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SSCS has become one of the fastest growing societies in the IEEE, with increased focus on formation of new chapters and the expansion of joint chapters. For information on forming an SSCS chapter in your section, select Chapters from the SSCS homepage, www.ieee.org/sscs . |
The new Novosibirsk Student Branch has had an impressive first year. The chapter recently hosted two speakers. Professor I. G. Neizvestny presented the topic Microelectronics and Nanoelectronics: The Modern Way of Development. In this lecture, the technological aspects of micro- and nanoelectronics were considered. In another lecture, Professor V. A. Gridchin reviewed the Quantum Hall Effect. Both lectures were well attended and well received.
The Novosibirsk Student Branch has made it possible for young students to participate in conferences held throughout the region. For example, the chapter supplied technical and financial support to the 2nd IEEE-Russia Conference, 1999 High Power Microwave Electronics: Measurement, Identification, Application (MIA-ME'99).
Student members also participated in the 3rd Annual Korean-Russian Symposium (KORUS'99), and the VIth Russian Practical Scientific Conference of Students and Young Specialists. Other important activities of the Student Branch include participation in the Modern Technique and Technology Conference at Tomsk Polytechnical University and the 37th Annual Science Days-2000 student conference at the Novosibirsk State Technical University. This year, the Novosibirsk Student Branch has established two awards for Best Paper to be presented to students at the annual Science Days-2000 conference.
In the upcoming year, the chapter hopes to establish an IEEE Student Research Center as a place of scientific exploration and creation. The Student Branch is also organizing English classes for student members in an effort to improve communication and writing skills. This program has been established in conjunction with the IEEE Language Laboratory.
In July, the new SSCS Chapter in Toronto was formed. Chapter Chair, Dr. Raymond Chik, took the initiative to form the new Chapter because he wanted to increase interaction among individuals interested in solid-state circuit design. Dr. Chik hopes to build a network of IEEE/SSCS members and to foster a link between industry and research.
Some activities that are planned for the Toronto Chapter include the establishment of a Web site that would provide information about Chapter activities and access to downloadable presentations. Dr. Chik would also like to connect employers with job seekers in the SSCS technical areas. To accomplish this, the Toronto Chapter plans to organize career-oriented talks with speakers from industry in the field of IC design; the desired outcome would be to interest individuals in pursuing careers in solid-state circuits.
The SSCS recently endorsed the organization of the new joint MTT/EDS/AP/CPMT/SSCS West Ukraine Chapter. The goals of the new Chapter will be directed toward consolidating the scientific and engineering communities of the West Ukraine region. One main objective of the Chapter will be to recruit new IEEE members.
In the upcoming year, the Ukraine Chapter will cosponsor the VIth International Seminar on Direct and Inverse Problems of Electromagnetic and Acoustic Wave Theory (DIPED-2001). This seminar will be held at the Institute for Applied Problems of Mechanics and Mathematics of NASU in Lviv, Ukraine.
The Ukraine Chapter also hopes to provide support for the XVIth West Ukraine Regional Conference of Students and Young Scientists to be held at the Physico-Mechanical Institute of NASU in Lviv, Ukraine in May 2001.
This year, the Zurich Chapter has hosted a number of expert speakers including SSCS Distinguished Lecturer Willy Sansen, who presented his work on CMOS at a June colloquium. In March, the Chapter sponsored a colloquium on Mixed Signal Integrated Circuits, presented by C. S. Vaucher of Philips Research Labs, Eindhoven.
The second meeting of the SSCS in Scotland was held in May at the offices of Semtech's IC design center in Glasgow. This historical building was an unlikely backdrop for a talk on electronics. The high ornate ceilings and wall-to-wall wooden bookshelves created an impressive setting. Dr. Stewart Smith of SGS-Thomson (VVL) was the keynote speaker. His talk on Color Vision was accompanied by an extremely effective demonstration that was very well received. The talk detailed CMOS image sensors and DSP coprocessors; it is these processors that provide the technology for a variety of CMOS cameras from Web cameras to the "Barbie Camera."
Seven independent design centers, representing Scotland's growing design community, were present at this meeting. All 25 participants gave very positive feedback on the talks.
Now entering its second year, the Boston Chapter has hosted several outstanding and well-attended events in 2000, generally attracting about 50 people from a mixture of different backgrounds. Most of the attendees are from industry, but many have come from the local universities - graduate students and occasionally professors. Because the Boston Chapter hosts many events jointly with other chapters, this diversity has proven extremely beneficial for networking and sharing purposes.
