January 2009 – History

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

Submitted by Bob Morrison, Editor

Copyright 1995 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. 83, No. 9, September 1995.

Irving Langmuir and the Thermionic Vacuum Tube

Eighty years ago this month, the PROCEEDINGS OF THE INSTITUTE OF RADIO ENGINEERS (IRE) included a paper by Irving Langmuir on the theory of the thermionic vacuum tube and some of its radio applications. The author, a future IRE president and Nobel Prize recipient, was at the General Electric Research Laboratory (GERL) when his paper was published.

Langmuir was born in 1881 in Brooklyn, NY, and graduated in metallurgical engineering from the Columbia School of Mines in 1903. He went to Germany for graduate work where he earned a Ph.D. in physical chemistry at the University of Gottingen in 1906. He returned to the United States, where he taught for three years at the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, NJ, and where a heavy teaching load left him with little time for research. In 1909, he joined the research staff at the GERL where he spent the rest of his professional career.

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January 2009 – IEEE NEWS

Winning Entry in ‘How Engineers Make a World of Difference’ Online
Video Scholarship Competition Featured on ‘Design Squad’ Web Site

WASHINGTON (18 November 2008) — The winning entry in the 2008 IEEE-USA “How Engineers Make a World of Difference” Online Engineering Video Scholarship Competition can be seen on the PBS “Design Squad” Web site at http://pbskids.org/designsquad/special/ieee/ieee.html.  

Engineering Undergraduates Ben Toler and Emile Frey of Louisiana Tech University, Ruston, La., split the IEEE-USA competition’s $2,500 first prize. Their entry was deemed most effective in reinforcing for an 11-to-13-year-old audience how engineers improve the quality of life and how engineering can be a creative and rewarding career.  

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From Charlie’s Desk

Mary FruehwaldWine Selection 

  • I hope everyone had a good holiday season and that your new year started out well. Thank you for electing me as your chairperson for 2009/2010. We are currently planning the meetings and events for the year, and if you have any comments about the content, format, or anything else you like or don’t like about them please let me know. Send me an email at cnash@ieee.org.  
  • Our December meeting was a big success. Mary Fruehwald from The Wine Store, in Montgomery, served us a generous selection of holiday wines. Sparkling wines, tables wines, dessert wines, and gift wines were served in a casual interactive setting. Everyone had a great time.  
  • At this month’s meeting on January 22nd, section member Dr. Marwan Nusair will be presenting data and research that refutes the arguments given in recent global climate change arguments. Marwan is a dynamic speaker and gives a compelling engineering point of view on man-caused climate change. Check the January announcement on the website for complete details on the meeting. 
  • In this recession we are struggling through, I personally know several people who are now looking for jobs. I hope you are fairing well. If you are looking for work, take a look at our website’s listing of Cincinnati area companies. The link is “Cincinnati Companies” in the “About Us” sidebar section. There are numerous links to companies’ websites. Also, our monthly meetings are a great place to network with other engineers and find out about local companies.Take care and I’ll see you on the 22nd. Come up and say “hi”.

2008 IEEE Cincinnati Section Election Results

                          Results of IEEE 2008 Cincinnati Section Ballot
For the Election of Officers for Term Beginning 1/01/09 and Ending 12/31/10

Congratulations to our new Officers:

Chair                              Charles Nash
Vice Chair                     Steve Olenick
Treasurer                     Brian Resnick
   Secretary                     Marwan Nusair
Member-At-Large      Lauren Tappel

Imaging Research Center Open House

Dr. Scott Holland, who presented an excellent talk entitled Functional MRI of the Brain at our March meeting, has invited you to attend the open house of the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Imaging Research Center.  They will showcase their new MRI scanners and lab facilities on January 21, 2009 from 1:00 to 4:00.  For details: IRC Open House

Nov-Dec 2008 Section Meeting

DECEMBER MEETING
Holiday Wine Tasting Party

DATE: Thursday, December 4, 2008
PLACE : Raffel’s – 10160 Reading Road (see below for directions)
TIME : 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
FEE: $15.00 per person, pay at the door (Reservation Required)

LOCATION:  Raffel’s is located at 10160 Reading Road, south of Glendale-Milford Road on the east side of Reading. Take I-75 to the Glendale-Milford Rd. Exit, go east on Glendale-Milford Road approximately ¾ of a mile to Reading Rd. and turn right on Reading.

Wine Tasting PartyJoin us on December 4th at a holiday wine tasting party. The Wine Store in Montgomery will present a selection of wines great for entertaining and gift giving during the holidays, and Raffles will serve an appetizer buffet. Your $15 fee (reduced from $25) will cover the wines and the Section will pay for the appetizers. Bring your spouse or date and join us in enjoying these select wines and appetizers. Non-alcoholic drinks will also be available. Make your reservations with Fred Nadeau at f.nadeau@ieee.org or by calling the Section Voice Mail at 513-629-9380 by Noon, Monday, December 1st. Reserve early because we are limiting attendance to 50 people.

Nov-Dec 2008 Membership News

NEW MEMBERS
The following individuals are IEEE members who are new to our Section:

David Bell
Michael Conner Conaboy
David Esposito
Jesse Aaron Griffis
David Christopher Hernandez
Christopher M. Hogan
Benjamin D. Jones
Hyoung-Kook Kim
Jonathan A. Kopechek
Haeyeon Lee
John C. McClelland
David Plescia
Kurt Prenger
Timothy E. Rapp
Gerald Franz Robinette
David Michael Shuler
Chase Kelly Starr
Robert A. Stine
Brian Telljohann
Darwin Ting
Shea Watson
Dunrick M. Yetts

We wish to welcome these new members to the Cincinnati Section!!!

Nov-Dec 2008 History

Scanning the Past: A History of Electrical Engineering from the Past
Submitted by Bob Morrison, Editor

Copyright 1995 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. 83, No. 8, August 1995.

Ernst F. W. Alexanderson and Transoceanic Radio
Seventy-five years ago this month, the PROCEEDINGS OF THE INSTITUTE OF RADIO ENGINEERS (IRE) included a paper on transoceanic radio communication by Ernst F. W. Alexanderson. He was, at the time, the chief engineer of the Radio Corporation of American (RCA) and a recent recipient of the Medal of Honor from the IRE. His numerous inventions and other achievements gained him recognition as one of the most outstanding members of the electrical engineering profession during a career of over a half century.

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Nov-Dec 2008 IEEE News

2009 IEEE Green Technology Conference Seeks Technical Papers
WASHINGTON (9 October 2008) — The first IEEE Green Technology Conference will examine alternative energy sources and energy-reduction technologies and their potential for helping the world meet its growing demand for energy, while reducing carbon emissions. Conference organizers are seeking technical papers on current and emerging technologies in environmentally friendly energy sources, and on ways to better manage our energy resources.

Accepted papers will be published by the IEEE and presented at the 2009 IEEE Green Technology Conference (http://www.ieeegreentech.org/) at the Holiday Inn Hotel Towers in Lubbock, Texas, USA, 16-17 April 2009. The conference will precede the annual IEEE Region 5 Meeting.

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