pittsburgh section bulletin · 2015. 11. 25. · ieee pittsburgh section bulletin december 2015...

IEEE Pittsburgh Section Bulletin December 2015 Volume 64 No. 12 of 12

Pittsburgh

Section

Bulletin December 2015 Volume 64, No. 12

Included in this issue:

Beck’s Bytes ......................................................................................................................................... 2

Beck’s Bytes – Continued.................................................................................................................... 3

Practical Power Flow Controller Brings Benefits of Power Electronics to the Grid ................ 4

Laser Drilling in Electronic Packaging - Review of 2015 Electronic Packaging Expo ................ 6

Women in Engineering Planning Session .......................................................................................... 7

HackPGH's Autonomous Power Wheels Racing Series Car .......................................................... 7

2016 PES Chapter Outstanding Engineer Award ........................................................................... 8

“Return To the WQED Tower“ ......................................................................................................... 9

Local IEEE PES Distinguished Lecturer Travels ......................................................................... 10

Editor: Philip Cox, [email protected]; Contributors: Jim Beck, Steve Dobos, Paige Kassalen, Gene

Kern, Louis Hart, Kal Sen, and Dave Vaglia

All announcements for publication in a particular month’s bulletin are due to the Editor by the 20th of the previous month. The accuracy of the published material is not guaranteed. If there is any error, please bring it to

the Editor’s attention. The Section’s web site, https://webinabox.vtools.ieee.org/wibp_home/index/r20037, has

recent issues of the bulletin and lots of other useful information

mailto:[email protected]

https://webinabox.vtools.ieee.org/wibp_home/index/r20037


Beck’s Bytes

Greetings! It seems the older I get the faster the years

fly by, and this year was no exception. It's been a

privilege to serve as the chair of the IEEE Pittsburgh

Section in 2015, and next month I'll be handing over the

reins to our incoming chair for 2016, Jim Lagree.

Looking back, there was a lot accomplished we can all

take pride in. Thanks to Xin Li and a number of faculty

members at CMU and Drexel, we founded a new

chapter of the Council for Electronic Design

Automation (CEDA). This is our very first council, and

our first chapter to span multiple IEEE sections. Many

thanks to Xin and his colleagues for pulling this

off. We're also very proud of our existing

chapters. Congratulations to Kal Sen, chair of PELS,

which was named the outstanding PELS chapter of the

year. Congratulations also to Dave Vaglia, chair of

PES/IAS, which received a PES high performing

chapter award.

We had so many great technical seminars this year I

can't possibly acknowledge them all. Thanks to Steve

Dobos, we had a memorable trip to the WQED studios

and the transmission tower atop Oakland. Thanks to

Joe Kalasky, we got a behind the scenes glimpse of the

casino operations at Nemacolin and all the associated

technology we were never aware of. And Joe Cioletti

brought together IEEE leaders, the Pittsburgh

technology council and the PA bar association to

discuss changes to intellectual property law. Thanks go

out to all the chapter chairs for organizing so many

worthwhile events in 2015!

Along the way, we recruited some new volunteers and

we even created a new position on our executive

committee -- student section representative -- to foster a

closer relationship with the student chapters. Thanks

go out to our new volunteers: Brandon Contino, Blaine

Headley, Paige Kassalen, Matt Rehder and Jun Yang,

as well as the rest of our dedicated volunteers that keep

our section going.

Continued on next page …

Section

Chair - Dr. Jim Beck, [email protected]

Vice Chair -- Jim Lagree, [email protected]

Treasurer – Dr. Drew Lowery, [email protected] Asst. Treasurer - Navid Binesh, [email protected]

Secretary - Dan Wilson, [email protected]

Immediate Past Chair – Dr. Louis Hart, [email protected]

Awards Chair – Dr. Ralph Sprang, [email protected]

Webmaster – Gerry Kumnik, [email protected]

UpperMon Subsection

Chair: Dr. Gianfranco Doretto, [email protected]

Chapters

Communications Society – Chair: Dr. Balaji Palanisamy, [email protected]; Sec: Phil Cox, [email protected]

Computer Society – Chair: Dr. Ralph Sprang, [email protected]

Components, Packaging, and Manufacturing Technology/Electron Devices Societies – Russell Dudek, [email protected]; Treas.: Dr. Louis Hart

Engineering In Medicine & Biology Society Chair: Dr. Wei Wang, [email protected]

Electromagnetic Compatibility Society

Chair: Michael J. Oliver [email protected] (814) 763-3211

Power Electronics Society – Chair: Dr. Kal Sen, [email protected]

Power & Energy & Industry Applications Societies Chair: Dave Vaglia, [email protected]; Past: Mey Sen, [email protected] 412-373-0117

Magnetics Society – Chair: Dr. Matt Moneck, [email protected]

Nanotechnology Society - Chair: Dr. MinheeYun [email protected]

Robotics Society – Chair: Gene Kern, [email protected]

Signal Processing Society – Chair: Dr. Deniz Gencaga [email protected]

Society on Social Implications of Technology

Chair: Joe Kalasky, P.E., [email protected] 724-244-1609

Council of Electronic Design Automation Chair: Dr. Xin Li, [email protected]

Affinity Groups

Young Professionals (formerly GOLD) – Chair: Matthew Rehder [email protected]

Women In Engineering –Co Chairs: Paige Kassalen, [email protected] and Dr. Jun Yang, [email protected]

Committees

Professional/Career Activities (PACE) Chair: Joe Cioletti, P.E. [email protected]

Student Activities – Dr. Irvin Jones, [email protected]; student reps: Chair: Blaine Headley [email protected], Vice-

chair: Brandon Contino [email protected]

Membership Development – Steve Mozelewski, [email protected]

Publicity – Chair: Thomas Dionise, P.E. [email protected] (724) 779-5864



































Beck’s Bytes – Continued

Thanks to Tom Dionise, we also continued our tradition of support for STEM and the local community,

with our IndEEE 500 robotic car race at the Carnegie Science Center during Engineers week. Tom also

served as our lead judge at the 2015 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) which was

hosted in Pittsburgh this year. IEEE sponsors a $10,000 scholarship, and we were privileged to put

together a judging team and select an outstanding recipient: Alex Tacescu. Many thanks to Tom and all

the volunteers who put in many hours to support this event.

We also had the privilege of representing Pittsburgh at a number of meetings throughout the year. I

attended the annual R2 meeting in Columbus along with Joe Kalasky, Bob Brooks and Ralph Sprang,

and I also attended the annual meeting with our sister section in Toronto. Joe Cioletti represented us at

an IEEE congressional fly-in event in Washington DC, Jim Lagree and Bob Brooks represented us at the

annual IEEE USA conference in Milwaukee, and Paige Kassalen participated in the WIE Summit USA

East in Philly.

Last but not least, we had a little fun, and carried on some worthwhile traditions like our annual history

& awards dinner, where we honored our newly elevated IEEE fellows and 50th anniversary recipients,

and also our annual picnic. Many thanks to Kal and Mey Sen, Steve Mozelewski, Dave Vaglia, Matt

Rehder and Lou Hart for organizing these events.

While I have the privilege of reporting these accomplishments, I can't claim credit for them. I'm

indebted to a diverse and dedicated group of volunteers that keep our section going. In particular, I'd

like to thank my fellow section officers, Jim Lagree, Drew Lowery, Navid Binesh and Dan Wilson for

doing a fantastic job this year, along with our bulletin editor Phil Cox and webmaster Gerry

Kumnik. Thanks also go out to Steve Mozelewski for organizing our senior member drive, and our past

chair Lou Hart for leading the nomination committee and always giving me good advice. Last but not

least, I'm indebted to our members at large for your help and support, and for making my term as section

chair an enjoyable and rewarding experience.

Thanks, have a wonderful holiday, and best of luck in 2016!

Jim Beck

IEEE Pittsburgh Section Chair, 2015


Practical Power Flow Controller Brings Benefits of Power Electronics to the Grid

Speaker: Kalyan K. Sen, PhD, PE, MBA

IEEE PES Distinguished Lecturer

Date: Thursday, December 3, 2015

Time: Refreshments - 6:30 PM; Presentation - 7:00 PM

Place: Westinghouse Energy Center, 4350 Northern Pike, Monroeville, PA 15146

RSVP: Required at https://meetings.vtools.ieee.org/m/36568 by December 1, 2015. If you are

an IEEE member, you must enter your membership number. If you would like to receive PDH, please

bring a copy of this announcement for verification of your attendance and your membership

identification card. A non-Member who would like to receive PDH is required to pay $10 to “IEEE

Pittsburgh Section.”

