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IEEE Pittsburgh Section Bulletin April 2018, Volume 67 No. 4 of 16

Pittsburgh Section

Bulletin April 2018 Volume 67, No. 4

Included in this issue:

Notes From the Chair .............................................................................................................................. 2

How (Not) to Get Fired in 3 (Not so) Easy Steps! ........................................................................... 3

Cloud Radio Access Networks for 5G Communications ................................................................... 3

Synthesizing NBA defenses with deep imitation learning .............................................................. 4

IEEE N3XT Frontier Summit – April 18, 2018 .................................................................................. 5

IEEE Consultant’s Workshop ................................................................................................................ 6

A Wellness-Centric Healthcare System With Interoperable Public Health ............................. 7

"Social Implications of Technology" - Repercussions in the Global Village ................................ 8

"Transforming Healthcare Through Interoperability” .................................................................... 9

Computer Society Social and Membership Elevation Meeting ..................................................... 10

IEEE Pittsburgh Section Annual History and Awards Dinner ..................................................... 11

Impact of Geomagnetic Disturbances (GMDs) on the Bulk Power System ............................... 12

Looking Ahead: Intel International Science and Engineering Fair 2018 - Call for Judges .. 13

2018 PES Chapter Outstanding Engineer Award Announcement ................................................ 13

Editor: Philip Cox, [email protected]; Contributors: George Crawford, Tom Dionise, Steve Dobos, Joe

Kalasky, Drew Lowery, Steve Mozelewski, Nicholas O’Donoughue, Sid Pant, Sarika Solanki, Ralph

Sprang, and Dan Wilson

All announcements for publication in a particular month’s bulletin are due to the Editor by the 20th of the

previous month. The accuracy of the published material is not guaranteed. If there is any error, please bring it to

mailto:[email protected]


the Editor’s attention. The Section’s web site, http://sites.ieee.org/pittsburgh, has recent issues of the bulletin

and lots of other useful information.

Notes From the Chair We have a very busy April coming up in Pittsburgh this

year. The 2018 IEEE Region 2 Student Activities

Conference (SAC) will be held from April 6th to 7th in

Pittsburgh for the first time in more than 20 years. The

student members in the Pittsburgh Section have been

working especially hard to obtain funding and organize

the conference, and we are excited for it to be a success.

Additionally, the IEEE N3XT® Flagship Event will be

also be taking place in Pittsburgh on April 18th, and

will provide a great opportunity to network and interact

with other entrepreneurs in frontier tech and

engineering-driven startup community.

Also, the IEEE Pittsburgh Section Consultants'

Network is hosting a workshop on April 21st for

present and future consultants, to help build networking

skills for consulting success and provide an opportunity

to learn from successful entrepreneurs and consultants.

Read more in the Bulletin about these conferences and

other exciting events that our technical chapters have

planned for this month. As always, a big thank-you to

all of our volunteers who make it all possible.

Daniel Wilson

2018 IEEE Pittsburgh Section Chair

Section

Chair - Dan Wilson, [email protected]

Vice Chair -- Navid Binesh, [email protected]

Treasurer – Ted Zyra, [email protected] Asst. Treasurer – Evan Watson, [email protected]

Secretary - Haifeng Wang, [email protected]

Immediate Past Chair – Dr. Drew Lowery, [email protected]

Special Events Chair – Dr. Kal Sen, [email protected]

Webmaster – Gerry Kumnik, [email protected]

UpperMon Subsection

Chair: Dr. Gianfranco Doretto, [email protected]

Chapters

Communications Society – Chair: Dr. Balaji Palanisamy, [email protected]; Sec: Phil Cox, [email protected]

Computer Society – Chair: Dr. Ralph Sprang, [email protected]

Electronics Packaging/Electron Devices Societies – Chair: John Mazurowski - [email protected]

Engineering In Medicine & Biology Society Chair: Steve Mozelewski, [email protected]

Electromagnetic Compatibility Society - Chair: Michael J. Oliver, [email protected] (814) 763-3211 Magnetics Society – Chair: Vincent Sokalsky, [email protected]

Nanotechnology Society: Guangyong Li - [email protected]

Power Electronics Society – Chair Sid Pant - [email protected]

Power & Energy & Industry Applications Societies Chair: Steve Dobos, [email protected]; Vice-Chair: Julie Clark; Treas.: Dave Vaglia, [email protected]

Robotics Society – Chair: Joseph Giampapa, [email protected]

