IEEE Canada Newsletter

The IEEE Canada Board Meeting took place on Friday May 2nd, 2014 in Mississauga, Ontario. Delegates from across the country gathered for training workshops and strategic planning for the upcoming year.

Renew Your Membership for 2014

You can start renewing your membership for 2014. Remember, IEEE membership can connect you with professionals who can open doors to many opportunities. There are also many online resources available to members (e.g. online books and publications). Use your IEEE Web Account and password to renew online at http://www.ieee.org/web/membership/renew/index.html

Membership Dues in Special Circumstances

IEEE realizes that economic circumstances may impact some members' ability to pay the full amount of IEEE membership dues. For this reason, the following special circumstance categories have been established. Special circumstances are not available to Student members. Only one category may be claimed in any year.

- Minimum Income Provision

- Retired Provision

- Unemployed Provision

- Permanently Disabled

Ø IEEE Canadian Foundation

Donate by IEEE Membership Renewal

The IEEE Canadian Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the IEEE in Canada, is happy to accept your contributions when you renew your IEEE membership in the fall each year.

Just select the IEEE Canadian Foundation as your choice when you complete your annual IEEE membership renewal form (paper or web version).

Please note that this method enables you to make a contribution to the IEEE Canadian Foundation General Fund only. To make a contribution to one or more of our other funds, please consider donating online or donating by mail.

If you are a Canadian IEEE Life Member and wish to participate in our Canadian Life Member Fund "Thank You" program, please view this web page.

IEEE Canadian Foundation Needs Your Support

Is somebody close to your heart graduating this year from a Canadian University or College engineering or science? In recognition of their success, consider a donation to the IEEE Canadian Foundation (ICF) to support the vital role IEEE has in the professional development of so many students. Get an early start on your 2013 donations - your donation to ICF, a Canadian registered charity, is tax deductible.

IEEE Canadian Foundation Initiative/Campaign "20 for 20"

In 2014, IEEE Canadian Foundation (ICF) marks its 20th anniversary as a foundation in the present form. This occasion is a reminder of the importance to continue supporting ICF by donating online or donating by mail.

Your support of the ICF $20 for 20th anniversary recognition will help expand the ICF General Fund lead programs across Canada:

Sholarships for outstanding undergraduate IEEE engagement
McNaughton Learning Resource Centre Grants for enhancing the learning experience of students at Canadian universities and colleges
Special Grants for new and innovative projects th advance IEEE's core purpose to foster technological innovation and excellence for the benefit of humanity

For the first time contributors, please review the success stories and ICF tack record on the ICF website.

For recurring contributors, please consider this $20 incremental to your regular donation - special for the ICF 20th aniversary recognition.

A brief history of IEEE Canadian Foundation (ICF)

After Revenue Canada granted ICF charitable foundation status, ICF started operating under its new status in January 1994. Prior to that, the ICF existed in other forms. More about the ICF history can be found at http://ieeecanadianfoundation.org/EN/history/history.php.Since many small charities succeed in operating for only a few years, the ICF 20th anniversary, and still going stronger, is a remarkable achievement of the Foundation. It was made thanks to the continual support of many ICF donors/contributors over the past two decades and a large number of ICF volunteers and IEEE Canada members. This sustained success in providing benefits to IEEE Canada students, recognition and awards to IEEE Canada members, and to the engineering community in Canada is a cause worth celebrating.

IEEE Canadian Foundation - Submission

McNaughton Learning Centre Grant Report

A report for the McNaughton Learning Centre (MLC) Upgrade Grant awarded to UBC Okanagan in 2013 was submitted. A primary goal for the upgrade was to improve safety at the soldering workstations at the MLC. The students made their own variable speed smoke absorbers for the workstations, purchased some small tools, and a couple of electronic touch-pad kits planned to be used in running student events on campus.

