IEEE Huntsville Section is hosting a 2-day IEEE Smart Tech: Metro Area Workshop at the Von Braun Center on November 4-5, 2011. This budget priced event will be a tremendous networking and learning opportunity for area technologists, as attendees choose one 8-hour workshop per day from a menu of Introduction to Wireless Communications Engineering, Software Engineering Essentials, and Introduction to Smart Grid Power Systems. IEEE Communications Society is presenting the Wireless Communications Engineering Workshop on Friday only, and the Computer Society and Power & Energy Societies are offering the Software Engineering and Smart Grid Power Systems workshop tracks on both Friday and Saturday. In addition to technical tracks, IEEE-USA Employment and Career Services Committee (ECSC) volunteers will present an 8-hr Career Enhancement Workshop option on Saturday, designed to assist engineers and technology professionals develop and maintain lifelong employment skills in continuously changing career and employment environments, concentrating on ways to heighten your career options NOW. The workshop will provide information and tools to help engineers and technology professionals focus on professional and career development by managing your career as a business. Kicking off the event Friday morning is the Skills Gap Career Panel discussion with attendee Q&A afterward that includes distinguished and knowledgeable panelists. Our expert panel consists of Boeing Huntsville Chief Engineer Dan Olberding, Huntsville/Madison County Chamber of Commerce Vice President for Workforce Development Lucia Cape, Omni Team owner and CEO Carolyn Lord, Sr. Human Resource Specialist Nancy Bates at Jacobs (ESTS) Group at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, and Dynetics Chief Research Scientist and Panel Moderator Bob Berinato. Panelists will discuss common gaps between what companies need, what job-seekers offer, and how savvy applicants can best bridge those gaps. Whether you are a technical professional transitioning to new employment or looking for future opportunities within your own company, this panel will help you better market your skills and make transitions from the career that was to the career of the future. Smart Tech Metro Area Workshop, Huntsville, Alabama Von Braun Center, North Hall, November 4-5, 2011 Friday, November 4, 2011 7:00 am to 8:00 am Registration – Front Entrance outside of North Hall 1 Continental Breakfast – North Hall 2 • Assorted breakfast pastries • Fresh sliced fruit • Juice, Water, Coffee 8:00 am to 8:15 am Opening Session – North Hall 2 Welcome to IEEE Smart Tech Metro Area Workshop!! Bob Robinson – IEEE Huntsville Section Chair Lee Stogner – Region 3 Director Dave Green – Region 3 Director Elect 8:15 am to 9:30 am Panel Discussion – North Hall 2 Dan Olberding, Boeing Huntsville Chief Engineer Lucia Cape – Vice President, Huntsville/Madison Chamber of Commerce Workforce Development Nancy Bates, Jacobs Senior ESTS Human Resources Specialist Carolyn Lord, Omni Team CEO Bob Berinato, Dynetics Chief Research Scientist 9:30 am to 9:45 am Break – North Hall 1 • Bottled water • Yogurt covered raisins • Assortment of dried fruit • Chocolate covered almonds • Fruit basket • Banana nut bread • Flavored hot tea • Fruit juice 9:45 am to 12:00 am Track Sessions • Wireless Communication Engineering – Salon 1B IEEE Communications Society, Instructor K. Daniel Wong, President of Daniel Wireless LLC • Introduction to Smart Grid – Salon 1B IEEE Power & Energy