Signal Processing Society – Chair: Nicholas.O’Donoughue [email protected]

Society on Social Implications of Technology Chair: Dr. Kal Sen, [email protected]; Vice Chair: Joe Kalasky, P.E., [email protected] 724-244-1609

Council of Electronic Design Automation Chair: Baris Taskin, [email protected]

Affinity Groups

Young Professionals (formerly GOLD) – Chair: Matthew Rehder [email protected]

Women In Engineering – Chair: Mey Sen, [email protected]

Committees

Consultant network: George Crawford - [email protected]

Professional/Career Activities (PACE) Chair: Joe Cioletti, P.E. [email protected]

Student Activities – Dr. Irvin Jones, [email protected]; student reps: Chair:, Zoe Toigo, [email protected]; Vice-chair: Will Howard, [email protected];

Membership Development – Steve Mozelewski, [email protected]

Publicity – Chair: Thomas Dionise, P.E. [email protected] (724) 779-5864

http://sites.ieee.org/pittsburgh/




































How (Not) to Get Fired in 3 (Not so) Easy Steps!

Speaker: Steve Gross

Date: Tuesday, April 10, 2018

Time: 6:30 PM for dinner, talk at 7 PM

Location: Franklin Park/Wexford Eat'n Park, 2650 Brandt School Road, Wexford, PA 15090

RSVP: Register at: Event Registration Form : vTools Events

Sponsor: Computer Society

Abstract: If you have ever received a negative performance

review, you know it can be very challenging. Faced with the

existential risk of losing your job, life gets very stressful. Know

this: you are not alone. And: you can surmount this challenge. Join

Steve Gross for a discussion on how he handled this situation in his

own career, and how he ultimately learned to embrace critical

feedback, get better at his job, and (spoiler alert!) eventually get

promoted.

Bio: Steve Gross; Professional skills: ~17 years as a code monkey

(Case Western School of Medicine, St Jude Medical, Google);

Amateur skills: pianist, urban planning, home chef, Francophone,

parent

Cloud Radio Access Networks for 5G Communications

Speaker: Matt Valenti

Date: Monday, April 16, 2018

Time: 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM

Place: G39 Engineering Sciences Building (ESB)

West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV

Abstract: To deal with the impending mobile data onslaught, future (5G) wireless networks will rely on

the dense deployment of small cells, the opening of previously unavailable bands at millimeter wave,

and the development of improved intercell interference coordination. The use of traditional, self-

contained base stations for such environments is an expensive proposition. A viable alternative is to

replace expensive stations with simple remote radio heads and perform all of the baseband processing in

a centralized computing cloud. The benefit is a more efficient and elastic use of computing assets, the

exploitation of global channel state information, and opportunities for improved intercell coordination.

This presentation reviews the concept of a centralized radio access network (C-RAN), with an emphasis

on the interplay between computational efficiency and data throughput. The concept of "computational

outage" is introduced and applied to the analysis of C-RAN networks. The framework is applied to

single-cell and multi-cell scenarios using parameters drawn from the LTE standard. It is found that in

computationally limited networks, the effective throughput can be improved by using a computationally

aware policy for selecting the modulation and coding scheme, which sacrifices spectral efficiency in

https://events.vtools.ieee.org/meeting_registration/register/168803


order to reduce the computational outage probability. When signals of multiple base stations are

processed centrally, a computational diversity benefit emerges, and the benefit grows with increasing

user density.

Biography: Matthew Valenti is a Professor in the Lane Department of Computer

Science and Electrical Engineering at West Virginia University and site director

for the Center for Identification Technology Research (CITeR), an NSF

Industry/University Cooperative Research Center (I/UCRC). His research is in

the area of wireless communications, including cellular networks, military

communication systems, sensor networks, and coded modulation for satellite

communications. He has published over 100 peer-reviewed papers and his

research is funded by NSF, DoD, and industry. He is active in the organization

of major IEEE Communication Society (ComSoc) conferences, including

serving as the Technical Program Chair for MILCOM 2017 and as chair of the technical steering

committee for IEEE GLOBECOM and ICC. He has served as Editor for several IEEE publications and

as the Chair of ComSoc's Communication Theory Technical Committee. At WVU, he serves as the

Chair of the Faculty Senate and as a faculty representative to the WVU Board of Governors. He

teaches several upper-division and graduate courses on wireless networks, communication theory, and

coding theory, is recipient of several teaching, research, and advising awards by his College, and is a

recipient of the 2013 WVU Foundation Outstanding Teaching Award, the highest teaching award at

WVU. He is registered as a Professional Engineer in the state of West Virginia and is a Fellow of the

IEEE.

