January, 2005 Signal

Volume 14, Number 1 IEEE SIOUXLAND SECTION NEWSLETTER October, 2005
http://www.siouxland.org

January – Dinner and Ethanol Plant Tour in Brookings and Aurora, SD
February 22 – GOLD Hockey Night at the Sioux Falls, SD Arena
April – Annual Soft-Skills Workshop in Sioux Falls, SD
Summer – Power Engineering Society Dinner and Meeting

As we begin a new year I would like to take a moment to reflect on a couple of the recent section activities held during the last few months of 2004. I would like to start by thanking the members who took time from their schedules to attend either the Center for Power System Studies banquet held this October in Brookings or the SDN Communications facilities tour and evening dinner held in Sioux Falls during November. Each of these events covered interesting topics, and it was very encouraging to see that both of these events were well attended by our section IEEE members. If you were able to attend these events and have any comments on how we can improve upon similar events held in the future please let me know, your feedback is welcome.

We have also started making plans for a few events this upcoming year. The first event that we are planning is a tour of the VeraSun Energy Ethanol plant in Aurora, SD (near Brookings). We are tentatively planning to hold an evening dinner in Brookings followed by the ethanol plant tour either the last week of January or the 1st week of February (final arrangements will be included in an announcement to be issued soon). We are also in the preliminary stages of planning a soft-skills workshop to be held in early April at Sioux Falls. I am currently looking into workshop topics of project management, value added selling skills, time management, or making technical presentations. If you or your company have an interest in any of these topics or any others please contact me soon as I would like to finalize plans for this workshop by the end of January. We are also looking into the possibility of holding a Power Engineering Society (PES) Chapter sponsored dinner and meeting this summer on the topic of microprocessor based protective relays and communications. In addition to these events I expect to arrange a couple more events throughout the year. If you have any suggestions for speaker topics or tours you would like us pursue please share your ideas with me.

Last year we formed the Graduates Of the Last Decade (GOLD) affinity group for our section and held a kick-off meeting for this group in October. As a result of the kick-off meeting our group has begun planning activities for this upcoming year. The first activity to be held this year will be a GOLD Stampede Night (hockey) gathering on February 22 at the Sioux Falls Arena. The GOLD group will pay for the tickets for GOLD members who attend this event. Other members, family, or friends are welcome to attend this event but will be required to pay for their tickets. Brian Matherly will be sending out more details about this event to our GOLD members at a later date. If you are not a GOLD member, but would be interested in attending this event please let either Brian or I know by February 15th to reserve your tickets.

I believe these activities show that the revitalization process our section has gone through the last couple years will continue to show increased benefits for our members. One of my goals this year is to look into the formation of a Computer Society Chapter to compliment the Power Engineering Society Chapter. Our section can realize the additional benefits of these chapters by additional funding that is available to our section and the access to distinguished lectures that each society provides. If you have an interest in being involved in the Computer Society Chapter please let me know. I will gage the feasibility of forming this Chapter on the responses and interest that is shown by our members.

In closing, if anyone has suggestions on how our section can play a role in better serving you or your company's needs please contact me at (jeffwhite@ieee.org). We are planning on holding an Executive Committee meeting in mid-January so let me know by then so I can share your ideas with the group.

OFFICER NOMINATIONS for 2005

The following members are nominated by the IEEE Siouxland Nominations Committee for the offices listed below.

Jeff White, Chair

Jeff served as Chair in 2004 and prior to that was Vice Chair in 2002 and 2003. Jeff is engineer at Interstates Control Systems in Sioux Center, Iowa.

Steve Wolterstorff, Vice Chair

Steve served as Vice Chair in 2004 and prior to that served as Newsletter Editor/Webmaster in 2002 and 2003. Steve is a Systems/Network Analyst at Missouri River Energy Services in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Robert Fourney, Secretary/Treasurer

Robert served as Secretary/Treasurer in 2004. Bob is a professor in the Electrical Engineering Department at South Dakota State University (SDSU) at Brookings, SD.

Brian Matherly, Member-at-Large / GOLD Affinity Group Chair

Brian served as a Member-at-Large member on the executive committee and became the GOLD chair in 2004. Brian is an engineer at Sencore in Sioux Falls.

Calen Moerman, Member-at-Large

Deanna Byington, Power Engineering Society Chapter Chair

John Weber, Electronic Communications Coordinator (appointed – not an elected position)

John is an engineer at Missouri River Energy Services in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Doug DeBoer, Dordt College Student Branch Liaison (appointed – not an elected position)

Doug is a professor in the Engineering Department at Dordt College at Sioux Center, IA.

Michael Ropp, South Dakota State University Student Branch Liaison (appointed – not an elected position)

Michael is a professor in the Electrical Engineering Department at South Dakota State University (SDSU) at Brookings, SD.

Members of the section may nominate other interested persons (or themselves) to the above offices. If you wish to do so, please communicate your intent immediately to the nominations committee Chair, Douglas De Boer. He will provide you with further particulars regarding the nomination. A valid nomination must be signed by three members of the IEEE Siouxland Section who have membership grades of "Member" or higher (Life Member, Senior Member, etc.) You may contact the Doug by e-mail at ddeboer@dordt.edu or by telephone at 712-722-6245. Nominations must be completed by January 14.

If no nominations are made in addition to the persons listed above, there will be no election and the persons nominated above will be considered elected by acclamation of the membership. They will take office for a term of one year starting January 2005. You may also e-mail or call the section Chair with any questions.

The results of the IEEE's 2004 annual election have been tallied, and U.S. IEEE members have elected Ralph W. Wyndrum, Jr., to serve as IEEE-USA President in 2006. Wyndrum, who enjoyed a successful 36-year career at AT&T and Bell Labs, currently leads Wyndrum Associates-Executive Consultants, consulting in the areas of R&D resource allocation and decision sciences targeted at new product service development. He also serves as business development director for SmartOrg, Inc., a start-up firm based in Menlo Park, Calif.; and he teaches a seminar on leadership, decision quality and strategic planning at Rutgers University. Wyndrum is a long-time IEEE volunteer and has held numerous IEEE-USA offices. For the past two years he has served as IEEE-USA's vice president for Technology Policy Activities. For more information on Wyndrum, visit: http://www.wyndrum.com/election/ Wyndrum will assume the role of president-elect on 1 January 2005, and will work with 2005 President Gerard A. Alphonse and current President John W. Steadman.

The IEEE's U.S. members also selected James M. Howard to serve as IEEE-USA Member-at-Large, 2005-2006. Howard, an electrical engineer with Lakeland Electric, a municipal electric company in Lakeland, Fla., will also take office on 1January 2005.

The IEEE Educational Activities Board has several resources available to members that focus on pre-college students, teachers and guidance counselors.

The Educational Activities Board Teacher In-Service Program features IEEE Section volunteers developing and presenting technologically oriented subject matter to local pre-college educators in an in-service or professional development setting. The focus on local school districts is a key feature to this program as local engineers and educators can develop long lasting collaborations.

Educational Activities has converted fifteen activities from the Teacher In-Service Program into complete lesson plans in English and Spanish that teachers and volunteers can use in classrooms. Each lesson is aligned with education standards, and includes teacher summaries, student worksheets, and activities. For more information, go to http://www.ieee.org/organizations/eab/precollege/tispt.

If you need to find an authority for a particular subject area, a good place to start is with the IEEE Technical Experts guide. This guide is a resource covering more than 500 technical topics and includes contact information for IEEE experts qualified to answer questions or make referrals. For the alphabetized list, or search function, go to: http://www.ieee.org/TEG.

Minutes of the IEEE Siouxland Section Executive Committee Meetings can be found along with past issues of the Siouxland Signal at: www.siouxland.org/newsletts.htm

Please send comments or items to include in the newsletter to the Electronics Communications Coordinator (John Weber / PO Box 88920 / Missouri River Energy Services / Sioux Falls , SD 57109 / Telephone 605-330-6979, e-mail johnw@mrenergy.com). Make address corrections online at http://www.ieee.org/update or call them at (800)-678-IEEE.