IEEE Hawaii WIE ExCom monthly meeting to discuss future events and initiatives.

Space assets such as satellites, drones and spacecraft are increasingly attractive targets for adversaries ranging from individual hackers, to hacker groups and nation states. This rapid rise in the cyber threat landscape necessitates smarter cyber tools to stay ahead of our adversaries. In this talk, I will present the work being done by the Cyber Defense Engineering and Research (CDER) group at JPL in addressing cyber challenges as pertaining to JPL’s missions. I will specifically focus on our work combining model-based engineering and AI-based reasoning to build a unique capability for automated cyber risk assessments.

Join us for a session on the Microgrid Consortium. Find out how you can play an integral part of this organization. Our group works together to provide microgrids to clients which include Puget Sound Energy (Utilities), Microsoft (Industry), Lake Washington Institute of Technology (Education), and T-Mobile (Telcom). We engage fusion, solar, wind, fuel cells, geothermal, tidal, and hydro. The IEEE Power and Energy Society General Meeting expects 3,500 engineers at their meeting the week of July 21, 2024. Don't miss this grand networking opportunity. Register today!

Mathematical Artificial Intelligence

 By Prof. Shui Yu

 University of Technology Sydney

Abstract： 

Artificial Intelligence is a leading topic in both academia and industry, and explainable AI (XAI) is a critical and hot topic of the field. However, we noticed that XAI is not the core of the business, and we expect deterministic AI models. In this talk, we will report the current landscape of XAI, and then introduce the next stage after XAI – Mathematical AI (MAI). We will mainly present how the mathematical tools, such as differential geometry and group theory, are used build deterministic AI models. At the end of the talk, we will present some cases of the application of MAI. We hope the talk will shed light on the promising field for interested audience.

IEEE SSCS Oregon Chapter July Meeting and Seminar

Join us for a talk from SSCS Distinguished Lecturer Prof. Shreyas Sen from Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, on Friday, July 19th, 2024. The seminar will be held from 11:00am to 12:00pm (PST) via a Hybrid format. Please register for the meeting link and information.

Topic:

Secure and Efficient Internet of Bodies using Electro-Quasistatic Human Body Communication

Abstract:

We are living in the age of human-machine augmentation and coexistence (e.g., smartphones, AI assistants, computers, earbuds, smart watches) and steadily marching towards a new age of human-machine seamless cooperation (HMC) or even symbiosis. Radiative communication using electromagnetic (EM) fields is the state-of-the-art for connecting wearable and implantable devices enabling prime applications in the fields of connected healthcare, electroceuticals, neuroscience, augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) and human-computer interaction (HCI) and HMC, forming a subset of the Internet of Things called the Internet of Bodies (IoB). However, owing to such radiative nature of the traditional wireless communication, EM signals propagate in all directions, inadvertently allowing an eavesdropper to intercept the information. Moreover, since only a fraction of the energy is picked up by the intended device, and the need for high carrier frequency compared to information content, wireless communication tends to suffer from poor energy-efficiency (>nJ/bit). Noting that all IoB devices share a common medium, i.e. the human body, utilizing the conductivity of the human the body allows low-loss transmission, termed as human body communication (HBC) and improves energy-efficiency. Conventional HBC implementations still suffer from significant radiation compromising physical security and efficiency. Our recent work has developed Electro-Quasistatic Human Body Communication (EQS-HBC), a method for localizing signals within the body using low-frequency transmission, thereby making it extremely difficult for a nearby eavesdropper to intercept critical private data, thus producing a covert communication channel, i.e., the human body as a ‘wire’ along with reducing interference and providing 100x more efficient communication than Bluetooth.
In this talk, I will highlight recent advancements in the field of IoB enabled by the Body-as-a-Wire technology which has a strong promise to become the future of Body Area Network (BAN) along with it’s counterpart in the Brain leading to broadband communication. We will focus on the circuit model developed in recent literature explaining the fundamental behavior of Electro-Quasistatic Body and Brain Communication, leading to understanding of channel loss. We will finally show how such low-power communication is paving the way forward for Secure and Efficient IoB for seamless Human-Machine Co-operation.

