pittsburgh section bulletin - ieee · ieee pittsburgh section bulletin april 2016 volume 65 no. 4...

IEEE Pittsburgh Section Bulletin April 2016 Volume 65 No. 4 of 11

Pittsburgh

Section

Bulletin April 2016 Volume 65, No. 4

Included in this issue:

Notes From the Chair .............................................................................................................................. 2

Shifting the Focus to Spintronic Domain Wall Memories............................................................... 3

On-Chip Embedded Cooling of Logic and Power Components ......................................................... 4

IEEE Member Insurance Solutions ...................................................................................................... 5

Chasing the Sun......................................................................................................................................... 7

Modern Hybrid Electric Cars: A Chevrolet Volt Owner’s Experience ......................................... 8

Summer School on Signal Processing and Machine Learning for Big Data .................................. 9

IEEE Pittsburgh Section Annual History and Awards Dinner ..................................................... 10

Editor: Philip Cox, [email protected]; Contributors: Louis Hart, Paige Kassalen, Jim Lagree, Kal Sen,

Ervin Sejdic, and Matthew Valenti

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


Notes From the Chair

My membership benefit this month is the job search

material. The IEEE provides the JobSite where you can

search for jobs, set up an account, post resumes and

cover letters. Another feature is the IEEE Resume-Lab.

The ResumeLab is an online service that allows IEEE

members to develop a resume or CV using a wide array

of resume templates. Members can also perform mock

interviews using over 900 potential interview questions

or develop letters, portfolios, and skills assessments to

use during the interview process. Best of all, the

information developed on IEEE ResumeLab is easily

shared with potential employers, mentors, or colleagues

via a personalized website. The IEEE also provides the

Job Site. Another free service is the IEEE Collabratec.

This is an online community of technology

professionals that can network, collaborate and create.

The IEEE-USA also has a Salary Service for salary and

benefit data.

Make sure you save the date for the Pittsburgh Awards

and History dinner in May. We will be honoring

several of new fellow and 50 year members, engineer of

the year and other awards for the year.

Thanks,

Jim Lagree

Pittsburgh Section Chair 2016

Section

Chair - Jim Lagree, [email protected]

Vice Chair -- Dr. Drew Lowery, [email protected]

Treasurer – Dan Wilson, [email protected] Asst. Treasurer - Jiahui Zhang

Secretary - Navid Binesh, [email protected]

Immediate Past Chair – Dr. Jim Beck, [email protected]

Awards Chair – Dr. Kal Sen, [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 – Chair: Dr. Louis Hart, [email protected]

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. Brandon Grainger [email protected]

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

Magnetics Society – Chair: Vincent Sokalsky, [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 Mey Sen, [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


































Shifting the Focus to Spintronic Domain Wall Memories

Speaker: Alex Jones, Ph.D.

Date: Monday, Apr. 11, 2016

Time: 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM

Place: G102 Engineering Sciences Building (ESB)

West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV

RSVP: Matthew Valenti, [email protected]

Organizer: Upper Mon Subsection

Abstract: Domain-wall memory (DWM), also known as “Racetrack Memory” as coined by Stuart

Parkin while at IBM, is a spintronic storage technology akin to a next generation STT-MRAM. DWM

stores multiple bits of data in a magnetic nanowire, which can be shifted to an access point for reading

and writing. Thus, it can address some of the density and dynamic energy concerns from writing of

STT-MRAM, but at the cost of non-uniform access speeds and power and performance overheads from

shifting. DWM provides an exciting new paradigm of storage that can be used effectively throughout

the memory system from register files to secondary storage, and even outside of the memory hierarchy

when the appropriate architectural configurations are employed. However, this type of storage requires

computer architects to think differently in order to most effectively leverage DWM in the system. This

talk will cover recent architectural applications of leveraging STT-MRAM and DWM in the context of

chip-multiprocessors developed by the Advanced Computer Systems Laboratory at the University of

Pittsburgh.

Speaker Bio: Alex K. Jones is the Director of Computer Engineering and an Associate Professor of

Electrical and Computer Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Pittsburgh. He is

a Walter P. Murphy Fellow of Northwestern University, where he received his M.S. and Ph.D degrees in

Electrical and Computer Engineering. Dr. Jones’ research interests include compilation techniques for

configurable systems and architectures, behavioral and low-power synthesis, parallel architectures and

networks, radio frequency identification (RFID) and sensor networks, sustainable computing, and

embedded computing for medical instruments. He is the author of more than 100 publications in these

areas. His research is funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation, DARPA, CCC, and industry.

