NEWSLETTER OF
THE
DECEMBER 2005
The web site for the
IN THIS ISSUE:
1. Signal Processing Society Meeting
Notice
3. IEEE WIE
Baltimore Section Holiday Happy Hour
4. M-PAC
(Member Professional Awareness Conference)
5. Election
for the 2006 Section Officers
7. Local
Member Elected To IEEE Fellow
1. Signal Processing Society Meeting Notice
Dr. Janet Rutledge from UMBC will give a presentation of
her work on Monday December 5 at 6:00 PM. The meeting will be held at the Historical
Electronics Museum (HEM) on
If you plan to attend this talk, please send me an email so we can order enough food. My email address is:
Topic:
Time-Varying Compression Amplification That Preserves Spectral Shape
Speaker:
Janet C. Rutledge, Ph.D.
Senior Associate Dean of the
Date:
Monday, December 5, 2005
Time:
5:45 PM – Food
6:00 PM – Presentation
Location:
Historical
410-765-0230
Directions below
Please respond to:
Abstract:
Multichannel
amplitude compression processing is used to reduce the level variations of
speech to fit the reduced dynamic ranges of listeners with sensorineural
hearing loss. This processing, however,
can result in smearing of temporal information, artifacts due to spectral
discontinuities at fixed channel edges, and spectral flattening due to reduced
peak-to-valley ratios. Presented here is
an implementation of a time-varying compression processing algorithm based on a
sinusoidal speech model (Col-SM). The algorithm operates on a time-varying,
stimulus-dependent basis to adjust to the speech variations and the listener’s
hearing profile. The algorithm provides
fast-acting compression without artifact, has time-varying frequency channels,
is computationally inexpensive and preserves the important spectral peaks in
speech. Frequency resolution is particularly important for segregating speech
from noise, and one person’s speech from another’s, especially in older
listeners. Preliminary subject tests indicate benefit from real-time Col-SM
processing that is greater than that from fixed-frequency multichannel
compression without some of the undesirable artifacts. This method could be extended to provide
real-time enhancement of spectral contrast.
Biography:
Dr. Janet C. Rutledge is the Senior Associate Dean of the
Dr. Rutledge has held several professional society leadership positions, including: Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) Committee on Engineering Accreditation Activities (2000-2003); Electrical and Biomedical Engineering Program Evaluator for the Accreditation Board of Engineering and Technology (ABET); Speech Technical Committee of the Acoustical Society of America (1994-99); Administrative Committee of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (1998-2001); Editorial Board of the IEEE Press Series on Emerging Technologies in Biomedical Engineering (1995-2002); Administrative Committee of the IEEE Education Society and electronic associate editor of the IEEE Transactions on Education (1997-99).
Dr. Rutledge received the B.S. degree in electrical
engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1983. She received the M.S. and Ph.D. in electrical
engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1984 and 1990,
respectively.
Directions to the Historical
The Historical Electronics Museum (HEM) is located near BWI airport. The address for the HEM is:
Historical
410-765-0230
The directions for the HEM are as follows:
From
Route
Take West Nursery Road exit, turn left
at light and go through four stoplights.
Museum is on the left, next to the
Marriott Hotel.
From
Route 97
Turn right at sixth light onto
Turn right at second light onto
Museum is on the right, next to the
Marriott Hotel.
From
Route
Take West Nursery Road exit, stay right
on ramp.
Go through three stoplights.
Museum is on the left, next to the
Marriott Hotel.
From Route 195
Route 170 North (
Left at first light onto
Left at light onto
Right onto
Museum is on the right next to the
Marriott Hotel.
From Interstate 95
Exit onto I95 East to 295 North and
follow directions from
2. EMB Meeting Notice
Title:
Segmenting a Beating Heart Using Generalized Principal Component Analysis
Speaker:
Prof. Rene Vidal
Asst. Professor
JHU Biomedical Engineering Dept
Date:
December 6
Time:
Food: 6:00
Talk: 6:30
Location:
Clark Hall Rm 110
Abstract:
Given a volume of cardiac MR images, we consider the problem of segmenting the heart based on intensity and dynamics. We first segment the heart and the chest from the background using an algebraic technique for intensity-based segmentation called Polysegment. Then, as the heart and the chest exhibit different dynamics, we model their temporal evolution as the output of two different linear dynamical systems. Under this model, the trajectories of the heart and chest intensities lie in different subspaces. We thus propose a method called Spatial GPCA for clustering data points lying in multiple subspaces, while maintaining the spatial coherence of the data points. We compare the segmentation results of Spatial GPCA to those of another popular subspace clustering algorithm, K-subspaces.
Biography:
Professor Vidal received his B.S. degree in Electrical
Engineering (highest honors) from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile
in 1997 and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer
Sciences from the
3.
IEEE WIE Baltimore Section Holiday
Happy Hour
Date and Time:
6:00-9:00 p.m. Wednesday, December 7th
Location:
DuClaw Brewing Co. at Arundel Mills (see directions below)
Why:
If you need a 'why', then you definitely need to come.
How to find the WIE party:
Look for a festive holiday balloon in the bar area
Please R.S.V.P. by Monday, December 5th to Cassie Wolfe at:
cwolfe@muellerassoc.com
See you there!
Arundel Mills Location:
p. 410-799-1166
f. 410-799-8211
http://www.duclaw.com/
Directions:
From North of
Take I-95 South towards
Merge onto Harbor Tunnel TRWY I-895 South (toll tunnel)
Merge onto MD-295 South
Merge onto MD-100 E toward GLEN BURNIE.
