top left corner top right corner
 

IEEE CAS AGM 2009

January 19, 2010 – 6:08 pm
January 22, 2010
5:00 pmto9:30 pm

“Women in Engineering can now do more Engineering then Trail Blazing”

by Elizabeth Blanchette
DND Maritime Atlantic Formation Technical Authority

Friday, January 22, 2010 @ 5:00 pm

Dalhousie University Club
Alumni Crescent (off of South St.)
<http://universityclub.dal.ca/index.html>

RSVP to Phil Zinck <Phil.Zinck@stantec.com> by January 14, 2010

Biography:

Elizabeth Blanchette is a Senior Engineer in DND¹s Maritime Atlantic Formation Technical Authority.  She has 25 years of experience as an engineer and project manager within the private and public sectors, having worked in federal government departments, military manufacturing, engineering consulting and IT services. In addition to her Engineering and Science undergraduate degrees and Masters Certificate in Project Management, she recently completed her Masters in Public Administration (Management). She is a past member of the Nova Scotia Advisory Council on the Status of Women. Elizabeth resides in Dartmouth with her husband and her two children Matthew and Mark.

Timing:

5:00  Networking / Drinks
5:30  AGM (Business Meeting) for IEEE Members
                 (Networking) for guests
7:00  Dinner / “The Personal” Presentation
7:20             / Invited Speaker Introduction
7:30             / Invited Speaker’s Presentation
8:30  Awards
8:40  Wrap-Up / Final Announcements
8:45  Good-byes / Networking
9:30  Done!

Cost:

$35 for IEEE members or PMI members
$45 for guests
$20 for IEEE student members

Payment:

Cheque or Cash at the door
(Receipts will be provided)

By Scott Melvin | Posted in Canadian Atlantic Section, Events, Women in Engineering Affinity Group | Comments (0)

Coordination of Offer Validity Intervals in Multi-Agent Automated Negotiation

October 2, 2009 – 9:17 pm
October 21, 2009
5:30 pmto7:30 pm

The Inaugural Event of the CAS Computational Intelligence Chapter

by Dr. Scott Buffet
5:30 pm, October 21, 2009

St. Francis Xavier University
Room 403, Old Municipal Building
42 West St, Antigonish, Nova Scotia

— OR —

Cape Breton University
Room T7, Technology Enterprise Center (TEC) Building
1250 Grand Lake Rd, Sydney, Cape Breton

Abstract

Entities that operate within complex computing environments, such as multi-agent systems, face several challenges when it comes to collaborative problem solving. In such systems where there is no central authority to determine optimal global solutions and to allocate tasks to individual agents, it is the responsibility of the participating agents to design potential solutions, communicate those proposed solutions with other required individuals, and ultimately make decisions on how to proceed. Given the possibly many candidate collaborations for solving a given problem, agents must negotiate with a number of potential collaborators in an effort to obtain the best set of contributions that will form a complete solution. Each time a contribution is proposed, the agent will await a response indicating whether the potential collaborator accepts the terms, declines or prefers an alternative. Since these collaborators may themselves be waiting for responses in other negotiations before answering, the sporadic and uncertain nature of response times to the agent’s proposals can cause decision-making to become problematic.

This talk will discuss the general problem of coordination in multi-agent negotiation, and offer solutions for building optimal collaborations, choosing contributions to request from each collaborator, determining optimal future times to elicit responses, and coordinating these responses with critical decision points. An application of this work known as OmniBid, which acts as an online marketplace and uses such a multi-agent system to negotiate purchases of goods and services, will also be introduced.

Bio

Scott Buffett is a Research Officer in the Internet Logic group at the National Research Council, Institute of Information Technology in Fredericton, New Brunswick, and an Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Computer Science at the University of New Brunswick. Scott has been with NRC since 2002, originally joining as a visiting worker while studying at UNB, and subsequently moving to his current position shortly before completing his PhD in 2004. His research interests lie in various areas related to artificial intelligence, including automated negotiation, preference elicitation, intelligent agents and multi-agent systems, with a focus on applying this work to contribute to innovation in the field of electronic commerce.

By MLamoureux | Posted in Canadian Atlantic Section, Events | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Engineering Project Managers: Real-life Stories from Women in the Field

September 29, 2009 – 9:11 pm
October 14, 2009
5:00 pmto8:00 pm


CANCELLED

Regrettably, due to logistical issues, this event had to be canceled. The intent is to reschedule it for 2010. If you previously registered and paid, you have the option of applying your payment to the November PMAC event or receiving a full refund. Please contact PMI for more information.

The Project Management Institute Nova Scotia Chapter and IEEE Canadian Atlantic Section Women in Engineering (WIE) affinity group invite you to this unique event.

  • Are you a female engineer interested in meeting other women in the field?
  • Are you an engineer interested in finding out more information regarding how to break into the project management field?

