IEEE Central Texas Section

ANALOG NEWSLETTER

 

Volume 52-01 (REVISED)

January 2008

Newsletter of the Central Texas Section of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, Inc.

 

Published monthly. Deadline for inclusion is the 25th day of the previous month. Send submissions, comments, questions to Kevin Nickels, Editor, k.nickels@ieee.org

 

CONTENTS

1. Section Activities

        Chairman's Column

        Section & Chapter News

        Continuing Education

        Student Branches

        Calls for volunteers

2. Chapter Activities

        Multiple Chapters

        Joint Circuits and Systems/Solid-State Circuits

        Components, Packaging and Manufacturing Technology

        Computer Society - Austin

        Computer Society - San Antonio

        Consultants Network

        Electromagnetic Compatibility Society

        Electron Devices Society

        Engineering in Medicine and Biology

        Engineering Management

        Graduates of the Last Decade

        Laser and Electro Optics Society

        Life Members Affinity Group

        Power Engineering Society - Austin

        Power Engineering Society - San Antonio

        Product Safety Engineering Society

        Joint Signal Processing/Communications Society

        Technology Management Council - Austin

        Technology Management Council - San Antonio

        Women in Engineering

3. IEEE Info

        Become a 2008 IEEE-USA Mass Media Fellow: Help Promote Technological Literacy

        IEEE-USA Online Engineering Video Competition: $10K in Scholarship Prizes

        Office Opens in China

        WIE Launches Outreach Efforts

        Energy Bill Contains IEEE/IEEE-USA Provisions

        Former IEEE-USA President Highlights IEEE-USA Innovation Institute at IEEE Globecom 2007

        IEEE FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES 2008 GRANT APPLICATION DEADLINES

        Plastic Computer Memory's Secret Is Gold Nanoparticles

        The Risk Factor: Parking in Trondheim, Norway? Bring Lots of Money

4. Local Conferences

 

IEEE EXTERNAL LINKS

Your IEEE - www.ieee.org

IEEE-USA

IEEE Conferences - Calls for Papers

IEEE Xplore - fulltext access to IEEE Publications

What's New at IEEE

Society News from IEEE

IEEE Standards Association

The Spectrum Online - The Magazine for Technology Insiders

1. Section Activities

 

Chairman's Column

Welcome back from the Holidays and the start of the New Year.  For IEEE Central Texas Section, that means Section officer elections and the Spring Planning Meeting.

In last months Analog, the slate of candidates was presented.  Having received no other candidates by petition, these officers are elected by acclamation.   The Central Texas Section officers for the 2008-2009 term are:Chairman - Garrett PolhamusVice-Chair Austin - Tom GrimVice-Chair San Antonio - Dawn RobersonSecretary - Thuy DaoTreasurer - Kenny Rice

Please give these officers your support as they take over the operations of the Central Texas Section.

To kick off the New Year, the Spring Planning Meeting will be held in San Marcos at the Quality Inn on Saturday, January 26, 2008.  Invitations are being emailed to the exComm and all interested parties are invited to attend.  This meeting is the opportunity to come meet with the Section and Chapter leaders to contribute to the plans for 2008.   I look forward to seeing you there.

Once again, it has been my privilege to serve you for the past two years as your Section Chairman.  I would like to thank you all for permitting me to serve this Section as Chairman and I wish you all a safe and prosperous new year.

Be sure to consult the Central Texas Section Website for meetings, conference dates, and news, and try the myIEEE at http://www.ieee.org. It is a portal to IEEE services and products customized to your specific membership profile.

Thanks to all who volunteer their time and skill to the Central Texas Section of IEEE. Please let me know how I can help you participate.

Clif DennyPast Chairman, Central Texas Sectionc.denny@ieee.org

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Section & Chapter News

Chapter Elections

Officers for Chapters should have been elected by the end of the year. Please submit your list of officers, with IEEE Membership Numbers, to the section secretary Thuy Dao <thuybdao@ieee.org> as soon as possible. Please cc the Chair, vice-chair, and treasurer on the email, or click this link to do it automatically.

 

Chapter and Affinity Group Meeting Reports Due

Your L31 reports are due by the end of the year.

