What's New @ IEEE in Power

VOLUME 6 NUMBER 7 JULY 2005

CONTENTS:
1. Premier Workshop on Power/Timing Technologies Comes to Belgium
2. The Greening of General Electric: IEEE Spectrum Reports
3. Half-Price IEEE Memberships, Publications Offer Expires 15 August
4. European Space Agency Pioneers Use of "Powered" Textiles
5. Zinc Oxide Utilizes Solar Heat as Renewable Energy Source
6. IEEE Announces Conference on Global Business Standards Trends
7. Hydrogen Car Breaks World Record in Energy Conservation
8. Researchers Pin Solar Cell Inefficiency on Migrating Hydrogen Atoms
9. Berkeley, Taiwan Working Jointly Toward Nano-Energy Solutions
10. Nominate An IEEE Senior Member

WHAT'S NEW THIS WEEK IN IEEE XPLORE?
Find the latest technical papers online:
ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/newinfo.jsp

1. PREMIER WORKSHOP ON POWER/TIMING TECHNOLOGIES COMES TO BELGIUM
The IEEE International Workshop on Power and Timing Modeling, Optimization and Simulation (PATMOS) will be held at the InteruniversityMicroElectronicsCenter in Leuven, Belgium from 20 to 23 September. PATMOS, one of Europe's premier annual workshops on power and timing for integrated circuit (IC) design, will focus on the future of design methodologies and CAD-tools for IC technologies. Topics on low-power design, modeling and synthesis, timing design, optimization, and more will also be discussed. For more information, or to register to attend, visit: www.imec.be/patmos/Welcome.html

Don't miss the next conference you need for your career. IEEE sponsors more than 300 technical conferences and workshops each year, highlighting the latest technological advances. Find events through the IEEE ConferenceSearch Web site at: www.ieee.org/conferencesearch/

2. THE GREENING OF GENERAL ELECTRIC: IEEE SPECTRUM REPORTS
General Electric Co., infamous for its contributions to pollution and global warming, is beginning to change its ways. Turning to a new initiative that it calls "ecomagination," the company is now making headways in energy conservation, investing in such technologies as hydrogen fuel cells and wind turbines, while developing gasification equipment that could double the efficiency of coal-fired power plants and even capture their greenhouse gases. IEEE Spectrum has more: www.spectrum.ieee.org/WEBONLY/publicfeature/jul05/0705ge.html

3. HALF-PRICE IEEE MEMBERSHIPS, PUBLICATIONS OFFER EXPIRES 15 AUGUST
Time is running out to take advantage of half-year, half-price dues on new IEEE memberships and additional IEEE Society memberships; subscriptions to IEEE publications are also half-price for IEEE members during this period, which ends on 15 August. Individual memberships and subscriptions become active upon payment and continue through the remainder of 2005. IEEE Societies focus on specific technologies such as communications and aerospace engineering or focus on general technology subjects. There are 122 publications that may be added to membership during this half-year cycle. To join IEEE, visit www.ieee.org/join. To add societies or publications to existing memberships, visit: www.ieee.org/addservices

4. EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY PIONEERS USE OF "POWERED" TEXTILES
The European Space agency (ESA) is exploring the use of "intelligent textiles," which assume preset shapes when electrical current is applied to them. The textiles, designed for use in large structures such as solar sails, are being created though a collaboration of the Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridge University, NTE of Spain, and Grado Zero Espace of Italy. Huge solar sails (10,000 meters square) which propel spacecraft using sunlight must have ultra-light, rigid booms to hold them in place, requirements beyond the abilities of current materials. To fit the bill, the project is developing textiles like "nematic elastomers," made by spreading carbon nanotubes on to a rubber matrix, with the nanotubes aligned in one direction. When an electrical current is applied to the fabric, the nanotubes try to re-orient themselves and cause a change in shape, and stiffening, of the whole rubber composite. Read more: www.primidi.com/2005/06/18.html#a1223

