IEEE Region8 News Dec 2013 | Page 3

region news ‘Wise and friendly counsel’ – Remshardt remembered WITH the passing of Rolf Remshardt, IEEE lost one of its most highly valued volunteers. His sudden death, only weeks after he was a special guest at the 50th Anniversary celebrations of Region 8 in Madrid, came as a terrible shock to his many friends across IEEE. For 30 years he was an outstanding example of selfless and ethical service to our Institute. He was a major influence in policy-making: eight regional directors benefitted from his wise and friendly advice. His stewardship as treasurer of the Region’s finances for 15 years enabled a huge expansion of its activities, underpinned by As Region 8 director, Rolf Remshardt laid the foundations for the Region’s rapid expansion into Eastern Europe and the Middle East the substantial reserves he built up by careful investment and budget controls. Rolf Remshardt earned a Diplom-Ingenieur degree and a PhD in electrical engineering from the Technical University in Stuttgart, Germany. He began his career at IBM in 1967, working as a development engineer, designing integrated circuits and semiconductor chips. Rolf joined IEEE as a Senior Member in 1983, and was elected Region 8 treasurer. Rolf quickly demonstrated his skill in managing the complexities of dealing with many different currencies and exchange controls, in an era before credit cards became universal. He was elected Region 8 director (1999–2000) at a time during which there was a rapid expansion in IEEE activity in Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Under his wise counsel, the problems of IEEE membership in the ‘low-income’ countries were dealt with very effectively. This laid the foundations for the success of the enlarged Region 8 as it reached its 50th year. From 37 original submissions, just five authors were left to battle it out at the Oral Finals in Zagreb Student Paper Contest finals take place at EUROCON 2013 THE Region 8 Student Paper Contest, running for more than 45 years, is the traditional and probably the oldest IEEE student activity in the Region. The SPC is designed for student members and graduates who have yet to start on their PhD. Some 37 student papers were accepted and graded, with contestants coming from 22 Sections and 34 different Student Branches. The first phase finished in March, with the selection of the best five papers for Oral Finals. They were from ISCTE University Institute of Lisbon (Portugal), Isfahan University of Technology (Iran), KU Leuven (Benelux), Technische Universiteit Eindhoven (Benelux) and Technical University of Munich (Germany). The second phase, the Oral Finals, were held in Zagreb, Croatia, on 1 July, during EUROCON 2013. The Jury awarded three prizes from the IEEE Life Member Fund: first prize to Maarten Van de Put from KU Leuven (Benelux Section), second prize to Saeed Karimimehr from Isfahan University of Technology (Iran Section) and third prize to Diego Marmsoler from Technical University of Munich (Germany Section). The KU Leuven Student Branch also won the IEEE Region 8 Dick Poortvliet Award. All of the finalists’ papers were included in the EUROCON 2013 Proceedings. George Paunovic SPC coordinator Rolf also served on many IEEE boards and committees, including the IEEE Foundation as a director and vice-president for projects. He was honoured by IEEE through the Larry K Wilson Transnational Award (2002) and the RAB Achievement Award (2006). We mourn the loss of one of IEEE’s finest volunteers, and share the grief of his wife Renate and son Marc. We will all miss Rolf, as a friend and colleague, and as a happy companion. Kurt R Richter Region 8 director 1991–1992 Charles W Turner Region 8 director 1993-1994 Galway academic recognised for outstanding achievement GER ARD Hurley, a professor of electrical engineering at the National University of Ireland, Galway, received the IEEE Power Electronics society’s RD Middlebrook Outstanding Technical Achievement Award at a ceremony in Denver, Colorado, USA. Professor Hurley received the 2013 award to acknowledge his pioneering contributions to high frequency magnetic design, modelling of magnetic components and analysis of planar magnetic devices for power electronic applications. His work was essential to the development of electrical power supplies for smartphones. He graduated from University College, Cork, in 1974 and from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1976, and was awarded the DEng degree by the National Prof Hurley (right) with IEEE president Dr Peter Staecker at the Award Ceremony in Denver University of Ireland in 2011. His work is acknowledged worldwide, and he published Transformers and Inductors for Power Electronics, Theory, Design and Applications. He is a Fellow of Engineers Ireland and a Fellow of the IEEE. This award is dedicated to the memory of Dr R David Middlebrook, one of the founders of modern power electronics analysis and design. Gerard Hurley Helping SBs and conferences: Technical Activities update THIS year, we’ve been really active in promoting and supporting technical activities within Region 8. The Chapter Coordination Subcommittee was increased to include a new position to oversee Student Branch chapters. Workshops and a webinar were organised to promote the awareness of these and, at the Region 8 Committee meeting in Sarajevo, it was decided to award a ‘Best Student Branch Chapter of the Year’, starting in 2014. The Conference Coordination Subcommittee published a handbook to help conference organisers. It also conducted some webinars to increase volunteers’ awareness about the systems and procedures for organising a conference. We’ve seen a growth in the number of conferences requesting support of the Region, and an increase of satisfaction with the service. In 2013, there were mor e than 450 IEEE sponsored conferences in Region 8. The Educational Activities Subcommittee was very active in organising workshops and increasing consciousness of the teacher in-service programme and EPICS-in-IEEE. Webinars are held on current technologies to support the lifelong learning experience of members. A new IEEE Academic project has just been launched which will provide a web-based platform of online education materials for students in different languages. The Industry Relations Subcommittee has been working to strengthen the ties between industry and IEEE Region 8. This was done by promoting membership in industry and attracting support for activities. I would like to thank all the volunteers involved in the Technical Activities subcommittees for their great work. Carl James Debono Region 8 vice-chair for Technical Activities IEEE Region 8 News  December 2013  3