A Newsletter of the Central Texas Section (www.ieee.org/CTS) of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, Inc.
Published monthly (Deadline is the 25th day of the previous month), John R. Purvis, Editor (j.purvis@computer.org).

Quick Links

Section Activities	Chapter Activities
The Chairman's Column	Joint Communications / Signal Processing Societies	Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society
The Next Section Meeting	Computer Society	Power Engineering Society
Other Important Events and Notes of Interest	Consultant's Network	Women in Engineering
Editor's Notes	Electromagnetic Compatibility Society	Joint Solid-State Circuits / Circuits and Systems Societies
Email List	Engineering Management Society	Student Branches
	Product Safety Society

The Chairman's Column

For those of you interested in our Section's membership brakdown, here are the numbers as of August 31, 2003
• 18 - Life Fellows
• 37 - Fellows
• 73 - Life Seniors
• 263 - Senior Members
• 110 - Life Members
• 2,855 - Members (many of these are eligible for upgrading to Senior Membership)
• 8 - Pending Members
• 6 - Life Associates
• 388 - Associates
• 572 - Students
• 4,280 - Total Section Members
(Life membership status is bestowed upon those who have reached 65 year of age and have at least 35 years IEEE Membership; they pay no dues but must register each year).

ACTIVITIES

The most important event this October is the Forum on GLOBALIZATION AND TECHNOLOGY: A Dialogue on Policy Issues. It is on Friday the 17th, Austin, Marriott at the Capital. The main topic will be Globalization and how it affects the good ole USA.

This is a must attend event for every IEEE Central Texas Section Member. We are pulling out all the stops to ensure that our speakers are the best available to address the individual topics:

• Technology Transfer & Commercialization
• Communications
• Security & Privacy
• Education
• Energy
For registration and reviewing the full conference brochure see our special web site at: https://www.ieee-centraltexassection.org/index.html.

As Always

We continue to work to get you more involved in your professional association. We always welcome your feedback (s.atkinson@ieee.org). Please let all our leaders know how we are doing and please feel free to make any suggestions or recommendations.

T. Scott Atkinson
Chairman

From Student Activities Chairman

The Next Section Meeting

No Section meetings are scheduled for October

Other Important Events and Notes of Interest

Engineer Mentors Sought for Future City Competition

Across America, thousands of engineers volunteer annually to serve as mentors for students in the National Engineers Week Future City Competition. As National Engineers Week 2004 co-chairs, IEEE/IEEE-USA and Fluor Corporation invite engineers from every discipline to become volunteer mentors and help students get a better view of engineering.

In the competition, teams of three seventh- and eighth-graders design and build model cities of tomorrow. The students, with the help of a teacher and engineer-mentor, must design a city that functions, write an essay and abstract, and defend their city before a panel of judges.

For more information, contact Carol Rieg, Future City Competition national director, at 877-636-9578, or via e-mail at CRieg@futurecity.org. Visit www.futurecity.org for a list of participating regions and regional coordinators.

What's Next for IEEE 802?

Several additions to the popular suite of IEEE 802 wireless standards are now in the works. Read what's on the horizon at www.theinstitute.ieee.org/inst_art.jsp?isno=09031&arnumber=09031_9w.standardssb§ion=4

Answers to FAQs about Services for Members and Customers

What's an IEEE Web account? How do I join a Society? The answers to these and more questions can be found at https://www.theinstitute.ieee.org/inst_art.jsp?isno=09031&arnumber=09031_9w.prodservsb§ion=11

Region 5 Looking for a PACE Chairperson in Austin

Region 5 will be appointing a new PACE Chairman this coming year. Is there someone in the Austin area that is somewhat politically inclined that could be the person to collectively communicate with those other Texas IEEE members who have an interest in what happens in the Texas Legislature? If you are interested, please contact Scott Atkinson, s.atkinson@ieee.org

CONGRESSIONAL SUPPORT NEEDED FOR TEMPORARY VISA REFORM BILL

IEEE-USA urges concerned engineers to contact their U.S. Senators and Representatives to enlist their support for the USA Jobs Protection Act (H.R. 2849/S.1452) as introduced by Representative Nancy Johnson (R-CT) and Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT). If enacted this important legislation would plug loopholes and prevent abuses of the controversial H-1B (Specialty Occupations) and L-1 (Intra-Company Transfer) temporary visa programs.

