ISSUE 3/02 - NOVEMBER 2002
Contents
- NSW Section AGM & dinner
- Chairman's Column
- NSW Section celebrates 30 years
- Vale Dr Peter Somlo
- NSW Section web news
- NSW Hunter Valley Sub-section closes
- Useful IEEE web addresses
- GOLD affinity group function
- Become an IEEE Senior Member
- Joint technical meetings for 2002 & 2003
- Details of upcoming joint technical meetings
- Member profile - NSW Section Treasurer David Burger
- West speaks on 802.11A - 30 October 2002
- Dues to increase in 2003
- How to purchase IEEE conference proceedings
- 2001 IEEE Annual Report now available
- Responding to student needs worldwide
- International
conferences
- Reminder of future
events at Charles Sturt University
- Student paper
competitions
- Wanted
- If you want to continue
to receive circuit by mail please complete this form
1. NSW SECTION ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING & DINNER -
FRIDAY 29 NOVEMBER
All IEEE members are
invited to attend the Section Annual General Meeting, which will be held again
this year at The Castlereagh Inn, Masonic Club, 169 Castlereagh St, Sydney,
commencing at 7 pm sharp. The Annual Dinner will follow the conclusion of the
AGM, at approximately 8 pm. Both events are a great opportunity to mix and
mingle with other IEEE members.
Members wishing to
attend should complete the reservation form below, and forward, with payment, to
the Section Secretary Andrew Parfitt by Friday 22 November.
Prior to the Section AGM, Chapters will conduct their AGMs to elect
new office bearers. Chapter Chairs are asked to conclude these meetings by 7 pm
and also provide annual reports for distribution at the AGM.
The dinner will be
held in Cello’s Dining Room. Partners not wishing to attend the AGM will be
able to meet in a separate area where drinks can be purchased. The cost of
dinner is $35 per person, which includes drinks on the table.
The
Masonic Club is within two blocks of the Town Hall Railway Station and car
parking at $14 (5 pm to 1 am) is available at the Piccadilly Car Park, located
adjacent to the David Jones store in Castlereagh Street. Alternatively, low-cost
parking is available three blocks away at Goulburn Street City Car Park.
AGENDA - NSW Section
AGM
1. Attendance and
Apologies
2. Minutes of 2001
AGM and Discussion
3. Report of Section
Chairman
4. Report of Section
Treasurer
5. Chapter Reports:
-
Power
Engineering,
-
Communications/Signal
Processing,
-
Computer,
-
Antennas &
Propagation/Microwave Theory & Techniques,
-
Industrial
Applications, Power Electronics and Industrial Electronics,
-
Circuits &
Systems
6. Confirmation of
2003 Section Committee:
Filita Barker, Trevor
Bird, Ian Boyd, Stephanie Boyd, David Burger, Kate Carruthers, Steven Duvall,
Karu Esselle, Graeme Gwilliam, Walter Lachs, Jim Logothetis, Stefan Mozar,
Philip Ogunbona, Andrew Parfitt, Bruce Poon, Faz Rahman, Sam Reisenfeld, John
Robinson, David Tien, Jim Vasseleu & Ramutis Zakarevicius.
7. General Business
IEEE NSW SECTION
30th ANNIVERSARY DINNER
Venue:
The
Castlereagh Inn, Masonic Club, 169 Castlereagh St, Sydney
Date: Friday,
29 November
Times: 6.00 pm
Chapters’ AGMs
-
7.00 pm
Section AGM
Dinner
: :
7.45 pm
for 8.00 pm Cello’s Dining Room
Contribution
:
$35 per
person (including drinks on table)
Enclosed is payment of $....... for ...... persons
Name:
Tel
(w):
Tel (h):
Fax:
Address:
Postcode:
Post return not later than 22 November to:
Andrew Parfitt
[Tel: 9372 4187, Fax 9372 4106] IEEE Committee
C/- PROFESSIONAL CENTRE OF AUSTRALIA,
Private Bag No. 1,
DARLINGHURST NSW 2010


