Cloud Computing – Models – Big Data vs Privacy

Speaker: Steven Woodward, CEO, Cloud Perspectives
DATE: Thursday, Dec. 04, 2014.
TIME: Refreshments, Registration and Networking: 6:00 p.m.; Seminar: 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
PLACE: Algonquin College, 1385 Woodroffe Ave., School of Advanced Technology, T-Building, Ciena Optophotonics Lab, Room T129.
PARKING: No fee after 5:00 p.m. at the Visitors’ Parking Lots 8 & 9. Please respect restricted areas.
ADMISSION: IEEE Members – Complementary; Prospective Members – $5 (incl. HST).. Registration by E-mail contacting: RaedAbdullah@ieee.org.
MORE INFO: Ottawa ComSoc/CESoc/BTS Chapter website

Abstract
Description of key cloud ecosystem models, with policy, security, and privacy considerations for 2014. Updates will be provided, largely based on NIST and the United Nations ITU-T cloud computing efforts. These updates will clarify core considerations for acquiring data, and present some of the major privacy discussions in the industry. Real-life, practical scenarios will be used to emphasize business perspectives for cloud computing, and “big data” opportunities and the benefits already quantified. In closing, an interactive exchange of ideas relating to “big data”, “openness”, and “privacy” will finish the evening. Specific action-item concepts will be generated for IEEE’s future considerations.

Bio
Steven Woodward is CEO founder of Cloud Perspectives, accelerating secured, valuefocused, governed cloud and advanced ICT solutions. He leads the NIST (National Institute of Standards for Technology under the US Department of Commerce) Cloud Carrier and Cloud Auditor Sub-Groups within the Cloud Computing Reference Architecture. He has been involved with the US Government “Cloud First” initiative under NIST since 2010, contributing and building cloud standards for: Definitions, Reference Architectures, Security, Privacy, Metrics, Carrier, Audit, Broker and Interoperability. He is also a Director with the Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) Canadian Chapter. He is a leading contributor to many other cloud standards related organizations including: TM Forum, Object Management Group – Cloud Standards Customer Council, Canadian Cloud Council, IEEE, ISO/ IEC, IFPUG and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Joint Collaboration Activity working groups. Steven also represents the Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance (CATA) at Shared Services Canada Architecture Advisory Committee.

Aggregating Forecast Functions for Next Generation

Speaker DL: Dr. Mo El-Hawary, Fellow IEEE, IEEE PES Distinguished Lecturer, Professor, Dalhousie University, Halifax
DATE: Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2014.
TIME: Refreshments, Registration and Networking: 6:00 p.m.; Seminar: 6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
PLACE: Algonquin College, 1385 Woodroffe Ave., School of Advanced Technology, T-Building, Ciena Optophotonics Lab, Room T129.
PARKING: No fee after 5:00 p.m. at the Visitors’ Parking Lots 8 & 9. Please respect restricted areas.
ADMISSION: Free. Registration by E-mail contacting: branislav@ieee.org.
MORE INFO: Ottawa ComSoc/CESoc/BTS Chapter website

Abstract
Conventional dispatch support functions perform Resource, Demand, Cost and Pricing Forecasts independently as a prelude to conducting environmental/economic dispatch in an electric power system. This approach does not acknowledge the natural interdependence of the resource and demand variables. It is then imperative to account for the coupling between forecasts and generation decisions. The advent of smart grid and the increasing share of intermittent non-hydro renewables pose some challenging problems. In this talk, some relevant questions will be posed and then some potential solutions addressed..

Bio
Mo El-Hawary is Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia. He received his B.Sc. from University of Alexandria, Egypt, and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from University of Alberta. He received the 1999 IEEE Power Engineering Educator Award, and IEEE EAB Meritorious Achievement Award in Continuing Education. He served as Chair of the Power System Operations Committee, Life Long Learning subcommittee, the Operating Economics Subcommittee and a member of the Awards Committee of PES. He is Founding Editor, Power Engineering Letters, and Associate Editor for two PES Journals. He authored ten textbooks and monographs, is Editor of the IEEE Press Power Engineering Series, and Electrical Power Engineering, McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology. He consults frequently and taught over 100 professional development offerings in numerous parts of the world. Dr. El-Hawary is a member of the IEEE Fellows Committee, and served as a member of the 2006-2007 Publications Services and Products Board, and Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Press. He served as Secretary of IEEE and member of the ExCom (2004-2005), Director Region 7 (2002-2003), and member of the Board of IEEE (2002-2005). He was also chair of IEEE Main prize Paper Awards Committee, and the IEEE Awards Board. He is a distinguished lecturer for the Power & Energy and Industry Applications Societies. He received the IEEE Canada McNaughton Medal, and the IEEE Millennium Medal.

Bayesian Methods for Sparse Signal Recovery

Speaker DL: Prof. Bhaskar D. Rao, University of California, San Diego, USA
DATE: Wednesday September 10, 2014.
TIME: Noon – 1:30PM (Pizza and soft drink will be served at 11:30AM)
PLACE: School of Information Technology and Engineering (SITE), University of Ottawa 161 Louis Pasteur, CBY-A707, Ottawa, ON
PARKING: fee. Please respect restricted areas.
ADMISSION: Free. Registration by E-mail contacting: Yifeng Zhou (yifeng.zhou@crc.gc.ca); Jun Li (jun_li71@hotmail.com).
MORE INFO: Ottawa ComSoc/CESoc/BTS Chapter website

Abstract
Compressive sensing (CS) as an approach for data acquisition has recently received much attention. In CS, the signal recovery problem from the observed data requires the solution of a sparse vector from an underdetermined system of equations. The underlying sparse signal recovery problem is quite general with many applications and is the focus of this talk. The main emphasis will be on Bayesian approaches for sparse signal recovery. We will examine sparse priors such as the super-Gaussian and student-t priors and appropriate MAP estimation methods. In particular, re-weighted l2 and re-weighted l1 methods developed to solve the optimization problem will be discussed. The talk will also examine a hierarchical Bayesian framework and then study in detail an empirical Bayesian method, the Sparse Bayesian Learning (SBL) method. If time permits, we will also discuss Bayesian methods for sparse recovery problems with structure; Intra-vector correlation in the context of the block sparse model and inter-vector correlation in the context of the multiple measurement vector problem..

Bio
Bhaskar D. Rao received the B.Tech. degree in electronics and electrical communication engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India, in 1979 and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, in 1981 and 1983, respectively. Since 1983, he has been with the University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, where he is currently a Professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering department. He is the holder of the Ericsson endowed chair in Wireless Access Networks and was the Director of the Center for Wireless Communications (2008-2011). Prof. Rao’s interests are in the areas of digital signal processing, estimation theory, and optimization theory, with applications to digital communications, speech signal processing, and biomedical signal processing. Prof. Rao was elected fellow of IEEE in 2000 for his contributions to the statistical analysis of subspace algorithms for harmonic retrieval. His work has received several paper awards; 2013 best paper award at the Fall 2013, IEEE Vehicular Technology Conference for the paper “Multicell Random Beamforming with CDF-based Scheduling: Exact Rate and Scaling Laws,” by Yichao Huang and Bhaskar D Rao, 2012 Signal Processing Society (SPS) best paper award for the paper “An Empirical Bayesian Strategy for Solving the Simultaneous Sparse Approximation Problem,” by David P. Wipf and Bhaskar D. Rao published in IEEE Transaction on Signal Processing, Volume: 55, No. 7, July 2007, 2008 Stephen O. Rice Prize paper award in the field of communication systems for the paper “Network Duality for Multiuser MIMO Beamforming Networks and Applications,” by B. Song, R. L. Cruz and B. D. Rao that appeared in the IEEE Transactions on Communications, Vol. 55, No. 3, March 2007, pp. 618 630. (http://www.comsoc.org/ awards/rice.html), among others. Prof. Rao has been a member of the Statistical Signal and Array Processing technical committee, the Signal Processing Theory and Methods technical committee, the Communications technical committee of the IEEE Signal Processing Society and is currently a member of the Machine learning for Signal Processing technical committee. He has also served on the editorial board of the EURASIP Signal Processing Journal and also as a technical member for several IEEE conferences.

