NEWSLETTER OF
THE
APRIL 2009
The web site for the
IN THIS ISSUE:
1. AES, COMSOC, Computer, SP, and ACM
Joint Meeting
2. Communications
Society Meeting for April
3. Joint
PELS – ED/SSCS Technical Talk
4. IEEE
Power & Energy Society Book Award
5. Robot
Challenge - Judges Needed for Sunday Afternoon, April 19
6. IEEE
Signal Processing Washington Chapter
7. Graduate
Engineering Information Session
9. Baltimore
Region Conferences
1. AES, COMSOC, Computer, SP, and ACM Joint Meeting
A Joint meeting of the Aerospace and Electronic Systems Society (AES), Communications Society (COMSOC), Computer Society, Signal Processing Society (SP), and the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) is being held on 21 April.
Sprint will be giving a presentation on their WiMax
deployment in
Scroll down the front page to the meeting schedule. Please register for this event so we know how much food to purchase. There is no charge for the event
Food is available during a social period starting at 5:30 PM, with the presentation commencing at 6 PM.
2. Communications Society Meeting for April
Title:
Co-operation at the Network Level
Speaker:
Dr. Anthony Ephremides
Cynthia Kim Eminent Professor of Information Technology
Electrical and Computer Engineering Department
Date:
Tuesday, April 7
Time:
Food: 5:30 PM - 6:00 PM
Presentation: 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Location:
410-765-0230
http://www.nationalelectronicsmuseum.org
Please reply to g_tartanian@ieee.org if you are planning to attend, so that we can get a rough headcount.
Abstract:
Cooperative Techniques in Wireless Communications promise significant performance gains. The core of such cooperation has centered on the physical layer and is based on relaying. In combination with MIMO technology that can be implemented distributively over different nodes it is possible to extend the benefits of cooperation to ad hoc wireless networks. What is new and uncommon is the use of simple relay techniques to achieve further gains by focusing it at the MAC and network layers. We will review simple examples that demonstrate this new form of cooperation and we will argue that there may be far-reaching consequences of a post-Shannon nature that may extend the achievable rates of reliable communication.
Biography:
Anthony Ephremides received holds the Cynthia Kim
Professorship of Information Technology at the
Dr. Ephremides' interests are in the areas of communication theory, communication systems and networks, queuing systems, signal processing, and satellite communications.
3. Joint PELS – ED/SSCS Technical Talk
Topic:
SiC Vertical-Channel JFETs for RF and Power Switching Applications
Speaker:
Dr. Victor Veliadis
Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems
Date:
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Time:
5:30 pm Refreshments
6:15 pm Talk
Location:
Pioneer Hall at the
RSVP:
hobrien@arl.army.mil by Wednesday, April 22
Abstract:
Silicon carbide (SiC) is a wide bandgap semiconductor that is ideally suited for high power/temperature switching applications due to its high critical-field strength, its excellent thermal conductivity, and its high saturated drift-velocity. The vertical-channel Junction-Field-Effect-Transistor (VJFET) is presently the most mature SiC power-switch because it uses pn junction depletion regions as a current control mechanism in the active device area, and can therefore fully exploit the high temperature properties of SiC in a gate voltage-controlled switching device. SiC VJFETs are free of gate-oxide problems, exhibit electrostatic discharge immunity of 16-kV, and do not suffer from forward voltage degradation. In this talk, an overview of VJFET fabrication, reliability, high-temperature operation, and electrical performance will be presented.
Bio:
Dr. Victor Veliadis received the M.S. degree in
Electronics Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens Greece
in 1990, and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical and Computer Engineering
from
4. IEEE Power & Energy Society Book Award
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
(IEEE) Book Award is funded through donations and fundraising events held in
the local
Application Deadline:
April 30, 2009
Notification Date:
May 31, 200
For more information, contact:
Robert A. Banas, Scholarship Chairman
IEES/IAS
c/o Leach Wallace Associates, Inc.
(410) 579-8100
5. Robot Challenge - Judges Needed for Sunday Afternoon, April 19
We'd like to thank the many supporters who have agreed to be Judges at the upcoming Robot Challenge. This event, which will be held April 18 and 19 at the Baltimore Museum of Industry, will need substantially more judges than last year as we have a 50% increase in registrations. I think we have enough judges for Saturday morning to cover our requirements, but we are still a few short for Sunday. Any members (and some spouses too) who would be willing to help our High School students, should contact Neville Jacobs at Nevilleed@aol.com, and reference "Robot Challenge Judges". For details on the Challenge, please go to our web-site at http://www.robotchallenge.com and click on First Time Viewers.
6.
IEEE Signal Processing Washington
The following is a note from the Washington Chapter of the IEEE Signal Processing Society.
“Dear Colleagues,
It is a pleasure to update you with two upcoming events:
Prof. Charles Bouman of
In addition, for members who are interested in signal
processing for communications, we are co-sponsoring a lecture by Prof. Ramesh
Harjani of
http://www.ewh.ieee.org/r2/capitalarea/eSCANNER/calendar.html#MTTMAR
Please come to take part in these events and meet the speaker and fellow IEEE Signal Processing Members.