Teacher in Service Program

The IEEE Central Texas Section is implementing the IEEE Teacher In-Service Program (TISP). TISP is a volunteer program where IEEE members work with local schools and school districts to provide technology training to teachers in an in-service environment. IEEE, in partnership with IBM, has developed a large number of lesson plans (at www.tryengineering.org - Check it out!) that IEEE members help teachers to implement in the classroom. More information on the TISP program can be found at www.ieee.org/web/education/preuniversity/tispt/index.html. The CTS is currently recruiting section members to become involved in the program. Training and financial support for TISP activities is available! Please contact Dean Schneider at d.schneider@ieee.org for more information on how you can be involved in our children's future. Chapter chairs, please contact Dean Schneider if you would like to have a presentation on TiSP at your chapter meeting.

 

Management Society to Become Council

The IEEE Engineering Management Society is set to be the first society to become a council. EMS will start doing business as the IEEE Technology Management Council on 1 January, a change approved by the IEEE Board of Directors at its February meeting. Full details can be found in this article from THE INSTITUTE.

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Continuing Education

Register Now for Two Free Professional Networking Webinars (8 Jan. & 15 Jan.)

Get your career off on the right foot in the new year. In January 2008, IEEE-USA's Employment & Career Services Committee continues its free webinar series designed to help IEEE members build their careers. On 8 January, Dr. Michelle Tullier will provide solutions to common networking obstacles, as well as ways to expand your professional network and build powerful relationships. On 15 January, career management consultants Ellen Sautter and Diane Crompton will explore the world of online networking, including such social networking sites as LinkedIn, Ecademy and Ryze. Both webinars are free, but space is limited, so register now. Visit: http://bmsmail3.ieee.org:80/u/9065/101155

Two New E-Books on Innovation Now Available

IEEE-USA has published two new e-books on innovation. The Best of Today's Engineer: On Innovation is a compilation of the best articles on innovation from the Today's Engineer archives, and is now available to IEEE members for only $4.95. In addition, we bring you a great companion book, Innovation Conversations Book 1: The Innovation Process, from internationally renowned innovation expert and author, William C. Miller now available to IEEE members for a discounted rate of $9.95. Check out these and 21 other e-books (some free!) to IEEE members. For more information, go to: http://bmsmail3.ieee.org:80/u/9066/101155

NEED CEUs?

The University of Texas at Austin offers a wide array of continuing engineering education opportunities geared towards Texas engineers. All of the training awards continuing education units (CEUs) which Texas PEs are now required to submit for their annual renewal. We even boast CEU Conferences where you can get all required 1.5 CEUs - including 1 hour of engineering ethics - in just a few days! Visit www.UTclee.org for more information.

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Student Branches

St Mary's University- San Antonio (http://ieee.stmarytx.edu/)Faculty Adviser: Djaffer Ibaroudene, Email: dibaroudene@stmarytx.eduBranch President: Damon Cardenas (email: dcardenas@stmarytx.edu)

Trinity University - San AntonioFaculty Adviser: Farzan Aminian, email: farzan@engr.trinity.eduBranch President: Jonathan Simpkins, email: Jonathan.Simpkins@Trinity.edu

University of Texas at Austin (http://ieee.ece.utexas.edu/)Faculty Adviser: Sriram Vishwanath, email: sriram@ece.utexas.eduBranch chair: William Ward, email: chair@ieee.ece.utexas.edu

University of Texas at San Antonio (http://www.utsaieee.org/)Faculty Adviser: Yufang Jin, email: Yufang.Jin@utsa.eduBranch chair: John Collins, jcollins@lonestar.utsa.edu

Student Member News

The student branches completed the second round of grant requests. This is a competitive process based on projects the branches undertake during the year. We granted requests for additional lab and office equipment. The requests for robotics kits and parts indicate the teams are gearing up for April's Region 5 competition! The students thank the Central Texas Section for their generous support.

Papers for the student competition are due to Steve Crowl (scrowl@ieee.org) by January 21, 2008.

Editor's Note

Advisers/presidents - send us updates on student chapter activities!

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Calls for Volunteers

Austin Energy Regional Science Fest

The Austin Energy Regional Science Fest is seeking judges. Judging will take place for the Jr/Sr division on Thursday, February 21 at the Palmer Events Center in Austin. To volunteer as a judge, go to www.sciencefest.austinenergy.com and click on "sign up as a Science Festival judge now".

