use.

    Speakers include:
    • Peter Allor, Cyber Security Strategist - Federal, IBM
    • Peter Fonash, Chief Technology Officer, US Department of Homeland Security
    • Peder Jungck, Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, BAE
    • Sarath Geethakumar, Senior Director – Global Information Security, VISA
    • Gary McGraw, Chief Technology Officer CTO, Cigital
    • Brett Wahlin, Chief Information Security Officer, HP

      For a limited time, you can take advantage of Super Early-Bird registration and save more than 30 percent off full price. Register now to assure your seat at the affordable rate of $229 — for an entire day's worth of presentations, networking, and more. Team, member, and student pricing are also available.

    At the Rock Stars of Cybersecurity conference, you will learn:
    • Effective strategies for securing business operations
    • New and innovative approaches to responding to today's security threats
    • How government agencies are balancing cybersecurity threats and privacy
    • How to implement a secure enterprise architecture
    • Big data's implications for security analytics
    • Implications of the cybersecurity skills shortage on the ability to respond to attacks

      Don't miss this opportunity to expand your security knowledge. Register today.
    https://computer.org/cyber-security

  • October 7, 2014: IEEE Day
    The fifth annual IEEE Day will be celebrated worldwide. This day commemorates the 1884 meeting in Philadelphia when members of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, one of IEEE’s predecessor societies, gathered for the first time to share technical ideas.

    In keeping with IEEE Day’s fifth anniversary, this year’s organizers have planned a social media strategy focused around the number 5. The #Gofor5 campaign is on both Twitter and Facebook, allowing members to use the hashtag to share their experiences.
    Read more . . .

  • October 14-17, 2014: 2014 IEEE Broadcast Symposium (BTS)
    Hilton Palacio del Rio
    200 South Alamo
    San Antonio, TX
    https://bts.ieee.org/

  • December 5-7, 2014: International Performance Computing and Communications Conference
    Renasance Marriott Auboritum
    Austin,  Texas
    Register here
    https://meetings.vtools.ieee.org/meeting_view/list_meeting/23653

  • December 8-12, 2014: IEEE Week in Austin

  • December 8-12, 2014: GLOBECOM 2014 - 2014 IEEE Global Communications Conference
    Hilton Austin Hotel (Downtown)
    Austin, TX

    IEEE GLOBECOM 2014 will include a Technical Program comprised of 12 specific symposia, tutorials and workshops as well as an Industry Program featuring panels, posters, demonstrations, tutorials and workshops.

    IEEE GLOBECOM 2014 is the flagship conference of the IEEE communication society. The conference targeting 2,000 from around the world and is the first Digital conference that will bring blend between technology advancement (Academia) and Applications (Industry), providing a unique value proposition to the global community, Texas and specifically to Austin professional community. The 5-day conference, will include Tutorials & Workshops (Monday, Friday), 6 Keynote Speakers,  3 Executive Forums, Industry Round Table, Daily technical and Industry track session, Exhibits and live demo theatre, Opening reception, Awards Luncheon and Social Banquet.

    Web Registration will open in July – for details please visit

    https://www.ieee-globecom.org/2014

  • April 18-19, 2015: 2015 IEEE Region 5 Conference
    InterContinental New Orleans
    444 St. Charles Ave
    New Orleans, LA
    https://www.r5conferences.org

  • May 31 thru June 4, 2015: 2015 IEEE Pulsed Power Conference (PPC)
    Hilton Austin
    500 East 4th Street
    Austin, TX

  • May 31 thru June 4, 2015: 2015 IEEE 26th Symposium on Fusion Engineering (SOFE)
    Hilton Austin
    500 East 4th Street
    Austin, TX

  • November 15-20, 2015: 2015 SC - International Conference for High Performance Computing, Networking, Storage and Analysis
    Austin Convention Center
    TX

  • 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
See the Door64 calendar for other local tech events
 See the Texas Tech Pulse Calendar of Texas High Tech Events

Second & Fourth Friday of evey month: TechRanch Austin, Campfire
Come join our entrepreneurial community every 2nd and 4th Friday of the month.

Want to connect and network with local tech entrepreneurs? Validate your business idea? Interested in getting more involved with Tech Ranch? Come out for a Campfire!

