pittsburgh section bulletin · ideas for the x-prize foundation’s first energy x-prize. the...

Pittsburgh Section

Bulletin April 2009 Volume 58, No. 4

Included in this issue: • Twigg’s Tidbits ........................................................................................................................................... 2 • Energy X-Prize ........................................................................................................................................... 3 • Voice And RFID Technologies In Supply Chain Operations............................................................. 4 • Young Engineers @ IndEEE 500cm Robot Car Race.......................................................................... 5 • Global Climate Change............................................................................................................................... 7 • The Importance of Obtaining a PE License ......................................................................................... 8 • The FE Review Course .............................................................................................................................. 9 • The Evolution and Revolutions in Disk Drive Recording.................................................................. 10 • A History of Thrills ................................................................................................................................ 11 • Next Generation Service-Oriented Networks ................................................................................. 12 • FBI Fingerprinting Headquarters Tour, Clarksburg, West Virginia, Advance Notice ............ 14 • “Who's Afraid of Maxwell's Equations?” .......................................................................................... 15 • Electrical Contacts For All Your Switching Needs.......................................................................... 16 • Mark Your Calendars: History and Awards Dinner with George Westinghouse ....................... 17 Editor: Philip Cox, [email protected]; Contributors: Joseph Cioletti, Rajiv Garg, Joseph Kalasky, Mike Oliver, Kal Sen, Mey Sen, Ralph Sprang, John Twigg and Dave Vaglia. 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 the Editor’s attention. The Section’s web site www.ewh.ieee.org/r2/pittsburgh has past issues of the bulletin and lots of other useful information

IEEE Pittsburgh Section Bulletin April 2009 Volume 58 No. 4 of 18

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.ewh.ieee.org/r2/pittsburgh

Section Chair– John Twigg [email protected] (412) 795-4444

Vice Chair – Joe Cioletti [email protected] (724) 516-3897

Secretary – Louis Hart [email protected]

Treasurer – Robert Brooks [email protected] (412) 767-2400 x3506

Webmaster – Gerry Kumnik, [email protected]

Immediate Past Chair & Awards Chair – Ralph Sprang [email protected]

UpperMon Subsection Chair: Dr. Dimitris Korakakis [email protected] (304) 293-0405 x2512 Chapters Communications Society - Chair: Phil Cox [email protected] (724) 443-0566

Computer Society – Chair: John Twigg (see above)

Engineering In Medicine & Biology Society Co-Chairs: Bob Brooks (see above), Dr. Zhi-Hong Mao [email protected] (412) 624-9674

Electromagnetic Compatibility Society Chair: Michael J. Oliver [email protected] (814) 763-3211

Powe & Energy & Industry Applications Societies r Chair Mey Sen, [email protected] 412-373-0117

Magnetics Society – Chair: Dr. Ganping Ju [email protected] (412) 918-7046

Robotics Society – Chair: Dr. Guy Nicoletti [email protected] (724) 836-9922

Signal Processing Society – Chair: Dr. Heung-No Lee [email protected] (412) 624-9677

Society on Social Implications of Technology Chair: Joe Kalasky, P.E., [email protected] (724) 838-6492, Co-Chair: Andrew Rydholm, [email protected] (412) 261-3200 x281 Affinity Groups GOLD – Co-Chairs: Jason Harchick [email protected], Andrew Rydholm, [email protected]

Life Member – Chair: Bob Grimes, P.E. [email protected] (412) 963-9711

Women In Engineering – Chair: Angela Llamas-Butler [email protected] Committees Consultants Network

Professional/Career Activities (PACE) Chair: Joe Kalasky, P.E. (see above)

Student Activities – Rajiv Garg, [email protected]

Membership Development – Dr. Karl Muller P.E., [email protected]

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

• Twigg’s Tidbits See the article on the next page on the Energy X-prize.

























• Energy X-Prize

A unique opportunity for you to help define the new Energy X-Prize Many of us have heard of the original X-Prize that was won in 2004 by Burt Rutan and his aerospace company, Scaled Composites (www.scaled.com). The prize that Burt’s team won was $10 million for becoming the first private spacecraft, SpaceShipOne, to make it to space (62 miles) twice within two weeks and return the pilot safely. My sons and I attended the Scaled Composites team’s first flight into space and being out in the Mojave Desert felt like we were witnessing the original Wright Brothers all over again. SpaceShipOne now resides in the Smithsonian Museum. Why was this important you may ask? Prizes focus the media’s attention on reaching a new milestone and generate enthusiasm and participation. It changes people’s minds about what is possible. The X-Prize brought a lot of media exposure for a new milestone in space travel that otherwise may have happened in obscurity. The public soon realized that private industry and not just governments could make it to space. Similarly, back in 1927 another aviation pioneer, Charles Lindberg, emerged from obscurity to global fame by winning the Orteig Prize of $25 thousand, and the public immediately realized that they, too, could fly to Europe someday. A Call for Participation Here’s your chance to get involved with an important new prize – an Energy X-Prize. Your Pittsburgh Section is working directly with the X-Prize Foundation (XPF) (www.xprize.org) which has asked for our help in deciding what their new Energy X-Prize should be. There are five infrastructure-level areas that they have defined including energy generation, transmission, efficiency, storage, and low-carbon fuels. XPF wants to choose one area to be the focus of the first Energy X-Prize. They like ideas that capture the public’s imagination. You’re invited to attend two Section meetings this month to give your thoughts about what our Section’s recommendation will be for the Energy X-Prize. Do you think space-based power generation should be the next prize? Do you have an idea around transmission or storage? The two upcoming meetings are on Wednesday, April 8th and Wednesday, April 29th. The locations of these meetings will be determined, so write me at [email protected] so I can notify you when we have a location for each. We will be making a list of your ideas at the first meeting and discussing presentation formats. The second meeting is for interested members to present their favorite idea for an Energy X-Prize. The X-Prize Foundation wants to make a decision by June 1. They may use your idea(s) or they may not; but they won’t ignore them. One final thought. These prizes tend to create new industries. Can this lead to new company formation here in Pittsburgh? We’ve always been an energy town! John Twigg 2009 IEEE Pittsburgh Section Chair


