Earlier this month we had told you about Engineering for Kids. I hope you checked out their website or visited their location.

This time Ed, the site director, has told us they have just added four new Junior Summer Camps during the weeks of June 9-13 and June 23-27 for ages 4 to 7. Note that student(s) can sign-up for Supervised Lunch for those wishing to attend both morning and afternoon sessions.

The new camps are:

Engineering of Travel
Engineering of Pirates
Engineering of Power and Energy
Engineering of Medieval Times

The descriptions are found on-line at:

https://engineeringforkids.com/location/newmexico/camps

The new camps are thematic–they use dynamic labs and activities from all the major engineering disciplines.  The information from the parent-portal page is below for your convenience:

EFK_summer_camps

If you have questions, please contact Ed:

Ed Hazlett
Engineering for Kids Site Director
505.816-0215

The Society of Women Engineers Central New Mexico Section (SWE-CNM) announces Golf for Grads, a mini-golf tournament and silent auction fundraising event for our scholarship fund. This event will be held at the Hinkle Family Fun Center on Sunday, April 27^th, 2014 at 3pm. All local companies and professional societies are invited to participate in this event along with their families and friends.

In 1999, SWE-CNM started an endowed scholarship fund. This past year we endowed our fourth annual scholarship, the Ellen Hippeli Memorial Scholarship, which will be awarded for the first time in fall of 2015. We are continuing to raise funds so we can support as many students as possible while they work towards degrees in engineering, math, and science. As we work towards our goal of raising the $25,000 needed for the 5^th annual scholarship endowment we need your help!

Here is more information if you want to participate and help the mission of the Society of Women Engineers:

HoleSponsorshipLetter-Organizations

OrganizationPoster

SWE-Mini-Golf-PosterA

or, if you have questions, contact Ericka:

Ericka K Amborn

2013-2014 SWE-CNM Vice President

Ericka.Amborn@SWE.org

505-816-6322

Please consider participating in this event.

Gilberto (Chair)

Each year the IEEE Albuquerque Section recognizes the efforts of its membership to improve the organization and bring merit to our profession.

This year’s awards will be presented at the annual IEEE – Sigma Xi banquet on May 19th. Nominations are now open for the following awards:

• Outstanding Engineering Educator
• Outstanding Young Engineer
• Outstanding Engineer
• Outstanding Entrepreneur
• Outstanding Undergraduate Engineering Student
• Outstanding Graduate Engineering Student
• Outstanding Service

You can download nomination guidelines and forms (PDF):

Awards_guidelines_2014

Award_young_2014

Award_Undergraduate_2014

Award_service_2014

Award_Graduate_2014

Award_entrepreneur_2014

Award_engineer_2014

Award_educator_2014

Nominations will be accepted until April 22nd and recipients will be notified by May 1st.

Please send your completed nomination package according to the guidelines to the Section Chair, Gilberto Zamora, at: g.zamora@ieee.org, and Professor Harjit Ahluwalia at: hsa@unm.edu.

We look forward to recognize outstanding members of our IEEE Section.

Sincerely,

Gilberto
Chair

The latest issue of our newsletter, The Downlink, is here!

IEEE_newsletter_Q1_2014

Regards,

Gilberto (Chair)

The Albuquerque IEEE Joint Chapter Presents

TOPIC OF TALK:

A Power Wave Theory of Antennas

PRESENTED BY:

Dr. Everett Farr, Farr Fields, LC, Albuquerque, NM

TIME:

7:30 pm Wednesday, April 9, 2014, social Hour begins at 5:45 pm, dinner begins at 6:30 pm

LOCATION:

The Canyon Club (was Four Hills Country Club), 911 Four Hills road SE, Albuquerque

DINNER MENU:               

Green Chile Stew, Maple Glazed Salmon, Rice Pilaf, Asparagus, Dinner Rolls /Butter, New York cheese Cake, Coffee, Iced Tea and Water

COST:

There is no charge and no reservation required to attend just the talk.

$25 per person for dinner (full-time student members of IEEE, $15)—reservations required

RSVP by email to  harrisonmgabq@comcast.net  or phone Mike Harrison at (505) 239-2663.

PLEASE NOTE:  This dinner meeting will be held at The Canyon Club which requires a pretty accurate number of meals to prepare by noon on Monday before the Wednesday meeting.  Please try to make your reservation by Monday, April 7.  The Canyon Club is often flexible so it is worth trying to make a late reservation.

PRESENTATION SUMMARY:  In this talk, we continue our  exploration of antenna characterization in the time domain. The issue is how to fully describe antenna performance in a manner that is equally valid in both transmission and reception, and in both the frequency and time domains. Power wave theory realizes this goal with equations that are simpler than any earlier formulation.

