What's New @ IEEE in Circuits

August 2006 Volume 7, Number 8

IN THIS ISSUE:
1. Nobel Prize Winner to Speak At Circuits Conference
2. 2007 National Electrical Safety Code Now Available
3. IEEE Publishing Tools, Policy Information Consolidated Online
4. Conference on Programmable Logic Seeks Paper Submissions
5. Plastic Conductors Signal A Change
6. Researchers Hope Technology Can Create Immortal Chips
7. IEEE Electron Devices Society Calls for Committee Nominations
8. 18th Century Formula Key to 21st Century Technology
9. "CSI: The Chip" Coming As Labs Are Microminiaturized
10. Electron Devices Society Announces Graduate Student Fellowship Winners
11. Research Grant Available to Promote Technological Literacy

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1. NOBEL PRIZE WINNER TO SPEAK AT CIRCUITS CONFERENCE
Dr. Zhores Alferov, the 2000 winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics, will provide the keynote speech at October's IEEE Bipolar/BiCMOS Circuits and Technology Meeting. The conference will also include 15 technical sessions with 58 contributed papers, five double-length invited papers, and four invited papers on emerging technologies. The conference takes place in Maastricht, Netherlands from 8 to 10 October. For more, or to register to attend: www.ieee-bctm.org

2. 2007 NATIONAL ELECTRICAL SAFETY CODE NOW AVAILABLE
The National Electrical Safety Code (NESC) has been updated and for 2007 and is now available through the IEEE, the primary resource for NESC information. The Code, which is used throughout the United States and in more than 100 countries, takes a consistent approach to the safety of overhead and underground electrical supply lines; power-related telephone and cable TV lines; and rail power and signal installations. It covers all relevant topics from grounding, rotating equipment, storage batteries, to switchgear, clearances, cable terminations, safety signs, protective clothing, and ladders. The NESC is updated every five years to reflect changes in the electrical and communications industries. In addition to the new version of the NESC, IEEE also offers the "NESC Handbook, Sixth Edition", a companion that gives users insight into its rules and how to apply them. For more information on the NESC and the changes in the 2007 edition, visit: standards.ieee.org/announcements/pr_2007NESC.html

3. IEEE PUBLISHING TOOLS, POLICY INFORMATION CONSOLIDATED ONLINE
A new Webpage for IEEE authors, editors and conference organizers consolidates links to key pages addressing basic IEEE publishing guidelines and policies, such as the IEEE Copyright Form, manuscript submission information, plagiarism guidelines and frequently asked questions (FAQs). Visit: www.ieee.org/web/publications/pubtoolsandpolicyinfo/index.html

4. CONFERENCE ON PROGRAMMABLE LOGIC SEEKS PAPER SUBMISSIONS
The 2007 Third Southern Conference on Programmable Logic is now seeking paper submissions. Authors are encouraged to submit papers on a variety of topics including design methodology, signal processing, platform-based design and more. The conference takes place in Mar del Plata, Argentina from 26 to 28 February. The submission deadline is 23 October. To submit, or for more information: www.splconf.org/

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5. PLASTIC CONDUCTORS SIGNAL A CHANGE
Due to the high cost of using individual fiber-optic cables in factories and residences, copper cables are commonly used. But now researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Telecommunications, Heinrich-Hertz-Institut (HHI) in Berlin are trying to change that with conductors made of low-priced liquid plastics that are applied in several layers, creating a conducting substance with several substrates. Light can pass through the various layers of this material in straight lines and also around bends. The researchers can connect it to lasers and photodiodes, making it capable of transmitting and receiving light in the plastic cables. The resulting conductors are able to distinguish light signals of different wavelengths and forward them separately, and even to split up a light signal over several different lines. This allows for optical signals to be sent from a central computer to several devices at the once -- a process that in the past involved copper cables relaying signals one after the other. Read more: www.physorg.com/news72976255.html