An MLRC electronic workstation with a student-made smoke absorber, The custom pancake extruding CNC machine
a desoldering pump and solder-wire

Special Grant Report

In April 2014, ICF provided a one-time Special Grant to the University of Waterloo Nano-Robotics Group (UW-NRG, non-IEEE entity) for competing in the international competition Mobile Microrobotics Challenge. In June 2014, the UW-NRG team attended the International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) hosted by the IEEE in Hong Kong, and competed in the Mobile Microrobotics Challenge. The competition had a total of 7 teams, among which the UW-NRG team was the only one consisting solely of undergraduate students. In spite of strong competition, the UW-NRG team finished third this year! From this experience many lessons were learned and new ideas gained. In addition, the conference offered valuable opportunities for networking with students and professionals from other parts of the world.

Important Dates for McNaughton Centre Grant Applications
(awarded once each year at the ICF December Board meeting):

September (date TBA) - IEEE Canada Student Branch Workshop (where information about grants is provided by the Foundation)
November 15 - Applications must be received by the Foundation

Deadlines for Special Grant and Vehicular Technologies Grant Applications
Applications must be received by the Foundation by:

Special Grant - August 15
Vehicular Technologies Grant - November 15

IEEE Canadian Foundation - IEEE PES Canadian Scholarship Fund

In support of the IEEE PES Scholarship Plus Initiative, the IEEE Canadian Foundation has created the IEEE PES Canadian Scholarship Fund. Contributions to this fund will be used to provide scholarships for undergraduate students in Canada who have been selected as recipients of the IEEE PES Scholarship Plus Initiative.

The PES Scholarship Plus Initiative (www.ee-scholarship.org) was created in response to the looming workforce shortfall in the power and energy industry. The goal of the program is to increase the number of well-qualified, entry-level engineers. The program provides assistance to students with their education and career goals and gets more people involved in the power and energy industry.

The IEEE PES Scholarship Plus Program provides multi-year scholarships to qualifying Electrical Engineering undergraduate students. Scholars receive up to three years of funding Sarah Walinga - University of British Columbia interspersed with up to two years of valuable, hands-on career experience. The program was originally established in the USA and expanded to Canada in 2013. In 2013, five undergraduate students in Canada were recognized as PES Scholars:

Danielle Conway, Memorial University, C/O 2014
Stephanie Gerbeau, McGill University, C/O 2015
Christian Jegues, University of Manitoba, C/O 2014
Kyle Mouratidis, The University of Calgary, C/O 2014
Sarah Walinga, University of British Columbia, C/O 2014

To be eligible for the scholarship and receive funding from IEEE Canadian Foundation, applicants must be Canadian citizens or permanent residents and full-time students at a Canadian university or college offering undergraduate courses in power engineering. Recipients can receive up to $7,000 in financial aid over three years: $2,000 the two years and $3,000 the third year. In return, the student must commit to taking at least three power engineering courses totaling nine or more credits each semester. Additionally, in order to have the scholarship renewed, the student must obtain a career experience such as internship, co-op or research assistance.

To assist the students in getting a career experience, all PES Scholars are required to register at PES-Careers (www.pes-careers.org). PES-Careers is a free service provided for students pursuing a power engineering career. This on-line service helps students connect with employers offering full-time and part-time job opportunities, as well as, career experiences just for students (such as internships).

"The IEEE PES Scholarship Plus Initiative is one way we are helping to support the next generation of power leaders," said Kip Morison, Chair of the Canadian IEEE PES Scholarship Plus Review Committee "These are exceptional young men and women who are excited about power and the opportunities in the field," he adds.

Feedback from the PES Scholarship recipients has been very positive. A PES Scholar expressed the following thought on the impact of being named a scholarship recipient, "Being named a PES Scholar is really an honour; especially for me, being one of five scholars from Canada. I've received scholarships in the past for extra-curricular involvements and marks, but it was nice to be recognized for my studies and experience in electrical engineering and my future plans of wanting to work in the power industry."

The recipients of the 2014 IEEE PES Scholarship Plus Initiative will be announced in October 2014.

