Upcoming Events:

November 20, 2023:

Livingston Pumping Station Tour

Hosted by the West Michigan Life Member group, the recently updated Livingston Pumping station was visited and the process of providing local fresh water was discussed.

Sept 9, 2023:

Annual Whitecaps Meeting

The West Michigan Section enjoyed Saturday evening, September 9th, at the Fifth/Third Ballpark to watch the Whitecaps play.  Many student members mingled with industry members and fun was had by all!

May 25, 2021:

TRANSMISSION PROJECTS w/ Jay Caspary

Many of you may remember that Jay Caspary was our distinguished speaker at the April 2019 West MI Section meeting held at Calvin College. He spoke on the DOE Funded SEAMS Study for tying the East and West power grids together.

In this virtual presentation, Jay will provide West Michigan Section members and guests an overview of the recent “Americans for a Clean Energy Grid” (ACEG) white paper outlining proposed changes at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to refine their Order to improve regional and interregional planning and cost allocation.  In addition, he will share the highlights and benefits of 22 major transmission projects which are ready to go, many involving major HVDC links.  Finally, the deployment of Grid-Enhancing Technologies (GETs) needs to be a bridge to the future decarbonized grid. The merits of GETs is demonstrated by a recent case study sponsored by the Working For Advanced Transmission Technologies (WATT) coalition to facilitate renewable integration based on approved plans and projects stuck in the queue with signed generator interconnection agreements.

Date and Time

• Date: 25 May 2021
• Time: 05:30 PM to 07:00 PM
• All times are US/Eastern

Sign up link

Meeting documents:

Transmission-Projects-Ready-to-Go-Final

Caspary IEEE Western MI 52521 DRAFT

February 20, 2020:

IEEE CS/RA JR Automation Tour and Presentation

The IEEE West Michigan Joint Computer and Robotics & Automation Society (CS/RA) toured JR Automation.

JR automation is a global systems integrator for advanced automation technology.

https://www.jrautomation.com/

The West Michigan Section met on Friday, September 20, 2019  to hear a talk by the IEEE Distinguished Lecturer Dr Krishna Shenai (from Florida Gulf Coast University) on the topic “Reliability of Compact Power Systems.”  Below are some photos from the event.

New:  See the article about this event which was featured in the December 2019 IEEE Power Electronics Magazine.  Click here:  Visit by IEEE PELS DL – Dr. Shenai

The West Michigan Section enjoyed Saturday evening, August 17, at the Fifth/Third Ballpark to watch the Whitecaps play.  Much thanks to all of the sponsors of this event:  Dorner Works, Eaton Aerospace, and Spindel Electronics!  Enjoy some photos from the event.

July 27, 2019:  HOME SOLAR SYSTEM DEMONSTRATION:  Members of the section were invited to see the home solar power system installation by the homeowner.  Here are some pictures from the event:

May 21, 2019 Presentation: Smart Materials are Clean Too  by Dr. Pnina (Pearl) Ari-Gur, Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, WMU

Heusler alloys are one group called smart materials. They demonstrate magnetic shape memory effect, as well as the ability to simultaneously convert alternative energy or refrigerate under a moderate magnetic field, based on the concept of giant magneto-caloric effect (GMCE). The talk will focus on explaining the concepts behind these attractive properties and the state of the art in the field.

Technical Seminar on Thursday, April 11, 2019:  THE RECENT U.S. NREL EAST-WEST GRID INTERCONNECTIONS SEAM STUDY AND FUTURE PLANS, by IEEE DISTINGUISHED SPEAKER Mr. JAY CASPARY (Director – Research, Development & Tariff Services at Southwest Power Pool in Little Rock AR and co-chair of the technical committee that reviewed the Interconnections Seam Study for the National Renewable Energy Lab).  Approximately 30 people attended this interesting lecture.  The powerpoint slides for the lecture are available here:  IEEE West Michigan Section SEAMS Caspary 40619

Tour of the Switch facility (the former Steelcase Pyramid) took place on Tuesday, March 5, 2019, 3:30pm.

Approximately 65 people joined the fascinating tour of the pyramid.  Switch is an interesting company that primarily provides cloud server operational space that is highly secure, has extremely reliable power, and provides a well controlled thermal environment.  Photos were not allowed on-site, so to see photos, go to https://www.switch.com/photos to get an idea of what the facility looks like on the inside.

Founders Brewery Tour: Members of the IEEE West Michigan Section gathered on December 11, 2018 for a tour of Founders Brewery.  Obviously, the group had a wonderful time there.  Here are some photos from the event.

Summary of the Palisades Nuclear Plant Tour (MS Word Document):

The West Michigan Section IEEE Toured the Palisades Nuclear Plant Run by Entergy Inc