As part of the Stanford IEEE continuing Speaker Series throughout the year.

Join the Sacramento State IEEE student chapter in collaboration with MESA for a discussion about SMUD's Hydro Generation department. Our speaker, Dan Stricklin, is a Sac State alumnus with 20 years of experience in the utility industry.

2nd Lecture of IEEE CS San Diego's 2026 Invited Seminar Series (Virtual)

with Shin Young Jeong, faculty member of the Center for Advanced Turbomachinery and Energy Research, University of Central Florida.

Date/Time: Tuesday, March 3, 6pm - 7 pm Pacific Time

Abstract:

The transition to renewable energy has increased the need for reliable, large-scale storage to balance intermittent generation with continuous demand. Thermal energy storage (TES) offers a cost-effective solution by capturing excess energy as heat and releasing it when needed, supporting long-duration storage and grid stability. Unlike batteries, TES can scale to industrial levels, provide process heat, and deliver electricity through power cycles. Recent advances use abundant, low-cost materials such as sand-like particles serving as both heat transfer media and storage. This talk will highlight emerging TES technologies and their role in a resilient, decarbonized energy future.

March Executive Committee Meeting

In today’s saturated job market, submitting applications alone is rarely enough. This session explores advanced job-search strategies that go beyond online postings, with a focus on purposeful networking that leads to real conversations, referrals, and opportunities. Participants will learn how to identify the right people to connect with, how to approach networking in a professional and authentic way, and how to position themselves for roles that may never be publicly advertised. This webinar is designed to help job-seeking professionals compete effectively in a highly crowded market.

IEEE Orange County PES/IAS Chapter's ExCom meeting

All IEEE OC PES/IAS Chapter members are requested to attend this meeting. 

To AVOID unauthorized attendance you MUST REGISTER for this event so that you can be sent the meeting link.

The zoom link is given below: 

Topic: IEEE OC PES/IAS ExCom meeting
Time: Mar 4, 2026 06:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://tae.zoom.us/j/86949880492?pwd=UP0LCD1qQXesboqCIbnbSagUtVOyKf.1

Meeting ID: 869 4988 0492
Passcode: 228799

The San Francisco Bay Area chapter of the IEEE Computer Society invites to our free and open Virtual Tech Talks (no IEEE membership required):

Speaker: Dr.K.Venkata Nagendra (Connect on LinkedIn)

Title: Emotional Intelligence in AI

Abstract: AI emotional intelligence, also known as emotion AI or affective computing, is the ability of AI to detect, interpret, and simulate human emotions using through facial expressions, body language, voice tone and other cues. While AI can analyze emotional cues and even generate responses that seem empathetic, it lacks true consciousness, empathy, and personal experience, which are fundamental to genuine emotional intelligence. Instead of replacing human emotional intelligence, AI serves as a tool that can enhance it by providing insights, analyzing data at scale, and creating more natural human-machine interactions. AI technology uses various methods to recognize and respond to human emotions, including: Facial Recognition Technology is used to analyze facial expressions and detect emotions such as happiness, sadness, anger, and fear. This technology uses algorithms to analyze facial features such as the shape of the mouth, eyes, and eyebrows. And another one, Voice Recognition Technology is used to analyze the tone and pitch of a person's voice to detect emotions such as happiness, sadness, and anger. This technology uses machine learning algorithms to analyze speech patterns and identify emotional cues. The Benefits of Emotional Intelligence in AI, Creating More Meaningful Interactions between Humans and Machines, Enhanced education, shaping the Future of AI.

Bio: Dr. Kolluru Venkata Nagendra,  graduated from Sri Venkateswara University in Tirupathi with a bachelor's degree in computer science. He later graduated from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University in Hyderabad with a master's degree in computer applications. After that, he graduated from Acharya Nagarjuna University in Guntur with a Master of Technology in Computer Science and Engineering. Additionally, he graduated from Vikrama Simhapuri University in Nellore, Andhra Pradesh, with a Ph.D. in computer science. He graduated from Srinivasa University in Mangalore with a PDF (Post Doctoral Fellowship) in CSE. In addition to writing numerous computer science textbooks, Dr. Nagendra is the author of more than 70 research papers that have been published in journals with UGC and Scopus indexes. He served as a judge and reviewer for numerous conferences and journals. Having worked at several engineering colleges for more than 17 years, he is currently employed SRKR Engineering College, Bhimavaram, Andhra Pradesh. His research interests encompass Machine Learning, Deep Learning, and Data Mining.

The first part of this presentation provides background on ancillary services in North American electricity markets, highlighting both "old" and "new" ancillary services, the co-optimization of ancillary services with power in the market design, the emerging issue of inertia in the light of retiring thermal generation, and the increasing role of inverter-based resources in providing ancillary services.  A key challenge with inverter-based resources providing ancillary services is appropriately defining energy storage requirements. This issue is illustrated and resolved in a proposed new inertia ancillary service.

Speaker: Prof. Ross Baldick, University of Texas at Austin

https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/2476815349011?p=fL1Q4CmZI1Bm33fkJY

Annika Thomas is a Ph.D. candidate at MIT whose work lies at the intersection of robotics, computer vision, and spatial intelligence. After beginning her academic path in Idaho at Renaissance High School and The College of Idaho, she went on to study mathematics, physics, and engineering through a dual-degree program at Columbia University, then to MIT. Over the course of her studies, she has contributed to astrophysics research, rocket propulsion, and the design and deployment of satellites currently in orbit, and she has worked in field robotics labs around the globe.

Her current research focuses on developing photorealistic, semantically rich, and shareable map representations for autonomous robots using Gaussian Splatting and multi-modal sensor fusion. These structured world models enable multi-agent mapping, loop closure, and planetary-scale localization. Applications range from terrestrial robotic perception to lunar surface mapping for upcoming space missions with NASA.

Her journey illustrates how a STEM career can unfold from small-town beginnings to cutting-edge global research. Alongside her technical work, she is committed to clear and accessible scientific communication, which has led her to share ideas on collaborative robotics for lunar and Martian exploration through TEDx talks and international presentations across four continents. Annika ultimately aims to launch her own lab centered on intelligent mapping and embodied AI while contributing to a more inclusive culture for women in STEM.

The talk is co-hosted by the following organizational units in the IEEE Boise Section:

IEEE Boise Communications Society/Robotics & Automation Society/Signal Processing Joint Chapter
IEEE Boise Computer Society Chapter
IEEE Boise Women In Engineering Affinity Group
IEEE Boise Young Professional Affinity Group
IEEE Boise State University Student Branch

This talk is free and open to the public. Registration is optional but helps us plan the headcount.

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS FOR CHAPTER OFFICERS OF SANTA CLARA VALLEY SECTION, SAN FRANCISCO SECTION AND OAKLAND-EAST BAY SECTION ONLY

Greetings!

This year's officer training is being conducted for officers of San Francisco Bay Area Council at the Plug and Play Tech Center in San Jose, CA. This is meant to provide the Chapter officers with training related to the different aspects of the chapter operations. Below are some of the topics that will be covered in the training:

2. Concur Expense

3. Nextgen banking and reporting

4. Senior member elevation program

5. How to run an effective chapter

6. Web presence

Learn how to solder by making art with electronic components!

Zoom call hosted by Open Research Institute (ORI). IEEE members and guests are welcome. This is a technical roundtable of FPGA projects from the Open Source hardware community. Participants report what they've done over the past week, what they have planned for the next week, if they have any roadblocks, and if they need any resources. The roundtable is sometimes followed by open office hours if anyone has additional questions or discussions.  

This is a hybrid in-person and online event. Pre-registration is required for either.