The USA Jobs Protection Act is sponsored by respected Republicans and Democrats in both houses of Congress and, if enacted, will:

• Prevent employers from using the L-1 visa program to displace American workers,
• Require employers to pay L-1 visa holders prevailing wages,
• Limit the use of blanket L-1 visa applications,
• Prohibit leasing of L-1 visa holders to secondary employers,
• Strengthen the Labor Secretary's authority to investigate abuses of L and H-1B visas,
• Keep the H-1B cap at 65,000, and
• Expand U.S. worker recruitment and retention requirements to all employers of H-1B workers (These requirements currently only apply to "H-1B dependent" employers).
Please contact your U.S. Senators and Representatives and ask them to co-sponsor H.R. 2849 (in the House) and S. 1452 (in the Senate). Your communications are needed immediately.

Use IEEE-USA's Legislative Action Center (ihttps://www.capwiz.com/ieeeusa/) to look up your U.S. Representative and Senators by zip code and send a message. Do it today!

For more information, contact IEEE-USA's Vin O'Neill at 202.785.0017 or v.oneill@ieee.org.

IEEE-USA Recommends Electric Grid Investment, Cooperation and Coordination to Improve Reliability and Prevent Future Blackouts

To help prevent a recurrence of August's devastating power blackout in the United States and Canada, the U.S. government and the electric industry should increase investment in our nation's electric grid, improve its communications' capabilities and provide for consistency of operating rules, the IEEE-USA Energy Policy Committee recommended to the House Energy and Commerce Committee in a written statement on 29 August.

According to the IEEE-USA committee, grid investment may require the construction of additional power lines and generating plants, while also looking to new technology and innovation to improve system reliability. Grid cooperation includes making reliability incentives compatible with economic incentives. Plant operators' authority and communications facilities must be sufficient enough to deal with reliability concerns in a timely manner.

IEEE-USA supports legislation (H.R. 6) empowering FERC to create an Electric Reliability Organization that gives NERC the legislative authority to assure the reliability of the complete North American electric system, including elements in Canada and Mexico.

IEEE-USA's statement came in the form of responses to questions posed by the House committee, which is chaired by Rep. Billy Tauzin (R-La.). For the entire document, go to https://www.ieeeusa.org/forum/POLICY/2003/082903.html.

VALUABLE BUSINESS INFORMATION OFFERED TO U.S. IEEE MEMBERS

IEEE-USA has recently teamed with the James J. Hill Reference Library to offer U.S. IEEE members their own corporate research department through the IEEE-USA web site. Hill Library's Online Business Reference Service provides IEEE members with a comprehensive business information resource, including a free directory of the best business research sites on the Web, a database of special-issues documents, access to professional business research services, and a free expert answer to business questions by HillSearch staff.

For more information, go to https://www.ieeeusa.org/notable/HillSearch.asp.

Section Member Survey Continues

We will continue conducting the survey of the IEEE Central Texas Section membership for a few more weeks. This web-based survey is quick and easy, just go to http: //www.ewh.ieee.org/r5/central_texas/centex-member-survey.html and submit your information. In the interest of providing better service to our new and current members of the IEEE CTS, we'd like just a little information about you to help us know more about this Section's membership.

Note: We will NOT be using this information for any other purpose!

For further information, contact Emily Sopensky (emily@iriscompany.com).

IEEE 2003 International Symposium on Intelligent Control (ISIC'03)

Held in Houston this coming October 5-8 at the Westin Galleria. For further information, the conference web site is at https://vlab.ee.nus.edu.sg/~isic2003/

15th Annual Hispanic Engineer National Achievement Awards Conference

The 15th Annual Hispanic Engineer National Achievement Awards (HENAAC) will be held October 16-18, 2003 in Austin, Texas, and the academic host is the University of Texas. It includes workshops for students and professionals; a Career Fair; a summit where national leaders from the various Hispanic technical organizations meet annually; and a national awards show to honor recipients of the HENAAC annual awards.

For more information on HENAAC visit their Web site at https://www.henaac.org, or contact Gerald Garcia at gerald.garcia@ieee.org.

Globalization and Technology: A Dialogue on Policy Issues

This conference is sponsored by CTS and will be held Friday, October 17, 2003 at the Austin Marriott at the Capital. For more information click here.

Keynote speakers and peer panels with industry moderators will explore globalization as it relates to...

• technology transfer/commercialization
• security & privacy
• energy
• education (including K-12 education math & sciences; undergrad; postgrad;
• diversity in engineering education)
• communications

Registration: Early registration is available online now!

For more details: Contact Emily Sopensky, Conference Chair: 512/452-2448 or e.sopensky@ieee.org.