2. CHAIRMAN'S COLUMN
It is hard to believe that my
two-year term as Chairman is almost over. At the end of December I pass on the
position to one of my colleagues. As any past Chairman will tell you, the
position is a busy, though rewarding one. During my term we accomplished some of
the goals that I set at the beginning, but others are only partially complete. I
would hope the Section Committee would complete the unfinished goals in the near
future.
If I had to nominate the most significant achievement during my
term, it would be the appointment of a web master and the development of the web
site. This is now a very useful resource and all credit for this must go to Jon
Agnew, the web master. If you have not used the web site recently, please try it
out. You will find there is news on lectures, back copies of Circuit and a
history of the Section, to mention just a few items.
As this issue of Circuit goes to
print, I will be attending the triennial Sections Congress, which in 2002 will
be in Washington DC. There are many important issues facing IEEE at this time
including retention of members, conversion of student members to full membership
and financial management. Recently, the first dues increase in many years was
announced (see elsewhere). This included a rise in annual student member fees
for Region 10 to about A$44. Naturally many students are unhappy about the fee
increase. I believe also that it’s a wrong message to be sending to students
at this time. We are trying to attract more student members and this year the
Section provided over 200 free student memberships to new recruits.
Notwithstanding the fee increase, student membership still represents excellent
value for what is received. To put the fee into perspective, it is equivalent to
about one tank of petrol for a medium size car, five movie tickets or a fraction
of an up-to-date engineering textbook.
The Section recently celebrated
its 30th anniversary with a dinner (see a report and pictures elsewhere).
Present at the anniversary dinner was the President of the Sydney Division of
the Institution of Engineers Australia, Bruce Howard. His attendance at this
event symbolised the excellent relationship that exists with sister Institutions
in NSW. For instance, we have worked with the sister institutions to organise
conferences and lectures. Over many years IEEE has helped organise Engineering
Week and this year we made a financial contribution. This year’s Engineering
Week was held in July for the first time and was very successful. In many
respects NSW has shown how the existing tripartite agreement between IEEE, IE
Aust and IEE can operate not only in spirit but also in practice.
In conclusion, I thank my fellow Committee members for the support
they have given me during my term. I wish you and your families all the very
best of fortune for Christmas and the New Year.
T
(email: ts.bird@ieee.org)

3.
NSW SECTION CELEBRATES 30 YEARS
On
Friday 27 September, the NSW Section celebrated its thirtieth anniversary with a
dinner at the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron, Kirribilli. The Section Chairman Dr
Trevor Bird welcomed distinguished guests that included Life Members, Bruce
Howard, President of the Sydney Division, Institution of Engineers and the
Division’s Hon. Treasurer John Gebler.
To set the scene, he outlined a
little of the history of the Section and touched on major events that occurred
in 1972 when the Section was formed. (An updated history can be found on the
Section web site.) He presented the Max Simons award to
Mr Yuehe Ge of Macquarie
University for his paper entitled "Efficient Analysis of Microstrip
Circuits Using New Closed-Form Green's Functions".
 |
Following the main course, plaques
were presented to members who have served continuously on the Section
Committee for ten years or more. These members were: Bruce Poon, Sam
Reisenfeld, Ramutis (Zak) Zakarevicius, John Robinson, Walter Lachs, Jim
Logothetis and Jim Vasseleu. A display of memorabilia included early
issues of Circuit and an Edison light globe. An enjoyable night was had
by all at what is a beautiful Sydney venue.
|
Jim Vasseleu receives his 10-year continuous service
plaque from 2002 Chairman, Trevor Bird.
|
In presenting the
seven awards, Dr Bird made the following remarks.
“I mentioned in my
historical introduction that the Section has had many dedicated servants over
the years. On the present occasion, the Section Committee resolved to honour
Section members who have served continuously for ten years or more on the
Section Committee. This evening 7 awards will be given.
Bruce Poon
Has
served on the Committee since 1992 and has been the Membership officer since
1995. He has been active in promoting IEEE at year 11 and 12 careers day
activities since 1996.
Sam Reisenfeld
Chair of the
Communications & Signal Processing Chapter, instigator of the highly
successful Globecom 98 conference in Sydney and member of the conference
Technical Program Committee.
Ramutis
Zakarevicius
Zak has served more
or less continuously on the Committee since the mid 1970s. He was Section
Chairman from 1979 to 1981. Up until this year he was the Committee member
responsible for Educational Activities.
John Robinson
John has held most
executive positions on the Section Committee, including Chairman in 1999-2000,
Secretary in 1998 and Treasurer from 1990 to 1998.
Walter Lachs
Walter was Chairman
in 1988 to 1990 and again in 1995. He was Chairman of Australia Council from
1990 to 1991. He has served as Vice Chair in 1998 and Secretary from 1991 to
1993 and also 1996 to 1997. I believe he was Editor of the newsletter Circuit
for over 10 years.
Demetrios (Jim)
Logothetis
Jim has served in
total 7 years as Chairman, from 1991 to 1994 and again from 1996 to 1998. He was
secretary from 1987 to 1990, in 1995 and again in 1999. Most recently, Jim has
been responsible for Professional Activities, which includes IEEE’s
involvement in Engineering Week.
James Vasseleu
Jim Vasseleu is the Father of
the Section. He has served almost continuously on the Committee since its
inception, except for when he was Region 10 Director in 1977 and 1978 and member
of the IEEE Board. He was Chairman in 1972 to 1973 and again from 1985 to 1987.
He has held several other positions including Vice Chair from 1995 to 1997, and
Treasurer from 1974 to 1975. For a number of years he has been Chair of the
Nominations Committee, the Awards Committee and the Life Member Committee.
Please
give a round of applause for these most distinguished members of the New South
Wales Section Committee!”

