Those eligible to hold office are Fellows, Life Fellows, Senior members, Life Senior Members, Members and Life Members of IEEE of the Baltimore Section.

The election ballots should be received by the Nominations Committee no later than November 30, 2008.

The guidelines for the Section’s elections can be found in Article VIII - Nominations and Elections of the Elections of the Section's Bylaws:

http://www.ewh.ieee.org/r2/baltimore/Bylaws/Final_Nov2001.pdf

Thank you for participating in the 2009 Elections.

Nominations Committee for 2009 Officers:

Boris Gramatikov (Chair) - bgramat@jhmi.edu

Jeff Friedhoffer (Principal Coordinator)

Vil P. Arafiles (Ballots, counting and stats)

Jay Gamerman (Member)

Alan Pressman (Member)

2. Celebrating 50 Years of NASA

In honor of the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the Historical Electronics Museum (HEM) are proud to present award winning author and lecturer Robert Zimmerman as he traces the first 50 years of NASA. Mr. Zimmerman has authored four well received books on space exploration and written for, among others, Natural History, Air & Space Magazine, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, Astronomy, Sky & Telescope, The Science Channel, The Sciences, Invention & Technology, and American History. His newest book out now, The Universe in a Mirror, the Saga of the Hubble Space Telescope and the Visionaries Who Built It, tells the story of the men and women who conceived, built, and saved the Hubble Space Telescope.

Topic:

America's First Half Century in Space: Where the Future Began

Speaker:

Robert Zimmerman

Date:

October 25, 2008

Time:

5:00 PM - 6:00 PM: Social Hour

6:00 PM - 7:30 PM: Dinner

7:30 PM - 9:00 PM: Presentation

Location:

Historical Electronics Museum

1745 West Nursery Road

Linthicum, Maryland 21090

410-765-0230

http://www.hem-usa.org

Cost:

IEEE or HEM Members (and their guests): $30

Non-members: $35

Children 12 or under: $15

Checks should be made payable to the Historical Electronics Museum.

Checks are due at the museum by October 15, 2008.

Proceeds benefit the Historical Electronics Museum.

Send checks to:

Historical Electronics Museum

P.O. Box 1693

MS 4015

Baltimore, MD 21203

Attn: NASA Anniversary

Include with your checks an email address and/or a phone number.

To register by e-mail:

specialevents.hem@gmail.com

Dinner Menu includes:

Beef

Chicken

Pasta

Salad & Breadsticks

Vegetable of the Day

Soda/Beer/Wine

Desserts

Dinner will be catered by the Olive Grove Restaurant.

For more information about this event:

Anne Mech

anne.mech@ngc.com

410-765-0230

Abstract:

The history of the first fifty years of NASA is the history of the first fifty years of space exploration. Though the United States got a slow start in the first five years after Sputnik, it soon surged ahead and has set the pace for practically all space exploration since. Along the way, however, NASA's space program experienced many ups and downs. The 1960s was a time of triumph and success, followed by the 1970s and 1980s, a period of both decline and innovation. Then came the 1990s with its resurgence and growth, followed by the 2000s, when all things are possible and the future never looked brighter.

In his lecture Robert Zimmerman will give a broad outline of this history, illustrating the differences between the good and bad times and how those differences can be used as a lesson for the future.

Biography:

Robert Zimmerman is a well known and respected space historian and author. He also wrote a weekly UPI column which can be found by doing a Google for "Zimmerman bibliography" and click on "A Zimmerman Bibliography". Mr. Zimmerman is also an award winning author. His new book is now out, “THE UNIVERSE IN A MIRROR: THE SAGA OF THE HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE AND THE VISIONARIES WHO BUILT IT” is published by Princeton University Press. The book tells the poignant tale of the men and women behind the telescope, and how many had to sacrifice careers and family to get it built. It also describes in detail the importance of Hubble both scientifically and culturally. More than any other instrument sent into space, the Hubble Space Telescope reshaped the human perception of our place in the universe. Robert’s book “LEAVING EARTH: Space Stations, Rival Superpower, and the Quest for Interplanetary Travel” is a must read! His work is published regularly in such magazines as ASTRONOMY, THE SCIENCES, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, INVENTION & TECHNOLOGY, FORTUNE, AD ASTRA, AMERICAN HISTORY, STARDATE, and many other major magazines. In 2000 he was co-winner of the David N. Schramm Award, given by the High Energy Astrophysics Division of the American Astronomical Society for Science Journalism. Before writing his newest book, LEAVING EARTH, Mr. Zimmerman authored two books, GENESIS, THE STORY OF APOLLO 8, published by Four Walls Eight Windows in 1998, describes the family and political tale behind the first human journey to another world and THE CHRONOLOGICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DISCOVERIES IN SPACE (published by Oryx Press, now Greenword Publishing Group 2000). This is a detailed reference book describing what was accomplished on every space mission beginning in October 1957 with Sputnik and continuing through December 1999. Mr. Zimmerman also won an Emmy Award for the best space history for the general public by the American Astronautical Society awarded on Nov. 16, 2004.

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

http://www.hem-usa.org

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)

3. Communications Society and LEOS Joint Meeting for October

Please join us on Monday, October 6th, at 6PM for a presentation on High-Performance and Reconfigurable Optical Communication Networks. This meeting will be held jointly with the IEEE LEOS (Lasers and Electro-Optics) chapter, at the Historical Electronics Museum in Linthicum. Food will be available at 5:30PM. Guests are welcome!

Directions can be found at the COMSOC web site:

http://ewh.ieee.org/r2/baltimore/Chapter/Comm/

Please reply to g_tartanian@ieee.org if you are planning to attend, so that we can get a rough headcount.

Title:

Towards High-Performance and Reconfigurable Optical Communication Networks

Speaker:

Alan Willner

EE Professor, University of Southern California

Date:

October 6

Abstract

Optical communications has enjoyed dramatic growth in terms of technical achievement as well as commercial implementation. This presentation will highlight three main topics. Firstly, a broad perspective will be given on some of the technical trends in optical communication systems. Secondly, I will describe technical issues related to stable, robust optical networking, including performance monitoring, channel-degrading effects, efficient modulation formats, and switching. Finally, I will discuss adding flexibility and reconfigurability to different aspects of the base optical technologies.

Biography:

Alan Willner received the Ph.D. from Columbia Univ., has worked at AT&T Bell Labs and Bellcore, and is Professor of EE at USC. He received the NSF Presidential Faculty Fellows Award from the White House, Packard Foundation Fellowship, NSF National Young Investigator Award, Fulbright Foundation Senior Scholars Award, IEEE LEOS Distinguished Traveling Lecturer Award, USC University-Wide Award for Excellence in Teaching, IEEE Fellow, OSA Fellow, and Eddy Paper Award from Pennwell Publications for Best Contributed Technical Article. Prof. Willner has been President of IEEE LEOS, Editor-in-Chief of IEEE/OSA J. of Lightwave Technology, Editor-in-Chief of Optics Letters, Editor-in-Chief of IEEE J. of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics, Co-Chair of OSA Science & Engineering Council, General Co-Chair of CLEO, General Chair of LEOS Annual Meeting Program, and Program Co-Chair of the OSA Annual Meeting. Prof. Willner has 700 publications, including two books and 25 patents.

4. Professional Development Seminar

You’re invited to a series of talks on 2008 November 1, 9:00 am – 1:00 pm at the Historical Electronics Museum.

The Historical Electronics Museum is located at:

1745 West Nursery Road, Linthicum, Maryland

http://www.hem-usa.org/

This event is sponsored by the IEEE Baltimore Section under the Professional Development Seminar (PDS) program and Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBS) Chapter.

TENTATIVE AGENDA:

8:30 - 9:10 Registration and continental breakfast

9:10 - 9:15 Opening

9:15 - 10:00 “Creating Engineering Ambassadors: Role of Non-Traditional Career Development”, Guru Madhavan, Science & Technology Policy Fellow, Policy and Global Affairs Division, The National Academies

10:00 - 10:45 Topic 2, TBD (IEEE-USA Staff)

10:45 - 10:55 Break

10:55 - 11:40 “Public Access Defibrillators: Design and Practice”, Carole Carey, IEEE EMBS Baltimore Chapter Chair, IEEE-USA liaison to Women in Engineering

11:40 - 12:00 Panel Discussion / Closing

12:00 - 1:00 Lunch/Networking

EMBS Chapter Administrative Meeting (discuss 2008 and 2009 plans). Volunteer and be more active! We can find something that would serve your interest.

