New GOLD Chair
On Wednesday, April 2, 2008 the IEEE-CT Executive Committee passed a motion to appoint Steve La Barre to chair our local Graduates of the Last Decade (GOLD) affinity group. Steve was President of the University of Connecticut IEEE Student Branch in 2006, and brings a great deal of enthusiasm to our group.
Graduates of the Last Decade (GOLD) was developed to help young professionals transition from being a student to entering the professional world.
If you are an IEEE Member who has received your first professional degree within the last ten years, you are automatically part of IEEE GOLD!
To learn more about GOLD, please visit the IEEE GOLD Home Page.
Hamden, CT -- On Thursday, March 13, the Connecticut Section of IEEE awarded $1000 in prizes at the 60th annual Connecticut Science Fair, which was held at Quinnipiac University. Brad Elker, John Gallichotte and Bill Wessman judged the contest and selected seven students' projects:
The Connecticut Science Fair is a yearly, statewide science and engineering fair open to all 7th through 12th grade students residing, or enrolled, in Connecticut schools and several New York towns.
To learn more about the science fair, please visit http://www.ctsciencefair.org/.
Berlin, CT -- The Annual Engineers Week dinner meeting was held February 19, 2008 at the Hawthorne Inn, in Berlin, Connecticut.
Two afternoon sessions were scheduled. First, University of Connecticut Civil Engineering Professor, Ramesh Malla, spoke about the problems of designing structures that could be built on the moon -- with no atmosphere, little gravity, extremes of temperature, peculiar soil conditions, etc. -- in order to construct a launch site for more distant space explorations planned by NASA in the future.
Next was a talk by Mark Austin of C.S.P.E. on the various factors that motivate -- or discourage -- young (under 35) engineers and what supervisors or mentors can do to keep valued individuals inspired in their chosen profession. This is a topic frequently discussed, stressing recognition, job satisfaction, and advancement, as well as salary being the key items.
The after dinner presentation was given by three of the University of Hartford students, and a faculty advisor, that participated in the Engineers Without Borders (EWB) program. The three were part of a larger team of about 6 sophomore civil engineering students that took a two-week trip to Abheypur, India to design and construct a water system for the village girls' school. This involved drilling a well, arranging the piping to water storage tanks, solar panels to operate the electric pump, constructing the platform to mount the storage tanks, etc. What would appear as a straightforward contractor's project in the United States was here quite a challenge, using local materials, local labor, basic or primitive tools and with significant language and cultural differences. University of Hartford does this as part of the sophomore year curriculum to give the students some practical experience, and so they can assist or mentor newer students next year on the experience. The next phase of this project is to design a rooftop rain water system to provide water during the monsoon season when the solar paneled pump can't operate.
There were around 65 attending, with 5 vendors displaying projects and services during the social hour before the dinner.
Thanks to Brad Elker for representing IEEE-CT and providing this report.
Executive Committee for 2008
On Thursday January 31 the IEEE-CT Executive Committee passed a motion to add Ed Hare to the committee as Member at Large. Here is the complete list of officers:
| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| Chair | Charlotte Blair |
| Vice-Chair | Ravi Rajaravivarma |
| Secretary | Oscar Tonello |
| Treasurer | Tom Freund |
| Member at Large | Brad Elker |
| Member at Large | Ed Hare |
| Member at Large | Raymond Zeitler |
Executive Committee Meeting
The next Executive Committee meeting will be held on Wednesday, May
7 May 14 at 6:30pm at ARRL in
Newington. For more information, please
contact Bill
Wessman.
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