Membership Contacts:

Hunter J Boudreaux – East Area Chair

Maciej J Zawodniok– North Area Chair

Christopher B Sanderson– South Area Chair

Faye Kann– West Area Chair

R5 EXCOM Roster can be viewed here: https://rosters.ieee.org/home.html

R5 EXCOM Meetings

Audit Committee

1. Treasurer: Paul Cassingham.
2. Audit Committee Chair, 4th Year: William Wylie (North) Billwylie@ieee.org
3. Audit Committee, 3rd Year: Silke Spiesshoefer (East) Silke_Spiesshoefer@ieee.org
4. Audit Committee, 2nd Year: Ernest X Njouondo (South) njouondo@ieee.org
5. Audit Committee, 1st Year: Patterson, Tristan Hunter (West) tristanpatterson10@hotmail.com

POC: Director Bob Becnel bob.becnel@ieee.org

Spotlight

Helping Others through IEEE

Contribution of Yvonne B. Gray

Yvonne B. Gray, has been in IEEE since 2014 and an active member of the Denver Section, volunteering for numerous activities including the Denver Section Executive Committee. Since 2017, Yvonne has been an officer in Aerospace and Electronic Systems Society (AESS) and is currently the chair of the Denver-High Plains Joint chapter AESS – SPS. Additionally, she represents AESS on the IEEE Nanotechnology Council’s Advisory Committee since 2021. Yvonne has been involved in planning and executing many of the special events such as building up membership in the AESS society, bringing in young leaders, mentoring them and the Denver big event activities including the presentations and member picnic.

In February 2023, Yvonne was honored to present at the AESS celebration of chapter officers from across the US and Canada for a day of leadership best practices and to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of the society. “Getting to collaborate with industry and academic leaders for the advancement of technological innovation and the benefit of society is an honor and pleasure. Basically, it’s a lot of fun!”, said Yvonne.

Working with IEEE USA, Yvonne has facilitated the meetings with members of the Denver Section for the Congressional Visits Day (CVD) for the past several years. With COVID, the platform for CVD has been virtual. In 2023, Yvonne will travel to Washington, DC to attend in person on April 5.

Since 1994, Yvonne is President of Gray’s Consulting Services as an Executive Consultant, proposing and implementing improvements regarding organizational: leadership, data collection, case reporting, change management and program development. Yvonne has worked in many research sectors to include but not limited to: optics, nano-photonics, aerospace, meteorology and women’s studies. She has enjoyed the variety of research specific hardware use such as: spectrum analyzers (microwave and optical), signal generators (microwave, AC/DC), lasers (HeNe, SLEDs), micro-positioners, CCT, stereo microscope, optical bench instrumentation for testing and development, strain gage, thermocouples, air pressure sensors, electronics work, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), large experimental wind tunnel and more. Yvonne also provides leading team building, assessing current organizational structure/culture, creating goals and objective (personal and organizational), SWOT analysis, creating mission statements, steps to organizational planning, communication for groups and individuals, maneuvering the cultural divide, team building, and leading organizational strategies by changing infrastructure and organizational models for different groups.

In her spare time, Yvonne also volunteers with the Dakota Ridge Robotics Club for students who are in 9-12 grades which is partially supported by the IEEE Denver Section. The team has participated for several years and competed in March in Denver.  IEEE volunteers and Life Members are encouraged to attend team build nights. The team has been invited to the 2023 Region 5 Annual Meeting in April to display their robot and activities in Denver.

Congratulations to Christopher Sanderson: Technologist of The Year Award Winner
Christopher Sanderson was named technologist of the year by National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE).

Christopher organized several joint IEEE/NSBE Webinars and technical workshops, he continue to serve as mentor and role model to many young engineers.
Congratulations for a well deserved award.

IEEE Denver Young Professionals (YP) Making Positive Impact!

IEEE Denver Young Professionals (YP) Affinity Group successfully hosted their first event in March 2023. The group aims to foster a community through engaging contents and events that are relevant to the needs of young professionals in electrical engineering.
The meeting was thoroughly enjoyed by all attendees over an extensive spread of Korean streetfood at the newly opened CoArk Collective Food Hall. The officers started the meeting by sharing their experiences and lessons learned from the IEEE Rising Stars Conference, where the group founders (Nur Umar, Hassaan Idrees, and Kumaran Selvanayagam) met. They then introduced the group mission and events in the works, followed by a lively discussion of audience feedback and what they as young professionals would like to see in the future.

The group is very thankful for the support and sponsorship they received from IEEE Denver Section, IEEE PES Denver, and SR3 Engineering for their first event and the development of the group.

A monthly event in the planning is Engineer Eats, a foodie adventure at top Denver restaurants while having a round table discussion about different topics that are of interest to young professionals. The topics range from career development dilemmas to newest technologies such as ChatGPT. Joined by a few experts on the topics to share their insights, young professionals will also have the opportunity to bounce ideas and opinions off each other.

They are also planning a speaker event in September where seasoned engineers will sharetheir experiences (including mistakes or failures!) and how they turn the setbacks into opportunities for growth.
The group is very much welcoming all the support and help they can get, whether it is in the form of volunteer involvements, sponsorship, guidance, or co-hosting opportunities. The chair,Nur Umar, can be contacted by yp@ieee-denver.org

Membership Development

R5 Conferences, Webinars and Professional Activities

Joint IEEE Pikes Peak – Denver LMAG Meeting at Space Foundation Discovery Center

The joint Pikes Peak – Denver LMAG meeting was held at the Space Foundation Discovery Center in Colorado Springs, CO.  Twenty Life Members attended a lunch meeting held in General James E. Hill Conference Room.

The conference room was named for the Commander of NORAD, the North America Air Defense Command.  The Life Members introduced themselves while sandwiches from Panera were served. A technical presentation by Al Schaffer of Pike Peak LMAG described the Ames Power Station, the First High Voltage Alternating Current Transmission Anywhere.  The Ames Power Station is located near Telluride, CO and was constructed in 1891.  It used hydropower to drive a AC generator from Westinghouse Electric using Tesla patents.  The AC generator drove 2.6 mile power line operating at 3KV to the Gold Hill mine processing and stamping facilities.  Following the presentation, the group toured the Space Foundation Discovery Center which documents the history of Space flight.

 Provided by David Bondurant, Jim Sipes, Owen Herman

DRHS Team #1799 Wired Up! WINS Regional Competition

By Christopher Gray, DRHS Robotics Coach

Congratulations to the Dakota Ridge High School (DRHS) robotics team for winning the Colorado Regional FIRST Robotics Competition held this past week at the University of Denver. The alliance of 3 teams Wired Up! From DRHS and the undefeated teams of Anglebotics from East High School and The Highlanders from Fort Collins, went undefeated in the finals to win first place and earn a spot to compete at the World Championship next month in Houston, Texas.

Forty-four teams from Colorado, five other states, and one team from the Netherlands competed in the Magness Arena of the Ritchie Center in this year’s competition “Charged Up”.  Each team of high school students, with the help of their industry mentors, creates their 125-pound robot from parts and materials costing over $4,000 each.  Our sponsors (DL Engineering, Comcast, IEEE Denver Section, Lockheed Martin and Wild Ideas Light Company) provided the funds needed for our registration, parts, materials, banners and shirts.  Our team clocked over a hundred hours of meetings last semester training the students and over 160 hours(after school & weekends) in the last three months designing, building, programming and testing their robot.  Teachers: Christopher Gray and Andy Bell volunteered their time to host all of these meetings and coordinate the mentors, finances, logistics and team organization.   FIRST Robotics Competition is the perfect educational opportunity for our students to complement their learning in the Engineering, Computer Science, & STEM programs at DRHS.

As the team developed their strategy and design at the beginning of January, they settled on the goal of being a “Support” robot. The robot was made to be small and powerful so that it could consistently balance on the tilting Charge Station with two other robots.  The team practiced quickly delivering game pieces for our partners to place in scoring positions and made sure the robot was strong and stable so it could not be pushed or tipped over.  While only rising to the rank of 27^th place in the qualifying rounds, the design and abilities were recognized by many of the top teams as what they needed in their alliance for the finals.  The students and robot carried out the plan and strategy flawlessly.  In each of the final matches they delivered game pieces defensively slowing down the opponents and consistently balanced with alliance partners before the time ran out.  Next month in Houston, TX, they will find out if this strategy will work as well when competing with the best robot teams from around the world.

DRHS, has had an active FRC team since 2006 but has never performed as well as they have this year. The twelve-student team is led by senior Tori F., whose dedication and love of STEM, FIRST Robotics and helping others won her the prestigious Dean’s List Finalist award at last year’s competition.  Her energy and vision drove the team to new heights by motivating, focusing, and guiding the other students, including several new freshmen and sophomore members.  No experience is needed for students to join the robotics team, they are taught and given hands-on experience so that they each can be active team contributors.  At the competition she led the drive team on the field, coordinated with leaders from other teams, and represented the DRHS team in discussions with inspectors, judges, and officials.   Veteran team members Kesler R., Joe L., and Mason E. will have big shoes to fill as they take on this leadership responsibility next year.

Each student team member is given leadership opportunities and responsibility as they specialize in the many skill sets needed on a successful team.  Senior Nick W. leads the fabrication team, making sure that custom parts are made and assembled into the robot as design and on schedule.  Junior Mason E. served as the lead designer this year, developing, and maintaining our 3D computer model of the design from conception to completion.  Junior Joe L. was elected to be the Lead Programmer for the team this year, making sure the code is written, tested, and stored, ready for competition.  Junior Kesler R. coordinated all driver practice and increased his ability to program the robot and served as technician on the drive team at the competition.  Sophomore Grayson F. set-up and operated the CNC Router to cut all custom designed aluminum and polycarbonate parts for the robot.  He also served as co-pilot of the robot for all matches at the regional competition.  Sophomore James B. has been pit manager and safety captain this year, making sure tools and hardware are organized and available.  Freshman Jace J. made sure all gearboxes and mechanical systems were assembled correctly and as pilot, drove the robot in the competition.  Keaden A., developed his skills in marking and drill pressing accurate holes in aluminum and steel, serving as tools specialist in the pit.  Connor O., learned how to properly crimp connectors onto wires and served as spirit captain during the competition.  Owen F. joined the team last fall and has focused on learning to program the robot.  Shaun G. became our team’s lead on pneumatics as he designed and assembled the compressed air systems on the robot.

Regardless of our results at the FIRST World Championship, the DRHS team hopes to grow the team next year so that more students can benefit from this great experience. No experience needed to join, but it is a significant time commitment.   As any of the current team members will tell you, participating in FIRST Robotics is well worth their time.

Visit 2023 Hermes’ Crate @

https://sites.google.com/a/jeffcoschools.us/cagray/south-jeffco-frc-team-1799/2023-hermes-crate

Teachers:  Christopher Gray and Andy Bell

Mentors:  Brian Arneson, Russell Dame, Nadine Dame, Gabe DeSilva, Yvonne Gray and Daniel LeMier, Ian Osborn, Emma Sonnier

Students:  Tori F., Nick W., Mason E., Joe L., Kesler R., James B., Grayson F., Owen F., Shaun G., Connor O., Keaden A., and Jace J.

IEEE Denver Section Power and Energy Society (PES)

The March meeting of the IEEE Denver Section Power and Energy Society (PES) was held at Crooked Stave Artesian Beer for a social meet up which was enjoyed by all. An informative tour of Crooked Stave provided information on the making and bottling of artisan beer. Owner and brew master, Chad Yakobson, wrote his Master’s thesis on Brettanomyces yeast species, and their use in the brewing industry which is published as an open-source website to provide a greater understanding of Brettanomyces yeasts for brewers. There is also a location in Ft. Collins. The Denver PES group was also active in the 2022 PES annual conference held in Denver, CO last summer. Faye Kann, Region 5 West Area Chair attended along with Yvonne Gray, AESS/SPS Chapter Chair and her husband, Chris Gray, who is the coach for the Dakota Ridge Robotics Club. GC Leone, Chair of the Denver PES Chapter, is pictured in the middle of the group and is the owner of SR3 Engineering in Denver. As you can see from the picture, everyone enjoyed themselves at this event

The R5 education department will help sections within the region conducted professional technical education classes for your professional engineers. This help will be through funding and providing speakers for the classes. The classes can be both in-person and virtual, the section is expected to provide half of any funding requirements. If you are interested in holding one of these courses within your section contact Donald G. Dunn at Donald.dunn@ieee.org

Workshop Details: This one-day workshop has four parts under two major divisions: Parts 1 – 3 will explore the changes in the 2023 version of the National ElectricalSafety Code Handbook (NESC, IEEE STD C2-2023), a print copy of which will be provided each registered participant as Workshop material. New for 2023, the IEEE Handbook contains the full 2023 NESC plus the commentary in a single text. Part 4 will cover arc flash including two effective methods to calculate arc flash for small electrical services, especially single-phase 100-amp services, and the strengths of each method. Location Details: The historic Austin Scottish Rite Theater is located at 207 W. 18th Street, Austin, TX 78701. Registration: Registration and payment for this workshop must be completed at https://events.vtools.ieee.org/m/341023. Wednesday, 5/03/2023 is the final day for online registration. Walk-ins will be accepted but must have a check for the full amount made out to IEEE-CTS. Contact Information: If you have any questions or need any additional information about the workshop, please contact James Mercier at jmercier@ieee.org.

Student Competitions April 22: For more information about the competitions, visit the Student Activities webpage https://r5conferences.org/student-activities/ Student Teams interested in competing will also need to complete the Intent to Compete forms from the competition of their choice. Forms should be submitted as soon as possible to properly accommodate everyone.

We are looking forward to a great conference in 2023, and we hope to see you all there. Note that the Region 5 annual business meeting is held adjacent to the IEEE 2023 GreenTech conference; for information on attending this technical conference, please visit the GreenTech webpage at https://ieeegreentech.org.

Region 5 Annual 2023 Student Competitions The 2023 IEEE Region 5 Annual Student Competitions will be held at the Hyatt Regency Aurora-Denver Conference Center in Aurora, Colorado on April 22, 2023. These competitions are open to all undergraduate IEEE student members who are attending a school in Region 5. Space is limited for some competitions and is given on a first come first serve basis. Interested teams should submit their ‘Intent to Submit’ forms as soon as possible. Student Competition Discord server: https://discord.gg/meG8Qku6RD More information at: https://r5conferences.org/student-activities

Please direct any questions you may have to the Region 5 student representative, jaiden or the student activities chair, Amardeep. Jaiden Strong rsr@ieeer5.org, Amardeep Kaur student_activities@ieeer5.org

For Listing of Region 5 Conferences: Please visit: https://conferences.ieee.org/conferences_events/conferences/search?q=*&subsequent_q=&date=all&from=&to=&region=Region05-Southwestern%20USA&country=all&pos=0&sortorder=desc&sponsor=&sponsor_type=all&state=all&field_of_interest=all&sortfield=relevance&searchmode=basic&virtualflag=Y&virtualConfReadOnly=N&eventformat=

Region 5 makes funds available for the support of professional activities in IEEE R5 Sections, Chapters, and Student Branches. The funds are managed and distributed through the Region. To obtain funding, a Section, Chapter, or Student Branch must complete a Project Plan and Financing Request form, obtain supporting signatures, and file the form with the Region 5 PACE Coordinator. For R5 PACE Form (includes program details) and project ideas, https://r5.ieee.org/member-opportunities/professional-activities-pace/.

R5 Sections and Formation Date

	Section	Date
1	Arkansas River Valley	June 20, 1994
2	Arkansas	April 23, 1947
3	Baton Rouge	February 5, 1955
4	Beaumont	June 27, 1945
5	Central Texas	May 23, 1930
6	Corpus Christi	October 25, 1951
7	Dallas	March 18, 1928
8	Denver	May 18, 1915
9	El Paso	March 7, 1940
10	Fort Worth	January 5, 1956
11	Galveston Bay	January 1, 1980
12	High Plains	February 13, 2010
13	Houston	August 7, 1928
14	Kansas City	April 4, 1916
15	Lafayette	November 11, 1970
16	Lone Star	November 23, 2019
17	New Orleans	December 8, 1933
18	Oklahoma City	February 16, 1922
19	Ozark	April 20, 1966
20	Panhandle	June 12, 1947
21	Pikes Peak	May 22, 1978
22	Saint Louis	January 14, 1903
23	Shreveport	January 14, 1903
24	South Plains	May 4, 1955
25	Southwest Missouri	February 14, 2009
26	Tulsa	October 1, 1937
27	Wichita	September 16, 1937

IEEE USA News

IEEE-USA MOVE Vehicle

Region 5 is anticipating an IEEE-USA MOVE Vehicle to be stationed within the Region in the near future.  https://move.ieeeusa.org/  To prepare for the truck, R5 is working with the larger MOVE team to train volunteers to operate and drive the trucks.  Two trucks already exist, stationed in San Diego and Raleigh.  The trucks are primarily focused on supporting disasters across the US in coordination with the American Red Cross.  The trucks are also used for various STEM events.

There are many opportunities to volunteer, truck drivers/operators, radio team, truck maintenance team, weather team, STEM volunteer, media coordination, etc.  If you are interested, take a look at the MOVE web site, click on “volunteer” and enter your information.  Or, contact Gerry Ourada, gourada@ieee.org for assistance or questions.

Congressional Visits Day (CVD) – April 4-5, 2023 Join IEEE-USA In-Person in Washington, DC

IEEE-USA Congressional Visits Day (CVD) is an opportunity to introduce yourself, your colleagues, your company,and your profession to our elected officials. It also a great opportunity to discuss legislation and issues that are uniquely important to IEEE members. More information at: https://ieeeusa.org/public-policy/cvd/

IEEE MGA News

By Susan Kathy Land, Chair, 2023 IEEE Nominations and Appointments Committee

Volunteers are needed to serve as corporate officers, committee chairs, and members.

IEEE depends on volunteer members for many things, including editing IEEE publications, organizing conferences, coordinating regional and local activities, authoring standards publications, leading educational activities, and identifying individuals for IEEE recognitions and awards.

The Nominations and Appointments (N&A) Committee is responsible for developing recommendations to the Board of Directors and the IEEE Assembly on staffing many volunteer positions, including candidates for president-elect and corporate officers. Accordingly, the N&A Committee is seeking nominees for the following positions:

2025 IEEE President-Elect (who will serve as President in 2026)

2024 IEEE Corporate Officers

• Secretary
• Treasurer
• Vice President, Educational Activities
• Vice President, Publication Services and Products

2024 IEEE Committees (chairs and members)

• Audit
• Awards Board
• Diversity and Inclusion
• Election Oversight
• Employee Benefits and Compensation
• Ethics and Member Conduct
• European Public Policy
• Fellow
• Global Public Policy
• Governance
• History
• Humanitarian Technologies Board
• Industry Engagement
• New Initiatives
• Nominations and Appointments
• Public Visibility
• Strategy and Alignment
• Tellers

DEADLINES

Nominate a Colleague

• March 15 – Vice President and Chair positions
• June 15 – All other positions

Submit Biographies/Self Nominations

• March 30 – Vice President and Chair positions
• June 30 – All other positions

WHO CAN NOMINATE?

Anyone may submit a nomination; nominators need not be IEEE members but must meet specific qualifications. Self-nominations are encouraged. An IEEE organizational unit may submit recommendations endorsed by its governing body or the body’s designee.

A person may be nominated for more than one position. Nominators need not contact their nominees before submitting the form. The IEEE Nominations & Appointments Committee will only contact eligible nominees for their interest and willingness to serve.

HOW TO NOMINATE

For more details about position eligibility and the time commitment of the positions, check the Guidelines for Nominating Candidates. To nominate a person for a position, complete the form.

NOMINATING TIPS

• Check the eligibility requirements at the N&A Committee websitebefore submitting a nomination.
• Volunteers with relevant prior experience in lower-level IEEE committees and units are recommended by the committee more often than volunteers without such experience.
• Individuals recommended for president-elect, and corporate officer positions are more likely to be recommended if they possess a strong track record of leadership and relevant accomplishments within and outside IEEE.
• Recommended candidates often have significant prior experience as members of IEEE boards and standing committees.

 

More information about the duties associated with the different positions, qualifications, and eligibility requisites (such as prior service in certain positions or IEEE grade) can be found in the Guidelines for Nominating Candidates.

For more information, please contact Yerjeny Diaz Committee & Program Administrator IEEE Corporate – Corporate Governance
732-465-6648 y.diaz@ieee.org

 

Frequent Links

The Full ExCom Roster can be viewed here: https://rosters.ieee.org/home.html

MGA https://www.ieee.org/communities/geographic-activities.htm

IEEE USA https://ieeeusa.org/

IEEE Region 5 https://r5.ieee.org/

IEEE OU Analytics https://mga.ieee.org/resources-operations/volunteer-tools/samieee

vTools: https://events.vtools.ieee.org/

The Newsletter is sent to all current members in Region 5

Newsletter Editor: Ademola Peter Adejokun

newsletter@ieeer5.org