Synthesizing NBA defenses with deep imitation learning

Presenter: Dr. Andrew Hartnett

Date: Wednesday, April 18, 2018 Time: 6:30-8:00pm

Location: Benedum Hall Room 102, University of Pittsburgh

Sponsors: IEEE Pittsburgh Joint Chapter of the Signal Processing and Control Systems Societies

Abstract: Encoding and/or constructing generative models of collective behavior is a complex task due

to the dynamic nature of the couplings between agents. The natural state space of endogenous factors,

such as group topology, and exogenous factors, such as the presence and position of other objects,

agents, and signals, is far too high dimensional to be experimentally probed within a laboratory

setting. New techniques in reinforcement and imitation learning, however, provide an avenue for

progress using large quantities of trajectories from observational video data.

In this talk, we will examine these challenges within the context of professional basketball. The goal is

to construct unsupervised models which are capable of synthesizing realistic, responsive NBA team

defensive behaviors. We will present compelling progress towards this goal and discuss the key

technical insights that have made this possible. Specifically, we will focus on issues of data routing,

feature selection, network architecture, and multi-model training.


Bio: Andrew Hartnett is a physicist, ecologist, and educator. His research interests center on extending

principles from information theory and machine learning to problems in collective behavior. He received

his Ph.D. in 2017 from Princeton University where he studied the mechanisms of coordinated movement

and consensus decision-making in animal groups. As a postdoc at Disney Research, Andrew focused on

understanding collective behavior in team sports: developing deep recurrent models for encoding and

predicting player trajectories in basketball. Currently, he is working on understanding and modeling the

complex interactions encountered by autonomous vehicles as an engineer at Argo AI.

This event is open to the public, please register at: https://events.vtools.ieee.org/m/170061. For

questions, contact Nicholas O’Donoughue ([email protected]).

IEEE N3XT Frontier Summit – April 18, 2018

Getting Beyond #MeToo: A Discussion on Culture, Diversity, Inclusion & Successful Scaling within

the Startup Environment

K E Y N O T E S P E A K E R S

KELLY HOEY

Serial Entrepreneur, Investor & Author | Build Your Dream Network

JUDITH M. WILL IAMS

Founder | Magic Deer Consulting & former Global Head of Diversity | Dropbox

https://events.vtools.ieee.org/m/170061


https://entrepreneurship.ieee.org/speaker/kelly-hoey/

https://entrepreneurship.ieee.org/speaker/judithwilliams/


5:00pm Registration & Welcome

5:30pm – 7:00pm Keynotes & Fireside Chat

7:00pm – 8:30pm AlphaLab Gear Hardware Cup International Finals

8:30pm IEEE Entrepreneurship & AlphaLab Gear host #PartyLikeAnEngineer and IEEE Young Professional Meetup &Kickoff of the IEEE Entrepreneurs Network – Pittsburgh Section!

https://entrepreneurship.ieee.org/ieee-n3xt-frontiers/

Registration is free, and filling up fast. Sign up here for awesome evening packed with events, keynotes,

and networking!

IEEE Consultant’s Workshop

Are you thinking about becoming a consultant or are you already a consultant in your own business?

This workshop is just what you need to start or expand your business.

The purpose of the workshop is “to facilitate the formation of more consulting businesses by showing

our members the How-To part of becoming a consultant and running their own business where they are

their own boss”.

Date: April 21, 2018

Site: Sewickley United Methodist Church

Broad and Thorne Streets

Sewickley, PA 15143

Time: Registration at 8:30AM, Workshop from 9:00 to 2:30.

There will be a charge to cover the cost of providing breaks and lunch for those persons attending the

entire event.

Pre-register at https://meetings.vtools.ieee.org/m/158496. More information and a syllabus can be found

at this location.

Questions: Contact George Crawford – [email protected] about the Consultant’s Workshop.

