R1 Berkshire Section Annual Report
Prepared by David Rueger on August 14, 2012
Summary
1. The IEEE Berkshire Section has held eight EXCOM meetings to date, one each month in 2012.
The members of the EXCOM are:
Section Chairperson – David RuegerVice Chairperson – Gerald Monterosso
Secretary – Jim McVeigh
Treasurer – Roger Manzolini
Power Chapter – David Rueger
Computer and Control Chapter – Rich Kolodziejczyk
Past Chairperson – Bert Prichard / Awards Chair – Bernard Clairmont
Membership Chair – Thomas Brennan
Education Chair – George Haus
PACE Chair – Rich Kolodziejczyk
Consultant Network Chair – Rich Kolodziejczyk
Newsletter – Rich Kolodziejczyk
Student Activities – Alan Boschen
Webmaster - Rich Kolodziejczyk
In addition to the monthly EXCOM meetings, the IEEE Berkshire Section has completed five meeting events so far in 2012. They included:
· Engineers Week Event ‘Engineering Contributions in Pittsfield: Past, Present and Future’
· Computer and Control Chapter event on ‘Cyber Security’
· Annual Meeting featuring the Science Writing Contest Winners and Carroll Kane for receiving The William Terry Distinguished Lifetime Service Award, presented by Peter Eckstein, Region 1 Director.
· Consultants Network Event on Income from ‘Credit Spreads’
· Power Chapter Event ‘Tour of the Electric Power Research Institute Lenox Laboratory’
2. Berkshire Section Chair, Treasurer and PACE Chair attended the BOG Meeting in Hartford, CT on March 10th.
3. Rich Kolodziejczyk, PACE Chair attended the 2012 IEEE-USA Annual Meeting in Cincinnati, Ohio on May 2-6th, the Section is awaiting travel reimbursement from the Region 1 Also a PACE project tiled “2011 IEEE Berkshire High School Science Writing Contest”, was completed. The project plan and the final report were submitted in June and the Berkshire Section is waiting for reimbursement from Region 1 PACE.
4. The following representatives from the IEEE Berkshire Section EXCOM will be attending the Region 1 Summer Meeting in Newark, NJ: David Rueger, Section Chair, Rich Kolodziejczyk, PACE Chair and Roger Manzolini, Section Treasurer.
5. The IEEE Berkshire Section expenses to date are in line with the 2012 Budget.
2012 Accomplishments
In addition to eight EXCOM meetings, the following meetings were organized and held by the section.
February
The IEEE Berkshire Section hosted a technical dinner meeting for National Engineers Week organized by EXCOM members Richard Kolodziejczyk, Roger Manzolini, Alan Boschen and David Rueger.
The event was titled, “Engineering Contributions in Pittsfield: Past, Present and Future.”
The guest was speaker Michael Tweed-Kent Vice President of Mission Integration Systems General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems (GDAIS) presented an overview of how GD engineers and the Pittsfield team members, in particular, have played a key role in transforming the engineering and business climate in the Berkshires.
As part of the Engineers Week celebration, the Section presented a signed Engineers Week Proclamation from the Mayor of the City of Pittsfield, Daniel L. Bianchi.
April
The IEEE Berkshire Section hosted a technical lunch meeting organized by the Computer and Control Chapter (C&C) organized by Richard Kolodziejczyk, PACE Chair. The event was titled, “Cyber Security”. Guest speaker Jason Mativi, Network Administrator for a local organization presented on this topic.
Cyber security is the collection of tools, policies, security concepts, security safeguards, guidelines, risk management approaches, actions and training that can be used to protect the cyber environment and user’s assets.
The general security objectives comprise measures taken to protect a computer or computer system (as on the Internet) against unauthorized access or attack. Concepts including: Passwords; Firewalls/Routing/NAT; Encryption; WiFi Security; "Good Practice" policies and prevention for people; Social Engineering; Safe Web Browsing-What to Look Out For; Local computer security policies and practices; Networks and VPNs were discussed in easy to understand terms.
May
IEEE Berkshire Section hosted its Annual Dinner Meeting, organized by George Haus, Education Chair and Roger Manzolini, Section Treasurer.
The meeting was devoted to honoring the IEEE Berkshire Section Science Writing Contest Winners, now in its 25th Year. In addition, The William Terry Distinguished Lifetime Service Award was presented to Carroll Kane by Region 1 director Peter Eckstein. Also, recognition plaques were presented to Joseph Slocik and Andrew Miller for their service to the IEEE by the Berkshire Section Chairman, David Rueger.
The Section recognized this year's winners by giving each student a few minutes to talk about their papers: how they chose their topic, their research, and any interesting discoveries. The winners included:
Grades 9/10 prizes: (1st - $100, 2nd - $50, 3rd - $25)
1st - Mercy Paine - Miss Hall's School: Harvesting Garden Eels: Swimming with the Fishes
2nd - Ashley Glass - Monument Mountain Regional High School: Beta Cell Regeneration: Diabetes'
Biggest Hope
3rd - Courtney McMahon - Pittsfield High School: The Neurological Explanation of "Brain Freezes"
Grades 11/12 prizes: (1st - $100, 2nd - $50, 3rd - $25)
1st - Jenny Begley - Monument Mountain Regional High School: Bexarotene: A Potential Treatment for
Alzheimer's Disease
2nd - Dylan Cole-Kink - Monument Mountain Regional High School: The Effects of Alcohol Abuse on the Adolescent and Adult Brain
3rd - Oscar Courchaine - Lee Middle and High School: Nuclear Fusion and the Future
July
The IEEE Berkshire Section hosted a Consultant’s Network event entitled, “Income from Credit Spreads”. The event was organized by Richard Kolodziejczyk, PACE Chair.
The guest speaker for the event was Roger Manzolini, Section Treasurer.
Roger presented an overview of “covered calls.” Then explain “credit spreads” and showed how they can be used to generate monthly income.
From Wikipedia: A credit spread, or net credit spread, involves a purchase of one option and a sale of another option in the same class and expiration but with different strike prices. Investors receive a net credit for entering the position and want the spreads to narrow or expire for profit. In contrast, investors would have to pay to enter a debit spread.
August
The IEEE Berkshire Section hosted a Power Chapter event which included a presentation and Tour of the Electric Power Research Institute’s Lenox Laboratory. The event was organized by David Rueger, Section Chair.
The guest speaker for the event was Bernie Clairmont, Section Awards Chair. The tour will begin with an introductory presentation of the laboratory and its research, highlighting historical facts from the early days under General Electric and continuing thru to the present day with state-of-the-art research being conducted by EPRI. Like GE, the Lenox lab has roots going back to the days of William Stanley, Thomas Edison, and Frank Peek, the first manager of the GE high voltage lab. The lightning impulse generator that was built at that lab was moved to the EPRI lab in 1990, and is still regularly used for EPRI research.
Remaining Meeting Plans for 2012
In addition to the monthly EXCOM meetings, the IEEE Berkshire Section is planning the following chapter meetings for the remainder of 2012:
1 Power Chapter Meeting
1 Consultant Chapter Meeting
1 Computer and Control Chapter Meetings
Plans for 2013
Conduct EXCOM meetings each month, two Power Chapter Meetings, two Computer and Control Chapter Meetings, and two Berkshire Consultants Network Meetings.
In addition, the IEEE Berkshire Section is planning on having Engineers’ Dinner Meeting in February, conduct the 2013 Berkshire IEEE High School Science Writing Contest and host the Annual Dinner Meeting in May.
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