Organizations and individuals are encouraged to make a gift today that will change the future for a student, and positively impact the power and energy infrastructure, so it is viable today and tomorrow. A gift will ensure that the brightest of young minds will one day join the Power & Energy industry. Please act quickly to help more students receive scholarships in 2014. Support the program by contributing funds to the IEEE Canadian Foundation via the IEEE PES Canadian Scholarship Fund.

For more information on the IEEE PES Scholarship Plus Initiative, visit www.ee-scholarship.org/sponsorship/donate-now/.

Ø Your News

Section Events Online

Please refer to the following link for the latest activities hosted by the Kitchener Waterloo Section: http://www.ieeekw.com/activities.php

Please refer to the following link for the latest activities hosted by the Hamilton Section: http://ewh.ieee.org/r7/hamilton/currentevents.htm

Please refer to the following link for the latest activities hosted by the Kingston Section: http://sites.ieee.org/kingston/

Please refer to the following link for the latest activities hosted by the London Section: http://london.ieee.ca/

Please refer to the following link for the latest activities hosted by the New Brunswick Section: http://nb.ieee.ca/

Please refer to the following link for the latest activities hosted by the South Alberta Section: http://sites.ieee.org/southern-alberta/

Please refer to the following link for the latest activities hosted by the Winnipeg Section: http://winnipeg.ieee.ca/calendar

Please refer to the following link for the latest activities hosted by the Northern Canada Section: http://northerncanada.ieee.ca/

Please refer to the following link for the latest activities hosted by the Northern Saskatchewan Section: http://northsask.ieee.ca/

Please refer to the following link for the latest activities hosted by the Vancouver Section: http://www.ieeecontact.org

Please find the IEEE Montreal Section Newsletter (Issue 6, January 2012): http://www.ewh.ieee.org/r7/montreal/files/IEEE_Montreal_Newsletter_Jan_2012.pdf

The IEEE Montreal Section ExCom would like to thank to all contributors and editors.

The previous issues (# 5, Nov. 2011) can be accessed through: http://www.ewh.ieee.org/r7/montreal/files/IEEE_Montreal_Newsletter_Oct_2011.pdf

http://ewh.ieee.org/r7/montreal/index.php

Please refer to the following link for the latest activities hosted by the Ottawa Section: http://www.ieeeottawa.ca/

Please refer to the following link for the latest activities hosted by the Toronto Section: http://toronto.ieee.ca/

Please refer to the following link for the latest activities hosted by the St-Maurice Section: http://www.sm.ieee.ca/evenactivites.html

Ø News of Interest

Call for CJECE Associate Editors

The Canadian Journal of Electrical and Computer Engineering (CJECE) board is currently looking for Associate Editors in the areas of computers, sofrware, communications, information theory, and signal processing.

The Canadian Journal of Electrical and Computer Engineering (CJECE) is the flagship IEEE technical journal of the area in Canada. The CJECE (ISSN-0840-8688), issued quarterly, has been publishing high-quality refereed scientific papers in all areas of electrical and computer engineering since 1976 and is indexed in ISI and IEEE Xplore. Each Associate Editor (AE) is appointed on a 6-month probationary term to be extended to a 2-year term. AEs will receive a small number of papers each year in their general areas of expertise. Successful volunteer candidates will be required to secure a minimum of 3 independent reviews for each paper in 4 weeks.

Interested researchers are invited to send their intents along with an up-to-date CV via email to s.yousefi at the domain queensu.ca or on LinkedIn. The CV is not required if the LinkedIn account contains the relevant information and the track record in research and publications.

For more information, please visit here.

Ø Your Career

New online tool - IEEE RésuméLab

To help you make a great first impression, IEEE partnered with OptimalResume, a career services company in Durham, N.C., to create IEEE RésuméLab, an online program that helps you with the many tasks needed for landing a job. This includes writing better résumés and cover letters, creating a portfolio or a video résumé, and improving your interviewing skills.

Launched in January, IEEE RésuméLab is free to all IEEE members.

Positions available from Engineering Careers!

For more information: look up a job under the following link http://www.engineeringcareers.ca/.

Ø Your Benefits

The Personal - Home and Auto Group Insurer for IEEE members

A partnership you can trust
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Exclusive group rates and discounts
As a member of IEEE, you are entitled to exclusive group rates plus a suite of discounts on both your home and auto insurance. What's more, your spouse and dependants can benefit from your group offer.

An accurate quote in minutes
Get a home or auto insurance quote in as little as 10 minutes. They'll ask the right questions to provide you with the best insurance protection.

Get your exclusive quote:
thepersonal.com/ieee
1-888-476-8737
Extended hours to match your busy schedule
8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday to Friday
8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday

MEET YOUR MATCH CONTEST - $50,000 in prizes available to be won!*
You could instantly win 1 of 100 $150 gas cards and also be entered into the grand prize draw to win your choice of a Ford Explorer, Ford Fusion Hybrid or a Ford Super Duty Truck! Get a home or auto insurance quote to enter or click here for more details: thepersonal.com/meetyourmatch.

The Personal refers to The Personal General Insurance Inc. in Quebec and The Personal Insurance Company in all other provinces and territories. Certain conditions apply. Auto insurance is not available in Manitoba, Saskatchewan or British Columbia due to government-run plans. No purchase required. Contest closes December 31, 2013. For instant prizes: one entry per person per e-mail address. For the grand prize: one entry per person per type of insurance. The grand prize draw to take place on January 17, 2014.* Total prize value is $50,000: car valued at $35,000, plus $15,000 in gas cards. Complete rules available at thepersonal.com/meetyourmatch. Vehicles may not be exactly as shown. Ford Motor Company of Canada, Limited is not affiliated with this contest or with The Personal.

MBNA Credit card for Members of IEEE- Canada

Every time you use your card for a purchase, a financial contribution will be made to the IEEE on your behalf!

Plus you can enjoy the benefits of:

No annual fees
Low introductory promotional rate
Around-the-clock fraud protection
Unparalleled 24-hour customer service

To learn more about this card and to apply in English or in French, go to https://www.applyonlinenow.com/CACCapp/Ctl/entry?sc=cgpt&lc=en_CA

Canada Professional Liability Insurance

Thanks to recent insurance carrier negotiations, IEEE members residing in Canada (except Quebec) now have access to a comprehensive and competitive alternative for their professional liability coverage. The new plan provides coverage for technology-related services and is ideal for Canadian members who are self-employed, moonlight, or work for a firm. For more information, visit: www.ieeeinsurance.com/canadapl or call Erin Flett at 1-416-865-3353.

This coverage is available to residents of Canada through R&Q Risk Services Canada Limited. Scott Saddington, Chief Executive Officer of R&Q Risk Services Canada Limited, acts as an agent with respect to residents of Canada.

IEEE has selected Certain Lloyd’s Underwriters for this insurance program. Alternative insurance products may be available in the insurance market place. R&Q Risk Services Canada Limited is providing this single insurer option on behalf of IEEE.

IEEE Expands the UPS® Members Benefit Program to Canada

IEEE members in Canadian can now take advantage of savings on UPS shipping services. Savings include 30% off small package shipments within Canada, to the U.S. and to worldwide destinations, 25% off imports into Canada, discounts starting at 70% off freight shipments and more!

It’s free to sign up and there are no minimum shipping requirements. To get started, visit membersbenefitprogram.com/ieee or call 1-800-MEMBERS (1-800-636-2377), M-F, 8 a.m. – 6 p.m. EST. For the US program, go to savewithups.com/ieee

New Professional Liability eTool for IEEE Members-ProLiabilitySmart

Today's business world can look like a lawsuit "war zone." Disgruntled former employees. Dissatisfied customers. Project errors leading to missed completion dates and cost over-runs.