Society, Instructor Jerry Melcher, Quanta Corp • Software Engineering Essentials – Salon 2 IEEE Computer Society, Instructor Dr. Richard E. (Dick) Fairley, Software and Systems Engineering Associates (S2EA) 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm Box Lunch: – North Hall 2 • Smoked Turkey and provolone • Roast beef and smoked cheddar • Veggie Roll-up • Lemonade • Sweet tea • Unsweetened tea 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm Track Sessions Continued • Wireless Communication Engineering – Salon 1B • Introduction to Smart Grid – Salon 1A • Software Engineering Essentials – Salon 2 3:00 pm to 3:30 pm Break – North Hall 1 • Chocolate covered espresso beans • Biscotti & Baklava • Assorted fresh brewed flavored coffees • Assorted specialty hot teas • Bottled water • Assorted gourmet cookies • Brownies 3:30 pm to 5:45 pm Track Sessions Continued • Wireless Communication Engineering – Salon 1B • Introduction to Smart Grid – Salon 1A • Software Engineering Essentials – Salon 2 6:15 pm to 7:00 pm Keynote Addresses: North Hall 2 Dave King, Dynetics Executive Vice President and Past MSFC Director 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm Evening Reception: North Hall 1 • Jalapeno poppers • Breaded mushrooms • Fried cheese w/ marinara • Ice tea, by gallon, consumption • Whole pit ham • Meatballs • Spinach dip w/ tortilla chips • Peel and eat shrimp, by pound • Chicken fingers w/ honey mustard • Carved inside round of beef • Three tier, fruit cheese & veg tray Saturday, Nov 5, 2011 7:00 am to 8:30 am Continental Breakfast – North Hall 2 • Assorted breakfast pastries • Fresh sliced fruit • Juice, Water, Coffee 8:30 am to 10:00 am Track Sessions • Introduction to Smart Grid – Salon 1B IEEE Power & Energy Society, Instructor Jerry Melcher, Quanta Corp • Software Engineering Essentials – Salon 2 IEEE Computer Society, Instructor Dr. Richard E. (Dick) Fairley, Software and Systems Engineering Associates (S2EA) • Career Assistance Track – Salon 2 (Full bios) IEEE-USA Employment and Career Services Committee, Peggy Hutcheson, Ph.D, founding partner, Odyssey Group, Gary L. Blank Ph.D, IEEE-USA Vice President, ECE Professor, Edward L. Kirchner, IEEE-USA ECSC Chair, Harris Corporation, Jeffry J. Handal, IEEE-USA ECSC member, LSU Office of Telecommunications, Lee Stogner, IEEE Region 3 Director, Managing Principal of the Vincula Group, Tarek Lahdhiri, Ph.D, IEEE Region 4 Membership Development Chair, Don Herres, IEEE Region 1 Employment & Career Activities Coordinator, Syracuse Section Chair 10:00 am to 10:30 am Break: North Hall 1 • Cookies • Cake doughnuts • Regular and Decaf coffee • Water 10:30 am to 12:00 pm Track Sessions Continued • Introduction to Smart Grid – Salon 1B • Software Engineering Essentials – Salon 1A • Career Assistance Track – Salon 2 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm Lunch: North Hall 2 • Turkey / ham and bacon roll-up • Veggie pita • Grilled chicken breast • Lemonade • Sweet tea • Unsweetened tea 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm Track Sessions Continued • Introduction to Smart Grid – Salon 1B • Software Engineering Essentials – Salon 1A • Career Assistance Track – Salon 2 3:00 pm to 3:30 pm Break: North Hall 1 • Chips & salsa • Mini quesadillas • 9 layer dip • Cheese dip • Soft drinks • Bottled water 3:30 pm to 5:00 pm Track Sessions Continued • Introduction to Smart Grid – Salon 1B • Software Engineering Essentials – Salon 1A • Career Assistance Track – Salon 2 * CEU credits available.