Senior Member Upgrade Night to be Held in San Antonio

"Supersize" your IEEE Membership - Upgrade to Senior Member Status

If you have a baccalaureate degree in engineering and seven or more years of professional experience you are eligible to apply for upgrade to Senior Member Grade. Complete upgrade information, including requirements can be found at: www.ieee.org/membership/upgrade.html

If you meet the requirements but never seem to have the time to complete an application, we invite you to come to an "on-line upgrade" event on Wednesday evening, October 22nd at Trinity University in San Antonio (A similar event will be held in the spring for the Austin area.) We will have computers available to submit applications on-line. Senior and Fellow members will be at the meeting to help you fill out your Senior Member application. After the event, the Central Texas Section will assign Senior and Fellow members to serve as the required references. Refreshments will be provided.

For more information, check the CTS website at: https://www.ewh.ieee.org/r5/central_texas/ or contact Joe Redfield at JRedfield@swri.org

UT Austin Wireless Network and Communications Group Symposium

The WNCG Wireless Netorking Symposium will be held October 22-24, 2003. Furnter information can be found on the Web at https://www.ece.utexas.edu/wncg/bitsbytes/jul2003/index.php

2003 6th Workshop on Workload Characterization

The IEEE Computer Society will sponsor the "2003 6th Workshop on Workload Characterization (WWC)" in Austin on October 27.

2004 IEEE Region 5 Technical Conference

The 2004 IEEE Region 5 Technical Conference will be held in Oklahoma City, OK, April 2-4, 2004. Abstracts for papers to be considered for presentation must be received by October 15 or this year. Further information can be found [here].

The Texas Symposium on Software Engineering (TSSE) Austin, Texas, August 27-28, 2004

TSSE is a new software engineering conference, providing a forum for managers, practitioners, researchers and educators to discuss the most recent trends, experiences and concerns in the field of software systems engineering. In order to accelerate community learning, this conference will focus on identifying and discussing successes, failures and lessons learned in software systems development. This will help crystallize the critical issues impacting software engineering professionals and their organizations for the next decade.

TSSE will be held at the UT Pickle Research Campus (Commons Building) in Northwest Austin, TX. For more information about the location venue please see: https://www.utexas.edu/facilities/commons/attendees.html

For more information about this conference as it becomes available, please check the UT ARISE web site later this year at: https://www.ece.utexas.edu/arise/

IEEE Rural Electric Power Conference

The IEEE Industry Applications Society will sponsor the conference entitled "2005 IEEE Rural Electric Power Conference". The conference will be held May 8-10, 2005 in San Antonio.

Information Theory Workshop

The 2004 Information Theory Workshop will be held in San Antonio, Texas October 24-29, 2004

Kudos

• One member of CTS that had been elevated to Senior Member at the August IEEE Admission & Advancement Panel Meeting was mistakenly left off of the list as it was published in the last issue of the Analog. Congratulations to John B. Chambers for elevation to Senior Member.

Central Texas Section Society and Affinity Group Chapter Activities

Communications/Signal Processing Societies Topic: Technological Improvements of Next Generation SONET Network Elements The North American telecommunication market has drastically evolved starting with the breakup of AT&T and the advent of the Telecom Act of 1995. SONET played a key role in this evolution with the deployment of first generation SONET network elements starting in the end of the eighties. The North American network is now essentially deployed on a completely optical backbone powered by SONET and DWDM technologies. This first generation of SONET technology is now being replaced by more capable, smaller and more cost effective Next-Generation of SONET Network Elements commonly referred to as Multi-Service Provisioning Platforms (MSPPs). Mr. Moore will initially describe the current state of the North American market which is designed around the first-generation SONET Network Elements. He will then introduce the key technological improvements brought by these Next-Generation SONET Network Elements and demonstrate how they will contribute to the next revolution of the North American network. Speaker:Francois Moore, Fujitsu Date: Thursday, Oct 16 Time: 6:30pm - 9:00pm Location: SBC Laboratories, Inc. (SBC-TRI) 9505 Arboreturm Blvd., Austin, TX Reservations: If you plan to attend, please send Email to Howard Headrick at hfrjr@swbell.net for planning purposes.