Campfire is all about connecting you to the larger tech startup community. Every 2nd and 4th Friday at 3:30 PM, we gather interesting, accomplished people from across Austin’s vast entrepreneur ecosystem so you can get the introductions, insight, and help you need to move your business forward, while also helping others.

https://techranchaustin.com/programs/campfire/

September 2, 2014: Austin Data Geeks
Apache Spark Night - show and tell
An evening of Spark demos and use cases! Doing something interesting with Spark? Share it with the group. Send us a note to join the presentations.
Rackspace
9001 North IH-35, Suite 150, Austin, Texas, 78753
https://www.meetup.com/austin-data-geeks/

September 20, 2014: Software Freedom Day
Software Freedom Day (SFD) is a worldwide celebration of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS). Our goal in this celebration is to educate the worldwide public about the benefits of using high quality FOSS in education, in government, at home, and in business -- in short, everywhere! The non-profit organization Software Freedom International coordinates SFD at a global level, providing support, giveaways and a point of collaboration, but volunteer teams around the world organize the local SFD events to impact their own communities.
https://www.softwarefreedomday.org/

September 26, 2014: MiniTrends 2014: Insight, Innovation & Strategy
Holiday Inn, Lady Bird Lake, Austin, TX
Attend this one day conference where all-star visionaries and thought-leaders will share how to thrive in today’s business environment.

Stay on the cutting-edge of your industry by combining MiniTrends methodolgies with your innovation strategies.
https://minitrends.com/minitrends-2014/

January 10, 2015: Data Day Texas
The event will be held on Saturday, January 10, 2015 at the AT&T Conference Center.
https://data-day-texas-2015.eventbrite.com/

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

Texas Girls Collaborative Project
The TxGCP Google Group is the best way to be connected in your region with all things K12 STEM - are you connected to the conversation? Join the group in your region of Texas - https://txgcp.org/k12-stem-outreach-google-group/.

Local Chapter Activities

The IEEE is organized into Societies and Special Interest Groups.  The full list as well as a link to join each can be found here.  The Central Texas Secion has several Society and  Special Interest Group Chapters with their own local activities as listed below. Note that some Joint Chapters represent more than one Society.

You can subscribe to an RSS feed of all Central Texas Section meetings that have been scheduled through vTools here

Click Meetings to see the next 180 days of planned activity.

The Central Texas Section Chapters
AP Antennas and Propagation Society
CAS Circuits and Systems Society
CEDA Council on Electronic Design Automation
COM Communications Society - Austin | San Antonio
CN Consultant's Network
CPMT Components, Packaging, and Manufacturing Technology Society
C Computer Society - Austin | San Antonio
ED Electron Devices Society
E Education Society
EMB Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society
EMC Electromagnetic Compatibility Society
GOLD GOLD has been rebranded as the Young Professionals
IA Industry Applications Society
IE Industrial Electronics Society
IM Instrumentation and Measurement Society
PHO Photonics Society
LM Life Members - Austin | San Antonio
MTT Microwave Theory and Techniques Society
PEL Power Electronics Society
PE Power & Energy Society - Austin | San Antonio
PSE Product Safety Engineering Society
SMC Systems, Man, and Cybernetics Society
SP Signal Processing Society - Austin | San Antonio
SSC Solid-State Circuits Society
TMC Technology Management Council - Austin | San Antonio
WIE Women in Engineering
YP
 Young Professionals

Antennas & Propagation/Microwave Theory and Techniques (AP/MTT)

Chapter Web site


Topic/Title

 Secure thermal infrared communications using engineered blackbody radiation

Speaker

 Stepan Lucyszyn

Stepan Lucyszyn PhD, DSc, FIEEE, FIET, FInstP, FEMA, is currently a Reader (Associate Professor) in Millimetre-wave Electronics and Director of the Centre for Terahertz Science and Engineering, at Imperial College London.
After working in industry, as a satellite systems engineer for maritime and military communications, he spent 12 years researching microwave and millimetre-wave RFIC/MMICs. He co-edited a seminal book on RFIC/MMICs, published by the IEE in 2001. This book was translated into Chinese in 2007. For his contributions to RFIC/MMICs, he was made an Adjunct Professor at UESTC (Chengdu, China) in 2008.

Since 2001, Dr Lucyszyn has worked on RF MEMS. In 2004, he published a review paper on RF MEMS technology, which won an IEE Premium Award in 2005. He edited a book entitled Advanced RF MEMS, published by Cambridge University Press in 2010. For his contributions to RF MEMS, he was made a Guest Professor at Tsinghua University (Beijing, China) in 2008.