But there are some simple strategies you as a technology professional can put in place today-to help you and your firm avoid the headaches and expenses of a potential lawsuit tomorrow.

They're outlined in an easy-to-use, interactive quiz on the NEW ProLiabilitySmart eTool. In addition to helping you understand strategies to protect your firm against a lawsuit, ProLiabilitySmart highlights the exclusive coverage available to technology professionals in Canada (excluding Quebec) through the IEEE-sponsored Professional Liability Insurance Plan, underwritten by Certain Underwriters at Lloyd's of London.

To learn more, visit http://IEEEInsurance.com/CANPLguide.

Ø Call for Papers/Presentations

CCECE 2015

Date: May 3-6, 2014
Location: Halifax, Nova Scotia

The 2015 Canadian Conference on Electrical and Computer Engineering will be held in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada from May 3rd to 6th, 2015. CCECE 2015 provides a forum for electrical and computer engineering research and development from Canada and around the world. All papers accepted by CCECE 2015 will be indexed by EI and included in IEEE Xplore.

For detailed up-to-date information, please visit: http://www.ccece2015.org/

IFIP/IEEE IM 2015 - The 14th IFIP/IEEE Symposium on Integrated Network and Service Management

Date: May 11-15, 2015
Location: Ottawa

The 14th IFIP/IEEE Symposium on Integrated Network and Service Management (IM 2015) will be held 11-15 May 2015 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada and hosted by the Ottawa Convention Centre. Held in odd-numbered years since 1989, IM 2015 follows the 27 years tradition of NOMS and IM as the primary IEEE Communications Society's forum for technical exchange on management of information and communication technology focusing on research, development, integration, standards, service provisioning, and user communities. IM 2015 will focus on the theme "Integrated Management in the Age of Big Data" presenting recent, emerging approaches and technical solutions for dealing with Big Data as well as using it for management solutions. IM 2015 will offer five types of sessions: technical, experience, poster, panel and dissertation. High quality will be assured through a well qualified Technical Program Committee and stringent peer review of paper submissions. A special call for demonstrations is organized to allow industry partners and researchers to demonstrate early products and prototypes.

Important dates:
Paper submission: September 15, 2014
Notification of acceptance: November 30, 2014
Camera ready submission: February 1, 2015

For more information, please contact im2015tpcchairs@gmail.com, and visit: http://www.ieee-im.org

Ø Conferences

Upcoming IEEE Conferences in Canada

2014 IEEE 15th International Conference on High Performance Switching and Routing (HPSR)

Date: July 1 - 4, 2014
Location: Vancouver, BC

2014 IEEE 15th International Conference on High Performance Switching and Routing will be held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada from July 1 to July 4, 2014. Vancouver is world renowned for its diversity of many cultures and ethnicities. It is an ideal place for scientists and engineers from around the world to gather and share their ideas. Past HPSR events were held in Heidelberg (2000), Dallas (2001), Kobe (2002), Torino (2003), Arizona (2004), Hong Kong (2005), Poznan (2006), New York (2007), Shanghai (2008), Paris (2009), Dallas (2010), Cartagena (2011), Belgrade (2012), and Taipei (2013). With the unprecedented growth of the Internet as a backbone for communications and information services, it is essential that researchers gather to share their ideas and progress on solving the future challenges that the Internet faces. They include bridging the digital-divide and providing advantages of the Internet to developing countries; handling the bandwidth and delay requirements of multimedia, P2P, and cloud computing applications; implementing IPv6 and migrating from IPv4; deploying large data centers and enhancing their switching capabilities; and achieving energy efficiency of switching and routing equipment. These are only a few of the topics that have demanded switching and routing capabilities that are more intelligent, efficient, and reliable then ever before.