This event is jointly sponsored by the Pittsburgh Section Consultants Network and the Pittsburgh

Section Employment Network and is open to all engineers.

https://entrepreneurship.ieee.org/session/ieee-n3xt-keynote-event-alphalab-gear-international-hardware-cup/

http://alphalabgear.org/hardwarecup/

http://sites.ieee.org/pittsburgh/

https://entrepreneurship.ieee.org/ieee-n3xt-frontiers/

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ieee-n3xt-frontier-tech-keynotes-alphalab-gear-hardware-cup-tickets-42988677291

https://meetings.vtools.ieee.org/m/158496



A Wellness-Centric Healthcare System With Interoperable Public

Health: The Multidimensional Global Threats, Interdependences of

the Critical Infrastructures, and Geomedicine

Speaker: Luis Kun

Date: Monday, April 23, 2018

Time: 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM

Place: 120 Advanced Engineering Research Building

(AERB)

West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV

Abstract: A combination of factors affects Society today, in ways unimaginable, to many, a few years

ago, in the ways we: work, study, teach, read and write, have fun, find out the news, buy, sell and

generally in the way we communicate and even the total way we live. Globalization, and the constant

use of technologies in academia, industry and government has created a new generation of socio-

economic dilemmas that are associated not only to biomedical and clinical engineering and electro-

medicine but to many other disciplines. Professionally, new requirements have and will open new

opportunities to those that have knowledge in a spectrum of areas that include biosensors, geographical

information systems, nanotechnology, intelligent agents, and many other areas. Medicine and Public

Health experts will have to incorporate in their teams, individuals that would be able to develop and

maintain new technologies, within their respective fields. In many cases, solutions used in other fields,

were used to resolve problems in this one. This in turn provides solutions much are more cost-effective

solutions. NOTE: This talk covers a wide range of topics that could be of interest to heterogeneous

audiences that include not only computer experts, but biomedical, systems and communication

engineers, technologists, physicians, nurses, epidemiologists and surveillance personnel associated with

public health and epidemics, agencies and departments in charge of protecting our food, our drinking

water, our environment, our borders, etc.

Biography: Dr. Kun graduated from the Merchant Marine Academy in Uruguay and holds a BSEE;

MSEE and Ph.D. degree in BME all from UCLA. A (Lifetime) Fellow of the IEEE, the American

Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, and the International Academy of Medical and

Biological Engineering. He is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus of National Security Affairs (CHDS)

and was Professor of Homeland Security at the National Defense University (2003-2015). He is Editor

in Chief of Springer's Journal of Health and Technology. He spent 14 years at IBM; was Director of

Medical Systems Technology at Cedars Sinai Medical Center. As Senior IT Advisor to AHCPR he

formulated the IT vision and was the lead staff for High Performance Computers and Communications

program and Telehealth. In July 1997, as invited speaker to the White House, he was largely responsible

for the first Telemedicine Homecare Legislation signed by President Clinton, August 1997. Represented

the DHHS Secretary at a Forum of Health Care Ministers on Telecommunications and the Health Care

Industry in Mexico. While a Distinguished Fellow at the CDC, as Acting Chief IT Officer for the

National Immunization Program he formulated their IT vision on 10/2000. Kun received many awards

including: AIMBE's first-ever Fellow Advocate Award in 2009; IEEE-USA Citation of Honor Award,

"For exemplary contributions in the inception and implementation of a health care IT vision in the US."

2011 Golden Core Award by the IEEE CS. Named: "Profesor Honoris Causa" Favaloro University,

(Argentina); "Distinguished Visitor" by City of Puebla, Mexico (9/4/2013). He is/was in the IEEE


Distinguished Visitor Program for the CS, Distinguished Lecturer for the Engineering in Medicine and

Biology Society (EMBS) and the DL SSIT Chair. (2014) Honorary Professor of the Electrical

Engineering Dept. at the School of Engineering of the University (UDELAR) in Montevideo, Uruguay.

He received the Medal of Merit on October 20, 2016 in Mexico by the National Unit of Engineering

Associations and named Visiting Professor by the National Technological University of Buenos Aires,

Argentina, October 2017.

"Social Implications of Technology" - Repercussions from Science

Technology and the Climate Changes in the Global Village

Speaker: Luis Kun, PhD, SSIT Distinguished Lecturer

Date: April 23, 2018

Time: Refreshments - 6:30 PM; Presentation - 7:00 PM

Place: Westinghouse Energy Center, 4350 Northern Pike, Monroeville, PA 15146

RSVP: Required at https://events.vtools.ieee.org/m/170526 by April 20, 2018. If you are an

IEEE member, you must enter your membership number. If you would like to receive PDH, please bring

a copy of this announcement for verification of your attendance and your membership identification

card. A non-Member who would like to receive PDH is required to pay $10 to “IEEE Pittsburgh

Section.”