When we last spoke in this venue in 2011, we developed a theory that worked well for resistive loads, but lacked complete generality. For example, that theory could not be applied to antennas with waveguide feeds. Power wave theory extends the earlier work to all linear reciprocal antennas, including antenna arrays and antennas with multi-mode waveguide feeds.

A new IEEE Standard Definitions of Antenna Terms has recently been approved that defines about 200 terms related to frequency domain antenna performance, and none related to time domain performance. This might seem surprising in view of the high level of interest in ultra-wideband antennas. Power wave theory provides a theoretical framework for defining the missing time domain terms, and we propose about thirty new terms to be considered for standardization.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER:    Everett Farr received the Ph.D. in electrical engineering in 1985 from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In 1991 he formed Farr Research, which later became Farr Fields, where he has investigated a variety of ultra-wideband antennas. These included many variations of Impulse Radiating Antennas (IRAs), consisting of a parabolic reflector and a wideband feed. He also developed a time domain antenna measurement system. Many of these antennas and systems are available as commercial products.

Dr. Farr is Chairman of USNC-URSI Commission E, and Chairman of the IEEE AP/MTT/EMC/NPSS joint chapter in Albuquerque. He is a co-recipient of the 2006 IEEE John Kraus Award, with citation reading, “For the development of novel and innovative ultra-wideband antenna concepts that have enabled a new area of electromagnetics.” He is also a Summa Foundation EMP Fellow. He received the Best Applied Paper Award at the 1990 Nuclear Electromagnetics Conference, for his work on the Balanced Transmission-line Wave sensor; and again at the 2002 AMEREM Conference, for his work on IRAs.

On March 12th, Dr. Simon Barriga, Chief Research Scientist at VisionQuest Biomedical LLC in Albuquerque, gave his talk “Advances in Imaging of the eye: Is the End of Blindness in Sight?” at the Canyon Club as part of the Joint Chapter talk series.

In 2013 Dr. Barriga received the Outstanding Young Engineer award from our Section at the Joint Sigma Xi – IEEE banquet and his talk gave us the opportunity to learn more about his work and efforts to help save people’s sight.

As part of his award and in recognition for all his work to advance the area of medical imaging,  Dr. Barriga received a check from the Section, which was represented at the talk by its Chair, Dr. Gilberto Zamora, and its Secretary, Dr. Ray Byrne.

Dr. Barriga’s talk focused on research efforts to minimize vision loss from the fourth leading causes of blindness: Cataracts, age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, and glaucoma.

On the topic of diabetic retinopathy, he described his work at VisionQuest Biomedical to develop and commercialize software tools for the automatic screening of the disease using telemedicine and advanced digital signal processing techniques.

Besides his own work, Dr. Barriga described the role of imaging technologies such digital fundus photography, optical coherence tomography, and adaptive optics as tools to provide visualization of lesions and defect on the retina.

Dr. Barriga concluded his talk with a view into the future of vision prosthetics (bionic eyes) as a way to help people who otherwise would be blind.

The talk was attended by more than 30 members of the Section and their companions. This was one of the best attended talks and one with the most questions asked to the speaker afterwards.

The Section wants to thank Dr. Barriga for his hard work in support of the EE profession and his great talk. The Section also thanks the Joint Chapter for organizing the talk and The Canyon Club for its excellent dinner and service.

We hope to you see you at the next Joint Chapter talk. Check the website for announcements and updates.

Thank you.

Gilberto (Chair)

2014 CVD Registration is Open

IEEE-USA’s annual Congressional Visits Day (CVD) will be held this year on March 25 & 26 in Washington, DC. Any and all IEEE members who are concerned about declining federal investments in basic research, our national labs and our research universities is encouraged to attend.

The CVD offers concerned IEEE members an opportunity to meet directly with your members of Congress and their staff in Washington. This annual event is a crucial part of IEEE-USA’s ongoing efforts to protect federal investments in science and engineering.

These efforts are especially crucial in 2014. After three years of tight federal budgets, Congress is looking for additional programs to cut. Basic research and R&D have so far survived the first few rounds of budget cuts with only modest reductions. But that may be about to change. Programs that the public doesn’t know much about or that can be cut without doing immediate damage to too many people are prime targets. R&D fits the bill perfectly. While R&D is vitally important to America’s long-term economic prosperity, the fact is, should Congress cut the programs, the country won’t feel the impact of these cuts for a few years.

And how many Americans know we have national labs, let alone how they contribute to the country?

If IEEE members want Congress to protect the basic research and R&D budgets, we need to speak up and make sure Congress knows how valuable these programs are to us and our country.