Dan Olberding The Boeing Company Lucia Cape Chamber of Commerce Nancy Bates Jacobs Engineering Carolyn Lord Omni Team Bob Berinato Dynetics Daniel Wong Daniel Wireless LLC Region 3 Director Lee Stogner Vincula Group Managing Principal Dave King Dynetics

http://www.ieee.org/membership_services/mga_maw_agenda.html describes the IEEE Smart Tech Metro Area Workshop agenda and provides detailed course descriptions. IEEE MGA and Huntsville Section are hosting the IEEE Smart Tech Metro Area Workshop in the the Von Braun Center (VBC) North Hall on November 4-5, 2011 (Friday and Saturday), economically priced for members and non-members. Event registration includes Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner/Reception on Friday featuring Dynetics VP and past NASA Marshall Director Dave King as plenary speaker. Saturday include Breakfast and Lunch, with morning and afternoon breaks with coffee and snacks both days.

IEEE Communications Society, Computer Society, and Power & Energy Society are providing workshop technical content that they feature in separate workshops for many times the cost of this watershed event. Huntsville registration links appear at http://mawhuntsville.eventbrite.com/, stay tuned for updates and additions. Visit http://www.ieee-huntsville.org/2011-huntsville-metropolitan-area-workshop-distinguished-speaker-bios for additional details on our distinguished Skills Gap panelists and Plenary Speaker. You will find additional technical workshop details and course instructor bios at http://www.ieee.org/membership_services/mga_maw_agenda.html. This is a “don’t miss” event, don’t pass up the opportunity to learn and network with other technical professionals.

We’re expecting a big and excited crowd, sign up now and we’ll see you there!!

Bob Robinson,
IEEE Huntsville Section Chair

Skills Gap Career Panel Speaker Bios:

Daniel (Dan) Olberding

Daniel Olberding is Division Director of Engineering and Huntsville Design Center for Strategic Missile & Defense Systems (SM&DS), responsible for technical excellence of all SM&DS products, personnel and systems.

Named to the position in 2001, Dan manages the deployment of engineering personnel, processes and tools across all SM&DS programs; and the promotion of practices, disciplines and cultures which lead to the success of complex Missile Defense missions.

In the last six years, under Dan’s direction, the Huntsville Design Center has grown from a few talented engineers to a team of about 250 engineers who share their talent and expertise in support of a wide variety of space, defense and commercial programs and products – including the new 787 commercial airplane. The team is a brain trust for Huntsville, hosting critical skills that are essential to growing aerospace excellence for SM&DS and for Boeing.

A 27-year veteran of the Aerospace and Defense Industry, Dan has undertaken a number of challenging and diverse leadership assignments, beginning as a structural dynamics engineer on the Space Shuttle Program. In his first leadership assignment, he contributed to the successful turnaround of Hellfire missile production and would later lead an organization which successfully developed advanced infrared seekers for both tactical missile and Exo-atmospheric Kill Vehicle applications. He then served as Director of the Boeing product group responsible for developing, qualifying and producing the orbital-replaceable units of International Space Station’s electrical power system.
Prior to his current assignment, Dan was responsible for establishing a strong Mission Assurance program for SM&DS, working with the customer and implementing a comprehensive employee training program.

Dan is a native of Kansas and earned his Bachelor of Science degree (1978) and Master of Science (1980) degrees in Mechanical Engineering at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas. Dan, his wife Lorna, and sons Nicholas and Noah reside in Madison, Alabama. His other interests include group fitness instruction, golfing and travel.

Carolyn Y. Lord

Owner of Omni Team, LLC, winner of the Chamber Small Business of the Year Award for Business Services in 2004. Omni Team creates and delivers innovative programs in communication, leadership, diversity, teamwork, recruitment, and change management to meet unique needs.

She has helped businesses close plants, downsize, or replace individuals. She has spent over 14 years helping thousands of distraught, displaced workers transition to new opportunities. She has interviewed thousands of people from production floor to executive suite on job satisfaction, dreams, and career paths.

She was a Business Analyst for Rockwell International in the Telecommunications Advanced Technology and Engineering Department where she taught engineers, evaluated new hardware and software, and planned computing strategies for over 400 engineers.

Carolyn is active in the Huntsville community having served as President of the WEDC Foundation, the North Alabama Chapter of ASTD, and on the board of The Vine Pastoral Counseling Center.

Carolyn graduated Magna Cum Laude with a B.A. in Business Administration from Upper Iowa University and has completed postgraduate courses in Human Behavior and Organizational Development. She is certified as a Professional Dynametric Program® representative, an integrated management system, is certified to Train PDP Mentors, and is certified in Mandt Workplace Violence Response.

Lucia Cape

Lucia Cape has been Vice President for Workforce at the Chamber of Commerce of Huntsville/Madison County since October 2006. She was charged with establishing the Chamber’s Workforce Division in response to the workforce challenges brought on by the region’s economic growth, including the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Act that brought thousands of jobs to Redstone Arsenal. Her responsibilities include workforce recruitment and retention, young professional programs, K-12 and higher education, career awareness, and skills development specifically around science, technology, engineering and math. She serves on the Region 2 Workforce Council that advises the Alabama College System on its investments in community colleges and technical education.