Speaker Biography:

Shreyas Sen is an Elmore Associate Professor of ECE & BME, Purdue University. His current research interests span mixed-signal circuits/systems and electromagnetics for the Internet of Bodies (IoB) and Hardware Security. He has co-authored 3 book chapters, over 200 journal and conference papers and has 25 patents granted/pending. Dr. Sen serves as the Director of the Center for Internet of Bodies (C-IoB) at Purdue. Dr. Sen is the inventor of the Electro-Quasistatic Human Body Communication (EQS-HBC), or Body as a Wire technology, for which, he is the recipient of the MIT Technology Review top-10 Indian Inventor Worldwide under 35 (MIT TR35 India) Award in 2018 and Georgia Tech 40 Under 40 Award in 2022. To commercialize this invention Dr. Sen founded Ixana and serves as the Chairman and CTO and led Ixana to awards such as 2x CES Innovation Award 2024, EE Times Silicon 100, Indiana Startup of the Year Mira Award 2023, among others. His work has been covered by 250+ news releases worldwide, invited appearances on TEDx Indianapolis, NASDAQ live Trade Talks at CES 2023, Indian National Television CNBC TV18 Young Turks Program, NPR subsidiary Lakeshore Public Radio and the CyberWire podcast. Dr. Sen is a recipient of the NSF CAREER Award 2020, AFOSR Young Investigator Award 2016, NSF CISE CRII Award 2017, Intel Outstanding Researcher Award 2020, Google Faculty Research Award 2017, Purdue CoE Early Career Research Award 2021, Intel Labs Quality Award 2012 for industry wide impact on USB-C type, Intel Ph.D. Fellowship 2010, IEEE Microwave Fellowship 2008, GSRC Margarida Jacome Best Research Award 2007, and nine best paper awards including IEEE CICC 2019, 2021 and in IEEE HOST 2017-2020, for four consecutive years. Dr. Sen's work was chosen as one of the top-10 papers in the Hardware Security field (TopPicks 2019). He serves/has served as an Associate Editor for IEEE Journal of Solid State Circuits (JSSC), Solid-State Circuits Letters (SSC-L), Nature Scientific Reports, Frontiers in Electronics, IEEE Design & Test, Executive Committee member of IEEE Central Indiana Section and Technical Program Committee member of TPC member of ISSCC, CICC, DAC, CCS, IMS, DATE, ISLPED, ICCAD, ITC, and VLSI Design. Dr. Sen is a Senior Member of IEEE and Distinguished Lecturer of the IEEE SSCS society.

IEEE Bay Area Summer Social

Come join us for a fun Thursday evening at Ludwigs Biergarten Mountain View! Network with local IEEE young professionals and students in the area for internships, while enjoying delicious food and drinks. This in-person event is the perfect opportunity to relax, unwind, and connect with like-minded professionals in a casual setting. Don't miss out on this chance to make new friends and build connections to help you navigate the transition from student to working professional.

First drink is on us, and we will provide appetizers to share. Price of admission (including drink and food) is for young professionals and for students/interns. See you there!

Why Connect with Young Professionals?

Getting involved with your local IEEE Young Professional (YP) organization is a great way to bridge the transition between academic life and a full-fledged professional career. A few key benefits of being involved in your local YP section include:

• Networking Opportunities: IEEE YP events bring together like-minded individuals from diverse technical backgrounds. It's a perfect platform to expand your professional network, potentially connecting you with future collaborators, mentors, or employers.
• Professional Development: Gain valuable insights and skills through workshops, seminars, and panel discussions tailored to enhance your professional growth. These events often cover topics ranging from technical advancements to career advancement strategies.
• Transition from Student to Professional: For students/interns transitioning into full-time roles, IEEE YP provides a supportive environment helping navigate this crucial career phase successfully.
• Friendship and Camaraderie: Beyond professional benefits, IEEE YP fosters friendships and camaraderie among its members. Building a strong network of peers who share your interests can make your professional journey more fulfilling and enjoyable.