For over 19 years, Dr Lucyszyn has been working on millimetre-wave electronics and, since 2004, investigating the behaviour of materials, passive structures and ubiquitous applications at terahertz and thermal infrared frequencies. In 2010, he was awarded the DSc degree (higher doctorate) of Imperial College for his contributions to Millimetre-wave and Terahertz Electronics.

Dr Lucyszyn has (co-)authored 170 papers and 12 book chapters in applied physics and electronic engineering, and delivered many invited presentations at international conferences. In addition, he has served as a member of TPCs and prize committees for various international conferences. Over the past few years Dr Lucyszyn has reviewed numerous international research grant proposals and sat on funding panels within Europe.

Dr Lucyszyn served as Editor-in-Chief for the International Journal of Electronics (TandF, 2002-05) and Associate Editor for the Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems (IEEE/ASME, 2005-09). He is currently on the Editorial Boards for the international journals Microwaves, Antennas & Propagation (IET, since 2007) and Wireless Power Transfer (CUP, since 2014). Dr Lucyszyn was a member of both the EuMA General Assembly, representing Group 4 (UK, Ireland, Gibraltar, Malta), and EuMA Steering Committee (2010-12). He was the Chairman of the 41st European Microwave Conference, held in Manchester (UK, 2011). He was an IEEE Distinguished Microwave Lecturer (DML) for 2010-12, Emeritus DML for 2013 and appointed an EuMA European Microwave Lecturer (EML) for 2013-present. Dr Lucyszyn is a Fellow of the Institute of Physics (UK, 2005), Institution of Engineering and Technology (UK, 2005), The Electromagnetics Academy (USA, 2008) and Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (USA, 2014). He is one of the academic co-founders of the Imperial College London spin-out company Drayson Wireless Limited, established Apr. 2014.

Abstract

 The thermal (emitted) infrared frequency bands, from 20–40 THz and 60–100 THz, are best known for applications in thermography. This underused and unregulated part of the spectral range offers  opportunities for the development of secure communications. The ‘THz Torch’ concept was recently presented by the authors. This technology fundamentally exploits engineered blackbody radiation, by  partitioning thermally-generated spectral noise power into pre-defined frequency channels; the energy in each channel is then independently pulsed modulated and multiplexing schemes are introduced to create a  robust form of short-range secure communications in the far/mid infrared. To date, octave bandwidth (25-50 THz) single-channel links have been demonstrated with 380 bps speeds. Multi-channel ‘THz Torch’  frequency division multiplexing (FDM) and frequency-hopping spread-spectrum (FHSS) schemes have been proposed, but only a slow 40 bps FDM scheme has been demonstrated experimentally. Here, we report  a much faster 1,280 bps FDM implementation. In addition, an experimental proof-of-concept FHSS scheme is demonstrated for the first time, having a 320 bps data rate. With both 4-channel multiplexing schemes,  measured bit error rates (BERs) of <10^(-6) are achieved over a distance of 2.5 cm. Our approach represents a new paradigm in the way niche secure communications can be established over short links.

Date/Time

 19-September-2014
10:30AM to 11:30AM

Cost

Reservations

 https://meetings.vtools.ieee.org/m/27945

Location

 UTA
Room Number: 7.532
1616 Guadalupe St.
Austin,  Texas

Notes

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Council on Electronic Design Automation (CEDA)

Chapter Web Site


Topic/Title

 Convergence of Internet of Things (IOT) & Software Defined Networking (SDN)

Speaker

 Kwok Wu, PhD, Freescale Semiconductor Embedded Software & Systems Solutions of Freescale Semiconductor, Inc.
Dr. KwokWu has been awarded as 2012 Innovator of the Year by ECD – Embedded Computing Design Magazine for his platform approach to Wireless Smart Gateways. See this site.

He is also recipient of the Innovative Networking Product Award, at Broadband World Forum 2011with Secured Broadband multi-service Gateway and Best Networking as well as the Communication Product Award, Smart Metering at Australia & New Zealand Summit 2012.

He is an award-winning industry veteran and sought after speaker.

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.

Previous to Freescale Semiconductor, Kwok has held various executive management positions at AT&T Bell Laboratories, Lucent Technology and AMD.

