IEEE Power Engineering Society Winter Meeting 2001, Columbus, OH, USA



Winter Meeting 2001, to be held in Columbus, Ohio January 28 to February 1, will feature a variety of technical, business, cultural and social experiences for members, students, their companions and children. This first Winter Meeting of the new millennium, incorporating the theme, "Turning The Century," will focus on Market Strategy and Concepts, Ancillary Services, New Operating and Equipment Concepts as well as Internet Applications.

General Membership Meeting

This meeting will be held on Monday, January 29, at 8 a.m. in the Regency Ballroom of the Hyatt Regency. Complimentary coffee and rolls will be available at 7:30 a.m. Meet the officers of the Power Engineering Society (PES), listen to and discuss the goals of the society's Governing Board for 2001 and beyond. Share your suggestions with the PES management team.

Plenary Session: Energy and Information

The Public Affairs Council Plenary Session Committee will present the opening session panel discussion on Monday morning in the Regency Ballroom of the Hyatt Regency Hotel. The program, developed around the general theme of "Energy and Information," will discuss the future uses of Information Technology (IT) and expansion of power system communications capabilities to maintain reliable service while improving system operational efficiencies. The program will also include discussions on the use of the power system communications bandwidth to facilitate energy and other trading opportunities.

The Plenary Session will have a panel moderator and panel made up of experts addressing: 1) Information Technology Applications and Operational Aspects from the Utility Industry Standpoint, 2) Opportunities for Applications of Information Technology to Improve Operations, Reliability and Efficiencies, 3) Energy Trading, Settlement Issues and more.

Technical Program

The technical portion of the program's panel sessions and papers will cover a variety of subjects of interest to engineers. They will include Reliability, Power Quality, Adaptive Protection, FACTS, SVC, Distributed Generation, Life Extension, Congestion Management, Advanced Metering, Superconductivity, and other topics.

PES is very pleased to announce that a special educational session, "The Electric Utility Industry in Transition: Critical Issues and Strategic Responses" will be included. The presenter is nationally renowned lecturer, Dr. Arthur A. Thompson, Jr. of the University of Alabama. Dr. Thompson has a unique understanding of the electricity business and a quick wit that will keep you entertained as you learn. Dr. Thompson's lecture will include such topics as: "Driving Forces in the Energy Marketplace," "Where and When Customer Choice is Happening," "The British Model of Competition in Electricity and the Rush to Competition in Germany and Across Europe," "FERC's Re-Regulation of Transmission," "New Industry Models for Transmission, Generation, Distribution and Marketing, What Happens When Retail Customers Have Freedom of Choice," "Energy Marketing and Moves to Enter New Markets."

The course will be presented on Sunday from 8:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. The registration fee is $25 which includes lunch. Admissions are limited to the first 75 respondees.

Tutorials

Three informative and timely tutorials, sponsored by the PES Power Engineering Education Committee, will be presented. The fee for each is $150, in addition to the conference registration fee.

The sessions are:

Tours and Inspections

Student Program

One of the highlights of the Winter Meeting is the involvement of undergraduate and graduate students from around the world in conference activities. The interaction between industry leaders, professionals, faculty and students creates relationships that spur future collaboration, industry advancements, and more successful career opportunities. Such are the expectations of the Winter Meeting 2001, where students are expected to account for more than 10 percent of the registered participants.

The theme of the conference, "Turning The Century," will be incorporated into the focused student program that will be an integral part of the overall student experience. It will include a student paper/poster competition, a student/faculty/industry luncheon, a Student Professional Awareness Conference (S-PAC), featuring a panel addressing career issues, as well as socializing opportunities. Technical tours for the students will include tours of The Ohio State University High Voltage Lab and AEP's Dolan Technology Center. In addition, students will participate in the overall conference program. Information on each day's activities will be provided at student breakfast meetings.

Social Events for All Attendees

Attendees' Breakfasts

All meeting participants are invited to enjoy a complimentary breakfast before each day's events.

Presenters' Breakfasts

By invitation, the presenters, authors, panelists and session chairs will meet at a breakfast on the day of their sessions. This will enable them to become acquainted, discuss their session arrangements, confirm visual aid equipment and agree on session details.