Organizer: Women In Engineering (WIE) and Society on Social Implications of Technology (SSIT)

Abstract: We live in a planet where two different realities occur. In one, the world is driven by the

Internet, cell phones, computers, high definition TV, a global economy, medications a la carte for

depression, cholesterol or hypertension. The other reality however, shows us a world where 2 out of 3

persons don’t have access to clean water, 70 % of the world population lives with less than 10 dollars a

day, and where 21.000 children die every day before reaching the age of 5 (29 K in 2005). In this other

reality thousands die daily from, tuberculosis, AIDS, Malaria and many other communicable diseases.

The majority of these deaths due to lack of clean drinking water, food and medications / vaccines are

preventable. In the mid `90s, a discussion ensued regarding, a potential digital divide caused by great

social inequalities that could take place by having (or not) access to the Internet and other

communication technologies. Dr. Kun will discuss different aspects of these two realities including:

global population growth, urbanization and the threats from increases in population density,

interdependencies of this growth, sustainability of the world (water, food and energy), the global

economy, and the increases in natural and man-made disasters, many of which are a direct consequence

of climate change. Dr. Kun will propose, a change in attitude and the need to apply new formulas to

address these challenges. In his opinion, the future conflicts and wars will be driven by water, food,

energy and medications, and particularly the need for education.

Speaker: See Dr. Kun’s biography on page 7.



DIRECTIONS TO WESTINGHOUSE ENERGY CENTER

From Pittsburgh take Interstate 376 East (Parkway East). Take Exit 84A to Monroeville. Cross Business

Rt 22 at the traffic light and proceed on Rt 48 South (Moss Side Blvd) approx ½ mile (two traffic lights).

The 2nd

traffic light is at a 4-way intersection with a Marathon station on the right and a Sunoco station

on the left. Turn left onto Northern Pike. Proceed approx 0.2 miles and turn right at the 1st traffic light

onto Westinghouse Dr. Travel 0.7 miles to the 3 flags where the building’s main entrance is located.

Parking in the evening will be plentiful. Use the main entrance and check with the security guards

inside. You will be directed to the proper room for your meeting.

From the PA Turnpike, take Exit 57 (Monroeville). After the toll plaza, get in the left lane to get on

Business Rt 22 West. At the first light, turn left onto Rt 48 South (Moss Side Blvd) and follow the above

directions.

"Transforming Healthcare Through Interoperability”

Speaker: Luis Kun, PhD, SSIT Distinguished Lecturer

Date: Tuesday April 24, 2018

Time: Light Dinner - 6:30 PM; Presentation - 7:00 PM to 8:30PM

Place: Location: Westinghouse Headquarters 1000 Westinghouse Drive Cranberry Township,

Pennsylvania United States 16066

Registration: Required at https://events.vtools.ieee.org/m/170548 by April 22, 2018. If you are an

IEEE member, you must enter your membership number. If you would like to receive PDH, please bring

a copy of this announcement for verification of your attendance and your membership identification

card. A non-Member who would like to receive PDH is required to pay $10 to “IEEE Pittsburgh

Section.”

Sponsored By: Electromagnetic Compatibility Society (EMC), and the Power and Energy & Industry

Applications Societies (PES/IAS).

Abstract: For over 40 years researchers have written about applying computer technologies to improve

daily medical care, and in the past decade, the goal of using genomic data to truly personalize care has

been woven into those concepts. Since 2004, the US has focused on creating a complete personal health

record for each citizen by 2015, and great strides have been made in developing the technical standards

to allow near-real-time health data acquisition either directly from medical devices, health practitioners,

caregivers, and/or patients themselves. In this period government and private agencies have also been

separately collecting and organizing vast quantities of scientific data regarding agriculture, society, and

many other facets of science the environment we live in. It has become clear that many illnesses and

injuries are directly caused or are significantly influenced by the environment. Further, as human

lifetimes are extended around the globe; environmental factors simply have more years' damage to

human health and wellness. The cost of treating illnesses and injuries in the US is rapidly approaching