Dr. Jones’ contributions have received several awards including the 2010 ACM/SIGDA Distinguished

Service Award and recognition of a top 25 paper from the first 20 years of FCCM. Recently, Dr. Jones

led an effort in visioning for the electronic design automation community funded by the Computing

Community Consortium (CCC). Dr. Jones is also actively involved in efforts to improve the scientific

method for experiments in computers science and engineering, to develop methods reproducible

research, and a centralized hub for computer architecture simulators, emulators, benchmarks and

experiments.



On-Chip Embedded Cooling of Logic and Power Components

Speaker: Avram Bar-Cohen, PhD, IEEE/CPMT Distinguished Lecturer, Distinguished University

Professor, University of Maryland, College Park, MD

Date: 12 April 2016

Time: Dinner and Social – 630 PM; Lecture – 7 PM

Location: Compunetics, 700 Seco Road, Monroeville, PA

Contact: Louis Hart, [email protected], 412-858-1232 on or before 6 April to reserve a seat.

Organizer: Components, Packaging, and Manufacturing Technology Society

Abstract: Thermal packaging technology has been a key enabler in the development of today’s

microelectronic systems, including smart phones, tablet computers, back-room data-crunching

supercomputers, and the navigation systems that have come to define our lives in the 21st Century. Much

of the benefit that we derive from miniaturization, higher performance, lower cost and greater reliability

of these quintessential 21st Century “widgets,” can be traced to improvements in thermal technology,

thermal modeling, and the integration of thermal management principles and techniques into electronic

product development.

A review of thermal packaging over the first 70 years of the Information Age will reveal a relentless

“inward migration” of cooling technology from room ventilation and air-conditioning, to cabinet

cooling, to component cooling with heat sinks and cold plates, and to today’s efforts to address on-chip

hot spots and near-junction thermal transport. Attention will then be devoted to current thermal

management requirements, driven by nano-electronics, which confront packaging engineers with the

simultaneous “triple threat” of high-power, “hotspots,” and 3D integration in applications as diverse as

high performance computing, power electronics, and RF systems. The lecture will close with a review

of 3rd

-generation thermal management technologies relying on intra- and interchip microfluidic cooling,

use of diamond substrates, and on-chip thermoelectric coolers to implement the emerging “embedded

cooling” paradigm.

Speaker: Dr. Avram Bar-Cohen is an internationally recognized leader

in thermal science and technology, an Honorary member of ASME, and

Life Fellow of IEEE, as well as Distinguished University Professor in

the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of

Maryland. His publications, lectures, short courses, and research, as well

as his US government and professional service in ASME and IEEE,

have helped to create the scientific foundation for the thermal

management of electronic components and systems. His current research

focuses on embedded cooling, including on-chip thermoelectric and two-

phase microchannel coolers for high heat flux electronic components,

thermal control of solid-state lighting and directed energy systems, and

polymer-fiber composite heat exchangers for seawater applications.

Bar-Cohen serves on the Board of Governors of the IEEE CPMT

Society and has represented the Society as a Distinguished Lecturer for

more than 15 years. From 1998 to 2001 he directed the University of Minnesota Center for the



Development of Technological Leadership and held the Sweatt Chair in Technological Leadership.

From 2001 to 2010 he served as the Chair of Mechanical Engineering at Maryland.

Bar-Cohen has co-authored Dielectric Liquid Cooling of Immersed Components (WSPC, 2013), Design

and Analysis of Heat Sinks (Wiley, 1995), and Thermal Analysis and Control of Electronic Equipment

(McGraw-Hill, 1983). He holds 8 US and 3 Japanese patents.

DIRECTIONS TO COMPUNETICS

Directions: From Pittsburgh and west on I-376, take the Plum exit and follow PA 48 north

approximately 1 km to the Monroeville Business Park. Turn right into the Park. Immediately (after

about 30 meters), turn left and go into the parking lot behind building 700. Compunetics’ conspicuous

sign and entrance is on the right.

From east or the PA turnpike, take US 22 west approximately 100 meters past the turnpike interchange

and turn right onto PA 48 north. Proceed on route 48 as above, for a little more than 1 km to the

Business Park.

IEEE Member Insurance Solutions

Protecting You, Your Business, Your Future

Speaker: Graham Fuller and Jeff Ambrose, Mercer Consumer

Date: Wednesday, April 20, 2016

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

Place: Westinghouse Energy Center

4350 Northern Pike

Monroeville, Pennsylvania 15146

RSVP: Required at https://meetings.vtools.ieee.org/m/38298 by April 17. If you are an IEEE

member, you must enter your membership number. Spouses are encouraged to attend.

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

Engineering (WIE)

Abstract: As active, professional engineers in today’s challenging economic times, nothing is more

important than making sound decisions about yourself and your business that will position you for long

term success and stability.

Part of that success depends on how you protect your business and yourself from errors and omissions

that may result from the work you perform. Another part of that success is protecting your greatest asset,

yourself, from accidents and sickness that could prevent you from running your business and earning a

living.

Please join Graham Fuller, Principal and Jeff Ambrose, Professional Liability Product Manager, Mercer

Consumer as they show you how to analyze your insurance portfolio from a life and health insurance

perspective as well as a professional liability angle.

https://meetings.vtools.ieee.org/m/38298


Topics will include: discussing the value of term life insurance and disability income insurance as well

as the importance of having the right type of professional liability insurance in place for the work you

do. Additionally, they will also provide you with valuable information on those things you need to

consider from a liability perspective when you enter into a work contract.

All this as well as a discussion about different insurance solutions that Mercer and the IEEE Member

Group Insurance and Alliance Program offers members like yourself to help protect you, your family

and your business.

Speakers:

Graham Fuller Graham Fuller, Principal, is the Senior Relationship Manager for the Mercer Consumer Association

Division Professional Occupations Vertical structure. Graham’s responsibilities include leading a team

of client executives that oversee the day-to-day Mercer operations which affect their assigned client

portfolio. He has 20 years of Insurance Program Management experience with Mercer. He has expertise

in Life/Health Insurance products, as well as Professional Liability and Property/Casualty Insurance

products.

Graham has a B.A. degree in political science from The University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa. He has

worked in his current capacity for 12 years and specializes in association insurance program

management. Mr. Fuller holds a Life and Health insurance license in a majority of the United States.

Jeff Ambrose Jeff Ambrose, Program Manager, leads the Professional Liability Engineers Program for Mercer

Consumer. Jeff’s responsibilities include managing the Professional Liability program for IEEE,

enhancing carriers and coverage options and supporting the customer experience. He has over 10 years

of experience creating and managing Architects & Engineers Professional Liability Programs.

Jeff has a B.A. degree in marketing from DePaul University and holds the Construction Risk Insurance

Specialist (CRIS) designation.

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. 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.


Chasing the Sun

3/17/16

Hello Everyone,

The past month has been packed! We

have successfully completed 4 training

flights and everything is looking positive

for our Hawaii departure date of April

15th

.

The ground crew members have rotated

taxiing positions each training flight and

I now am trained in all 4 positions: Tail,

Main Landing Gear, and right and left

Handling masts.

Tail – When I am working with the tail,

there are 2 options for transport. The

first is a contraption that allows the tail to

move freely. My job is to then walk with

the tail and hold onto a rod to guide the plane when taxiing. The second option is a tail fork. The tail

fork is similar to a steering wheel for the tail. It allows me to control the movements of the plane with

very little force because of the tool design and light weight of the plane. The plane is very fragile, so I

need to guide the plane over any bumps in the ground and help with the turns.

Main Landing Gear – This is the front wheel on the plane. This is the most physically demanding

position because I am pulling or pushing the airplane a fairly long distance as we taxi (picture shown

above). The first step of taxiing is to engage our swivel mechanism. This mechanism allows us to pull

the plane out sideways from the hangar and then steer as we taxi onto the runway. Before takeoff, we

disengage the swivel mechanism to only allow the wheel to turn 30 degrees during landing. This

position is more high risk because there is a cable that runs from the wheel to the cockpit, and the

system is very fragile. To extend and retract the wheel, the pilot has a crank inside the cockpit, so if the

cord is not aligned because it was bumped during taxi, the wheel will not be able to retract when flying

or the pilot will have to cut the cable as an emergency procedure to extend the wheel when landing.

Handling Masts – The plane’s wing span is 72 meters and most of the plane’s weight comes from the

wings. Therefore, each side of the plane has a handling mast where ground crew members support the

plane. The biggest challenge of this job is communication. You need to be in sync with the ground

crew counterpart on the other handling mast to make sure the plane is balanced. During turns, the wind

can sometimes be so strong that it ends up lifting one wing so high that the ground crew ends up being

picked up by the plane. In this situation, the other side needs to push their wing up to bring us back on

the ground.


When I am not helping the plane taxi, I am working in the hangar. Recently, we have been preparing for

the “tighDOWN system.” This system is how we affix the plane to the ground when the wind is too

strong for ground crew members to hold it when we have events. I have been working on the sensors

that measure the force applied to each wing. There are 4 rods with sensors that we want to have a

neutral force be applied. There were some interference with the signals, and I have been testing each

cable with a computer program and then working on fixing the connections!

Let’s see what next month brings!

Paige

To follow me: http://paigekassalen.tumblr.com/, Instagram/Twitter - @paigekassalen

Modern Hybrid Electric Cars: A Chevrolet Volt Owner’s Experience

Speaker: Joseph C. Engel, PhD

Date: May 10, 2016

Time: Social 6:30 PM, Program 7:00 PM

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

RSVP: Required at https://meetings.vtools.ieee.org/m/39054 by May 8, 2016. 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.”

Organizers: Power & Energy Society/Industrial Applications Society (PES/IAS), Power Electronics

Society (PELS)

Abstract: The first modern hybrid electric car, called Prius, was introduced by Toyota in Japan in 1997;

it was followed in the U.S. in 2000. Last year, over one million of these cars were sold domestically.

The Prius’ popularity is the result of the new driving experience it offers with excellent fuel economy.

The innovative design couples an electric motor with an internal combustion gasoline engine to a

common front-wheel drive and mechanical power train. The designation “hybrid” is derived from this

combination of motor and engine. The low speed torque of the electric motor provides the Prius with

acceptable acceleration while the engine is tuned for optimum fuel economy at cruising speeds. The

electric motor’s battery is charged during regenerative braking. The car was not “plug-in able”. A fuel

economy of about 40 mpg is achieved.

The Volt is a GM/Chevrolet hybrid, introduced in 2010. I purchased mine in 2012. The Volt’s design

followed a consumer survey that indicated that people drive less than 40 miles per day on an average.

So, if a car could drive 40 miles on its battery, the gasoline engine would only be needed for longer

trips. The Volt’s engine is coupled to a generator that feeds a large lithium-ion battery. An electric motor

powers the front wheels. The car’s battery can be recharged from an available external 208/240VAC

supply, as well as during regenerative braking. That’s my case; I’m averaging ~90 mpg. While running

on the engine, the Volt still gets 40 mpg since the battery is never depleted so low that it’s not available

to accelerate the car.

http://paigekassalen.tumblr.com/

https://meetings.vtools.ieee.org/m/39054


For those who are not afraid of electricity, my Volt will be available for a test drive. I understand a Prius

will also be available.

Speaker: Joseph C. Engel received his BSEE and MSEE degrees (1960 and 1962)

from University of Cincinnati and Ph.D. EE (1969) University of Pittsburgh,

respectively. His work experience includes SemaConnect 2011-present, Eaton

(Cutler-Hammer) from 1993-2009, Westinghouse Electric Corporation (1963-

1993), Baldwin Piano Company (1960-1963) and Allis-Chalmers (1956-1963).

His awards include more than 100 Issued U.S. Patents, Finalist for the Design

News Magazine “Year 2001 Engineer of the Year Award” (2001), Member of

Eaton Society of Inventors (1994), Westinghouse Order of Merit (1993), George Westinghouse

Signature Award of Excellence (1990), George Westinghouse Innovation Award (1989), and Inventor of

the Year (1988, as recognized by the Patent Law Association of Pittsburgh). He has many technical

publications. He made a presentation, titled “Combination Arc Fault Circuit Interrupters (AFCIs): What

they will and will not do.” to the Power & Energy Society/Industrial Applications Society on February

6, 2014.

For directions to the Westinghouse Energy Center, Monroeville, see page 6.

