Like all North Alabama communities, IEEE Huntsville Section members continue recovery from the devastating effects of the April 27^th tornadoes, attending loss of life and property, and week-long power outage during the TVA infrastructure recovery. As thousands rebuild their lives and property in the wake of widespread destruction, hastened with volunteer assistance from across the country, this community’s response to these environmental disasters is a testament to resilience of the human spirit and the healing possibilities when government, businesses, and volunteers work together.

Huntsville Section welcomes Westwood Presnall as incoming Graduates of Last Decade (GOLD) Chair this year. Westwood works at Palco Telecom and he agreed to serve as GOLD Chair at the March ExCom meeting. Westwood is planning several affinity group networking and technical meetings this year. All active IEEE members less than 10 years from graduating with first undergraduate degree are automatically GOLD members, so keep watching the LiveWire blog for news of upcoming GOLD meetings and social events. Since joining the Section ExCom, Westwood was an enthusiastic member of the IEEE Section judge teams at both NARSEF and ASEF, and represented the Section at the Awards presentations for the top student winners.

At the June meeting, the ExCom confirmed our new Education Committee Chair, Lockheed Martin employee Jennifer Deang, PhD. Jennifer works on the National Team (MDNTB – A&SE) and is already an active participant in the Huntsville Section sponsored Future City Competition and other Section educational activities. We all look forward to Jennifer’s leadership on Section K-12 STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) and university educational outreach projects. Huntsville Section prioritizes interaction STEM projects led by the Huntsville Association of Technical Societies (HATS) including HATS STEDTRAIN teacher grant program, as well as several other STEM projects with area and statewide students. Jennifer will manage and coordinate IEEE teams supporting these projects, as we continue providing event judges, technical support, and planning committee assistance.

The Section annually participates in the Alabama Regional Future City Competition (ARFCC) at UAHuntsville, North Alabama Science and Engineering Fair (NARSEF) at UAHuntsville, Alabama Science and Engineering Fair (ASEF) at UAHuntsville, Alabama Council on Technology in Education (ACTE) Student Competition at the Von Braun Center, ACTE Team Programming Challenge (TPC) at Randolph High School, and the BEST Robotics Competition at Calhoun Community College. Huntsville Section also helped sponsor two teams to the FIRST LEGO Competition in Carlsbad, CA this year, please check out the associated article here. Huntsville Section supported the Hampton Cove Elementary team in the article as well as the Jones Valley Elementary team, after both teams had superlative performances in the regional competition and advanced to the FIRST LEGO League (FLL) North American Open Championship Robotics Tournament.

The 2011 Third Annual Systems and Software Engineering Forum now takes place July 26 – 27, 2011 in the UAHuntsville University Center – Exhibit Hall. The Forum Planning committee worked closely with the UAHuntsville Continuing Education department to help locate a new host venue on campus after the week-long power outage preempted the original June hosting date Shelby Technology Center. IEEE Huntsville Section, Computer Society Chapter, Huntsville Regional INCOSE Chapter, and a small but dedicated team of professionals have supported the Forum since its inception, along with excellent leadership provided by NASA, the U.S. Army, and Huntsville corporate and academic professionals. UAHuntsville is now hosting the forum in its campus University Center, and you can see more details on the agenda and content in the LiveWire article at http://www.ieee-huntsville.org/2011-systems-and-software-engineering-forum. As shown in the Forum article, space is limited, so register soon!! Click to download the Forum poster for additional ways to register.

The Huntsville Section-MGA planning committee is now well into advanced stages for a 2-day IEEE Member Geographic Activities (MGA) Metro Area Workshop next fall, an exciting and cost-effective opportunity for current and prospective Section members. While the planning committee has not fully defined workshop details, the “sneak preview” for each attendee is two 8-hour workshops from a slate of Wireless RF Communications, Software Engineering, and Smart Grid Power Systems. The second day also hosts a Career Enhancement Workshop option as possible choice. The Section reserved the North Hall on November 4-5, 2011 (Friday and Saturday) and MGA is currently finalizing VBC host contracts. Workshops include breakfast and lunch both days, with a sit-down dinner and plenary speaker on Friday evening, all priced very affordable for members and non-members (roughly $100 and $200, respectively). IEEE Communications Society, Computer Society, and Power Society are providing workshop technical content, in some cases compressed versions of multiple day workshops offered by those Societies, typically hosted in much larger venues. As soon as we finalize the workshop content, we will provide that data and registration links on the Section website, stay tuned!!

We’re eagerly anticipating the 28^th Annual Professional of the Year (POY) Banquet, presented by the Huntsville Association of Technical Societies (HATS) Huntsville-Westin, Tuesday June 21, 2011, 5-8 PM. The 2011 IEEE Huntsville Section POY is Willie J. Fitzpatrick, PhD, past Section Chair (2007-2008), Section Outstanding Engineer in 2002, and Section Outstanding Service in 2009. Willie is Chief of the Aviation Division in the Software Engineering Directorate of the U.S. Army Research, Development, and Engineering Command’s Aviation and Missile Research Development and Engineering Center. Dr. Fitzpatrick has a B.S.E.E. (Tuskegee University, 1974), M.S.E.E. (Leland Stanford University, 1975), and Ph.D., Industrial and Systems Engineering (UAHuntsville, 2001). He now serves as UAHuntsville Adjunct Professor and sits on their PhD committee as well as AAMU curriculum steering committees. Willie’s 35 year distinguished aviation and missile system career spans Apache, Blackhawk, Chinook, Comanche, Scout, and Kiowa automatic control systems and systems/software engineering. Willie demonstrates exceptional commitment to IEEE Huntsville Section K-12 STEM and university activities, serving as IEEE teamjudge and coordinator. He annually leads the IEEE Technical Team for the BEST Robotics Competition.

We’re constantly searching for better ways to meet Huntsville Section member needs and look forward to your suggestions to make IEEE better support your career development and professional networking needs. Join us on the Section website at http://www.ieee-huntsville.org and Huntsville Section LinkedIn group site.