Organizer: Power Electronics Society (PELS) Chapter and Joint PES/IAS Chapter

Abstract: The power industry’s pressing need for the most economical ways to transfer bulk power

along a desired path may be met by building new transmission lines, which is a costly and longer

process. Alternately, it may be cheaper and quicker to utilize the existing transmission lines more

efficiently. The key is to identify the underutilized transmission lines and harness their dormant capacity

to increase the power flows to the lines’ thermal limits.

Power flow control techniques have been practiced, from using inductors, capacitors, and breakers in the

earlier days of electrical engineering to power electronics-based solutions in recent years. Even though

the costs of the available solutions vary widely, the basic underlying theory of power flow control is still

the same as it always has been. The question is which solution one should employ. The answer depends

on knowing what the true need is.

Since the commissioning of the first commercial power electronics-based Flexible Alternating Current

Transmission Systems (FACTS) controller two decades ago, a great deal has been learned about the true

needs of a utility for its everyday use and they are high reliability, high efficiency, low-cost, component

non-obsolescence, high power density, interoperability and portability while providing the optimal

power flow control capability. This was the motivation to develop a SMART Power Flow Controller

(SPFC) that enhances the controllability in an electric power transmission system by using functional

requirements and cost-effective solutions. Utilities that are looking for ways to enhance the

controllability in their power grid by voltage regulation, phase angle regulation, line impedance

regulation, fault-current limitation, and much more should consider using a SPFC.

The presentation is designed to provide the basic principles of power flow control theory, an overview

of the most commonly used power flow controllers, and future trends. The presentation will be of

particular interest to all utility power engineering professionals. The required background is an

equivalent of an electrical engineering degree with familiarity in power engineering terminology. The

audience will hear from an expert who actually designed and commissioned a number of power

electronics-based FACTS controllers since its inception in the 1990s.

https://meetings.vtools.ieee.org/m/36568


Speaker: Kalyan Sen is the Chief Technology Officer of Sen Engineering Solutions,

Inc. (www.sentransformer.com) that specializes in developing SMART power flow

controllers—a functional requirements-based and cost-effective solution. He spent

29 years in academia and industry and became a Westinghouse Fellow Engineer. He

was a key member of the Flexible Alternating Current Transmission Systems

(FACTS) development team at the Westinghouse Science & Technology Center in

Pittsburgh. He contributed in all aspects (conception, simulation, design, and

commissioning) of FACTS projects at Westinghouse. He conceived some of the

basic concepts in FACTS technology. He has been awarded 8 U.S. patents, more

than 20 peer-reviewed publications in the areas of FACTS and power electronics, a book and 3 book

chapters. He is the coauthor of the book titled, Introduction to FACTS Controllers: Theory, Modeling,

and Applications, IEEE Press and John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2009, which is now translated in Chinese. He

is the co-inventor of Sen Transformer. He received BEE, MSEE, and PhD degrees, all in Electrical

Engineering, from Jadavpur University, India, Tuskegee University, and Worcester Polytechnic

Institute, respectively. He also received an MBA from Robert Morris University. He is a licensed

Professional Engineer in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Kalyan, a Senior Member of IEEE, has served the organization in many positions. In 2003, he revived

two dormant Pittsburgh Chapters – Power & Energy Society (PES) and Industrial Applications Society

(IAS). Both Chapters received the “Outstanding Large Chapter” awards for their activities in 2004. He is

the recepient of the IEEE Pittsburgh Section PES Outstanding Engineer Award (2004) and Outstanding

Volunteer Service Award for reviving the local chapters of PES and IAS from inactivity to world-class

performance (2004). Under his Chairmanship, the Pittsburgh Section received the “Outstanding Large

Section” award for its activities in 2005. His other past positions include Editor of the IEEE

Transactions on Power Delivery (2002 – 2007), Technical Program Chair of the 2008 PES General

Meeting in Pittsburgh, Chapters and Sections Activities Track Chair of the 2008 IEEE Sections

Congress in Quebec City, Canada, PES Region 2 Representative (2010, 2011) and the Member of the

IEEE Center for Leadership Excellence (CLE) Committee (2013, 2014). He has been serving as an

IEEE PES Distinguished Lecturer since 2002. In that capacity, he has given presentations on power flow

control technology more than 95 times in 10 countries. Currently, he is serving as the founding Chair of

IEEE Pittsburgh Power Electronics Society Chapter, which has won the 2015 Best Chapter Award. He is

an inaugural class (2013) graduate of the IEEE CLE Volunteer Leadership Training (VOLT) program.

Recent publications:

K. K. Sen, “Overview Of Voltage Regulation Schemes For Utility And Industrial Applications,”

How2Power.com Today, September, 2015.

http://www.how2power.com/newsletters/1509/articles/H2PToday1509_design_Sen.pdf?NOREDIR=1

K. K. Sen, M. L. Sen, “SMART Power Flow Controller for Smarter Grid Applications,” IEEE

Power & Energy Society General Meeting, paper no. 15PESGM1910, July 2015, Denver, USA.

K. K. Sen, “Practical Power Flow Controller Brings Benefits of Power Electronics to the Grid,”

How2Power.com Today, March, 2015.


http://www.sentransformer.com/




DIRECTIONS TO WESTINGHOUSE ENERGY CENTER (MONROEVILLE)

From Pittsburgh take Interstate 376 East (Parkway East). Take Exit 84A to Monroeville. Cross Business

Rt 22 at the traffic light and proceed on Rt 48 South (Moss Side Blvd) approx ½ mile (two traffic lights).

The 2nd

traffic light is at a 4-way intersection with a Marathon station on the right and a Sunoco station

on the left. Turn left onto Northern Pike. Proceed approx 0.2 miles and turn right at the 1st traffic light

onto Westinghouse Dr. Travel 0.7 miles (past the guard stand) to the 3 flags where the building’s main

entrance is located. Parking in the evening will be plentiful. Use the main entrance and check with the

security guards inside. You will be directed to the proper room for your meeting.

From the PA Turnpike, take Exit 57 (Monroeville). After the toll plaza, get in the left lane to get on

Business Rt 22 West. At the first light, turn left onto Rt 48 South (Moss Side Blvd) and follow the above

directions.

Laser Drilling in Electronic Packaging - Review of 2015 Electronic Packaging Expo

Speakers: Jason Gale and Louis Hart

Host: IEEE Pittsburgh Components, Packaging, and Manufacturing

Technology/Electron Devices Society r

Date and Time: 8 December 2015, 630 PM Dinner and Social 700 PM Seminar

Place: Compunetics, 700 Seco Rd, Monroeville, PA

Contact: Louis Hart, 412-858-1232 or [email protected], on or before 4 December

to reserve a place

Abstract: IPC APEX EXPO is an annual program assisting in development of standards used in

manufacture and test of electronic packaging materials. A parallel technical conference comprises

reports on novel material developments and manufacturing methods. We will review some of the

highlights of the 2015 EXPO.

Electronic packaging, including rigid and flexible printed wiring boards, calls for formation of plated-

through holes and routing of features which cannot be achieved via mechanical drilling and routing. We

will examine the laser drilling technologies currently in use and the behavior of materials during laser

drilling. Examination of a laser drill and demonstration of its operation will follow.

Directions: From I-376 East or US 22 West, take PA 48 North through one traffic light. After

approximately 100 meters, turn right into the Monroeville Business Park. Immediately make a left turn

and go behind the ‘700’ building. Compunetics has a conspicuous sign on the right.



Women in Engineering Planning Session

Please join IEEE WIE at Kaya in the Strip District for networking planning session for 2016!

Date: Monday, December 14th

Time: 6:30 - 8:00

Location: Kaya - 2000 Smallman St, Pittsburgh, PA 15222

Now that WIE Pittsburgh has taken off, we want to hear what you want to do in 2016! IEEE WIE is the

largest international professional organization dedicated to promoting women engineers and scientists

and inspiring girls around the world to follow their academic interests to a career in engineering. All

members and guests are welcome! Be sure to RSVP!

