IEEE UAE Section

IEEE UAE Section/PES Chapter celebrates 125th Anniversary at Petroleum Institute, Abu Dhabi

As part of celebrating the 125th Anniversary of the IEEE/PES at the Petroleum Institute Abu Dhabi, IEEE PES UAE Chapter and PI organized 5 tutorials on Wednesday, October 28, 2009 on the following current Power and Energy Issues by top industry leaders.

1.Practical Lessons from Wind Farm Collector Systems and Interconnections by Wanda Reder, Vice President Power Systems Services, S&C Electric Company, Chicago, IL, USA, (President IEEE/PES)

2.Recent Trends in Substation Automation and Enterprise Data Management to Support Smart Grid applications, John Mc Donald, General Manager, General Electric (GE) Energy T&D, USA, (IEEE Division VII Director, Past President IEEE/PES)

3.What is the Smart Grid and what is Needed to Make it a Reality by Saifur Rahman, Joseph R. Loring Professor & Director, Virginia Tech Advanced Research Institute Arlington, USA, (Vice President IEEE/PES)

4.Intelligent System Strategies for Reconfiguration of Power Systems including Distributed Generation and Intentional Islanding by Noel N. Schulz, Paslay Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering, Kansas State University, Kansas, USA, (President-Elect Candidate for 2010-11, IEEE/PES)

5.HV Shunt Reactor Intelligence Protection Scheme- How It Makes Grid Smarter byMeliha B. Selak, BC Hydro, Transmission Engineering Protection& Control Planning Applications Vancouver, BC, Canada, , (Vice President IEEE/PES)

Over 120 persons attended the tutorials which included researchers, practicing engineers from ADNOC OPCOs (ADCO, ADMA, NDC, TAKREER, ZADCO, GASCO), ADWEA companies (TRANSCO, ADDC, AADC, RSB), DEWA, Saudi Electricity Company, GE, Green Energy, faculty and students from the PI and other academic institutions (MASDAR Institute of Science and Technology, HCT, Sultan Qaboos University, University of Bahrain and University of Al Fateh).

The event began with an upbeat opening ceremony. Opening speeches were delivered by Dr. Michael Ohadi (Provost and Acting President of PI), Dr. Abdurrahim El-Keib (Director of Electrical Engineering Department at the PI), Dr. Eesa Bastaki (Chair, IEEE UAE Section), Ms. Wanda Reder (President IEEE/PES), and Mr. A. Suhair , Chair of the UAE IEEE/PES Chapter. All emphasized the importance of this meeting and how it intimately addresses important current topics in the field of electric power and energy. Dr. El-Keib had his work in the area of energy and power recognized and appreciated by the IEEE/PES. He was awarded the “Outstanding Engineer of the Year Award” by the President of the IEEE/PES.

The event on 29th Oct included four seminars targeting both women engineers and those who are on track to become women engineers. The theme of the seminars was to promote and encourage attendees to strive for excellence. There were over 200 in attendance, including practicing engineers from ADNOC OPCOs (ADCO, ADMA, NDC, TAKREER, ZADCO, GASCO), ADWEA companies (TRANSCO, ADDC, AADC), DEWA, and faculty and students from the PI and other academic institutions (HCT, Al Hosn University, Zayed University, Abu Dhabi University).

The seminars were delivered by highly recognized and well accomplished women engineers. The speakers were Ms. Wanda Reder, the IEEE/PES President, Mrs. Meliha Selak, Vice President-Chapter, Mrs. Cherri Warren, Secretary, and Dr. Noel Shulz, Treasurer and President Elect 2011. Issues addressed included leadership while being a women engineer, and importance of networking and involving in professional societies.

About IEEE

The IEEE is the world's largest technical professional association, with more than 375,000 members in 160 countries, and a leading authority on technology-related matters ranging from aerospace systems, computers and telecommunications to biomedical engineering, electric power and consumer electronics. The IEEE publishes 30 percent of the world's literature in the electrical and electronics engineering and computer science fields, has developed nearly 900 active industry standards and annually sponsors more than 850 conferences worldwide. Learn how the IEEE fosters technological innovation and excellence for the benefit of humanity at http://www.ieee.org.

About IEEE UAE Section

IEEE, UAE Section was established in 1987 to participate in the development of U.A.E. and fulfill the vision perceived by the nation's leaders. It has played an essential role in widening the scope of techno-electrical and computing awareness in the society. There are more than 1200 IEEE members in the section. IEEE UAE section has four society chapters; they are Power & Energy Society chapter, Computer Society chapter, Medicine and Biology Society Chapter, and Signal Processing/Communication joint chapter, in addition to two affinity groups, WIE (Women in Engineering) and GOLD (Graduate for the last decade). Moreover, it has 13 student branches in different universities across the country. More information about the section can be found at http://www.ieee-uae.com.