20% GDP, and other countries are experiencing significant medical cost increases as well. These

increases have far outstripped other industries and are made worse by the growing percentages of elder

citizens. Older populations also shift the cost and burden of healthcare onto a decreasing percentage of

young and health workers, too. Not only are the costs unsustainable, but the escalation of human

suffering for old and young alike is unacceptable and unnecessary. Ultimately, scientists, engineers, and



information specialists will have to work to "engineer health and wellness INTO each person's life" as

consistently and as effectively as possible, because that is simply more efficient, effective, affordable,

and ethical than treating the symptoms of illnesses and injuries. Health and wellness is not a "one size

fits all" process, however. Our genetic makeup and our lifelong history of nutrition, exercise, education,

illnesses and injuries all interact with the environment in very complex ways. Over many centuries of

evolution, humans have adapted to widely different chemical, climactic, nutritional, and other

challenges. The ideal sustenance for health and wellness of each person and community can be

considerably different through seasonal, regional, social, and other changes. Matching health and

wellness solutions to each person's current and projected needs will require integrating vast amounts of

sometimes dissimilar information, careful and thoughtful analysis of these data warehouses, and skillful

interpretation and application of that data to meet each person's actual needs.

Speaker: See Dr. Kun’s biography on page 7.

DIRECTIONS TO WESTINGHOUSE HQ, CRANBERRY

Directions from the South: Take 79 North to the route 228 east exit. Stay in right lane and drive by

Marriott Hotel (on right). Turn right into Cranberry Woods facility and stay in left lane. Make first left

into Westinghouse Headquarters and drive straight through roundabout. Please park in the visitors

parking places that are located on either side of the entry road.

Directions from the East: Take the PA Turnpike (I-76) West following signs for Ohio / I-76 W. Take

Exit 28 and follow I-79 N toward Erie. Stay in the entrance lane (right lane) and immediately take Exit

78, PA-228 Cranberry/Mars. Turn right onto PA-228 E toward Mars. Turn right onto Cranberry Woods

Drive. Take immediate left at Westinghouse sign and drive straight through roundabout. Please park in

the visitors parking places that are located on either side of the entry road.

Computer Society Social and Membership Elevation Meeting

Date: Thursday April 26, 2018

Time: 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM

Place: Any Given Sundae, 2612 Brandt School Rd, Wexford, PA 15090

Organizer: Computer Society

RSVP: RSVP at https://events.vtools.ieee.org/m/170474 and we will buy your ice cream. IEEE

members must enter their membership number.

Join the Computer Society for a social time, networking, discussion of upcoming meetings, and to learn

how to progress to a higher membership grade.

Computer Society will buy ice cream for Computer Society members who RSVP.



IEEE Pittsburgh Section Annual History and Awards Dinner

Date: Friday, May 4, 2018

Time: 5:30 PM: Arrival

6:00 PM: Dinner and Awards Presentations

7:00 PM: Keynote speech

Speaker: Mark Barlow

Place: The University Club, Gold room, University of Pittsburgh

123 University Place, Pittsburgh, PA 15260.

Phone: 412-648-8213

Cost: $30 per member; $50 member plus guest (Cash Bar is available)

Organizer: IEEE Pittsburgh Section.

RSVP: Required by April 20, 2018. Seating is limited to 40 people. Register at:

https://events.vtools.ieee.org/m/170229. Please pay by credit card online, or send your check, payable

to “IEEE Pittsburgh Section,” to Philip Cox, 343 Partridge Run Rd., Gibsonia, PA 15044. Please

provide the name of your guest, if any. For any question, please write to Phil at [email protected].

Title: Exploring the Life and Achievements of Nikola Tesla

Join us in appreciating the life and achievements of electrical engineer Nikola Tesla. We will reflect on

Tesla’s past, recognize his contributions to the present, and consider his warnings about the future. The

presentation will touch on aspects of Tesla’s life, the impact of AC power, and the Tesla Coil!

Bio: Mark Barlow has 6.5 years experience in the energy

industry working on solar photovoltaic grid tied and battery

storage power systems. His years of experience include

employment within the energy sector, as well as work

completed in his own company DC to Power, LLC.

Mark established his company in 2011 with the ambition of

making sustainable energy more cost effective. Additionally, he

has 3.5 years of reliability engineering experience from the

semiconductor industry related to the development of MEMS

sensors. Mark has been a member of the IEEE for 15 years and

a Tesla Coil Builder for last 20 years.

Mr. Barlow received his Masters of Science in Engineering

from Youngstown State University where he completed his

thesis on the topic of fabricating Schottky Diodes on Silicon

Carbide.