Trends and Issues of FTTH and G-PON

Speaker ComSoc DL: Koichi Asatani, Ph D, Professor, Nankai University, Tianjin, China; Professor Emeritus, Kogakuin University, Tokyo, Japan; IEEE Distinguished Lecturer, IEEE Fellow, IEICE Fellowalist
DATE: Monday August 18, 2014..
TIME: Refreshments, Registration and Networking: 06:30 p.m.; IEEE ComSoc Distinguished Lecture: 07:00 p.m. – 08:00 p.m.
PLACE: Algonquin College, 1385 Woodroffe Ave., School of Advanced Technology, Building-T, Optophotonics Lab (Room T129)
PARKING: No fee after 5:00 p.m. at the Visitors’ Parking Lots 8 & 9. Please respect restricted areas.
ADMISSION: Free. Registration required. To ensure a seat, please register by e-mail contacting: Raed Abdullah raedabdullah@ieee.org or Wahab Almuhtadi almuhtadi@ieee.org.
MORE INFO: Ottawa ComSoc/CESoc/BTS Chapter website

Abstract
Thanks to the penetration of broadband access technologies for Internet, real-time applications like VoIP, streaming applications like IPTV and many other delay-sensitive applications are growing very fast.
FTTH is the key broadband technology and is replacing ADSL. It provides stable high throughput, realizing even Gbps class. It also plays a very important role in Next Generation Networks (NGN). The NGN is Carrier-grade network for the future and a converged solution after the legacy telecom networks by enabling QoS management and controls in IP network like in legacy telecom networks and by supporting economical, versatile multi-media applications like those on the Internet with secure manners.
In realizing FTTH, G-PON is widely adopted. International Standards on FTTH, G-PON in particular has been established and is being further developed.
This lecture consist of the following contents: Introduction to Access Networks, Fundamentals of FTTH,
Requirements to FTTH, Regulatory Aspect of FTTH, Global Standards on FTTH and G-PON, Market Trends and Further Issues.

Bio
Koichi Asatani received his B.E.E.E., M.E.E.E. and Ph. D. degrees from Kyoto University in 1969, 1971 and 1974, respectively. From 1974 to 1997, Dr. Asatani was engaged in R&D on optical fiber communication systems, hi-definition video transmission systems, FTTH, ISDN, B-ISDN, ATM networks, IP Networks and their strategic planning in NTT. In 1997 he joined Kogakuin University as a professor, and in 1999 he joined, Graduate School of Global Information and Telecommunication, Waseda University as a visiting professor, both in Tokyo, Japan. He is currently a Professor, Nankai University, Tianjin, China and a Professor Emeritus, Kogakuin University. He is a Fellow of IEEE and a Fellow of IEICE. He was appointed as a distinguished lecturer of IEEE Communications Society for 2006-2009 and 2011-2012, 2013-2014..He is a founder of Communications QoS, Reliability and Performance Modeling series symposium at ICCs and Globecoms.He also served as Executive Chair, ICC2011 in Kyoto. He has published more than fifty papers, and gave more than 120 talks including keynotes and invited talks at international conferences. He is author or co-author of nineteen books including “Designs of Telecommunication Networks”(IEICE, 1993, in Japanese), “Introductions to ATM Networks and B-ISDN)” (John Wiley and Sons, 1997), “Multimedia Communications” (Academic Press, 2001), “Introduction to Information Networks-Fundamentals of Telecom & Internet Convergence, QoS, VoIP and NGN-” (Corona-sha Publishing, in Japanese, 2007).
His current interests include Information Networks including Broadband networking, Internet Interworking, IP telephony, NGN, Future Networks and their QoS aspects.

Open Source and Open Hardware, A Slippery Slope or a Brave New World

Speaker: Glenn McKnight, Director of the Foundation for Building Sustainable Communities (FBSC), Entrepreneur, Community Engager, IT & Education Projects Specialist
DATE: Tuesday, July 17, 2014.
TIME: Refreshments, Registration and Networking: 06:00 p.m.; IEEE ComSoc Distinguished Lecture: 06:30 p.m. – 07:30 p.m.
PLACE: Algonquin College, 1385 Woodroffe Ave., School of Advanced Technology, Building-T, Optophotonics Lab (Room T129)
PARKING: No fee after 5:00 p.m. at the Visitors’ Parking Lots 8 & 9. Please respect restricted areas.
ADMISSION: Free. Registration required. To ensure a seat, please register by e-mail contacting: Raed Abdullah raedabdullah@ieee.org or Wahab Almuhtadi almuhtadi@ieee.org.
MORE INFO: Ottawa ComSoc/CESoc/BTS Chapter website

Abstract
The “Open Source” or “Free and Open Source” can be treated as a disruptive technology and it has been slowly gaining recognition and traction within IEEE. Learn more about the history and fundamentals of Open Source solutions in general and in context to the Humanitarian Initiatives Committee..

Bio
Glenn is the Secretary Treasurer of the Internet Society of Canada. He has been involved in IT and education projects for twenty years starting with appropriate technology development and implementation, skills training and certification with the private sector, public institutions and non-profit organizations. He has been co-responsible for developing advanced Linux certifications, Ubuntu, Security exams, co-author of various articles on Open Source, Open Hardware and Free and Free and Open Source Business training manuals and more. Glenn McKnight, BA, MA in Social Anthropology at York University in Toronto.

Overview of Green Wireless Communications Research at Edinburgh

ComSoc DL Speaker: Prof. John S. Thompson, Personal Chair in Signal Processing and Communications, the School of Engineering in the University of Edinburgh, UK
DATE: Wednesday April 30, 2014.
TIME: Refreshments, Registration and Networking: 06:00 p.m.; IEEE ComSoc Distinguished Lecture: 06:30 p.m. – 07:30 p.m.
PLACE: Algonquin College, 1385 Woodroffe Ave., School of Advanced Technology, Building-T, Optophotonics Lab (Room T129)
PARKING: No fee after 5:00 p.m. at the Visitors’ Parking Lots 8 & 9. Please respect restricted areas.
ADMISSION: Free. Registration required. To ensure a seat, please register by e-mail contacting: Wahab Almuhtadi almuhtadi@ieee.org.
MORE INFO: Ottawa ComSoc/CESoc/BTS Chapter website

Abstract
The Recent Green Radio Research Programme in the UK was a major collaboration between academic and industrial researchers. The main aim of the project was to try to reduce the carbon footprint of mobile wireless networks. Recent work has shown that mobile base stations account for a significant portion of the energy consumed in such networks. Therefore the programme focussed on designing more efficient base station designs as well as new concepts to reduce energy in networks as a whole. This talk will give an overview of the research and some of the key findings as well as describing future directions, specifically relating to a new project in the area of smart grid technology.

Bio
Prof. John S. Thompson currently holds a personal chair in Signal Processing and Communications at the School of Engineering in the University of Edinburgh. His research interests currently include signal processing, energy efficient communications systems, and multihop wireless communications. He was deputy academic coordinator for the recent Mobile Virtual Centre of Excellence Green Radio project, which involved collaboration between five UK universities and a dozen international companies. During 2012-2014 he is serving as member-at-large for the Board of Governors of the IEEE Communications Society (ComSoc). He is also a distinguished lecturer for ComSoc in 2014-2015. He was technical programme co-chair for the IEEE Vehicular Technology Conference Spring in Dresden in 2013.

Transmitting consumer products and “electro-phobia”: Why are People REALLY scared of Electromagnetic Fields?

CESoc DLSpeaker: Elya B. Joffe, Senior EMC Engineer and V.P. of Engineering, K.T.M. Project Engineering, Israel
DATE: Friday March 28, 2014.
TIME: Refreshments, Registration and Networking: 06:00 p.m.; IEEE CESoc Distinguished Lecture: 06:30 p.m. – 07:30 p.m.
PLACE: Algonquin College, 1385 Woodroffe Ave., School of Advanced Technology, Building-T, Optophotonics Lab (Room T129)
PARKING: No fee after 5:00 p.m. at the Visitors’ Parking Lots 8 & 9. Please respect restricted areas.
ADMISSION: Free. Registration required. To ensure a seat, please register by e-mail contacting: Wahab Almuhtadi almuhtadi@ieee.org.
MORE INFO: Ottawa ComSoc/CESoc/BTS Chapter website

Abstract
The Why are people really scared of Electromagnetic Fields (EMF) ? Are they really the “killing fields” as denoted by the press, or…
Some common claims against EMF include:
• Science still does not know how dangerous the radiation is, but,… within a year, a decade, a century, it will…”
• Standards for limiting dangerous exposure were prepared by biased parties”
• Standards consider thermal effects only, whereas, many a-thermal effects, including cancer, are not considered”
• Wait and see – EMR exposure will be similar to asbestos and smoking…” (and yet, they keep on smoking…)
• Well known, respectable scientists do not exclude connection between EMR and cancer”
• Prudent Avoidance – better be safe than sorry”
This presentation attempts to shed light on the issue of “Electrophobia”, or “Why are people really scared of Electromagnetic Fields”. It discusses the history of EMF usage, the evolution of EMR standards, from the turn of the 20th century to date, and the evolution of the public response to the EMF and its usage.
Although it covers only technically acceptable figures, statistics etc., it rather addresses this controversial issue from a users’ point of view, addressing the sources of fear, the facts and fallacies, and the risk in… risk research.

Bio
Mr. Joffe is employed by K.T.M. Project Engineering – an engineering consulting company in Israel, since 1987. He currently holds a position of the V.P. of Engineering and works as a Senior EMC engineering Specialist and consultant. Elya holds a B.ScEE in Electrical Engineering from the Ben Gurion University in Israel, is a Registered Professional Engineer.
Mr. Joffe is also an iNARTE (International Association for Radio, Telecommunications and Electromagnetics Engineers) certified Senior EMC Engineer, ESD Control Engineer and EMC Master Design Engineer. Since the merger of iNARTE with Exemplar Global (RABQSA International), he also serves as member and Chair Elect of the RABQSA BoD and as Chairman of the iNARTE Advisory Committee.
Elya has 30 years of experience in government and industry, in EMC/E3 (Electromagnetic Compatibility/Electromagnetic Environmental Effects) for electronic systems and platforms (in particular – aircraft and aerospace). He is actively involved, as an EMC/E3 Specialist, in the EMC design of commercial and defense systems, from circuits to full platforms.
Mr. Joffe is also well known in Israel and abroad for his activities in EMC training and education, and has authored, developed and presents many courses on Electromagnetic Compatibility and related topics. He is also the main Author of the Book: “Grounds for Grounding: A Circuit to System Handbook”, published by John E. Wiley & Sons, 2009.
Mr. Joffe is Senior Member of IEEE, and has served as a member of the IEEE EMC Society of the Board of Directors since the year 2000 and is the Past President of the IEEE EMC Society. He is the current President of the IEEE Product Safety Engineering Society. He is also the Immediate Past Chairman of the Israel IEEE EMC Chapter. He is also a member of the Board of Governors of the Society for Social Implications of Technology (SSIT).

Mechanical Reliability in Electronics: A lifetime of strange failures and conditions

Speaker: D Hugh M Reekie, P.Eng., IEEE SM, Ottawa, ON, Canada
DATE: Thursday March 20, 2014.
TIME: Refreshments, Registration and Networking: 06:10 p.m.; IEEE Seminar: 0640 p.m. – 07:50 p.m.
PLACE: Algonquin College, 1385 Woodroffe Ave., School of Advanced Technology, Building-T, Optophotonics Lab (Room T129)
PARKING: No fee after 5:00 p.m. at the Visitors’ Parking Lots 8 & 9. Please respect restricted areas.
ADMISSION: Free. Registration required. To ensure a seat, please register by e-mail contacting: Bhagvat Joshi bjoshi@ieee.org or Mike Bourassa michael.bourassa@ieee.org, or Wahab Almuhtadi almuhtadi@ieee.org.
MORE INFO: Ottawa ComSoc/CESoc/BTS Chapter website.

Abstract
In his presentation Hugh describes a number of mechanically-related faults or conditions that affect electrical performance. In addition to standard electronic problems, Hugh will mention a number of specific instances of performance deterioration that can be directly related to the mechanical situation; some of the effects were from very strange mechanisms, requiring a strong knowledge of manufacturing processes to understand and diagnose. In conclusion, Hugh will suggest some “Field Philosophies” for the Project Engineer.

Bio
Hugh has been an electronics engineer all his career – but he nearly switched to mechanical engineering at college so perhaps he is one of the first mechatronics Engineers! After graduation in 1964 he specialized in Solid state microwave, building LNAs, varactor multipliers and “solid state klystrons”- and finally IMPATT oscillators after coming to Canada from the UK in 1969. After a stint building Anik A and C series spacecraft components, (also at Northern Telecom) he settled down with field trips all over Canada, upgrading Earth Stations for Telesat Canada. After building the world’s first fully-integrated satellite news-gathering vehicle in the mid 1980s, he moved to the Communications Research Centre as an Applications Engineer on the MSAT program; there he assisted with satellite conference management, including the International IEEE VNIS 93, Ottawa. He started up the MTT and VTS Chapters in Ottawa; presently he chairs the AESS and VTS Chapters, and remains very involved with IET-UK (formerly IEE) local activities.

Evolution to LTE Advanced

Speaker: Frank Rayal, P.Eng, SMIEEE, Founding Partner – Xona Partners, Ottawa, ON, Canada
DATE: Tuesday March 18, 2014.
TIME: Refreshments, Registration and Networking: 06:30 p.m.; IEEE Seminar: 07:00 p.m. – 08:00 p.m.
PLACE: Algonquin College, 1385 Woodroffe Ave., School of Advanced Technology, Building-T, Optophotonics Lab (Room T129)
PARKING: No fee after 5:00 p.m. at the Visitors’ Parking Lots 8 & 9. Please respect restricted areas.
ADMISSION: Free. Registration required. To ensure a seat, please register by e-mail contacting: Bhagvat Joshi bjoshi@ieee.org or Mike Bourassa michael.bourassa@ieee.org, or Wahab Almuhtadi almuhtadi@ieee.org.
MORE INFO: Ottawa ComSoc/CESoc/BTS Chapter website or http://www.ieeeottawa.ca/aicn webiste.

Abstract
With over 266 networks in 99 countries, LTE is the de facto world-standard for mobile communications. This
presentation will address the evolution of LTE to meet ITU requirements for high mobile broadband data rates. The talk focuses on key LTE-Advanced features such as carrier aggregation, interference management for heterogeneous networks, advanced MIMO and coordinated multipoint to provide an overview of the evolution of 4G networks for the next five years. It will combine the principles of these technologies with real-world data and results to present an objective view of the evolutionary path of LTE.

Bio
Mr. Frank Rayal is founding partner at Xona Partners, a boutique management and technology advisory firm
specializing in telecom, media and technology. He is a telecom industry professional with more than 20 years of experience working with network operators and system vendors to develop and deploy wireless solutions. Frank co-founded small-cell backhaul pioneer BLiNQ Networks. He held senior product management, marketing and business development positions at Ericsson, Redline, and Metawave. He holds a BS in electrical engineering from Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, and a MASc in electrical engineering and a MBA from the University of Toronto, Canada. He is a senior member of IEEE, and a member of Professional Engineers Ontario.