15 September 2010

From the PES Corner - September 2010

Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you for your support of IEEE and its wholesome endeavors. My life in engineering entangles with Boy Scouting, as my husband (Merv Wagner) has been a Scoutmaster of a Boy Scout Troop (Troop 43 in Newport News) for over 5 contiguous years. This summer we were merit badge counselors with a very large undertaking spurred by a Ralph Russell of the Richmond PES Chapter. IEEE volunteers and friends (emeritbadges.com) piqued the interest of as many scouts as possible. We captured the attention of nearly 1100 scouts, competing with over 100 other merit badges, a slew of pioneering activities, Mysterium Compass, Technology Quest, and the seemingly endless lines of patch traders. IEEE sponsored two booths for this 100 years of Scouting; PES being a significant contributor, to enlighten these young people in the wonders of electrical and electronic engineering. You can take pride in being a part of an organization devoted to technology, and its advancement, by inspiring the next generation.
This is important with respect to power generation issues nearing limelight here in Hampton Roads. During the April tour of Surry Nuclear it was brought to PES attention how Dominion Virginia Power is watching the upcoming availability of Plug in Hybrid and Plug in Electric Vehicles (PHEV/PEV) with more than one wary eye. Then, it was emphasized that the Commonwealth of VA is currently at a -2 Megawatt capacity, importing electricity from other states!. We struggle with this issue intimately, too. Just drive within 40 miles of Dendron (Surry County) in any direction, and see controversy posted in yards, with signs that support Cypress Creek and oppose Coal Plant building. There is a sense that neighbors of 30 years quit talking to each other over this single issue; the passion runs so deep! Sept. 15th is the next tour of Surry, and sign up for that closes Aug 30 to get the form to Surry for security review. Dawn Ostenberg will be the ExCom Rep on that tour. Please contact me if you would like to tour Surry, as we will schedule more tours in the future.
The new determination to become gasoline independent, further aggravated by the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the need for America to get back in the auto manufacturing world are going to change the nature of electricity in the home place. The need for understanding of this issue is wide, because it will affect us as consumers of electricity. Taking the first step to understanding how wide the impact will be in the community, PES is having a joint meeting with IEEE in Oct to bring Dr. Saifur Rahman from Virginia Tech to discuss it. This year's Distinguished Lecture promises to be a grand event, with time on our side. It is at Point Plaza Suites, and we currently have space for up to 300 people. Attendance is anticipated to be at least 100, and it is going to be more widely disseminated than the Practical Lessons of Wind Power Generation. Certificates of Contact hours, if not official Professional Development Hours (PDH) will be provided to attendees. This will appeal to PE's from several engineering disciplines outside of IEEE and Power, and is not just for engineers. Please share the invitation to anyone you know with an interest. Bring your spouses, your friends, colleagues from work, as this meeting is not just for engineers, but is open to the public. If you have a neighbor or coworker who plans to buy a PHEV or PEV, link them to the registration page below. Discussion will include changes needed to home electric service to accommodate charging these vehicles at home. Register early to assure your seat!
Vtools Meeting Announcement Also note that late registration for the Oct 6th meeting, which starts Sept 16th, is $45 for all, no exceptions. Finally, HR-PES welcomes any membership support in the form of organizing tours, assisting with meeting logistics, or bringing in new topics for technical meetings. If you can volunteer an hour every week, if you can come early to a meeting to assist with registration, or have some other talent to contribute, your energy would be a welcome asset! Contact me at jennifer.ammentorp@ieee.org  to learn how you can help and make it better. Remember "Many hands makes for little work."
Jennifer Ammentorp
jennifer.ammentorp@ieee.org

From the Chair - September 2010

It is the fall season and we have a very exciting fall program in store. We start off in September with a presentation by Dr. Hargsoon Yoon of Norfolk State University on Nano-Sensors and Modulators for Neural Engineering applications. I think that this topic sounds very interesting. I want to thank Dr. Yoon and Norfolk State University for hosting this presentation. In October, we will have a joint meeting with the Power Engineering Society chapter on Electric Vehicles. I did not know that Virginia actually has to import electricity. We simply do not generate enough electricity. While electric vehicles either reduce or eliminate the production of exhaust gases (not counting any gases produced during generation of the power), the need to charge the vehicles remains a challenge for the transmission of power and the stresses that it will put on the grid. I am anxiously waiting to hear this presentation and where we stand on the issues that await us in this area. Lastly, we will be holding our student paper presentation in November. I encourage all undergraduate student members to participate. You just don't know but you may walk away with some money in your pocket.
Also in the fall we will be holding our elections for officers in the section. The four positions open for elections are the chair, vice-chair, treasurer and secretary. The election is open to all members from graduate student members to Fellows. I highly encourage all those that are interested to contact any section officer by the October meeting. We will formally announce our slate of candidates through our October newsletter. Formal election will be held in November. I have been an officer in this section for four years and I have found my experience to be very rewarding. I have had the opportunity to travel and represent the section at various conferences and had my travel covered by IEEE. There will be much to do in the upcoming years between the Section's 50th anniversary in 2011 and Oceans 2012 the following year. Descriptions of the positions are as follows:
The Section Chair shall serve as Chair for all meetings of the Section, the Section Committee and the Section ExCom. The Section Vice Chair shall assist the Chair in the coordination of all Section activities.
At the request of the Section Chair or in the absence of the Section Chair, the Section Vice Chair shall chair meetings of the Section, Section Committee or Section ExCom.
The Section Secretary shall include correspondence, the keeping of the minutes of the Committee meetings, mailing notices, and submission of meeting and officer reports to the Member and Geographic Activities Department at the end of each year and such other duties as are assigned by the Chair.
The Section Treasurer shall include the development of a Section budget for approval by the Section, accounting of all Section funds, keeping financial records, and submitting the Financial Operations Report of the Section to the IEEE Staff Director, Financial Services.
I am looking forward to seeing everyone this fall.
Regards,
James Bolitho
2010 Chair
Hampton Roads Section

07 April 2010

2010 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference



2010 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference - 25 - 30 Oct 2010, Crystal Gateway Marriott, Arlington, VA , IEEE Sponsor: Computer Society.

2010 IEEE 60th Annual Broadcast Symposium

 2010 IEEE 60th Annual Broadcast Symposium - 20 - 22 Oct 2010, The Westin Alexandria, Alexandria, VA , IEEE Sponsor: Broadcast Technology Society.

2010 IEEE EMBS Forum on Grand challenges in Neuroengineering -

 2010 IEEE EMBS Forum on Grand challenges in Neuroengineering - May 7 - 8, 2010 Bethesda, MD, IEEE Sponsor: Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society.