January 2010 – History of Electrical Engineering

Scanning the Past: A History of Electrical Engineering from the Past

Submitted by Bob Morrison, Editor

Copyright 1996 IEEE. Reprinted with permission from the IEEE publication, “Scanning the Past” which covers a reprint of an article appearing in the Proceedings of the IEEE Vol. 84, No. 5, May 1996.

Fireless Fireworks: Lighting at the Panama-Pacific Exposition in 1915

Eighty years ago this month, Walter D’Arcy Ryan presented a paper at a meeting of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE) on the illumination of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition. Ryan had served as Chief of Illumination for the Exposition and he also served as the Director of the Illuminating Engineering Laboratory for the General Electric Company (GE). American poet Edwin Markham characterized  the spectacular Exposition lighting as “the greatest revelation of beauty that was ever seen on the earth.” Ryan’s paper, as published in the 1916 volume of the TRANSACTIONS OF THE AIEE was lavishly illustrated with color plates showing illuminated buildings, towers, fountains, and other features of the Exposition. This blending of aesthetics and illumination engineering produced perhaps the most elegantly illustrated technical paper ever included in the TRANSACTIONS.

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January 2010 – IEEE News

IEEE-USA Releases Third E-Book in Innovation Series — ‘Fostering an Innovation Subculture’

WASHINGTON (25 November 2009) — IEEE-USA has released the third e-book in its innovation series, “Doing Innovation: Creating Economic Value,” this one focusing on “Fostering an Innovation Culture.”
 
Author Gus Gaynor, a retired 3M director of engineering, writes that this third book “provides the fundamentals for developing a culture that supports innovation.” These fundamentals, according to Gaynor, include “finding the right people and providing the freedom to act, but with discipline; implementing effective and supportive management practices; providing the organizational resources and infrastructure; and promoting an organizational attitude that focuses on achieving results.”
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Science Olympiad in need of EE Volunteer

The Cincinnati Regional Science Olympiad, an annual science competition, needs a volunteer to run the SHOCK VALUE event this year.  This is a perfect opportunity for you, an electrical engineer, to have some fun, to motivate students and to help the community.   The event is held on March 6, 2010 at Raymond-Walters.  You would be responsible for creating an activity to test basic understanding of electricity, magnetism and simple electrical devices.  Contact Brian Resnick for more details (Brian.Resnick@ieee.org).

UC Robotics Team

The UC Robotics Team, led by Dr. Ernie Hall, needs your support to help them win the 18th Annual Intelligent Ground Vehicle Competition (IGVC) and in the 7th Annual ION Robot Lawn Mower Competition in 2010.  Please read the UC Robotics Team Brochure to learn how you can help.

Visit www.robotics.uc.edu to gain insight into their design strategy, to explore their utilization of current technologies, and to follow their research and development of future technologies.

Life Members Group

The Cincinnati Section now has a Life Members Group.  If you are a Life Member you are automatically a member of this group.  You should be contacted at the beginning of the 2010 regarding Life Member activities in the Cincinnati Section.Also note, on the right-hand side of the Home page, you will find a link in the Articles box for the Life Members  Group.

Where is my ballot?

The election for Member-At-Large is currently in progress. The top seven reasons for not receiving a ballot:

  1. I was not a member of the Cincinnati Section on November 23rd, when the ballots were sent.
  2. I do not have an email address.  We use email to contact our membership. Please get an email account and register it.
  3. I have an email address, but I have not registered it with IEEE.  Please do so; instructions below.
  4. I have registered my email address with IEEE, but my preferences are set to DO NOT SEND EMAIL.  Please adjust your preferences so that we can reach you by email.
  5. I have my Spam Filter set so that email from IEEE goes to the trash bin. Please do not block email from IEEE, instead set your preferences to receive only the items you want.
  6. I get some email from IEEE, but my preferences are set to DO NOT SEND ELECTION EMAIL.  Please adjust your preferences so that we can email a ballot to you.
  7. All of the above are fine, but previously I opted out of email from SurveyMonkey.com. Sorry, but SurveyMoneky was chosen to send out our ballots.  Opting in now, won’t help for this year’s ballot.

If you did not receive a ballot, you can still vote. (more…)

Andrea Kay Speaking at Joseph Beth Booksellers

Andrea Kay, a Cincinnati business and career consultant, will be speaking at Joseph Beth Booksellers  on January 20th, 2010 at 7PM. Ms. Kay is an engaging speaker with insightful advice about careers and the local economy. This is a free event so come early to get a seat. She will be talking about career concerns for 2010. Ms. Kay is a syndicated columnist and has several published books. See her website or read her articles in the Enquirer.  Joseph Beth Booksellers is located in the Rookwood Pavilion, 2692 Madison Road, Cincinnati, OH.

Party!

Don’t forget to make your reservations for the December holiday party. Live jazz music, a magician act, and great food for 15 bucks. Bring your spouse, bring your date, bring your friends, but remember to bring yourself! It’s on December 3rd and reservations have to be in by noon December 1st.  Check this out for more details.