Registration:

FREE for all IEEE members and guest, but requires an RSVP by deadline October 24, 2008.

Send E-mail to contacts below. Subject line should indicate:

Nov 1 PDS Baltimore

In the body of the e-mail, provide the following information:

Name:

IEEE Member number:

IEEE Affiliation:

Guest name, if applicable:

Your Contacts:

Carole Carey

c.carey@ieee.org

Vil Arafiles

v.arafiles@gmail.com

5. Senior Member Nomination Event

A Senior Member nomination event will be held at the Historical Electronics Museum on Saturday November 8, 2008 from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm. Those wishing to become senior members should bring their resumes and application forms.

An announcement of this event has been posted on the Section's web page.

6. Signal Processing Workshop

IEEE Workshop on Signal Processing Systems (SiPS2008, http://www.sips08.org/)

This event will be held in the DC area in early October. More info is attached below for your reference.

CALL FOR PARTICIPATION

The 2008 IEEE Workshop on Signal Processing Systems (SiPS2008)

Website:

http://www.sips08.org/

Date:

October 8-10, 2008

Venue:

Doubletree Hotel Crystal City-National Airport

Washington D.C. Metropolitan Area, USA

Co-sponsored by:

IEEE Signal Processing Society

IEEE Circuits and Systems Society

Registration details at:

https://www.securecms.com/SiPS2008/Registration.asp

Hotel booking details:

http://www.sips08.org/Accommodation.asp

Technical Program:

http://www.sips08.org/RegularProgram.asp

7. Notes from the Section Chair

The following are notes from Bill Semancik, chair of the IEEE Baltimore Section.

“2009 Election of Section Officers:

Last month I urged the membership to vote in the election of officers for 2009. This month I get to announce a change in the slate of candidates. Helen Garrison, our Treasurer since 2007 had to resign effective the middle of September due to changes in her job situation.

As a testimony to her efforts, this year was the first time that the Section had to submit to an external audit. The report came out last week and the result was clean. We all thank Helen for her efforts for Baltimore Section as she starts her new position in the State of Alaska.

The nominating committee has identified Walter Willing as a replacement candidate. Walt has been active in the local IEEE for years, primarily as Chair of the Reliability Society chapter and as a mentor for the high school robotics challenge. I think that he will be a fine Treasurer. If you have not voted, I again urge you to do so.

Posting of IEEE meeting reports on the Baltimore web page

It struck me this month that our membership ought to have more visibility into the meetings that the Section participates in at the regional and local level. Every month we post the minutes of the Executive Committee meetings on the web page. Starting this month I have asked our attendees to the Sections Congress in Quebec, Canada to collaborate and create a report on the subject matter of the meeting. There were two parts of that meeting, both a Region 2 meeting and the IEEE wide Sections Congress. Look for the postings.

50th Anniversary of NASA Dinner/Lecture

Many of you have seen the announcement of the dinner/lecture that will be held 25 October at the Historical Electronics Museum in Linthicum, MD. This event is co-sponsored by Baltimore Section and the Historical Electronics Museum. The lecture will be given by noted author Robert Zimmerman. For more details, go to the museum's web page http://www.hem-usa.org. Member dinner rates are for members of either IEEE or the Historical Electronics Museum and their guests. In case you are wondering, the cost we are charging is intended to solely cover the expense of catering the dinner.