Awards Luncheon

The Awards Luncheon will be held at 12:00 noon on Tuesday, in the Regency Ballroom of the Hyatt Regency Hotel. Early registrants may purchase a luncheon ticket for $10.

During the Awards Ceremony, IEEE and PES will honor engineers with the presentation of the IEEE Herman Halperin Electric Transmission and Distribution Award, IEEE Nikola Tesla Award, the IEEE PES Student Prize Paper Award, in honor of T. Burke Hayes, and recognition of newly elected IEEE PES Fellows. Join us in recognizing our distinguished members.

Conference Proceedings

One copy of Conference Proceedings, in CD-ROM, will be available free for each paying attendee and Life members. Additional copies can be purchased at the conference, or after the conference from IEEE, for $50 each.

Paper Sales Room

Conference Proceedings and other publications will be available for pick-up/sales in this room.

Keepsake Booth

Visit the conference Keepsake Booth for gifts for loved ones or those who stayed behind to do the work. Keepsakes will be located near the Registration and Information Booths. Available for purchase will be polar fleece shirts, windshirts, golf shirts, cambray shirts, T-shirts, ball caps, travel mugs, and "stress-busting" items for those day-long meetings. Prices will range from $4 to $40. Check your registration packet for discount coupons.

Audio-Visual/Presentation Needs

Each technical session room will be equipped with an overhead projector and a LCD projector for laptop generated presentations. Speakers are required to bring their laptop computers for their presentations. As a safeguard, conference organizers recommend that speakers bring transparencies for overhead projectors for backup in case of a technical difficulty.

Presenters Preparation Room

LCD and overhead projectors, similar to those in the meeting rooms, will be provided in this room for presenters to be familiar with the equipment used in the meeting rooms.

Registration Information

Registration fees for IEEE members are $295, prepaid, if received by January 5, 2001, and $345 for members registering after this date or at the meeting. Nonmember registration fees are $425, prepaid, or $475 at the meeting, or after January 5, 2001. Qualified attendees are invited to join IEEE and PES at the meeting. The $130 differential between member and nonmember fees can be applied toward first year membership dues. Member and nonmember companion fees are $30 for advance, or $35 for on-site registration. There are no registration fees for IEEE Student members with proper I.D. cards, Life Members and their companions, as well as, members of the press. However, there will be a charge for the Awards Luncheon and other special activities as shown on the registration form. All attendees, including the presenters, are required to pay the appropriate fees. All registration and event fees must be paid in U.S. dollars.

Registration requests received after January 5, 2001, will be processed at the higher on-site rates. Badges and tickets for those who register in advance will be available in the Registration area at the Advanced Registration pickup desk after noon on Sunday, January 28. Refunds will be issued for advance registration fees only if a written request is received by January 5, 2001. There is a service charge of $30 for processing a refund.

On-site meeting registration will take place on Sunday, January 28 from noon till 6:00 p.m. Registration hours, Monday through Thursday, will be from 7:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Registration will be on the third floor of the Greater Columbus Convention Center, near the entrance of Battelle Hall, next to the Hyatt Regency Hotel. Registration badges must be displayed for admission to all technical, panel, special and tutorial sessions, inspection trips and companion activities.

The Advance Registration form is available (PDF:13kB, 1pp) in Portable Document Format (PDF).

Airline Discounts

These carriers offer 5 to 10 percent off the lowest applicable fares. Call the 800 numbers below three, seven or 14 days in advance to receive the discounts and ticketing information.

Car Rental Discounts

Call the 800 number below to receive special group discount rates in Columbus, OH.

Driving Directions from Port Columbus International Airport

Airport Shuttle

Shuttle service runs every 30 minutes, at 10 minutes and 40 minutes past the hour. The shuttle service goes to any downtown hotels, at a cost of $8.50 one way. Travel time is about 15 minutes.

Taxi Service

Taxi service is available at a cost of about $14, with travel time of about 15 minutes.

Hospitality Suites

Companies or organizations wishing to sponsor hospitality suites should contact Tai C. Wong for information and instructions. Please call (614) 223-1247, FAX (614) 223-1292, or E-mail: tcwong@aep.com