Upcoming

 Highlights
IEEE Section Web Site NECEC '99 Conference
Annual Lobster Boil Annual General Meeting
Second/Third Qtr. Technical Meetings


THE INSTITUTE OF
ELECTRICAL AND
ELECTRONICS
ENGINEERS, INC.
Newfoundland and Labrador Section
Newsletter of the Newfoundland and Labrador IEEE Section, Volume 99, No. 2, Nov 1999

IEEE SECTION WEB SITE

 Just a reminder to visit your local section's web site at: www.ieee.nfld.net You will find all the current goings-on, and details on upcoming events.

IEEE SECTION ListServ

We encourage you to get on the IEEE Nfld & Lab Section's ListServ. This will be our primary medium for disseminating the latest information. Now, if you want to stay in touch with local section activities, in addition to referencing our web site you can subscribe to the listserv as follows: send an e-mail to majordomo@engr.mun.ca, with "subscribe ieee" (no quotes) as the body of the message. You should receive an e-mail asking you to confirm your subscription within 24 hours.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact Dennis Peters. If you ever need to get in contact with the owner of the list (if you have trouble subscribing, or have questions about the list itself), send email to owner-ieee@engr.mun.ca.

NECEC '99

 Wednesday, Nov 10, 1999
Location: MUN Engineering Bldg

This is it: our premier event is happening, namely the ninth annual Newfoundland Electrical and Computer Engineering Conference, NECEC '99. This is becoming a more significant event with every passing year !! It provides a unique opportunity for industry and academia to merge, talk about common issues and understand each other a little better.

This year's keynote speaker is Mr. Stephen Wetmore, President and CEO of Aliant Inc., the integrated telecommunications provider of Atlantic Canada and the third largest telecommunications company in Canada. The keynote address will be recorded and preserved on our web site, so be sure to check it out later.

As a special treat, Dr. Axel Meisen, President of Memorial University of Newfoundland, will give a luncheon speech.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Thursday, December 2, 1999
Nfld & Lab Section Annual General Meeting
Location: EN4002, MUN Engineering Bldg
Time: 7:30 pm start

This will be our section's last technical endeavour for 1999. Our guest speakers will be:

Terry Carter and Danny Neil from ABB and SEA Systems, who will talk about the control system architecture for Hibernia and Terra Nova.

Next year's section executive will be elected at this meeting by those voting members present, so please take the time to participate (read the next article).

Note: Attending technical meetings normally qualifies as `informal activity' for the purposes of the APEGN professional development program.

IEEE SECTION EXECUTIVE ELECTION

With the coming new year, it's time to elect a new executive for our section.

The four elected positions for the Newfoundland and Labrador Section of IEEE are:

The nominating committee consisting of Gervase White, Dr. Cecilia Moloney, and Madan Rana have made the following nominations:
Chair: Yves Fontaine
Vice - Chair: Dennis Peters
Secretary: Mike Janes
Treasurer: Doug Squires

Additional nominations by petition will be accepted if received on or before November 30, 1999. To be valid, the petition must be signed by 10 or more voting members.

The election will be carried out by the majority of voting members present at the Annual General Meeting, December 2, 1999 in Room EN4002, S.J. Carew Building at 7:30 pm.

Petitions can be forwarded to:
Gervase White
c/o NewTech Instruments Limited
63 Thorburn Road
St. John's, NF
A1B 4G1

e-mail: gjwhite@newtel.com

RECENT EVENTS

IEEE Annual Lobster Boil

 Friday, June 4, 1999
Location: Elk's Club, Carpasian Rd.
Some 73 people attended our Lobster Boil this year, making it another great success. As has become the tradition, the Past Chair pin was presented to Mr. Gervase White.

The food was sumptuous and the entertainment was lavish: no fewer that two live bands to keep the toes tapping. We would really like to thank those folks for such wonderful live music.

The challenge becomes how to better that for next year ...

TECHNICAL MEETINGS The 2nd & 3rd Quarters

 We continued our technical meetings, following the summer. The recent technical meetings are listed. If you have any suggestions for meeting topics, speakers or tours please feel free to pass them along to Dennis Peters at dpeters@engr.mun.ca or 737-8929, or through any member of your Section executive.


Wednesday, May 5, 1999

Directions in Private-Key Cryptography
Location: MUN Engineering Bldg
By: Dr. Howard Heys

This seminar provided a discussion about new developments in the design and analysis of modern private key ciphers. Specific emphasis was given to developments in the recent ongoing effort to develop a new "world" standard referred to as the Advanced Encryption Standard.

Thursday, Sept 9, 1999


Ship Bridge Simulator
Location: Centre For Marine Simulation
By: Dr. J. Pawlowski

This fascinating tour introduced us to the impressive ship bridge simulator at the Centre For Marine Simulation on Ridge Road. This world-class facility boasts a life-sized ship's bridge, realistic hydraulic action and a large 360 degree screen to display realistic high-res computer graphics. A must-see facility.

Tuesday, Oct. 5, 1999

Server and Applications Performance Management
Location: MUN Engineering Bldg
By: Peter Green

This seminar provided a detailed discussion about the technical capabilities and merits of industry standards for performance management for networks, servers and applications. This included IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force) RMON, SNMP and MIB standards

October 6 - 11, 1999

Sections Congress
Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota

The IEEE International Sections Congress was attended by Dr. John Robinson and Yves Fontaine of the Nfld & Lab Section. This Congress occurs every three years. The event was very well organized and provided an opportunity for IEEE volunteers from around the world to meet one another and mingle with IEEE Staff. There were many informative presentations provided by Staff and volunteers from many countries, including Canada.

