Piedmont Section of the IEEE
Activity Report for 2004

Section Officers:

Chair:      Robert Scruggs          robert.scruggs@us.schneider-electric.com
Vice Chair: Wayne Cockrell          j.w.cockrell@ieee.org
Sec/Treas:  Jerry Clark             jclark89@hotmail.com


      This report includes 2004 plus the first quarter of 2005.  2004 was a successful
year with the Piedmont Section active in holding nine dinner meetings/presentations.
So far in 2005, we have held 4 regular meetings and one ExCom meeting.  There have been a
wide range of topics to appeal to a larger audience of industry, academic, and student
participants.

      Each year, we start with the student paper competition and offer cash prizes for
all participants.  The first place winner is invited to go on to the state competition.   To
appeal to members and their families, we had a presentation from the FIRST Lego League in
May and a Saturday afternoon cookout in June. For the other meetings in 2004, the subjects
included: FIRST Robotics Competitions (with a great turnout due to the Segway Transporter
that was there to ride), Nanotechnology: Hype and Reality, A Professional Recruiter,
A Tour of the Clemson University EE Labs. Then we began a three meeting series on
automotive electronics future automotive research with a meeting at BMW with the head of
the new International Center for Automotive Research (ICAR) speaking about the new
research campus being built in Greenville, South Carolina, and the last meeting of 2004
included a presentation of Michelin's Real Time Tire Monitoring System and our 2005
Officer Elections.

      So far in 2005, we have had the Student Paper Competition, concluded our automotive
series with a presentation on Telematics, and held two meetings in March in combination
with other groups including: a presentation "Integrated Engineering: Streamlining Plant
Design Through Automated Software Systems" with the IIE, and, with Clemson University,
we hosted the Professor Robert McEliece lecture "Are There Turbo Codes On Mars?"

      Other Activities included awarding a grant to a local high school FIRST robotics team
and the section provided some funding to the Clemson University Hardware Team so that
they could compete at Southeastcon 2004.

      The L-50 and L-31 reports were submitted early in 2005.
The monthly Newsletter continues to be sent out via IEEE e-notice with a printed copy
going to members without an email address. The Section WEB page is updated monthly.

      During the officer elections in November, a new secretary was elected and the 2004
secretary, treasurer, and vice chair were elected into the 2005 treasurer, vice chair, and
chair positions.  Unfortunately, the secretary elect backed out and a decision was made to
have a combined secretary/treasurer for 2005. Recruiting/retaining officers and other
volunteers continues to be our biggest difficulty.


Respectfully submitted,

Rob Scruggs
2005 Piedmont Section Chair
robert.scruggs@us.schneider-electric.com
864-886-1348