http://scaled.com/projects/tierone/index.htm�

http://www.scaled.com/

http://www.xprize.org/


Help Define the New Energy X-Prize Speaker: John Twigg / IEEE Pittsburgh Section Executive Committee Date: Wednesday, April 8, 2009 Time: Social 6:00 PM, Program 6:30 PM Place: To be determined RSVP: John Twigg, [email protected] or 412.795.444 by April 6, 2009 Organizers: IEEE Pittsburgh Section. The X-Prize Foundation creates “Revolution Through Competition.” It strives to make the “impossible possible” through prizes and media attention. It has invited the IEEE Pittsburgh Section to work with it to help define its first Energy X-Prize. This meeting, therefore, is to present initial ideas for the X-Prize Foundation’s first Energy X-Prize. The topics will cover:

1. The purpose of the X-Prize contests 2. The 5 categories of X-Prize contests to be considered

a. Energy Generation b. Energy Transmission c. Energy Efficiency d. Energy Storage e. Low-Carbon Fuels

3. A census on possible ideas from the group 4. How to further define your idea for an X-Prize contest within a category 5. How to create a presentation to the Section for your idea on April 29th

We have significant interest from the X-Prize Foundation about the ideas that our membership may generate. Your idea(s) should be something that sparks the public’s imagination. It should make the public realize that something that they have either dismissed or not considered could suddenly be possible through innovative technology. See the Chair’s comments above for more information.

• Voice And RFID Technologies In Supply Chain Operations Speaker: Tom Kerr – Director, Applied Research, Vocollect Date: Tuesday, April 21, 2009 Time: 6:30 PM Refreshments, 7:00 PM Presentation Place: Vocollect, Inc., 703 Rodi Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15235 RSVP: [email protected] Sponsors: IEEE Pittsburgh Section Computer Society, Vocollect Presentation Overview: Vocollect is leading the convergence of Voice and RFID technologies in supply chain operations. Voice and RFID are complementary technologies that, when integrated together, mutually enhance their benefits. Vocollect Voice with RFID creates the equivalent of a “talking RFID tag,” and “hearing what the tag says” is safer, more accurate and more productive way to access information, saving time, money and labor.




This presentation will provide an overview of both voice and RFID technologies, and show how they work together for mutual benefit. The current state of the art in mobile RFID will be presented, as well as a discussion of the current state of adoption in the supply chain market. Some case studies will be presented to show examples of what has worked and what hasn’t in specific applications. Market trends and future technology directions will be discussed.

Speaker: Tom Kerr is Director of Applied Research at Vocollect, the world leader in Voice-Directed Work®. Tom leads technology development efforts for new products that improve the performance of active mobile workers. His team is advancing the state of the art in wearable RFID reader technology by combining innovations in diverse fields including RF engineering, materials science, embedded systems and human-computer interaction. Tom is the co-author of several peer-reviewed articles on RFID and related technologies and is an invited speaker at academic and industry events on the subject. Tom is a Senior Member of IEEE and serves on the IEEE Technical Committee on RFID. He was a technical editor for RFID for IEEE Applications and Practice Magazine and also served as Co-Series Editor for one edition. He holds a BSEE degree from Penn State and a MSEE degree from Florida Institute of Technology.

Directions: Take Parkway East to Penn Hills Exit 11. Take the first right immediately past the exit ramp. Stay right and follow the winding road up the hill past the Comfort Inn to the white Vocollect building. The meeting room is located on the lowest level of the white building. Enter the building through one of the doors near the loading dock. Note: The Vocollect buildings are located on an access road called Maple Lane, so Google Maps and other programs usually give incorrect results when our Rodi Road mailing address is provided. Better results may be obtained by searching for “Maple Lane, Pittsburgh, PA 15235.”

• Young Engineers @ IndEEE 500cm Robot Car Race The IEEE Pittsburgh Section hosted the 16th annual Robotic Car Race - IndEEE 500cm (www.indeee.org) on Saturday, February 21, 2009, at the Carnegie Science Center (CSC). This event was part of the National Engineers Week at CSC, which attracts thousands of visitors. National Engineers' Week is celebrated throughout the United States to raise public awareness and appreciation of engineers and their work. Robot car race was open to all the visitors and had a few hundred visitors over the course of the day. Nine teams comprised of about 40 students in eighth and lower grades from various middle schools in the Pittsburgh region participated in 2009 IndEEE. The students built and raced their autonomous robotic cars on a 500cm race track. Each car was built and programmed on the spot using LEGO Mindstorms kit and volunteer provided laptops. There were over 20 volunteers from IEEE Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University, University of Pittsburgh, and other Pittsburgh organizations that helped in making this event a huge success. Volunteers mentored the participating students on various engineering and computer concepts including but not limited to developing


structurally solid Lego car, discussing ideas for interaction between sensors and actuators in the car, and programming and algorithm development.

IndEEE Volunteer discussing the mechanics in a LEGO car

The Queen of Angels middle school won the first prize – a trophy,

certificates and cash award. Carson Middle School came in second place with Schiller Classical Academy at the third place. Additionally there were special awards given for the most technical car, most creative car, and most mechanically stable car. Almost all of the IEEE members and volunteers who participated in the event felt that diffusing the engineering and science knowledge to the next generation of engineers was intellectually rewarding. Additionally, it was not a unidirectional learning from volunteers to students, but also an opportunity for volunteers to gain knowledge from the talented and smart middle school students who are exceptionally creative and imaginative.

Autonomous robotic cars created by middle school students

BACKGROUND: One of the missions of the IEEE is to foster an interest in the engineering profession. To interest students from the local community in engineering careers, the Pittsburgh Section, Computer Society and Robotics and Automation Society started the Robot Car Race 16 years ago, and has organized it every year since, at the Carnegie Science Center. On average, 40 to 50 students representing ten to fifteen local schools participate. The Robot Car Race is a feature attraction for the Engineer’s Week celebration, and in the early years helped Engineer’s Week gain popularity with the Pittsburgh community.

Autonomous robotic cars created by middle school students

IEEE Volunteers


• Global Climate Change

The Fraudulent Claims & the Science Speaker: Nigel P. McQuin

McQuin Electrical Power Consulting, Inc. Date: Thursday, April 2, 2009 Time: Social 6:30 PM, Program 7:00 PM Place: Westinghouse Energy Center RSVP: Dr. Kal Sen, P.E., [email protected] or 724-696-1611 by March 26, 2009 Organizers: Power & Energy Society/Industrial Applications Society. Abstract: The Congressional Energy & Commerce Committee is due to complete draft legislation on carbon/CO2 cap-trade policies by Memorial Day, which will add a substantial burden to our industrial and utility businesses in the US. The IEEE has just setup a new subsection SCC40 for the development of new standards on climate change and greenhouse gas management, for the power utility industry, transportation and industrial enterprises. These initiatives though are being carried out having lost sight of the original scientific basis used for the development of global climate change policies. This presentation aims to develop the chronological history of climate change research, which began some 30 years ago, and explain how various popular claims about CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions were originally developed. Milestones such as the establishment of the UN Intergovernmental Policy on Climate Change and the opening of the Hadley Climate Research Center will be noted, as well as the scientific discoveries that have been made since the politicians/legislators stopped listening! A collation of information from astronomical, paleontology and geological sources will be presented; to show that CO2 is not a significant factor in global climate change and hence should not be singled out for measurement/taxation/penalties legislation.

Speaker: Nigel McQuin gained a 1st Class Honors Degree in Electrical Engineering from Imperial College, London, England in 1977, specializing in electrical power systems and rotating machinery; he also holds minor qualifications in geology and paleontology. He joined GEC Large Machines Co. (later Alstom, now Converteam Inc.) as a Development Engineer, where he worked on the design and analysis of a wide variety of electrical machines and drive systems. He later joined Brush Electrical Machines Co., then as development manager. In June 1990, Mr. McQuin moved to the USA, where he became Vice President and Test Laboratory Manager at PSM High Power Test Laboratory in East Pittsburgh, PA. Since December 1996 he has been self-employed as an independent Electrical Power Consultant,

covering diverse projects in high-power electrical testing, design reviews, forensic expert witness services, and electric vehicle drive designs. His electric drive motors currently hold several land-speed-records for electric cars, achieving over 300 mph on the Bonneville Speedway on the Utah Salt Flats.



Mr. McQuin has been chairman of STLNA (Short-Circuit Testing Liaison - North America), a coordinating body for the high power electrical test laboratories within NAFTA. He is also on the IEEE main standards committees for Switchgear (C37), Transformers (C57), Surge Protection Devices (C62), Electrical Machinery (C50) and High Voltage Testing Techniques (PSIM). He has been a technical liaison contributor to the US National Committee for IEC TC17A/C (Switchgear), TC14 (Transformers), TC42 (HV testing techniques) and TC37 (Surge Protection Devices). He is an Individual Member of CIGRE (Paris), and is also a Member of the IET (London). He was awarded the IEEE-PES Outstanding Engineer Award by the IEEE Pittsburgh PES Chapter in 2006.

• The Importance of Obtaining a PE License Speaker: Joseph M. DeSalvo, P.E. Date: Thursday, April 9, 2009 Time: Social 6:30 PM, Program 7:00 PM Place: Westinghouse Energy Center RSVP: Dr. Kal Sen, P.E., [email protected] or 724-696-1611 by April 2, 2009 Organizers: Power & Energy Society/Industrial Applications Society. This talk is for Professional Engineers who want to be licensed Professional Engineers and for those who are concerned about the current job market and want to improve their employment security. The speaker will cover 1 recent changes in the formats/specifications for the FE and P&P exams 2 the numerous benefits of registration (being a PE) 3 the process for registration and the qualifications required 4 the questions in the FE & P&P exams and how to prepare for them 5 the status of the new registration law, Act 170, whereby continuing education is now a requirement for biennial license renewal. We have invested a lot of time and money and have made sacrifices to obtain our education and work experience. Common sense would tell us that it would be wise to purchase some insurance that would help protect the investment. Becoming a licensed Professional Engineer is that insurance policy. The majority of the reasons for being a PE fall in the overall categories: (1) it is a legal necessity, (2) it improves our employment security, (3) it provides opportunities for advancement, and (4) it is for personal satisfaction. The speaker will discuss recent revisions being made to state registration laws to remove many of the job exemptions that presently exist. Thus, in the future there will be fewer jobs that will be exempt from the registration laws and the importance of being a PE will continue to increase. As stipulated in legislation signed by Governor Rendell on November 2006 (Senate Bill 655, Act 170), Professional Engineers are required to obtain continual professional development (CPD) credits to renew their licenses. However the details of what is acceptable CPD was left up to the state licensing board to develop and the more detailed regulations have yet to be finalized. In the interim time SB 1264 which has different requirements than SB 655 has been introduced in the Senate. SB 1264 is more in line with those of neighboring states and is more liberal in the allowance of what may be counted as CPD. The current status of the registration laws will be discussed.



We have limited control over our work environment and our employer's goals. However we do have some control over our education, our life experiences, and whether or not to be a PE. Being a Professional Engineer, adhering to the Code Of Ethics and Rules of Professional Conduct, and making Continuing Professional Competency a part of our lifestyle will be the ingredients needed to protect our job and engineering career.

Joe DeSalvo is a Professional Engineer with degrees in electrical engineering (Pitt) and industrial management (Carnegie Mellon). He is a Senior Life Member of the IEEE and is presently on the adjunct faculty of Pennsylvania State University where he teaches FE (EIT) and P&P (PE) review courses and several engineering and economics courses in the Advanced Power Engineering Program. Mr. DeSalvo is retired from Allegheny Power where as Manager of Substation and Methods Standards, he had responsibility for substation designs and industrial engineering studies for three operating companies serving five states. He has served on the Board of Directors of IEEE and over 60 positions at all levels during the last 45 years. He was Chairman of Pittsburgh PES

Chapter when it received an “Outstanding PES Chapter award.” He is a past Chairman of Pittsburgh Section and a past Director of Region 2. He received the IEEE Centennial Medal of Honor in 1984. In addition to IEEE activities, Mr. DeSalvo is a senior member of the Institute of Industrial Engineersand a member of Eta Kappa Nu and Sig

ma Tau honorary societies.

• The FE Review Course

As a service to our engineering community, the Pittsburgh IEEE PES/IAS Chapters in partnership with Penn State New Kensington plans to sponsor a 26-week long FE Review Course starting in April 2009 so that the trainees will be prepared to take the FE exam in October 2009. To become a PE one must pass two exams: Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) Exam – referred to as the EIT Exam and Principles and Practice of Engineering (P&P) Exam – referred to as the PE Exam. Our local expert Joe M. DeSalvo, P.E., who has been teaching Penn State Continuing Education classes for over 40 years, will teach these classes. This type of course normally costs over $1000 per person. Because PES/IAS will be responsible for the publicity, securing the participants, and the classroom facilities, we can project that the cost will be $775 per person (IEEE member or non-member) with books if we have at least 25 participants. The classes are due to start on Wednesday, April 29 at 6:00 pm at the Westinghouse Energy Center in Monroeville. If you are interested, please contact Nancy Miller, Continuing Education Representative, Penn State New Kensington, 3550 Seventh Street Road Route 780, Upper Burrell, PA 15068. Phone: 724-334-6014, Fax: 724-334-6110, Cell: 724-331-4985, E-mail: [email protected], Campus Website: www.nk.psu.edu.



http://www.nk.psu.edu/

• The Evolution and Revolutions in Disk Drive Recording

Speaker: Dr. Michael Mallary, IEEE Fellow, IEEE Distinguished Lecturer Seagate Technology Date: Thursday, April 23, 2009 Time: Social 6:30 PM, Program 7:00 PM Place: Westinghouse Energy Center RSVP: Mey Sen, [email protected] or 412-373-0117 by April 16, 2009 Organizers: Power & Energy Society/Industrial Applications Society. Since 1956 the area l density of hard disk drives, HDDs, has increased by eight orders of magnitude through a process of evolution punctuated by a number of important revolutions. The disk evolved for three decades through many generations of painted gamma ferric oxide particulate media with in plain orientation. During this time area l density was increased from 2 kilo-bits/inch2 (2 kbpsi) for IBM’s RAMAC to ~20 Mbpsi. The technology has seen a number of revolutions. In the mid 1980s the first (non-magnetic!) revolution was a diamond like carbon over coat for media that is the key to its durability. The next revolution was the introduction of read sensors based on Giant Magneto-Resistive films with improved sensitivity. HDD proceeded to evolve up to ~100 Gbpsi on this technology base. By the mid 1990’s Prof. Stanley Charap of Carnegie Mellon University calculated that longitudinal recording would start to experience thermal decay of the data at densities of ~40 Gbpsi. In response to this impeding crisis, the Ultra-High Density Recording project was initiated by Prof. Mark Kryder (CMU) under the National Storage Industry Consortium umbrella. The UHDR team established the reality of the problem and proposed strategies to delay the crisis to ~100 Gbpsi. Key amongst these was to increase tracks per inch faster than bits per inch. The UHDR theory team also determined that magnetizing the media perpendicular to the disk could extend magnetic recording by almost an order of magnitude beyond the thermal decay limit of longitudinal recording. Perpendicular HDDs are now being shipped at ~300 Gbpsi. Key head innovations in achieving this density are the use of the Shielded Pole writer invented by the author, and the Tunneling Magneto-Resistive reader with an MR effect approaching 100%. The 30-40% per year growth in area l density will soon drive perpendicular recording to its thermal decay limit near 1 Tbpsi in demonstrations and less in products. Two revolutionary technologies are being developed to deal with this. Heat Assisted Magnetic Recording will allow high anisotropy media to be written at elevated temperatures thus allowing for finer thermally stable grains to be written. Bit Patterned Media will allow the recording of a bit on a single grain as compared to scores of grains with unpatterned media. The promise and problems of these technologies will be discussed in detail. Speaker: Michael Mallary is an IEEE Fellow and Distinguished Lecturer for 2009. He received his S.B. degree in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1966, and Ph.D. degree in Experimental High Energy Physic from the California Institute of Technology, in 1972. He was a post



doctoral fellow at the Rutherford Laboratory for from 1972-1974 and an Assistant Professor of physics at Northeastern University from 1974-1978. There he participated in an experiment at Fermi Laboratory that produced early evidence for the fifth quark using a 300 ton solid iron magnet. From 1978 to 1980 he worked at the Magnetic Corporation of America designing large superconducting magnets for MHD, MRI, energy storage and magnetic separation. In 1980 he joined the Digital Equipment Corporations effort to produce thin film heads for disk drive recording as a head modeler and designer. Here he invented the Shielded Pole perpendicular recording head which has demonstrated superior performance over the conventional monopole head and is now in very disk drive shipped today. He also invented the Diamond inductive head which doubles the effective number of turns. In addition he has contributed to the theory of: flux conduction in thin film heads at high frequency; low bit aspect ratios for high density in the thermal decay limit; and tilted write fields for improved switching. His publications and patents have significantly advanced the field of magnetic recording. He is presently working on Heat Assisted Magnetic Recording, Shingle Recording and 2 Photon Recording at the Seagate Technology Research Center in Pittsburgh. He has authored and co-authored 67 issued patents and 52 publications including “Our Improbable Universe” (ISBN 1-56858-301-X).

DIRECTIONS TO WESTINGHOUSE ENERGY CENTER

From Pittsburgh take Interstate 376 East (Parkway East). Take Exit 14A 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 an Exxon station on the right. 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 (past the guard stand) 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.

• A History of Thrills - Back by Popular Demand -

Speakers: David Markus, David Altman Date: May 7, 2009 Time: 6:30 PM Videos of Coasters From Around the World Light Dinner Included 7:00 PM Presentation Place: Westinghouse Energy Center, Monroeville – West Tower Auditorium Cost: No charge


Sponsor: Power Engineering & Industry Applications Societies RSVP: Dave Vaglia at: [email protected]

or (412) 374-6513 (Limit -50 people) ►►►► BRING THE FAMILY FOR THIS ONE ◄◄◄◄ Abstract : The parks are open !! ARE-YOU-READY for a Summer of the greatest of the thrill rides – the Rollercoaster? This presentation will trace the history of the King of Thrill rides. We will look back to the 1400’s and follow their evolution to rides of over 450ft high and faster than 120 mph. The key role that Pennsylvania played in their development and preservation will be revealed. See how the modern steel thrill machines began and evolved. Hear about the first steel coasters and the first to turn you upside down. We will visit the rides and designers of the First Golden Age – the 1920’s; the decline of coasters and their rebirth in the 1970’s; and the Second Golden Age of the 1990’s. Learn about the designers – John Miller, John Allen, Harry Traver, Ron Toomer, Walter Bollinger & Claude Mabillard, Werner Stengle – and the great builders – PTC, Arrow Dynamics, B&M, GCII, Intamin, Vekoma, Premier Rides, S&S Power, and others. To get you in the mood, coaster videos begin at 6:30 pm. So drop by a little early !! About the Speakers: Dave Markus is a member of American Coaster Enthusiasts (ACE), and Dave Altman is the Vice President of ACE. Dave Markus has made this presentation on coaster history at the Monroeville Public Library, for IEEE and ASME, and has lectured on coaster design topics for Carnegie-Mellon University’s Entertainment Engineering course offered by the Mech. E. Dept. Dave Altman has been a member of ACE since 1985 and has ridden nearly 650 different coasters in 15 countries. He has written articles for ACE’s member publications and has made several presentations on foreign amusement parks at the local region’s midwinter events. Dave was also invited by the PA Department of Agriculture to make a presentation on Coaster Patron Safety at the 2008 Spring Amusement Ride Safety Seminar for ride inspectors. Both are employees of Westinghouse.

• Next Generation Service-Oriented Networks: Modeling for Networked 3-D Virtual Collaboration

Distinguished Lecturer Dr. Michael Devetsikiotis

rsity, Raleigh, North Carolina

Department of Electrical and Computer EngineeringNC State Unive

Date: May 18, 2009 Time: 6:00 PM refreshments and meet the speaker; 7:00 PM Lecture Place: University of Pittsburgh, building and room announced next month Sponsor: IEEE Communications Society; for information, contact Philip Cox; [email protected]



Abstract: With advances in various networking technologies creating connections with enormous bandwidth and low latency, transport services offered by telecommunication service providers are becoming commoditized. In order to differentiate their services against those of their competitors, these service providers are seeking to enable value-added services layered on top of the commodity transport service. At the same time, businesses across all industries realize the need to be flexible and adaptable to change in order to succeed in today’s information-driven economy. Furthermore, combined advances in high speed networking, mobile devices, application sharing, web services, virtual world technologies and large scale event processing are converging to create a new world of pervasive, ubiquitous “presence” of users, which offers tremendous potential for social interaction and co-creation. The communication networking and computing requirements of this converged human-centric environment are also increasing at an accelerated pace. In this new environment, it is imperative that the much-needed networking and computing resources align closely with the needs and patterns dictated by the applications, social networks, and indeed, by the upper-most “human layer”. We believe that the success of such socio-technical systems will hinge on the way networks capture and interact with human presence and location, in all of its physical, virtual and perceived aspects. A robust, scalable, and dynamic communication infrastructure is necessary to connect service consumers and providers within such rich, interactive collaborative virtual environments. Service-oriented networking (SON) is an emerging paradigm that directly addresses this need by enabling network devices to operate at the application layer to provide functions such as service-based routing, content transformation, and protocol integration to consumers and providers. We anticipate that applications of the future will leverage distributed SON deployment patterns where large numbers of network appliances coordinate with peers using network-wide (or “cloud-wide”) application-specific policies, in order to determine the appropriate points to perform configuration changes based on prevailing network, computing and application conditions. Modeling and adaptation of resources based on state, location, context-awareness and workload (current or predicted) is highly desirable in these high-performance computing and information socio-technical service systems. In this seminar, we provide an overview of our efforts at NC State, in collaboration with IBM, Cisco and Nortel, to develop frameworks and algorithms for modeling of emerging next generation network-based services, traffic characterization and predictive and dynamic resource allocation. We present an overview of approaches that we are using for service-aware utility-oriented modeling and resource allocation. We are currently working to apply such techniques in the context of network appliances, location-aware hybrid activities in wireless networks, and virtual collaboration environments such as virtual worlds. Biography Michael Devetsikiotis (IEEE S 1985, M 1994, SM 2003) was born in Thessaloniki, Greece. He received the Dipl. Ing. degree in Electrical Engineering from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece, in 1988, and the M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from North Carolina State University, Raleigh, in 1990 and 1993, respectively. As a student he received scholarships from the National Scholarship Foundation of Greece, the National Technical Chamber of Greece, and the Phi Kappa Phi Academic Achievement Award for a Doctoral Candidate at North


Carolina State University. He is a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and a member of the honor societies of Eta Kappa Nu, Sigma Xi, and Phi Kappa Phi. In October 1993 he joined the Broadband Networks Laboratory at Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada, as a Post-Doctoral Fellow. Michael later became an Adjunct Research Professor in the Department of Systems and Computer Engineering at Carleton University in April 1995, an Assistant Professor in July 1996 and an Associate Professor in July 1999. He joined the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at NC State as an Associate Professor, in October 2000, and became a Professor in July 2006. He remains an Adjunct Research Professor in the SCE Department, Carleton University. He is also an active member of the Operations Research faculty, and an associate member of the faculty of Computer Science at NC State. Michael served as Chairman of the IEEE Communications Society Technical Committee on Communication Systems Integration and Modeling and is now a member of the Communications Society Education Board. He has served as an Associate Editor of the IEEE Communications Letters, and is currently an Area Editor of the ACM Transactions on Modeling and Computer Simulation and a member of the editorial boards of the International Journal of Simulation and Process Modeling, the IEEE Communications Surveys and Tutorials, and the Journal of Internet Engineering. He co-chaired the Next Generation Internet symposium under IEEE ICC 2002 in New York, the High-Speed Networks symposium under IEEE ICC 2004 in Paris, the Quality, Reliability and Performance Modeling (QRPM) symposium under IEEE ICC 2006 in Istanbul, and the Quality, Reliability and Performance for Emerging Network Services symposium under IEEE Globecom 2006 in San Francisco. He served recently as Workshops Chair for IEEE Globecom 2008 in New Orleans, and will co-chair the QRPM Symposium under IEEE Globecom 2010.

• FBI Fingerprinting Headquarters Tour, Clarksburg, West Virginia, Advance Notice

Offered by: SOCIETY FOR SOCIAL IMPLICATIONS OF TECHNOLOGY &

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES COMMITTEE This tour will be offered sometime in mid to late JUNE and will be during the day. (The tour was originally set for late May but was changed due to a conflict.) The FBI requires advance screening all attendees. If you would like to be considered for the tour, (you can cancel at anytime) kindly supply the following information by email attachment or hard mail paper copy.

1. For U.S. citizen (by birth) full name (including middle name if you have such), date of birth, place of birth, social security number, driver's license number, state issuing driver's license.

2. For U.S. citizen born overseas, we need all of the info listed in item 1 plus a photocopy of their U.S. overseas birth certificate.

3. For a naturalized U.S. citizen, all of the info listed in item 1 plus their naturalization A number from their naturalization certificate, it is A followed by 9 numbers, and the date of naturalization.


4. For non-U.S. citizens/foreign nationals, all of the items listed in item 1 plus employment title/rank, employing agency, and passport number.

5. Other information as required. This information is required at least one-month prior to the tour. The tour size is limited and those who have complete information will be given priority. Submit Documentation to: Joseph A. Kalasky, [email protected], Allegheny Power, 800 Cabin

Hill Drive, Greensburg, PA 15601 Tel: 724-838-6492, Fax: 724-830-7676

• “Who's Afraid of Maxwell's Equations?”

Speaker: Elya B. Joffe Date: May 18, 2009 Time: Social- Dinner 6:30 PM, Program 7:00 PM Place: Westinghouse Energy Center, Monroeville PA Cost: No charge Sponsor: Electromagnetic Compatibility Society, Pittsburgh Chapter RSVP: REQUIRED by May 14, 2009 to Mike Oliver at [email protected] or (814) 573-2812. Presentation Abstract: Electromagnetics theory is surrounded by mystery and magic, mostly because the mathematics required for solving Maxwell’s equations are messy enough that most of us avoid them at all costs! Never mind solving them, few of us even have a clear perception of what they actually say… EMC is even worse, often considered black magic! This presentation is intended to demystify the very basics of electromagnetic theory - Maxwell's Equations. The presentation will provide explanations in everyday terms and without the need for mathematics the meaning and implication of Maxwell's equations for the practicing engineer. Some of the basic symbols used in mathematics, such as integration, derivatives, and bizarre vector symbols and their implication are explained. An example related to the flow of return currents in circuits will be used to illustrate the principles described. Through these simple explanations, Maxwell’s equations will then "see the light".

Elya B. Joffe – has been with K.T.M. Project Engineering, an engineering consulting company in Israel, since 1987. He currently holds a position of the V.P. of Engineering and works as a Senior EMC engineering Specialist and consultant. Mr Joffe has over 20 years of experience in government and industry, in EMC/E3, Electromagnetic Compatibility/Electromagnetic Environmental Effects, for

electronic systems and platforms, in particular aircraft and aerospace. He is actively involved in the EMC design of commercial and defense systems, from circuits to full platforms. His work covers



various fields in the discipline of EMC, such as NEMP and Lightning Protection design, as well as numerical modeling for solution of EMC Problems. Mr. Joffe has authored and co-authored over 30 papers in the IEEE Transactions on EMC and Broadcasting, as well as in the proceedings of International EMC Symposia. He is also the lead author of the book "The Grounds for Grounding" to be published by IEEE Press and John E. Wiley and Sons. He is a Senior Member of IEEE, President of the IEEE EMC Society and member of the IEEE EMC Board of Directors. He is also the Past Chairman of the Israel IEEE EMC Chapter and has served as a "Distinguished Lecturer" of the IEEE EMC Society. Mr. Joffe has received several awards and recognitions from the IEEE and EMC Society for his activities. He is a recipient of the prestigious IEEE "Larry K. Wilson" Transnational Award,, 2005, the "Lawrence G. Cumming Award for Outstanding service" of the IEEE EMC Society, 2002, the "Honorary Life Member Award" of the IEEE EMC Society, 2004, as well as the IEEE EMC Society "Technical Achievement Award". He is also recipient of the "Third Millennium Medal". Mr Joffe is an iNARTE certified EMC and ESD Control Engineer and a member of the "dB Society".

