1 IEEE NY Monitor, November 2015. Vol. 62, No. 9
November 2015, Vol. 62, No. 9
One 1-liter plastic bottle filled with water illuminates
a room where darkness once loomed large +
Photo courtesy: LiterofLightusa.org
2 IEEE NY Monitor, November 2015. Vol. 62, No. 9
3 IEEE NY Monitor, November 2015. Vol. 62, No. 9
IEEE NY Monitor, November 2015
Check what you will find inside
4 From the keyboard of the editor 5 Reported recent events at the New York Section
Tappan Zee Subsection: Visit to Indian Point Energy Center (5)
Smart Grid panel discussion at German Center for Research an Innovation (6) Technologies at the service of humanity:
IEEE Smart Village initiative (10) Liter of Light: Recycle your plastic bottles and bring light to those who need it (12)
17 Future events of interest (for details please check the individual fliers posted inside)
2 December: IEEE & MeetUp NYC IoT assembly for entrepreneurs, City Hall, 156 Fifth Ave-nue, New York, 5.30pm-7.30pm
2 December: Long Island Section, Consultants’ Network, PCB Design and Manufacture, Bri-arcliff College, Bethpage, NY, 7pm-9.30pm
4 December: SMC and Education Soc presentation on Internet of Things, Long Island Uni-versity, Brooklyn Campus, Room HS 119, 6.00pm
4 December: IEEE SSCS & EDS at Columbia University present 2015 IEEE SSCS Distin-guished Lecture Tour: Recent Advances in RF, Mixed Signal and Digital IC Designs, 503 Hamilton, Columbia University, New York, starts at 2.40pm
8 December: Tappan Zee Subsection, SME Westchester 216 and ASME Westchester County presentation on Solar Photovoltaic Technology, Room 111 at the School of Health Sciences and Practice (SHSP) Building, New York Medical College, 30 Plaza West off Sunshine Cottage Rd, Valhalla, NY, 6.30pm
9 December: Annual election of office bearers at the IEEE New York Section, Con Edison building, 4 Irving Place, New York, 5.00pm
11 December: Columbia System Integrated Laboratory (CISL) seminar on Advanced condi-tioning circuits for capacitive transducers in vibration energy harvesters, Room 627, SW Mudd, Columbia University, New York, 2.00pm
15 December: ASME & AICE: Corliss and Cutoff, The Ukrainian Restaurant, 140 Second Ave-nue (between 8th and 9th Streets), New York
22 December: PES/IAS Meeting: Substation Automation Strategies for the Future, ConEd Building, 4 Irving Place (at 14 th Street East) 5pm-7pm, preregistration required (RSVP to Arnold Wong [email protected] or Sukumar Alampur <[email protected]>
24 Rates of advertisements in the NY Monitor
4 IEEE NY Monitor, November 2015. Vol. 62, No. 9
From the keyboard of the Editor
lowly but steadily we are
tiptoeing toward the end
of 2015. It’s incredible,
how fast the entire year
has passed by! This happens to be a
busy time of the year for the mem-
bers of the IEEE as well as of other
sister organizations that have similar
goals as those of ours. Those of us
who work for companies, public, pri-
vate, or volunteer for non-
profit organizations must sub-
mit their year-end reports. Stu-
dent members are busy prepar-
ing for their examinations or
writing their theses and job hunting
resumes. Faculty members must
grade their students’ tests. On top of
all those obligations and chores most
are also busy preparing for the com-
ing holiday season. No wonder we
have not seen much activity in our
chapters this month.
But there have been exceptions. For
example, our Tappan Zee subsection
organized a visit to the Indian Point
Energy Center that culminated in a
talk on nuclear energy. The subsec-
tion also organized an EMB-related
presentation. The SMC and Educa-
tion chapters in New York held a
joint session on Internet of Things at
Long Island University, Brooklyn Campus. Outside the immediate
orbit of the IEEE an expert panel discussion was organized by the
German Center for Research and Innovation, NYC on Smart Grid.
You can read summary reports on these events in this posting of the
NY Monitor.
