Meliha B. Selak is a Specialist Engineer with BC Hydro where she is working in the Power System Protection & Control Planning group. She holds a degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Sarajevo and has over 30 years of experience in various aspects of power systems engineering including utility protection, research & development, project management and consulting on international projects.

Improving our support for members, academic institutions and industry in the Interior of our province has become a key Section priority in recent years. As noted in the December 2009 issue of Contact, this has led us to support the formation of IEEE Okanagan and Northern British Columbia Subsections. The formation petitions were approved by the Section EXCOM and submitted to IEEE MGA in December 2009. The IEEE MGA board formally approved establishment of the new  subsections on 13 February 2010.

Background

Getting Involved

with IEEE Vancouver Section As our 100th anniversary approaches, IEEE Vancouver Section can look back on an outstanding record of providing:

Can you or a colleague speak to any of the following issues concerning preparation for the 2010 Winter Olympics?

• City development and infrastructure in preparation for the Olympics
• