Our chapter of Computer Society proudly announces the official Call For Participation for our first Fall Symposium, which will take place at the campus of Fairfield University (Fairfield CT) on Nov. 13 2010.

Submission deadline: Sept 13 2010

Notification date: Oct 18 2010

On Tuesday June 1, 2010 Mary-Lou Margiotta was appointed to chair our Professional Activities Committee for Engineers (PACE).  Mary-Lou is not new to the executive committee.  She previously served for several years as chair of Membership Development.

The goal of PACE is to promote the professional interests of IEEE members as well as provide a mechanism for communication of members' views on their professional needs.  PACE is a branch of IEEE-USA.  Professional development and legislation are two major aspects of PACE.

Welcome back, Mary-Lou!

On Thursday May 6, 2010 Cindy Armstrong and Larry Cole were appointed to chair our Graduates of the Last Decade (GOLD) affinity group.

GOLD's mission is to help students make the transition to professionals within the larger IEEE community.  If you earned your engineering degree within the last ten years, you're automatically a member of GOLD.

There are about 180 GOLD members. If you're one of them, look for e-mail from the leaders soon.

Welcome, Cindy and Larry!

Congratulations!
On Thursday March 11^th, seven Connecticut students were awarded Connecticut Section IEEE prizes for their projects. The students are from schools in Connecticut grades 7 through 12. The Connecticut Science Fair is being held this week at Quinnipiac University in Hamden.  For over 35 years, the Connecticut Section has dispensed special awards geared towards those students who show exemplary research in fields related to the IEEE.  These students represent the best and brightest minds coming out of our Connecticut schools.  Visit their Site at http://www.ctsciencefair.org/

CT Science Fair IEEE Special Award Recipients
Student	Project	Award
Theresa A. Oei	Prototype Dual Kite Power System to Harvest High Altitude Wind Energy	Honors-Senior
Bridget M. Oei	The Application of Faraday's Law of Induction to Harness Ocean Wave Energy	Honors-Junior
Heather N. Leask	The use of sol-gels for the fabrication of a Memristive Device	Honorable Mention
Kyle T. Ryan	Wireless Electrical Power Transfer Using Resonant Inductive Coupling	Honorable Mention
David Schmidt-Fellner	Optimal Preparation of Yttrium Barium Copper Oxide Superconductors Using Various Oxygen Sources	Honorable Mention
Ethan C. Kee	Magnus Effect: The Influence and Energy Output of High Altitude Horizontal Wind Rotor Systems	Honorable Mention
James C. Buckley	Solving Goldbach’s Conjecture	Honorable Mention

The 2010 Connecticut Engineers Week dinner was held on Tuesday, February 23rd at the Hawthorne Inn in Berlin. Engineers Week was actually February 14th to the 20th but since it was vacation week for most schools when people are away the dinner was held the week after. It worked: there were approximately 130 in attendance!

The after dinner presentation was by the Connecticut Commissioner of Transportation Joseph Marie. Commissioner Marie, with 22 years of experience in the transit industry, has only been in Connecticut two years.  He spoke with candor and humor about the problems of the commission -- most notably federal and state funding. Approximately 4 Billion Dollars is required just to preserve the existing infrastructure. An additional 6 Billion is required to do all the new and/or expanded projects they have planned for. He reminded us that although Connecticut is a small state, it is in the middle of the northeast corridor.  The re-introduction of highway tolls may be a possibility since the gas tax no longer provides the necessary funding.  In spite of these limitations some projects are well under way. The replacement of New Haven's Quinnipaic River bridge and the Moses Wheeler bridge over the Housatonic River, both on Interstate 95, have started. Other projects are slated to start soon, as additional federal funds are anticipated in early 2011.  Mr. Marie also stressed that during the great depression of the 30's it was the many infrastructure jobs (The W.P.A.) that brought back the employment that started the climb out of the Depression.

During the social hour before the dinner, seven vendors had display tables featuring project management and insurance services as well as various construction materials.

Submitted by Brad Elker, IEEE-CT Member-at-Large
 

On November 5, 2009, Wellicor Sorsor and Biao Zhang were appointed to positions on the Connecticut Section Executive Committee.

Wellicor is now in charge of Membership Development, which aims to increase IEEE membership by recruiting new members, retaining current members and recovering members in arrears.  As well, Membership Development also focuses on promoting elevations in grade.

Biao is the new chair of our joint chapter of  Control Systems / Industry Applications / Robotics and Automation, abbreviated CSS/IAS/RAS.  This chapter is dedicated to the advancement of research, development, and practice in automation and control systems.

Welcome, Wellicor and Biao!

On June 2, 2009 George Berntsen was appointed to chair our chapter of Power and Energy Society (PES) (formerly known as Power Engineering Society).

The mission of PES is to be the leading provider of scientific information on electric power and energy for the betterment of society.

PES is our second largest chapter with 178 members. If you're a member of PES, now is a great time to become more involved locally.

Welcome, George!