In December 1999, Professor Jonathan Mills of Indiana University presented a lecture titled Electronic Biocomputers. In May 2000, Shalom Wertsberger, from Saltamar Innovations, spoke about Software Patents Worth Millions. Both of these events were held jointly with the Boston SSCS and the IEEE Computer Society. In March, Wayne Struble, M/A Computer Technology Fellow, presented a lecture entitled Active and Passive Modeling Challenges for +1GHz IC Design. This event was held jointly with the IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques Chapter.
In the coming year, the Boston Chapter will build on their existing strengths. They hope to expand their program to include more frequent events, on a wider variety of circuits-related topics. They will continue to encourage joint Chapter meetings as well as interactions with student groups at area universities.
The Taipei Chapter has been very active this year, organizing Short Courses for the benefit of their members with speakers from the United States or Japan. In January, the Taipei Chapter cohosted a four-day short course on Modern VLSI Devices at the National Tsinghua University in Hsinchu. This course featured two talks by Dr. Yuar Tau and Dr. Tak Ning, both of IBM T. J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, NY. Both were invited by Prof. Ching Hsian Hsu of the university who once worked at IBM. The course was very well attended with over 190 participants (50 academic and 140 industry research).
This past spring, the Chapter hosted another three-day Short Course on Wireless and Broadband Communications at the National Chao Tung University, also in Hsinchu, attended by 274 participants (171 academic and 103 industry research). Presenters were Dr. Huang-Chang Liu of Broadcom Corporation, California, Dr. Samuel Shen of DataPath System Inc., California, and Manager Baba Matzushita, of Shiku-koku, Japan. CK Wang credits the success of these Short Courses to the good topics and good speakers but also very importantly to the involvement of the joint sponsoring organizations (MOE, NSC, and ITRI, and the campuses hosting the events).
The Taipei Chapter has also been involved in Student Membership activities, hosting three presentations on three different campuses. Dr. David Lin of VIA spoke on Mixed-Signal IC Design and Chorng-kuang Wang, who spoke on two occasions on two campuses on Constant Magnitude Control for Communication VLSI.
The Taipei Chapter also has a busy year ahead. They are cosponsoring the AP-ASIC 2001 in Korea and the AP-ASIC 2002 to be held in Taiwan.
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Dr. Michael Ostling, Royal Institute of Technology, presented a seminar to 35 attendees on a polysilicon emitter SiGe BJT devices and technology for high speed circuit applications at Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea, in January, cosponsored by the ED/SSC Seoul Chapter and the ED Korea Chapter. |
The Seoul Chapter has been very busy coordinating several educational activities for the benefit of their members. In July, the Seoul Chapter hosted SSCS Chapter Coordinator and Distinguished Lecturer Dr. Jan Van der Spiegel. Dr. Van der Spiegel presented his research on Biologically Inspired Vision Sensors at Hanyang University in Anan City and Yonsei University in Seoul. In June, the Chapter hosted a lecture Smart Power ICs: Power ICs in Telecommunications by Dr. Ayman Shibib of Lucent Technologies. Upcoming educational events include a lecture in October, Flat Panel Displays and Low Power Image and Communication Chip Technologies. In November, the chapter will host a seminar given by Dr. Hiroshi Iwai on Small Geometry CMOS, Low Power CMOS, and RF CMOS.
In May, the Seoul Chapter sponsored the Institute of Electronic Engineers of Korea CAD and VLSI Conference. Several outstanding papers were presented at this conference, with six papers being selected to receive a cash prize and certificate awarded by the SSCS Seoul Chapter. The Seoul Chapter also cosponsored the IEEK Circuits and Systems Conference, which presented 42 technical papers in the area of solid-state circuit design.
The Seoul Chapter has also been very busy organizing the 2nd annual IEEE Asia-Pacific Conference on ASICs to be held at the Hotel Shilla, Cheju Island, Korea, 28-30 August. The conference will feature the presentation of 84 technical papers. The AP-ASIC conference is jointly sponsored by the IEEE/SSCS, IEEE Seoul Section, IEEE/SSCS Taipei Chapter, and the IEEE/SSCS Tokyo Chapter.