In 1984, the Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) was invented at Silicon Valley startup Xilinx by its co-founder Ross Freeman. It was not an obviously good technology as it had serious drawbacks in speed, cost, power, and capacity.  However, its novel design transformed the technology industry as it rode the wave of Moore’s Law. As this transformation was not a straight road, companies that did not recognize fundamental industry changes created by the FPGA fell by the wayside.  If companies did not stretch to find new uses for this technology, or did not deploy its resources in building a new ecosystem, they also failed.

Xilinx’s FPGA invention led to the major industry transformation of the Fabless semiconductor model, and step-by-step Xilinx navigated this field of potential failure. These steps tell of a company growing from a hyper-lean adrenaline-driven startup to a multi-billion-dollar success story. Not every step was correct, and certainly there was some luck.  However, considerable effort was required to achieve that luck, and even more effort to capitalize on it.

In this talk, IEEE Fellow Steve Trimberger will discuss change: the changing value of semiconductor scaling, the changing needs of EDA, the changing barriers to entry, the changing application of the technology, and the changing role of consultants and corporate relationships over the course of many years. These changes got us to 2026 – what change is next?

Please note that an IEEE Milestone for the FPGA will be dedicated on Thu, March 12. Information about attending its dedication online will be available soon.

Every year, over one million people in the U.S. rush to the emergency room after experiencing their first seizure or seizure-like event. For many, the journey that follows is frustrating and uncertain. Epilepsy is notoriously difficult to diagnose - so much so that nearly 30% of patients receive the wrong diagnosis. The most common mistake? Being told they have epilepsy when they do not. These misdiagnosed patients spend months or even years trying ineffective medications, enduring unnecessary side effects, and living with the fear of seizures they don’t actually have only to later discover they have a completely different condition. Why is diagnosing epilepsy so difficult? Unlike other diseases, there has been no reliable biomarker. Our team has identified an EEG-based biomarker for epilepsy, a game-changing discovery that is currently being tested in three major epilepsy centers across the U.S. This new tool, EpiScalp, has the potential to revolutionize epilepsy diagnosis, ensuring patients receive the right answers and the right treatment from their very first visit to a neurologist.

Join us for delicious pizza from Sgt Pepperoni's Pizza Store and meet other IEEE members in person at our monthly networking event in Irvine! There will be Senior IEEE members who can provide endorsement for members looking for senior membership. Please register with your IEEE #. There will be both meat and vegetarian pizza. If you have any projects, please bring them along!

Group photo - February 2026: https://r6.ieee.org/ocs/2026/02/networking-night-2026-february/

Celebrate International Women's Day 2026 with our virtual panel "Give to Gain: Investing in Women to Strengthen Leadership and Innovation." This engaging international dialogue brings together leaders from higher education, engineering, and IEEE WIE to explore how investing in women creates stronger leadership pipelines and accelerates innovation in STEM and beyond.

IEEE Orange County Section Executive Committee Monthly meeting - occurs every 2nd Thursday of the month. This March is an exception as our IEEE OC Chair was not available on the second Thursday of the month. 

All IEEE OC Committee/Chapter/Affinity/SIG Chair/Key Volunteers (or their proxy) are requested to attend. Other IEEE members are also welcome to attend. Please RVSP here to receive the meeting login information. Routine attendance is required to qualify for your chapter annual IEEE rebate.

To AVOID unauthorized attendance you MUST REGISTER for this event so that you can be sent the meeting link.

In this talk I will provide a comprehensive overview of our research on developing novel materials for photonics while combining experimental and computational tools. First, I will discuss our progress towards discovering new optical emitters for thermophotovoltaics that operate >1,500 oC. Second, I will share how we established a field termed ‘transient photonics’, where we developed optical devices that vanish in water after stable operation. Third, I will present how the alloying of metals can be effectively used to engineer the electromagnetic spectrum, relevant for photo-catalysis. An outlook of potential research directions in photonics with burgeoning materials will be presented.

Join the IEEE Foothill Section for a casual "Pi Day" Pizza & Mixer in Claremont!

Since it’s March 14th (3.14), we are celebrating the best way engineers know how—with circular food and great conversation. This event is all about direct connection, bringing together Students, Young Professionals (YP), and Section Members for a lunch of informal networking and community building.

There is no formal agenda or presentation—just a space for our local engineering community to meet face-to-face and celebrate Pi Day together.

What to bring/expect:

• Networking: Shake hands and meet the people driving technology in the Foothill area.

• Career Growth: Bring your resume or digital contact info if you're looking for feedback or new opportunities.

• Advice: Students and recent grads are encouraged to come and ask seasoned professionals for career insights.

• Community: Find out how to get more involved with the IEEE Foothill Section.

Please RSVP by registering so we can get an accurate headcount for the space. We look forward to seeing you there!

Zoom call hosted by Open Research Institute (ORI). IEEE members and guests are welcome. This is a technical roundtable of FPGA projects from the Open Source hardware community. Participants report what they've done over the past week, what they have planned for the next week, if they have any roadblocks, and if they need any resources. The roundtable is sometimes followed by open office hours if anyone has additional questions or discussions.  

Scheduling IEEE Richland EX-COM Meeting for 2026

Location: Round Table Pizza, 1435 George Washington Way, Richland, WA 99352

Food and social gathering at 5:45 PM, business meeting at 6:00 PM

Date(s) – Feb 17, Mar 17, Apr 21, May 19, June 16, July 21, Aug 18, Sept 15, Oct 20, Nov 17, and Dec 15

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Passcode: Xe2Zg9bj

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The large-scale deployment of battery energy storage systems (BESS) is technically essential for enabling renewable energy to function as a primary power source in modern power systems. However, implementation has progressed more slowly than required, largely due to limited economic viability under current market mechanisms. From a system engineering perspective, storage plays a critical role in maintaining frequency stability, balancing supply and demand, mitigating variability, and enhancing overall system resilience. As renewable penetration increases and system inertia declines, the need for fast-response resources such as BESS becomes increasingly urgent, including from an energy security standpoint.

This presentation provides an overview of the current situation in Japan, including market and operational frameworks relevant to storage deployment. It further examines recent technical challenges associated with high renewable penetration—such as frequency control, reserve management, and system stability—and discusses emerging operational strategies and technological trends in storage integration and grid support functions.

Join us for a talk on how SmartNICs and RDMA Power AI in the Cloud, and get insights into the state of the Chapter.

Training modern Large Language Models (LLMs) requires tens of thousands of GPUs acting as a single "AI Supercomputer." To build this "AI Hypercomputer," we must first address the CPU bottlenecks of traditional general-purpose networking. This talk begins by analyzing why standard TCP/IP processing limits Model Training performance and introduces the concept of "Kernel Bypass" and the role of SmartNICs in offloading network processing from the host CPU. We will explore why modern AI clusters have moved toward hardware offloads (like RDMA) to achieve the high throughput and low latency required for GPU-to-GPU communication. We will also discuss the specific challenges of running lossless transport protocols over lossy Ethernet, where congestion and packet drops can cause severe performance degradation ("tail latency") in large-scale training jobs. The session concludes by analyzing the architectural design patterns required to optimize flow control and ensure reliable delivery in massive AI infrastructure environments.

This event features a leading industry expert from Google addressing this important topic, followed by updates on the state of our chapter from the IEEE CIS SCV Chair.

🎤 Talk 1
The Infrastructure of AI: How SmartNICs and RDMA Power the Cloud
Speaker: Sujithra Periasamy, Google

🎤 Talk 2
State of the Chapter
Speaker: Dr. Vishnu S. Pendyala, Chair, IEEE CIS Santa Clara Valley Chapter

Our Favorite DIY Projects

Our Birds of a Feather (BOF) meetings are about sharing.
Come and share (tell us about) your favorite hand-built project.

What makes it special?

Should our young engineers (or students) build it too?

Are there "simple" and inexpensive projects that really show off (visualize or experience) an engineering concept?
So much of modern technology is invisible. Miniaturized into invisibility. 
Are there projects that bring concepts back into view?

