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May 2013

May Calendar
05/06/13 EMC Mini-Symposium 05/08/13 PES 5:30-8:00PM Power System Events 05/13/13 Chi/Rockford 6:45-8:45PM Topic TBD 05/14/13 IEEE-Chicago Section 7:00-9:00PM Board Meeting 05/15/13 IAS Seismic Requirements 05/15/13 FVSS 6:30-8:30PM Topic TBD

Chairs Column: 2014 Chicago Section Technical Conference This month I offer two challenges facing today's engineer and a solution the Chicago Section has for overcoming both. [MORE]
IEEE-Chicago Section EMC Society presents:

15th Annual Mini-Symposium Tuesday, May 7th, 2013, Itasca Country Club REGISTER HERE EMC Chapter Events Chair Frank Krozell announced this year's plan for the 15th annual EMC Society Mini-Symposium. [MORE] Enhancing Public Understanding of Science and Technology; IEEE and C2ST Most people - even those living in Illinois - are unaware that more scientific research is conducted within a 300-mile radius of Chicago than on both coasts combined, and we seek to change that. [MORE] The Future is Now; Be a Part of It The IEEE-Chicago Section is in the process of forming a Chapter of the Robotics and Automation Society (RAS). [MORE] Power Electron Tube Enhancement of the Electric Power Grid
Join your PES colleagues for the final dinner meeting of the 2012-2013 season! Reserve your space now May 8th for, "Power System Events and the NERC System Protection and Control Subcommittee"

On April 10th, the IEEE-Chicago Section's Power and Energy Society hosted John G. Kappenman of Storm Analysis Consultants on "Power Electron Tubes as an Enabling Technology for the Enhancement of the Electric Power Grid." [MORE] Sound Emissions and Generators In his recent IEEE presentation, engineer Darren J. Brown proposed the question, "What is sound?" providing the answer, "an audible fluctuation in air pressure." A similar question was posed about noise, an "unwanted sound." [MORE]

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Chairs Column: 2014 Chicago Section Technical Conference This month I offer two challenges facing today's engineer and a solution the Chicago Section has for overcoming both.

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A few years ago I was reading a piece of advice in a trade journal. The gist was that the engineers in this country in the future would need different skills than those of the past. Computers had pulled engineering jobs away from the bench but had also allowed engineering work to be done remotely and thus shipped jobs overseas. The author argued that the U.S. engineers of the future would need to have much greater competency in soft skills, such as communication and collaboration. I say that soft skills are like muscles. We can coast through life without giving ours conscious exercise but when under stress we realize how weak ours are and that we should have been working on improving them regularly. How we exercise our communication and collaboration skills, not letting our "weights get forgotten in the closet", is challenge number one. Challenge number two is that part of every job application that gets pushed off until the end - the "letter of recommendation" that might be a breeze or might be the most dreaded blank page. I once knew a technical student who went through undergraduate school with straight 'A's'. Since he'd never needed help, he had not developed no one-on-one relationships with his professors. He was stumped when asked to provide a letter of recommendation. "Build your network" has been popular advice in recent years. A network is of limited value if none of your contacts can vouch for your work ethic, work quality, and ability to work with others because they don't know you past a single conversation. To look for a solution for these two problems requires one look no farther than the IEEEChicago Section and the present Call for Volunteers for the 2014 Conference Committee. Technical knowledge is certainly valuable when making decisions concerning a

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conference but improving one's communication and collaboration skills is a great takeaway from participating on the committee and possibly chairing a sub-committee. I like to look at the person who just requested that I do a task and think, "suppose I asked this person for a letter of recommendation, what would I want him/her to remember when thinking of me?" There is no getting lost behind someone else in the IEEE. Every task you complete is visible to fellow members who appreciate you and will praise your work. The relationships you develop with speakers, sponsors, venue personnel, and other committee members will be useful in whatever professional way suits you. So, please consider volunteering to participate on the IEEE-Chicago Section 2014 Conference Committee. Contact Volunteer Coordinator Marty McCoy of National Technical Systems and enjoy making the event happen.