For detailed up-to-date information, please visit the HPSR 2014 Conference Web site: http://www.ieee-hpsr.org/

INTELEC 2014 - Resilient Communications Energy for our Connected World

Date: September 28 - October 2, 2014
Location: Vancouver Convention Centre (East), BC

INTELEC 2014 announces final program for the 36th annual conference to be held, from September 28 - October 2, at the Vancouver Convention Center in Vancouver. To register for the conference, please go to www.intelec2014.org/registration

This year's keynote address will be given by Alex Tang, Independent Management Consulting Professional on " Time for Reflection: Telecommunications and Electric Power Resilience." In addition, daily plenary sessions from industry leaders Fred Kaiser (Chairman, Alpha Technologies Inc.), Ewart Blackmore (Senior Research Scientist, TRIUMF) and Bruce Carsten (President, Bruce Carsten Associates) will provide their insights and industry perspectives on hot topics for the entire audience.

In addition, INTELEC 2014 promises to continue in its heritage of providing high quality oral and poster presentations on key issues confronting our industry. Coupled with the presentations are tutorials and workshops relevant to the group as well as and commercial papers whereby attendees can gain training and insight for to take home and implement at their own workplace.

Registration spaces are limited and we encourage you to visit Vancouver and INTELEC 2014 in September!

INTELEC©, the International Telecommunications Energy Conference, is the annual world-class technical forum which presents the latest developments in communications energy systems and related power-processing devices and circuits. This Conference, which serves the broad community of researchers, suppliers and operators, explores new technologies of power conversion, energy storage and systems design for telecom applications.

For more information including Conference Venue, Technical Program, Exhibition and Social Program please go to :
http://www.intelec.org

2014 Electrical Power and Energy Conference (EPEC)

Date: November 12-14, 2014
Location: Calgary, AB

Fourteenth annual Electrical Power and Energy Conf erence (EPEC 2014) will take place in Calgary, AB, Canada from November 12 to 14, 2014. The objective of EPEC 2014 is to provide a forum for the exchange of electrical applications technology rela ted to electrical power and energy generation, distribution systems and utilization. The focus for this year ’s conference will be on partnerships between industrial users and power providers by bringing togeth er industrial users, power providers, ma nufacturers, consultants and academia to discuss cutting edge topics of interest to all stake holders

In addition to making technical contri bution to EPEC 2014, bring your family to enjoy the culturally diverse, creative and cosmopolitan city with a warm welcoming spirit.

For detailed up-to-date information, please visit:
http://sites.ieee.org/epec2014/

All IEEE Conferences in Canada

Find information about these and all IEEE Conferences in Canada here.

Upcoming Events

Many IEEE Canada sections maintain their own listings of upcoming events:

Canadian Atlantic

Hamilton

Kingston

Kitchener-Waterloo

London

Montreal

Newfoundland and Labrador

New Brunswick

Northern Canada

Ottawa

Southern Alberta

Toronto

Vancouver

Winnipeg

Submission Information

I look forward to receiving news/article(s) from your sections and/or yours or other IEEE colleagues' achievements for the newsletter. Please forward any such correspondence by the 20th of the month to the Editor at
newsletter@ieee.ca

- IEEE Canada Board Meeting

- Renew Your Membership for 2014

- Membership Dues in Special Circumstances

- Donate by IEEE Membership Renewal

- IEEE Canadian Foundation Needs Your Support

- IEEE Canadian Foundation Initiative/Campaign "20 for 20"

- IEEE Canadian Foundation - Submission

- IEEE Canadian Foundation - IEEE PES Canadian Scholarship Fund

- Section Events Online

- Call for CJECE Associate Editors

- New online tool - IEEE RésuméLab

- Positions available from Engineering Careers!

- The Personal - Home and Auto Group Insurer for IEEE members

- MBNA Credit card for Members of IEEE- Canada

- Canada Professional Liability Insurance

- IEEE Expands the UPS® Members Benefit Program to Canada

- New Professional Liability eTool for IEEE Members-ProLiabilitySmart

- CCECE 2015

- IFIP/IEEE IM 2015

- Upcoming IEEE Conferences in Canada

- All IEEE Conferences in Canada

IEEE Canada Board Meeting