NEWSLETTER OF THE BALTIMORE SECTION OF THE IEEE
APRIL 2004
The web site for the Baltimore section of the IEEE is:
http://www.ewh.ieee.org/r2/baltimore
IN THIS ISSUE:
1. Baltimore
Section Centennial Celebration
1. Baltimore Section Centennial Celebration
The Baltimore Section Centennial Celebration was held on Saturday, February 28, 2004 at the Marriott Hotel in Linthicum, MD. Dr Jeffrey Friedhoffer (2004 Baltimore Section Chairman) gave the introductory address and introduced the guests. The guest were:
Mr. Gordon Gaertner (1991-1993 Baltimore Section Chairman)
Delegate Kumar P. Barve (Maryland House of Delegates Majority Leader)
Dr. Merrill Skolnik (Fellow IEEE)
The Honorable Aris Melissaratos (Secretary, Maryland Department of Business)
Dr. Moshe Kam (Director and Chair, IEEE Region 2)
After dinner, Dr. Merrill Skolnik gave a brief account of the history of electrical engineering in the Baltimore area over the past 100 years. He mentioned, in particular, two companies that had a profound influence in the area. One was Bendix Corporation and the other was Westinghouse.
The Honorable Aris Melissaratos gave a speech in which he praised Maryland for the high-tech that is being performed here. He encouraged all electrical engineers to work hard and stay current in their field.
At the end of the evening, Dr. Moshe Kam presented Jeff with a banner in honor of the 100th anniversary of the Baltimore Section of the IEEE.
See the following web site for details:
http://www.ewh.ieee.org/r2/baltimore/centennial/index.htm
2. More Centennials
This year, Eta Kappa Nu, the electrical engineering honor society, will celebrate its centennial. Eta Kappa Nu was founded on October 28, 1904 at the University of Illinois.
In 2005, another one-hundred-year anniversary will occur. That will be the one-hundred-year anniversary of Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity. Perhaps we could celebrate this anniversary by getting a special speaker to give a talk about some topic related to relativity theory. One of my top choices would be Brian Greene from Columbia University. Dr. Greene’s three-part presentation on string theory a few months back was one of the best Nova shows that I have seen. His book, “The Elegant Universe”, was on the bestseller list. String theory is a hot topic today and I am sure a number of our members would be interested in this. Another speaker high on my list would be Lawrence Krauss from Case Western Reserve University. Dr. Krauss works on relativity theory. He is known for the popular book, “The Physics of Star Trek”.
3. Robot Challenge
The robot challenge was held Saturday, March 27 and Sunday, March 28, 2004 at the Museum of Industry in Baltimore. The results (along with pictures) can be viewed at the following website:
http://robotchallenge.com/results.htm
Introduction
We’d like to start by CONGRATULATING all those teams who made it to the Baltimore Museum of Industry on March 27 and 28, and completed the 4 key parts of the Challenge:
The Written Reports, the Performance Run, the Oral Presentations, and the Revue of Fabrication. You are all WINNERS!!
For those who started the project, but were unable to participate in the Challenge, we hope you enjoyed and learned from the experience, and that perhaps we’ll see you next year.
2004 Summary of the RESULTS
The following led their particular categories:
2-leg Robots, FIRST PLACE:
Team 12, Fantastic 4, Atholton High School, time 4 min, 53 sec.
This team obtained a total of 93.5 points, and broke the tie with Beth Tfiloh Team 15, by scoring 43 points in the Performance Run vs their 42 points.
2-leg Robots, SECOND PLACE:
Team 15, Power of Superman, Beth Tfiloh Dahan High School, time 6 min, 45 sec.
This team also obtained a total of 93.5 points, and attempted a run under Automated control.
2-leg Robots, THIRD PLACE:
Team 56, Yellow Hats, Montgomery Blair High School, time 3 min, 09 sec.
This team obtained a total of 88 points, and their time for completing the course was an all-time RECORD!
4-leg Robots, FIRST PLACE:
Team 101, Inner Conscience, Beth Tfiloh Dahan High School, time 18 min, 00 sec.
This team obtained a total of 82.5 points, and attempted a run under Automated control.
4-leg Robots, SECOND PLACE:
Team 108, The Trojans, Charles Herbert Flowers High School, time 18 min, 01 sec.