There is simply no better way to get a legislator’s attention than to have a voter come to Washington and ask for the legislator’s support. Especially in an election year.

All IEEE members are welcome and encouraged to attend this year’s CVD. To join your colleagues from across the country, go here to learn more and to register: http://www.ieeeusa.org/policy/cvd/

If you would like to speak with your members of Congress, but can’t come to Washington, there may be opportunities to hold meetings in your local area. Please contact IEEE-USA staffer Russ Harrison to find out, or if you have other questions about this year’s CVD. Russ can be reached at r.t.harrison@ieee.org or (202) 530-8326.

A new place in Albuquerque has been established to help kids ages 4-14 to acquire STEM skills. This place is called Engineering for Kids and early this week I had the opportunity of talking to Ed Hazlett, the site director.

Engineering for Kids offers classes, camps, and even birthday parties with STEM-oriented themes. Classes and camps are divided into three different groups: Junior Engineers (pre-K to 2nd grade), Aprrentice Engineers (3rd to 5th grades), and Master Engineers (6th to 8th grades). Classes include not only Electrical Engineering concepts but also the basics of Mechanical, Chemical, Aerospace, and Civil Engineering.

Visit their general website for information on the programs and the Albuquerque website for schedules, availability, and fees.

Mr. Hazlett told me Engineering for Kids initiated operations in Albuquerque  last October and have had around 50 kids in different classes. He also told me that they are growing and currently seeking engineers with extra-time to join their professional team of instructors on a 10 to 20 hours per week basis.  These engineers should have some real world experience but, most importantly, should greatly enjoy teaching and motivating children and young adults!  Applicants may send a resume and cover letter via email to their HR department at NewMexico@EngineeringForKids.net.

You can also download their flyer: ABQ General Flyer [8.5×11]

So, go check it out!!

Regards,

Gilberto (Section Chair)

NOTE: No endorsement of the sites/business referenced in this post should be implied. Neither IEEE nor the Albuquerque Section of the IEEE are affiliated to the sites/businesses listed in this post. This post is provided to our members for informational purposes only.

The Albuquerque IEEE Joint Chapter is glad to announce its next talk: Advances in Imaging of the eye: Is the End of Blindness in Sight?

PRESENTED by Dr. Simon Barriga, Chief Research Scientist at VisionQuest Biomedical LLC, Albuquerque, NM.

TIME: 7:30 pm Wednesday, March 12, 2014. Social Hour begins at 5:45 pm. Dinner begins at 6:30 pm

LOCATION: The Canyon Club (Previously Four Hills Country Club), 911 Four Hills road SE, Albuquerque.

DINNER MENU: Soup, (Chef’s Choice), New York Strip, Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Asparagus, Rolls/Breadsticks and Butter, Apple Pie for dessert, Coffee, Iced Tea and Water.

COST: There is no charge and no reservation is required to attend just the talk. $25 per person for dinner (full-time student members of IEEE, $15)—reservations required.

RSVP by email to harrisonmgabq@comcast.net or phone Mike Harrison at (505) 239-2663.

PLEASE NOTE: This dinner meeting will be held at The Canyon Club which requires a pretty accurate number of meals to prepare by noon on Monday before the Wednesday meeting. Please try to make your reservation by Monday, March 10. The Canyon Club is often flexible so it is worth trying to make a late reservation.

PRESENTATION SUMMARY: First invented in 1851, the ophthalmoscope allowed doctors to look inside a person’s eye and determine the health of the retina. For over 125 years the ophthalmoscope remained the only way to assess the retina’s health, but in the last 30 years technological advances have made it possible to photograph the retina, and to peer into its layers and individual photoreceptors, giving physicians an incredible amount of detail that can be used to detect, diagnose, and treat eye diseases. In this talk, the latest advances on retinal imaging technology will be presented, along with the software that makes possible complex analyses of the data. A look into future technologies to assess eye diseases will reveal that, indeed, the end of blindness is in sight.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Dr. Simon Barriga, Chief Research Scientist at VisionQuest Biomedical, has been working on developing medical image analysis software for the past 12 years. His research has resulted in methods to analyze functional images of the retina and in software for automatic detection of eye diseases such as diabetic retinopathy and macular degeneration. As part of VisionQuest Biomedical his goal is to develop low-cost technologies that can be used to provide increased access to early detection of eye diseases as well as higher throughput of data analysis for massive eye disease screening. Dr. Barriga received his Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the Catholic University of Peru and his Master’s and PhD degrees from the University of New Mexico. In 2013, he was awarded the IEEE Albuquerque Section’s Outstanding Young Engineer award.