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

Abstract

Date/Time

 16-September-2014
06:00PM to 08:30PM

Cost

Reservations

 https://meetings.vtools.ieee.org/m/27151

Location

 Building A, Freescale auditorium
Room Number: Auditorium
7700 W Parmer Ln.
Austin,  Texas

Notes


The CEDA chapter normally meet on the 3rd Thursday 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 (CAS/SSC)

Chapter Web Site

Topic/Title

 No meeting scheduled at this 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. IIf you have any questions about this meeting or this group, please contact zhuoli@ieee.org.
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Components, Packaging and Manufacturing Technology (CPMT)

Chapter Web Site

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 No meeting scheduled at this time

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Computer Society (C)

Austin Chapter Web site

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 No meeting scheduled at this time

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San Antonio Chapter Web Site

Topic/Title No meeting scheduled at this time
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Central Texas Consultants Network Affinity Group

Chapter Web Site

Topic/Title The "Employee, Consultant, Entrepreneur -- Skills for a Multi-Facete Career" workshop replaces the September meeting.
Speaker
Speaker Bio
Abstract
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Do a friend a favor. Bring your colleagues to grow the Consultants Network.

More information on Consultants Networks

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EducationSociety (E)

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 No meeting scheduled at this time

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Electromagnetic Compatibility Society (EMC)

Chapter Web Site

Topic/title

 Frequency Domain Differential Decoupling Performance and Analysis

Speaker

 Todd Steigerwald & Carlos Santillana, of Advanced Micro Devices

Abstract

Date/time

 Wednesday, September 17, 2014, 6:30-7:00PM social/food, 7:00-9:00pm program

Location

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

Cost

Reservations

 Not necessary.
https://meetings.vtools.ieee.org/m/27501

Notes

 Refreshments:* Food and drinks will be provided.

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Electron Devices Society (ED)

Chapter Web Site

Topic/Title

 No meeting scheduled at this time

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Engineering in Medicine and Biology (EMB)

Chapter Web Site

Topic/Title No meeting scheduled at this time
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Young Professionals (YP/GOLD) Affinity Group

Topic/Title No meeting scheduled at this time
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More information on YP/GOLD 

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Instrumentation and Measurement Society (IM)

Topic/Title

 Vector Signal Transceiver (VST): Under the Hood

Speaker

 Richard Maslowski, National Instruments
Richard Maslowski has been in the engineering industry for 23 years and has extensive design and management experience in RF, analog, audio and embedded systems. His last 6 years have been at NI managing the development of the innovative VST (Vector Signal Transceiver). Richard also worked at Cirrus Logic on audio/video systems and ARM processors, Applied Concepts on police and sport radar development and White Instruments on audio signal processor development. Richard graduated with an MSEE and BSEE from the University of Alberta and enjoys living in Austin, Texas

Abstract

 The PXIe standard has revolutionized the size, cost and speed of RF instruments. What once required a rack full of equipment now requires a single, desktop PC sized chassis. As Moore’s law has continued to decrease the size, cost and power of integrated circuits, it has opened up the possibility for new and innovative instruments like the VST (Vector Signal Transceiver). It is a groundbreaking product in terms of size, cost, performance and flexibility that combines a VSG (Vector Signal Generator), a VSA (Vector Signal Analyzer) and a customer programmable FPGA into a single, 3 slot module. A careful and targeted design approach, combined with state of the art commercial ICs and a healthy dose of DSP has made this possible. This presentation will take a look under the hood of this product to see how it was designed and put together.

Date/Time

 September 22, 2014,  6:30-8:30pm

Cost

Reservations

 Through vtools here

Location

 National Instuments (11500 N Mopac Expwy Austin, TX 78759) - Building C - Room 1S.13

Notes


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Photonics Society (PHO)

No meeting scheduled at this time.

For more information, contact Mikhail Belkin

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Life Members (LM) Affinity Group

Life members must be at least 65 years of age and have been a member of IEEE or one of its predecessor societies for such a period that the sum of his/her age and his/her years of membership equals or exceeds 100 years. When an individual achieves Life member (LM) status, their basic membership dues and Region assessments are waived on 1 January of the year following attainment of LM status.

More information on LM

Austin

Topic/Title No meeting scheduled at this time
Speaker
Abstract
Date/Time
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Notes
 For information email Tom Grim

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San Antonio

Topic/Title TBI Grand Rounds at SAAMC
Speaker Dr. Amy Bowles, Chief of Brain Injury Rehab Service, San Antonio Army Medical Center of San Antonio Army Medical Center
Dr. Bowles grew up in Houston, Texas and graduated from Rice University in 1995. She was a Rice/Baylor Medical Scholar and received her medical degree from Baylor College of Medicine in 1999. She then stayed at Baylor to complete her Internship in Internal Medicine. Dr. Bowles finished Residency in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation through the Baylor College of Medicine and University of Texas Health Science Center Alliance in 2003. She is Board Certified in PM&R.