Merge onto
TURN at MILLS DR onto
From South of
Merge onto I-495 North (CAPITAL BELTWAY) toward
Merge onto I-95 North toward
Merge onto MD-100 East toward GLEN BURNIE.
Merge onto
We are right next to Muvico
4. M-PAC (Member Professional Awareness Conference)
IEEE
M-PAC (Member Professional Awareness Conference)
TOWN HALL MEETING
IEEE
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Sponsors a Town Hall Meeting in co-sponsorship with IEEE Region 2:
Northern Virginia,
Saturday, 3 December 2005
9:00 - 4:00 P.M.
Historical Electronics Musuem (HEM)
Tel: 410-765-0230
Fax: 410-765-0240
Email: hemuseum@verizon.net
http://www.hem-usa.org/
REGISTRATION: NO FEE
IEEE Members, Guests, Students
Pre-Register now!
Reserve your seat to guarantee FREE FOOD, register by Nov. 23, 2005
Please send E-mail, and include M-PAC 2005 in the Subject line, to:
Harry Sauberman, hrs@cdrh.fda.gov
301-443-8879 x 148
Carole Carey, c.carey@ieee.org
What is the conference all about?
Know more about networking and learn good project management skills that are beneficial to career and job search. You may be wondering what is IEEE Sections Congress, Women in Engineering? As volunteers of IEEE, we want you to join us and become an active volunteer. See you then at HEM!!
Detailed Schedule:
9:00 Registration and Networking (Breakfast)
9:45 Welcome / Introduction ( Carole Carey)
9:50 Opening Remarks, Region 2 Director (Thom Tullia)
10:00 IEEE-USA Staff “Grassroots Lobbying”
10:20 Kerry Hartman (NoVA) – “The Importance of Networking”
11:10 Catherine
Jaggard (So
Volunteerism”
11:50 Carole Carey (RAB) – “IEEE Women in Engineering is Truly a
Transnational Affinity Group”
12:10 Break for Lunch and Networking
1:30 Boris Gramatikov (
a Report”
2:00 Vil P. Arafiles (Region 2) – “Membership Development and
Special Report on Treasurer/Finances learned from Sections
Congress 2005”
2:30 Break
2:40 A mini-course by Doug Holly (
Management Keys to Success”
3:55 Closing Remarks, Region 2 Area Chair, South (Jerry Gibbon)
5. Election for the 2006 Section Officers
The election for the 2006 Section Officers is being conducted. Please check our web site http://www.ieee.org/baltimore and vote now.
6. Senior Membership
Isn't it time you applied to become a senior member. The
section will be holding a senior member application day on Saturday December
10th at the
7. Local Member Elected To IEEE Fellow
Recognizing the achievements of its members is an important part of the mission of the IEEE. Each year, following a rigorous evaluation procedure, the IEEE Fellow Committee recommends a select group of recipients for one of the Institute’s most prestigious honors, election to IEEE Fellow.
The IEEE Board of
Directors, at its meeting on 13 November 2005, elected Dr. Rowland Chris Clarke
an IEEE Fellow, effective 1 January 2006, with the following citation:
For contributions to the development of high-power silicon carbide devices for microwave applications.
Chris has been an officer:
"member at large" of ED/SSC chapter for the past year. He is
Director of Compound Semiconductor Research at NGC, ATL in
The Baltimore Section of the IEEE congratulates Chris for this honor.
8. Continuing EE Education
We are re-running this request for interest in a continuing education program. This program will be in the format of seminars focused on a particular topic of interest. The seminars may run either during the week after work hours or possibly on Saturday. The idea for the program is described below.
Name of project: Continuing EE Education (“CEEE”)
Goal: A section-level program aimed at:
Updating the IEEE members on new developments in the EE field.
Familiarizing engineers with basic new tools, products and techniques as well as giving them the initial knowledge and skills to use them.
Inviting representatives from different vendors to present leading novel products.
Giving tutorials in new areas.
Helping IEEE fellow members become more competitive, especially in times of uncertain jobs, off-shoring and salary stagnation.
Facilitating networking.
Broadening the horizon of each IEEE member.
Fostering collaboration between members of different societies as well as generation of new ideas (“cross-pollination” element).
The program should be open to all IEEE members, including students. It is meant to be a cross-societies initiative, i.e. should not be limited to narrow topics serving the interests of a single chapter only. Emphasis should be placed on meeting with experienced experts from different fields. Critical comparisons between different solutions of EE problems are expected to be made, and trends should be discussed.
Potential topics of interest could include, but are not limited to:
Software tools:
Programming languages
Compilers
Real-Time Operating systems
Debuggers
Emulators
Hardware tools:
Novel electronic components
Single-Board Computers (SBC)
Embedded solutions
FPGAs
Printed circuit board design (schematics capture, layout)
Circuit simulation (PSPICE)
Portable devices
Signal and image processing (examples, tools, help)
Wireless devices:
Theory
Standards
Available OEM products
Trends
Internet-based methods and devices:
Standards
Available tools
Contemporary design tools (like AutoCad and Solid Works)
Reliability and Compliance issues
We plan to invite qualified speakers from academia, industry and governmental institutions. The speakers will be professionals who can give first-hand information and share front-line experience on the technology, methods and tools being presented.
We plan to organize 2-4 meetings annually. Each meeting is planned to last for 2 hours or more. We could meet on weekdays, or on Saturdays.
Please send us your suggestions and preferences regarding topics, time and place of meetings, the name/acronym of the program etc.
Boris Gramatikov
Vice Chair,
Bgramat@jhmi.edu