The activities of the Jamaica Section in 2002 commenced with a meeting of the Executive Committee, on the 23rd January 2002, at the School of Engineering, The University of Technology, Jamaica. Also in attendance were members of the Executive of the UTech IEEE student branch. Matters discussed at the meeting included, inter alia, selection of Chairs of the Standing Committees, the formation of the Computer and Power Societies of the Jamaica Section, student branch activities, monthly meeting presentations, preparation for SoutheastCon 2003, and the special event for the year - 25th anniversary celebration of the IEEE Jamaica Section.
The Management of the Radio Spectrum in Jamaica was the topic for presentation and discussion at the Wednesday, February 22, 2002, monthly meeting of the Jamaica Section. The presenter was Mr Roy R. Humes, Chief Technical Director of the Spectrum Management Authority. The venue was Le'Meridien Jamaica Pegasus Hotel.
Three undergraduate students (Ms Denise Edwards, Ms Stacy Codner, and Mr Devon Morgan) of the faculty of Computing & Engineering at the University of Technology, Jamaica, were the presenters at the Jamaica Section's monthly meeting. The topic was - Frequency Detection of Trains and Emergency Vehicles.
The Jamaica Section received confirmation from the IEEE that the petition to establish the Jamaica Chapter of the Computer Society was accepted. The SoutheastCon 2003 planning Committee also met during the month of March to continue preparations for hosting the conference.
An IEEE student branch was launched at the Mona campus of the University of the West Indies. There were twenty-five student members.
SoutheastCon 2002 was held at the Embassy Suites Hotel, Columbia, South Carolina, U.S.A. April 5 - 7, 2002. Twenty-five IEEE student members from the University of Technology, Jamaica, and The University of the West Indies (Mona), along with executive members of the Jamaica Section were in attendance.
Fourth Generation Cellular Systems and Smart Antennas was the topic for presentation and discussion at The IEEE Communications Society's, Distinguished Lecture Tour, on April 10, 2002, at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel. The presentation was delivered by the IEEE COMSOC's Distinguished Lecturer, Dr Jack H. Winters, formerly Division Manager of the Wireless Systems Research Department of AT&T Labs - Research.
The planning committee for hosting of SoutheastCon 2003 in Jamaica held meetings in May 2002.
Mr Colin Mundy, Managing Director, Sheltronics was the presenter at the June monthly meeting of the Jamaica Section. His topic was: Coordinated Facility Protection. The main areas discussed were: Lightning protection, grounding and bonding, surge protection and Erico's Six point protection plan. The meeting was held on 19th June 2002, at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel.
IEEE members were conducted on a tour of the Jamaica Civil Aviation Authority's RADAR Control Centre. The tour was conducted by Mr Patrick Stern, Director, Air Navigation Services on Wednesday, July 17, 2002 at 3:00pm.
A presentation was given by was Mr Trenton Heckburn, Marketing Specialist, Power Quality Division, Schneider Electric/SquareD on Power Factor: Impact on Electricity Costs. His topic included:(1) Understanding Utility Demand Charges, (2) Power Factor, (3) Harmonics and IEEE 519 and (4) Savings. The meeting was held at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel on Wednesday, August 21, 2002.
The Section meeting was postponed!
Mr Stephen Legister, Manager, Enterprise Networking, Comtech Ltd was the main speaker at the Jamaica Section's monthly meeting held on Wednesday 23, October, 2002 at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel. His topic was Voice over IP (VoIP).
The IEEE Communications Society - Jamaica Chapter hosted the monthly meeting of the Jamaica Section at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel on Wednesday, November 20, 2002. The Feature presentation was given by Sean Clacken, Sales Manager (Kingston) of Hawkeye Electronic Security Ltd. His topic was the CCTV - Transition to Digital Recording. The discussion included: the advantages of digital over analogue (VHS) recording; features of the Intellex Digital Recorder; Remote video surveillance over network/telephone lines.
IEEE Jamaica Section's 25th Anniversary Celebration dinner was held on Friday, December 6, 2002 at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in Kingston. The guest speaker for the event was Mr Everton Davis, Manager of Comtech Ltd.
The Annual General Meeting of the Jamaica Section was held on December 18, 2002 at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel.