IEEE Baltimore Section & John Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory

Johns Hopkins Engineering is currently seeking an instructor for its graduate-level Power Electronics course in either spring or fall 2017. Power Electronics is a face-to-face course held in a classroom at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel. Class meetings are once per week in the evening.

The course covers the design and analysis of DC-to-DC switching converters. Topics include topology selection for various applications, steady-state operation, fundamentals of control loop design, fundamentals of magnetic design, input and output filter design, pulse-width modulation chip selection, diode and transistor part selection, and the associated effects of part non-idealities on the converter performance.

Requirements for this position include expertise in power electronics as well as a genuine desire to instruct working professionals pursuing graduate degrees. While a PhD is preferred, a master’s degree is required.

For more information, please contact Cleon Davis, PhD, vice chair of the Electrical and Computer Engineering program at Johns Hopkins Engineering for Professionals (240-228-9399; cleon.davis@jhuapl.edu).

IEEE President Karen Bartleson

IEEE President Karen Bartleson today released the following statement in response to concerns expressed by IEEE members around the world:

IEEE, The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Incorporated, believes that governments of all countries must recognize that, in a world of increasing global connectivity, science and engineering are fundamental enterprises, for which openness, international collaboration, and the free flow of ideas and talented individuals are essential to advancement.

Every country benefits from attracting, and competing for, the best and brightest scientists and engineers from around the world to study, teach, conduct and collaborate on research, innovate new technologies, and start commercial endeavors. Science and engineering lead to enhancements in quality of life and ultimately build economic prosperity and security. All countries should develop and maintain immigration and visa policies that encourage, facilitate, and protect the ability of people, from around the world, to engage in these types of science and engineering activities.

Diversity is an important and valued strength; IEEE is committed to the realization and maintenance of an environment in which scientists and engineers, regardless of ethnicity, religion, gender, or nationality, have the right to pursue their careers without discrimination. Science, engineering – and humanity – prosper where there is freedom of movement, association, and communication.

Organized by the Norbert Weiner Center in the Department of Mathematics at University of Maryland, College Park.

About the Event:
The organizers of the annual February Fourier Talks seminar aim to bring together researchers from academia, government, and industry, as a means to spur innovation and foster interaction in Harmonic Analysis and its Applications.

The 2-day event takes starts on Thursday, February 16th and ends on Friday, February 17th features an array of great minds in the harmonic field including the keynote speaker Robert Kanigel from MIT will discuss Kanigel’s book titled The Man Who Knew Infinity about the mathematical genius Ramanujan’s influence on culture.

For a complete list of event details and schedule, please click on the ‘For More Information’ link.

IEEE Baltimore Chairs of Student Activities, Neville Jacobs & Jay Gamerman

The Robot Challenge will be held this year on Saturday morning, April 22, and Sunday morning and afternoon, April 23, at the Baltimore Museum of Industry, at 1415 Key Highway, near the Baltimore Inner Harbor (the Written Reports will be judged on Monday evening, April 17 at Northrup Grumman).

We hope many members who have joined us in previous years will come again, but we’re always in need of new volunteers, especially for Sunday, April 23. Please e-mail me if you would like to work with our high school students – they really learn a lot from their interaction with “real” engineers. Most judges find this a great experience!

This year we’re anticipating that most of the teams will choose to come on Sunday, but it is likely that a few may not be able to come that day, so we will be holding a small Challenge event on Saturday as well. Drop me a line if you think you might be available, on one or both dates, and whether you have any preferences. Choices can be Any, Track Judge, Oral Presentation Judge, Administration, Robot Repairs, or Photographer. We’re looking for 80 people.

We also need 26 judges for Written Reports to be done April 13 at Northrop Grumman at 6 PM. Candidates need to have been a Robot Challenge judge at least once to be able to do this, and we will be judging essays for the Walt Willing Essay Awards as well.

Contact me with any questions, and please, (new volunteers AND veterans) copy and paste the brief form below and e-mail it back to me with Subject: Robot Judges.

