NEWSLETTER OF THE BALTIMORE SECTION OF THE IEEE
OCTOBER 2004
The web site for the Baltimore section of the IEEE is:
http://www.ewh.ieee.org/r2/baltimore
IN THIS ISSUE:
2. IEEE
Conference on Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITSC 2004)
4. Communications
Society Meeting
5. LEOS
Administrative Meeting
6. Baltimore
Chapter of the IEEE Lasers and Electro-Optics Society
7. IEEE
Reliability Society Luncheon Meeting
8. Industry
Applications Society Dinner Meeting
11. Central Maryland Consultants Network
12. 2005 IEEE Sarnoff Symposium Call for
Papers
14. 2005 IEEE/LEOS Semiconductor Laser Workshop
(#10209)
1. Message From Jeff
We are well into the fall season with a strong line up of technical sessions. Please check the web page of your favorite technical society to see what they have lined up. In addition there are several conferences in the area, which are posted on our web site.
I am pleased to announce that we that we now have a chapter of the LEOS society in Baltimore. Thanks to the efforts of Tom Clark to organize this chapter.
We have initiated a new effort this year. It is a paper contest for our local student chapters. We will be judging papers submitted by the undergraduates and awarding $2000 for first place, $1000 for the second place and $500 for third place. We want to give encouragement to the students who are our future, to participate in IEEE activities and remain active after graduation. I am looking for volunteers to help with this endeavor, specifically to help with the judging of the papers and to work with the student chapters. There are student chapters at Baltimore City Community College, Johns Hopkins, Loyola, Morgan State, the Naval Academy, UMBC, and UMES. Please contact me if you are interested at:
The annual IEEE election is currently being held with ballots due on 1 November. The most important contest from a local point of view is the position of Region 2 Director Elect. We are in region 2 and depend on the region to represent us on the IEEE board. There are three members running for this position. John Dentler is from the Baltimore Chapter and has been very active in the section for many years. Parviz Famouri is from the West Virginia Section and Satish Aggarwal is from the DC section. John Dentler and Parviz Famouri both have been nominated by the Regional board, of which I am a member, after considering a number of candidates including Satish Aggarwal. Subsequently Satish Aggarwal submitted a petition to be on the slate of candidates. Please carefully consider the qualifications for all these candidates and vote. Your vote counts; only about 15% of IEEE members cast a ballot last year. See our home page at:
http://ewh.ieee.org/r2/baltimore
Click on Region 2 Director Candidates for a short statement from each candidate. Click on IEEE Election 2005, scroll down to Region 2 Delegate-Elect/Director-Elect, 2005-2006, and click on the candidates name to go to their web site.
The AES chapter has been moribund for several years. If there is an interest in revving this chapter, please let me know, else it will be taken off of our books at the end of this year. Speaking of chapters, there is a move to create a Signal Processing Society Chapter in conjunction with our Engineering in Medicine & Biology and Communications Societies. If you have an interest in this society please contact David Sherman at:
Have a great October and apply for senior membership, it is really easy.
2. IEEE Conference on Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITSC 2004)
The IEEE Conference on Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITSC 2004) will be held in Washington, D.C, Oct. 3-6.
Former National Transportation Systems Board Chairman Jim Hall and Dr. Joe Sussman of the MIT Department of Engineering and the Engine Systems Division will be the keynote speakers at the International Transportation Systems Conference 2004 (ITSC2004) from Oct. 3-6 in Washington, D.C.
Emil Frankel, Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy, also will lead a session at the Conference on “Public Policy and Transportation.” The session will feature a panel of speakers from government organizations and industry with backgrounds in ITS, Intermodality, fielding new systems, and transportation technologies.
The conference will draw leading researchers in the ITS field from around the world who will be presenting papers and conducting seminars. ITSC 2004 will also have a number of exhibits that will showcase some of the latest ITS technology.
The conference will feature a number of session topics on Information Technology for ITS, Geographic Information Systems (real-time traffic, planning), ITS Systems Integration, and Decisions Systems (expert systems and intelligent agents).