Are there projects we should bring to the young engineers?

This meeting is a no-host event. Come and share a drink or a meal together.

The present power grid faces increasing challenges arising from congestion and blackouts associated with high penetration of distributed energy resources (DERs) and growing demand, compounded by lagging infrastructure upgrades. This presentation discusses how advanced power electronics is modernizing existing transmission and distribution networks. It further highlights the development of universal One-Cycle Control–based power electronic systems for rapid and precise control of grid operations, with objectives including the enhancement of power quality, provision of reactive power support, and mitigation of congestion. Case studies demonstrate that these approaches enhance system resilience, operational flexibility, and overall efficiency, thereby supporting sustainable long-term growth.

About the Speaker:

Keyue Ma Smedley, Keyue Smedley, IEEE Fellow, received her BS in EE from Zhejiang University and her MS and Ph.D. in EE from Caltech. Dr. Smedley was the chief designer of magnet power converters for all accelerator rings at DOE Superconducting Super Collider Lab in early 1990s. She is currently a Professor in EECS, University of California, Irvine (UCI) and Founder/Director of the UCI Power Electronics Lab since 1992.  In addition, she is a co-founder of One-Cycle Control, Inc., that commercializes OCC technology. Dr. Smedley’s research is in power electronics. She is the inventor of the One-Cycle Control (OCC) method. Initially groundbreaking in high-fidelity audio applications during 1990s, OCC later unified four-quadrant control of single and three-phase power converters in the early 2000s. Today, OCC technology is widely applied across various market sectors, including professional audio, renewables, storage, power quality, grid stabilization, and defense. Dr. Smedley’s team also invented the Hexagram multilevel converter in the late 2000s, deployed and tested the first fault current limiter on the U.S. grid in the 2010s, and demonstrated OCC-DVC technology for fast and precise grid control during the same period. More recently, her team has achieved breakthroughs in full-range gain control of resonant switched-capacitor converters, opening the door to magnetic-less power conversion and enabling significant reductions in the size and weight of power electronic converters. Dr. Smedley is dedicated to innovation and impact. Her research has yielded >200 publications, >15 US and international patents, two startup companies, and wide industry acceptance. She has received numerous recognitions, including UCI Innovation Award in 2005, IEEE Fellow in 2008, and a DOD Achievement Award in Pentagon 2010 with OCC, Inc. She was an IEEE PEL Distinguished Lecturer in 2021-2024. Dr. Smedley won 2024 IEEE Power Electronics Society RD Middlebrook Achievement Award.

Zoom call hosted by Open Research Institute (ORI). IEEE members and guests are welcome. This is a technical roundtable of FPGA projects from the Open Source hardware community. Participants report what they've done over the past week, what they have planned for the next week, if they have any roadblocks, and if they need any resources. The roundtable is sometimes followed by open office hours if anyone has additional questions or discussions.  

This is an in-person planning meeting for PES ExCom 

This presentation provides a practical, engineering-level overview of the key components that form the backbone of modern power system protection and substation automation in a 138 kV transmission environment.

The session begins by examining the role of protective relays (IEDs) in detecting faults, executing high-speed tripping logic, and ensuring selective fault isolation. It then explores how RTUs and station gateways interface field devices with SCADA systems, enabling real-time monitoring, control, and event analysis from remote control centers.

This session also introduces the fundamentals of Low Voltage Motor Control Centers (LV MCCs) used in industrial plants, utilities, and infrastructure facilities.

Bio: Megha is a Protection & Substation Automation Engineer with expertise in transmission-level substations, including 138 kV protection systems and digital substation architectures. Specializing in relay engineering, GOOSE-based interlocking, SCADA integration, and Ethernet network design compliant with IEC 61850, she focuses on designing reliable, redundant, and high-performance protection schemes. Megha has contributed to projects involving distance protection, busbar differential schemes, breaker failure logic, and substation automation system (SAS) implementation. She is passionate about bridging practical engineering with modern digital protection technologies.