6. RESEARCHERS HOPE TECHNOLOGY CAN CREATE IMMORTAL CHIPS
This month, a team of researchers have started a three-year initiative to discover the technology to produce semiconductor chips that never fail. The project was announced at the Design Automation Conference in San Francisco, Ca., USA, by Semiconductor Research Corporation, the National Science Foundation, and the University of Michigan, USA. The researchers plan to build chips that can do a more effective job of scanning for errors in a chip area, change the functions of the area to a new part of the chip, and repair the infected error with online collaboration software before putting the chip back into operation. To accomplish this goal, the researchers plan to analyze the future landscape of hard silicon failures and their impression on designs such as microprocessors. To read more, go to: www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,1994121,00.asp

7. IEEE ELECTRON DEVICES SOCIETY CALLS FOR COMMITTEE NOMINATIONS
The IEEE Electron Devices Society (EDS) is looking for candidates to serve on its governing body. The IEEE-EDS Administrative Committee has 22 elected members and meets twice a year. There are seven seats open for this year's election and self-nominations are allowed. The deadline for submission of nominations is 15 October 2006. Read more or make a nomination at: www.ieee.org/society/eds/adcom/adcom_nominations.xml

8. 18th CENTURY FORMULA KEY TO 21st CENTURY TECHNOLOGY
A material that is a mixture of zinc oxide and cobalt may allow electrons to be manipulated both electrically and magnetically, according to researchers at the University of Washington, who say the material could enable emerging spintronics technology. The material, a pigment called Cobalt Green first formulated in 1780, has the potential to create broad new capabilities for computers and other devices that can instantly power up, providing random access memory as quickly as flipping a switch, and use less power than current devices, researchers say. A major barrier to spintronic devices has been the lack of nonvolatile magnetic semiconductor materials that work at room temperature and don't demagnetize easily. Researchers have said that in preliminary tests Cobalt Green appears to fit the bill. Read more: www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-08/uow-pf2080206.php

QUOTE OF THE MONTH:
"The most powerful force in the universe is compound interest." ~ Albert Einstein

9. "CSI: THE CHIP" COMING AS LABS ARE MICROMINIATURIZEDIt is now possible to fit a laboratory full of sophisticated biosensors onto a single microchip, using compact optical wavelength-demultipliers (WDs), according to researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Sensors that can detect trace amounts of a chemical in water or blood sample are possibly using compact communication, a signal processing and sensing optics technology in which multiple wavelengths of light are combined, then separated again at their destinations with WDs, researchers say. Using a new design for photonic crystals -- highly periodic structures etched in very thin silicon that are designed to control light -- researchers say they have designed a WD able to function at very high resolution in a space as small as 64 microns by 100 microns. Read more: www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060803082155.htm

10. ELECTRON DEVICES SOCIETY ANNOUNCES GRADUATE STUDENT FELLOWSHIP WINNERS
The IEEE Electron Devices Society has announced its latest Graduate Student Fellowship winners. They are: Christopher Morris, University of Washington; Elena Smotrova, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine; Sun-Jung Kim, The National University of Singapore; and Tony Aik Seng Low, The National University of Singapore. The winners will be honored on 5 December in Washington, DC, USA, at the IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting. The award includes a check for US$5,000 to the student, a grant for the student's department and a grant for the student's faculty advisor to support the student's project. The award is presented annually to promote, recognize and support graduate level study and research within the IEEE EDS field of interest. For more information, visit: www.ieee.org/society/eds/education/fellowship.xml

11. RESEARCH GRANT AVAILABLE TO PROMOTE TECHNOLOGICAL LITERACY
The IEEE Foundation is accepting applications for grants supporting new and innovative projects that seek to improve the worldwide technological literacy of society from childhood through adulthood. The goal of these grants is to motivate middle and high school students to pursue technology related careers, draw attention to the critical need for excellence and diligence in scientific research, and bring together researchers, professionals and students to discuss and identify technological solutions for the needs of the world. Applications submitted before the 16 September deadline will be examined at the November 2006 IEEE Foundation Meeting. For more information, visit: www.ieee.org/organizations/foundation/grants.html

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Contributing Editors: Diana Fuksin, Robert J. Howe, Brian Pedersen, Ryan Thomas, Cari Wolfert

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