Please respond to ronald_aloysius@ieee.org if you are planning to attend this meeting. Also, let me know if you will be joining us afterwards at Ruby Tuesdays for dinner so I can make reservations. Only the speaker’s dinner is paid for. The rest of us need to pay our own way.

Abstract:

Laser Interrogation of Surface Agents (LISA) uses Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) along with Raman spectroscopy to identify chemicals from a distance (on the order of tens of meters). Raman signatures that provide chemical identification information are obtained by irradiating chemical molecules with laser pulses. Raman signatures are relatively low intensity signatures that are degraded by fluorescence spectrum, additive noise, interference from non-target chemicals, and the instrument used to measure them. The highly varying broadband fluorescence combined with the instrument effects causes a non-uniform rise in the spectrum, termed as the pedestal, which is difficult to mathematically model. The pedestal is the most dominant source of signal degradation.

We developed and tested three algorithms that achieve detection via estimating the pedestal and addressing the other sources of signal degradation. The pedestal estimation technique differs in these algorithms. The first algorithm uses a technique called the linear interpolation of pedestal estimation (LIPE) to estimate the pedestal based on linear interpolation on the entire set of local minima in the data. The second algorithm addresses the shortcomings of LIPE via using a sliding-window technique of pedestal estimation (SWTPE) to estimate the pedestal with due consideration to multiplets. The third algorithm called feature-metric algorithm (FMA) achieves a computationally efficient detection algorithm that reduces the detection time by nearly an order of magnitude.

We show that high detection rates can be achieved as long as the measured Raman-shift data and the library data are processed similarly. We show that correlation, used as the measure of closeness between the measured and library data, can be improved by choosing a wavenumber range of interest (WROI) within which all chemical signatures are known to be present. Finally, we show that feature-oriented processing drastically reduces the computation load and may be used effectively if SNR of the data is moderate to high.

Biography:

Abhijit Yeshwantpur received his Bachelor's degree in Engineering in Electronics and Communications from the Visveswaraiah Technological University (VTU), India in 2002 and MS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County in 2006. His graduate thesis work is pending patent. He is currently working with Hughes Network Systems as a DSP Engineer.

Directions to Historical Electronics Museum:

The Historical Electronics Museum (HEM) is located near BWI airport. The address for the HEM is:

Historical Electronics Museum

1745 W. Nursery Road, Linthicum, MD 21090

410-765-0230

The directions for the HEM are as follows:

From Baltimore:
Route 295 South (Baltimore Washington Parkway)
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 Annapolis:
Route 97 North
Take BWI Airport exit. Right at first light onto Aviation Boulevard.
Turn right at sixth light onto Elkridge Landing Road.
Turn right at second light onto West Nursery Road.
Museum is on the right, next to the Marriott Hotel.

From Washington:
Route 295 North (Baltimore Washington Parkway)
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 (Camp Meade Road) towards Linthicum.
Left at first light onto Elm Road.
Left at light onto Elkridge Landing Road.
Right onto West Nursery Road.
Museum is on the right next to the Marriott Hotel.

From Interstate 95:
Exit onto 195 East to 295 North and follow directions from Washington (above)

2. Lasers and Electro-Optics Society Meeting Notice

Topic:

Optical Nanosensors and Nanoprobes for Dynamic Cellular Sensing and Sub-diffraction Limited Chemical Imaging

Speaker:

Dr. Brian Cullum, Dept. of Chemistry and Biochemistry, UMBC

Location:

JHU Applied Physics Laboratory Howard County Room 3

Date:

Wednesday, March 29, 2007

Time:

6PM Dinner

7PM Lecture

The Baltimore Chapter of the Lasers and Electro-Optics Society is pleased to announce the next speaker in the Chapter’s Technical Seminar Series. The event will be held at The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Howard County Room 3 on Wednesday March 29. A light dinner will be served at 6pm, followed by a discussion of current and future Chapter activities. The evening will culminate in a captivating technical lecture, beginning at 7pm. As always, new ideas and thoughts for Chapter activities are welcome. For details and other future events, please see below or at the Chapter web site:

http://www.ieee.org/BaltimoreLEOS

Also, keep in mind the upcoming Third Annual Graduate Student Poster Competition, co-sponsored by the Baltimore and DC/Northern Virginia LEOS Chapters. The event will be held on Wednesday, April 25. Original or recently published poster presentations from graduate students in the Baltimore/DC/Northern Virginia area are welcome. An independent panel of judges will evaluate the posters, and a cash award and merit certificate will be awarded to the best poster. All students and especially professionals from the region are welcome to attend for education, networking, talent scouting, etc.

3. Baltimore PELS Meeting Notice

Topic:

Simulations for silicon carbide power devices

Speaker:

Dr. Ty McNutt

Date:

March 14, 2007

Time:

6pm

Location:

Historical Electronics Museum conference room

(http://www.hem-usa.org/hours-directions-parking.shtml)

Anyone interested in attending the talk may r.s.v.p. to hobrien@arl.army.mil.

Description:

Circuit simulator models are developed for the silicon carbide (SiC) power PiN diode, Merged-PiN-Schottky (MPS) diode, Schottky diode, and Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor-Field-Effect-Transistor (MOSFET). The models accurately describe the temperature dependence of on-state characteristics and switching waveforms.

The power diode models are verified for the temperature dependence of the on-state characteristics, and the forward current, di/dt, dv/dt, and temperature dependence of the reverse-recovery characteristics. The devices are characterized using a specially-designed test system developed at NIST for SiC power diodes that can emulate a wide range of application conditions by independently controlling the applied reverse diode voltage, forward diode current, di/dt, and dv/dt at turn-off. The test system is designed for low inductance and low capacitance, while maintaining high voltage (5 kV) and high current (40 A). A behavioral model of the test system is implemented to simulate and validate the models. The models are validated for a wide range of application conditions for which the diode could be used.

Also, a compact circuit simulator model is used to describe the on-state and switching performance of the SiC power Double-implanted MOSFET (DiMOSFET). The model is developed and validated over temperature and for different switching speeds. The model is demonstrated for both SiC and silicon technologies. Parameter extraction and automation software is developed and demonstrated for the MOSFET model.

About the Presenter:

Ty R. McNutt received the M.S.E.E. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, in 2001 and 2004, respectively. His M.S. work focused on the development of thermal-based data isolation techniques in silicon-on-insulator (SOI) CMOS for Systems-on-a-Chip applications. Dr. McNutt worked as a Guest Researcher at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) from 2000 through 2004 concentrating on the characterization and modeling of Silicon Carbide (SiC) power devices. In 2004, Dr. McNutt joined the Compound Semiconductor Research Group at Northrop Grumman's Advanced Materials & Semiconductor Device Technology Center in Baltimore, MD. Since joining Northrop Grumman, he has been developing high power SiC devices.

4. Electron Devices and Solid-State Circuits Meeting Notice

The IEEE Electron Devices & Solid-State Circuits Society Baltimore Chapter and Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems cohost a presentation by:

Col. Barry Shoop, Ph.D.

Director, Electrical Engineering, U.S. Military Academy, West Point

Science Advisor, Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Office

Location:

Historical Electronics Museum, Pioneer Hall

Date:

Tuesday, March 20

The Baltimore Chapter of IEEE Electron Devices & Solid-State Circuits and Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems invite you to a briefing by Dr. Barry Shoop of the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Office (JIEDDO). Discussion is encouraged on possible technologies to address the IED threat. Dr. Shoop's presentation will be preceded by complimentary refreshments.

Seating may be limited -- PLEASE RSVP to papotyraj@ieee.org by Tuesday, March 13 if you plan to attend.

Regrets need not reply (decline without sending response).

