The IEEE, Kansas City Section

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Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

In this issue:

1. April Dinner Meeting Review
2. 7x24 Conference
3. May Dinner Meeting
4. June Dinner Meeting

5. July Dinner Meeting
6. August Dinner Meeting
7. Stepping Up
8. Students Win
9. Thought for the Day

Thursday, April 21, 2005
Sponsored by the Computer Society, Kansas City Chapter

What a treat this was!

What a disaster it could have been. On a dark and stormy night (the cliché applies, here), Alan Richardson got a call from the presenter. Due to a death in the family, our presenter was urgently needed elsewhere. This left Alan with scant little time to provide us with a new program.

Alan is the Chair of the Computer Society, and he is also its only officer (if you are in the Computer Society, please contact Alan--see his contact information by going to http://www.ieee-kc.org and clicking on the Officers link).

Alan conducted registration, collected attendee fees, and settled the hotel bill--a big job for one person. And now he took on the added job of putting on the program himself.

Alan was up to the task. His topic was "Creative Thinking." He handed out printouts of various brain teasers and had us go about solving them. After we'd had time to tackle these, he went through them asking people how they'd solved them. As he did this, he explained the goal of this object lesson--to illustrate that problems often have multiple solutions that are equally valid.

After that, we did some group exercises that produced quite a bit of laughter while reinforcing this insight. And, it's a critical insight.

When you regard a problem with the idea that the solution you arrived at must be "the correct one," you fail to see other solutions that are equally valid.

By leaving your mind open to other possibilities--that is, solutions provided by others--you tap into a much wider range of brainpower. This can result in possibly many solutions that work better than the one you had originally arrived at. Perhaps it's easier to get compliance with, easier to implement, less expensive, or more interesting.

Or maybe it's just different from yours and not better or worse. But by accepting that solution, you motivate others, foster cooperation, show respect for others, reduce or eliminate pointless bickering, and so on.

If you weren't there, you missed out on a presentation that could make a huge difference in the direction of your career. Then again, the potential for that exists in every dinner meeting. Something to consider as you plan your third Thursdays for the rest of this year....

After Alan's presentation, we got an inside look at what University students did in this year's IEEE robotics contest. If you are looking for new graduates who know the meaning of dedication and hard work, look no further than the IEEE student members.

If you've found it hard to get your employees to work late on a critical job, remember that these UMKC students had to make last-minute changes to their robotics project and worked until 4 AM to do so.

Yes, we're impressed with the UMKC students. But, we're also impressed with the students from other area universities--and even some that stretch the definition, due to distance. Each month, a contingent from Pittsburg State makes a 4-hr round trip to our dinner meetings. On a weeknight.

On Friday, 06MAY, facilities managers, electrical engineers, and others concerned with uptime and critical faclities will meet at Harrah's Casino.

If you are involved in any way with critical facilities, 24-hour operations, or electrical maintenance, you won't want to miss this conference. Details are at: http://www.mindconnection.com/7x24/conferencespring_2005.htm

Topics:

• "Commissioning Critical Power Systems," Jim Brooke, Acting Chief Engineer, Division of Facilities Management, Kansas Department of Administration; Alan Lehman, P.E., Associate, George Butler Associates, Inc.; John Riley, P.E., Associate, George Butler Associates, Inc.
• Critical Facility Case History, Bruce Bleser, Black & Veatch.
• Arc Blast Protection, Part 2, Dave Kreger, Emerson Electrical Reliability Services.
• Water Treatment and Intermittent Operation of Data Center Cooling Systems, John Scheuch, Nalco Company

Thursday, May 19, 2005
Sponsored by the Section

Dress: Suit and tie for men, comparable business attire for women.

Students: Dress as though you are interviewing for a job. You may well be doing so, as the movers and shakers in our Section--and some from the larger community-- will be in attendance.

Senior Members: Bring a guest, and your guest gets in free!

Who can benefit / whom to invite:

• IEEE members
• Spouses, bosses, clients, neighbors, and other interested adults.
• High school or college-age children thinking of an engineering career.
• Teachers of high school or college-age children.
• Your city councilperson, mayor, state representative, or other public official.

Register: may @ ieee-kc.org.
(You will need to paste that into your e-mail client and remove the spaces.)
Note your name and the names of those in your party.

Meal: Romano Chicken Parmesan. Pan -seared Romano chicken on a bed of penne pasta with tomato basil sauce and seasonal vegetable with salad, rolls, dessert, and iced tea or water.

Speaker: Major Todd "Booger" Berge, 509 OG/OGV, Whiteman AFB. Major Berge is an Air Force ROTC graduate of the University of Wisconsin. After completing Pilot Training at Vance AFB, Enid OK, he was assigned to Pope AFB, NC as an A-10 Warthog pilot.

He served two tours in Kuwait in support of Operation Southern Watch. He applied for, and was accepted as, a pilot into the B-2 program at Whiteman AFB, MO. He has flown a 36.4 hour combat sortie in the B-2 in support of Operation Iraqi freedom. He is currently an instructor with over 650 hours in the B-2.

Topic: The B-2 Bomber! If you own one, you probably won't find this presentation all that interesting. For the rest of us, it's a rare opportunity to get an inside view of this amazing modern weaponry and the crews that fly it.

Major Berge will show a short 5 minute video and then tell a little about himself and how he became a pilot. He will then show another short video and talk about the B-2. He will provide a PowerPoint slideshow about the capabilities of the B-2. It will also show some battle damage pictures from Iraqi Freedom.

From the Way Cool Dept: Major Berge will also bring various pieces of equipment--such as his helmet, g-suit, and harness.

*****************************************************************

What does it mean to be a senior member of the IEEE? At the very least, it means you've met some basic requirements:

• Worked 10 years in the profession
• Demonstrated 5 years of significant professional performance
• Received three supporting references from IEEE senior members or fellows.

But, this tells only part of the story. Senior members often find their status to be an asset in their careers. Learn more at http://boldfish.ieee.org/u/senior7f/40053806.

• First Place: The University of Missouri - Kansas City www.umkc.edu/studo/ieee
• Second Place: The University of Texas at Arlington
  www.ieee.uta.edu
• Third Place: The University of Texas at Austin
  www.ieee.ece.utexas.edu

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