Prior to joining the Chamber staff, Ms. Cape was a contractor to the Marshall Space Flight Center’s Academic Affairs Office from 2002-2006 where she worked in informal education, including business/industry partnerships. From 1999-2002 she was a Presidential Management Intern and then a contractor to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, focusing on public health partnerships, communication, workforce and law. She worked as a technical editor for environmental contractors to the US Army Space and Strategic Defense Command in the mid 1990s.

While earning her bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Georgia, Ms. Cape interned with the Huntsville News and then served as the paper’s design director before the paper was closed in 1996. She supported the Huntsville Times in launching its Homes for Today magazine in 1997 before returning to the University of Georgia to pursue her master’s degree in public administration. She is a former Army Brat who lived on Redstone Arsenal twice growing up. She is married to Huntsville native Mark Torstenson, owner of The Fret Shop, and has two children, Evelyn (6) and Julian (4).

Nancy Bates

Nancy Bates is a Sr. Human Resource Specialist with Jacobs Technology’s Engineering, Science, and Technical Services (ESTS) Group at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, AL. She joined Jacobs Technology in 2007 as a Recruiting Coordinator responsible for providing strategic leadership to recruitment initiatives and the Co-op/Intern Career Development program. She was promoted to Human Resources Team Lead in 2008.

She has been involved with various workforce development programs such as the Southeast Regional Cooperative Education Conference and job shadowing programs with the Jacobs ESTS Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) Council. Nancy has also been an active participant with the Jacobs ESTS Group Professional Women’s Collaborative, Jacobs’ LIFE Committee, and NASA’s Sally Ride Festival.

Before joining Jacobs, Nancy worked for SCI Systems, Inc. for over 20 years in Human Resources. She held various manager level positions with SCI Systems, Inc. corporate headquarters and Sanmina-SCI including Compensation and HRIS Manager and Human Resources Manager for the Southeast Region. During her tenure she assisted with consolidation of plants, advised management on succession planning and reorganizing and expanding business units. Nancy further performed due diligence for corporate acquisitions in the U.S. and Brazil.

Nancy earned her BS in Personnel Psychology from Athens State University in 1990. She has been certified as a Senior Human Resources Professional since May 2003. She recently graduated from the year-long Jacobs Technology Leadership Development program.

Nancy is a member of the Huntsville Industrial Liaison Group, the North Alabama Business Ethics Roundtable, and American Society for Training and Development North Alabama, Society of Human Resource Managers. She has served as Certification Director and a contributed to the Community Relations, Diversity and Programs committees of the North Alabama Society of Human Resource Managers (NASHRM). She is currently supporting the NASHRM Diversity Committee as being a mentor in the H.E.R.O. program that helps veterans transition into the workplace.

Bob Berinato, Panel Moderator

Dr. Bob Berinato came to Huntsville in 1985 after graduating from Georgia Tech with BS Degrees in Applied Physics and Mechanical Engineering. He has been employed at Dynetics since 1985, and currently serves as Chief Research Scientist. His responsibilities include management of Dynetics’ Internal Research and Development program, and providing customer support in the areas of sensor technology and signal processing. Throughout his professional career, Bob has engaged in part-time graduate work at UAHuntsville, earning his MS and PhD in Electrical Engineering in 1987 and 1993, respectively, and his MS in Applied Mathematics in 2007. He serves as an adjunct associate professor in the ECE Department, and has taught 14 different courses in the communications and signal processing areas since 1995. He has also taught 6 continuing education short courses to the local community. Bob currently serves as the chairman of the local IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Society, is participating in the Huntsville Chamber of Commerce’s Technology Committee, is a board member of The Schools Foundation, and is a member of Leadership Huntsville / Madison County Class 24.

Plenary Speaker Bio:

David A. King, Executive Vice President
Dynetics Integrated Systems and Special Programs

David King is Executive Vice President and manager of the operating unit, Integrated Systems and Special Programs, which includes the newly formed Space Systems Division. Mr. King is also a member of the Dynetics Board of Directors. He joined the company in April 2009. Mr. King has 25 years’ experience in space systems development and operations and in running large organizations. He retired from NASA as the center director of the Marshall Space Flight Center in 2009, where he was responsible for overseeing 7,000 onsite employees and contractors and a $2.7 billion budget. Mr. King holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of South Carolina and a master’s in business administration from the Florida Institute of Technology.

