October 2009 From The Chair

Fall is upon us. With school back in, football season starting, the weather getting cooler and the beginning of the fall program for the IEEE Hampton Roads Section.


We had a very impressive program hosted by our new Power and Energy chapter in September. Justin Turner from ODU provided us a glimpse of the ongoing work in the area of offshore wind power. One of the key objectives for the Virginia Energy Plan is to create renewable energy sources. In the outlying coastal areas of the state, it seems that we have sufficient wind resources to sustain a wind farm. Some projections have that the wind farm could generate as much as 20% of the energy requirements for the state of Virginia. This is significant and I believe vital to our state. The Virginia Coastal Energy Research Consortium was formed by the Virginia Legislature in 2007 to research and develop the concept to the point of commercialization and implementation of renewable energy sources. Justin provided us with the conceptual idea of the wind farm, taking into account the effects on other ocean users, migratory bird flight paths and included some issues concerning the potential entry points for the wind farm into the electric grid. I have to admit that I was impressed that we had over 40 members and guests at the meeting. In addition, the question and answer session prompted quite a discussion in areas outside of plain old electrical engineering. But don’t worry; we are still talking about the concept so there will still be room during design for some of that good old electrical engineering stuff. I want to thank Clark Nexsen for the use of their facilities.

We will be taking a field trip to Mühlbauer in Newport News in October. Please RSVP early for this event as this will be a catered event. There will be no cost for the members at this event as Mühlbauer has offered to pick up the tab. I want to thank Mühlbauer in advance for this generous offer. This field trip will provide us first hand view of a manufacturing plant that works with semiconductors and RFIDs. I know that I am looking forward to this opportunity. The student paper presentation is scheduled for November and I am hearing that there is a lot of interest this year. I encourage all of our undergraduate student members, especially those that are doing senior design papers to consider this as an opportunity to present before a group of engineers.


Your Hampton Roads Section leadership attended a training seminar for IEEE Section and Chapter leaders conducted by Region 3 and hosted by our friends in the Richmond Section at the end of September. This was very important for our section leadership in learning about the IEEE. I am fortunate to be working with some very dedicated volunteers in our section and region. Please bring up any concerns or ideas on how or what we can do as a section to any executive committee member. Our contact points are listed on our web page and we are looking forward to hearing from you.

Regards,
James Bolitho
2009 Chair
Hampton Roads Section
jbolitho@ieee.org