Membership and Geographic Activities

This year the Technical Activities Board was replaced by Membership and Geographic Activities. Vice Chair Dave Kisak and I have split duties of taking once-a-month conference calls on Saturday mornings to be apprised of what is on the minds of the leadership of MGA. The two things that clearly have priority is the declining US membership in IEEE and bringing more value to the members for their participation in IEEE. The thing that I would like to see is a way for members to have remote access to technical chapter meetings. Between busy work schedules and the price of gasoline, if someone isn't within 20 miles of a meeting, they are unlikely to participate. The technical chapter meetings are getting some quality speakers. Remote video may be not as interactive as being in the room but it is better than not being able to participate at all.”

Bill Semancik

Chair Baltimore Section IEEE

8. IEEE Sections Congress 2008

The following are notes from Dave Kisak, vice chair of the IEEE Baltimore Section.

“Section Members,

I was honored to represent you as the Baltimore Section’s Primary Delegate to the IEEE Sections Congress held 19 – 22 September in Quebec City, Quebec; accompanying me was Anna Romaniuk, Section Secretary and Women In Engineering Chair. The Sections Congress is a tri-annual event that brings together Section representatives from around the world providing them with a forum to exchange information about their Section’s efforts in sustaining and expanding Electrical Engineering as a well-regarded profession. In addition, the Congress provides an opportunity for the various IEEE activities (e.g., Expert Now, Careers and Employment, IEEE.tv, etc.) to showcase their capabilities and on-going developments for improving and advancing member services in areas such as continuing education, member development, and organizational administration, to name a few. But most importantly, the Sections Congress provides the attendees with an opportunity to inform IEEE of the issues that matter most to you, the members.

Some general information might be of interest. IEEE is an international organization currently having a worldwide membership of about 375,000 (170,000 members in the USA). Organizationally, there are 10 Regions comprising 325 Sections. Baltimore Section is in Region 2 and has about 4,500 members. Of the 325 Sections, about 300 sent representatives to Quebec City indicating that all Regions were well represented.

Issues considered by the Congress are vetted and prioritized within each Region. From each Region four issues are submitted to the Congress for further vetting and prioritizing. Out of this process 20 Issues are presented to be voted upon by each Section’s Primary Delegate with the 10 highest priority Issues becoming actions for IEEE to address. Of the top 10 from this Congress, five are directly related to you as either expansion of Member Benefits or improvements to financial transactions with IEEE:

First Priority: Every member to have an annual entitlement to a limited number of free IEEE Xplore downloads.

Second Priority: Payment Flexibility – Members, especially students and those in developing countries who do not have credit cards, need flexible payment methods:

regardless of location and banking methods,

supporting aggregated payments in local currency,

minimizing transaction costs and processing overheads.

Fourth Priority: The Member and Geographic Activity Board to assign staff to develop, by June 2009, a user-friendly system and support to enable Sections, Chapters and Affinity Groups to deliver, at low cost, teleconferencing, collaborative technologies, and webinars as a free member benefit.

Fifth Priority: For digital libraries: develop additional, smaller tiered packages (10, 20 items, etc.) which allow members to purchase defined quantities of digital content without expiration. Provide members with permanent electronic access to previously purchased content [two Region 2 issues that were combined into one during Issues Caucus]. Timeframe: 4Q 2009

Tenth Priority: Implement Sustained Membership options for all membership grades exclusive of student grade:

Single dues payment for multiple years/life-long membership;

Increased benefits in proportion to the length of renewal.

Lowers IEEE administrative expenses related to “annual” membership cycles.

In closing, it was a pleasure to attend this conference. Quebec City, celebrating its 400th Anniversary, was a wonderful city to visit (though challenging off the tourist track as French – without English subtitles – is the local language). The historic part of the city, located within fort walls situated high above the St. Lawrence River, was adjacent to the Conference Center and therefore easy to access during occasional hours of downtime. But perhaps the most memorable event of the conference was participating with other attendees in applauding the accomplishments of the recipients of major IEEE awards presented during the Annual Awards and, most notably, the overwhelming standing-ovation to Dr. Gordon Moore, recipient of the 2008 IEEE Medal of Honor.

Thank you for allowing Anna and me to attend on your behalf. If you have any thoughts or questions, my contact information is on the Baltimore Section webpage.”

Dave Kisak

Vice Chair Baltimore Section, IEEE

9. NOVA Programs for October

The following are NOVA programs that are scheduled for October. NOVA is on PBS on Tuesdays at 8:00 PM.