Computer Society - San Antonio [for more information] Topic: TBA Speaker: TBA Date: TBA Time: 6:30 - Social; 7:00 - Dinner; 8:00 - Program Cost: $10 for members, $13 for non-IEEE members, $2 for students Reservations: RSVP to Kevin Nickels 210-999-7543 Location: Skyline Room, Coates Center, Trinity University, San Antonio, TX

Computer Society - Austin [for more information] PLEASE CHECK WEB SITE BEFORE THE MEETING Topic: Software Requirements: 10 Traps to Avoid Many software development organizations get caught in traps that prevent them from effectively collecting, documenting, or managing their requirements. This presentation describes ten typical requirements problems that can sabotage your project. Several symptoms that indicate you might be getting caught in each trap are described, along with suggestions for avoiding or escaping from the trap. The requirements traps include: Confusion about what a requirement is Inadequate customer involvement Vague and ambiguous requirements Unprioritized requirements Building functionality no one uses Analysis paralysis Scope creep Inadequate requirements change process Insufficient change impact analysis Inadequate requirements version control Speaker: Karl Wiegers, Process Impact Date: Wednesday, October 8 Time: 6:30pm Location:IBM, 11501 Burnet Rd, Bldg. 908, Austin, TX 78758

Consultant's Network [for more information] Topic:Neuro-Computing from an Engineering Perspective The objective is to study the feasibility of a real-time system level simulation of the human brain. The anticipated result is that it is feasible using FPGA and DRAM memory technology at a chip cost of ~$1 Billion US dollars. The study itself adds insight into current knowledge of the brain. It provides a framework from which to organize existing knowledge. It forces component level models of neurobiology to be considered from the system or whole. Silicon costs are expected to continue to decline.Ê In a decade, the issue will not be why, but when and by whom. Speaker(s):Jim Brakefield with IEEE Date: Thursday, October 9 (2nd Thursday) Time: 6:30pm - Networking, 7:00pm - Program Location: China Star Restaurant, 6134 Hwy 290E, Austin, Texas, located at the north east corner of IH-35 and 290E The consultants' web directory has been updated. The directory is to be found at https://www.alesu.com/xltrp/ieeecons/listzero.htm

Electromagnetic Compatibility Society [for more information] Topic: ÊCheck Chapter Web site for details. Nominations for Chapter officers and a proposal for consideration by Chapter members. Ê Speaker: Mr. Chris ÊKendall, CKC Date: Wednesday, October 22 Time: 6:30 Social, 7 PM Lecture Location: National Instruments

Engineering Management Society [for more information] No meeting planned for October If you are interested in the Engineering Management Society, contact Steve Prough, Vice-Chairman, sdprough@aol.com.

Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society Topic: No meeting planned for October Speaker: Date: Time: Cost: Reservations: Location: For information contact David Kilpatrick

Power Engineering Society [for more information] Topic: Tentative meeting, see Web for details Speaker:Kolher Switchgear-- Rheuben Hair Stewart and Stevens Date: Tuesday, October 28 (third Tuesday) Time: 6:00 - Social, 6:30 - Dinner, 7:00 - Business meeting, 7:30 - program Cost: $10, free for students Reservations: For further information, please contact Susan Thompton or Steve Kanetsky, at 512-326-3380 Location: El Gallo Mexican Restaurant, 2910 S. Congress Ave, Austin, TX

Women in Engineering [for more information] Topic: TBD Speaker: Liz Coker Date: Tuesday, November 4, 2003 (1st Tuesday, bi-monthly) Time: 6:00-8:00pm Location: La Madeleine Cafe, 3418 N. Lamar at 35th St. 512-302-1486

Joint Solid-State Circuits / Circuits and Systems Societies Topic: No meeting planned for October Speaker: TBA Date: TBA Time: TBA Location: TBA For further information, contact Gerald Garcia at gerald.garcia@ieee.org

Product Safety Society (currently meeting as a Working Group under the EMC Society TC-8 Product Safety Technical Committee) Topic: TBA Speaker: TBA Date: Oct 28 (4th Tuesday of the month) Time: 6:30pm Location: Crossroads Systems, 8300 N. Mopac For further information contact Daniece Carpenter. Fifteen years in the organizing, the Product Safety Engineering Society is the IEEE's 38th and newest society. Learn more at https://www.theinstitute.ieee.org/inst_art.jsp?isno=09031&arnumber=09031_9w.newssociety§ion=5

CTS Student Branches St. Mary's University [for more information] Trinity University University of Texas at Austin [for more information] University of Texas at San Antonio [for more information]

Editor's Notes

The goal of this newsletter is to provide the more than 4700 members of the Section with up-to-date and meaningful information. We welcome contributions and suggestions that will improve the newsletter. Please contact the editor, John Purvis at j.purvis@computer.org if you have any thoughts or suggestions. The deadline for submission is the 25 th of the month.
 

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