After completion of her Residency, Dr. Bowles moved to San Antonio to become the Medical Director of the Brain Injury Program at Reeves Rehabilitation Center, University Health Systems. During this time, she was also an Assistant Professor in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center – San Antonio and an Attending Physician at the Audie L. Murphy Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

In August 2007, Dr. Bowles moved to Brooke Army Medical Center where she is the Chief of the Brain Injury Rehabilitation Service. She has led the clinical and administrative development of the BAMC Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Program which is among the first military TBI programs to follow a rehabilitation model. Dr. Bowles has been a co-author on a number of peer-reviewed papers as well as the VA/DoD Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Management of Concussion, and she regularly participates in national forums where military TBI care is discussed. She has twice received the Commander’s Award for Civilian Service and is listed in the Top Doctors in America database.

Dr. Bowles is married to David A. Bowles, an attorney, with whom she has two sons.
Abstract Screening for and treatment of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) became a major focus for the US military during and after the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Dr Bowles and her team at Brooke Army Medical Center developed an educational program to support that need. The TBI Grand Rounds program started as a local project but quickly grew to include a national audience through partnerships with US Army Medical Information Technology Center (USAMITC) and the Veterans Health Administration Employee Education System (VHA EES). This talk will examine the history of the program and explore the technical support that made it possible.
Date/Time 18-September-2014
11:30AM to 01:00PM
Location Lion and Rose Pub
Room Number: Suite 115
842 NW Loop 410
San Antonio,  Texas
Cost
Reservations https://meetings.vtools.ieee.org/m/27981
Notes

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Power and Energy Society - Austin (PE/PEL/IA/IE)

Chapter Web Site


Topic/Title TBD
Speaker
Abstract
Date/Time 23-September-2014
06:00PM to 09:00PM
Location El Gallo Mexican Restaurant
2910 S Congress
Austin,  Texas
Cost
Reservations https://meetings.vtools.ieee.org/m/24141
Notes

Hi. I would like to ask for two minutes of your time to help the IEEE Austin PI2 Chapter serve you better. We have put together a super-quick and anonymous survey to collect information about your preferences so that we may better position our technical meetings, tours and other services to meet your needs. We have never asked you for your opinion in the past; your feedback will be incredibly helpful to everyone.

Please complete the survey here  in the next few days. It does not matter whether you are a member of IEEE or any IEEE societies. We will provide occasional updates on what we've learned and any resulting changes during our technical meetings as well as in our newsletter. You may also receive detailed results by entering your email address (which is optional) after you finish the survey.

Thank you for improving YOUR chapter!
Steve
Chairman, IEEE PES/IAS/PELS/IES Austin Chapter

BTW- This survey is powered by Traitwise, a local company, which has donated their services to make this assessment possible. Traitwise surveys offer a number of benefits over traditional surveys including that they are easy to configure, visually appealing, and provide survey feedback to all administrators and participants.

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Power and Energy Society - San Antonio (PE)

Chapter Web Site

Topic/Title No meeting scheduled at this time
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Product Safety Engineering Society (PSE)

Chapter Web Site

Topic/Title No meeting for September - Next Meeting is October 21st
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Joint Signal Processing/Communications Society (COM/SP)

Austin Chapter Web Site

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 No meeting scheduled at this time

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San Antonio Chapter Web Site

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 No meeting scheduled at this time

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Systems, Man & Cybernetics Society (SMC)

Topic/Title

 No meeting scheduled at this time

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

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Technology Management Council (TMC)

Austin Chapter Web Site

Topic/Title No meeting scheduled at this time
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Contact Leslie Martinich (lmartinich@ieee.org) for more information about the Austin TMC.

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San Antonio Chapter Web Site
Topic/Title UIW Solar House Tour and Discussion
Speaker Daniel Potter, UIW Solar House Project Manager
Abstract A discussion of the lessons learned in designing and building of the UIW Solar House and the gaining of LEED Platinum certification. Additionally, there will be a tour of the Solar House.
Date/Time Thursday, Sept 18 at 6pm.
Location UIW Main Campus Solar House. Parking Information will be provided a few day prior to the event.
Cost None
Registration Please RSVP Michael Frye at mfrye@uiwtx.edu if you plan to attend. Parking information will be provided.
Notes This is a joint meeting with ASME.

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Women in Engineering Affinity Group (WIE)

Chapter Web site

Topic/Title No meeting scheduled at this time
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Registration

Contact Leslie Martinich (lmartinich@ieee.org) for more information about WIE.

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