Mr. King is a former Space Shuttle launch director and director of shuttle processing at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. He played key roles in more than 100 space shuttle missions during his tenure at NASA and led the Columbia Recovery team following the Columbia accident. He then led the Marshall Space Flight Center team through “Return to Flight” efforts and implemented the investigation board recommendations, including implementing “Technical Authority” for all programs at Marshall. He also implemented a comprehensive management system for the Marshall Space Flight Center, enabling informed business decisions and building a strong management team.

Mr. King has been recognized for his leadership and technical achievements and has been awarded the National Space Club Goddard Memorial Trophy, the NASA Medal for Distinguished Service, two NASA Outstanding Leadership Medals and the Distinguished and Meritorious Presidential Rank Awards as a career senior executive. He serves on the board of directors for the Huntsville Chapter of the National Space Club, The Enrichment Center, Kairos Foundation in Florida and Westminster Christian Academy in Huntsville.

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http://www.ieee-huntsville.org/entity/aess

A Primer on Various Approaches to Data Association

Wednesday, 19 October 2011, 6:00 – 7:30
Speaker: Peter Willett, ECE Department, University of Connecticut

To thread measurements (well, many call them “hits” or “plots”) of radar, sonar or imaging observations to a credible, smooth and reportable trajectory requires a filter. We’ll discuss those – Kalman, Unscented, particle, etc. – briefly. But the main topic here arises because one cannot even begin to filter without knowing which hits come from which targets, and which hits are complete nonsense (clutter). When wrapped inside some scheme for such data-association, a filter becomes a tracker.  This talk is intended to explain at a fairly high level the intuition behind some of the popular tracking algorithms.

RSVP required to help us obtain accurate headcount for dinner arrangements.
Please send RSVP NLT 17 October to Bob Berinato at bob.berinato@dynetics.com

Attendance fee of $10/ person to offset the cost of the meals – let Bob know if you have dietary restrictions.  The catered meal consists of a box lunch sandwich, chips, dessert, and drinks.

Location: Dynetics Corporate HQ, 1002 Explorer Blvd, Huntsville

Directions: http://www.dynetics.com/pdf/HuntsvilleAlabama.pdf

Speaker Biography:  Peter Willett received his BASc (Engineering Science) from the University of Toronto in 1982, and his PhD degree from Princeton University in 1986. He has been a faculty member at the University of Connecticut ever since, and since 1998 has been a Professor. He has published 146 journal articles (20 more under review),  330 conference papers, and 9 book chapters and one book. He was awarded IEEE Fellow status effective 2003. His primary areas of research have been statistical signal processing, detection, machine learning, data fusion and tracking. He has interests in and has published in the areas of change/abnormality detection, optical pattern recognition, communications and industrial/security condition monitoring.

He is editor-in-chief for IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems, and until recently was associate editor for three active journals – IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems (for Data Fusion and Target Tracking) and IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, parts A and B. He is also associate editor for the IEEE AES Magazine, associate editor for ISIF’s electronic Journal of Advances in Information Fusion. He was founder of editor of the AES Magazine’s periodic Tutorial issues, and was a member of the editorial board of IEEE’s Signal Processing Magazine. He is a member of the IEEE AESS Board of Governors 2003-2009,  2011.

He was General Co-Chair (with Stefano Coraluppi) for the 2006 ISIF/IEEE Fusion Conference in Florence, Executive Co-Chair (with Wolfgang Koch) in Cologne in 2008, and Emeritus Chair in Chicago in 2011. He was also Program Co-Chair (with Eugene Santos) for the 2003 IEEE Conference on Systems, Man & Cybernetics in Washington DC, and Program Co-Chair (with Pramod Varshney) for the 1999 Fusion Conference in Sunnyvale. He was co-organizer of the tracking sub-session at the 1999 IEEE Aerospace Conference, and has been Organizer of the Remote Sensing Track of that conference 2000-2003.  Jointly with T. Kirubarajan, he co-organized the SPIE “System Diagnosis and Prognosis: Security and Condition Monitoring Issues” Conference in Orlando, 2001-2003.  He has been a member of the IEEE Signal Processing Society’s Sensor-Array & Multichannel (SAM) technical committee since 1997,   serves on that TC’s SAM conference program committees, and maintains the SAM website.

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Presentation:
“Issues in Adopting Scrum and Agile Practices”

Meeting Details:
Meeting Flyer

Speaker Bio:
Dr. Mark Paulk, Carnegie Mellon University

Mark grew up in Limestone County, Alabama. His father, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, and nephews still live here. He moved to Pittsbugh in 1987 to begin his career at Carnegie Mellon’s Software Engineering Institute. Dr. Paulk received his PhD in industrial engineering from the University of Pittsburgh, his MS in computer science from Vanderbilt University, and his BS in mathematics and computer science from the University of Alabama in Huntsville. He is a Fellow of the ASQ, an ASQ Certified Software Quality Engineer, and a Senior Member of the IEEE.

Dr. Paulk is a Senior Systems Scientist at the Institute for Software Research in the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University. Dr. Paulk’s research interests are Total Quality Management, best practices, empirical research, high maturity practices, statistical thinking, and agile methods. He teaches in the Master of Software Engineering program; does empirical research on high maturity, agile methods, and service management; and works on best practices for sourcing IT-enabled services. From 2002 to 2009, Dr. Paulk worked at the IT Services Qualification Center. From 1987 to 2002, Dr. Paulk worked at the Software Engineering Institute.

Event: Luncheon
Date: September 20^th, 2011
Time: 11:30 am-1:00 pm
Location: Qinetiq North America Systems Engineering Group, Building 1 (left), 1st Floor, 890 Explorer Blvd, Huntsville AL 35806

Guest Speaker: Dr. Mark Paulk
Topic: Issues in Adopting Scrum and Agile Practices

Lunch Menu Selections:
Box lunches from Jason’s Deli available for pre-order ($11, bring cash to meeting). Please
email Richard Meyers at Richard.Meyers@qinetiq-na.com with the following
information no later than COB Monday, September 19:

Name____________________________________
Meat choice (turkey, smoked turkey, chicken salad, tuna salad, roast beef, ham)
Bread choice (white, wheat, rye)
Chip choice (plain, baked)
Drink choice (soft drink, bottled water)

On May 21-22, 2011, team Monkey Madness, sponsored by IEEE Huntsville Section, competed in the FIRST LEGO League (FLL) North American Open Championship robotics tournament held at Legoland in Carlsbad, CA. They advanced to this tournament by winning the Alabama FLL Championship tournament held in December 2010 for the third year in a row. Their team consists of seven students from Hampton Cove Middle School and is coached by Dr. Kim Daugherty. 76 teams participated in the FLL North American Open from around the country as well as teams from Canada, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. Monkey Madness won Core Values Gracious Professionalism, second place. This prestigious award recognizes teamwork, mentoring, and friendly competition. Dr. Daugherty has coached FLL robotics teams for the past five years, consisting of elementary and middle school students. Click here for tournament details.

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FLL is a global program created to get kids excited about science and technology www.usfirst.org/fll. Geared for ages 9-14, FLL utilizes theme-based challenges to engage kids in research, problem solving, and engineering. This year, approximately 17,000 teams worldwide competed in FLL tournaments. The cornerstones of the program are its core values, which emphasize contributions of others, friendly sportsmanship, learning, and community involvement. Each annual challenge has two parts, the project and the robot game. Working in teams of up to 10 kids and guided by at least one adult coach, team members have about 10 weeks to: 1) build an autonomous robot that will, in 2 minutes and a half minutes, complete pre-designed missions, 2) analyze, research, and invent a solution for a given assignment, and 3) create a clever presentation about their solution to perform in front of a panel of judges. The culmination of all that hard work is participation in an FLL event. FLL events are much like sporting events! Referees monitor and score the robot game. Judges review team presentations. Teams earn awards and trophies. It’s a pumped-up environment with music and excitement, and there is a ton of cheering.