Recipients of 10-year awards and the Section Chairman in front
of the original banner of the Australian Section which ultimately became the NSW
Section. Left to right: John Robinson, Jim Logothetis, Trevor Bird (Chairman),
Sam Reisenfeld, Jim Vasseleu, Ramutis Zakarevicius, Bruce Poon and Walter Lachs.

4.
VALE DR PETER SOMLO
 |
IEEE Fellow Dr Peter I. Somlo passed away on 17 August 2002
following a stroke that he suffered a week before. He was 69. Peter was a
member of the Australian Section Committee (now NSW Section) in the late
1970s and early 1980s and was Vice Chair from 1979 to 1981. He received an
IEEE Centennial Medal in 1984 and was elected a Fellow in 1987 “for
contributions to precision metrology at radio and microwave
frequencies”.
|
IEEE Fellow Dr Peter I. Somlo 1933-2002
|
As well, he was a Member of the Editorial Review Board of IEEE
Transactions on Microwave Theory & Techniques from 1970 to 1993, and
Secretary/Treasurer of the Antennas & Propagation – Microwave Theory &
Techniques NSW Chapter in 1992.
Peter was born in Budapest, Hungary, and obtained the Dipl. Ing
degree in 1956 from the University of Technology, Budapest. After arriving in
Australia, Peter was employed by the CSIRO National Measurement Laboratory,
Sydney, where he remained until 1993. In the latter years at CSIRO he was Leader
of the RF/Microwave Group and a Senior Principal Research Scientist.
An internationally renowned expert in accurate microwave
measurements, Peter was co-author of the book “Microwave Impedance
Measurement” (Peter Peregrinus, 1985) with his CSIRO colleague Dr John
Hunter. After retiring from CSIRO, Peter was a Visiting Professor at the
University of Technology, Sydney, from 1993 to 1996. Until a few years ago,
Peter was a regular attendee at Joint Institution meetings and especially
enjoyed discussions on knotty physics questions and innovative approaches to
problems. He was an avid windsurfer and made several contributions to the design
of boards. Peter will be greatly missed by his many friends and colleagues
around the world.

5.
NSW SECTION WEB NEWS
WEBMASTER
The NSW Section Web Master is Jon Paul Agnew. Chapter Committee
members should contact Jon Paul to update the details on the web site. Don’t
forget to place the web address https://ewh.ieee.org/r10/nsw
in your Bookmarks so as to keep up to date with the latest Section news and
information.
KEEP UP TO DATE
WITH DOCUMENTS AND NEWS ON THE SECTION WEB SITE
Visit the ‘News’ section for updates
to the lecture programs on the NSW Section web site.
REGISTER FOR A PERSONAL EMAIL ALIAS “name@ieee.org”
Many
IEEE members do not realise that the IEEE offers an Alias service with free
Virus Scanning. IEEE members can register or update a personal alias of their
choice (subject to availability), which will forward email to their real
Internet email address. This overcomes the need to notify the IEEE (or the
Section) if you change your home email address. To obtain an email alias go to
the IEEE website (www.ieee.org), click on
“Web Account” and follow the directions.
In 2001 IEEE's Email Alias service with virus
scanning stopped 158,126 viruses from being delivered to members. This is more
than six times the 24,000 infected messages stopped in 2000. This free benefit
offered to IEEE members is one of many advantages of an IEEE Email Alias. To
continue to have access to this service, members in Region 10 must have renewed
their membership by the end of April. To find out more about the IEEE Email
Alias, visit https://eleccomm.ieee.org/personal-aliases.shtml.

6.
NSW HUNTER VALLEY SUB-SECTION CLOSES
The NSW Section Committee has recommended to IEEE Headquarters that
the NSW Hunter Valley Sub-section be delisted. This follows a request for
expressions of interest in the last issue of CIRCUIT to form a local organising
committee. The response was very disappointing both for the Section Committee
and some members in the Hunter. However, there was insufficient interest to form
a committee and restart activities that would ensure the viability of the
Sub-section in the future.

7.
USEFUL IEEE WEB ADDRESSES
Increasingly,
the IEEE is relying on the Internet to deliver services to members. Some
useful web addresses are summarised below for your information.
IEEE Operations Centre: www.ieee.org
IEEE Regional Activities: www.ieee.org/ra
Region 10: www.ewh.ieee.org/reg/10
IEEE
Senior Member upgrade:
www.ieee.org/organizations/rab/md/smprogram.html
Region 10 Student Branch activities: www.cairo.utm.my/ieee/r10s
tudent.htm
IEEE Contract administration:
www.ieee.org/contractsonline
Volunteer travel accident/medical plan. This is available to all
IEEE volunteers and applies outside your normal country of residence. It starts
and ends when you leave/arrive in your own country. For details see www.ieee.org/organizations/vols
IEEE GOLD (Graduates of the last decade) program: www.ieee.org/organizations/rab/gold/programs.html
Educational activities: www.ieee.org/eab/
Professional development: www.ieee.org/pdi
Career resources: www.ieee.org/eab/education.htm
IEEE Award programs: www.ieee.org/about/awards,
www.ieee.org/organizations/rab/rab/Awards/rabawards.htm
Conferences: www.ieee.org/conferencesearch

8. GOLD AFFINITY GROUP FUNCTION
The first function of the GOLD
Affinity Group will be a dinner on Friday, 1 November to be held at the Duxton
Hotel, North Sydney, 88 Alfred St, Milsons Point, commencing at 7pm. It was originally planned for August 16
but due to several factors the event was rescheduled. Members who graduated in
the last ten years and also Student Members are especially invited to attend.
The cost is $20 and this includes all food and beverages. Dress is semi
Formal/Business.
To
attend please contact Andrew Parfitt
(Tel: 9372 4187, Fax 9372 4106, email Andrew.parfitt@csiro.au)
by 24 October
.
Payment can be by cheque or credit card (Mastercard, Bankcard or Visa).

9. BECOME AN IEEE SENIOR MEMBER
Many members may not be aware of the benefits of IEEE Senior
Membership. As well as recognizing your performance and contribution to the
profession in a tangible way, each new Senior Member receives an attractive fine
wood and bronze engraved Senior Member plaque and a US$25.00 gift certificate
toward one new Society membership. Who can become a Senior Member? Anyone with
ten years in the profession (not 10 years of IEEE membership.) Your educational
experience is counted towards this ten-year requirement. Other criteria are five
years of significant performance and have three IEEE Senior Member or Fellow
references. If you are nominated only two references are needed. Now it is even
easier to become a Senior Member via the IEEE website. Details and application
forms are obtained at www.ieee.org/organizations/rab/md/smprogram.html.

