Hello Everyone,
I would like to take a moment to thank all of the members for the opportunity to be Chair of the Huntsville Section for the past two years; it has been a very rewarding experience. These have been a very exciting couple of years and looking back, I have seen some incredible accomplishments within the Section. I would like to take this issue to say farewell and thanks, although I am not going anywhere and will remain active.
First let me introduce our 2007 Officers, and I predict that as great as the past two years have been, the next will be even better.
Chair |
Dr. Willie Fitzpatrick |
U.S. Army AMRDEC SED |
Vice Chair |
Courtney Spivey |
Applied Data Trends |
Treasurer |
Will Goins |
Dynetics, Inc. |
Secretary |
Dr. Jon Bendickson |
Dynetics, Inc. |
Member at Large |
Bob Robinson |
Boeing |
Member at Large |
Dr. John Piccirillo |
UAH |
I consider our Award recognitions some of the most significant Section accomplishments this year. Sylvia Dean of Jones Valley Elementary School received the international IEEE Educational Activities Board’s Pre-University Educator Award, presented in New Orleans. In addition, IEEE Region 3 (Southeast) awarded Dr. Reza Adhami with the Joseph M. Biedenbach Outstanding Engineering Educator Award and Eric Grigorian with Outstanding Engineer.
Just last year, we submitted a proposal to host SoutheastCon 2008 in Huntsville and successfully won that Regional honor/responsibility, and this year we have been finalizing the venue and competition rules. We sponsor UAH Student Branch and classroom robotics projects at SoutheastCon annually, along with other robotics projects proposed by our university student chapters.
Very significant from an educational perspective, Sonya Hutchinson organized the 2007 Alabama Future City Competition in Huntsville, with IEEE Huntsville Section hosting the event after no competition occurredlast year. We also support the Alabama State and North Alabama Regional Science and Engineering Fairs in both Sponsorship and special awards judging. We continue annual financial support of HATS Science and Technology Education and Training (STEDTRAIN) and provide volunteer support for the Alabama Council for Technology in Education grade 3-12 technical competition.
A very important sign of Section vitality, our Society meeting attendancehave has grown significantly, making it necessary to limit attendees at three events due to event seating constraints. Graduate of the Last Decade (GOLD) had a very successful two-day lunchtime introductory radar class presented by Mr. Earl Reed of deciBel Research. The Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) chapter held a 1-day Tabletop Event with a nationally known lecturer that drew a great attendance. The Aerospace and Electronics Society (AESS) brought an IEEE Distinguished Tutorial speaker on GPS to Huntsville that was well attended.
The IEEE review panel has elevated 11 Section members to Senior Member this year, listed below:
Senior Member |
Employer |
Dr. Daniel Chang |
Adtran Corporation |
Claire Jones |
The Boeing Company |
Orion “Chet” Dunaway |
The Boeing Company |
William Atkinson |
The Boeing Company |
Bill English |
U.S. Army AMRDEC SED |
Glenn Parker |
Georgia Tech Research Institute |
Barry Bullard |
Georgia Tech Research Institute |
Dr. Robert Berinato |
Dynetics, Inc. |
Tim McKelvy |
U.S. Army AMRDEC SSDD |
Michelle Herman |
Computer Sciences Corp. |
Dr. Annie Saylor |
Simulation Technologies, Inc. |
John Cole |
Simulation Technologies, Inc. |
At our Annual Meeting, the Section recognized the following for significant contributions:
Member |
Contribution |
Courtney Spivey |
Served as Treasurer for: the Section, Future Cities Competition, AESS Tutorial, SoutheastCon08, and provided significant planning assistance |
Bob Robinson |
Helped increase meeting attendance significantly in 2006 as Publicity Chair |
Frank Parris |
Led Educational Activities, kept Section involved, and recruited event volunteers |
Buddy Bishop |
Increased AESS attendance and meetings and set up a Distinguished Tutorial, the second of its kind |
Rick King, |
Led GOLD to its most successful year with events including the 2-day lunchtime GOLD Radar class with 80 attendees |
Sonya Hutchinson |
Brought Alabama Regional Future Cities Competition back to Huntsville |
Eric Grigorian |
Led SoutheastCon 2008 acquisition for hosting in Huntsville and provided cross-categorical support for Section activities |
Glenn Shelby, |
Hosted the successful 1-day EMC event with 150 attendees and 30 sponsors |
Daniel Chang |
Attracted distinguished presenters from outside Huntsville and organized Computer Society events hosting those speakers |
Hans Schantz |
Attracted distinguished presenters for the Joint Chapter of the Communications, APS, and MTT Societies (JCAM), including a renowned presenter on Maxwell |
Gregory Reed |
Increased UAH Student Branch participation and provided innovative programs |
John Piccirillo |
Provided support and leadership to UAH SoutheastCon robotics competitions including the 2nd place robot in 2005 and planning SoutheastCon 08 |
Sincerely,
Keith Jadus
Chair, IEEE Huntsville Section
kjadus@ieee.org