Seminar Series

  • All Seminars are in NWSE 102, unless otherwise noted
  • 12:45pm-1:45pm, Lunch Served at 12:30 pm

 

November 18 , 2007 (Thursday)

International Program for Engineers, Too Good to Pass Up!
Dr. Tom Jewell

This will be an informal discussion on international programs; with the emphasis on information you need to know to apply, to participate in, and to maximize your benefit from these programs. Topics will include:
  • Why is it important for engineers to participate in some type of international program
  • Comparison of benefits from different types of programs
  • How and when to apply
  • How to be competitive
  • What you should, and should not, expect to get from an international program
  • Cultural awareness and culture shock
  • Anything else about international programs you would like to discuss.

October 11, 2007 (Thursday)

MEMS Technology - An Interdisciplinary Research Success
Dr. Becky Cortez

Many engineering challenges are best addressed by an interdisciplinary team.  MicroElectroMechanical Systems (MEMS) technology represents one area that has provided society with innovative and revolutionary products because of the cooperative research efforts of numerous engineering and scientific disciplines.  MEMS technology involves the integration of miniature mechanical structures, sensors, and electronics on a common substrate.  In this presentation, several of the commercial successes of MEMS technology will be introduced along with a general discussion of microelectronics fabrication.  The steps in “building” a MEMS device using microfabrication techniques will be outlined using radio frequency MEMS microbridges as a specific example.

October 4, 2007 (Thursday)

Biomedical Imaging at Lickenbrock Technologies
Dr. Tim Holmes

An overview of the types of biomedical imaging problems will be presented.  All of the problems involve some form of image processing.   The types of problems are lumped into two categories: (1) inverse problems and (2) analysis problem.  Inverse problems involve mathematical modeling of the physical image acquisition system to computationally invert degrading effects of noise, blur and other sources.  Analysis problems involve detecting structures in images in order to calculate measurements from them.   Product applications include the 3D visualization of corneas, automatic detection of nerves for measuring risks of diabetic neurological disease and analysis of video sequences to measure blood flow for drug therapies.

May 23, 2007 (Wednesday)

Stuff You Don't Learn in Engineering  School
Dr. Carl Selinger

This one-hour presentation discusses why engineering school can only do so much and the importance of taking personal responsibility for one's professional and career development. It then reviews findings of an engineering managers' survey -- on the relative importance of various professional soft skills to young engineers and how well they do in each skill area.  Then the presentation identifies the most important "soft" skills engineers need in order to be more effective in work and in life.

 

May 14, 2007 (Monday)

Total Architecture
Mr. Paul Brown (TIBCO Software Inc.)

Business processes and business systems have become so intertwined
that we can no longer separate the design of business processes from
the design of the business systems that support them. In this talk I
will explore the implications of this interdependency on design
methodologies and architectural styles, with particular emphasis on
service-oriented architectures (SOAs).

 

May 11, 2007 (Friday)

   The Electric Mule: GE and the Erie and Panama Canals
 Professor Morris (History Department, Union College)

The waning years of the 19th century saw a variety of efforts to reinvigorate
an Erie Canal that had been overshadowed by railroads. One such project
involved using electric power to replace the mules and horses that canal boats
relied on. The Schenectady General Electric company experimented with a variety of
prototypes on local sections of the Erie Canal; none proved practical for
use on the Erie Canal, but modified versions were put to use in the newly opened
Panama Canal.

April 26, 2007

EEG-based Brain-Computer Interfaces
Prof. François Cabestaing (LAGIS Laboratory ~ University of Lille France)

A Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) is a system that allows direct communication, i.e. without requiring muscular activity, between a person and a computer. In a BCI, cortical activity is recorded, analyzed and translated into orders sent to the computer. The two main approaches to EEG-based BCIs will be described during this seminar: asynchronous - for example analyzing sensorimotor rhythms - and synchronous - for example detecting event related potentials (ERP). A rapid review of research activities, worldwide, in EU and in France will also be presented.

 

April 5, 2007

Chief Technology Officer for Dummies
Steven Spencer (UPOC Networks)

Union alumnus Steven Spencer (BSEE 1980) will be discussing engineering lessons from the trenches of the Internet including 20 years experience with Bell Laboratories and Lucent Technologies, CTO at Pinnacor, and on the leadership board of the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association, and  product development and infrastructure deployment for his wireless messaging and marketing company, UPOC Networks.


February 1, 2007

High-Voltage SiC and GaN Power Devices

T. Paul Chow
Center for Integrated Electronics
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Troy, New York 12180-359

Silicon has long been the dominant semiconductor for switching devices for power electronics applications. Wide bandgap semiconductors, particularly SiC and GaN, have recently attracted much attention for power electronics applications because they are projected to have more than 100 times better performance than silicon. In this talk, we will review the recent progress in SiC and GaN high-voltage power switching device demonstrations as well as the device commercialization trends.

 

January 18, 2007

Ultrasound Imaging in Medicine
Howard Fidel (Schick Technologies, Inc.)

An overview of the state of the art as currently practiced in the commercial ultrasound market.  The fundamentals of the physics will be reviewed, and the technology used to create the different types of images will be discussed.
Areas covered will include:
 

1.    Ultrasound Basics
2.    Imaging Modalities
3.    Transducer types and operation
4.    Beam forming and steering
5.    Image processing

 

January 11, 2007

Getting to Know You
ECE Department Faculty

Get to know each of the faculty members in the ECE department, what his/her research and personal interests are, and who to go to for help with classes and projects.  This fun and informal seminar will introduce the department to new students and provide you with great information and resources the department has to offer.

 
Previous Seminar Series

Fall 2006

November 2, 2006

Dr. Qian Zhang (Analog Devices) on a topic related to wireless communication and information theory.

October 26, 2006

Dr. Eugene Moscovets (Bamett Institute, Boston) on a bioengineering related topic.

October 19, 2006

Justin Creticos (U Mass) on research and graduate studies including an overview of antenna engineering.

Spring 2006

May 11, 2006
Sun Spots, Black Outs and Equipment Damage, Dr. James R. Stewart
 
 
May 4, 2006
Submarine Communications: Phenomenal Cosmic Powers; Itty Bitty Living Space, William P. Craig, Undersea Warfare Center


Full 2005-06 Seminar Series