Remember our motto at the IEEE has been to advance of technology
for the benefit of humanity? Did you then know that the IEEE has
another initiative toward this goal? The IEEE Smart Village project
teaches villagers in many parts of the world that have no recourse to
electricity how to install low-priced solar-powered LED
lights that eventually help young students to read and learn
during the evenings. Another not-for-profit organization—
Liter of Light—founded in remote villages of the Philippines
had a different tack toward similar objective: to bring light
to the needy. They simply filled empty 1-liter plastic bottles with wa-
ter and attached them to the ceilings through holes. Sunlight hitting
the bottle is dispersed by the water inside the bottle and help illumi-
nate dark interiors of simple homes. The next step was to put in a
LED lamp inside the plastic bottles to lighten the homes during the
nocturnal hours. Read all about the IEEE Smart Village and Liter of
Light projects. Both projects are handled by volunteers. By bringing
the news of such enlightened projects we encourage you to get in-
volved in whatever way you can. We are not alone in this planet. We,
as engineers, have an unwritten responsibility to help others, in
whatever country they may be, who are not as fortunate as us. In fu-
ture, we will write more about these organizations. If you happen to
know of organizations that make technology work for the benefit of
the world please write to the editor so that we may share that infor-
mation with all our members and supporters. United we stand!
In the meantime, we hope that you will enjoy reading this posting.
S
5 IEEE NY Monitor, November 2015. Vol. 62, No. 9
IEEE Tappan Zee Subsection (NY),
and Westchester Sections of
SME & ASME
Visit Indian Point nuclear power generating facility
On 21 October the group had an ink-
ling of how a nuclear power plant
operates. They were invited to visit
Entergy Corporation’s Indian Point
(NY) Energy Center. Some students
of New York Institute of Technology
(NYIT) and NYU Tandon School of
Engineering (formerly known as
NYU-Poly) also joined the group. The event began with a presenta-
tion on nuclear energy by Patrick Falciano, president of Nuclear Re-
naissance Services at the Center, NY. Falciano’s speech was followed
by a tour of the Center. The facility has a capacity for generating more
than 2,000 megawatts of clean electricity, or approximately 25 per-
cent of the electric power used in New York City and Westchester.
Good to know how we are partially saved from environmental pollu-
tion.
_____________________________
From nuclear power to Engineering in Medicine and Biology (EMB)
The IEEE is versatile and
ramifications of electrical
and electronic engineering
are pervasive. Even a few
years ago some of the fields
in which many of our mem-
bers are involved with did
not appear to have anything
to do with EEE. However,
since the advent and rise of digital technology there is no limit of the
reach of EEE. As if to prove this point, the Tappan Zee subsection, the
SME and ASME Westchester Sections invited Dr Nicolas W. Chbat of
Philips Research Laboratories to give a presentation on “Role of Physiolo-
gy-based Models in Critical Care Medicine” that was truly super. Chbat
explained how advanced engineering methodologies based on mathemati-
cal models help doctors make impactful and timely clinical decisions in
critical care medicine. Data-driven, rules-based mechanistic models can
individually, or in some combinations enhance these decisions.
6 IEEE NY Monitor, November 2015. Vol. 62, No. 9
SMC and Education Societies’ NY Chapters on
Internet of Things
The New York chapters of
SMC and Education Societies
are doing the right thing:
they are disseminating
knowledge on the next wave
of smart innovations that will
surely come from the bur-
geoning field of Internet of
Things. On 20 November the
first lecture in this series was
offered by Dr. Kevin W. Lu,
an adjunct professor at Ste-
vens Institute of Technology,
Hoboken, NJ. Dr Lu is well
versed in the Internet of
Things. He is the IEEE dele-
gate to Global Standards Collaboration. He was a chief scientist and exec-
utive director at Ericsson/Telcordia Applied Research until 2012, then a
senior principal scientist at Broadcom where he contributed to 3GPP Ra-
dio Access Network Working Groups RAN1 and RAN4 until 2013.
Dr Lu told his listeners that the Internet of Things (IoT) promises far
reaching changes to how we work, play, and live. Increasingly more things
are connected and they are addressable and controllable via the Internet.
It is a technology growth area with considerable commercial possibilities.
Many companies have already set their respective IoT strategies. The evo-
lution of the IoT may still play out in the long term. The lecturer then
dwelt on building blocks of the IoT such as sensor networks, communica-
tion protocols, application programming interfaces (APIs), systems design
and management, and data analytics. Toward the end of his talk Dr Lu
gave some hands-on demo using Raspberry Pie controller with WiFi that
employ open source programming language known as Python. He empha-
sized the use of Python that, in his opinion, is relatively easy to learn.
Dr Kevin W Lu greets his listeners Rapt attention Hand-on demos are at hand
7 IEEE NY Monitor, November 2015. Vol. 62, No. 9
Raspberry Pi demonstration Amitava Dutta-Roy announcing the IEEE-SA and MeetUpNYC on IoT
Dr Kevin Lu receives the speaker’s certificate from Dr Ping-Tsai Chung,
Chair, SMC chapter
We attended the talk by Dr Kevin W. Lu on Internet of Things
Dr Kevin W. Lu’s presentation slides may be seen at http://sites.ieee.org/ny-monitor/files/2015/11/NYIEEESeminar-Nov20-15-Dr.Kevin-Lu.pdf
8 IEEE NY Monitor, November 2015. Vol. 62, No. 9
German Center for Research and Innovations
focuses on
Smart Grid SMART GRID is a hot topic for discussion these days. We, in New York City, al-ready have had the firsthand experience how an electricity disruption can have a dom-ino effect–a series of failures that can affect transporta-tion, communications, and security of our denizens. A smart grid for transport and distribution of power adds resiliency to electrical power systems and makes them bet-ter prepared to address emergencies, such as severe storms, earthquakes, heat waves, and terrorist attacks. A power distribution system with Smart Grid is one way to address an aging energy in-frastructure
that needs to be upgraded or replaced. It can increase energy efficiency by enhancing awareness among consumers about the connection between elec-tricity use and the environment. Thus, the Smart Grid not only provides a unique opportunity to propel the energy industry into a new era of reliability, availability, and efficiency, it can also have a positive impact on the economy and the environment. On November 2 the German Center for Research and Innovation based in New York focused on a timely panel discussion on Smart Grid. The transat-lantic panel consisted of Mr James T. Gallagher, the executive director of the NY State Smart Grid Consortium; Mr. Erwin Rezelman, president and CEO of Urban Integrated, NY; and Dr Ingo Stadler, professor of renewable ener-gies and energy economics at University of Applied Sciences, Kln, Germany. Prof. Kurt Becker, vice dean for Research, Innovation and Entrepreneurship at NYU Tandon School of Engineering and a professor in the Departments of Applied Physics and Mechanical and Aerospace of Engineering respectively
took the role of the moderator. Each panelist expounded his experience gained from personal involvement with work relating smart grid. A vigorous Q&A session and an informal reception followed.
From L to R: I. Tler, E Rezelman, S. Rehse, I Stadler, J. Halpern (director of GCRI), J Gallagher and K Becker
Photo courtesy: Ms. Nathalie Schuller
9 IEEE NY Monitor, November 2015. Vol. 62, No. 9
The panelists
Amitava Dutta-Roy of the NY Moni-
tor puts a question to Prof. I. Stadler Prof I Stadler was a popular target of
questions
IEEE NY Section’s Benjamin Chung German beer flowed freely at the reception
Wine too?
Photo courtesy: Ms. Nathalie Schuller
The reader may virtually attend this important panel discussion by visiting: http: http://germaninnovation.org/news-and-events/. The sessions are well organized under photo gallery, videos and podcasts. Click on the video tab to access the entire session.
10 IEEE NY Monitor, November 2015. Vol. 62, No. 9
Technology and common sense for the benefit of humanity
How many ways do we have
for harnessing technology
and sprinkling of a sensibility
for our less fortunate breth-
ren of this planet? Many! The
IEEE is deeply involved in projects that aim to bring modern facilities to the
people of so many countries in the world that were not available to them be-
cause of lack of funds or lack of altruism.
