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Pittsburgh
Section
Bulletin
October 2014 Volume 63, No. 10
Included in this issue:
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Beck’s Bytes ......................................................................................................................................... 2
Magnetic Materials in Medicine: Applications in Diagnosis, Management, and Treatment ..... 3
High Temperature Fuel Cells - Combined Heat & Power For Mission Critical Facilities ......... 4
Aggregator-Based Resource Allocation Technique for Demand Response in the Smart Grid 6
Plasma Speakers: A Theoretical and Practical Demonstration .................................................... 7
IPCC2014 – October 13-15 ................................................................................................................ 8
Silicon Spintronics .............................................................................................................................. 9
Estimating the net reservoir emissions for future Amazonian reservoirs.............................. 10
Tour of Eaton Power Systems Experience Center ...................................................................... 11
Smart Grid – An Introduction to Medium Voltage Utility Power Line Sensors ...................... 13
Editor: Philip Cox, p.e.cox@ieee.org; Contributors: Jim Beck, Tom Dionise, Gabriela Hug, Joe
Kalasky, Matthew Moneck, Balaji Palanisamy, Kal Sen, Dave Vaglia and Matthew Valenti
All announcements for publication in a particular month’s bulletin are due to the Editor by the 20th of the
previous month. The accuracy of the published material is not guaranteed. If there is any error, please bring it to
the Editor’s attention. The Section’s web site, https://webinabox.vtools.ieee.org/wibp_home/index/r20037, has
recent issues of the bulletin and lots of other useful information
IEEE Pittsburgh Section Bulletin October 2014 Volume 63 No. 10
Page 1 of 14
 Beck’s Bytes
Section
Chair - Dr. Jim Beck, jebeck@ieee.org
Greetings! Did you know that the IEEE Pittsburgh
Section also has a subsection? It's called the Upper
Monongahela subsection, and its activities are centered
in Morgantown at West Virginia University. They have
been affiliated with us for many years and have been
quite active. This year, the chair of the Upper Mon
subsection is Gianfranco Doretto, and the director of
our IEEE Region (R2), Parviz Famouri, is also a
member from the subsection.
Each year, we have a tradition of co-hosting our
October excom with our Upper Mon colleagues on the
WVU campus. This is combined with a technical
seminar and is a great opportunity for us to get together.
This year, the meeting is on Thursday, October 16. The
technical seminar is being co-sponsored by the SSIT
chapter and the talk is on plasma speaker technology.
Details can be found in the bulletin. You are invited to
join us, and I hope you take advantage of this
opportunity to meet and mingle with our Upper Mon
colleagues.
I would also like to give a shout out to all of the IEEE
volunteers who helped make the IEEE Energy
Conversion Congress & Expo a great success. This
event took place last month at the David Lawrence
Convention Center. We're proud to host events like this
in Pittsburgh, and thankful for both the organizers and
volunteers who helped pull it off.
Vice Chair -- Frank Pietryga, fwp@pitt.edu
Treasurer – Jim Lagree, JamesLLagree@Eaton.com
Secretary – Dr. George Gao, zhigao@ieee.org
Immediate Past Chair – Dr. Louis Hart, louishart@ieee.org
Awards Chair – Dr. Ralph Sprang, rsprang@ieee.org
Webmaster – Gerry Kumnik, g.kumnik@computer.org
UpperMon Subsection
Chair: Dr. Gianfranco Doretto,
Gianfranco.Doretto@mail.wvu.edu
Chapters
Communications Society – Chair: Dr. Balaji Palanisamy,
bpalan@pitt.edu; Sec: Phil Cox, p.e.cox@ieee.org
Computer Society – Chair: Dr. Ralph Sprang,
rsprang@ieee.org
Components, Packaging, and Manufacturing
Technology/Electron Devices Societies – Russell Dudek,
russell.dudek.us@ieee.org; Treas.: Dr. Louis Hart
Engineering In Medicine & Biology Society
Chair: Dr. Wei Wang, wangwei3@pitt.edu
Electromagnetic Compatibility Society
Chair: Michael J. Oliver
emi@majr.com (814) 763-3211
Power Electronics Society – Chair: Dr. Kal Sen,
senkk@ieee.org
Power & Energy & Industry Applications Societies
Chair: Dave Vaglia, davevaglia@ieee.org; Past: Mey Sen,
senml@ieee.org 412-373-0117
Magnetics Society – Chair: Dr. Matt Moneck,
mmoneck@andrew.cmu.edu
Nanotechnology Society - Chair: Dr. MinheeYun
yunmh@engr.pitt.edu
Robotics Society – Chair: Gene Kern, geneKern@ieee.org
Signal Processing Society – Chair: Dr. Deniz Gencaga
d.gencaga@ieee.org
Society on Social Implications of Technology
Chair: Joe Kalasky, P.E., j.kalasky@ieee.org 724-244-1609
Last but not least, we still have an open leadership
position, chair of the IEEE life member affinity group.