• Electrical Contacts For All Your Switching Needs

Speaker: Dr. Chi H. Leung Director of R&D – Tech Service, AMI Doduco North America Date: Tuesday, May 26, 2009 Time: Social 6:30 PM, Program 7:00 PM Place: Westinghouse Energy Center RSVP: Dr. Rin Burke, [email protected] or 814-397-7058 by May 21, 2009 Organizers: Power & Energy Society/Industrial Applications Society. Electricals contacts serve a critical role for the distribution and control of power and signal in many switches, relays, contactors and circuit breakers. This included many low power consumer applications such as residential wiring devices or automotive switches, to the very high power industrial controls and transmission line circuit breakers and interrupters. The electrical contacts must meet the switch arc erosion, steady state current carrying ability and not cause excess heat at the contact interface, as well as robust enough to stand many over current protection requirements. For this to succeed, the metallurgy of contact material design and manufacturing is an important engineering task. In this presentation, the various contact requirements in many different applications will be discussed. The R&D challenges with UL, IEC, ROHS and cost involving silver-tungsten, copper-tungsten, silver-cadmium oxide, and cadmium free materials are summarized. Chi H. Leung (M '84-SM '99) received a B.S.E. in Electrical Engineering '71 and M.S. '73, and Ph. D. in Metallurgical Engineering '77. All degrees were from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He has been Director of R&D – Tech Service, AMI Doduco North America since 1999. Previously, he worked with GTE Technical Products Division, General Motor R&D Lab, and Delphi Research Lab. His research interests are on electrical contact material for arcing contact, reliability of automotive switches & relays, MEM relays and Plasma Ion Implantation. He has published 40 journal papers and is holder of 12 US patents. He has been member of the




IEEE Holm Conference Operating Committee and Technical Committee for over 10 years, and Advisor to International Conference on Reliability of Electrical Products and Electrical Contacts, China.

• Mark Your Calendars: History and Awards Dinner with George Westinghouse

Date: Thursday, May 28, 2009 Time: 6:00 PM Dinner and Awards Presentations; 7:30 PM Tour of the Heinz History

Center with “George Westinghouse”. Place: Lidia’s Pittsburgh Italian Restaurant, 1400 Smallman St., Pittsburgh 15222. The

restaurant is one block from the History Center. We will have our own private room and we will be served a fixed menu that will include Lidia’s famous Pasta Trio. For more information on Lidia’s and directions, visit their website at: http://www.lidias-pittsburgh.com/.

Cost: $25 per member; $40 member plus guest; Includes dinner and admission to the History Center.

RSVP REQUIRED: by May 21, with check, payable to “IEEE Pittsburgh Section, to Joe Cioletti, 684 Blueridge Dr., Pittsburgh, PA 15239, [email protected]. Space is limited.

Come join us for our annual History and Awards Dinner on May 28th. We start at the award winning Lidia’s Pittsburgh Italian Restaurant, featuring dishes from her famous cookbooks, restaurants in New York, and her Public Television Series, Lidia's Italy. After our awards presentation, we take a short walk to the Heinz History for a personal tour led by “George Westinghouse” (a.k.a. Ed Reis). The Westinghouse museum, formally at the Westinghouse Castle in Wilmerding, has been incorporated into the exhibits at the History Center. “George” will guide us through the Westinghouse collection, see http://www.heinzhistorycenter.org/secondary.aspx?id=81, as well as the exhibit on Pittsburgh innovations, http://www.heinzhistorycenter.org/exhibits.aspx?ExhibitID=3. This is sure to be a fun and informative evening. Space is limited due to being a private tour, so don’t hesitate to make your reservation.

http://www.lidias-pittsburgh.com/

http://www.lidias-pittsburgh.com/


http://www.heinzhistorycenter.org/secondary.aspx?id=81

http://www.heinzhistorycenter.org/exhibits.aspx?ExhibitID=3

2009 Calendar – Meetings of IEEE Pittsburgh Section Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July August Sept Oct Nov Dec

Executive Committee

15 TBD

19 Panera Bread,

Wilkins Twp

19 TBD

16 Spaghetti

Warehouse

21 Panera Bread,

Wilkins Twp

18 – Great China Buffet Allison

Park

16 Panera Bread,

Wilkins Twp

20 – Great China Buffet Allison Park

17 Greensburg ?

15 WVU ?

19 Panera Bread, Wilkins Twp

Section 21 Engineers

Week

8, 29 X-Prize

28 History Dinner

Communications

13 Digital TV

25 UltraCMOS

18 Networks

Computer 21 - Robot Car Race

21 Voice RFID

EMBS 18, 25 Control Theory

EMCS 18 Maxwell’s

Eq.

PES/IAS 27 – Pitt P&E

18 Ampere

12 – PC Boards

26 – Opt. Transformers 31 - Adcom

2 Climate

9 PE License

23 Disk Drives

7 Roller

Coasters 26

Elec. Contacts

11 Myers Briggs

Magnetics 12 – Disk Drives

Robotics UPG Career Days

Sig. Proc.

Social Impl Technology

FB I Tour

Upper Mon 16 – 4PM Software Eng. Rm

G102, Eng. Sci Bldg.

WVU

Women in Eng’ing

Life Mem. 13 Digital TV

GOLD 25 Social

9 PE License

PACE FB I Tour

Student Act


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