North Dakota State University IEEE

The past year was an exciting time for our chapter of IEEE.

Officers

Back in April new officers were elected. The following people were elected to the listed positions.

New officers need to be elected for three positions because of absences due to officers taking co-op job opportunities. The positions of Secretary, EA Council/CSO Rep and Jolt Editor will be open.

Tours

IEEE also took a recent trip touring several companies. An excerpt of our report to the Red River chapter is below.

The North Dakota State University (NDSU) student branch of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) took a trip to Winnipeg on Thursday, October 10 and Friday, October 11 to tour three electrical engineering companies and the University of Manitoba (U of M). Fourteen students took part in the tours of Manitoba Hydro Dorsey Converter Station, Vansco Electronics, Real Time Digital Simulators (RTDS), and the Electrical Engineering Department at the U of M.

The Dorsey Converter Station is connected to two HVDC lines that run approximately 900 km north to the Nelson River. DC is used for long distance transmission because it offers certain advantages over AC for several reasons. For example, the losses of electricity are considerably lower with DC, and the cost of building a DC transmission line system is more economical than an equivalent AC transmission line system. The DC electricity is converted back to AC at Dorsey for distribution via Manitoba Hydro’s 230 kV transmission line network. From there the AC feeds the balance of Manitoba’s southern power system as well as the interconnecting power systems that link the province to Saskatchewan, Ontario and the U.S.

After the tour of Dorsey Converter Station, the next company we toured was Vansco Electronics. Vansco specializes in the design and manufacture of custom electronic, electro-mechanical, and electro-hydraulic products. Examples of their products include transmission controllers, monitoring systems, wire harnesses, sensors, and test tools for service and manufacturing. Some of its customers include John Deere, Caterpillar, and Volvo.

We were shown the entire process of creating a product. Starting with idea and continuing through design, physical production, and testing. Specifically we were shown the different buildings that were designated to specific parts of production. One building was specifically intended for design of the product with the aid of computer simulations. We saw products be produced on assembly lines and all the precautions taken to ensure perfection. There was also an extremely extensive testing facility to guarantee the products were ready to be implemented into there application. An example of the testing facility is how we were shown a product being subjected to vibrations while being heated. They also had a room where a product could be exposed to electromagnetic fields.

On Friday, we toured the electrical engineering department at the U of M. The first thing we saw was the high voltage laboratory. This lab is the best equipped and largest of its kind among Canadian Universities. This three-story lab is under construction at the present time so we didn’t get to see any current experiments, but they have the equipment to simulate a lighting bolt in the laboratory.

The next thing we saw was the antenna laboratory. There are only a few of these labs throughout all of Canada. The walls and ceilings in these labs are made out of foam spikes which absorb waves of certain frequencies. This allows researchers to test the effects of outputted waves without having the interference from the waves bouncing back off the walls and ceilings. This laboratory consisted of three individual rooms which each had different size spikes for different frequency waves.

The last lab we saw at the U of M was the clean room. The clean room is an isolated room in which the air is circulated ten times every minute. This ensures that the air is pure and won’t effect testing. The U of M currently has only a small clean room, but a much larger one is under construction. This laboratory is used to test things such as the integrated circuits which are designed in the scanning probe microscopy research lab.

After the tour of the U of M, we toured RTDS which was our last tour of the trip. RTDS Technology Inc. was established in 1994 in Winnipeg and is engaged in the development, production and sale of real-time digital simulators for power systems as well as providing technical support for such simulators.

The RTDS Simulator is a fully digital electromagnetic transient power system simulator used to conduct close-loop testing of control and protection equipment; to perform analytic system studies; and to educate operators, engineers, or students. These simulators incorporate DSP modules, allowing the user great expandability to suit almost any need. They can operate as one unit performing one task, or as several units performing several task. The modules are interfaced with a GUI. This interface provides the user with data input, simulation operation, data capture, and result analysis in a fashion that easy to comprehend. Each module has the capabilities to directly connect to the local Intranet, allowing easy access by everyone on the network.

The NDSU chapter of IEEE is looking at another trip in February touring companies such as IBM, 3M, and the Mayo clinic.

Recruitment

Our fall recruitment effort was more successful than previous years, giving IEEE increased membership, and increased funds for activities. We will be having another recruitment effort spring semester and hope to continue our success in membership expansion.

Project

NDSU IEEE is beginning an effort to do an annual project, helping its members both intellectually and scholastically. Our first project was proposed to us by Toastmasters. They are looking to have us create a timer with indicator lights for speech length, and a menu for various options for speech lengths. Possibilities include a buzzer for letting the speaker know time is up and a digital display and a keypad for inputting different timing values for various speeches.

Website

The web site is currently under construction and hopefully will be updated and newly revamped by the end of the semester. The web address is:
http://www.ieee.ndsu.nodak.edu/

Our webmaster Brad Thurow has done a great job already updating and improving the precious website. For any suggestions please contact him at brad@gogeek.org
The national website is also accessible at www.IEEE.org