If you or someone you know is interested please
volunteer.
Thanks, and have a great month!
Affinity Groups
Young Professionals (formerly GOLD) – Chair: Kristopher
Mascher, krismascher@gmail.com
Life Member – Chair: Open
Women In Engineering – Chair: Dr. Gabriela Hug
ghug@ece.cmu.edu
Committees
Jim Beck, Pittsburgh Section Chair, 2014
Consultants Network – Dr. George Crawford,
gwc2gwc2@gmail.com
Professional/Career Activities (PACE)
Chair: Joe Cioletti, P.E. jcioletti@ieee.org
Student Activities – Dr. Irvin Jones, irjones@ieee.org
Membership Development – Steve Mozelewski,
Steve.Mozelewski@gmail.com
Publicity – Chair: Thomas Dionise, P.E.
ThomasJDionise@eaton.com (724) 779-5864
IEEE Pittsburgh Section Bulletin October 2014 Volume 63 No. 10
Page 2 of 14
 Magnetic Materials in Medicine: Applications in Diagnosis,
Management, and Treatment of Disease
IEEE Distinguished Lecturer Seminar
This seminar is Co-Sponsored by:
Pittsburgh Chapter of the IEEE Magnetics Society
Department of Physics, Carnegie Mellon University
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University
Speaker:
Date:
Time:
Location:
Room:
Tim St. Pierre, School of Physics, The University of Western Australia
October 10, 2014
4:00PM
Carnegie Mellon University
Doherty Hall A302
Abstract: Scientists working in the field of magnetic materials are
increasingly focusing their attention on new applications of magnetic
detection and magnetic transduction techniques in the biomedical sciences.
Iron is a key functional element in the human body and surpasses all other
naturally occurring elements in the body in terms of both the variety and
magnitudes of its magnetic states. In many diseases, the quantity and the
magnetic state of iron are altered by the disease. Hence, detecting and
measuring the magnetic properties of the iron in vivo or in samples of body
fluids can give insights into the state of health of a human subject.
Example applications include assessing the risk of organ damage in
hereditary hemochromatosis [1], determining the dose of iron chelator
drugs required for patients with thalassemia [2], and identifying infectious
forms of the malarial parasite in finger-prick blood samples [3]. Scientists
are also working on the development of synthetic magnetic particles that
can be injected into the human body for the diagnosis and treatment of
disease. The particles used are generally in the size range of 10 to 100 nm. They can be used to enhance
the contrast in magnetic resonance images to help identify tumors in tissue [4], to act as local heat
sources to treat cancer [5], and to carry, concentrate, and release drugs more specifically than drugs
without a magnetic carrier [6]. In this presentation, the physical and chemical principles behind these
biomedical applications and their impact on medicine will presented at a level suitable for a generalist
audience.
[1] Olynyk, J.K., et al., Duration of Hepatic Iron Exposure Increases the Risk of Significant Fibrosis in
Hereditary Hemochromatosis: A New Role for Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Am J
Gastroenterology, 2005. 100(4): p. 837-841.
[2] Taher, A., et al., Deferasirox significantly reduces iron overload in non-transfusion-dependent
thalassemia: 1-year results from a prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study.
Blood, 2012.
[3] Karl, S., et al., Plasmodium Falciparum And Plasmodium Vivax Gametocyte Clearance In
Melanesian Children Determined By Magnetic Fractionation Illustrates Species-Specific Differences
IEEE Pittsburgh Section Bulletin October 2014 Volume 63 No. 10
Page 3 of 14
In Malaria Transmission. American Journal of Hematology, 2013. 88(5): p. E117-E117.
[4] Sun, C., J.S.H. Lee, and M. Zhang, Magnetic nanoparticles in MR imaging and drug delivery.
Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews, 2008. 60(11): p. 1252-1265.
[5] Maier-Hauff, K., et al., Efficacy and safety of intratumoral thermotherapy using magnetic iron-oxide
nanoparticles combined with external beam radiotherapy on patients with recurrent glioblastoma
multiforme. Journal of Neuro-Oncology, 2011. 103(2): p. 317-324.
[6] Mejías, R., et al., Dimercaptosuccinic acid-coated magnetite nanoparticles for magnetically guided in
vivo delivery of interferon gamma for cancer immunotherapy. Biomaterials, 2011. 32(11): p. 29382952.
Biography: Professor Tim St Pierre heads the BioMagnetics Research Group in the School of Physics
at The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia. He trained at the University of Liverpool, UK,
gaining a BSc with Honours in 1983 and a PhD in 1986. Following postdoctoral positions at Murdoch
University in Western Australia, he was appointed to the faculty at The University of Western Australia
in 1995. Professor St Pierre’s main scientific interests are in the application of physics to medicine and
biotechnology. His research focuses on applications of magnetic measurement and characterization
techniques for the non-invasive characterization of iron in biological systems. He and his team
developed the non-invasive liver iron measurement technology, FerriScan®, which has been
commercialised and used in over 20,000 patient measurements in hospitals around the world. He is
currently working on magnetic methods for detection of parasites in human blood and fecal matter. He
has published over 150 peer reviewed papers in the fields of iron and magnetism in biology,
biotechnology, and medicine in journals such as Blood, Circulation, Magnetic Resonance in Medicine,
Gastroenterology, and Magnetic Resonance Imaging. In 2010 he won a Clunies Ross Award from the
Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering for his work on non-invasive
measurement of tissue iron deposits.
 High Temperature Fuel Cells - Combined Heat & Power For Mission
Critical Facilities
Speaker:
Location:
Date:
Time:
Sponsor:
RSVP:
S. Faruq Ahmed, PE
Westinghouse Electric Company, 1000 Westinghouse Dr., Cranberry Township
14-October-2014 (Tuesday)
6:15-7:00 PM - Light Dinner, 7:00-8:30 PM - Presentation, Q & A
PES/IAS Chapter
Please respond by October 13th - Click Here to Register to Attend:
https://meetings.vtools.ieee.org/m/28843
IEEE Pittsburgh Section Bulletin October 2014 Volume 63 No. 10
Page 4 of 14
Abstract: On-site power generation coupled with the use of reject heat is called Combined Heat Power
(CHP) technology. The efficiency of fuel use with CHP technology is over 70% compared to less than
35% for central power generation. One of the ion-site power generation technology is high temperature
fuel cell. These fuel cells use reactants such as carbon mono oxide and oxygen (from the air) at high
temperature. The fuel source is natural gas although any other source that can provide the reactant gas
can be used. The exhaust gases from such a fuel cell are at 850 deg C (1500 deg F). The power
generation efficiency of the fuel cell is about 47%. The overall fuel use efficiency is close to 80% if the
reject heat can be utilized. The high temperature reject heat is utilized in a cascade manner. The
exhaust from the fuel cell is first used in an expander turbine to generate additional power. The exhaust
of the turbine is used to power a desiccant (or absorption) cooling system. The exhaust of the cooling
equipment is used to heat service hot water. Such a cascade heat utilization has been evaluated for use
in a mission critical facility – the research lab. The applications for such system will be presented for
ten different climates across the United States. Detailed information will be presented for very cold
climate (Minneapolis) and very hot and humid climate (Houston The environmental impact of using
CHP fuel cell system is extremely small compared to the central generation of power.
Biography: Faruq Ahmed is a senior engineer at Gaven Industries in Saxonburg, Pennsylvania. His
applied research interests encompass many engineering disciplines. He has designed many HEMP
shielded facilities for the United States Military and other Federal Agencies. He also works on applied
research projects including RF shielding, magnetic shielding, mission-critical facilities, healthcare
facilities, research labs, nano fabrication facilities and more. Prior to this position, Faruq was an
engineering Principal for 39 years at Burt Hill , an International Architectural and Engineering firm. He
holds a Masters degree in Engineering from Colorado State University. Faruq had also served as solar
and renewable energy consultant to the World Bank and has developed many projects for the developing
countries. His applied research experience at Burt Hill included solar and renewable energy projects for
many Federal and State Agencies including US DOE, US Postal service, Department of Interior, Soil
Conservation Service, US Fish and wild Life Service, Army Corps of Engineers, International Energy
Agency (IEA) and others.
DIRECTIONS TO WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC COMPANY, CRANBERRY
Directions from the South: Take 79 North to the route 228 east exit. Stay in right lane and drive by
Marriott Hotel (on right). Turn right into Cranberry Woods facility and stay in left lane. Make first left
into Westinghouse Headquarters and drive straight through roundabout. Please park in the visitors
parking places that are located on either side of the entry road.
Directions from the East: Take the PA Turnpike (I-76) West following signs for Ohio / I-76 W. Take
Exit 28 and follow I-79 N toward Erie. Stay in the entrance lane (right lane) and immediately take Exit
78, PA-228 Cranberry/Mars. Turn right onto PA-228 E toward Mars. Turn right onto Cranberry Woods
Drive. Take immediate left at Westinghouse sign and drive straight through roundabout. Please park in
the visitors parking places that are located on either side of the entry road.
IEEE Pittsburgh Section Bulletin October 2014 Volume 63 No. 10
Page 5 of 14
 An Aggregator-Based Resource Allocation Technique for Demand
Response in the Smart Grid
Speaker:
Date:
Time:
Place:
RSVP:
Organizer:
Siddharth Suryanarayanan, Ph.D.
Friday, Oct. 17, 2014
11:00 AM – 12:00 PM
G102 Engineering Sciences Building (ESB)
West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV
Matthew Valenti, Valenti@ieee.org
Upper Mon Subsection
Abstract: We utilize a for-profit aggregator-based residential demand response (DR) approach to the
Smart Grid resource allocation problem. The aggregator entity, using a given set of schedulable
residential customer assets (e.g., smart appliances), must set a schedule to optimize for a given objective.
Here, we consider optimizing for the profit of the aggregator. To encourage customer participation in the
residential DR program, a new pricing structure named customer incentive pricing is proposed. To
validate our heuristic framework, we simulate the optimization of a large-scale system consisting of
5,555 residential customer households and 56,642 schedulable assets using real pricing data over a
period of 24-hours. We show that by optimizing purely for economic reasons, the aggregator can enact a
beneficial change on the load profile of the overall power system.
Speaker Bio: Siddharth Suryanarayanan is an Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical
and Computer Engineering at Colorado State University where he teaches and conducts sponsored
research in the area of electric power systems. He is the author of 24 journal publications, 45 conference
proceedings, and numerous technical reports and white papers. He is a senior member of the IEEE and
actively contributes to the Power & Energy Society (PES). He obtained his Ph.D. in electrical
engineering in 2004 from Arizona State University. More information on his research and teaching can
be found here: http://www.engr.colostate.edu/~ssuryana/.
IEEE Pittsburgh Section Bulletin October 2014 Volume 63 No. 10
Page 6 of 14
IEEE Society for Social Implications of Technology
in conjunction with
IEEE Upper Monongahela Subsection present
 Plasma Speakers: A Theoretical and Practical Demonstration
Date and Time:
Location:
RSVP:
Presenters:
Thursday October 16, at 6:30 PM
West Virginia University , Lecture Hall: ESB-E 801 (Engineering Sciences
Building)
WVU Students and Staff: to Dr. Gianfranco Doretto:
Gianfranco.Doretto@mail.wvu.edu
All others to: Joe Kalasky(SSIT Chair) j.kalasky@ieee.org or 724-244-1609
by Monday, October 13, 2014.
Cliff Walters and Benjamin Clark
Messrs Walters and Clark are recent graduates of the B.S. in Electrical Engineering Technology
program as California State University. During their final year at CSU and in the years subsequent they
have designed, build and demonstrated a unique version of a plasma speaker. They have given their
slideshow and hands-on demonstration of the Plasma Speaker in several venues and have rave reviews.
The IEEE is fortunate to come across this exceptional presentation.
Content:
Plasma speakers are a form of loudspeaker which varies air pressure via a high-energy electrical plasma
instead of a solid diaphragm. Connected to the output of an audio amplifier, plasma speakers vary the
size of a plasma glow discharge, corona discharge or electric arc which then acts as a massless radiating
element, creating the compression waves in air that listeners perceive as sound.
The effect takes advantage of two unique principles. Firstly, ionization of gases causes their electrical
resistance to drop significantly, making them extremely efficient conductors, which allows them to
vibrate sympathetically with magnetic fields. Secondly, the involved plasma, itself a field of ions, has a
relatively negligible mass. Thus as current frequency varies, more-resistant air remains mechanically
coupled with and is driven by vibration of the more conductive and essentially massless plasma,
radiating a potentially ideal reproduction of the sound source.
Thus plasma speakers have an extremely improved clarity and frequency range over conventional
diaphragm speaker. The presentation will include a live demonstration of the glowing plasma speaker.
IEEE Pittsburgh Section Bulletin October 2014 Volume 63 No. 10
Page 7 of 14
 IPCC2014 – October 13-15
IEEE Pittsburgh Section Bulletin October 2014 Volume 63 No. 10
Page 8 of 14
 Silicon Spintronics
IEEE Distinguished Lecturer Seminar
This seminar is Co-Sponsored by:
Pittsburgh Chapter of the IEEE Magnetics Society
Department of Physics, Carnegie Mellon University
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University
Speaker:
Date:
Time:
Location:
Room:
Ron Jansen, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST),
Tsukuba, Japan
October 20, 2014
4:30 pm
Carnegie Mellon University
Wean Hall 7500
Abstract: Worldwide efforts are underway to create a revolutionary
and energy-efficient information technology in which digital data is
represented by the spin orientation of electrons. Implementing spin
functionality in silicon, the mainstream semiconductor, has the
potential to create broad impact. Remarkable advances in the creation
and control of spin polarization in silicon have therefore generated
much excitement. This lecture provides a transparent picture of silicon
spintronics, including the key developments and achievements, our
current understanding, as well as the unsolved puzzles and challenges
that stimulate researchers in the field.
First, the basic idea of spin-based information technology and silicon
spintronics is introduced. Ferromagnets have non-volatile memory functionality, whereas
semiconductors provide amplification and transistor action. What if we integrate ferromagnets and
silicon — magnetic memory and logic computing? Then the main building blocks are described: one
needs to be able to create spin polarization in the silicon, to manipulate it, and thereafter detect the spins.
The generation of a spin flow by electrical means (driven by a bias voltage) or thermal means (driven by
a heat flow) are discussed. Ferromagnetic tunnel contacts are shown to provide a robust method to do
this, at room temperature. The lecture concludes with a prospect on future developments, which
certainly includes more surprises as silicon spintronics comes of age.
[1] R. Jansen, Silicon spintronics, Nature Materials 11, 400-408 (2012).
[2] J.C. Le Breton, S. Sharma, H. Saito, S. Yuasa and R. Jansen, Thermal spin current from a
ferromagnet to silicon by Seebeck spin tunnelling, Nature 475, 82-85 (2011).
[3] S.P. Dash, S. Sharma, R.S. Patel, M.P. de Jong and R. Jansen, Electrical creation of spin
polarization in silicon at room temperature, Nature 462, 491-494 (2009).
IEEE Pittsburgh Section Bulletin October 2014 Volume 63 No. 10
Page 9 of 14
Biography: Dr. Ron Jansen received a PhD in Experimental Physics from the University of Nijmegen
(The Netherlands) in 1997, and was a postdoctoral associate at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology (MIT, Cambridge, USA). After that he moved to the University of Twente (The
Netherlands), where he became a tenured assistant professor, associate professor, leader of the
NanoElectronics Research Chair and group leader with the Netherlands Foundation for Fundamental
Research on Matter (FOM). Since 2010, he works at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial
Science and Technology (AIST, Tsukuba, Japan), where he is now a prime senior researcher (首席研究
員) at the Spintronics Research Center.
