This Month’s Articles

Chair’s Column: How We Did on Our Goals
Outgoing IEEE-Chicago Chair Bill Nartker reflects on the progress made on the goals – for the website, conferences, rebate and Chicago Fund – set at the beginning of his term. [more]

Wanda Reder to Keynote IEEE Women In Engineering Reception
Wanda Reder of S&C Electric Company will keynote the IEEE-WIE Networking Reception on Wednesday, June 9^th and Lorena Blonsky will be the featured speaker. [more]

Embedded Systems Conference Provides Discount to IEEE Members
The June 7^th through 9^th conference, which is co-located in Rosemont with the Sensors Expo, is offering IEEE members 15% off its registration fee.  [more]

IEEE Awards CEUs for ANSI C63.10 Workshop
Earn 1.4 CEUs attending workshop on ANSI ASC-C63, which contains procedures for testing compliance of a wide variety of unlicensed wireless devices. [more]

2010-2011 IEEE-Chicago Section Leadership Elected
The level of participation in this year’s election was higher than in past elections, perhaps because of the availability of vTools electronic voting. [more]

Consultants’ Panel Expedites Start-Up’s Ramp Up
Pete Kindinger gained valuable insights at the IEEE Chicago/Rockford Consultants' Network presentation, “Everything You Wanted To Know About Consulting But Did Not Know Who to Ask." [more]

Saturday Seminar Impacts Engineer’s Specifications
Robert Burke took a different approach to a generator installation he was designing after attending the Chicago Chapter of the IEEE Industry Applications Society (IAS) Seminar on Generator Design and Installation Considerations. [more]

Chair’s Column: How We Did on Our Goals

In this last issue of e-ScanFax for the programming year and my last as Chair of the IEEE-Chicago Section, I want to update you on where we stand with the goals we set last July.

One of our goals was to improve the website in order to help members stay up to date with Section happenings and resources. The homepage now provides e-ScanFax headlines, and the website calendar is now being updated regularly with all IEEE meetings within the Chicago Section’s geographic area. The website also has up-to-date email addresses for the Chicago Section Executive Committee members and the leaders of the active technical society chapters. Links to the websites of the Chicago technical society chapters have also been updated, and we have the capability to host Chapter websites. We are also creating a career planning area, which will launch this summer.

The next goals were to plan and execute two Professional Activities for Engineers (PACE) conferences and a Section-wide technical conference. The three planned PACE conferences were, unfortunately, canceled due to low registration. And, we are working toward the Section-wide technical conference. When I set the technical conference goal, I did not understand that the executive board needs to plan such a large conference a couple of years ahead of time in order to coordinate with the technical society chapters in the Section. 

The fourth goal was to distribute a grant from the newly established IEEE-Chicago Section Fund. As reported earlier, we provided funds to the Mount Prospect Library to purchase science kits, which are now being made available to schools and youth groups at no charge. The Fund is also working with the IEEE History Committee to establish an IEEE Milestone in Electrical Engineering and Computing in the Chicago area. We’ll have more to report on this exciting development in the September issue of e-ScanFax.

Science To Go Kits purchased with the IEEE-Chicago Fund grant are on display at the Mount Prospect Library.

The final goal was to increase the headquarters rebate, which is calculated by a formula including the number of chapters, meetings, and senior members. The number of new chapters has been growing steadily. In May, the reconstituted Chicago Chapter of the Computer Society (CS) held its first meeting at Illinois Institute of Technology with 28 people, including several students, in attendance, and earlier this year, The Chicago Chapter of the System, Man and Cybernetics Society (SMC) held its first meeting at Northwestern University. On June 9^th, Women In Engineering (WIE) will hold a Networking Reception, and on June 17^th, the Chicago Chapter of the Vehicular Technology Society (VTS) will hold its first meeting, a tour of the Hybrid Vehicle Lab at IIT. This year also saw the biggest increase in several years in the number of members elevated to senior member status. Both of these increases will increase the amount of the Chicago Section’s rebate, which represents more than three-quarters of our revenues. We only had six months in 2009 to work on this goal, so did not see a substantial increase in last year’s rebate, but we should see an increase in this year's rebate.

These goals were aggressive, but we made impressive progress. I believe the Section is well positioned for the coming year and can build on the momentum that has been established. 

Sincerely,
William (Bill) Nartker
IEEE-Chicago Section Chair

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Wanda Reder to Keynote June 9^th IEEE Women In Engineering Reception

Wanda Reder

Lorena Blonsky

Wanda Reder of S&C Electric Company will keynote the IEEE-WIE Networking Reception on Wednesday, June 9^th and Lorena Blonsky will be the featured speaker. The complimentary reception, held at the Greek Parthenon Restaurant at 314 S. Halsted Street in Chicago, will offer a chance to meet and greet one another, enjoy a relaxing evening of hors d'oeuvres, and hear two dynamic speakers. Reder is the immediate Past President of the IEEE Power and Energy Society (PES) and Vice President of Power Systems Services for S&C Electric Company. Blonsky is the founder and President of LMB Associates, a Chicago-area search firm specializing in the recruitment of information technology professionals. For more information and to register, visit the IEEE-Chicago calendar.