Impact of Geomagnetic Disturbances (GMDs) on the Bulk Power

System

Speaker: Tapan Manna

Title: Associate Technical Consultant, Burns & McDonnell, Kansas City

Date: Monday, May 7, 2018

Time: Refreshments - 6:30 PM; Presentation - 7:00 PM

Place: Westinghouse Energy Center, 4350 Northern Pike, Monroeville, PA 15146

See directions on page 9.

RSVP: Required at https://events.vtools.ieee.org/m/170488 by May 5, 2018. If you are an IEEE

member, you must enter your membership number. If you would like to receive PDH, please bring a

copy of this announcement for verification of your attendance and your membership identification card.

A non-Member who would like to receive PDH is required to pay $10 to “IEEE Pittsburgh Section.”

Organizer: Power Electronics Society (PELS)

Abstract: This presentation describes GMD (Geomagnetic Disturbance) and its impacts on the bulk

power system. It also discusses a high-level overview of solar storm phenomena including historical

solar events, FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) Order on ‘Benchmark GMD Event’ and

strategic plans for GIC (geomagnetically induced current) monitoring and mitigation against GMD

event.

Speaker: Dr. Tapan Manna is currently an Associate Technical Consultant

working at Burns & McDonnell, Kansas City. He has been actively involved

with relay coordination and HVDC and FACTS projects. He has over 25 years

of experience in the power industry and academia. His technical specialties and

interests include power systems and power systems protection, grounding,

lightning, HVDC and FACTS, and HV/EHV power apparatus. Tapan obtained

his PhD from Tennessee Tech University. Prior to migrating to the United

States, he served as a Lecturer for two years at the College of Engineering &

Management, Kolaghat, India. He had over 10 years of utility-experience with

Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation Limited and West Bengal Power

Development Corporation Limited in India. Tapan’s utility background comprises start-up testing and

commissioning of substation and generating station, and power generation plants operation. Prior to

joining Burns & McDonnell, he worked for URS (currently AECOM), Black & Veatch, and Tennessee

Tech University. Dr. Manna is a registered Professional Engineer in the State of Texas, a registered

Chartered Engineer in the Institution of Engineers (India), and a PES Distinguished Lecturer. He is also

a Senior IEEE member and a member of CIGRE, Sigma Xi, and Institution of Engineers (India). He is a

member and contributor of several IEEE-PES and CIGRE working groups.



Looking Ahead: Intel International Science and Engineering Fair

2018 - Call for Judges

Volunteers are needed to represent the IEEE Pittsburgh Section at the 2018 Intel International Science

and Engineering Fair (ISEF). The 2018 Intel ISEF event will be held at the David L. Lawrence

Convention Center in Pittsburgh, PA, May 13-18, 2018. IEEE members from Pittsburgh are needed to

judge for the IEEE President’s Scholarship of $10,000 plus new awards for 2nd

and 3rd

place. The

Special Award judging days begin on Tuesday, May 15 and a winner must be chosen by the end of the

day, Wednesday, May 16. The Awards Presentation will take place the evening of Thursday, May 17.

Volunteer judges are needed Tuesday, May 15 for pre-judging and for the whole day on Wednesday,

May 16 for judging. If you are unable to commit to both days, then it is possible to judge for a portion of

the time.

To volunteer to be an IEEE judge for ISEF, just email [email protected], and you will be given

information on registration and included in future mailings.

2018 PES Chapter Outstanding Engineer Award Announcement

Mey Ling Sen,

President, Sen Engineering Solutions

to receive the 2018 Pittsburgh PES Chapter’s

Outstanding Engineer Award



Ms. Mey Ling Sen was selected this year to receive the 2018 Pittsburgh PES Chapter Outstanding

Engineer Award. Ms. Sen’s exemplary contributions to the IEEE Power & Energy Society along with

her many years of contributions to the Pittsburgh Section of IEEE will be recognized at the annual

History and Awards Dinner on May 4th where she will be our honored guest. All members are invited

to our Annual History and Awards Dinner. Make it a date. You will surely enjoy the evening.

Service to IEEE

Starting back in 2003, Ms. Sen became very active in the IEEE Pittsburgh Section. She is presently a

member of the IEEE:

Industry Applications Society,

Power and Energy Society

Power Electronics Society Women in Engineering Affiliation Group

There are too many good things to list here that have happened in our Pittsburgh Section IEEE due

directly to Mey’s leadership and volunteering of her time and effort. However, several things standout

that should not go unnoted.