Breaking into today’s competitive job market requires more than technical excellence. It requires clarity, positioning, and the ability to communicate your value with confidence.

In this practical and engaging session, career strategist Shima Ghaheri shares how hiring managers actually evaluate candidates — and how students and early-career professionals can strategically present their academic work, projects, internships, and experiences to stand out.

Participants will learn how to:

• Build a LinkedIn profile that signals clarity and direction

• Structure resumes around measurable impact rather than task lists

• Approach interviews with preparation and strategic storytelling

• Translate technical competence into compelling professional narratives

Designed specifically for college students and entry-level professionals, this session offers actionable tools to move from being “qualified on paper” to being selected with confidence. By making hiring systems more transparent, the session aims to reduce opportunity gaps and empower participants to compete through preparation, clarity, and strategy.

Whether you are preparing for internships, full-time roles, or your next career move, this session will equip you with frameworks you can implement immediately.

IEEE Utah Section Recognition Dinner on Saturday, 28 March 2026, at the Bhansa Ghar (bhansagharut.com) in SLC at 6:00 PM.

The attendee will select his/her dinner (entree, non-alcoholic beverage, dessert) at the event Bhansa Ghar - Salt Lake City, UT - Menu (bhansagharut.com).

Zoom call hosted by Open Research Institute (ORI). IEEE members and guests are welcome. This is a technical roundtable of FPGA projects from the Open Source hardware community. Participants report what they've done over the past week, what they have planned for the next week, if they have any roadblocks, and if they need any resources. The roundtable is sometimes followed by open office hours if anyone has additional questions or discussions.  

Chiplet and disaggregated architectures are rapidly becoming mainstream across applications from edge to server. Yet the resulting design complexity exceeds the capabilities of today’s tools, flows, and methodologies—particularly when aiming for highly optimized solutions at scale.

Augmented Intelligence, the combination of human expertise and machine intelligence, offers a transformative approach to this challenge. By assigning strategic, high-level decision-making to engineers and delegating computationally intensive, iterative tasks to AI, this framework enables multi-level and multi-domain optimization. The result is the ability to generate a far greater number of custom-optimized designs with the same resources—delivering competitive products with higher quality and faster time-to-market.

At Intel, in collaboration with partners, we have developed and deployed Augmented Intelligence solutions spanning silicon to system design and hardware to software design. These efforts have demonstrated efficiency gains exceeding 90% in critical areas. In this talk, I will share practical examples and key insights from several years of applying Augmented Intelligence to end-to-end design, highlighting how human–AI collaboration is reshaping the path to innovation.

There will not be any recording.  Please attend in person.

EXCOM Meeting for IEEE PES Seattle Officers 

Technology roadmapping is a comprehensive approach for strategic planning that integrates scientific and technological considerations into product development and business strategy. It provides a structured way to identify new opportunities and align innovations with organizational goals.

Roadmaps can take many forms, but they all share a common feature: the use of simple graphical frameworks to support the synthesis, alignment, and communication of complex strategic issues.

Join computer, radio, and cybersecurity enthusiasts at BSides San Diego.

The Open Source Digital Radio Local Group (San Diego Section) will be in RF Village answering your questions about using and enjoying the radio frequency spectrum. 

Tickets available at https://www.bsidessd.org

Schedule here: https://www.bsidessd.org/2026-event-details/schedule

Continuation of Stanford IEEE Speaker Series

Chiplets have become a compelling approach to scaling and heterogeneous integration e.g. integrating workload-specific processors and massive bandwidth memory systems into computing systems; integrating die from multiple function-optimized process nodes into one product; integrating silicon from multiple businesses into one product. Chiplet-based products have been produced in high volume by multiple companies using proprietary chiplet ecosystems. Recently, the community has proposed several new standards (e.g., UCIe) to facilitate integration and interoperability of any compliant chiplet. Hyperscalers (e.g., Google, Amazon) are actively designing high volume products with chiplets through these open interfaces. Other communities are exploring the end-to-end workflow and tooling to assemble chiplet-based products. High performance computing can benefit from this trend. However, the performance, power, and thermal requirements unique to HPC, present many challenges to realizing a vision for affordable, modular HPC using this new approach. Architectural modeling and simulation will play a critical role in pathfinding for this new potential direction for HPC beyond Exascale.

High Voltage DC Transmission has seen rapid technology advances in the last 20 years driven by the implementation of VSC (Voltage Source Converters) at GW powers and in particular introduction of MMC (Modular Multilevel Converters). The development of interconnected DC transmission grids requires significant further advance from the existing point-to-point HVDC links. It is widely believed that complex DC power grids can be built with comparable performance, reliability, flexibility and losses as traditional AC grids. The primary motivation for DC grid development is the need for power flow and trading between many DC terminals, as an example in the proposed (350 GW) North Sea DC grid, or EU-wide overlay DC grid. AC transmission is not feasible with long subsea cables, and it is inferior to DC systems in many other conditions. This presentation addresses the options and challenges with DC grid development, referring also to state-of-art technology status.

Zhangbei 4-terminal DC system (China, 2020) represents the first implemented GW-scale meshed DC transmission grid, which employs bipolar ring topology with overhead lines and 16 DC Circuit Breakers. However, multiple studies illustrate advantages of some radial, hub-based or segmented topologies, because of component costs, and challenges with interoperability, ownership, DC markets, operation, security and reliability.   

MMC concepts, including half-bridge and full-bridge modules, will underpin DC grid converters and further advances like hybrid LCC/MMC converters have been implemented recently. DC/DC converters at hundreds of MW are not yet commercially available but there is lot of research world-wide, and some lower-power prototypes have been demonstrated. DC/DC converters may take multiple functions including: DC voltage stepping (transformer role), DC fault interruption (DC CB role) and power flow control. Multiport DC hubs can be viewed as electronic DC substations, capable of interconnecting multiple DC lines.

Very fast DC CB circuit breakers (2 ms) have become commercially available recently, but the cost is considerably higher than AC CBs. Slightly slower mechanical DC CBs (5-8 ms) are also available from multiple vendors, while new technical solutions are emerging worldwide for achieving faster operation with lower size/weight/costs. 

DC grid modelling will face the new challenge of numerous converters dynamically coupled through low-impedance DC cables/lines. A compromise between simulation speed and accuracy is required, leading to some average-value modelling, commonly in rotating DQ frame, but capturing very fast dynamics and variable structure to represent fault conditions.

The principles of control of DC grids have been developed. DC systems have no system-wide common frequency to indicate power unbalance, and voltage responds to local and global loading rather than reactive power flow. DC grid dynamics are 2 orders of magnitude faster than traditional AC systems and most components will be controllable implying numerous, fast control loop interactions. Because of lack of inertia, and minimal overload capability for semiconductors, DC grid primary and secondary control should be feedback-based (man-made), fast, and distributed. International standardization efforts have begun.

The protection of DC grids is a significant technical challenge, both in terms of components and protection logic. The selectivity has been demonstrated within 0.5 ms timeframe using commercial and open-source DC relays. Nevertheless, grid operators have expressed concerns with self-protection on various components, back-up grid-wide protection, interoperability, and in general if we can achieve power transfer security levels comparable with AC grids and acceptable to stakeholders.

Southern California Edison (SCE) is committed to delivering safe, reliable, affordable, and clean energy by advancing grid modernization and innovation. Through its Grid Technology Development (GTD) organization, SCE evaluates emerging technologies to ensure they are ready for secure and reliable deployment on the electric grid.

The Grid Technology Development (GTD) Labs at the Fenwick facility support technology demonstration, evaluation, proof‑of‑concept validation, and pre‑deployment testing in a secure, fully integrated grid environment. The labs are designed to mirror real‑world grid conditions, enabling evaluation of connected grid technologies across automation, communications, cybersecurity, protection, and distributed energy systems before they are deployed on the operational grid. This approach helps reduce deployment risk, improve reliability, and accelerate grid modernization efforts.