He has published 100+ technical articles in peer-reviewed journals, incl. book chapters and reviews, and
given more than 110+ invited scientific presentations. He received personal award grants from the Royal
Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences and from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific
Research. He served on international advisory boards and program committees of various international
conferences in magnetism (MMM, INTERMAG & joint meetings, JEMS), semiconductor devices and
spintronics. He was editor of IEEE Transactions on Magnetics and the European Journal of Applied
Physics and is a member of the IEEE Magnetics Society.
 Estimating the net reservoir emissions for future Amazonian
reservoirs under a steady state: a Monte Carlo simulation approach
Speaker:
Date/Time:
Location:
Sponsor:
Paulina Jaramillo, Department of Engineering and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon
University
Wednesday, October 22, 2014, 5pm
Porter Hall A22 on CMU Campus
Women in Engineering Society, Pittsburgh Chapter
Most of the future electricity generation expansion in Brazil is planned to come from new hydropower
plants located in the Amazon basin. This paper proposes a model to estimate future carbon emissions
and sinks of 18 recently built or planned reservoirs sited in Amazonian rivers. Based on data available in
the literature and the reservoir design documents, the model consists of a Monte Carlo simulation that
represents the steady state balance of the greenhouse gases (GHG) fluxes to the atmosphere that result
when converting a river into a reservoir. The model estimates CO 2 and CH4 production related to the
decomposition of the organic matter in Amazon reservoirs, which are emitted through the reservoir
surface, dam outlets, and the river surface downstream the dam. We also assessed the reservoir capacity
of sequestering the carbon and the natural emissions from the Amazonian rivers. Results indicate that
total net reservoir emissions are highly variable across the studied reservoirs; median values range from
60 to 780 Megatons of CO2eq in a hundred years. Median emission factors vary from 80 to 1,000 kg of
CO2eq per MWh of produced electricity across the reservoirs suggesting the new hydropower plants in
the Amazon might have values that are comparable to the GHG emissions factor of fossil fuel power
plants.
IEEE Pittsburgh Section Bulletin October 2014 Volume 63 No. 10
Page 10 of 14
Paulina Jaramillo, PhD, has a bachelor’s in civil and environmental engineering
from Florida International University (2003), as well as a master's and PhD in civil
and environmental engineering with an emphasis in green design from Carnegie
Mellon University (2004 and 2007, respectively). Her past research focused on life
cycle assessment of energy systems with an emphasis on climate change impacts
and mitigation research. As a professor at Carnegie Mellon University, she is
currently involved in key multi-disciplinary research projects to better understand
the social, economic, and environmental implications of policy-driven changes in
the operation of the energy system. She was also the executive director of the
RenewElec project, which looked at challenges and opportunities for the largescale integration of variable and intermittent renewable resources into the U.S.
power system. This project ended in 2014 with the publication of a book.
 Tour of Eaton Power Systems Experience Center
Speakers:
Daniel J. Carnovale, PE, Manager and Thomas J. Dionise, PE, Power Quality Advisory
Engineer, Eaton Corp., Power System Engineering Department
Date:
October 23, 2014
Time:
Social/light dinner 6:30 PM, Program 7:00 PM
Place:
Eaton Power Systems Experience Center
130 Commonwealth Drive, Warrendale, PA 15086
RSVP:
Required to Mey Sen (senml@ieee.org) by October 16, 2014 with each attendee’s
Name, Affiliation, email, and phone number. If you would like to receive PDH, please bring a copy of
this announcement for verification of your attendance. A non-Member who would like to receive PDH is
required to pay $10 to “IEEE Pittsburgh Section.” A Member who would like to receive PDH is required
to show membership ID.