Public Transportaion and Parking

There are multiple city parking lots and parking garages nearby. Moutain View Cal Train Station is with in walking distance to the venue.

The advent of 3D Heterogeneous Integration (3DHI) in advanced packaging and wafer-level IC packaging introduces significant challenges for inline defect inspection and offline failure analysis. The 3D stacking and wafer bonding processes create optically opaque structures, necessitating techniques like x-rays to penetrate multiple buried layers for defect detection. However, as device features in 3DHI continue to shrink (e.g., microbumps shrinking to

Event Details  

Per a recent Forbes article, "The rise of generative AI and surging GPU shipments is causing data centers to scale from tens of thousands to 100,000-plus accelerators, shifting the emphasis to power as a mission-critical problem to solve." making this talk particularly relevant.

The US Department of Energy projects that by the year 2055, given current projected growth, electrical demand for devices including the internet will exceed the capacity of planet Earth to provide that power. The electrical demands on data processing centers in a world of AI and cryptocurrency on top of standard workloads lead the industry down an unsustainable path. Hyperscale systems are feverishly adding processing, memory, storage, connectivity fabric, and communications at an alarming rate. Software engineers need to be part of the total cost of ownership calculation to address this energy crisis.
This talk details some key aspects of the system architectures that are being deployed in data centers, with focus on data movement between resources. Every time data is moved there is inherent inefficiency; we will calculate the wasted data movement in key parts of the system architecture. With this analysis, it is clear that the expansion of the data center architecture has exacerbated the variations in access latency time to each resource as well.

Software developers can leverage knowledge of the energy flow through the system to improve efficiency. Gains can be made on every level from the choice of machine level data types – to choice of high level languages – to various programmer interfaces between the application and the hardware resources. The variations in media access latency are only getting wider and more complex, so software developers are tasked with comprehending not only what data to process but where to place it in the system hierarchy.

The call to action will summarize some of the specific ways careful software engineering can help us avert the looming power crisis.

About the Speaker Bill Gervasi. 

Bill Gervasi is Principal Systems Architect for Wolley Inc, designing advanced memory and storage solutions for data 

NOTE:  This is an IN PERSON meeting.  To receive a link to the event's recording, complete the survey referenced in the header or footer.

Learn about microwaves in quantum computing, superconducting qubit tech & examples from Google's state-of-the-art Sycamore quantum computer.

This 2 hours workshop is an opportunity to learn more about the IEEE SA standards sponsored by IEEE Education Society (EdSoc), the IEEE SA Std. 1876-2019 on Networked Smart Learning Objects for Online Laboratories and IEEE SA P2834 Standard for Secure and Trusted Learning Systems co-sponsored by IEEE Industrial Electronics Society and IEEE Computer Society / Learning Technology Standards Committee. This event offers students, faculty, and industry members the opportunity to collaborate around the EdSoc Virtual Graduate Study Consortium (VGSC) and motivate their future participation in IEEE SA working groups.

Seattle 2024 GM Local Organizing Committee - Volunteer Training Session

Abstract:

Hard Disk Drives (HDD) and Solid-State Devices (SSD) are the storage work horses in today’s data world. At Western Digital Corporation, we are in the unique position to have in-depth insights into reliability assurance methods for both technologies.  We will discuss interesting commonalities, differences, and opportunities, with focus on Data Center and Enterprise devices.

This session on reliability engineering/technology will focus on reliability engineering as an engineering discipline and profession that is critical for today's complex and critical systems, and reliability technology as a constantly evolving technology in electrical/electronic/mechanical system design and development. This session will also focus on the history of IEEE reliability standards and the latest standards being developed by IEEE to move reliability engineering and technology further. Examples of IEEE reliability standards will be provided. Also, excerpts from my first book, Design for Reliability (DfR), by Raheja and Gullo, will be provided.

See agenda for details. Registration is optional but will get you a meeting reminder and any updates.

Join us for a Region 6 Young Professionals Game Night! We will be playing various Jackbox games.

Meet your peers, hang out with old friends.

Discord invite: https://discord.gg/8Pjgu3ju83

Meeting to catchup with leadership team, current status, planning for next few months.

With the implementation and wide application of related tools such as ChatGPT and Sora, people realized that seeing is indeed no longer believing. More recently, the emergence of diffusion models with powerful generation capabilities has driven this topic forward. Subsequently, as the powerful tools for deepfake generation, corresponding detection technologies continuously evolved hence raising more security concerns of the public. This talk will discuss the development of multimedia forensics and focus on researching four representative deepfake fields: face swapping/face reenactment, talking face generation, and facial attribute editing, as well as forgery and deepfake detection and will finally analyze the challenges and future research directions of the discussed fields.

Abstract: In this talk, we focus on the recent developments toward integrated sensing and communications (ISAC). We consider a broad definition of coexistence, which covers ISAC, collaborative communications, and sensing with interference. Toward fully realizing the coexistence of the two systems, optimization of resources for both new/futuristic sensing and wireless communications modalities is crucial. These synergistic approaches that exploit the interplay between state sensing and communications are both driving factors and opportunities for many current signal processing and information-theoretic techniques. In addition, a large body of prior works considers collocated ISAC systems while distributed systems remain relatively unexamined. Building on the existing approaches, the tutorial focuses on highlighting emerging scenarios in collaborative and distributed ISAC, particularly at mm-Wave and THz frequencies, highly dynamic vehicular/automotive environments that would benefit from information exchange between the two systems. It presents the architectures and possible methodologies for mutually beneficial distributed co-existence and co-design, including sensor fusion and heterogeneously distributed radar and communications. The tutorial also considers recent developments such as the deployment of intelligent reflecting surfaces (IRS) in ISAC, 5G systems, passive internet-of-things, and ISAC secrecy rate optimization. This tutorial aims to draw the attention of the radar, communications, and signal processing communities toward an emerging area, which can benefit from the cross-fertilization of ideas in distributed systems.

Join us for an evening of good pupus and opportunities to network with fellow industry colleagues and friends as we continue to support communities affected by the Maui Wildfires.

In this talk, we focus on the recent developments toward integrated sensing and communications (ISAC). We consider a broad definition of coexistence, which covers ISAC, collaborative communications, and sensing with interference. Toward fully realizing the coexistence of the two systems, optimization of resources for both new/futuristic sensing and wireless communications modalities is crucial. These synergistic approaches that exploit the interplay between state sensing and communications are both driving factors and opportunities for many current signal processing and information-theoretic techniques. In addition, a large body of prior works considers colocated ISAC systems, while distributed systems remain relatively unexamined. Building on the existing approaches, the tutorial highlights emerging scenarios in collaborative and distributed ISAC, particularly at mm-Wave and THz frequencies, highly dynamic vehicular/automotive environments that would benefit from information exchange between the two systems. It presents the architectures and possible methodologies for mutually beneficial distributed co-existence and co-design, including sensor fusion and heterogeneously distributed radar and communications. The tutorial also considers recent developments such as deploying intelligent reflecting surfaces (IRS) in ISAC, 5G systems, passive internet-of-things, and ISAC secrecy rate optimization. This tutorial aims to draw the attention of the radar, communications, and signal processing communities toward an emerging area, which can benefit from the cross-fertilization of ideas in distributed systems.