The Smart Village project of the IEEE was cofounded by Ray Larsen and Dr Robin Podmore, both Life Fellows
of the IEEE. The projects goal is to teach villagers about the LED lights: how to install them and how to main-
tain them. It is partly funded by the IEEE Foundation and donations from both IEEE members like you and
non-members. The project has helped people to improve the quality in far flung places like Benin, Cameroon,
Haiti, India, Kenya, Nigeria, and Zambia. Should you like to know more about the project and help in any ca-
pacity (donor and/or volunteer) please visit its Web site: http:// http://ieee-smart-
village.org/about/executive-committee/. You will discover a wealth of information. The site also provides a
contact form and if you fill it in the IEEE will send you more details of your interest in the project.
11 IEEE NY Monitor, November 2015. Vol. 62, No. 9
Following pictures demonstrate the type of work the Smart Village project involves the IEEE
_________________________
12 IEEE NY Monitor, November 2015. Vol. 62, No. 9
A liter of light
LITER OF LIGHT project
uses inexpensive and readily
available materials to provide
reasonably high quality light-
ing to homes in financially
disadvantaged communities.
The basic idea is really sim-
ple. Recycled 1.5 or 2-liter
plastic bottles filled with wa-
ter and 10 ml of bleach are
pushed through holes drilled
into the thin galvanized steel
roofs of low-income homes.
During the day natural light
(even on a cloudy day) enters
the bottles through their top
parts and is refracted by the
water thus illuminating the
space below. For use during
the evenings the bottles can
be upgraded to accommodate
LED bulbs, micro-solar pan-
els, and batteries to provide a
low cost lighting system. Li-
ter of Light works with com-
munities to make lighting
systems that create jobs for
locals. By embracing social
media and open-source tech-
nology the project has grown
from nothing to lighting up
160,000 homes in the Phil-
ippines and has now spread
around the world.
Project Description
The use of plastic bottles as a
way to provide indoor light-
ing from sunlight, developed by Alfredo Moser of Brazil in 2002 (for an ex-
cellent report and a video clip please visit BBC news magazine at
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-23536914) inspired MyShelter Foun-
dation to use the technology as a social enterprise. MyShelter Foundation
(MSF) is an NGO established by social entrepreneur Illac Diaz in 2006 that
aims to create sustainability, reliability, and to provide a local source for em-
ployment. MSF launched the Liter of Light in 2011 in the Philippines in co-
operation with students from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
and Mr Alfredo Moser. To help the idea to grow sustainably, MSF imple-
mented a “local entrepreneur” business model whereby bottle-bulbs are as-
sembled and installed by local people themselves who can, at the same time,
earn small income from clients for their work.
The project was conceived as an open-source, do-it-yourself (DIY) program
that could easily be replicated by anyone around the world with most basic
carpentry/electronics skills using readily available materials. Rather than
relying on large-scale imported or patented technologies, the project sought
to create a grassroots green lighting movement starting from the principle
that any person can and should become a solar engineer.
The importance of this project
Hundreds of millions of people worldwide live in unconventional, unregulat-
ed, and financially challenged settlements. Many of these dwellings lack win-
dows or adequate lighting and residents often resort to kerosene, candles, or
dangerous electrical wiring for light, risking their health and safety. Those
who are averse to taking such risks must continue to live without a basic ne-
cessity that we take for granted. Among the Asian countries the Philippines
have the highest prices for electricity. Hence traditional supply of electricity
is not usually an option for a vast majority of the twenty million Filipinos (a
quarter of the population) who live below the poverty line. Moreover, most
power plants are outdated and the blackouts are from frequent.
The country is also vulnerable to extreme weather conditions that often re-
sult in loss of life, and destruction of property and infrastructure. Typhoon
Haiyan that struck in November 2013 was one of the strongest tropical cy-
clones ever recorded. It destroyed 14 million houses and pushed millions of
people into further poverty. The Liter of Light project has been helping the
rehabilitation in areas affected by the typhoon and providing training and
13 IEEE NY Monitor, November 2015. Vol. 62, No. 9
solar bottle nightlight kits (for homes and streets) to local partners and grassroots entrepreneurs.
Key features of the Liter of Light project
Liter of Light is an affordable
DIY lighting system that can
let natural light illuminate
not only homes, but also
schools and public centers
for only US$2 per unit. The
illumination obtained from
such a system is equivalent to
approximately 55 watts.
In 2012, Liter of Light started
to offer daylight bottle-bulbs
to Filipino households that
did not have access to any
electricity. For use in the
evenings, the bottles could be
upgraded to hold 1-watt
($10/unit) or 2-watt
($15/unit) LEDs powered by
micro-solar panels and bat-
teries that would give 10
more hours of light. A night
solar LED assembly can be
built using a simple circuit
panel, a drill, and a soldering
iron. The assembly is then
inserted into the bottle-bulb
already in place. The project
has been working well with
women's cooperatives that
make solar nightlights from a
handful of parts including
both recycled components
and a new high-tech chip
guaranteed to make the lights
last 70,000 hours. Later,
owners of the bottle lights
often started covering them
with handcrafted woven
shades providing a new out-
let for local basket-weaving
skills that otherwise would no longer be in demand.
Replication is done by equipping local partners or grassroots entrepre-
neurs with basic tools to build and install daylight bottle-bulbs, and teach-
ing them to build solar nightlight upgrades. The kits for upgrades may be
purchased directly from MSF or from local sources where they are availa-
ble. Step-by-step guides on materials and video clips demonstrating the
installation are available online and on social media in order to facilitate
the use and replication of the technology.
How is it funded?
Roche, Inc. and PepsiCo provided an initial start-up grant of $57,000 to
offer training to communities and also gave additional grants to help re-
habilitate the areas affected by Typhoon Haiyan. As of 2014, Liter of Light
is being funded by dual cash flows from donations of $159,090 from
Roche and $15,230 sales income. The income came from the sale of fin-
ished lights or kits sold to other NGOs where MSF provided training on
how to make lights.
Socio-economic impact of the project
Liter of Light began with one carpenter, one solar bottle-bulb and one
paid installation in one home in 2011. Within months, the project com-
pleted 15,000 solar bottle-bulb installations in 20 cities around the Phil-
ippines and began to inspire local initiatives around the world. To date,
more than 145,000 installations in 100 cities in the Philippines have been
completed. The simple lighting technology creates local jobs, teaches
green skills, and empowers local communities to be self-sufficient in the
context of lighting. Residents are able to save an average of $10 in elec-
tricity bills a month by installing the solar bottle-bulbs. They can then use
this saving to upgrade to the night bulb (cost: $10) that lets them to save
further on electricity bills (if any). Thus, they have more disposable in-
come to pay for other critical needs.
Liter of Light is uplifting the quality of life of thousands of impoverished
families in the Philippines who have no access to electricity and had to
depend on dangerous kerosene lamps lit indoors, that gave out poor light,
caused pollution, brought respiratory problems, and could even start
fires. With the solar bottle bulbs, residents do their chores and activities
more efficiently inside a brighter home. Having affordable lighting not
only improves the living environment of urban and rural low-income fam-
ilies but also allows children to do homework and read at home.
14 IEEE NY Monitor, November 2015. Vol. 62, No. 9
Due to high price of electrici-
ty local governments could
not afford to light up their
streets. The lighting was
made possible only because
of the project’s affordable
solar bottle-bulb streetlamps
($60 each) which helped im-
prove the security issues,
make the neighborhoods
more attractive, and raise the
overall public perception of a
better living. Many mayors
around the country have also
supported the start-up of lo-
cal social enterprises with the
project’s solar panel street-
lights and indoor night light
kits to alleviate the shortfall
of energy supply in their
towns/cities.
In partnership with the
Technical Education and
Skills Development Authority
(TESDA), a Philippines gov-
ernment entity that trains
young people and workers,
the project has trained al-
most 600 volunteers, mostly
women and disabled people
and a number of local gov-
ernment units and non-profit
organizations in building so-
lar streetlights and house-
lights. The dissemination of
the knowledge on bottle-
bulbs through social media
and because of its easy repli-
cation, the movement has
spread to more than 160,000
households in the Philippines
and inspired local initiatives
around the world lighting up
360,000 homes in over 15
countries. The project has been replicated in Argentina, Bangladesh, Brazil,
Colombia, Egypt, India, Kenya, Mexico, Nepal, Pakistan, Peru, Spain, Swit-
zerland, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia via partnerships with social enter-
prises that raise their own funds to run the project in their respective areas.
It is heartening that the number of beneficiaries is growing.
Each country that embraced the project has developed its own methods of
operations and programming at a local level but shares the technical
knowledge, conducts the troubleshooting and attracts crowd-sourced inno-
vations to the technology through regular coordinated calls over Skype,
emails and social media.
Environmental Sustainability
Liter of Light is a zero-carbon-emitting alternative to the use of electric or
hydrocarbon-burning (kerosene/gas) illumination. The materials used are
readily available, e.g., the reused plastic bottles, needing no additional
manufacturing resources. Reused bottles in lighting systems reduce plastic
waste. The bottle-bulbs are expected to last up to five years before they are
replaced. The LED bulbs in the night-lighting system have a longer lifespan
and higher energy efficiency than incandescent/fluorescent lamps. Each day-
light bulb saves 200 kilos of carbon emissions a year, and each nightlight
bulb saves 350 kilos in carbon emissions a year. Compared to a kerosene
lamp which emits 20 times more black carbon with 7-9% of burned fuel
converted into black carbon particles (black carbon is known to be a very
powerful absorber of sunlight, far more than carbon dioxide).
Financial Sustainability
Corporate partners help augment the impact of the project through dona-
tions which increase the number of kits that MSF is able to produce but these
donations are made for one to three years in duration. But thanks to effort of
volunteers, the income gained from sales is rising. By working with a local
partner, Design Centre of the Philippines (the National Institute for Product
Design), the project now creates marketable lamps with woven designs for
the solar bottle-bulbs enabling them to charge a premium rate. With simple
training and tools, local partners and grassroots entrepreneurs could easily
replicate and install the solar bottle bulbs earning $0.50 from clients per bot-
tle bulb installed. Products are available in micro-stores in neighborhoods
and the project supplies kits to those stores. Partnerships with national and
local government agencies, institutes, non-profit organizations, and private
companies have enabled the project to be replicated in towns and cities na-
tionwide. The project aims to install 15,000 solar bottle lights in the provinc-
es affected by Typhoon Haiyan and to expand the program to brighten up
energy-poor areas in 12 provinces by 2015.
15 IEEE NY Monitor, November 2015. Vol. 62, No. 9
Social Sustainability
The project is coordinated
with local organizations and
communities, who are given
the initial training.
Technicians work with them
by providing further hands-
on training and undertaking
installations. In order to
lower installation costs, the
local residents or
organizations usually collect
and provide the used
materials, e.g. used soda
bottles for the solar bottle-
bulbs. Residents help each
other in the collection of
materials and installation of
solar lights.
Most of the 350 affiliates working with the production and assembly of solar
night bulbs are women’s cooperatives. The project also trained physically
challenged people and economically marginalized groups to build solar light-
ing products. MSF has established a training center that conducts workshops
for young people, companies, and other groups interested in volunteering
their time to build lights in their communities. The project has also part-
nered with technical schools and prison facilities to equip women with mar-
ketable skills in electronics increasing their employment prospects once they
complete their skills-based programs or become reintegrated in the work-
force.
Contact Point
Illac Angelo Diaz
Email [email protected]
Website www.ALiterOfLight.org
Liter of Light welcomes your thoughts and ideas. They assure us that if you
comment as a guest, your email address will only be visible to the moderator
and only used to filter spam. It will not be used in any other way and will not
be shared with any third party. If you are interested in receiving information
on the World Habitat Awards please visit the Website and sign up for the
newsletter. Source: Liter of Light
16 IEEE NY Monitor, November 2015. Vol. 62, No. 9
The above photos are reproduced with the permission of Liter of Light
For a video sample of step-by-step instructions for assembling a bottle-bulb click here Photo Pp
17 IEEE NY Monitor, November 2015. Vol. 62, No. 9
EVENTS OF INTEREST IN NEW YORK AND VICINITY
156 Fifth Avenue, 5.30pm
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IEEE New York Section Notice of Elections for 2016 In accordance with its Operations & Procedures Manual, the IEEE New York (NY) Section is advising all IEEE NY Section members that an election for officers and certain working activity committee chair positions for cal-endar year 2016 is scheduled to be held on December 9, 2015, beginning at 5:00 pm at the Con Edison Co. of New York, 4 Irving Place, New York, NY 10003. The Executive Committee (Excom) of the IEEE NY Section is pleased to announce its slate of officers for elected positions to the NY Section’s Excom for calendar year 2016. The list of candidates for the various po-sitions (see below) was approved by the NY Section Executive Committee on October 14, 2015, and, since there were no valid petitions submitted by the August 10, 2015 deadline, for any of the positions, the list of candidates is the same as that approved at the October 14th Excom meeting. 2016 Slate of Candidates as Approved by the NY Section Excom Section Officer Positions: Section Chair: Wilson Milian Section Vice Chair – Chapter Operations: Neil Weisenfeld Section Vice Chair – Section Activities: Charles Rubenstein Section Treasurer: Simon Odie Section Secretary: Sharene Williams Elected Committee Chair Positions: Chapter Organization Committee Chair: Paul Sartori Historian: Amitava Dutta-Roy Long Range Planning Committee Chair:Kim Smith Operations & Procedures Committee Chair: William Coyne Publications Committee Chair: Vacant Special Events Committee Chair: David Horn Webmaster:Harold Ruchelman All members in “good standing” (good standing refers to active members who have paid their IEEE dues for calendar year 2015) who are Graduate Student member grade or higher are eligible to cast a vote for the can-didates for office. Student Members of the NY Section are not eligible to cast a vote for the candidates for of-fice. In addition, IEEE Society Affiliates are not IEEE members and therefore not eligible to vote. For security reasons, IEEE New York Section members who want to cast a vote at the election meeting must arrive at Con Edison Co, of NY, 4 Irving Place & E.14th Street, New York, NY 10003 [Ground floor Reception Room] NO LATER THAN 5:00 PM on Dec. 9, 2015. PLEASE BRING A PHOTO ID SUCH AS DRIVER’S LI-CENSE AND YOUR CURRENT IEEE MEMBERSHIP CARD FOR SECURITY ACCESS AND ELIGIBILITY TO VOTE. ANYONE ARRIVING AFTER 5:00 PM OR MISSING A PHOTO ID AND IEEE MEMBERSHIP CARD WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO VOTE.
22 IEEE NY Monitor, November 2015. Vol. 62, No. 9
Columbia Integrated System Laboratory (CISL)
Seminar Announcement
Title: "Advanced conditioning circuits for capacitive transducers in vibration energy harvesters"
Speaker: Prof. Dimitri Galayko University Paris VI (UPMC-Sorbonne)
Date: 2pm, Friday, Dec. 11st, 2015
Place: Room 627, S.W. Mudd, Columbia University, New York
Abstract: Miniature energy harvesting devices are believed to be a key for the autonomy of smart sensors. Kinetic energy, e.g., vibrations, is present in many environments, and generation of electricity out of mechanical vibrations is an active research area in many groups. One of the promising technique for electromechanical conversion is offered by capacitive transducers, where the electricity is generated when a charged variable capacitor decreas-es its capacitance because of motion of one of its electrodes. This harvesting technique is well-suitable for min-iaturization, since the sensors are often implemented in MEMS silicon technologies. In order to maximise the generation of electricity, the variable capacitor needs a dynamic electrical bias. This is achieved by the conditioning electronics, which controls the energy conversion process by defining the charge-voltage cycle on the variable capacitance. Since the power converted by electrostatic devices is not above few tens of microwatts, very stringent requirements are applied to the conditioning electronics. The seminar presents the results of recent studies on family of conditioning circuits for electrostatic transduc-ers which implement rectangular QV cycle. These circuits are based on the charge pump architecture, and have a common property of self-synchronization with the external vibrations, so simplifying the design of the control electronics. Some of these circuits offers a very precious feature: accumulation of the converted energy inside of the conditioning circuit. This allows an easy control of the biasing of the transducer, and opens a possibility for adaptive operation of the energy harvesting system. Some specific issues such as electromechanical coupling and interface with the load will also be discussed. Host: Prof. Yannis Tsividis ([email protected]) ============================================================ See: http://www.cisl.columbia.edu/seminars.html
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