Team obtained a total of 77.0 points.
4-leg Robots, THIRD PLACE:
Team 102, Robo-Cop, Beth Tfiloh Dahan High School, were unsuccessful at completing the course manually, but completed the course in Automated mode in 19 min, 00 sec.
Team obtained a total of 74.5 points.
FASTEST PERFORMANCE RUN:
Team 56, Yellow Hats, Charles Herbert Flowers High School, time 3 min, 09 seconds - an all-time course RECORD!
BEST WRITTEN REPORT:
This was a tie between Team 45, The Purple Hippo, from The Barrie School; and Team 108 from Charles Herbert Flowers High School.
BEST ORAL PRESENTATION:
Team 13, Holy Rollers, from Beth Tfiloh Dahan High School.
For a spreadsheet listing the results of the competition, see the following website:
http://robotchallenge.com/2004_results_spreadsheet.htm
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Though the students are the TRUE STARS of this show, we would like to recognize their TEACHERS who are the ones who work, motivate, and guide them and generally keep the projects flowing. Also the parents who have probably put up with some pretty late nights and irregular schedules this past week or two.
Behind the scenes are the members of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) who have sponsored this project in combination with the Baltimore Museum of Industry. The Museum has been hosting Challenges since 1991 and currently offers 13 Challenges for Elementary, Middle and High School students. Each Challenge is sponsored by a national or local technical society, whose members devote their time as a service to our potential future engineers. Much of the funding is coordinated through the Engineering Society of Baltimore.
Our liaison with the Museum is Bob Gray, Executive Director of the Technology Education Association of Maryland, which is located at the Museum.
Responsible for all the Challenges is Chris Smith, who deserves a big hand for doing a great job with the arrangements.
The judges and administrators
who participated at the Robot events on March 22, 27 and 38 were as follows:
Judging Written Reports (3/22):
Walt Willing, Bruce Schmickley, Jay Gamerman, Dave Boyd, Gary Wieboldt, Ron Aloysius, Boris Gramatikov, John Dentler, Ginny Dentler, Bill Semancik, Neville Jacobs, Charlie Alfred.
Saturday Sign-up (3/27): John Dentler, Marcia Richard, Rachel Jacobs Weiss, Gene Richard (Registration photos), Jeff Weiss (Stills photographer), Gary Wieboldt and Dave Weaver (The "Pit"), Meg Weaver (Digital photos), Neville Jacobs (Video).
Saturday Track (3/27): Dave Boyd, Ron Aloysius, Bruce Schmickley, Jeff Gamerman, Paul Begrends, and Stephan Koev, Brandon Griffis, Anthony Williams and John Rich (Midshipmen, Naval Academy - great job! Thank you for coming!).
Saturday Oral (3/27): Brian Sequeira, Rachel Jacobs Weiss, Marcia Richard, Bill Semancik, Bob Cuellar, Jerry Gibbon, Jay Gamerman, Dave Sherman, Jeff Weiss, and Gene Richard.
Sunday Sign-up (3/28): John Dentler, Marcia Richard (Registration Photog), Gary Wieboldt (The "Pit" & Digital photos), Jeff Weiss (Stills photos), Neville Jacobs (video).
Sunday Track (3/28): Dave Boyd, Dave Sherman, Walt Willing, Jeff Friedhoffer, Gary Tartanian, Charlie Alfred.
Sunday Oral (3/28): Walt Willing, Jeff Friedhoffer, Michel Reese, Boris Grammatikov, Dominic Georgantas, Stew Saphier, Jeff Weiss.
Special thanks to:
Lead Mentor: Walt Willing
Lead Written Report Judge: Walt
Willing
Lead Track Judge: Dave Boyd
Lead Oral Presentation Judge:
Brian Sequeira
WebMaster: Gary Wieboldt
Program Organizer: John Dentler
Program Coordinator: Neville
Jacobs
4. Non-Renewing Life Members
Beginning with the 2003 membership year, Life members were being treated in the same way as all other IEEE members with regards to the IEEE renewal process. Life members who did not return their renewal profile as of the end of February were placed in arrears and would no longer receive any IEEE publications or IEEE election ballots.