Among the other key topics being addressed at the conference include Communications, Air Traffic Control, Port and Terminal Automation, Navigation and Guidance Systems, Reliability and Quality Assurance, Signal Processing, Imaging and Image Analysis, Sensors (infrastructure and vehicle based), Standards for ITS Technology, Transit Systems, and Automated Incident Detection.
In pre-conference training workshops, transportation and engineering professionals will be able to attend short courses on driver detection, performance-based management of freeway operations, traffic simulation modeling, and an introduction to GIS for Transportation Professionals will be available on Sunday, October 3.
The conference will be held at Loews L’Enfant Plaza Hotel in Washington, D.C., which is located about one block from the U.S. Department of Transportation.
For additional information about the conference, including how to register, go to the Conference web site at the following address:
3. Women In Engineering
October 5th, 2004
Intelligent Transportation Systems Conference
ITSC-WIE reception at the L'Enfant Plaza Hotel to celebrate the formation of a new IEEE/ITS Society and honor Women Engineers.
November 3rd, 2004
WIE's next schedule Executive Committee meeting
Free Lecture, open to the public! Professor Anita LaSalle will be talking to the group. Located in the MITRE Corporation's Building 2 Conference Room, in Tyson's Corner. Room 1N100A/B. It's on the same level as the main guard desk of Building 2. Please check in with the guards.
4. Communications Society Meeting
The next COMSOC meeting for Baltimore will be on Tuesday October 5th at 6 PM in the Historical Electronics Museum in Linthicum. Directions are below. Food will be available at 5:30PM.
Topic:
Optical Performance Monitoring in Optical Network
Speaker:
Xiao Lin
University of Maryland Baltimore County
Baltimore, MD
Abstract:
The wavelength-division-multiplexing (WDM) system has been widely deployed in current optical network to expand its data transmission capacity. However, the performance monitoring of the optical network still requires optoelectronic-optic (OEO) conversion in the data path and monitor the data in electrical domain. The OEO conversion and monitoring is costly and complicated with different data format and bit rate. Is it possible to monitor the performance of the data transmission in optical domain and be transparent to the data format and bit rate? The talk addresses the importance and methods of performance monitoring of WDM network in optical domain. It covers the monitoring of the characteristics of optical signal, such as signal wavelength, power, signal-to-noise ratio, chromatic dispersion, polarization-mode dispersion, and Q-factor. An integrated optical performance monitoring by planar lightwave circuits is discussed to provide an economic solution for monitoring WDM system. This topic becomes a key issue in the future re-configurable optical network and has attracted much attention in the industry as well as in academia.
Biography:
Xiao Lin is a Ph.D. candidate at the Electrical Engineering Department of the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC). Mr. Lin received his M.S. from UMBC, Baltimore, MD in 2001 and B.S. from Shanghai JiaoTong University, Shanghai, China in 1996 in Electrical Engineering. His research interest includes optical performance monitoring in wavelength-division-multiplexing (WDM) network, integrated optical waveguide device, network management on optical WDM layer. He has published several conference papers and journal articles in the area of optical network and components. In 2000-2002, He worked for Agere Systems and Lucent Technologies. He was a Chair of IEEE student chapter at UMBC in 1999-2000 and has been awarded IEEE Center of Excellence. Mr. Lin can be reached at xilin@umbc.edu
The meeting will be held at Historical Electronics Museum, Nursery Rd, Linthicum, MD.
Directions:
From Interstate 95 exit onto I195 East to 295 North (Baltimore-Washington Parkway).
Take next exit, West Nursery Road exit, stay right on ramp.
Go through three stoplights.
Museum is on the left, just past the Marriott Hotel facing the hotel.
If you come to Elkridge Landing Rd you went 100 yards to far.
The Electronics Museum web site is located at:
Check the Baltimore Communication Society web site at:
http://ewh.ieee.org/r2/baltimore/Chapter/Comm
5. LEOS Administrative Meeting
There will be a LEOS Administrative Meeting at 6PM Wed. October 20 at APL.
