Membership Contacts:

Hunter J Boudreaux – East Area Chair

Prasenjit Shil– North Area Chair

Joe Redfield– South Area Chair

Faye Kann– West Area Chair

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

R5 Director’s Corner

R5 2024 Committee

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

2024 IEEE Green Technologies (GreenTech) Conference

American-Made Challenges Prize | National Renewable Energy Laboratory: $1.85 Million DOE Digitizing Utilities Prize Round 2 Currently Open for Submissions

 

Electric utilities are searching for new, innovative ways to challenge traditional methods of data acquisition, use, and storage—could your big idea be the solution? The Digitizing Utilities Prize, launched by U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Electricity, is back for Round 2 with $1.85 million in cash prizes available to competitors! With support from the Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response, Round 2 competitors can also choose to address cybersecurity threats and risks with demonstrated improvements in risk identification, analysis, prediction, or proactive response. Interested applicants are encouraged to follow the prize on HeroX to stay up to date on all prize information. The prize will be closing submissions on May 7^th, so be sure to get your submissions in as soon as possible!

 Point of contact:  Alec Schulberg Alec.Schulberg@nrel.gov

The Sixteenth  IEEE Green Technologies (GreenTech) Conference is scheduled for  April 3 – 5, 2024 | Springdale, Arkansas

 

The 16th Annual IEEE GreenTech Conference is addressing the challenges of securing green and clean energy sources for the 21st century and building a more resilient and secure power grid to protect the environment.  Don’t miss your opportunity to track the latest trends in energy, from generation to supply chain – and the effect of the AI/ML revolution in the sector.   Registration is open!  Early bird registration closes Mar 22, so don’t miss out.  This year’s Green Tech will include a special Energy Summit, open to all attendees as part of their registration. The Green Technology Energy Summit will be an evening focused on energy policy with speakers from energy.  generators, transmission, major retailers, along with state and federal government. Networking, a panel discussion with industry leaders, and dinner will also be included.  See you April 3-5 in Northwest Arkansas!

Spotlights

Denver LMAG Honors a Founding Officer

When the Denver Section Life Member Affinity Group was first formed in 2017, it faced the usual task of filling its officer slate with Life Members willing to take on the work of establishing this group.  Jim Fuller, a Life Senior Member, stepped forward to take on the role of the first Vice-Chair of this group.  He later went on to serve as its Secretary and Web Master.  Recently, some health issues have required that Jim step back from an active role.

The current Executive Committee of the Denver LMAG recently recognized Jim for his dedication to the group.  Jim Sipes and Owen Herman, two other members of the original officer slate, paid a visit to Jim at his home to present him with an appreciation gift.

SDSMT Student Branch Tour of the DC Tie

As an active partner in the Black Hills Subsection, Black Hills Energy in Rapid City, South Dakota scheduled a DC Tie tour for the SDSMT IEEE student branch. A safety share was provided in addition to handing out PPE before starting the tour.

 

Information about the DC Tie:

Most people might think of the U.S. electric grid as one system. The US grid is actually three systems operating essentially independently except at a handful of points.  These points are known as DC ties. To understand the function and purpose of DC ties, it’s helpful to know how the nation’s electric grid is configured.

The nation’s grid is configured in three separate electric systems in the continental U.S., and they are:

• The Eastern Interconnection, which encompasses the area east of the Rocky Mountains to the East Coast including a portion of Northern Texas; 
• The Western Interconnection, which encompasses the area from the Rocky Mountains to the West Coast;
• The Texas Interconnection (also known as ERCOT), covers most of Texas.

Electric generators within each of the regional interconnections operate in sync with each other. This is critical to maintain reliability of each interconnection. An effort was made decades ago to connect the Eastern and Western Interconnections but failed as the frequencies on each side did not match. 

This is why today we have DC ties. DC ties convert AC to DC back to AC to match each of the grid’s frequencies. There are only seven DC ties connecting the Eastern and Western Interconnections in the United States.

 

Community Outreach

Project Self-Sufficiency (PSS)

Project Self-Sufficiency (PSS) evolved from the efforts of a countywide task force in 1985 to coordinate and expand services for low-income, single-parent families.  One of the most promising pathways out of poverty includes access to higher education. Today, our local programs are offered to 105 families concurrently. PSS breaks new ground with single-parent families to access their self-power.  PSS provides educational and career empowerment through 1:1 coaching, goal reinforcement, and significant support helping single parents cut through the stress and barriers to their success to self-power their completely new life.

PSS receives donated laptops & computers from banks, hospitals, and local commercial businesses.  We refurbish those donations for participants’ academic use by installing current Windows operating systems, and applications and performing performance testing.

Volunteering at PSS is an excellent way to give back to your local community. For Members and Student Members, the commitment would be about 4 hours a week,

Right now, there is an immediate need in the Weld and Larimer County area of Northern Colorado, but there may also be a need in your immediate area.

If you live in the Northern Colorado area and are interested in volunteering,

please contact: Diane Glessner, Project Self Sufficiency, IT volunteer dianelee.glessner@gmail.com

Membership Development

Have you renewed your IEEE membership for 2024?

It is easy to forget and easy to put off.  If you haven’t renewed your IEEE membership, or don’t know if you have, go to your IEEE account NOW.  Go to www.ieee.org, Sign in, select your name, and then select Membership and Subscription Information OR call 800 678-4333.  As a note, although Life Members have no dues, you do need to confirm your membership annually.

OR just renew now to avoid loss of any of your IEEE benefits at www.ieee.org/renew .

If you have already renewed, thank you for being part of the IEEE, the world’s largest technical professional association. We have a lot planned for you in 2024

IEEE Member Benefits

Have you looked at all the benefits you receive as an IEEE member?

IEEE has specific benefits tailored to your specific carrier phase.  Are you taking advantage of all that IEEE has to offer for you?  If you’re like me, you probably know of a few benefits and are taking advantage of them but are possibly missing out on others.

The latest IEEE member Benefits Bulletin is available.  Go to:

IEEE Member Benefits for the latest on

• authoring through IEEE Collabratech,
• member discounts on insurance, UPS shipping, computer purchases, and Wiley-IEEE Press,
• Continuing educational opportunities through online learning and eBbooks.  IEEE members have access to over 380 eBooks at no charge.  See the current offering at https://www.ieee.org/publications/books/ebookclassics.html

Did you know about IEEE – IEEE Collabratec

IEEE has created an online tool to assist IEEE Members AND non-members in career development.

The IEEE Collabratec™ online community offers a suite of productivity tools and is available to technology professionals around the world with exclusive features for IEEE members. Plus sign up is free to everyone.

IEEE Collabratec™ can help you:

• Connect with global technology professionals by location and
• Access robust networking, collaboration, and authoring tools dedicated to technology professionals
• Establish a professional identity to showcase key accomplishments

Go to Collabratec NOW

You do NOT have to be an IEEE member to join IEEE Collabratech.

For more information, please contact: Ian MacMillan / Region 5 Membership Development Chair / i.d.macmillan@ieee.org

R5 Conferences, Webinars and Professional Activities

WIE Panel on April 6th

IEEE Custom Integrated Circuit Conference April 21 – 24

CHIPLETS Solutions For Customs IC Design Workshop April 25th, 2024 – Denver, CO – USA

For details, please visit: https://www.ieee-cicc.org/chisic/

Region 5 Upcoming Conference List Now Available

Have you ever wondered what IEEE technical conferences are coming to your local vicinity? Have you ever wanted to get engaged as a volunteer with an IEEE technical conference in your local vicinity? Well, we now may have an easy way for you to find the answer. The Region 5 website now has a page listing upcoming conferences across Region 5. It also provides links to the conference websites where you can get further information about the conference and contact information if you are interested in getting involved with the conference organizing committee or work as a volunteer during the conference. The conferences being held within the Region 5 geographical area are listed at https://r5.ieee.org/upcoming/. There is also a link on the page to a downloadable Excel file listing the conferences that you can access and filter and sort to your heart’s content.

IEEE International Conference on Industrial Cyber-Physical Systems May 12-14 2024

The conference, scheduled to take place on May 12-14, 2024 in St. Louis: https://icps2024.ieee-ies.org/,  which will bring together experts and researchers from academia and industry to exchange ideas and discuss the latest advancements in Industrial Cyber-Physical Systems.

The IEEE Denver Section is hosting the International Conference on Communications (ICC) which for 2024 which will take place in Denver Colorado (June 9-13, 2024).  ICC is one of the two IEEE ComSoc flagship conferences attracting a large number of contributors and attendants.  This year’s conference hosted 2000 attendees in Rome at ICC 2023

 

We invite you to submit a business, paper, workshop, tutorial proposal for consideration. See the attached Call for Papers (CFP) document. CFPs for symposium, workshops and tutorials require technical papers that will be published in IEEE xPlore digital library.  Industry presentations, panels and workshops (not requiring publishing papers) will be solicited in the weeks ahead.

Given the convergence of computing and communication in our industry, we hope you will consider this opportunity and spread the word to your colleagues. Access conference Weblinks: Symposium     Workshops    Tutorials

For any question, please contact Tim Weil – General Co-Chair – ICC 2024 (Denver)720.656.9572 (m) | 240.337-1305 (f)

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

Wanted:  Licensed volunteers to help with IEEE-USA and Region 5 Pilot for a PE Refresher

Region 5 is going to pilot a PE Refresher Pilot for IEEE-USA .  We have the opportunity to design and implement an exciting new and promising pilot for a program that IEEE-USA (Career and Professional Development ) and the MGA YP Committee are jointly creating.

As part of the pilot, a few subjects will be introduced to members that sign up.  These subjects are, tentatively, DC/AC Circuit Analysis, Mathematics, Ethics, Economics and Power.  At this time, we have an open call for an instructor in these areas to help with preparing a 2 hour webex on one of the preferred topics by creating some summary material and problems on the topic.  The instructor will present the material on one evening and then be available to answer questions on the problems.  We are looking to recruit the team in September and start enrolling in October.  I will have an informational session in mid September with those that respond to this call.  Instructors should not be concurrently supporting NCEES on any exam writing efforts.  Instructors should be licensed within the US.

In addition we would be looking for a project manager that is passionate about licensing to help manage the project and expand it beyond the pilot.

This is a pilot, so the purpose is to fine tune the program and collect feedback.  The informational session will help clarify format a little bit more.  However you may call me at 314-941-7641 or email at bob.becnel@ieee.org.

We are still pursuing a MOVE vehicle that will be based in Region 5, most likely in DFW.  GOOD NEWS – At the IEEE Board Series, a proposal was put forward for funding the third truck, it was approved.  We are on a path for the third truck.  Most likely late spring to early summer to have it ready, so it will be ready for the 2024 hurricane season.  With that news, we badly need the suite of volunteers that support the truck.  We are very short on drivers right now. We have had to turn down some deployments due to the lack of qualified/certified drivers. But, the initial need is volunteers that can be trained to do the needed truck maintenance, does not require being certified to drive the truck.  If you are at all interested, please contact me.  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.

https://move.ieeeusa.org

 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

IEEE-USA’s annual Congressional Visits Day (CVD).

You are cordially invited to join us on 10-11 April in Washington, DC, for IEEE-USA’s annual Congressional Visits Day (CVD). 

CVD provides a unique opportunity for U.S. IEEE members to meet with their Congressional representatives and key staff to raise awareness among lawmakers of engineering and technology’s long-term importance to the nation and recommendations for technically sound policy solutions.

Where, When & How

CVD 2024 training will take place in-person on Wednesday, 10 April, and meetings on Capitol Hill will take place on Thursday,  11 April. All CVD meeting appointments will be coordinated by IEEE-USA and Soapbox Consulting. Registered participants will receive their meeting schedule closer to the event date.

Please note that participants are responsible for their own travel and accommodations

More Info

To learn more about CVD, please visit ieeeusa.org/CVD or contact IEEE-USA’s Director of Government Relations Erik Heilman at e.heilman@ieee.org.

MGA News

Stay tuned!

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