Mey has held all officer positions in the PES/IAS Joint Chapter which includes Secretary, Treasurer,

Vice-Chair, Chair, Immediate Past Chair, and Awards Chair, While in those positions, the Joint Chapter

won the Best Large Chapter Award both in PES and IAS, , and several High Performance Chapter

awards

Ms. Sen has helped resurrect the Women in Engineering (WIE) affinity group as Co- Chair. Mey is now

Chair of our WIE group.

The Baseball Outings, History and Awards Dinners, and Summer/Fall Picnics for many years have come

to fruition through the hard work and persistence of Mey (and Kal).

The new to Pittsburgh Section Power Electronics Chapter has become a success and won the 2015 Best

Chapter Award with the support given by Mey as Vice-Chair.

For the Pittsburgh Section, Mey has served in the Treasurer’s position , keeping the books balanced, and

the funds flowing to our chapters.

In short, wherever and whenever support was needed, Mey was there to give it.

Description of technical contributions:

Currently Ms. Sen is the President of Sen Engineering Solutions (Monroeville, PA).

SEN Engineering Solutions has developed a novel concept for power system control. The idea is to rely

on traditional transformer-and-tap technology to regulate and minimize reactive power in transmission

lines, the current that is out of phase with voltage and contributes nothing to useful energy delivered.

The Sen Transformers are designed to accomplish better power flow control, much the same as more

sophisticated but much more expensive flexible AC transmission system (FACTS) devices.


Mey Ling Sen has spent over 15 years in industry. She has worked as an Engineering Consultant at

Westinghouse and ABB. She is the co-inventor of the Sen Transformer—a SMART Power Flow

Controller that is based on functional requirements and the most cost-effective power flow control

solution. She is the coauthor of the book titled, Introduction to FACTS Controllers: Theory, Modeling,

and Applications, IEEE Press and John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2009, which is also published in Chinese and

English paperback editions in China and India, respectively.

Ms. Sen received BSEE and MEE degrees in electrical engineering, from Worcester Polytechnic

Institute and Rice University, respectively.

Patents and Patent Applications

Mey Ling Sen has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent

applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States

Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

Multi-line power flow transformer for compensating power flow among transmission lines

Patent number: 6841976

Versatile power flow transformers for compensating power flow in a transmission line Patent

numbers: 6420856, 6396248, 6384581 and 6335613

Ms. Sen, your fellow engineers and members of the IEEE Pittsburgh Section thank you for your

exemplary support and leadership in making the Pittsburgh Section what it is today, one of the best!

https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__patents.justia.com_patent_6420856&d=DwMDaQ&c=Scw5Q-w0YkzmgQckG2UMv_F15wUD7DoFbJjMRh6PGnA&r=r_biFvKO3lcByUoTkaeLXHN4iWWomgoOIqA1E4lPdZc&m=ktavVdPnxR05vcLu-WX883EhBRz-e-yHuhBQO_vD28w&s=fnLGbpgQ13m1JgwKgZghHbmz9cg2_RwSQvRFNyXJKS0&e=


2018 Calendar – Meetings of IEEE Pittsburgh Section Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July August Sept Oct Nov Dec

Executive

Committee

(AdCom)

18

Panera

Bread Robinson

15

Panera

Bread Wilkins

15

Panera Bread

Oakland, Forbes ave.

19

Panera Bread

Wexford

17

Panera Bread

Galleria

21

Panera

Bread Wilkins

19

Panera Bread

Wexford

16

Panera Bread

Wilkins

20

Panera

Bread Galleria

18

TBD

15

Panera Bread

Galleria

20

TBD

Section 24

Engineers

Week

29

Senior

Members

21

Consultants &

Employment Workshop

4

History

Dinner

Communic

ations

Computer 10 Job advice

26

Social meet

20 Ethernet

EMBS 22 Monitor

Brain

EMCS 24

Health Data

Power

Electronics

25

Ripple

Reduction

22

Voltage

Converters

7

GMDs

PES/IAS 24 Health Data

Magnetics

Robotics 30

Advocating Robotics

Sig.

Processing

18

Synthesizing

NBA defenses

CPMT/ED

Social Impl

Technology

23 Global

Village

Upper Mon 26 Data

Analytics

16 Cloud Radio

23

Health Care

Women in

Eng’ing

23 Global

Village

Young Pros 18

N3XT

PACE 4

Russ

Harrison

Student Act

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