The Fenwick GTD Labs include several specialized environments. The Distribution Automation Lab focuses on waveform analytics for fault detection, remote fault indicators, device management systems, and augmented reality tools for asset inspection and maintenance. The Power Systems Lab provides real‑time digital simulation for hardware‑in‑the‑loop testing, while the Substation Automation Lab validates merging units and virtual protection architectures. In addition, the Grid Edge Technology Lab supports Grid Management System (GMS) interface testing for applications such as FLISR, and the Distributed Energy Storage Lab evaluate smart inverter behavior and DER integration—collectively ensuring technologies are ready for safe, reliable grid deployment.

Datacenter workload fluctuations challenge the design and operation of our critical grid infrastructure. Significant gaps exist in assessment of these fluctuations as to their lifetime and short-term impact on the infrastructure and environment. Some mitigation approaches focus on throttling the datacenter workload, thus impacting the performance. Other approaches include use of alternate generation sources or energy storage systems. While disparate, these approaches are reactive and lack foresight and the intelligence to plan and strategize for optimal power management. We introduce an approach to quantify the transitional entropy generated during datacenter power fluctuations as a metric to evaluate datacenter performance using power demand measurements. A comparative assessment is provided between a BESS optimized datacenter and a regular datacenter to demonstrate the reduction of irreversibilities due to power fluctuations. Workloads are used to characterize the datacenter power demand at the point of interaction with utility. This approach can be scaled from datacenters to servers to chips.

Reserve this date for a social gathering and a program of general interest to be determined.   IEEE member fee is subsidized.

“Girls Make STEM with Heart”, the IEEE Buenaventura spring STEM event for middle-school girls, will be on Saturday, April 25 at Isbell Middle School in Santa Paula. If you were involved in previous events, you know what a wonderful experience it is for the students and volunteers and how rewarding.

Here is some background:

• Students can choose from a variety of workshops covering topics such as chemistry, circuits, light, sound, momentum, solar energy, and numbers.
• We have at least three mentors per workshop. Each student was able to get plenty of attention.
  At the end of the day, students get to show what they learned to their parents.
• Isbell Middle School graciously lets us use their classrooms and food service. Each classroom is equipped with a computer projector, movable tables and chairs, and Wi-Fi connectivity.
• Lunch and materials are provided by IEEE.
• See the IEEE Foundation Newsletter for an excellent write-up of a past event, and our YouTube channel for a photo montage.

Planning for the event is already underway. If you are interested in volunteering, please contact us at stem2026@ieee-bv.org

EXCOM Meeting for IEEE PES Seattle Officers 

(More information will be added in early March.  General Registration should open around March 1st. Sponsors may register at the link below.)

We are living in the era of heterogeneous integration driven by fast, efficient and big data computing resources at our fingertips. The mega-monolithic silicon chip is a thing of the past, replaced with 3D heterogeneous integration of chiplets onto a platform made of an organic build-up substrate. Volume manufacturers of build-up substrates are entirely based in Asia, leaving a desert in the US. Volume build-up substrates used by major IDMs are manufactured in Asian countries including Taiwan, Japan and China.
However, there are multiple activities starting up in the US, and this is why a gathering of the US players is important. This symposium is geared for all those involved in the supply chain of build-up substrates in the US, as well as users. This Symposium is an opportunity for all build-up substrate players to meet, network and cohesively work with funding agencies who will be invited to this symposium to focus on onshoring build-up substrate production and utilization.

The IEEE Blockchain Forum is returning for the fourth time as part of Toronto Tech Week. The goal of this compact one-day event is to congregate BUIDLers, researchers, academics, and engineers building blockchain protocols, infrastructure, and decentralized software applications.

Note: The 2025 edition of the forum counted with 200 participants and speakers from JP Morgan, the Bank of Canada, Mastercard, the Ethereum Enterprise Alliance, EY, Starknet, among others.