Organizer:
Power Electronics Society (PELS) and Society on Social Implications of Technology
(SSIT)
Abstract: At the Power Systems Experience Center
(PSEC),
Eaton’s
full-scale
laboratory
and
demonstration facility in Warrendale, visitors can see
firsthand the latest advances in electrical power
quality, energy management and safety. In this
controlled environment, visitors observe product
testing and performance, participate in live
demonstrations and learn about power management
technologies from Eaton experts. Special emphasis
will be given to demonstration of power quality
problems, including energy efficiency, harmonic
issues, voltage disturbances such as sags and surges, as well as the appropriate hardware and system
solutions.
IEEE Pittsburgh Section Bulletin October 2014 Volume 63 No. 10
Page 11 of 14
Speakers: Tom Dionise is a Power Quality Advisor Engineer with Eaton Corporation in the Power
System Engineering Department. He has over 30 years of power system experience involving analytical
studies and power quality investigations of industrial and commercial power systems. In the metals
industry, he has specialized in power quality investigations, harmonic analysis and harmonic filter
design for electric arc furnaces, rectifiers and VFD applications. He is an instructor for Eaton’s Power
Quality Monitoring Class and Harmonic Analysis Class. He is a Senior Member of the IEEE, Chair of
the Metal Industry Committee, and member of the Generator Grounding Working Group. Tom has
served in local IEEE positions, and had an active role in the committee that planned the IAS 2002
Annual Meeting in Pittsburgh, PA. He is a licensed Professional Engineer in PA, and received a MSEE
from Carnegie Mellon University in 1984 and a BSEE from Pennsylvania State University 1982.
Daniel J. Carnovale, PE developed and is the manager of Eaton’s Power Systems Experience Center
(PSEC – www.eaton.com/experience) in Warrendale, PA. The PSEC is a full-scale demonstration and
test facility focused on power quality, energy management and arc flash safety. Prior to Eaton, he
worked for Westinghouse Engineering Services and ABB Power T&D where he performed Power
Quality field investigations and electrical distribution system analysis. Dan received his B.S. Degree in
Electrical Engineering from Gannon University in Erie, PA, his M.S. Degree in Power Systems from
Rensselaer Polytechnic University in Troy, NY and an MBA from Robert Morris University in
Pittsburgh. He is a registered Professional Engineer in the states of Pennsylvania, California and
Alaska, a Certified Energy Manager (CEM) and a Senior Member of IEEE.
DIRECTIONS TO EATON POWER SYSTEMS EXPERIENCE CENTER
From Pennsylvania Turnpike:
Take the PA Turnpike (I-76) to Exit #28. Follow the signs for Route 19 South. Follow Route 19 South
to 2nd traffic light. Turn right into the Thornhill Industrial Park. At the light turn right onto
Commonwealth Drive. Eaton is the third building on the left.
From Pittsburgh via I-279 and I-79 North:
Take I-279 North to I-79 North. Continue on I-79 North to the Warrendale Exit (#75). At the stop sign,
turn left, go under I-79, then turn right onto Brush Creek Road (first street on the right). Follow Brush
Creek Road approximately 1.5 miles to the 3rd traffic light. Brush Creek turns into Commonwealth
Drive at this point. Proceed straight ahead onto Commonwealth Drive. Eaton is the third building on
the left.
NOTE: Please use entrance to PSEC next to the solar parking canopy near the back of the building
IEEE Pittsburgh Section Bulletin October 2014 Volume 63 No. 10
Page 12 of 14
 Smart Grid – An Introduction to Medium Voltage Utility Power Line
Sensors
Speaker:
Date:
Time:
Place:
RSVP:
Sponsor:
Joe Trost, Director of Software Verification Test (SVT) at Tollgrade Communications,
Inc.
October 29, 2014
Meet the Speaker with Pizza at 6:30 pm; Talk will be at 7:00 pm.