6. Baltimore Chapter of the IEEE Lasers and Electro-Optics Society
The following is a message from Tom Clark, the acting Chair Baltimore LEOS Chapter.
Dear IEEE Colleagues,
On behalf of the Officers and Founding Members, I am pleased to announce the formation of the Baltimore Chapter of the IEEE Lasers and Electro-Optics Society. The Chapter was officially approved by the Baltimore Section and the IEEE on September 1, 2004. We have a diverse, active and ambitious group working to organize the chapter and look forward to numerous activities, new volunteers, and membership growth.
The inaugural technical meeting for the chapter will be held at The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, MD on Tuesday, November 16. A banquet will precede the lecture by the dynamic Dr. Stephen Pappert of DARPA who will be discussing his vision of Photonics in the Military. For more information, please visit the web site or contact the Chapter Officers at the address below.
In addition to technical meetings, the Chapter is presently planning numerous activities including K-12, Undergraduate and Graduate Education Outreach, Lecture Series, and Conference support. We are actively seeking interested volunteers for these and other activities. All are welcome to the administrative meetings, which are to be held the third Wednesday of each month. Feel free to bring any ideas or concerns, or just attend to be informed and get involved. See the web site for dates and agenda as the meeting date approaches.
Of particular interest to the local academic community, a Graduate Student Poster Competition is in the works for March 2005 and will be co-sponsored by the Baltimore and Northern VA/DC chapters. We welcome original or recently published research papers from graduate students in the Baltimore-DC-Northern Virginia area. An independent panel of judges will evaluate the posters, and a cash award and certificate will be awarded for the best poster. Those interested in participating as student researchers, attendees or volunteer judges should monitor the web site as further information becomes available and/or contact the Chapter at the address below.
We look forward to tapping into the wealth of talented Optical Engineers and Scientists from the Baltimore region for activity involvement, mentorship and networking. We encourage professionals of all levels of experience to volunteer and participate at any level of commitment.
For more information about the chapter and our activities, please see the web site:
http://www.ieee.org/BaltimoreLEOS
or contact the Chapter Officers at:
7. IEEE Reliability Society Luncheon Meeting
The IEEE Reliability Society, Baltimore Chapter Presents a Luncheon Meeting:
TOPIC:
“The Reliability Implications of Emerging Human Interface Technologies”
Speaker:
Dr. Kenneth P. LaSala
KPL Systems
Date and Location:
Wednesday, October 6th, 2004 at 11:30 am
Northrop Grumman ES Central Building
MS 1300-2 Conference Room
First floor of the new central building
(Directions Below)
This presentation will provide a brief discussion of several types of emerging human-machine interface technologies. These new interfaces are substantially different from current interfaces such as keyboards, mice, touch pads, touch screens, and voice-driven interfaces. The presentation will preface the discussion of the new types of interfaces with a brief review of current interfaces.
Pizza and Sodas will be provided.
Please respond to:
Walt Willing
(410) 765-7372 / (443) 622-3390 (cell)
Non-US Citizens Require Pre-Visit Approval.
Directions to Northrop Grumman:
Take I-95 or I-295 to I-195 East (Toward BWI Airport).
Exit onto Aviation Boulevard South.
At 3rd Light, Turn Left into Northrop Grumman Parking Lot (GATE 2).
Look for Visitor Parking Spaces, Please do not park in reserved spaces.
Look for Visitor Entrance and sign in.
We will have escorts to bring you to the Conference Room.
8. Industry Applications Society Dinner Meeting
The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers - Industry Applications Society is pleased to announce a Dinner Meeting. Information regarding the meeting is as follows:
Date:
Wednesday, October 20th, 2004
Time:
6:00 - 7:00 Social Hour/Open Bar
7:00 - 8:00 Dinner
8:00 - 9:00 Program
Topic:
NFPA 70 E - Electrical Arc Flash Safety in the Workplace
Speaker:
Joseph Weigel is a veteran of over 30 years in the electrical industry in the United States. For the past two years, Mr. Weigel has been involved in Square D’s program to help to develop the NFPA 70 E standard for Electrical Arc Flash Safety in the Workplace. Mr. Weigel has published many articles in electrical industry publications on Electrical Arc Flash Safety, and has been the primary architect within Square D in developing equipment solutions that can help to mitigate the hazard associated with the electrical energy released during an arc flash event. In addition to this activity, he has presented hundreds of educational technical forums, such as this one, on the evolving requirements of NFPA and OSHA for arc flash electrical safety for general industry.