10.
JOINT TECHNICAL MEETINGS FOR
2002
& 2003
All members are invited to attend the listed joint meetings
with the I.E. Aust., ITEES and IEE. All meetings are held at 5.30 for 6.00 pm
(with light refreshments) at the Institution of Engineers, Australia Lecture
Theatre, 118 Alfred St., Eagle House, MILSONS POINT unless otherwise shown.
DATE |
SUBJECT |
SPEAKER |
SPONSOR |
14 Nov 2002 |
Strategic Asset Management
|
Dr
Platfoot
|
|
28 Nov 2002 |
The
Expanding Scope of Professional Liability – IEAust. Elec. Branch AGM
|
Jörn Schimmelfeder, Pricewaterhouse- Coopers |
IEAust |
29 Nov 2002 |
IEEE AGM
|
|
IEEE |
13 Feb 2003 |
Protection against arcing faults on LV
switchboards. |
TBA, Uni. Syd. |
IEAust |
27 Feb 2003 |
Power line communications |
R Watts, InovaTech |
IEAust |
13 Mar 2003 |
Intensive care by wire-telemedicine |
Dr L Wilson, CSIRO Telecom. & Ind. Phy. |
IEE |
27 Mar 2003 |
JPEG2000 - a new image compression standard |
Dr David Taubman, UNSW |
IEEE |
10 Apr 2003 |
Callide C power station |
Philip Neal |
IEAust |
8 May 2003 |
New developments in railway signalling |
SRA |
IEAust |
22 May 2003 |
Gamma camera for detecting landmines |
Dr J Tickner, CSIRO Minerals |
IEE |
12 Jun 2003 |
E-liability |
TBA |
IEE |
26 Jun 2003 |
Transformers for the modern world |
Colin James, ALSTOM |
IEAust |
10 Jul 2003 |
Update on Bluetooth |
TBA |
ITEE |
24 Jul 2003 |
Truscan-a scanning probe for cancer in women |
Polartechnics |
IEE |
14 Aug 2003 |
Electromagnetic Engineering in the world of
photonic crystals |
Drs Andrew Weily & Karu Esselle, MacQ. Uni |
IEEE |
28 Aug 2003 |
Intelligent Networked Home |
Dr Peter Beadle, Motorola |
IEEE |
11 Sep 2003 |
Electronics in the medical industry |
Siemens or GE |
IEE |
25 Sep 2003 |
Process control systems in the printing industry |
Fairfax |
IEE |
9 Oct 2003 |
Protection against terrorism |
Eric Parker |
ITEE |
23 Oct 2003 |
Space Time Signal Processing |
Dr Petrag Rapajic, UNSW |
IEEE |
13 Nov 2003 |
Update on contestability of LV power
distribution |
TBA |
IEAust |
27 Nov 2003 |
Board Band Optical Fibre Sources |
Assoc Prof Graham Town, MacQ. Uni |
IEEE |
28 Nov 2003 |
IEEE Annual General Meeting |
|
IEEE |

11. DETAILS OF UPCOMING JOINT
TECHNICAL MEETINGS
STRATEGIC ASSET MANAGEMENT
Thursday, 14 November 2002
Speaker:
Dr
Bob Platfoot, Covaris Pty Ltd
Synopsis:
This
paper presents various methodologies and issues associated with a total asset
management process that embraces the use of capital and maintenance expenditure
to ensure assets meet the full spectrum of operational requirements, including
safety, performance and return on investment.
Pervading the entire process is a risk management process that is a
function of the condition of the asset base and the responsiveness to identified
needs.
The tangibles of the asset management plan are physical documents and
systems that make up the individual elements within the framework. In this case,
they are the outward signs of a business process, which is comprised of many
business rules.
Output from the asset management plan described in the paper
includes distribution of costs across systems and areas, efficiency of the
expenditure (including reactive versus proactive maintenance plus
anecdotal notes on known problems), and effectiveness of the expenditure –
management of the reliability and capability of the systems, where capability
represents ability of an asset to provide its intended function with expected
levels of flexibility, efficiency and quality.
In conclusion this work has achieved interpretation of the broad overall
business targets in terms of operational requirements for specific assets and
groups of assets, planning ahead to check likelihood of asset capability being
able to meet operational requirements, and gap analysis between operational
requirements and operational performance.
Biography: Bob Platfoot is a Principal of Covaris Pty Ltd, an
engineering consulting and technology development company based in Sydney,
Australia.
The main focus of the company is divided into four core programs streams:
strategic asset management, maintenance systems, process optimisation and energy
optimisation.
Prior to this, Bob was a Senior Lecturer at the University of NSW
where he extensively researched maintenance engineering methods, and developed
various processes applicable to the shop floor as well as restructuring of
company processes. He was responsible for introducing maintenance course work
and various research projects associated with preventative maintenance systems
and contemporary approaches.
He worked for the Electricity Commission of NSW, now known as
Pacific Power, between 1979 and 1992, covering various aspects of coal fired
boiler plant life assessment and maintenance.
Key work included predicting three dimensional gas flows inside boiler,
dust collection and milling plant, and life assessment of high temperature tube
banks.
He holds BE and PhD degrees in Mechanical Engineering.
His
current primary interests are in the all-of-life sustainment of
performance-based maintenance contracts and company strategic improvement in
asset management.
He is responsible for packaged systems in the establishment and
implementation of planned maintenance in a variety of facilities and
organisations.
Recent career highlights have included work in total asset management
approaches to an alumina refinery and the Collins class submarine fleet.
THE EXPANDING SCOPE OF
PROFESSIONAL LIABILITY
Thursday, 28 November 2002
Speaker:
Jörn Schimmelfeder, Senior Associate – Infrastructure, PricewaterhouseCoopers
Legal (Tel: 61 2 8266 6684)
Synopsis:
The scope of professionals' liability is expanding such that each participant
involved in a construction project is obliged to act in a manner which may often
cause them to accept responsibilities beyond those set out in the terms of their
agreement.
Legal obligations can be imposed where an engineer should be capable of
identifying a potential problem or scope for liability.
This duty is often discharged by warning the relevant party, being the
superintendent administering the contract or the principal himself or herself.
In some circumstances, the duty requires something more to be done.
The concerning aspect of this development in the law is that engineers
may not know when the duty arises or what, in precise terms, is ! required of
them.
This is particularly unnerving where engineers may seek to rely on the
approved practices of their professional body, such as the Institution of
Engineers.
This
development in the law is one reason why consulting professionals need to adopt
a more sophisticated approach to providing their services.
One way to control contractors' claims is to consider these issues when
drafting contracts to engage consultants.
Limitations on, or indemnity from liability where it arises in particular
circumstances are a pre-emptive way of managing the risk which is introduced by
these developments in the law.
Exclusion clauses need to be carefully drafted and raise further issues
for consideration.
Biography:
Jörn Schimmelfeder has a broad range of experience in construction,
infrastructure and engineering transactions and disputes.
He has
been involved in the drafting of long term road and rail maintenance agreements,
joint venture agreements for consortiums undertaking major infrastructure
projects and drafting mining infrastructure agreements as well as major
construction disputes.
Jörn
was identified in the 2001-2002 edition of Legal Profiles as a "Young
Gun". His practice areas are identified as "construction and
maintenance of major infrastructure including project finance and establishing
transaction structures". The client comment is noted as "knowledge of
law, understanding government and rail contracts. Punctual with commercial
responses. Available to answer queries".
PROTECTION AGAINST ARCING FAULTS
ON LV SWITCHBOARDS
Thursday, 13 February 2003
Speaker: TBA
No details provided at time of printing. Please visit the
‘News’ page of the Section web site for details in the weeks preceding the
meeting.

12. MEMBER PROFILE
- NSW SECTION TREASURER DAVID BURGER
David
Burger is Treasurer of the Section and previously was Assistant Treasurer in
1998 and Vice Chair in 2001. David is a Senior Member of the IEEE and the
IEAust. He also has a Chartered Professional Engineer accreditation, and is a
member of the IEAust Electrical College. As well, he is a member of the IT&C
College of IEAust and is on the panel of interviewers for this College. In his
spare time, David is actively involved in Amateur Radio, holding the
highest-grade licenses in both Australia and the USA.
David is currently employed with
PricewaterhouseCoopers in the Infocomms consultancy group. His work involves
voice/data and multi-media telecommunications network diagnostic work, telco
operations process improvement and capacity planning and forecasting, including
emerging mobile networks.
David
has over 18 years experience in telecommunications and consultancy services,
including 7 years servicing the financial industry's specialised communications
needs. He has wide telecommunication experience with cellular systems,
satellite, fibre, voice and data services, including cost estimation and
justification processes.

13. WESTE SPEAKS ON 802.11A - 30 OCTOBER 2002
The
next meeting of the NSW Joint Chapter of Solid State Circuits/Circuits and
Systems on 30 October will be addressed by IEEE Fellow Neil Weste, Director of
Engineering, Cisco. Neil’s talk is entitled “RF, CMOS and friends – a
potpourri of experiences with IEEE 802.11a chipset”. The
venue
is Cisco Systems, Level 2, 3 Innovation Road, North Ryde, NSW. The meeting is
scheduled from 6 to 9 pm and includes refreshments and the opportunity to
network.
For
further details please contact the Chapter Chair, Steven Duvall
(ph 9937 5861,
email steven.g.duvall@intel.com)
.

14. DUES INCREASE
IN 2003
The IEEE Board of Directors voted in June to
increase dues and assessments for the 2003 membership year. The rate for
higher-grade members will increase to US$110 plus Regional Assessments.
Student dues will rise to US$30 for Regions 1-7 and US$25 for Regions
8-10. (A subscription to "IEEE Potentials" magazine is included in
membership for students in Regions 1-7, accounting for the difference.) This is
the first increase in Student dues since 1993, and only the second increase in
higher-grade dues since 1996.
In addition, the Board raised the IEEE-USA
assessment to US$33 and revised the reduced-dues program for recent graduates.
The now one-year program offers individuals a 50 percent discount off full
member dues the first year after graduation.
At a special meeting on 2 August, the IEEE
Board of Directors voted to revise the Affiliate fee for 2003 to US$49. The
Board also voted to set the Affiliate fee to 50 percent of full IEEE dues for
the 2004 membership year and beyond.
After 15 August, the new 2003 dues rates will
go into effect and all applications received at IEEE will be processed for the
2003 dues year. The online 2003 IEEE applications will be available as of 1
September for applicants paying by credit card.
The online applications may be found at https://www.ieee.org,
select the link for "Membership."
IEEE
Scoop September 2002

15. HOW TO
PURCHASE IEE CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS?
IEEE has launched a new Conference Search
function that enables a visitor to go right to the appropriate "shop"
page if she wants to purchase a publication associated with her conference (if a
publication exists). Start your search at https://www.ieee.org/conferencesearch/.
The
easiest way to find a conference is to select a "Year" and a
"Sponsor," then click on "Submit."
Select the conference from the search results, and then scroll down to
the
"Proceedings/Publications"
cell. If there is a publication for that conference, you will see a number.
Click on it, and you will be directed to the "shop" page.
For further information, contact Patricia Thompson, IEEE Technical
Activities, telephone +1 732 562 3872; p.thompson@ieee.org.
IEEE
Scoop September 2002

16. 2001 IEEE
ANNUAL REPORT NOW AVAILABLE
The 2001 IEEE Annual Report is now available.
To conserve costs and achieve a broad, global distribution, the report
will be primarily accessible online from the IEEE home page, https://www.ieee.org.
Printed copies will be mailed to the IEEE Board of Directors, major
boards and committees, as well as about 4,000 corporate, government and academic
leaders around the world.
Delegates to the 2002 Sections Congress will receive both a printed copy
and a CD-ROM.
For more information, contact Helen Horwitz,
IEEE Corporate Strategy and Communications, at h.horwitz@ieee.org or +1 732 562 6821.
IEEE Scoop September 2002

17. RESPONDING TO
STUDENTS NEEDS WORLDWIDE
Through its Rapid Response Program, the IEEE
Foundation is able to quickly respond to funding requests under US$5,000 for
projects and activities related to IEEE student and young professional members.
Three such projects - a robotics competition in Chile, a four-day student
workshop in Spain, and student leadership conference in the United States, were
awarded a total of US$10,400 during September 2002.
To learn more about how to apply for a grant from the IEEE Foundation, go
to https://www.ieee.org/organizations/foundation/html/funding.html.
IEEE Scoop October 2002

18. INTERNATIONAL
CONFERENCES
Details of conferences and other forthcoming international events
can be found by visiting the IEEE web site www.ieee.org/conferencesearch/.

19.
REMINDER
OF FUTURE EVENTS AT CHARLES STURT UNIVERSITY
The NSW Section is a technical co-sponsor of the First International Conference on
Information Technology and Applications (ICITA 2002), to be held in Bathurst
from 24 to 28 November 2002. Details may be obtained from the Conference web
site https://odysseus.mit.csu.edu.au/icita2002.html
.
The third Biennial Complex
Systems Summer School will be held from 1 to 6 December 2002. Details can be
found at: https://clio.mit.csu.edu.au/rgai/csss2002/.