October 14:

“Space Shuttle Disaster”

This is about the Columbia space shuttle and the 2003 accident.

October 21:

“Parallel Worlds, Parallel Lives”

This is about physicist Hugh Everett.

October 28:

“Hunting the Hidden Dimension”

This is about the mathematicians who developed the study of fractals.

10. Baltimore Region Conferences

The following conferences are planned for Maryland, Washington, DC, and Northern Virginia. This list can be used for planning purposes and also represents potential volunteering opportunities.

2008 3rd International Conference on Malicious and Unwanted Software (MALWARE)

07 Oct - 08 Oct 2008

Hilton Alexandria Mark Center

Alexandria, VA, USA

http://isiom.wssrl.org

2008 IEEE Workshop On Signal Processing Systems (SIPS)

08 Oct - 10 Oct 2008

Doubletree Hotel Crystal City-National Airport Arlington, VA, USA http://www.sips08.org/

2008 37th IEEE Applied Imagery Pattern Recognition Workshop (AIPR 2008)

15 Oct - 17 Oct 2008

Cosmos Club

Washington, DC, USA

http://www.aipr-workshop.org/

2008 IEEE 58th Annual Broadcast Symposium (BTS)

15 Oct - 17 Oct 2008

The Westin Hotel

Alexandria, VA, USA

http://www.ieee.org/bts/symposium

2008 IEEE Biomedical Circuits and Systems Conference - Intelligent Biomedical Systems (BioCAS)

20 Nov - 22 Nov 2008

Location: TBD

Baltimore, MD, USA

http://www.biocas2008.org

2009 IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition - APEC 2009

15 Feb - 19 Feb 2009

Marriott Wardman Park Hotel

Washington, DC, USA

http://www.apec-conf.org

2009 43rd Annual Conference on Information Sciences and Systems (CISS)

18 Mar - 20 Mar 2009

The Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, MD, USA

http://ciss.jhu.edu

2009 5th International Conf. on Testbeds and Research Infrastructures for the Development of Networks & Communities (TridentCom)

06 Apr - 08 Apr 2009

TBD

Washington, DC, USA

http://www.tridentcom.org/

2009 IEEE/NIH Life Science Systems and Applications Workshop (LiSSA), formerly known as LSSA and LISA

09 Apr - 10 Apr 2009

NIH Campus, Bethesda, Maryland, USA

Bethesda, MD, USA

http://lissa.wustl.edu

2009 Integrated Communications, Navigation and Surveillance Conference (ICNS)

13 May - 15 May 2009

TBD

Crystal City, VA, USA

http://i-cns.org/

2009 Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics (CLEO)

02 Jun - 04 Jun 2009

Baltimore Convention Center

Baltimore, MD, USA

http://www.i-leos.org

2009 International Quantum Electronics Conference (IQEC)

June 2-4, 2009

Baltimore Convention Center Baltimore, MD, USA

http://www.i-leos.org

2009 IEEE Pulsed Power Conference (PPC)

28 Jun - 02 Jul 2009

Renaissance Mayflower Hotel

Washington, DC, USA

http://web.ece.missouri.edu/ppc2009

2009 IEEE Workshop on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Enterprise: Economics Measures and Indicators (STEM Measures)

15 Sep - 18 Sep 2009

TBD

Washington, DC, USA

2011 IEEE AUTOTESTCON

September 19-22, 2011

Baltimore Convention Center

Baltimore, MD, USA

http://www.autotestcon.com

2009 IEEE 59th Annual Broadcast Symposium (BTS)

14 Oct - 16 Oct 2009

The Westin Hotel

Alexandria, VA, USA

http://www.ieee.org/bts/symposium

2009 IEEE Conference on Electrical Insulation and Dielectric Phenomena - (CEIDP 2009)

18 Oct - 21 Oct 2009

Virginia Beach Resort Hotel

Virginia Beach, VA, USA

http://ewh.ieee.org/soc/dei/ceidp/

11. 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.

Boris Gramatikov

Baltimore Section

Bgramat@jhmi.edu