The 2010 BEST (Boosting Engineering, Science, and Technology) Robotics Competition, “Total Recall”, is now organizing high school teams and is looking for volunteers to work with student teams during the 6 week design/build/test/compete phases, and to help set-up and run the competition events. Some of the ways you can get involved include: team mentoring, competition set-up and clean-up, judging, and refereeing. We are in particular need of engineering mentors for the teams. Here are the dates and locations of the various events:


CoCo BEST (Collin County, http://www.cocobest.org)


Kickoff: Sept 11 (Princeton High School)


Competition: Oct 22-23 (Princeton High School)

contact: Melanie Huang 972-952-6320 m-huang13@raytheon.com

Cowtown BEST (Tarrant County, http://www.cowtownbest.org)


Kickoff: Sept 18 (TCU, Ft. Worth)


Competition: Oct 29-30 (Western Hill HS, Ft. Worth)

Dallas BEST (Dallas County, http://www.dallas-best.org)


Kickoff: Sept 11 (JJ Pearce HS, Richardson)

Competition: Oct 22-23 (Mountain View College, Dallas)

contact: Jon Spangler 972-344-8057 j-spangler@raytheon.com


DC BEST (Denton County, http://www.eng.unt.edu/dcbest2009/home.htm)


Kickoff: Sept 18 (UNT Discovery Park, Denton)


Competition: Oct 29-30 (UNT Coliseum)

North Texas BEST (Grayson County, http://www.ntbest.org)



Kickoff: Sept 18 (TI – Sherman)

Competition: Oct 29-30 (Gunter HS)

Texas BEST (regional for advancing teams, http://www.eng.unt.edu/texasbest/)



Competition: November 19-20 (UNT Coliseum, Denton)

For more information about the competition, go to any of the above
websites or to http://www.best.eng.auburn.edu

To volunteer or for more information, use the contacts given above or go to your preferred BEST “hub” website and contact the volunteer coordinator listed there.

You’ll be surprised at what these young folks can do, but they need your help to succeed. We look forward to hearing from you!

Location: Dallas Texins Conf. Rm 1

Directions: http://texinsactivitycenters.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=61:driving-directions

Show driver’s license to enter.

Cover: CES and IMS members free, $5.00 others. Lunch will be served. Please RSVP to m-hannah@ti.com.

Speaker: Mike Konczal, Attorney

Abstract: An overview of the basics of patents and trademarks will be presented along with related topics. Patent rights and strategies will be looked at from the perspectives of an inventor in the traditional employee role, and in a start-up or other situation where inventor has equity in the intellectual property. Patent infringement and reverse-engineering will also be discussed.

Bio: Mike Konczal is a registered patent attorney admitted to practice law in Texas and Washington . He holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and has broad patent prosecution experience in the electrical and mechanical arts. He works with Fortune 500 technology companies, start-ups, and individual inventors to add value to their IP portfolios, providing efficient invention identification and capture procedures, U.S. and foreign patent prosecution, and portfolio strategy counseling. He has prosecuted more than 100 patent applications across a diverse range of technologies.

Meeting place:

Pasand Indian Restaurant

1377 W Campbell Rd, Richardson, TX 75080

(South-East corner of Coit and Campbell)

Time:

Buffet Lunch: 11:30AM


Meeting & Presentation: 12:00 noon

Please mark your calendar and plan to attend this excellent presentation.

Kindly RSVP, by August 23, 2010, to Mr. Paul Lakhanpal at: aug1877@yahoo.com

Cover Charge:

IEEE Society Members – $5.00

Non-members – $10.00

Students & IEEE Life Members – No Charge

Brief Biography: Dr. Robert D. Nevels

Robert Nevels is a Professor and founder of the Electromagnetics and Microwave laboratory at Texas A&M which has 5 faculty members, 25 graduate and post-doc students, and a fully equipped measurement and computational laboratory. His research interests are in analytical and numerical techniques in electrodynamics, plasmonic nano-antennas, and applications of metamaterials in antennas and photonic devices. He served as Associate Department Head from 1998-2005. During summer 1992, he was a Visiting Professor in the Physics Department Institute for Light Sources, Fudan University, Shanghai, China. Dr. Nevels served as Associate Editor of the Wiley book series Handbooks of Microwave and Optical Components in 1992, RF/Microwave Components and Engineering in 2003, and Optical Components and Engineering in 2003. He has been an Associate Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation and he is currently Associate Editor of the periodical Microwave and Optical Technology Letters. He was General Chairman of the 2002 IEEE Antennas and Propagation International Conference, a Member of the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society (IEEE AP-S) Administrative Committee, and Chairman of the IEEE AP-S Man and Radiation and Meetings Committee. He is currently President of the IEEE AP-S. Dr. Nevels is an IEEE Fellow for “contributions to electromagnetic theory based on the methods of quantum mechanics”, Eugene E. Webb ’43 Faculty Fellow in recognition for research, and has received nine awards for teaching.

Abstract: Nano Antennas and Resonators


One of the most exciting aspects of the electromagnetic field is that as instruments, techniques, and materials become available at ever higher frequency ranges we must completely redesign both our antennas and circuits in this new environment. In this presentation some of the most interesting problems and opportunities that the higher frequency ranges provide to the antenna engineer will be reviewed. At near infrared and optical frequencies the dielectric constant of noble metals becomes negative, resulting in collective oscillations of electrons that produce electromagnetic waves known as surface plasmons traveling parallel to the metal-air interface. A surface plasmon mode wave vector is typically much larger than a light wave vector of the same energy in air and therefore its wavelength is much less. Although surface plasmon waves, the key to these structures, have been widely reported since the early 1980’s, recently a controversy arose questioning the very existence of such waves. The controversy and its subsequent resolution will be briefly reviewed. Numerical studies of the electromagnetic field characteristics and radiation enhancement factors for some of the most successful nano antennas will be presented along with some numerical results displaying the characteristic behavior of surface plasmons on a variety of structures. Particular attention will be paid to various thin-wire center-fed antennas and the widely investigated bowtie design. Applications include enhanced Raman scattering, sub wavelength lithography, and communication between nano circuits and macroscopic transmitters and receivers.

Topic: You have a LinkedIn Profile—Now What?


Location: Holiday Inn Select, 1655 North Central Expressway, Richardson, TX
(south of Campbell Road, west side of Central)

Time: Social/Networking/Dinner 6:15 pm Program 6:45 pm.
FOR MORE INFO: ieeedallascn.org

Date: July 8, 2010

Venue: Dimassi’s, Richardson

In attendance: Dinesh Rajan, Steve Simmons, Ping Gui, Ravi Prakash.

1. It appears that the number of meetings of several chapters have declined
significantly. Specifically,Circuits and Systems, CIS, Power Electronics, Women in

Engineering, and E25 have had very few meetings over the last three years. The
committee discussed this problem and decided to contact office bearers of these
chapters to help solve the problem. Ping Gui will follow up with CAS and Women in
Engineering to ensure that they file the L31 forms. Dinesh Rajan will follow up with
PEL and CIS.

2. Consultants Network, IMS, MTT, SSCC, Signal Processing, EMS/TMC and PACE have beenactive chapters.

3. Paul Lakhanpal, on July 3, requested a travel grant of $6000 to attend a confere
nce and a
committee meeting in Toronto starting July 10. The committee unanimously decided no
t to approve the request.

4. Paul Lakhanpal requested information from the committee on the policy for
charging life members to attend various society meetings. The committee concluded
that it is up to the discretion of each society to determine if they wish to charge
life members to attend their meetings.

5. The Signal Processing Society made a profit from the organization of ICASSP
conference and is donating $10,000 to the local Signal Processing SOciety, and $500
0 to each of the IEEE student branches of UTA, UTD and SMU. The money for the Signal

Processing society and the SMU student branch is being routed through IEEE Dallas
section.

6. Update on changes to the IEEE Dallas section bylaws: So far there have been five

YES votes and one NO vote. Voting is open until July 20.

The meeting was adjourned.

Date: June 17, 2010

Venue: Dimassi’s, Richardson

In attendance: Dinesh Rajan, Maura Schreier, Steve Simmons, Larry Zhang,
Jamie Yang, Ravi Prakash, Paul Bendel (MTBC), Lin Patterson.