Agenda:

5:30 PM Complimentary Refreshments and Social Hour

6:15 PM Presentation by Col. Shoop

7:00 PM Questions and Discussion

7:45 PM Adjourn

Abstract:

The mission of the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Office (JIEDDO) is to lead, advocate, and coordinate all Department of Defense actions to defeat Improvised Explosive Devices as weapons of strategic influence. As the intent of this lecture is to stimulate dialogue on new technologies applicable to defeating the IED threat, Col. Shoop will also cover the current threats encountered in theater.

About the Speaker:

Colonel Barry L. Shoop received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from The Pennsylvania State University in 1980, M.S. in Electrical Engineering from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School in 1986, Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University in 1992, and M.A. in National Security and Strategic Studies from the U.S. Naval War College in 2002. Col. Shoop is a Signal Corps officer and Professor at the United States Military Academy at West Point, serving as the Electrical Engineering Program Director. His military assignments include communication-electronics engineer for the Defense Satellite Communication System earth terminal integration and testing at Tobyhanna Army Depot, Senior Electronics Engineer at the U.S. Army Foreign Science and Technology Center, and Science Advisor for the Office of the Deputy Secretary of Defense, Joint IED Defeat Office. Col. Shoop's research interests include optical information processing, neural networks, and smart pixel technology. Col. Shoop has been a member of IEEE for over 25 years, and active in its leadership for more than a decade; he is the Director of Region 1 (Northeastern US), and is on the Board of Directors of IEEE and IEEE-USA. In addition, Col.Shoop is a Fellow of the Optical Society of America and the International Society of Optical Engineers.

Directions:

For directions to the Historical Electronics Museum, see the directions under the Signal Processing Society Meeting Notice.

For museum information see http://www.hem-usa.org.

A map of the area is available at:

http://www.ewh.ieee.org/r2/baltimore/Directions/bwi_map.jpg

Admission is free -- IEEE membership is not required.

Your participation is key to making this event and this chapter worthwhile. Join us and invite your colleagues.

IEEE mailing list access is restricted. To have a name added or removed, contact the chapter secretary at papotyraj@ieee.org.

2007 EDS / SSCS Chapter Officers:

Chair: Dr. Fred Semendy, Army Research Labs, fsemendy@arl.army.mil

Vice-Chair: Dr. Bahram Zandi, Army Research Labs, bzandi@arl.army.mil

Treasurer: Dr. David Burnell, Cadence, dburnell@cadence.com

Secretary: Dr. Paul Potyraj, Northrop Grumman, papotyraj@ieee.org

Member-at-Large: Dr. Andreas Andreou, Johns Hopkins University, andreou@jhu.edu

Member-at-Large: Dr. Jim Oliver, Northrop Grumman, james_oliver@ieee.org

Member-at-Large: Dr. Fow-Sen Choa, UMBC, choa@umbc.edu

Member-at-Large: Dr. Pankaj Shah, Army Research Labs, pshah@arl.army.mil

5. INCOSE Chesapeake Chapter Meeting Notice

Enterprise Systems Engineering (ESE) Panel Presentation & Discussion

Panel presentation Panel:

L. Mark Walker, Lockheed Martin

Steven Biemer, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory

Steven Sutton, Northrop Grumman

Date:

March 21, 2007

Location:

Johns Hopkins University APL in Laurel, MD

The following link gives information for the March and April meetings:

http://www.incose.org/chesapek

6. Mentors Wanted for IEEE Robot Challenge for High School Students

As you may be aware, the IEEE Baltimore Section has been sponsoring one of the Baltimore Museum of Industry's Engineering Challenges since 1996. The IEEE Sponsored Engineering Challenge consists of a basic walking Robot that High School students essentially have to "build from scratch" using the raw materials and instructions provided. Advance automated robot options are available as well. In supporting this challenge, the IEEE provides a "Robot Mentor" service. We are in need of several Mentors who the students can ask questions and discuss their progress. The Mentors also provide encouragement, helpful hints, and most importantly, visit the students in their classrooms. Mentoring is very rewarding as the students really value interacting with people from beyond the classroom, and teachers appreciate the support as well. We are in special need of Mentors who have the flexibility in their schedules to perform the in-school visits.

