Section Dinner Meeting

Wednesday, May 24, 2000

Milwaukee School of Engineering
Alumni Partnership Center
1120 N. Broadway
Milwaukee, WI

Map

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Schedule

Dinner Cost

Reservations

For reservations, call Joe Battocletti at Work: (414)384-2000, ext. 47287, Home: (414)352-2521 (leave a message, if needed) or send e-mail to: jbattocl@mcw.edu 

Awards Presentation

The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers Honor 12 Milwaukee Section Members

In the first Institute-wide medals program since the Centennial Medals were presented during the IEEE's 100th anniversary in 1984, the IEEE is presenting 3,000 Millennium Medals to members who have been se-lected by their Sections, Societies and Major Boards for outstanding contributions. The Milwaukee Section, based on the size of its member-ship, has been given 12 Awards. Because of the "once-in-a-millennium" event, IEEE has expressed its wish that the presentation of the Awards be a memorable event - a celebration. Consequently, the Milwaukee Section will make the Awards presentation at a "Millennium Awards Banquet" to be held on Wednesday, May 24, 2000, at the Milwaukee School of Engineering Alumni Partnership Center (APC). Parking is available on the street or in the parking lot just south of the APC.

Since only 12 Milwaukee Section Members could be selected from among many other deserving members, we will also honor three other groups in the Milwaukee Section at the Banquet:

1. The Awardees of the 1984 Centennial Medals.
2. Recipients of the Milwaukee Section Memorial Award.
3. Past Chairmen of the IEEE, including those of its predecessors: AIEE and IRE.>

The Millennium Medal Awardees are as follows:

Joseph H. Battocletti, Medical College of Wisconsin
Richard Born, Milwaukee School of Engineering
John R. Brauer, Milwaukee School of Engineering
Rodney Elger, Consultant
John Gassert, Milwaukee School of Engineering
William Henning, Waukesha Electric Systems
Thomas Koryu Ishii, Retired, Marquette University
Thomas Knox, Medical College of Wisconsin
John Liegeois, Siemens Energy & Automation
Peter McKenny, Waukesha Electric Systems
Larry Searing, Compuware
Donald Volzka, President, Power Engineering Society

Dinner Speaker

Dr. Hermann Viets President of Milwaukee School of Engineering

Dr. Hermann Viets has served as MSOE's president since 1991, only the fourth person to serve in this role in the university's 95-year history. As chief executive officer of this focused institution, he is responsible for an educational program with over 3,000 students and 400 full and part-time faculty and staff. His utilization of business-education partnerships and global perspectives parallel MSOE's philosophy in charting the direction of academic programs. His leadership has helped broaden MSOE's base while maintaining its applications-oriented niche. Dr. Viets is a member of the board of directors of the National Association for Independent Colleges and Universities, and serves on the board of directors the Milwaukee County Research Park Corporation. 

He has been honored in: 1995 Distinguished Alumnus Award from Polytechnic University, Farmingdale, New York; the 1994 Aerospace Engineering Department's Outstanding Alumnus Award (Polytechnic University); the Goodrich Award for Outstanding Service to the Taxpayer by the Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council; citations by the Rhode Island State House of Representatives and Rhode Island State Senate; the Rhode Island Governor's Award for Science & Technology. The Engineers and Scientist of Milwaukee selected him to receive the 1997 Engineer of the Year award in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the engineering profession.

Milwaukee Section Memorial Award

The IEEE Milwaukee Section is pleased to announce that Sam Mehta, Vice-President of Technology and Development at Waukesha Electric Systems, is the 1999 recipient of the Milwaukee Section Memorial Award. The purpose of this award is to recognize the accomplishments of Milwaukee Section members who distinguished themselves in the profession. The award is made in memory of a Past-Chairman of the Milwaukee Section.

For over thirty years Sam Mehta has been involved in all aspects of the manufacture, test, and design of power transformers. During this time he has been an active member of the Power Engineering Society Transformer Committee, and a contributing member to many of its Subcommittee's and Working Groups. As a member of the Transformer Committee in the late 1970's, Mr. Mehta identified a need for a reference document on accurate power transformer loss measurements. Sam was invited to contribute his expertise as a member of the NIST research group formed to develop the methodology and hardware for the calibration of test systems for measuring transformer losses. The report from this activity is now the authoritative reference worldwide on load loss measurements, and the loss measurement sections of IEEE Standards have been updated as a result of this report.

During the last five years Mr. Mehta has been a leading member of a team which was formed to investigate the feasibility of Superconducting Power Transformers - ORNL, RG&E, IGC, and WES. Recently, the team completed construction and testing of a 1 MVA prototype HTS transformer, and is currently working on the design and construction of a 5/10 MVA unit with funding from the Department of Energy. Many of the pioneering efforts in the development of these units can be attributed to Mr. Mehta. Sam Mehta has been given this award for his contributions in the area of Power Transformer loss measurements, and for his work in the development of a 1 MVA prototype superconducting transformer.

In Memorium - Dr. Richard Born Milwaukee Section Director and IEEE Millennium Award Recipient

Richard C. Born, age 60, died early on the morning of May 2, 2000. The following e-mail message was sent to all faculty and staff at the Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE), announcing his death:

"We are shocked and deeply saddened to announce that Dick Born passed away earlier this morning at his home after an apparent massive heart attack. Dick was a professor in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department for the past 13 years, including 11 years as the electrical engineering program director."

Dr. Born was born on Nov. 14, 1939 in Wittenberg, Wisconsin. He received a B.S. from Michigan Tech. Univ. in 1961, the M.S. from UW-Madison in 1962, and the Ph. D. also from UW-Madison in 1966. His industrial experience included Rexnord, Eaton Corp. and Cutler-Hammer Corp. 

Dick has been a member of the Milwaukee Section Board since 1993, serving as Director and Student Activities Chairman. He has been an IEEE member since 1966, becoming a Senior Member in 1994, and has been very active at various levels of the organization. Dick was ADCOM member of the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society (IES) from 1983 to 1991, and then served as IES Vice-President of Publications from 1987 to 1990, and IES Liaison with IEEE Press from 1991 to 1992. He was Technical Program Chairman for the Industrial Electronics Conference (IECON) in 1983 and 1985, and General Chairman for IECON in 1986 in Milwaukee. In 1986, Dr. Born was awarded the IEEE Milwaukee Section Memorial Award. He was selected to receive the IEEE Third Millennium Medal Award, at the May 24th Awards Banquet, for his long-time service to the IEEE.

Dick was an avid biker, and was preparing for a cross-country marathon from Los Angeles, California to Boston, Massachusetts this summer. The marathon is sponsored by The Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity, and he had collected almost $20,000 from relatives, friends and associations for tour expenses and for a donation to the Habitat for Humanity.

We, in the IEEE Milwaukee Section, will miss his smiling face at Executive Board meetings. We extend our prayers and sympathy to Dick's wife, Judith, his mother, Janet and to his children and grandchildren.

Milwaukee Section Subscribers:

We'll be back with the IEEE Informer this fall with the September issue. Enjoy the summer!

Section Organizers: Get your information and speakers organized soon for the upcoming September issue as time flies in the summer.