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:

See http://www.ewh.ieee.org/r2/baltimore/sp

Biography:

See http://www.ewh.ieee.org/r2/baltimore/sp

I will post the Topic, Abstract, and Biography on our website as soon as the speaker sends me the information.

2. Communications Society Meeting for January

Title:

Marking Time: Credible measurement in the time domain Dr. Marc Damashek, National Security Agency

Speaker:

Dr. Marc Damashek

National Security Agency

Date:

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Time:

5:30 PM - 8:00 PM

Location:

Historical Electronics Museum

1745 W. Nursery Road, Linthicum, MD 21090

410-765-0230

Abstract:

Four interrelated components are necessary to produce high-confidence measurements in the time domain (such as might be required in high- risk applications). This talk will discuss these elements both individually and as they relate to one another in a variety of contexts. The importance of this small set of prerequisites has only recently become apparent, and its consequences will likely be far- reaching.

Biography:

Dr. Marc Damashek (AKA Marc) earned advanced degrees in physics and astronomy well before dark matter took over the universe. He's taken on a wide variety of job roles over the past 40+ years, including elementary particle theory; pulsar astronomy; design and construction of speech analysis hardware for for the deaf; cook and bottle washer for the Guide Star Selection System (Hubble telescope) at the Space Telescope Science Institute; Russian-English technical translator and editor for a number of large publishers; and piano tuner and technician. In his present role with his DoD employer (where he's remained since 1986), scarcely a day goes by without his drawing upon most to all of the above.

3. Communications Society Meeting for February

Title:

Parametric Stochastic Barrier

Speaker:

Dr. Stojan Radic

Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering

9500 Gilman Drive

University of California San Diego

La Jolla, CA 92093-0407

Date:

Tuesday, February 3

Time:

5:30 PM - 8:00 PM

Location:

Historical Electronics Museum

1745 W. Nursery Road, Linthicum, MD 21090

410-765-0230

Abstract:

High efficiency parametric fiber devices are used for frequency generation, band-invariant amplification and general signal processing. Present generation of high-confinement fibers used for mixer design posses transverse variation control measured in silica molecular diameters, a critical feature for long-scale phase matching. With nanometer-scale radial precision maintained over kilometers, high-confinement fibers stand among the most precisely fabricated structures in modern engineering. Unfortunately, these fluctuations pose a basic barrier: an arbitrary-wide mixer cannot be constructed from randomly fluctuating waveguide. Rather than insisting on unphysical waveguides (requiring sub-molecular radial control), an alternative approach is possible: map the nanoscale fluctuations exactly and then use the information to synthesize arbitrary mixer response. To accomplish this, we introduce new energy delivery method based localized four-photon mixing. The technique improves the sensitivity of existing dispersion mapping methods by orders of magnitude and is applicable to arbitrary waveguide type. We describe the effort that has led to the ability to sense molecular-scale geometry variations along km-long fiber for the first time. Implications of the new technique will be illustrated on general mixer applications.

Biography:

Stojan Radic graduated from The Institute of Optics in 1995 and has subsequently served in Corning and Bell Laboratories. He is presently a Professor and is heading the Photonics System Laboratory at University of California San Diego. Dr. Radic is a fellow of the Optical Society of America and serves as associate editor with IEEE Photonics Technology Letters and Optics Express journals. He chairs Parametric Processing LEOS Conference and has founded COTA conference.

4. IEEE GOLD

Subject: Green Technology Sponsors Needed.

As you might be aware, Green technology includes not just the computer but also the practice of using computing resources efficiently. Also the burning of fossil fuels that generate the majority of our nation's electricity also emits pollutants such as sulfur and carbon dioxide into the air. Those pollutants are known to cause respiratory disease, smog, acid rain as well as global climate change [1]. Now more than ever, more people are considering different ways to reduce both individual carbon foot prints as well as overall energy consumption.

Following this trend, The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) USA will be holding a conference next year at the Marriott City Center in Salt Lake City, Utah from February 26, 2009 until March 1, 2009. The theme is "Engineering the Alternative Energy Debate". Experts from industries across the country have been lined up to address technologies such as nuclear, solar, smart grid, and even wind power.

The full program can be seen at:

http://www.ieeeusa.com/calendar/conferences/2009annualmeeting/program/default.asp

If you know of any company that would be interested in becoming a sponsor for this yearly gathering of Electrical Engineers from all across the U.S, please send an email to Michael Pearse (michaelpearse@ieee.org) for an official sponsor request. There are different sponsor packages available.

Visit the GOLD event website to find out more about the conference.

[1] http://ecenter.colorado.edu/energy/projects/green_computing.html

5. February Fourier Talks at the University of Maryland

Registration is now open for the 2009 February Fourier Talks at the University of Maryland, taking place February 19 - 20, 2009. The conference addresses a diverse audience of academic, government, and industry participants.

http://www.norbertwiener.umd.edu/FFT/FFT09/

Further information is below:

EVENTS

In addition to scientific talks throughout the day on Thursday and Friday, the evening on Thursday will feature a keynote address by renowned mathematics author Barry Cipra, followed by light dinner and drinks in the mathematics building rotunda. Friday afternoon features the Norbert Wiener Lecture, delivered by Professor Robert Fefferman, of the University of Chicago.

This year's conference also features a student poster session in the afternoon on Thursday. Preliminary submissions are now being accepted from graduate students. Further details are available at:

http://www.norbertwiener.umd.edu/FFT/FFT09/posters.html.

SPEAKERS

You may view the list of speakers, as well as the available titles and abstracts, at http://www.norbertwiener.umd.edu/FFT/FFT09/speakers.html.

REGISTRATION

Registration is now open at:

http://www.norbertwiener.umd.edu/FFT/FFT09/Register

Registration is free for students and government employees. Government employees are encouraged to register early so that they may be accommodated. For all others, the fee is $45 on or before January 8, 2009, and $60 thereafter. All fees are payable via a secure online system.

SPONSORSHIP

Corporate and technical sponsorship are also invited for this year's event. Information, including available sponsorship packages, past sponsors, and current sponsors, is available at http://www.norbertwiener.umd.edu/FFT/sponsorship.html.

If you have any questions about the FFT, please contact Christopher Shaw, at schris@umd.edu. Questions specific to posters may be directed to Radu Balan, at rvbalan@math.umd.edu.

FFT 2009 Organizing Committee

Radu Balan

John Benedetto

Wojciech Czaja

Kasso Okoudjou

6. Robot Challenge

We have received a request from Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, MD for engineering assistance in their FIRST Robotics Competition. The project will be starting shortly and go into early March. Any IEEE members living in Silver Spring, active or retired, who would like to lend a hand, please contactMarsha Huang at marsha.huang@gmail.com, or by phone at 301-300-1104. It is time consuming but very rewarding. For more information there is a video: The 2009 Competition Animation - Lunacy, and it can be viewed athttp://robotics.nasa.gov/events/2009_frcwebcasts.php or e-mail Neville Jacobs at Nevilleed@aol.com.

7. IEEE Fund Raiser

The IEEE, as a member of the Engineering community in the Baltimore area, is co-sponsoring a fund raiser to support activities aimed at high school students for Engineers Week. The fund raiser will be on February 6th at the Engineers Club in the beautiful Garret Jacobs Mansion at 11 West Mount Vernon Place Baltimore, MD, down the block from the Washington Monument (Charles St).

The event is a Trivia night at a cost of $25 per person, which includes entry, snacks and soft drinks. Food, beer, and wine will be available for purchase. Please make plans to join us for an enjoyable evening. If you have not been in the Engineers Club, you are in for a real treat. Bring along friends to participate with you as part of your team while you compete for prizes against other groups.

More information will be posted on the web site.

To make reservations, contact Jeff Friedhoffer (jafried@ieee.org).

8. Baltimore Region Conferences

The following conferences are planned for Maryland, Washington, DC, and Northern Virginia during the next year. This list can be used for planning purposes and also represents potential volunteering opportunities. With the current state of the economy, these local conferences are a good way to stay abreast of recent advances in our field.

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 IEEE Electric Ship Technologies Symposium (ESTS 2009)

20 Apr - 22 Apr 2009

Sheraton Inner Harbor Hotel

Baltimore, MD, USA

http://ewh.ieee.org/conf/ests09/

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/

2009 IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM)

07 Dec - 09 Dec 2009

Hilton Baltimore

Baltimore, MD, USA

http://www.ieee-iedm.org

2010 11th Joint Magnetism and Magnetic Materials - INTERMAG Conference

17 Jan - 21 Jan 2010

Washington Marriott

Washington, DC, USA

http://www.magnetism.org

9. 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