Guest speakers, Maureen Connolly, Debra McLellan, and Elizabeth Blanchette will share their real-life stories as Project Management Professionals (PMPs) and engineers.

We would strongly encourage attendees to arrive as early as possible to attend the networking time in order to take full advantage of this event. Don’t miss this opportunity to meet, network, and share stories with female engineers and engineering project managers working in industry.

If you are interested in seeing more events like this in the future, please join IEEE WIE to show your support and help us make it happen.

Registration www.pmi.ns.ca

Maureen Connolly is a Senior Consultant/Project Manager with Concertia Technologies Inc. She has 25+ years experience spanning health, education, information technology and natural resources industries. She began her career as a Professional Industrial Engineer (P.Eng.) in the 80’s. She obtained her Masters degree in Business Administration (MBA) in the 90’s. Maureen has a Masters Certificate in Project Management, and Project Management Professional (PMP) Certification. She is a member of the Association of Professional Engineers of Nova Scotia (APENS), Project Management Institute (PMI), Disaster Recovery Institute (DRI) and the Canadian Association of Management Consultants (CAMC). Maureen resides in Halifax, NS with Don, and her children, Kathleen, Molly, Joe and Deirdre.

Debra McLellan, P. Eng., MSc, PMP, is a Project Manager with Nova Scotia Power Inc. She is currently managing the Mercury Abatement Program consisting of the installation of seven mercury capture systems at three of Nova Scotia Power’s generating stations. Previous construction projects include the installation of low nitrogen oxides (NOx) combustion firing systems on six generating units. Before becoming a full time Project Manager, Debra worked as an Environmental Engineer in the management of monitoring and remediation programs. She is a member of the PMI Utility Industry and Women in PM (WiPM) Specific Interest Groups, and is currently participating in the WiPM e-mentoring program.

Elizabeth Blanchette is a Senior Engineer in DND’s Maritime Atlantic Formation Technical Authority. She has 25 years experience as an engineer and project manager with the private and public sectors having worked in federal government departments, military manufacturing, engineering consulting and IT services. In addition to her Engineering and Science undergraduate degrees and Masters Certificate in Project Management, she recently completed her Masters in Public Administration (Management). She is a past member of the Nova Scotia Advisory Council on the Status of Women. Elizabeth resides in Dartmouth with her husband and her two children Matthew and Mark.

By MLamoureux | Posted in Canadian Atlantic Section, Events, Women in Engineering Affinity Group | Tagged , | Comments (0)

Renew Your 2010 IEEE Membership Now!

September 25, 2009 – 5:58 pm

You don’t have to wait until December to renew your IEEE membership, you can do so right now! All you have to do is login to My IEEE account and select the renewal option.

While you’re at it, why not add a new society or affinity group membership? The Canadian Atlantic Section added two chapters and two affinity groups this year. So, when you renew, consider joining one or more of the following (if you are not already a member):

Women In Engineering
Anyone can be a member!

The Joint Circuits & Systems and Solid State Circuits Society
The Communications Society
The Computational Intelligence Society
The Computer Society
The Oceanic Engineering Society
The Joint Power & Energy and Industrial Applications Society
The Joint Signal Processing and Microwave Theory and Techniques Society

It’s easy. Once you’re logged into to My IEEE:

(1) Hover over “My Account” until the pop-up menu appears
(2) Choose “Add Membership Options”
(3) Add WIE and / or the societies of your choice

By MLamoureux | Posted in Canadian Atlantic Section | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

IEEE Milestones Wanted!

September 21, 2009 – 6:11 pm

The IEEE Milestones in Electrical Engineering and Computing program honors significant technical achievements in areas associated with IEEE. It is a program of the IEEE History Committee, administered through the IEEE History Center. Milestones recognize the technological innovation and excellence for the benefit of humanity found in unique products, services, seminal papers and patents. Milestones are proposed, nominated, and sponsored by an IEEE Organizational Unit (OU) — such as an IEEE section, society or chapter. After recommendation by the IEEE History Committee and approval by the IEEE Board of Directors, a bronze plaque commemorating the achievement is placed at an appropriate site with an accompanying dedication ceremony. The program was established in 1983 in conjunction with the 1984 Centennial Celebration to recognize the achievements of the Century of Giants who formed the profession and technologies represented by IEEE. To date, more than seventy-five Milestones have been approved and dedicated around the world.

The following Milestones are associated with IEEE Region 7 (Canada):

However, as evidenced by CBC’s recent mini-series on the Great Canadian Inventions, which first aired in 2007, Canadians are responsible for a number of inventions in engineering and computer science which represent milestones in their fields. Below you will find the full list, which includes 18 entries (in bold) that are great candidates for the IEEE Milestones program.