Discussion will include:
Arc Flash Hazards (causes and effects), fuses vs. circuit breakers and arc flash incident energy, responsibilities of the employer and employee, equipment labeling requirements, injury statistics and financial impact, requirements of documents (NFPA 70E, OSHA 29CFR 1910 - Subpart S, IEEE 1584, and the NEC (NFPA 70)), OSHA enforcement significant changes to the NFPA 70E 2004 edition, arc flash analysis, some new power system design concepts to reduce arc flash incident energies.
Cost:
$30.00 Members Paid in Advance / $35.00 at Door
Non-members: $35.00 Non-members / Spouse/Guest Paid in Advance / $40.00 at Door.
Place:
Snyder's Willow Grove 841 Hammonds Ferry Road, Linthicum, MD. 21090
Credits:
1 PDH (Professional Development Hours)
Reservation Deadline:
Friday, October 15th. 2004
9. Baltimore IEEE EMB
Speaker:
Dr. Joel Bader
Assoc. Professor of Biomedical Engineering
Speaking on:
Bioinformatics
Date and Time:
October 21 2004
6:00 Food/Drinks
6:30 PM Talk
Location:
TBA (see http://embs.bme.jhu.edu)
10. MTT & AP Meetings
The following is a message from Thomas M. Walsh, 2004 IEEE Chair for Baltimore Chapters of MTT & AP.
We are still finalizing our October meeting. It will take place on Oct 27 or Oct 28 with the Distinguished Speaker Art Yaghjian at the Historical Electronics Museum in the late afternoon/early evening. We are still working with him and the HEM to make this happen.
In November we hope to have a meeting on Friday, November 5 at the HEM as a lunchtime meeting. We are actively trying to make this happen with Prof. Doug Werner from Penn State. He is on sabbatical this semester and is willing to drive down to speak for us.
11. Central Maryland Consultants Network
The Central Maryland Consultants Network meets on the fourth Tuesday of each month at Parks Landing in Westminster, MD. This newly formed group, affiliated with the IEEE, addresses issues of interest to those providing consulting services.
For more details:
- visit the temporarty web site at http://PitchforkSolutions.com/CM-CN
- e-mail Dave Pfaltzgraff at mailto://pfaltzgraff@computer.org
- call Dave Pfaltzgraff at (410)775-1325
12. 2005 IEEE Sarnoff Symposium Call for Papers
CALL FOR PAPERS:
2005 IEEE Sarnoff Symposium
April 18-19, 2005
Princeton, NJ
http://www.sarnoffsymposium.org
The 2005 IEEE Sarnoff Symposium will continue its tradition of over 25 years in bringing together professionals and industry experts to exchange information on the latest developments in communications systems, microwave technology and multimedia applications. The conference includes an exhibition of components, technologies, systems and services and also features tutorials. The historic Nassau Inn, conveniently located in the heart of downtown Princeton, will again be the host for the event. Its rustic ambiance and sophisticated charm make it one of New Jersey's premier hotels.
The deadline for the abstract and extended summary not exceeding 1000 words is November 5, 2004.
The Symposium will again be featuring a student paper/poster session and contest. Abstracts should be submitted to the student paper chair Prof. Tiffany Li, tjl3@lehigh.edu by January 24, 2005.
2005 Topic Categories:
- Wireless Communication Systems
- Ultrawideband (UWB) Communications
- Broadband Networks (LAN/WAN)
- Network Security & Cryptography
- Signal Processing for Communications
- VoIP & QoS
- Advanced Transceiver Architectures
- Military Communications
- Software Radio
- Optical Communications & Networking
- Wireless Sensor Networks & Ad Hoc Networks
- Power Amplifiers
- Multi/Adaptive Antenna Systems
- Microwave & Optoelectronic Devices
- Space-Time Coding & Diversity
- Multimedia Systems & Networking
- Satellite Communications
- Emerging Technologies
Proposals for tutorials are also encouraged. The deadline for tutorial proposals is December 10, 2004.
All accepted papers (after peer review) will be included in the 2005 IEEE Sarnoff Symposium Proceedings and will be published through IEEE Xplore. Prospective authors should submit an abstract and an extended summary not exceeding 1000 words using the EDAS conference management systems (http://edas.info/index.cgi) by November 5, 2004 in pdf format. Authors will be notified by December 30, 2004 if their paper has been accepted. The final version of the paper is due on February 16, 2005.
Sponsored by:
IEEE Princeton/Central Jersey Section
Co-Sponsored by:
IEEE Communications Society
IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques Society
IEEE Electron Devices Society
For more information go to the Symposium website at:
13. Robot Challenge
The Robot Challenge Planning Committee meets every time there is an IEEE EXCOM meeting. They take place at 5 PM, and are generally in the same location (Historic Electronics Museum) as the EXCOM meeting which starts at 6 PM. Anyone interested in becoming a student mentor or getting involved with this project is welcome to attend. Call Neville Jacobs for more details - 410-653-4176.
Other important dates for the Robot Challenge are as follows:
Robot Challenge Booth at Tech Expo, Baltimore Museum of Industry, October 15.
Robot Challenge Booth at AIMS conference, Baltimore Convention Center, November 1.
Teacher Workshop, Baltimore Museum of Industry, November 4, 4 PM - 7 PM.
Teacher/Mentor Workshop, Baltimore Museum of Industry, January 22, 2005.
Robot Challenge, Baltimore Museum of Industry, Saturday, April 16, 2005, 9 AM to 3 PM.
Robot Challenge, Baltimore Museum of Industry, Sunday, April 17, 2005, 1 to 3 PM.
Assistance at all of these events would be welcome. Call Neville Jacobs, 410-653-4176.
14. 2005 IEEE/LEOS Semiconductor Laser Workshop (#10209)
The IEEE Lasers & Electro-Optics Society will sponsor the conference entitled "2005 IEEE/LEOS Semiconductor Laser Workshop (#10209)". This conference will be held May 27, 2005 in Baltimore, Maryland.
For further information, please contact:
IEEE/LEOS
445 Hoes Ln.
PO Box 1331
Piscataway, NJ 08855 1331
(+1 732 562 3899
+1 732 562 8434 (Fax)
or
Conference Services Dept.
IEEE Operations Center
+1 732 562 3878.
15. New IEEE Journal
NEW IEEE JOURNAL TO PUBLISH LATEST IN AUTOMATION RESEARCH
Twenty years ago, the field of Robotics was galvanized by the creation of an IEEE Journal devoted to the topic. We now have the opportunity to do the same for the field of Automation.
In July, the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society premiered IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering (T-ASE), a new journal devoted to publishing foundational research addressing the scientific methods and technologies that improve efficiency, productivity, quality and reliability across today's most important industries.
In doing so, the journal will reach beyond the mass-production roots of Automation to address topics in biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and health; construction, transportation, and security; Manufacturing, maintenance, and supply chains; home, laboratory, and service; business and software; and food handling and processing.
A free preview of the first issue's contents is available online at:
There, you'll find a copy of the journal's first editorial, plus the first page of each paper from the premier issue.
IEEE members are invited to become charter subscribers to T-ASE for US$15, or US$17 for print plus electronic access to the online version of the journal as soon as issues become available in IEEE Xplore(R).
Members can also subscribe to the IEEE RAS Package. Receive both T-ASE and IEEE Transactions on Robotics for the combined price of US$25 -- or just US$29 for print and online access. Subscriptions can be added at:
http://www.ieee.org/addservices
or
For more information on IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering, visit:
