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SIOUXLAND SIGNAL
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IEEE SIOUXLAND SECTION NEWSLETTER
http://www.siouxland.org
Volume 9, Number 7 April, 1998
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AWARDS BANQUET
7:00 PM Awards for: SDSU Chapter of Eta Kappa Nu; SDSU Student Branch of the IEEE; Dordt College Student Branch of the IEEE; Siouxland Section of the IEEE
7:30 PM Speaker "Simple Choices, Big Rewards" by Mr. V. J. Smith
RESERVATIONS: Contact Margaret at the SDSU Electrical Engineering Office by Noon on Tuesday April 14.
DIRECTIONS: From I-29 in Brookings take Exit 132, the 6th Street (also U.S. Highway 14) exit, and turn West. At 5th Avenue (the eighth stop light, by a Pizza Hut) turn Left (South) and drive two blocks. The Elks Club is on the Left (East) side of the street.
V.J. Smith currently serves as the Director of the South Dakota State University Alumni Association. He was appointed to the position in November, 1996 after serving for six years as the assistant to the athletic director of the SDSU athletic program.
During the decade of the 80’s, he worked in various capacities for the Allied Signal Aerospace Company in Kansas City, Missouri. The manufacturing facility, under contract by the Department of Energy, employed 8,500 people. Smith has been a member of Toastmasters International for nine years.
His speech, "Simple Choices, Big Rewards," illustrates simple choices we are
faced with each day. We are judged by the choices we make so it is important to think
about our actions.
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OTHER STORIES IN THIS NEWSLETTER
(Siouxland Section Nominations Announced, voting instructions, procedures)
OFFICER ELECTIONS
WEB PAGE DEVELOPMENT THE EASY WAY
WHEN: Thursday evening, May 28
WHERE: Sioux Falls, SD
If you’ve been looking for an easy way to develop web pages or entire sites, we have a meeting for you. Steve Wolterstorff, our section home page editor and a Systems Analyst at Missouri Basin Municipal Power Agency, will explain how the section site was built and deployed. Topics will include using Microsoft FrontPage and their Internet Information Server for Windows NT, database connectivity for the web site using Microsoft’s Visual InterDev, and dynamic HTML. -----------------------------------------------------------------
VOTE IN MAY: IS ANYONE OUT THERE?
For the past several weeks Dave Nuese and I have been trying to get nominations for
the Siouxland Section Executive Committee.
The following are the confirmed results of our efforts:
1998-1999 Section Operating Year
Executive Committee Nominations List
Chairperson: _________________________ Murat Tanyel
Vice Chairperson: ____________________ ?
Secretary/Treasure: __________________ ?
Professional Activities Chairperson: _ ?
Educational Activities Chairperson: __ Dave Galipeau (2yrs)
Student Activities Chairperson: ______ Alfred Andrawis (2yrs)
Membership Activities Chairperson: ___ Lewis Brown (2yrs)
Newsletter Editor: ___________________ Doug De Boer (4yrs)
Homepage Editor: _____________________ Steve Wolterstorff (1yr)
Section Awards Chairperson: __________ Madeleine Andrawis (2yrs)
Power Engineering Chapter Chairperson: Jayme Huber (1yr)
SDSU Student Branch Advisor: _________ Alfred Andrawis (5yrs.)
Dordt Student Branch Advisor: ________ Murat Tanyel (5yrs.)
For the past five years I have noticed the alarming fact that willing participation in the Section’s Executive Committee is very much lacking. For the past number of years the people holding these positions have been predominately faculty, which is great and I thank those who are willing to come forward and give their time to the Section. I am talking to those in industry. Does this Section not offer you what you need? If it doesn’t, does the lack of participation in the leadership of this Section mean industry does not care whether this section lives or dies? These are questions I ask myself a lot lately in the planning of events and in the chore of finding those interested in getting involved. What’s happening is those interested are getting asked to do everything year after year and eventually they leave the Section burned out and are never seen again.
Now I know everyone is busy with family, work, etc.. but when you look at the actual time it takes if everyone works together with a full Exec. Comm. running the Section for a year takes a small amount of time. Now I do not think it’s right to twist anyone’s arm for their participation. It's up to you, make the decision on your own.
I will say this: The bylaws for nominating/electing for the Section will have to be followed to the letter, which means the following dates must be met:
Announcement of Nominations: April Newsletter (this article)
Close of Nominations by Petition: May 11, 1998
Hold Election: May 14, 1998
Now I want and need your answers to my questions. Do we need to rebuild this Section, operate as it is, or let it die. What do you think? Forward your comments to me.
Concerned Regards
Jayme Huber
Siouxland Section Chairperson
(712)546-3531 or jhuber@nipco.com
[Editor’s note: At the May meeting we will elect officers from the slate of
nominees. Nominations by petition may be sent to Jayme Huber (address listed at the end of
this newsletter). A nomination by petition must be signed by two percent of the Section
membership. Seven signatures will certainly be enough. We have about 350 names in the
database, and some of these are lapsed memberships. Absentee voting is possible. Send a
letter to Jayme Huber indicating your vote in time to arrive before the May meeting. You
may be able to get an updated nominations list from our section’s web pages later.
Absentee ballots will not be counted if a second vote is needed to break a tie.]
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LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Dear Colleagues,
In August you will receive your ballots to choose the leadership of IEEE for the next Century. I am honored to be on the ballot as a candidate for President-elect of IEEE for 1999. I would appreciate your comments on any issues you would like me to consider.
As a former chair of the Philadelphia Section, I am familiar with Regional and Section activities. In addition, having served as VP for Technical Activities, and now serving as IEEE Treasurer, I feel that I have the broad IEEE perspective to serve our members.
I have been traveling around the country meeting with and talking to IEEE members. It was my pleasure to be at the Boston Section dinner on March 8. At these affairs one gives and gets business cards. When I got back home I looked at the business cards I had been given. A large majority identified the occupation as "consultant." I am sure that 15 years ago there would have been few, if any, with such a designation. Coupled with the uncertainty I sensed about the many mergers in the aerospace industry as well as the continuing erosion of Federal programs in defense, the existence of such a large cadre of consultants signifies a change of occupational paradigm for our profession. IEEE must respond to these changes, and I am committed to make it happen.
This election will be important because there will be constitutional amendments on the ballot which will require 20% voter turnout to pass. We just missed last year with only 19% turnout so it is important for the IEEE leadership to get the vote out.
Feel free to contact me about any questions you have.
Best personal regards,
Bruce A. Eisenstein
eisenstein@cbis.ece.drexel.edu
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CONTINUING EDUCATION UNITS BY VIDEO
PISCATAWAY, NJ, February 2, 1998 -- Visual communications is the key element in modern information systems. Spurred on by developments in VLSI technology and the telecommunications revolution, digital documents and video processing are becoming commonplace in our everyday lives. To prepare engineers for the explosion in visual communications, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE), has produced a video series in image and video compression, and transmission algorithms. Grouped under a common title, Visual Communications, the series consists of three parts:
The first in the series, Image Coding, introduces the basic theory of image coding. It covers concepts of information, entropy, scalar and vector quantization. In addition, it discusses transform and subband/wavelet coding. The viewers will learn the underlying principles of compression algorithms that enable modern image communications such as fax, lossless and noisy coding. Dr. William A. Pearlman of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s Center for Image Processing Research and ECSE in Troy, NY, is the presenter.
The Video Coding module concentrates on video signal processing including spatial and temporal filtering, digital video standards, motion estimation, and compensation. The viewers will learn underlying compression algorithms of modern video communications. Information on video standards from video phone to HTDV is also discussed. IEEE fellow, Dr. John Woods, also of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, instructs for this module.
The third part of the Visual Communications series focuses on image and video transmission. It presents the effects of channel errors, including channel and network modeling, modulation and channel coding schemes, an information theory perspective, and joint source and channel coding. The audience will learn how to transmit images and videos on wired and wireless channels, as well as on ATM and packet computer networks. In addition, they will learn how to mitigate the effects of channel errors and lost packets. Dr. James W. Modestino who is a professor at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute presents the information. Dr. Modestino is also an IEEE fellow.
Educational Activities is now offering Continuing Education Units (CEUs) for video tutorials. The whole series is worth 1.5 CEUs, while each individual module is worth 0.5 CEU. Each module consists of four videotapes and is accompanied by a set of notes, a text and a final exam.
Order the video tutorial from the IEEE Customer Service, 445 Hoes Lane, PO Box 1331, Piscataway, NJ 08855-1331. Make checks payable to IEEE. For single sales, call 1-800-678-IEEE; for company or institutional sales, call 1-800-701-IEEE; or fax 732-981-9667. Please add $15 for shipping and handling charges:
Credit card orders (MasterCard, Visa, American Express, and Diner’s Club) are accepted.
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OFFICERS OF IEEE SIOUXLAND SECTION FOR 1997-1998
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Please send comments or items to include in the newsletter to the newsletter editor
(listed above). The deadline for the next newsletter is May 7. Send address corrections to
IEEE headquarters or call them at (800)-678-IEEE.
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