As well, this provided the occasion to hold the Region 7 (Canada) national meeting, as well as the Eastern Canada Council bi-annual meeting.

Among the three events, five busy days were had, with too little time for seeing this engaging city.

As a participant, it was very interesting to have the benefit of the networking and learning that the occasion provided. Expect to see some of the information gleaned there to show up in future Newsletters.

I concluded that our local section is doing very well, relative to some very much larger sections, both in Canada and internationally: we have reason to be proud, and cause to improve.

Wednesday, Oct 27, 1999

Power by Wireless - In, From, and To, Space
Location: MUN Engineering Bldg
By: Dr. R. Bryan Erb

Dr. R. Bryan Erb, manager of the Canadian Space Agency, provided a very interesting presentation detailing some of the work going on in various countries in the area of WPT (wireless power transmission) and its applications. These applications include:

Canada's role in this new area of spacefaring is presently being defined and Dr. Erb described the current exploratory efforts underway in this country.

Message from the Chair

Members and friends:

I write three weeks before NECEC'99, our annual technical conference. Once again a dynamic conference organizing committee, co-chaired by Ray Miller and Craig Warren, has been devoting time and effort to putting together an exciting programme of events, including a keynote speech from Stephen Wetmore, President of Aliant, and 40 technical papers. By the time you read this, NECEC will be happening or past, but I am confident it will once again be a landmark event, giving opportunity for networking, learning and socializing. NECEC is a testimony to the vitality of electrical and computer engineering in this Province, and to the talent and flair we have within the IEEE Section.

Our annual lobster boil was held in June with 73 members, guests and students attending, and entertainment from two local bands made up of electrical engineers. A good time was had by all!

The Memorial University McNaughton Centre, opened last year, continues to ramp up. Over the summer the Section has approved funding in support of individual student projects in the Centre in the area of audio engineering. Membership in the McNaughton Centre is just one of the privileges of IEEE student membership, which now costs only $22 per year.

Our regular technical programme continues. Details are elsewhere in this newsletter. We are always pleased to see new faces at technical meetings. Non-members are welcome, but may be strongly encouraged to join!

Finally, don't miss our Annual General Meeting on Thursday, December 2. We are always looking for new volunteers, so if you're interested in getting involved in the Section, make it known to me or one of the other members of the Executive Committee.

My thanks go to all the members of this year's Executive Committee, for their hard work in continuing the tradition of worthwhile, relevant, exciting activity in the Newfoundland and Labrador Section of the IEEE.

John Robinson, PhD PEng
IEEE Newfoundland and Labrador Section Chair 1999.

Benefits of Being an IEEE Member

So, why should you join the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers?

Aside from the fact that it is the largest association of high-technology professionals in the world, let's point out some further advantages:

E-Mail Address Aliases

One of the many benefits of joining the IEEE is that you can obtain an e-mail address alias absolutely free!!! According to many members, that feature alone is worth the annual IEEE fee!

So, what is an e-mail alias and what is its significance to you? It is an address that points to your "real" e-mail address. So, what's the big deal, you may ask? Well, it does several things for you.

Firstly, and most importantly, it provides free virus scanning that is updated every two weeks or so. All attachments sent through your Alias address will be scanned for the latest viruses. If any are found, the attachment will be deleted and a message sent to the originator and intended target, informing them of this discovery. This lets the sender know that his system could be infected and also lets the recipient know that the attempt was made to send files that were infected. This feature could save an individual or business countless hours of hair-pulling experience, not to mention some serious dollars.

As well, this Alias identifies you as an IEEE member, which provides instant recognition globally. It also permits you a degree of anonymity that you may seek: it does not reveal your professional affiliation, which is typically captured in your "real" e-mail address. Conversely, of course, if you wanted your affiliation known to others, the Alias masks it.

So, how can you, an IEEE member acquire your very own Alias? Simply go to the IEEE Web site, get yourself an account online then register for your alias address online. The typical format is first name intial, dot, last name @ IEEE.org. For example, y.fontaine@ieee.org. Other formats are possible. When you submit your desired alias, the system will check to ensure that it has not already been used and will send you a confirmation e-mail within 24 hours.

It's that easy... Remember, that all mail sent to that alias will be checked for viruses with the latest available software. Unless you work for a large, sophisticated company, this level of immunization is difficult to maintain.

Why don't you try it?

1999 Section Executive

On A Personal Note...

This is an opportunity to thank Peter Green for all his efforts for the section and to wish him well in his future endeavours. As many of you may know, Peter is moving on to Ottawa with his new employer, Nortel Networks.

His energy and commitment will be surely missed by us. The only sense of comfort is knowing that Peter will not lie idle for long: we expect him to surface on Ottawa's Section Executive before long. They could use the infusion of energy that abounds with Peter.

So, good luck Peter and may your future be bright. Until we meet again...

Newsletter Submissions

Any event notices, technical information, potential technical activities or suggestions and comments are welcomed for Newsletter submission. Please email any suggestion to y.fontaine@ieee.org or call: 739-2722.

Let Me Mention Again...

Please check out our Website at:
www.ieee.nfld.net

So, stay current, stay on-line...

IEEE:
Networking The World...