Re: IEEE Robot Challenge 2014 JUDGES

Name: Home Phone:
Have you previously been a Judge, or involved in any other capacity: Yes/No
Available: Saturday 4/22 Yes/No Sunday 4/23 Yes/No
Veterans only: Willing to judge Written Reports and Essays, Monday, April 17 Yes/No
Any Preferences:
Neville Jacobs, (e-m) Nevilleed@aol.com or (phone) 410-653-4176

Walter Willing was a past Chair of the IEEE Baltimore Section and the driving force behind the hugely successful Robot Challenge. He worked as a Reliability Engineer at Northrup Grumman taking on tasks concerned with quality engineering. It is in Walt’s memory that IEEE Baltimore has established a $500 scholarship to high school students, who are interested in pursuing a degree in engineering.

In an effort to provide students participating in the Robot Challenge 2016 enough time to submit an essay for the contest, the IEEE Baltimore will be accepting essay submissions now. The submission deadline for the essay contest is April 14, 2017.

Contest Requirements:
The contents of the essay should be related to the subject of Reliability, Quality or Robotics Engineering. Essay finalists will be able to explain why he or she would like to become a Reliability, Quality or Robotics Engineer as well as describe the importance of these career paths.

A panel of judges will chose 4 finalists to receive $500 scholarship, which will pay for future college education expenditures.

Essay Submission Dates:
February 17, 2017 to April 14th, 2017

Essay Judges:
If you have judged this competition at least once before and would be willing to judge submissions, please contact Neville at nevilleed@aol.com. Be sure to include Walt Willing Essay Contest Judge in the subject line of the e-mail. Judges will also take part in judging the Robot Challenge 2017 Written Reports.

For a full list (and copy) of the rules or if you have any questions, please contact Neville Jacobs at Nevilleed@aol.com.

IEEE Baltimore Chair of Member Development, Jeffrey Friedhoffer

IEEE is an international organization organized to foster the growth of a future by encouraging the development of its current and future members. Therefore, IEEE Baltimore is encouraging members to inspire the next wave of great minds during DiscoverE Engineers Week. The event is week of February 18th to February 25th. The following are a couple of suggestions:

Take part in Discover Engineering Family Day on February 18th, 2017 in Washington D.C or plan an event at your company for K-12 students to introduce them to engineering as a career. Contact Jeff Friedhoffer by e-mail at jafried@ieee.org, if you wish to participate in a free event.

DiscoverE is an organization invested in STEM outreach to encourage youth to pursue a life in the sciences. For one week in February DiscoverE encourages engineers to motivate children in your communities to become interested in the sciences. The following link gives some suggestions: http://www.discovere.org/our-programs/engineers-week

What is “E-Week”?
“E-Week” or Engineers’ Week was developed to:
• Celebrate engineers’ commitment to making our world a better place
• Increase public dialogue about the need for engineers.
• Bring engineering to life for kids, educators, and parents!

How can I get involved in shaping the future engineers of the world?
That’s easy. Here’s how:
1. Click the link above to find out ways to get involved.
2. When you’re ready to volunteer, DiscoverE offers training courses for volunteers & all you have to do is go to this link: http://discovere.org/online-training
3. And that’s it!

For more information on the DiscoverE or to find out how to get involved click the “Discover More” link below!

IEEE Baltimore Industry Application Society & Illuminating Engineers Society Baltimore

For lighting design professionals energy efficiency has become a key priority in illuminating spaces in commercial buildings. Lighting systems installed in commercial buildings use more energy than all other systems including heating and ventilation systems. It is for this reason energy codes with each edition require more efficient lighting designs as code officials attempt to restrict the system with the ‘largest appetite.’ Also, for commercial building owners and developers always conscientious of their bottom-lines, energy efficient buildings offer financial savings over the life of the building. But whether pressured by energy code considerations or because of client needs, lighting designers are being asked to design lighting systems with less energy while still providing comfortable lighting to the building’s occupants.