Biography

Kumar Vijay Mishra (S’08-M’15-SM’18) obtained a Ph.D. in electrical engineering and an M.S. in mathematics from The University of Iowa in 2015, and an M.S. in electrical engineering from Colorado State University in 2012, while working on NASA’s Global Precipitation Mission Ground Validation (GPM-GV) weather radars. He received his B. Tech. summa cum laude (Gold Medal, Honors) in electronics and communication engineering from the National Institute of Technology, Hamirpur (NITH), India, in 2003. He is currently a Research Scientist at the Institute for Systems Research, The University of Maryland, College Park, under the ARL-ArtIAMAS program; Technical Adviser to Singapore-based automotive radar startup Hertzwell and Boston-based imaging radar startup Aura Intelligent Systems; and honorary Research Fellow at SnT - Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability, and Trust, University of Luxembourg.

Previously, he had research appointments at the United States Army Research Laboratory (ARL), Adelphi; Electronics and Radar Development Establishment (LRDE), Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) Bengaluru; IIHR - Hydroscience & Engineering, Iowa City, IA; Mitsubishi Electric Research Labs, Cambridge, MA; Qualcomm, San Jose; and Technion - Israel Institute of Technology. Dr. Mishra is the Distinguished Lecturer of the IEEE Communications Society (2023-2024), IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Society (AESS) (2023-2024), IEEE Vehicular Technology Society (2023-2024), IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society (2024-2025), and IEEE Future Networks Initiative (2022). He is the recipient of the IET Premium Best Paper Prize (2021), IEEE T-AES Outstanding Editor (2021), U.S. National Academies Harry Diamond Distinguished Fellowship (2018-2021), American Geophysical Union Editors' Citation for Excellence (2019), Royal Meteorological Society Quarterly Journal Editor's Prize (2017), Viterbi Postdoctoral Fellowship (2015, 2016), Lady Davis Postdoctoral Fellowship (2017), DRDO LRDE Scientist of the Year Award (2006), NITH Director’s Gold Medal (2003), and NITH Best Student Award (2003). He has received Best Paper Awards at IEEE MLSP 2019 and IEEE ACES Symposium 2019.

Dr. Mishra is Chair (2023-present) of the Synthetic Apertures Technical Working Group of the IEEE Signal Processing Society (SPS) and Vice-Chair (2021-present) of the IEEE Synthetic Aperture Standards Committee, which is the first SPS standards committee. He is the Chair (2023-2026) of the International Union of Radio Science (URSI) Commission C. He has been an elected member of three technical committees of IEEE SPS: SPCOM, SAM, and ASPS, and IEEE AESS Radar Systems Panel. He has been Senior Area Editor of IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing (2024-), Associate Editor of IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems (2020-), and IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation (2023-). He has been a lead/guest editor of several special issues in journals such as IEEE Signal Processing Magazine, IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Signal Processing, IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications, and IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing. He is the lead co-editor of three books on radar: Signal Processing for Joint Radar-Communications (Wiley-IEEE Press, 2024), Next-Generation Cognitive Radar Systems (IET Press Radar, Electromagnetics & Signal Processing Technologies Series, 2024), and Advances in Weather Radar Volumes 1, 2 & 3 (IET Press Radar, Electromagnetics & Signal Processing Technologies Series, 2024). His research interests include radar systems, signal processing, remote sensing, and electromagnetics.

This event will be available live at SEMI, as well as over Zoom. Get to SEMI by 6:30pm to network – and enjoy great pizza and refreshments! All attendees MUST register using the Eventbrite form (see link).

Although it is very eco-friendly, growth in the wind turbine industry is slowing down. Today’s wind farms generally employ Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines (HAWTs), but their construction involves the major logistical feat of transporting huge blades (as long as 118 meters) to locations that are often remote. However, as HAWTs cannot handle the most turbulent air, they must be placed high above the ground and far apart from one another.

Promising research out of CalTech, Stanford, and other universities predicts that Vertical Axis Wind Turbines (VAWTs), which are placed less than 100 feet above the ground in wind farms under existing HAWTs, will create synergies such that the overall energy output from their simultaneous operation is greater than what each would produce on its own.

Our speaker Kevin Wolf co-founded Wind Harvest International, a new company intending to introduce VAWTs. Their latest prototype has been able to operate in turbulent conditions at the UL test facility in Texas and achieve Technology Readiness Level 7. Core to this turbine’s success is its use of a VAWT aeroelastic engineering model validated using an earlier prototype’s field data. Out of this earlier experience, the engineering team came up with nine new inventions, including an innovative hinge design that is critical for the 70-year predicted fatigue life life based on a typical 15 million rotations per year.

Come to this event and learn about this innovative technology that could revive the wind turbine industry.

The field of satellite communications (Satcom)  has seen major changes and new developments  in the last few years. Most notably, we are experiencing the emergence of very large LEO (low earth orbit) constellations, major enhancements to space defense, important developments in earth observation as well as the required support associated with the new challenges of space exploration (lunar, planetary etc.)   

The traditional GEO (geostationary orbit) satcom market is facing major changes and challenges. The technical basis of satcom is highlighted and examples of important new architectures and applications are described.

This presentation focuses on non-military applications.

Networking Night

hosted by the IEEE Orange County Section

Join us for an in-person networking event for meet-and-greet with members of the IEEE Orange County Section.

Food will be provided. Register to allow for proper planning.

(Include any dietary restrictions during registration to allow organizers to adjust orders. We'll make an effort to meet your needs, but requests are not guaranteed)

Check out the group photo from our last Networking Night in June on our website: https://r6.ieee.org/ocs/2024/06/report-networking-night-2024-june/

Leading a development team in an agile environment mirrors guiding the Fellowship of the Ring. Both require a clear vision, diverse skills, strong collaboration, adaptability to challenges, and a foundation of trust and respect. This talk will explore how principles from the Lord of the Rings can be applied to agile practices, illustrating how unity and perseverance drive successful development teams.

Join us for an inspiring and empowering virtual panel discussion on Project Management and Career Advancement, part of our celebration for Women in Engineering Day! 🌟. The panel will share their expertise and insights on effective leadership, project management, and career development for women in the engineering sector.

📅 Date: July 6
🕙 Time: 10:00 AM (Hawaii time)
📍 Location: Online

#womeninengineeringday #IEEEWIEDay #WIELead #womenempowerment

#engineer #IEEE #stem

Join us for a session on Smart Manufacturing. What makes a factory Smart? See how automation and robotics play a key role in the seemless operation of a smart manufacturing plant. 

🚀 BEHawaii, a Hawaii nonprofit organization, empowers and elevates Hawaiiʻs people by raising awareness and providing support to create prosperity.

This workshop will present our initiative, the Lei Poina’ole Project, to support the sustainable growth and longevity of Hawaii's lei industry through community partnerships, educational programs, and a network of growers, makers, and vendors.

• Refreshments provided
• Lei-making session

#BusinessImprovement #BEHawaii #leiindustry #nonprofit #IEEEIndustry #IEEEWomeninEngineering

This a meeting to plan Life Member events.

Please drop in on this virtual meeting or send email.

eugene.chang@ieee.org

Analytical Strategies for Battery Reliability and Safety: A Lifecycle Perspective

Ensuring the stability and longevity of batteries is paramount. In this presentation we will dive into the critical points of stability and lifecycle testing which are essential for advancing battery performance and safety.

Hosted by Simon Taylor, Segment Business Development Manager (Battery Technology) at METTLER TOLEDO, this session will explore the significance of thermal stability, electrolyte integrity, and material degradation. Simon leverages over 20 years of experience in analytical chemistry and product management to drive strategic solutions in the battery industry.

We will highlight how Analytical techniques such as Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA), Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), Karl Fischer titration, pH measurement and UV-Vis spectroscopy are utilized to assess and enhance battery reliability and lifespan. We will also discuss the integration of LabX software in streamlining testing processes, ensuring compliance with industry standards.

Additionally, we will briefly spotlight the new collaboration between ABB Robotics and METTLER TOLEDO, which aims to boost laboratory and at-line testing through enhanced automation, driving efficiency and productivity for customers in rapid scale-up cycles.