5. ZINC OXIDE UTILIZES SOLAR HEAT AS RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCE
Recently, a team from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich and the Paul Scherrer Institute discovered a way to capture solar energy as a renewable energy source. Worldchanging.com reports that zinc, which can be extracted from zinc oxide by the sun's heat, can be used in zinc-air batteries to remove hydrogen from water vapor. Zinc oxide is then renewed by the reaction between the battery and oxygen. Read more: www.worldchanging.com/archives/002988.html

6. IEEE ANNOUNCES CONFERENCE ON GLOBAL BUSINESS STANDARDS TRENDS
In response to the changing dynamics of today's standards world, the Corporate Standards Program of the IEEE Standards Association will host a conference on global standards trends in Munich, Germany, on 26 and 27 September 2005. The conference, "Standards for Global Business: The European Conference on Collaborative Trends in Europe and Global Standardization," will explore standardization from the perspective of both standards development organizations (SDOs) and corporations. It will address such areas as the growing cooperation among international and other standards bodies and new models for standards development developed in response to the business and market needs of European and global industry. For more information, or to register, visit: standards.ieee.org/corpforum/europeconf/index.html

7. HYDROGEN CAR BREAKS WORLD RECORD IN ENERGY CONSERVATION
Weighing in at a mere 30 kilograms, the latest in automotive technology -- dubbed PAC-Car by its student inventors at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, Switzerland -- may not seem like much. However, according to an article in Physorg.com, the experimental lightweight is outrunning the competition in fuel efficiency. With two electric motors powered by the hydrogen of a single fuel cell, PAC-Car is breaking records in economic fuel consumption, using only 1.07 grams of hydrogen while leaving no emissions in its wake except pure H2O. To read more, visit: www.physorg.com/news4788.html

8. RESEARCHERS PIN SOLAR CELL INEFFICIENCY ON MIGRATING HYDROGEN ATOMS
Scientists at OhioUniversity and the University of Utah believe they have isolated the cause of inefficiency in hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) cells. When the photovoltaic material is exposed to intense light, hydrogen atoms move into new arrangements in which some silicon atoms become bonded to two silicon and two hydrogen atoms, creating a structure called silicon dihydride (SiH2). The researchers say the process resembles that of light hitting photographic film, causing silver atoms to accumulate at the surface and form an image. In the case of the a-Si:H cells, light makes hydrogen atoms move, creating a drop-off in efficiency. Read more: www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2005-06/ou-nsw061705.php

9. BERKELEY, TAIWAN WORKING JOINTLY TOWARD NANO-ENERGY SOLUTIONS
The University of California Berkeley is collaborating with Taiwan's largest research organization, the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), in the development of energy technologies based on the university's nanoscale innovations, including flexible solar cells fabricated onto plastic, microreactors to power laptop computers for hours longer than current batteries, and a "bio battery" powered by the glucose in the human body. The Berkeley-ITRIResearchCenter is affiliated with the Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society (CITRIS). ITRI will provide US$500,000 per year for five years to support CITRIS. Read more: www.coe.berkeley.edu/labnotes/0704/itri.html

10. NOMINATE AN IEEE SENIOR MEMBER
Every year, IEEE elevates many of its members to the level of IEEE Senior Member, the highest grade of membership for which an individual may apply. Potential senior members must have ten years of experience in an IEEE field, five years of "significant performance," and written references from three IEEE Senior Members or Fellows. IEEE Society members can earn rewards for their societies when they nominate IEEE members for elevation. Completed Senior Member applications and reference forms must be submitted by 5 November. For more information, visit: www.ieee.org/nsmi

WHAT'S NEW @ IEEE IN POWER is a monthly, opt-in email update designed to provide you with the latest news regarding IEEE activities, industry trends, career development tips, and new IEEE product releases. We welcome your feedback on this service.

Managing Editor: John Platt j.platt@ieee.org
Contributing Editors: Julie Compton, Robert J. Howe, Cari Wolfert

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