UBC Okanagan IEEE Student Branch

An interesting event happening soon is the transit of Venus between the Earth and the
Sun.  It occurs on June 5th, 2012; check your local transit times.

This transit only happens once every 105 years!  The next Venus transit will not be until 2117.  It really is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and one that should not be missed.

Do NOT use telescopes or binoculars to look at the Sun unless you have a proper solar filter.  There is a real danger of blindness if the Sun is looked at directly through a telescope or binoculars, so take appropriate precautions.  Sunglasses are NOT enough.

For more information and a pretty neat 4-minute video, visit http://www.transitofvenus.org

Presenter: Dr. Thomas Johnson
Date: 11 April 2012
Time: 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM
Location: EME 2205

Abstract:

This is a hand-on workshop to gain experience with Simulink. Three examples will be presented which demonstrate how Simulink can be used for circuit simulation. The first example is a passive RLC circuit, the second example is a MOSFET transistor amplifier, and the third example is a sigma-delta modulator. The latter two examples include nonlinear components and demonstrate how Simulink can be used to model nonlinear systems. Although electrical circuit examples are demonstrated, a state space approach is used for implementing the circuit models and many of the concepts are applicable to mechanical systems.

To allow more students to enter, the deadline for entries into the IEEE Canada Student Paper Competition has been extended to Friday, April 15 5:00 PM.

Full Call For Papers

Annual General Meeting & BBQ: Friday, March 30th 5:30pm

If you are interested in becoming a member of the IEEE executive, we are always looking for more student involvement.

Executive Positions Available for (2012-2013)

Position Title (current nominees)
Chair (1)
Vice Chair (1)
Treasurer
Secretary
Webmaster

Microprocessor Group Director

McNaughton Learning Resource Centre Director (1)

MARS (Astronomy Club) Director (1)
MARS External Coordinator
MARS Event Coordinator
MARS Education Officer

We invite all of our members and affiliates to come out to the Annual General Meeting and BBQ behind the EME building.

(see invite for a map)

We will start the evening at 5:30pm with a free BBQ, and will proceed to acknowledge our volunteers.  Several professors will be attending as well as members of industry from Sphere Research Corp and SkyTrac.  After a rapid election, guests are invited to come over to the Chair’s condo in Quail Ridge for a more informal get-together. The telescope will come with us and there may be a late evening outing on the golf course to look at the stars.  Guests are welcome

Facebook Event

The IEEE Student Branch is planning a tour to the DRAO (Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory) near Penticton. The DRAO is a research facility founded in 1960. The site houses an interferometric radio telescope, a 26-m single dish antenna, and a solar flux monitor – and supports engineering laboratories.

We will be car-pooling, so will meet in the EME lobby at 12pm to organize rides on Monday, Feb 20th. Confirm your attendance by emailing mars@ubcokanaganieee.org, and let us know if you need a ride and/or have extra seats if you are driving. Full details can be seen here.

Its time again to run our annual IEEE Canada Student Paper Competition. This competition is open to all undergraduate students and cash prizes are awarded to the winners! Your paper can be based on class work, research or on a personal project. The first round of the competition is local, so you only have to compete against your peers. The winner then goes to compete against all of western Canada. The national winner will published in an IEEE publication. Send in your competing papers!

Full Details: Here

The EUS is holding a pub night tomorrow (Tuesday, Feb 7th) at Roses to raise money for their WEC senior design team. The IEEE wings night will be re-routed there so that we can help support the team. You can buy tickets from the EUS or at the door, and things get started at 6:30. See you there!

Unit 5 in the I.K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences is pleased to host The Invisible Universe speaker series during Spring 2012. Internationally renowned experts in radio astronomy will discuss the future of radio astronomy in a six-part series hosted at UBC’s Okanagan campus over the next three months. Our next talk is:

 Cosmic Compasses

Feb. 29  *  Roland Kothes  *  HIA-Penticton  *  Supernovae Explosions

Mar. 21  *  Russ Taylor  *  U. Calgary  *  The Square Kilometre Array

We are having our weekly IEEE Wings Night at the Packing House Pub, 663 Finns Rd. Kelowna starting at 6:30pm this Wednesday the 1st of Feb.

Astronomer Tim Robishaw (Covington Fellow, Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics) and physics professor Erik Rosolowsky may also be joining us.