IEEE-Chicago Section EMC Society presents 15th Annual Mini-Symposium Tuesday May 7th, 2013 Itasca Country Club REGISTER HERE EMC Chapter Events Chair Frank Krozell announced this year's plan for the 15th annual EMC Society Mini-Synmposium. Frank shared, "Now in our 15th year, we offer the latest in technology, timely presentations, great fellowship, and food. It's a great way to meet and mingle with folks that are experts in the EMC field. This year, we are offering a `Hands-On!` segment for new engineers and technicians." PE Credit Hours Available. Visit the EMC Society Mini-Symposium website for more details including a list of exhibitors and current presentation topics. Shielding for EMC On April16th, the IEEE-Chicago Section's EMC Society hosted Donald L. Sweeney of D.L.S. Electronic Systems, Inc. for a discussion on Shielding for EMC. Donald Sweeney is a Senior EMC Engineer (iNARTE Certificate Numbers EMC-001209-NE & EMC001210-NT), and President of D.L.S. Electronic Systems, Inc. Mr. Sweeney is a graduate of the Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Illinois-Urbana, and has over 45 years experience in the electrical engineering field. Most of his time has been devoted to solving problems in electromagnetic engineering and closely related disciplines. He is also the founding Chairman of the U.S. Council of EMC Laboratories. Mr. Sweeney is a senior life member of the IEEE, past Chicago Section Chair of the IEEE EMC Society, and has served for over 14 years on the Board of Directors of the IEEE EMC Society. He serves on the IEEE EMC Standards Development and Education Committee, and serves as Angel to the Chicago EMC Chapter, Milwaukee EMC Chapter, P1688 Module Electromagnetic Interference Testing and P299 Shielding groups. He specializes in EMC, RFI & EMI consulting and testing. Don's presentation began, "After the best EMC mitigation techniques are applied, or in some cases the electromagnetic environment might dictate, a product may be required to be shielded to meet the regulations or procurement requirements." Mr. Sweeney shared his insights on Box, Designing the Shield, Shielding Materials & Methods, Apertures, Filtering, Treating Seams and Openings, and Mitigating Excessive Emissions. The discussion covered how to use shielding as well as the many pitfalls that the design engineer might encounter throughout the product design process. Enhancing Public Understanding of Science and Technology; IEEE and C2ST Most people - even those living in Illinois - are unaware that more scientific research is conducted within a 300-mile radius of Chicago than on both coasts combined, and we seek to change that. The Chicago Council on Science and Technology (C2ST) is a seven year old not-for-profit organization that aims to educate the public on issues of critical scientific and technological importance. C2ST co-founder Alan Schriersheim, Director Emeritus of Argonne National Laboratory and former director of research at Exxon, understands that great scientific work is conducted in many spaces - in the classroom, research institutions and corporations. By bringing the top scientists who are working on the latest discoveries directly to the public, C2ST's goal is to get people excited about science and technology - to get people thinking, educate them and engage them. We host scientific programs on a wide variety of topics - from Alzheimer's to nanotechnology, clean energy to bioluminescence, the use of forensic techniques in art to complex chemical modeling. Not only do our programs cover everything under the sun, they include the Universe, from the Big Bang to Dark Matter.

Our programs feature scientists and researchers at the top of their field, and most often from the Chicago area. They are presenting the latest research, thoughts and techniques being used in their respective fields, and besides the usual question-and-answer after a presentation, are typically available for a personal chat. One of our most popular events is actually geared at the younger set; our "Ask a Scientist" day. First held on Michigan Avenue in front of the Tribune Tower. We featured Nobel Laureate Leon Lederman. Passersby were invited to ask this great scientific mind any question they would like. Last year, we held the event as part of Argonne National Laboratory's Energy Showcase Day, and had four featured scientists, from physicists to anthropologists. As one attendee remarked, 'You just don't get to meet a scientist every day.' As scientists, this is something we all forget. Our membership includes scientists, engineers, doctors or high-level hobbyists, and science enthusiasts. Educators who become members are entitled to bring a class to a presentation. Often, people come for one program that is in an area of interest to them and keep coming back for more. We've held over 95 programs attended by over 1,200 people, and have live streamed programs to over 30 countries. C2ST is hoping to grow and gain new menbers, including IEEE members. We are always looking for thoughtful blog posts. Our new website will be up this summer and we will be hungry for new content from thoughtful scientific and technological minds. We also need help at various special events, and draw on our members for speaker and programming recommendations. We urge you to visit us at www.c2st.org to see what we are about, and we look forward to seeing you at one of our upcoming programs. The Future is Now; Be a Part of It The IEEE-Chicago Section is in the process of forming a Chapter of the Robotics and Automation Society (RAS). For those of you looking to get more involved, the IEEEChicago Section is looking for volunteers to aid in the launch of the new chapter. Those interested should contact Greg Findlay to inquire further and volunteer. The RAS held their second meeting towards forming an active Chapter at the Yaskawa America HQ in Waukegan, IL. Yaskawa America, Inc. Drives & Motion Division provides Industrial Control and Automation products to markets in the Americas. Yaskawa is the world's largest manufacturer of AC drives and motion control products, including adjustable frequency drives, servo amplifiers, servomotors, machine controllers, and motion controllers. The meeting featured the topic, "Motion Control and Automation" and featured Dr. Nishant Unnikrishnan, Motion Application Engineer at Yaskawa. Dr. Unnikrishnan has been an Applications Engineer at Yaskawa since 2007. Dr. Unnikrishnan became a Post Doctoral Fellow at the University of Missouri, Rolla after earning his Ph.D. in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. He accepted his position with Yaskawa after seeking an industrial position that focused on Mechatronics. The presentation covered servomechanisms (servos) and their role in motion control and automation. A servomotor consists of a motor coupled to a sensor for position feedback, through a reduction gearbox. It also requires a relatively sophisticated controller, often a dedicated module designed specifically for use with servomotors. Servomotors are used in applications such as robotics, CNC machinery and automated manufacturing. Servos are automatic devices that use error-sensing negative feedback to correct the performance of a mechanism. Dr. Unnikrishnan stated, "More than ever before in human history, people today consume products that have been processed through machines and have gone through at least one automated process. It is fascinating to wonder and understand how products like the food we eat and drinks we consume are produced through the use of very efficient, automated processes." Motion control and automation is used in packaging, manufacturing, converting, robotics, and assembly functions across multiple industries. "Servos are required for applications where performance is a key requirement, and servos are used in a wide range of industries today... 15-20 years ago, motors were all DC power. The shortcomings were evident in the high levels of friction and maintenance required due to the friction." The question of how different machine components speak to each other presented Dr. Unnikrishnan the opportunity to share about Yaskawa's Membership in PLCopen. An important task of PLCopen is to inform users/programmers about the benefits of standardized industrial control programming. Currently there are no standardized code languages used in production of machines using Yaskawa components. For more information on Yaskawa America, Inc., visit Yaskawa's YouTube page highlighting the industries, products and solutions they provide.

Power Electron Tube Enhancement of the Electric Power Grid Join your PES colleagues for the final dinner meeting of the 2012-2013 season! Reserve your space now for, "Power System Events and the NERC System Protection and Control Subcommittee" on May 8th, with Bill Miller from ComEd. On April 10th, the IEEE-Chicago Section's Power and Energy Society hosted John G. Kappenman of Storm Analysis Consultants on "Power Electron Tubes as an Enabling Technology for the Enhancement of the Electric Power Grid." Mr. Kappenman is the Owner and Principal Consultant for Storm Analysis Consultants and has many years experience in the electric power industry; most notably with the scientific/engineering firm Metatech Corp. He has been an active researcher in power delivery technologies with his primary engineering contribution being in researching work on lightning and geomagnetic storms and their disruptive effects on electric power systems. John is a Senior Member of the IEEE and the Power & Energy Society. A Past Chairman of the Transmission and Distribution Committee, John also serves as a member of a number of working groups and standards committees. Mr. Kappenman was one of the principle investigators under contract with the Congressional Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP Commission) and FERC. Mr. Kappenman has presented testimony before Congress several times on the importance of geomagnetic storm impacts on the electric power industry. He also was a principal investigator examining the Vulnerabiltiy of the Electric Power Grid for Severe Geomagnetic Storms for FEMA under US Presidential Executive Order 13407. While semiconductor-based devices have been predominantly utilized in power electronic applications, they are fundamentally limited for extremely high voltage and high power applications. Designs that have been put forth for current and next generation High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) and Flexible Alternating Current Transmission Systems (FACTS) universally rely on stacks of hundreds of semiconductor devices for operation. Semiconductor designs require complex balancing networks, snubbers to limit di/dt and dv/dt levels, extensive cooling, and are completely vulnerable to arc-related failures. Advanced Fusion Systems has introduced a new generation of electron tubes which can, in a single device, handle the voltages and currents required for current and next generation HVDC and FACTS systems. These electron tubes were originally developed for high-power microwave electronic warfare applications and have been modified to suit the unique requirements of the power industry. Individual tubes can simulatneously and continuously handle voltages up to one million volts and currents of tens of thousands of amps, making them well-suited to even EHV FACTS and HVDC applications. The electron tubes do not use filaments, but instead employ a proprietary cold cathode technology, giving them a life expectancy in excess of 25 years. They are built to withstand extreme shock as would be found in a miltary environment. The tubes will withstand repeated arcing with no damage, and can operate continuously at temperatures on the order of 1000 degrees Fahrenheit. As a result, the auxiliary cooling systems commonly needed for high power semiconductor applications are not needed for electron tubes. Mr. Kappenman compared the operating characteristics of electron tubes to current stateof-the-art semiconductor devices. He also shared a number of applications for electron tubes relevant to fault current limiting and many other diverse areas of HV & EHV AC, HVDC and FACTS. Click for more information on Power Electron Tubes. Sound Emissions and Generators In his recent IEEE presentation, engineer Darren J. Brown proposed the question, "What is sound?" providing the answer, "an audible fluctuation in air pressure." A similar question was posed about noise, an "unwanted sound." These seemingly simple questions served as a jumping off point to Mr. Brown's recent presentation, Sound Emission and Generators, on April 17th. With a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Michigan Technological University focusing on Acoustics, Noise and Vibration, Darren now serves as a Consultant at Kolano and Saha Engineers. Darren is also a licensed P.E. in the State of Michigan, and is a Board Certified Noise Control Engineer by the Institute of Noise Control Engineering (INCE). Sharing presenting duties with Darren was Ken Trent. Ken has a BS in Finance from the University of Illinois (Champaign-Urbana) and an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania-Wharton Business School. Ken is the co-owner and Vice President of Professional Power Products. Ken's past experience includes positions in the Mergers & Acquisitions and Corporate Finance group with Lehman Brothers (New York, NY) as well as Finance and Corporate Development roles at Overture Services (Pasadena, CA).

The presentation covered the basics of acoustics and sound behavior, including sound characteristics. The presenters also shared insight into how humans hear sounds, sound transmission loss, sound absorption and diffusion. The presentation also focused on the standards and procedures of testing generator sound emissions and the construction of generator enclosures. The conclusion drawn from the evening's presentation seemed to mirror what one would expect, the farther one is away from the source, the less sounds. The path the sound takes can have a significant impact on unwanted noise and increasing barriers result in a corresponding increase in buffering the sound. The receiver also plays a role in how sound is perceived; if your desk is near the generator, you are likely to hear it. What wasn't expected was the significant increase in barrier volume necessary to muffle sound. An exponential leap in the width of materials surrounding a noise source is required to be effective. Ken concluded, "The cost to regulate sound levels is not linear and increasing the width of buffering rapidly erodes precious square footage within a facility." Impact testing in advance of construction can describe noise potential and get ahead of any potential problems.

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