Best Regards,
IEEE Signal Processing
IEEE Signal Processing
Spring 2009 Lecture Series
Title:
"Model Based Imaging: In Search of the Free Lunch"
Speaker:
Prof. Charles Bouman
Michael J. and Katherine R. Birck Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Professor of Biomedical Engineering
Time:
Friday April 3, 2009
Lecture at 2:00pm, followed by reception and networking
Place:
Directions:
From I-495, take Route 1 south, turn right onto
From College Park Metro Station (Green line), take UM
campus shuttle (free) and get down at the first stop. Walk back for a hundred
yards and turn left onto
More info:
This is co-sponsored by the IEEE Distinguished Lecture
Program and the
http://www.ece.umd.edu/calendar/index.php?mode=4&id=3781
Contact:
teknight@umd.edu, washington.sps@ieee.org
Abstract
Over the last two decades, digital imaging applications have evolved from a niche application into a huge commercial enterprise; and along the way, model-based imaging techniques have evolved into a core set of theoretical tools that form a major component of the field's theoretical foundation. The primary goal in model-based techniques is to construct a model of the image and the imaging system, and then to use this framework to infer information that is not directly available. This unifying framework can be used to solve a wide array of imaging problems ranging from image segmentation and analysis to image reconstruction and representation.
We present examples in applications ranging from medical to desktop imaging, and show how in each case model-based methods can be used to substantially improve quality or reduce cost of the imaging system. In the field of desktop imaging, we show how model-based methods have been used to increase resolution of images, efficiently store documents, and correct image distortion in low-cost imaging systems. At the other end of the cost spectrum, we give examples of how model-based methods have the potential to dramatically increase the quality of medical computed tomography (CT) images, while simultaneously reducing dosage.
Finally, we conclude by presenting some emerging analytical methods in the use of sparse techniques for the modeling and analysis of images, and show how these methods can improve model accuracy and/or dramatically reduce computation and storage.
Biography:
Charles A. Bouman received a B.S.E.E. degree from the
Professor Bouman's research focuses on the use of statistical image models, multiscale techniques, and fast algorithms in applications including tomographic reconstruction, medical imaging, and document rendering and acquisition. Professor Bouman is a Fellow of the IEEE, a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), a Fellow of the society for Imaging Science and Technology (IS&T), a Fellow of the SPIE professional society. He is also a recipient of IS&T's Raymond C. Bowman Award for outstanding contributions to digital imaging education and research, has been a Purdue University Faculty Scholar, and received the College of Engineering Engagement/Service Award, and Team Award. He is currently the Editor-in-Chief for the IEEE Transactions on Image Processing, a member of the Board of Governors and a Distinguished Lecturer for the IEEE Signal Processing Society. He has been an associate editor for the IEEE Transactions on Image Processing and the IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence. He has also been Co-Chair of the 2006 SPIE/IS&T Symposium on Electronic Imaging, Co-Chair of the SPIE/IS&T conferences on Visual Communications and Image Processing 2000 (VCIP), a Vice President of Publications and a member of the Board of Directors for the IS&T Society, and he is the founder and Co-Chair of the SPIE/IS&T conference on Computational Imaging.
7.
Graduate Engineering Information Session
Subject:
Session – Engineering Management & Systems Engineering
Date:
Wednesday April 15th, 2009.
Time:
6 – 8 pm
Venue:
UMBC Tech Incubators
Come and hear what’s new for fall 2009: Engineering courses and an Entrepreneurship course in innovation and technology.
Speak with program faculty and staff, hear from current students in the program and get one-on-one time at this annual event. Also, come meet our new entrepreneurship course instructor, Julie Kirk, CEO of Path Forward International.
Register today:
This event is free and refreshments will be served. Please follow the link above to learn more.
8.
Student Chapter Mentors
The Baltimore Section has student chapters at six local colleges. We are looking for mentors to work with each of the student chapters. A mentor interacts with the chapter to determine how the section can help them, for example helping find speakers for student events, presenting information about life after college and the role that the IEEE plays in their careers, representing their requests to the section, and what ever else the mentor can thing of to help the students. This can take as much or little time as you desire We would like to have at least one mentor for each college, it does not matter if you are an alumni or not, but alumni has ties that would be great to build on.
The student chapters are at Johns Hopkins,
Please let Jeff Friedhoffer (jafried@ieee.org) know if you are willing to consider taking on this role which can bring back fond memories of your college days while helping the next generation of engineers.
9.
Baltimore
The following conferences are planned for
2009 5th International Conf. on Testbeds and Research Infrastructures for the Development of Networks & Communities (TridentCom)
06 Apr - 08 Apr 2009
TBD
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,
http://lissa.wustl.edu
2009 IEEE Electric Ship Technologies Symposium (ESTS 2009)
20 Apr - 22 Apr 2009
Sheraton Inner Harbor Hotel
http://ewh.ieee.org/conf/ests09/
2009 Integrated Communications, Navigation and Surveillance Conference (ICNS)
13 May - 15 May 2009
TBD
http://i-cns.org/
2009 Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics (CLEO)
02 Jun - 04 Jun 2009
http://www.i-leos.org
2009 International Quantum Electronics Conference (IQEC)
June 2-4, 2009
http://www.i-leos.org
2009 IEEE Pulsed Power Conference (PPC)
28 Jun - 02 Jul 2009
Renaissance Mayflower Hotel
http://web.ece.missouri.edu/ppc2009
2009 IEEE Workshop on Science, Technology, Engineering and
Mathematics
15 Sep - 18 Sep 2009
TBD
2011 IEEE AUTOTESTCON
September 19-22, 2011
http://www.autotestcon.com
2009 IEEE 59th Annual Broadcast Symposium (BTS)
14 Oct - 16 Oct 2009
The Westin Hotel
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
http://ewh.ieee.org/soc/dei/ceidp/
2009 IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM)
07 Dec - 09 Dec 2009
Hilton Baltimore
http://www.ieee-iedm.org
2010 11th Joint Magnetism and Magnetic Materials - INTERMAG Conference
17 Jan - 21 Jan 2010
10. 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