1. Dinesh introduced Paul Bendel to the other attendees. Paul would like IEEE Dallas
and MTBC to cross-promote events. He offered to have IEEE members attend MTBC technical
luncheons at deep discount ($10/seat). IEEE Dallas will promote MTBC events by adding them
to the calendar and include these events in the periodic announcements. Similarly,

IEEE Dallas website will be linked from MTBC website and MTBC will help advertise
IEEE Dallas events by listing them on its calendar. Also, Ravi and Paul will meet to discuss organizing a joint event some time in November.

2. Dinesh will ask Ping to present an update about the finances from each section in the July meeting.

3. Jamie stated that she and Nicole are planning to organize the a meeting of
IEEE Gold in the near future. She will send meeting information to Steve who will list the event on the website and in the periodic announcements.

4. Dallas chamber is organizing an event on July 27 at the Sheraton Dallas with
Rich Templeton at the keynote speaker. IEEE Dallas could buy a table for nine, at a cost of $450. The executive committee felt that attending the event would not add value to IEEE Dallas members and decided not to buy a table.

5. The senior member upgrade event was very poorly attended. About twenty people attended the events, with half of them being senior members volunteering to write letters of recommendations. It was decided to hold this event once a year.

6. PACE: the first activity will be in July on planning and developing ones career
based on personal interests.

7. Total member rebate from headquarters was $21,118. This was lower than expected
because IEEE Dallas did not receive the 10% bonus. This loss of bonus was due to some chapters not submitting their L-50 forms in time to qualify for the rebate.

The meeting was adjourned.

Your Job: Change, Stay, Or Start Over? Or TOC!

Friday, August 6, 2010, from 9 AM to 3 PM

Grayson county College South Campus, Van Alstyne, TX

Individual exercises, mixed with group exercises can make a real difference in Your life!

Discover issues you care deeply about, and discover your Do-Best/Most-Enjoy combination of skills.

Copies of the 2010 What Color Is Your Parachute “Hard Times” Edition will be included.

No Charge for Unemployed, Students, and Spouses.
Cost: $20 donation for book and lunch.

We know many people are going through a difficult time, and this workshop can help re-focus on things they can do!
What Previous attendees have said: “Video on Randy Pausch was excellent. Small group discussions were very helpful. Really enjoyed the video. Very inspirational. Group interaction. Feedback from others. Interaction of fellow attendees. Freewriting. Sharing ideas. Camaraderie.”
RSVP Bob Bishop r.bishop@ieee.org 903 815 8788 cell

RSVP Bob Bishop r.bishop@ieee.org or 903 815 8788 cell

Topic: Introduction to The Theory of Constraints! Successful companies
are keeping TOC Hush-Hush because it offers such a Compelling Competitive
Advantage!


Date: Friday, June 11, 2010

Time: 1100 AM – 3 PM, Note the expanded time for this event!

If you’re short on time, join us for Why TOC? and Lunch, and Leave Early!

Location: Holiday Inn , SW of Campbell and Hwy 75. Telephone 972 238 1900.

Cover: None. Lunch costs us $16. Donations are needed to help us stay
on budget for costs.

Spouses, Unemployed, and Students are welcome!!!

Speaker: Kent Newtown, PE

Summary The Theory of Constraints, also known as TOC, is one of the most
powerful business methods being used around the world today. Dr. Eliyahu
M. Goldratt introduced the subject in his book “The Goal” in 1984. The
book is written as a novel and is actually a love story on how to schedule
a factory. TOC is the key to focusing lean-six sigma efforts to yield real
bottom line results with a simple approach to the most complex problems.
Since 1984 when “The Goal” was published, hundreds of books have been
written and methods developed from these simple concepts.
Kent Newtown will present some of the insights into TOC

Kent Newtown is a Certified Jonah through Baylor University by the Goldratt
Institute and is Certified by TOC International Certification Organization.
Kent has taught and implemented TOC concepts world wide inside Texas
Instruments and MEMC Electronic Materials Co. He has worked as a TOC
Expert, implementing Viable Vision projects established by Goldratt
Consulting. Kent teaches the fundamentals of TOC as part of the University
of Texas at Dallas, Lean-Six Sigma and Supply Chain certification programs.

Please RSVP, and specify chicken or vegetarian for lunch choice:

Bob Bishop r.bishop@ieee.org

903 815 8788 cell