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Embedded Systems Conference Provides Discount to IEEE Members

The Embedded Systems Conference (ESC) Chicago 2010, which is co-located with the Sensors Expo and Conference, offers engineers involved in designing and developing embedded systems with a chance to learn about design techniques and best practices from the leading experts in the industry. IEEE members can save 15% off the conference registration fee by using source code ESCCIEEE. The ESC Expo Pass is free and provides access to the ESC and Sensors Expo floors, sponsored sessions, and the keynote. A limited number of free passes to the Conference can be yours by volunteering to staff the IEEE Chicago Section membership booth for a few hours.  Contact Richard Fedrigon for details. The conference is June 7^th through 9^th at the Donald P. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont. For more information, visit the ESC website.

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IEEE Awards CEUs for ANSI C63.10 Workshop

The International Association for Radio, Telecommunications and Electromagnetics (iNarte) is offering a workshop on ANSI ASC-C63, which contains procedures for testing compliance of a wide variety of unlicensed wireless devices. IEEE will award workshop participants 1.4 Continuing Education Units (CEUs).  The workshop takes place June 15^th & 16^th in Northbrook. For more information, visit the iNarte website.

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2010-2011 IEEE-Chicago Section Leadership Elected

Congratulations to the following candidates who were elected to one-year terms on May 17^th:

Many thanks to the members of the Chicago Section who took the time to vote in the election. The level of participation in this year’s election was higher than in past elections, perhaps because of the availability of vTools electronic voting. Your continued support of your elected officers is much appreciated. Due to the withdrawal of the candidate for work reasons, the Student Activities Chair position is open. If you are interested in this position or volunteering, please contact Bernie Sander.

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Consultants’ Panel Expedites Start-Up’s Ramp Up

Roy Leventhal, IEEE Chicago / Rockford Consultants' Network secretary and panelist looks on as Joe Etminan, Rock River Valley Section Industry Applications Society (IAS) Chapter Chair and Professor of Electronic EngineeringTechnology at Rock Valley College, welcomes the attendees.

“I loved it. It saves me years of stumbling around,” said Pete Kindinger, Principal at MSRK Design, about the IEEE Chicago/Rockford Consultants' Network presentation, “Everything You Wanted To Know About Consulting But Did Not Know Who to Ask" on April 29^th. Pete, the “K” in MSRK Design, and three other former fellow internal consultants – all laid off in a recent downsizing – incorporated their firm in January of this year. Pete had attended a Consultants’ Network meeting in 2009 and noted that the consultants he met there “seemed to be making a life of it.” As he talked to them, he realized that “they liked [external] consulting for the same reasons we liked our jobs: the variety, the technical challenges, and the freedom.”

The panel discussion at Rock Valley College in Rockford this April got down to the nitty-gritty. Six heavily experienced consultants – Gary Blank, Joseph Auer, Larry Wachowiak, Bob Parro, Ben Miller, and Roy Leventhal – went through what Kindinger termed “the key questions:” how to get started, how to find clients, and the kind of work they’ve been able to find.

The panelists stressed the importance of “networking, networking, networking.” Kindinger noted that, indeed, his company’s first clients have come from friends of friends. “What a beautiful thing that there is an IEEE, the original network,” Kindinger said. “I only went occasionally when I was a corporate engineer,” but as an external consultant, he’s learning that networking will need to be “a constant thing.”

It’s also important to “credential yourself” by building your own reputation. More important than a resume is getting your name out as someone who is an “expert in something.” If you are a speaker a seminar, people assume that you must know something: you have creditability.

Kindinger’s biggest “Aha” from the presentation was that it would take “longer than I thought.” It had taken the panelists a few years to really get established and to get repeat clients. He’s in for the long haul but with more realism and better tactics than he would have had without attending the Chicago/Rockford Consultants’ Network presentation.

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Saturday Seminar Impacts Engineer’s Specifications

Robert Burke, Senior Project Manager with EN Engineering, took a different approach to a generator installation he was designing after attending the Chicago Chapter of the IEEE Industry Applications Society (IAS) Seminar on Generator Design and Installation Considerations on May 15^th. The seminar stressed that system reliability depends not only on the generator itself but also on proper installation, attention to adequate airflow, supports that minimize vibration, and maintenance of the generator and critical subsystems. The program also reviewed the pros and cons of locating a generator inside or outside of a building.

Burke’s company builds natural gas pipelines and storage fields, which are located in remote locations and so face unreliable power. Therefore, the company installs generators on site in order to provide stand-by power. After the seminar, Burke opted to specify four smaller generators for a new installation in a rural area rather than the one large one he had been contemplating before the seminar. The four generators will be cheaper with a better delivery time because, unlike larger generators, they are not custom built. They will also be easier to service because they are off the shelf standard models. Finally, the back up power system will be more reliable because even if one generator fails, the others will still be working at 75% capacity.

Typical generator installation from National Electric Code (NEC) Handbook.

Stephen Palac, Principal with Greeley and Hansen summed up the day: “It is difficult attending an all day training session on a Saturday in May. But, Steve Hermanowski made it a worthwhile effort with his knowledge, experience and excellent presentation skills. The seminar hit all the right topics and I left having gained considerable new knowledge in designing and specifying emergency and standby power systems.”

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