For more information about the IEEE Robot Challenge, please visit our website:

http://www.robotchallenge.com

If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to contact Walt Willing at waltwilling@juno.com or by phone at 410-765-7372. To help with the SPAM blockers, please include the word ROBOT in the e-mail subject line. Thanks.

7. Robot Challenge Judges

Volunteers are needed for Judges for the High School Robot Challenge, which will be held this year on April 28 and 29 at the Baltimore Museum of Industry. Judges are needed for the Track events and for the Oral Presentations, when the students will be presenting their projects to a panel of judges. Saturday's activity is from 8:45 AM to 1 PM, and the Sunday activity is from 12:30 PM to 4 PM. After a brief training session, we'll pair you off with an experienced judge for the next couple of events, and then you're on your own.

If you would like to work with our up-and-coming budding engineers, please contact Neville Jacobs at Nevilleed@aol.com, or call him at 410-653-4176. You'll enjoy it.

8. Volunteers Needed to Assist in Schools Initiative

The IEEE has developed 22 low-cost hands-on technical lesson plans that could be integrated into and enrich the current math and science curriculum. The objective is to stimulate the interest of students of all ages, from elementary school to high school, and excite them about science and eventually engineering. Without more students going on to take engineering at college, it is expected that the country will be unable to meet the foreseeable requirements for all types of engineers in the future.

Volunteers are needed to learn about the program (known as TISP, for Teachers In Service Program) and then meet with school teachers and administrators during on one of the professional development days within the academic calendar year to explain the program to them and to work through one of the lesson plans. There will be no contact with classrooms, but if your presentations successfully persuade the teachers to adapt these lesson plans into their curriculum, the benefits to the students should be significant. In regions where this program has been carried out, the response from teachers has been very favorable.

Baltimore would become the focus point for these activities in Region 2, and we are seeking about 50 volunteers who would commit to 1 1/2 days of training over a weekend, and about 3 hours a year during working hours (more if you can spare it), meeting with teachers and administrators. The time frame for this activity would be the second half of 2007, but we would like your response now, so that we can make the commitment to IEEE that we will have the support needed to carry through on this activity. Please note that all expenses for materials will be covered by IEEE. Volunteers are needed to take this program to the local schools.

If you are interested in seeing more about the program, you are invited to look at the program's website:

http://www.tryengineering.org

This activity would be run concurrently with the Robot Challenge - the IEEE Baltimore Section’s initiative that currently supports high school students, Discover-E, an activity supported by local industry that encourages engineers to visit classrooms, as well as other activities and challenges promoted by other Technical societies. They all stand to benefit from the symbiotic benefit of a technical enhancement of the curriculum.

Please contact Bill Semancik by e-mail at wsemancik54@comcast.net if you interested, or call him at 410-489-5825 for more information. Retirees who would have less difficulty in meeting school officials during working hours would be especially welcome.

9. GLOBECOM 07

GLOBECOM 07 will be held in Washington DC 26‑30 November 07. This is one of the two annual premier IEEE Communications Society conferences.

Jeff Friedhoffer (jafried@ieee.org) is chair of the Design and Developers Forum. The design and developer forum is aimed at communications practitioners vs. academics and the papers should reflect topics of interest to these practitioners. These session might include talks on emerging technologies that will lead to new products, new products to help designers.

Suggestions for Topics for this year include, but are not limited to:

Cognitive Radio

Communication Standards

-IEEE

-IETF

-ITU

Delay Tolerant Network Applications

E911

-Wireless VoIP

-Wired VoIP

Instrumentation

-RF

-Network protocols

-Optical Networks

IPTV

IPv6 status

Network Security

Quality

-QOE (Quality of Experience)

-QOS (Quality of Service)

Quantum Communications

Regulation and Communications

RFID

Software development tools

VoIP and applications

-Presence

-SBC

Wireless technologies

-3G

-4G

-WiMax

Help is needed as follows:

Expanding on the above list of Topics for the Sessions/Panels

Reviewing proposals

Chairing Sessions

For more information on Globecom 07 see:

http://www.ieee-globecom.org/2007

Topics at the 06 conference can bee seen at:

http://www.ieee-globecom.org/2006

Click on Design & Developers Forum on the left side.