The presentation will focus on how lighting controls can help meet energy use concerns of the energy code and the client by lowering energy use and providing a comfortable lighting for the building’s occupant. Michael will introduce specific lighting control requirements such as the use of automated lighting control with manual override for the occupants’ comfortable control of lighting systems.

The event will be held at Martin’s West on February 15th, 2017 starting at 6:00 pm.

For more information on the meeting itinerary, the presentation, the speaker, and the location of the event, please click the “Find Out More” link below.

IEEE Baltimore Industry Application Society

Adjustable speed drive (ASD) and motors when applied to compressors, pumps, extruders, etc. can provide various electro-mechanical benefits to its operators and stakeholders. Their benefits have been well documented and understood. However, a successful installation of a medium voltage ASD system needs to be specified appropriately for the application. Many times drives are mis-specified or not specified at all. This can lead to surprises, shipment delays, price adders, and ultimately, the equipment itself not being in compliance with the stated project objectives.

This session will attempt to address on how to properly specify a medium voltage adjustable speed drive. The speaker will review the standards governing adjustable speed drives and the principles engineers should use in specifying these devices. Continually, the speaker will ask the engineer to consider possible issues with installing these devices in applications where on-site power generation is involved.

The event will be held at Olive Grove Restaurant on March 15th, 2017 starting at 6:00 pm.

For more information on the meeting itinerary, the presentation, the speaker, and the location of the event, please click the “Learn More” link below.

IEEE Chair Continuing Electrical Engineering Education, Boris Gramatikov

If you have any suggestions for course material please contact our director for Continuing EE Education (CEEE), Boris Gramatikov (bgramat@jhmi.edu).

The Continuing Education group encourages professional development by offering presentations that foster the sharing of knowledge and experience. Presentations also provide networking opportunities for members as well as professional development hours vital to career advancement. While attending discussions can help one with career goals, leading the discussion will inspire confidence in the presented material and strengthen public speaking skills.

IEEE Baltimore Industry Application Society

Save the Date!
Wednesday, May 17th 2017

Location: TBD

The expo showcase the Industry Application Engineering in Baltimore with areas’ best industry professionals and vendors in the electrical design engineering for building applications. There will be seminars, giveaways, hands on displays, food and much, much more!

Keep an eye-out in upcoming newsletters for more information on the expo!

Electric League of Maryland

This seminar will provide you with the tools necessary to understand common basic motor control circuits. Although it is designed to provide a foundation for electricians who are just beginning to learn about motor controls, the material is also useful to Journeyman and Master electricians for exam preparation. The presentation will include:

How to read a motor control drawing and wiring diagram
How NEC 2014 relates to motors and motor controls
All motor control starters, single and three phase

The Baltimore IEEE Women in Engineering and Society of Women Engineers

The Baltimore IEEE Women in Engineering and Society of Women Engineers will co-sponsor a ‘speed mentoring night’ as a part of Science Week at Loyola University Maryland. Liken to a speed dating event, professional engineers from the Baltimore area will serve as mentors and students will rotate amongst the mentors to ask their questions about the work life of a professional engineer. Professionals from all engineering and similar disciplines from across the region will be present.

The event will take place inside the new Donnelly Science Center at Loyola University Maryland.

For more information on the event, the location of the event or to register click the “Explore More” link below.

IEEE/ACM Information Technology

The 2017 IT Professional Conference provides a set of presentations relevant to today’s professional IT community. Bringing together practitioners, academics and industry leaders in a forum to exchange experiences, innovations, practical implementations, studies, designs and approaches important to current Information Technology.

You are invited to submit a one paragraph abstract of your presentation (full paper submissions are not necessary), along with a one-paragraph bio and digital photograph of yourself to the program chair, David Soll (dsoll@ieee.org), by Friday, February 3, 2017. All suggested talks will be considered. Each presentation is targeted to be 55 minutes in length.

Abstract Submission Date:
Friday, February 3, 2017

Event Dates:
Friday, March 17, 2017 & Saturday, March 18, 2017

Location:
The College of New Jersey,
Ewing Township, NJ