In April, Dr. Gene Frantz of Texas Instruments addressed the system perspective of System On A Chip (SOC) technology. According to this perspective, the continued scaling of silicon technology beyond 0.25 mm will provide the systems designer the possibility of creating complete systems on one integrated circuit. At the same time, this trend toward miniaturization and lower operating voltages permits an ever-increasing degree of functional integration with the potential of dramatic improvements in performance, cost, and power at the systems level. However, this drive to a single chip should be used to meet the goals of the system rather than to take advantage of the technology. Dr. Frantz's presentation dealt with the questions of why it should be done, when should it be done, and who should do it.
In May, Dr. Richard Hester of Texas Instruments spoke to the Chapter about Analog Front End Design for ADSL. Dr. Hester introduced the analog designer's view of ADSL and explained how system constraints drive the AFE architecture. The analog front end (AFE) in an ADSL modem is the key to modem performance. It is defined around constraints imposed by the ITU/ANSI standards bodies, the modem DSP algorithms, and the 2- to 4-wire hybrid. A design recently presented at CICC 2000 illustrated many points of the presentation.
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The May 2000 MIEL Conference that took place in Nis, Yugoslavia drew close to a hundred participants from 27 countries. The proceedings are available via shop.ieee.org/store; search for MIEL. |
The 22nd Annual International Conference on Microelectronics (MIEL 2000) was held in May at the Faculty of Electronic Engineering, University of Nis, Yugoslavia. A total of 13 keynote invited papers and 93 regular papers (44 in oral and 49 poster sessions) were presented. A total of 92 domestic and foreign participants representing 27 countries took part in the conference.
The topics covered by the technical program included important aspects of microelectronic devices and circuits. Some of the topics covered in the lectures included: Semiconductor Physics and Technology, Device Physics and Technology, Hybrid Technologies, Microsystems Technologies, Power Devices and ICs, Device Reliability and Characterization, and Circuit Design and Testing. This year, separate sessions were devoted to each of these seven topics in the MEIL 2000 program. In addition to these sessions, two Short Courses were held on the main conference topics of Power Devices and ICs and Microsystems Technologies.
Three Best Paper Awards were given based on paper quality and oral presentation. The award for Best Oral Paper was presented to A. Vujanic of the Technical University of Vienna for the presentation, "Silicon microstructure for precise measurements of mechanical moments"; the Best Poster Award was presented to J. Nicolics of the Technical University of Vienna for the poster entitled, "Investigation of the thermal performance of micro-whisker structured silicon heatspreaders for power devices"; and the Best Student Paper award went to P. Igic of the University of Wales for "Investigation of the thermal stress field in a multilevel aluminum metallization in VLSI systems using finite element modeling approach." The international scientific journal Microelectronics Reliability also presented an award for the paper, "Rise-time effects in ggnMOSt under TPL stress" by G. Boselli, T. Mouthan, and F. Kuper of the University of Twente, The Netherlands.
MEIL 2000 was organized by the IEEE Yugoslavia ED/SSC Chapter in cooperation with the Faculty of Electronic Engineering and Ei-Holding Company, Nis, and under the auspices of the Serbian Ministry of Science and Technology, Yugoslav Ministry of Science and Development, Yugoslav Ministry of International Cooperation, Yugoslav Academy of Engineering, and City Assembly of Nis. We are particularly thankful to the EDS/SSCS for its understanding and continuous support and to the IEEE Region 8 Conference Committee, which provided valuable support at critical moments. Two volumes of conference proceedings, totaling 766 pages, were published through the IEEE Book Broker Program.
The Baltimore Chapter considers its most unique activity to be its interaction with the Historical Electronics Museum (HEM). The HEM is a small local museum founded in 1973 by one of the larger employers of SSCS and EDS members in the area, Westinghouse, now part of Northrop Grumman. The HEM objectives are to preserve and exhibit electronic artifacts with historical significance and to educate and encourage careers in science and engineering. The HEM has six exhibit galleries, including an educational gallery, archives and lending library, and meeting rooms. The exhibit gallery relevant to the SSCS and EDS was clearly outdated, so the Baltimore Chapter helped initiate some substantial improvements. The role of the Baltimore Chapter has evolved to include providing technical input with updates to existing exhibits, recommending new exhibits on current and future technology, requesting and organizing donations from Chapter members and their employers, and acting as a liaison to the IEEE for financial support.
The Baltimore Chapter and the HEM are currently working on the "Sand to System" display of microelectronics fabrication. Some ideas for future displays include "System On A Chip" and "MEMS." You can visit the Web site at users.erols.com/radarmus.