IEEE Mentoring Connection

The IEEE Mentoring Connection is looking for "online" mentors to help guide younger IEEE professionals in career planning and professional development. Currently, 989 mentees, but only 440 mentors have registered to participate. Mentor participation is open to all IEEE members above the grade of Student Member. Shortly, we will be inviting Graduate Student Members to join the program. These members have graduated with their first professional degree and are presently in a graduate program (Masters, MBA, PhD, etc.). We will need additional mentors in the program to handle the requests from this new group. We need you! Presently our mentors represent positions in academia including Associate Dean and Professor. Various Industry positions are represented by Director of Engineering, Senior Sales Engineer, Project Manager, Corporate Owner, Consultant, R&D Technical Manager, Licensing Manager, Division Manager - Control Systems, Electrical Engineer, Vice President Research, Director - Customer Operations, Computer Scientist - Branch Chief, Senior Product Development Engineer, Design Engineer - Power and Retired.

If you have received an invitation to join the program and been thinking about it, now is the time to join. If you have already signed in as a mentor - thank you for participating. Gary Hinkle, a mentor in the program, says "Helping young engineers develop in their careers is very rewarding. Working with some of these individuals has proven to be quite a challenge, because of the diversity among those seeking mentors. I'm glad to be contributing to this program."

The program enables the mentee to select their mentoring partner online from a list of individuals who have volunteered to serve as mentors. After mentors are identified as a potential match, they are contacted and asked to begin establishing a relationship.

Interested members can visit http://www.ieee.org/mentoring for information on the roles and responsibilities of each mentoring partner, including additional program information and an FAQ page. Potential mentors are asked to review the time and effort commitment to the program necessary to ensure a successful mentoring partnership. To enter the program website, please go to http://www.mentoringconnection.com and use the IEEE Group ID "IEEE2006" to enter for the first time. Once in, you will need to set your own User ID and Password.

If you have any questions, please contact Cathy Downer, Regional Activities, at c.downer@ieee.org.

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2. Chapter Activities

 

Multiple Chapters

Sponsoring Chapters

Central Texas Section, Life Members and Computer Society

Topic/Title

Ernest Franke

Speaker

Ernest Franke, Southwest Research Institute (SWRI)

Date/Time

Thursday, January 17

6:30 networking, 7:00 dinner, 8:00 program

Cost

$10 IEEE Members, $13 Non-members, $2 students

Reservations

RSVP to Yu Zhang by Monday before meeting, (210) 999-7399

Location

Skyline Room, Trinity University (See www.ieee-cs-cts.org for details & directions)

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Joint Circuits and Systems/Solid-State Circuits http://ewh.ieee.org/r5/central_texas/ssc_css/

Topic/Title

 

Speaker

 

Date/Time

 

Cost

 

Reservations

 

Location

 

Notes

 

The joint Circuits & Systems/Solid State Circuits Societies meet on the 2nd Tuesday of every month. This meeting is open to the public and interested parties. Additional details will be posted at http://ewh.ieee.org/r5/central_texas/ssc_css/. If you have any questions about this meeting or this group, please contact seningen@ieee.org or dferguson@ieee.org

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Components, Packaging and Manufacturing Technologyhttp://cpmtaustinchapter.org/

Topic/Title

 

Speaker

 

Date/Time

Thursday, February 7, 2008, 6pm-7:30pm

Cost

 

Reservations

 

Location

 

Notes

 

Chair: Om P Mandhana, Freescale

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Computer Society - Austinhttp://www.ieee.org/austin_cs/

See http://austin-cs.org/ for detailed directions and for last minute information. This presentation is open to the public.

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Computer Society - San Antoniohttp://www.ieee-cs-cts.org/

Topic/Title

 

Speaker

 

Date/Time

Thursday, ??

6:30 networking, 7:00 dinner, 8:00 program

Cost

$10 IEEE Members, $13 Non-members, $2 students

Reservations

RSVP to Yu Zhang by Monday before meeting, (210) 999-7399

Location

Skyline Room, Trinity University

Notes

(See www.ieee-cs-cts.or