It is hoped that this list will prompt sections and chapters associated with the inventor or the invention to become active in the proposal of new IEEE milestones. While some — like the pacemaker, telephone, and radio voice transmission — are already milestones, others — like the electron microscope, the Java programming language, and the electric wheel chair, could use a proposal. If you are intested in participating in the creation of such a proposal, contact Dave Kemp (d <dot> kemp <at> ieee <dot> org) of the IEEE History Committee or Cathy Lowell (c <dot> lowell <at> ieee <dot> org) and one of them will put you in touch with the section(s) or chapter(s) that should be making the submission — maybe you’ll even get to take the lead!

THE GREAT CANADIAN INVENTIONS (CBC)

Rank Invention Year Inventor Location
1 Insulin 1921 Frederick Banting, Charles Best University of Toronto
2 Telephone 1876 Alexander Graham Bell
3 Light Bulb 1874 Henry Woodward, Mathew Eans (patent sold to Edison)
4 Five Pin Bowling 1908 Thomas F. Ryan
5 Wonderbra 1961 Louise Poirier
6 Pacemaker 1950 John Hopps, Wilfred Bigelow, John Callaghan
7 Robertson Screw 1908 Peter Robertson
8 Zipper 1913 Gideon Sundback
9 Electric Wheelchair 1952 George Klein NRC
10 Poutine 1957 Fernand Lachance
11 Cobalt-60 Cancer Bomb 1951 Harold James
12 Java Programming Language 1984 James Arthur Gosling Calgary
13 Bloody Caesar 1969 Walter Chell Calgary
14 Canadarm 1975M Spar Aerospace/NRC
15 Standard Time 1878 Sir Sandford Fleming
16 Electron Microscope 1939 James Hillier, Albert Prebus University of Toronto
17 Ski-Doo 1922 Armand Bombardier Quebec
18 Blackberry 1999 Mike Lazaridis
19 Radio Voice Transmission 1900 Reginald Fessenden (lived in USA)
20 Birchbark Canoe First Peoples
21 Basketball 1892 James Naismith Canadian Springfield, Mass.
22 Retractable Beer Carton Handle 1957 Steve Pasjack
23 UV Degradable Plastics 1971 James Guillet University of Toronto
24 Instant Replay 1955 George Retzlaff (CBC)
25 Goalie Mask 1959 Jacques Plante
26 Marquis Wheat 1908 Sir Charles Saunders
27 Pablum 1930 Alan Brown, Theordore Drake, Frederick Tisdall Toronto Hospital for Sick Children
28 Lacrosse First Peoples
29 Electric Oven 1892 Thomas Ahearn Ottawa
30 Steam Fog Horn 1853 Robert Facilis St. John
31 Walkie Talkie 1942 Donald L. Hings
32 Alkaline Battery 1959 Lewis Urry Born Pontypool, Ontario but invented by Eveready in
Cleveland
33 Paint roller 1940 Norman Breakey
34 Electronic Music Synthesizer 1945 Hugh LeCaine Ottawa
35 Wee Vac G (emerg. evacuation stretcher) 1990 Wendy Murphy
36 Green Garbage Bag 1950 Harry Wasylyk, Larry Hansen, Frank Plomp
37 Snowblower ? Not Detailed
38 Self Propelled Combine Harvester 1937 Thomas Carroll, Massey Harrison
39 Instant Mashed potatoes 1962 Edward Asselbergs
40 Explosives Vapour Detector 1985 Lorne Elias
41 Marine Screw Propeller 1833 John Patch Yarmouth, St. John
42 Plexiglass 1931 William Chalmers McGill University
43 Key Frame Animation 1969 Nestor Burtnyk, Marceli Wein
44 CPR Mannequin "Actar 911" 1989 Dianne Croteau, Richard Brault
45 Anti Gravity Suit 1941 Wilbur Franks University of Toronto
46 Ardox Spiral Nail 1954 Allan Dove
47 Automatic Lubricating Cup 1872 Elijah McCoy Ontario
48 Crash Position Indicator 1957 Harry Stevenson
49 Caulking Gun 1894 Theodore Witte Chilliwack, BC
50 Separable Baggage Check 1882 John Mitchell Lyons Moncton

For more details about the CBC broadcast, visit their great canadian inventions page or the Absolute Astronomy site. Also, your local library may have the broadcast on DVD. (Note that while it does not appear to be part of the Halifax Public Libraries collection, the Halifax Public Libraries does have Eureka, eh? The book of great Canadian inventions, innovations, discoveries & firsts that might contain useful information. Also, if you’re really interested, it can be bought from the CBC Learning site.) Also, a snippet of the DVD can be found on Youtube.

By MLamoureux | Posted in Canadian Atlantic Section | Comments (0)
 
 
bottom left corner bottom right corner