University of Pittburgh, 501 IS Building (135 N Bellefield Ave, Pittsburgh, PA - 15260)
Balaji Palanisamy: bpalan@pitt.edu
Communications Society Pittsburgh Chapter
Abstract: Smart Grid reliability starts with better visibility into the backbone of the grid – the
distribution network. With distribution monitoring systems, there is better detection of faults with realtime information (e.g. type of fault, cause and location); classify different types of line disturbances; and
continuously monitor load and power quality across all three phases of a medium voltage distribution
network. Monitoring is made possible with Medium Voltage (MV) Sensors with these features:
inductively powered with flexible communications offered through cellular or Wi-Fi with operations
down to 3 amps. Key sensor measurements include: load current, fault current, electric field strength,
power factor, phase angle, sags, surges, wire temperature and harmonics. This talk will include a
demonstration of sensors from Tollgrade. We will power them up and simulate power events on the
power line so we can watch the sensor “see” the events and transmit them back to the management
station.
Bibliography: V. Joseph Trost started tinkering with computers while in high school back in 1976.
His dad had remote access to banking industry mainframes and Joe could login after hours and play
computer games. During the 1980’s Joe was a computer operator in New York City and eventually took
a job with a software consulting firm as a programmer analyst writing code on COBOL, Fortran, Pascal
and C. Late in the 80’s, Joe recognized the potential of computer networking and decided to focus his
studies on a new technology called the “Internet”. That led him to Rich Thompson and the
Telecommunications Program at the University of Pittsburgh and then to various positions at FORE
Systems, Marconi Communications, Ericsson and Tollgrade.
Joe is currently the Director of Software Verification Test (SVT) at Tollgrade Communications, Inc.
located in Cranberry Township (30 minutes North of Pittsburgh). The focus of Joe’s work at Tollgrade
is related to Quality Assurance Testing of the LightHouse (SmartGrid) Product Line. LightHouse
consists of various hardware and software products that allow the electrical utilities to monitor the status
of their distribution networks in real-time.
Prior to working at Tollgrade, Joe was the Director of ATM Engineering for Ericsson (Communications
Infrastructure Company based in Sweden). Joe’s experience in ATM Networking Technology started in
the Technical Assistance Center (TAC) at FORE Systems back in 1995. While at FORE, Joe designed
one of the largest ever ATM Networks for the National Security Agency at Fort Meade in Maryland.
Joe holds a Master of Science in Telecommunications from the University of Pittsburgh and a Bachelor
of Science in Decisions Sciences from Rider University.
IEEE Pittsburgh Section Bulletin October 2014 Volume 63 No. 10
Page 13 of 14
2014 Calendar – Meetings of IEEE Pittsburgh Section
Executive
Committee
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
June
July
August
Sept
Oct
Nov
Dec
16
Panera
Monroeville
20
Panera
Bread
Wilkins
15
Robot Car
Race
20
Panera Bread
Wexford
17
Panera Bread
Forbes Ave,
Oakland
10
Senior
Membership
15
Panera Bread
Wilkins
19
Spaghetti
Warehouse
Pittsburgh
17
Panera
Forbes Ave,
Oakland
21
Panera Bread
Forbes Ave,
Oakland
18
Spaghetti
Warehouse
16
WVU
TBD
20
Panera
Bread
Wilkins
18
Holiday
meeting
TBD
Section
Communic
ations
Computer
9
Awards
Dinner
21
Interference
29
Smart Grid
10
Quad Copter
21
EMG
Recordings
EMBS
EMCS
28
Apps Power
Grid
Power
Electronics
PES/IAS
6
Climate
Change
23 - Furnace
6
AFCIs
11
Data Center
Power
20
Rollercoasters
14-18
ECCE
15
Flywheel
16
Testing
Induction
Machines
23
Eaton Tour
14
Fuel Cells
10- Meds.
20-Silicon
Magnetics
10
Quad Copter
19- Dev.
31
Stat. Anal.
Climate vars.
Robotics
Sig.
Processing
28
Biomarkers
CPMT/ED
Social Impl
Technology
Upper Mon
Women in
Eng’ing
3
Malware
Detection
24-MWaves
12
Climate
Mitigation
31
CyberPhysical
Systems
7
Com Theory
11 - Photos
14-Astronomy
5
IoT
22
Estimating
Emissions
Life Mem.
GOLD
PACE
11
Russ
Harrison
Student Act
IEEE Pittsburgh Section Bulletin October 2014 Volume 63 No. 10
16
Speakers
23 - Eaton
17
Smart Grid
Page 14 of 14
13-15
IPCC