For those interested in presenting a paper the deadline is 15 March for abstracts.

Please pass this on to your colleagues.

10. IEEE EDOC Conference

The Eleventh International IEEE EDOC Conference (EDOC 2007) “The Enterprise Computing Conference” will be held in Annapolis, MD 15 – 19 October 2007.

The EDOC 2007 Organizing Committee is looking for volunteers to work with the committee in support of local arrangements, registration, publications and publicity.

About the conference:

Formerly known as the enterprise distributed object computing conference, EDOC 2007 will be the eleventh event in the series of conferences, which since 1997 has brought together leading computer science researchers, IT decision makers, IT architects, solution designers and practitioners from academia, industry and government to discuss enterprise computing challenges, models and solutions. Enterprise computing is based on a wide (and ever growing) range of methods, models, tools and technologies traversing a broad spectrum of vertical domains and industry segments, from electronic and mobile commerce to real-time business applications for collaborating enterprises.

The EDOC 2007 Conference will emphasize the integration and management of enterprise computing research and development as well as novel implementation approaches and technologies related to business processes integration, management, execution and monitoring at any or all of the business, application, middleware and technical levels.

The main conference will be preceded by two days of workshops for which a separate call for proposals will be issued. For example, EDOC 2006 workshops included: VORTE: Vocabularies, Ontologies and Rules for the Enterprise; MWS: Middleware for Web Services; and, AQuSerM: Advances in Quality of Service Management among others

Topics:

The EDOC 2007 program will include papers addressing the domains, the life-cycle issues and the realization technologies involved in developing, deploying and operating enterprise computing systems. Topic areas include:

- State of the art in distributed enterprise applications

- Enterprise computing metrics and environment

- SW engineering approaches to distributed enterprise applications

- Web services

- Business Process Management (BPM) Systems

- Business Rules

- Identity Management and Distributed Access Control

- Information and Data Integration

Conference Schedule

Abstract submission (optional) 30 March 2007

Paper submission due 1 May 2007

Acceptance notification 30 June 2007

Workshop Schedule

Workshop proposals due 6 April 2007

Workshop selection TBD

Paper submission due TBD

Acceptance notification 30 June 2007

11. Engineering Seminars for Soft Skills

We are asking if there is potential interest in engineering seminars that discuss soft skills. The seminars are described at the following website:

http://www.carlselinger.com/seminars.html

Here is an excerpt from this web site describing the seminars:

“Carl Selinger’s “Stuff You Don’t Learn in Engineering School” seminars, articles and book help younger engineers and emerging project managers – indeed, all professionals -- learn the non-technical soft skills that are important to be more effective and happier in the real world. These skills include making decisions, setting priorities, running meetings, speaking, writing and listening better, leading teams, dealing with stress and having fun, and understanding themselves and others. Lisa Belkin has talked about Carl and “Stuff” in her Life’s Work column in the New York Times.

His book Stuff you Don’t Learn in Engineering School: Skills for Success in the Real World has been published by Wiley-IEEE Press.

Articles on these themes are now appearing regularly in IEEE Spectrum magazine where Carl is a Contributing Editor (go to http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/careers).”

If there is interest in seminars of this type, please let Boris Gramatikov know. His email address is as follows:

Dr. Boris Gramatikov

Bgramat@jhmi.edu

12. 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

Web Page Design

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.

The URL to the CEEE home page is:

http://ewh.ieee.org/r2/baltimore/continuing_education/CEEE.htm

There is also a link to it from the Section's web page.

Boris Gramatikov

Baltimore Section

Bgramat@jhmi.edu