Location : Airport Ramada, Spokane
Date  : May 8, 2010
I just got back from the IEEE NW area meeting that took place in Spokane.  This report is just a  a highlight of what has been going on during the meeting; I can not possibly cover all the details !
We had participants from Alaska, Seattle, and other areas of NW region who had arrived to Spokane the night before. I was also glad to see some of our Spokane IEEE members attending the meeting. 

I must say that the Airport Ramada staff was professional and willing to help prior to the meeting and during the meeting itself.  In my opinion, food and conference room accommodations were great!
 
After a breakfast, the meeting was on its way. An opening statement was made by Joe Decuir, NW Area Chair. Then we  had a R6 Director’s report (Leonard Bond), followed by the Director-Elect candidate presentations (Mike Andrews, Gene Stuffle).

There was a discussion about the Section’s Congress which will take place in San Francisco in August of  2011.  Visit the Sections Congress site for more information : http://www.ieee.org/societies_communities/geo_activities/sections_congress/index.html

Then the reports from the R6 Committee Chairs followed. The Awards & Advancement Committee (Ocie Mitchell) is asking to be proactive in terms of sending the nominations. There are still some categories where no candidates were nominated.   Elizabeth Johnson presented a great report on Women in Engineering, an affinity group ( The WIE site is at http://www.ieee.org/membership_services/membership/women/index.html).

 An  interesting fact I learned that Women in Engineering is not only about involving exclusively women; they also address critical issues such as being a single parent while working as an engineer – which, in turn, may involve not only working women but also their male colleagues.

Then the Section Brief Reports followed. I have demonstrated our ieeespokane.com site; our publications team had put a lot of efforts into it.  It was interesting to hear a Portland Section report and their experience with using the newest technology while conducting the meetings.

After lunch, we had a NW Area Student Paper contest.

Five contestants entered the student paper contest, and I was one of the judges.  I would say that we had to judge some strong papers. All contestants had their strengths; I am proud of the work that they did.  I think that these kinds of presentations shape our students !

The student contest judges had to select three papers:

First Place -  “Seismic analysis of the 2009 eruption of Redoubt Volcano, Alaska using the Hilbert-Huang Transformation.”
Second Place -  “Seeing and Interacting with Sound: Oscillo-Tube Science Exhibit”
Third  Place -  “Class AB Tube Guitar Amplifier”

I also thought that the paper called “Wilderness Research Station (TWRS) Data Storage System” offered a unique power solution to a remote Idaho ranch.  The paper “Evaluation of Transformer Protection” was very well written, in addition the presenter demonstrated  excellent presentation skills.

Overall, I think that this meeting was very productive and informative, driven by enthusiasm and energy of Joe Decuir, NW Area Chair, who moderated the meeting and kept the meeting on schedule.