RSVP by filling out this form no later than December 11th : https://meetings.vtools.ieee.org/m/37184

If you have any questions about the meeting or cannot attend but want to be involved, you may contact

[email protected]

Thank you, Paige

HackPGH's Autonomous Power Wheels Racing Series Car

The Pittsburgh section of IEEE Robotics and Automation Society presents a technical session about

HackPGH's designing, building, and racing an Autonomous vehicle based on a Power Wheels toy.

Meeting will be held at the HackPGH shop 1937 Watson Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15219 starting at 6:30

PM on 14 December 2015. Pizza/sandwiches will be provided. Please register for this meeting at

meetings.vtools.ieee.org/meeting_view/list_meeting/37175 or send an email to [email protected].

In September 2015, HackPittsburgh entered in the first ever autonomous racing division of the Power

Racing Series (http://www.powerracingseries.org/) at World Maker Faire in New York city. The power

racing series challenges entrants to build ridiculously cheap, ridiculously small race cars based on

children's Power Wheels ride-on cars, then -until now- cram a full sized adult in the drive seat. This

presentation will explain their build-from-scratch, self-driving car and the technology behind it.

The car borrows its drive train from a wheel chair and fuses information from a laser scanner, an inertial

measurement unit (IMU), and wheel encoders to generate a map of the racetrack by means of a

simultaneous localization and mapping algorithm. It then navigates through the established map while

autonomously estimating the relative position within the map. The free, open-source, and community

driven Robot Operating System (ROS) has been used as the underlying software platform and most

software packages that were used for this project are freely available on the internet, making

autonomous robots accessible to anyone.

HackPittsburgh (www.hackpgh.org) is a non-profit community-based workshop that allows members to

come together and share skills and tools to pursue creative projects.

https://meetings.vtools.ieee.org/m/37184


https://www.google.com/maps/place/HackPittsburgh/@40.4378871,-79.980227,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x8834f163829c5c05:0xb506768e655dd39e?hl=en

https://meetings.vtools.ieee.org/meeting_view/list_meeting/37175


http://www.powerracingseries.org/

http://www.hackpgh.org/#_blank


2016 PES Chapter Outstanding Engineer Award

The IEEE Power & Energy Society Chapter of the Pittsburgh Section is seeking nominations from the

local PES members for the 2016 PES Chapter Outstanding Engineer Award. The Outstanding Engineer

Award is our opportunity to recognize an individual for their professional accomplishments and

contributions to our profession and their support of the IEEE, Section, Local Chapter. As this award is

given out by PES, the recipient must be both a member of the IEEE and the PES.

The nominees will be judged on the basis of their activities during the past two calendar years (2014 and

2015).

Please nominate yourself or someone else by providing the following information:

Name/IEEE Grade/IEEE Membership Number

Professional Affiliations

Description of technical contributions

Patents/proprietary designs/papers/technical presentations

Service to IEEE

Service to the engineering profession outside IEEE

Recognition through other honors

Nominations should be submitted to the Chapter Award Committee (Past Chair Mey Sen,

[email protected]) no later than December 31, 2015. The decision of the Award Committee is final. The

winner will be recognized at the Pittsburgh Section's History Dinner, usually held in May.

The SLAMborghini and crew of HackPGH at MakerFaire New York.



“Return To the WQED Tower“ The IEEE Pittsburgh IAS/PES Joint Chapters completed a very successful “Return To the WQED Tower“ antenna tour this past October 22

nd, 2015. Thank you to all that attended. We had a great turn out of

approximately 24 to 26 attendees. About 6 to 8 were students, 2 professors: 1-Carnegie Mellon, 1-University of

Pittsburgh.

To start off things, a very positive Meet and Eat was held on top of the Peterson Events Center parking garage beforehand. Great views of the Pittsburgh Skyline were had by all. Lots of good interaction (social networking)

between the students and the established IEEE personnel.

As the Meet and Eat was wrapping up, preparation for the antenna part of the tour began. The tour preparation

included handing out the brand new audio receivers with headphones to all the members. One audio transmitter

was handed out to our tour presenter Mr. Paul Byers (Executive Director of WQED Engineering).

The audio equipment was used in conjunction with the tour to promote clear communication between the presenter and participants. Upon touring this facility last July, there was no audio equipment and we ran into a

problem with communication. It was a noisy environment and all participants could not hear all the

communication being presented. This audio equipment was purchased by our section and it performed beautifully!

Our WQED tour presenter “Paul Byers – Executive Director of WQED Engineering” started off the Antenna tour

by having us look up at the antenna (pictured above) as he proceeded to explain the attached equipment lining each side of the antenna all the way to the top!


The Next part of the tour included taking everyone into and through the two story brick building housing the

transmitter (and some receiver) hardware. Multiple rows of new digital cabinets can be seen below alongside of the old analog cabinets as they hum along broadcasting TV and Radio signals over Pittsburgh...

The WQED Antenna tour ended up as a very successful gathering for our younger members as well as

our older members. Our presenter was extremely knowledgeable and we could not have asked for a

better host!

Local IEEE PES Distinguished Lecturer Travels

Local IEEE Senior Member and PES Distinguished Lecturer Dr. Kalyan Sen traveled to Canada twice

and India during October/November of 2015. He gave a full-day tutorial, titled “Practical Power Flow Controller Brings Benefits of Power Electronics to the Grid” at the 2015

EPEC Conference in London, Ontario on October 26. He also delivered a half-day seminar at the

University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon on November 28.

During November 4 through 20, Dr. Sen traveled as a keynote speaker at the National Workshop on

Power Electronics in New Delhi, India and as an IEEE PES Distinguished Lecturer to National Institute

of Technology, Jamshedpur and Indian Institute of technology, Kanpur.


An abbreviated version of this presentation is scheduled for December 3 at the Westinghouse Energy

Center, Monroeville as a joint meeting with PES/IAS. The subject matter is well described in his book,

titled “Introduction to FACTS Controllers: Theory, Modeling, and Applications,” IEEE Press and John

Wiley & Sons, 2009. The details of the book can be found at the publisher’s website at

http://as.wiley.com/WileyCDA/Section/id-302477.html?query=Kalyan+K.+Sen

http://as.wiley.com/WileyCDA/Section/id-302477.html?query=Kalyan+K.+Sen


2015 Calendar – Meetings of IEEE Pittsburgh Section Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July August Sept Oct Nov Dec

Executive

Committee

15

TBD

19

Panera

Forbes Ave,

Oakland

19

Panera Bread

Wilkins

16

Nemacolin

21

Panera- Blvd

of the Allies,

Oakland

18

Panera

Bread

Wilkins

16

The

Spaghetti

Warehouse

20

Panera Bread

Wexford

17

Panera Blvd

of the Allies

15

WVU –

6:30PM

19

Panera

Bread

Wilkins

17

The

Spaghetti

Warehouse

Section 21

Engineer’s

Week

27

Science Fair

10-15 Intel

Science Fair

15 – Annual

Dinner

19

Picnic

Communic

ations

1

Gigabit Apps

12 - RF

Spectrum

Computer 12

IoT

EMBS

EMCS 8

Testing EMC

Power

Electronics

21

DC

Microgrid

24

Energy Lab.

26

Power

Converter

23

EMC

28

Magnetics on

PCBs

15

Trail

Project

14

Electric Car

27

Solar Power

16

2 KW

Converter

14

GaN semis

16-17

Conference

19 – I&C

3

Flow

Control

PES/IAS 7

Memorial

18

Power Sys.

8

Testing EMC

16

Nemacolin

9

Convention

Center

9

WQED

Tour

18

Illumination

6-8

Plain Talk

19

Tutorial:

I&C

3

Flow

Control

Magnetics 16

Magnets

Robotics 9

Convention

Center

14

Racing Car

Sig.

Processing

CPMT/ED 8

Laser

Drilling

Social Impl

Technology

16

Nemacolin

Upper Mon 8 -Radio

Astronomy

16 -Social

Media

28 -Medical

Imaging

5

Neural

7

Vision

15

Thz ID

2

RAMP

4 – V&V

30 - 5G

Wireless

Women in

Eng’ing

27

Meeting

14

Planning

Life Mem.

Young Pros 19

Picnic

PACE 24

Akustica

4 - Russ

Harrison

15

Roudtable

13

USPTO

Student Act 24

Akustica

pittsburgh section bulletin · 2015. 11. 25. · ieee pittsburgh section bulletin december 2015...

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