This presentation is an excellent opportunity for professionals and researchers to gain valuable insights into the essential aspects of battery lifecycle testing, driving innovation and sustainability in battery technologies.

Join us for a session on battery technologies. What is the best battery type for your application? Battery energy storage systems, cell phones, EV, electric airplanes, data centers, and long haul trucking vehicles. What types of materials make the best battery? What types of batteries have the longest charge? Longest life? most economical $$? Where do old batteries go? How to monitor the health of your battery? Find out this and more today as we take a deep dive into battery technologies. 

IEEE Women in Engineering Oregon Section and Hawaii Section Affinity Group are teaming up to host a dynamic panel discussion a panel discussion titled,  "Fostering Inclusive Workplaces: Building a Culture of Diversity and Equality in Engineering through Advocacy and Allyship ," to celebrate the 2024 IEEE WIE Day.

We, IEEE Women in Engineering Oregon Section and Hawaii Section AG, are dedicated to promoting diversity and inclusion within the engineering community. We believe that creating inclusive workplaces is essential for fostering a thriving and innovative industry through the advancement of AI and 4IR technologies. 

The panel discussion will explore various strategies for promoting diversity and equality in engineering for the advancement of AI and 4IR technologies, with a focus on advocacy and allyship. 

Let’s encourage each other to support the advancement of women in STEM across the globe!

*Hybrid event but in-person attendance encouraged - opportunity to meet and greet the distinguished lecturer as well as local IEEE ExCom members!  

With the prosperity of edge computing, massive users and devices at the network edge are more actively involved in the networks, pushing the information collection, computation, storage, and communications more towards end users. In these more decentralized systems, how to enable efficient and trustworthy interactions among different parties becomes an essential issue. 

Blockchain has been considered as a promising approach to facilitate the establishment of decentralized trustworthy computing systems with non-repudiated information records. For example, Bitcoin has attracted wide attention as a secure and decentralized platform to enable peer-to-peer exchanges of digital currency. Ethereum then generalizes blockchain as a state machine and enables smart contracts, a piece of code that can support complex logic and be self-executed when certain conditions are met. Such generalization enables blockchain to potentially serve as a computing infrastructure and opens new opportunities for blockchain to facilitate secure and decentralized interactions among any parties without making high trust assumptions about them.

In this talk, we will discuss some key characteristics of blockchain and a few promising applications of blockchain that can facilitate security and trust among multiple parties. Some examples include designing a secure and efficient multi-signature scheme to facilitate multi-party approval process on Fabric, an enterprise blockchain platform; applying blockchain to secure software updates for resource-constrained IoT networks; and to facilitate fair trading in transactive energy market.

Our speaker this month will be Micah Rolfe of PdM Specialists. He will be talking about maintaining and improving lab machinery for accuracy, reliability and longevity. Both EMC and Product Safety use large equipment for performing tests, and knowing how and why equipment performance degrades over time can greatly impact how we budget for and approach equipment maintenance, as well as a framework on what to plan for future installations of new equipment. 

The discovery, then invention, of the transistor sits almost exactly midway between Ferdinand Braun’s discovery of solid-state rectification in 1874 and the modern era of gigascale ICs. As with other epoch-shattering inventions, the story of the transistor isn’t quite as neatly linear as some recountings might suggest. Very few EEs have ever heard of Mervin Kelly, although we all owe our jobs to him. This talk will try to right that wrong, as well as answer questions such as, “What really led Bob Noyce to create the planar integrated circuit?” Retracing some of the steps of the pioneers generates important insights into the nature of innovation, and teaches us valuable lessons about the critical role of a very few visionaries and how “the will to think” can allow luck to prevail. As the 75th (+ epsilon) anniversary of the transistor dovetails with the end of lithographic scaling, we find ourselves on the threshold of a major technological discontinuity. Studying the story of previous ones just might provide us with our best guide to the next.