Summer School on Signal Processing and Machine Learning for Big

Data

The IEEE Signal Processing Society presents the Summer School on Signal Processing and Machine

Learning for Big Data (http://www.engineering.pitt.edu/ieeesps/) to be held in Pittsburgh, PA, USA,

May 17 - 19, 2016.

Humans, machines and sensors collectively generate an enormous amount of data on a daily basis. The

fact that much of this data is now accessible provides an opportunity to explore, analyze and extract

previously unavailable and potentially highly useful information. In many cases, the volume and speed

of data generation makes traditional centralized data analysis infeasible. The lack of structure, and the

amount of noise and outliers emphasize the need for robust processing across heterogeneous data

domains. High dimensionality makes it challenging to visualize and interpret the data. Overall, Big Data

analysis presents many challenges and opportunities for current and future signal processing

professionals. This Summer School is intended to provide an introduction to the current efforts to

explore Big Data from a signal processing perspective. Topics will range from foundations for Big Data

analysis and processing (robust statistical methods, sparse representations, numerical linear algebra,

machine learning, convergence and complexity analysis) to Big Data applications (social networks,

behavior and language analysis, bioinformatics, smart grid, environmental monitoring, and others).

Dr. Ervin Sejdic, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering,

Swanson School of Engineering, University of Pittsburgh

E-mail: [email protected]

Phone: 412-624-0508

Web: www.imedlab.org

http://www.engineering.pitt.edu/ieeesps/


http://www.imedlab.org/


IEEE Pittsburgh Section Annual History and Awards Dinner

Date: Friday, May 20, 2016

Time: 5:30 PM: Arrival

6:00 PM: Dinner and Awards Presentations

7:00 PM: Keynote speech

Place: The University Club, University of Pittsburgh

123 University Place, Pittsburgh, PA 15260.

Phone: 412-648-8213

Cost: $25 per member; $40 member plus guest (Cash Bar is available)

RSVP: Required by May 6, 2016. Seating is limited to 40 people. Please send your check,

payable to “IEEE Pittsburgh Section,” to Mey Sen, 126 Pauline Dr., Monroeville, PA 15146. Please

provide the name of your guest, if any. For any question, please write to Mey at [email protected].

Organizer: IEEE Pittsburgh Section.

Pennsylvania and Pittsburgh connections to the history of roller coasters

Abstract: Pennsylvania has a rich connection to the emergence of the roller coaster as the king of the

thrill rides. We will look at the switchback railway as the model for the rollercoaster concept. Take a

look at how Pittsburgh’s own Kennywood Park is a museum piece for the preservation of classic ‘First

Golden Age’ coasters. Did you know that Kennywood also is home to a one-time record holder?

Pennsylvania is also home to the world’s oldest operating coaster. We will also review some of the

famous names in coaster design and their influence on contemporary thrill rides.

About the Speaker: Dave Markus is a former member of the American Coaster Enthusiasts (ACE). Mr.

Markus has made presentations on coaster history, art and science previously for our IEEE Section, as

well as the ASME, at the Monroeville Public Library, and has lectured on coaster design topics for

Carnegie-Mellon University’s Entertainment Engineering course offered by the Mechanical Engineering

Department. Mr. Markus is a recently retired Engineer from Westinghouse.



2016 Calendar – Meetings of IEEE Pittsburgh Section Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July August Sept Oct Nov Dec

Executive

Committee

21

Panera

Bread Wilkins

18

Tech Shop

(Bakery Square)

17

Panera Bread

Cranberry

21

TBD

19

TBD

16

TBD

21

TBD

18

TBD

15

TBD

20

TBD

17

TBD

15

TBD

Section 20

Engineer’s

Week

1

Science Fair

20

History/

Awards Dinner

Communic

ations

Computer 29 Patent Law

EMBS

EMCS

Power

Electronics

27

Power

Converters

23

Inverters

10

Legacy, smart

grids

20

Insurance

10

Hybrid Cars

PES/IAS 16 Nuclear

10 Legacy, smart

grids

20 Insurance

10 Hybrid Cars

Magnetics

Robotics 29

Patent Law

Sig.

Processing

17-19

Summer

School

CPMT/ED 12 Embedded

cooling

Social Impl

Technology

Upper Mon 25

Preparing Workforce

1

Text Class.

9

Smart Manufacture

11

Racetrack memory

Women in

Eng’ing

20

Insurance

Life Mem.

Young Pros

PACE

Student Act

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