20. STUDENT PAPER
COMPETITIONS
Entries are now invited for three student paper competitions. Two
are provided by the IEEE Australia Council and the third, the Max Simons Prize,
by the IEEE NSW Section. The aims, the conditions of entry and the method of
submission are the same. These and other details are given below.
Aims: (a) To promote the interest of undergraduate / postgraduate
students in writing high quality technical papers in the research areas within
the technical areas of IEEE.·(b) To promote the interest in all aspects of
electrical, electronics, communications, and Computer engineering inclusive of
all areas of IEEE interest.·(c) To promote IEEE membership throughout
Australia.
Prizes: For the undergraduate competition, a $500 cash prize is
awarded to the student author of the paper judged to be the best submission.
For the postgraduate competition a cash prize of $500 is also awarded,
together with up to $1000 support for the winner to travel to an IEEE sponsored
Australian or International conference of his/her choice in 2003, provided that
the student presents their paper at that conference. The IEEE Australia
Council/NSW Section reserves the right not to award either prize if it believes
that there is no paper of a suitable status.
Max Simons Prize: The best paper submitted from the New South Wales Section will
be eligible for the Max Simons Prize. This includes $200 cash and a certificate.
Certificates: Each of the Best Paper winners of the two
competitions (Undergraduate and Postgraduate) is awarded a Certificate from the
IEEE Australia Council. In addition a Certificate of Rank is awarded to each of
the first and second runner-up student papers of the two competitions.
Subject of the Paper: The author is free to choose the subject of
the paper which, however, must be within the traditional fields of Electrical,
Electronic, Communications, and Computer engineering, or within the emerging
fields of Information Technology, Bio-medical, and Nano-Technology inclusive of
all technical areas covered by the IEEE.
Eligibility: The IEEE Australia Council Student Paper Competition
is open to all IEEE Undergraduate and Postgraduate Student Members studying in
Australia. Separate undergraduate and postgraduate prizes will be awarded.
Papers must be submitted in the first instance to the IEEE Section in
which their institution is located if a Section level contest is held.
The best and the first runner-up undergraduate and postgraduate papers
from each Section will then be sent to the IEEE Australia Council where the
final decision will be made. In case where there is no section level contest,
the student authors may send their papers directly to the IEEE Australia
Council. The papers will be judged on technical merit (50%) and presentation
(50%).
Judging Criteria: The papers will be judged on their technical
contents, original ideas as well as written presentation. Details of the
criteria can be found in the IEEE Australia Council web site:
https://www.ieee.asn.au
https://ieee.asn.au/postg_criteria.htm
https://ieee.asn.au/underg_criteria.htm
Paper submission: Papers should be submitted to:
Dr A. J. Parfitt
Secretary, New South Wales Section
CSIRO Telecommunications & Industrial Physics
PO Box 76, Epping
NSW 1710
Email: andrew.parfitt@csiro.au
by
11 November 2002 so that the short-listed papers can be
forwarded to the IEEE Australia Council committee before 30 November 2002.
Paper Format: NSW Section should receive six copies of hardcopy or
a softcopy (pdf file) of the Technical Paper in IEEE standard paper format. The
IEEE Format is available from: www.ieee.org/organizations/society/power/subpages/authors.html
or from other web-sites of IEEE.
Contest Rules: All entries must be accompanied by a certificate
from an IEEE Student Branch Counsellor or Faculty Member of the entrant’s home
institution, confirming the entrant is an IEEE Student Member and indicating
which competition (undergraduate or postgraduate) the student is entering. The
entrant’s IEEE Student Membership Number must be stated in the certificate.
If the student is in the process of becoming an IEEE student member, then
a photocopy of the duly completed application must accompany the manuscript. The
paper may report on the entrant’s undergraduate thesis or postgraduate
research on a topic in the areas of electrical, electronic engineering, computer
science or allied subjects in the fields of interest of the IEEE Technical
Societies.
The paper must be the student’s own work, and the student should
declare this in a cover letter with the submission.
The maximum length of the paper is six A4 pages including all text and
figures.
Deadline: Six
printed copies or one softcopy (pdf file) of the technical paper in accordance
with the Contest Rules must be received by the NSW IEEE Section no later than 11
November 2002.
In the event of a student failing to submit before this deadline due to a
valid reason (e.g. medical reasons), the student may still submit the package to
the IEEE Australia Council before 30 November 2002.
Further information can be
obtained from Dr Parfitt (details above) or
Dr. W. W. L. Keerthipala
Student Paper Contest
Coordinator
IEEE Australia Council
Tel: 61 (08) 9266 7901
Email: rkeerthi@cc.curtin.edu.au

21. WANTED
Wanted to purchase. Hardbound copy (1st or 2nd
edition) of ‘A treatise on the theory of Bessel functions’, by G.N. Watson.
Contact: the Editor (ph 9372 4289, email ts.bird@ieee.org).

22. IF YOU WANT TO
CONTINUE TO RECEIVE CIRCUIT BY MAIL PLEASE COMPLETE THIS FORM
As has been
foreshadowed for over a year now, from 2003 CIRCUIT will normally be provided
electronically by downloading from the NSW Section Web site https://ewh.ieee.org/r10/nsw. Members will
be notified by email using the address provided at the membership renewal time
when a new issue has been posted on the web site.
In 2003 CIRCUIT will be mailed only to those members requesting a
printed copy or those not having an email address. If you require a hard copy
of CIRCUIT mailed to you please complete the form below and return to the Editor
at the address shown.

YES, I WANT
TO CONTINUE TO RECEIVE CIRCUIT BY MAIL
Name:
Member No.:
Tel
(w):
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Fax:
Address:
Postcode:
Post return not later than 10 January 2003 to:
Editor of CIRCUIT, IEEE Committee
C/- PROFESSIONAL CENTRE OF AUSTRALIA,
Private Bag No. 1,
DARLINGHURST NSW 2010


Trevor S. Bird
EDITOR
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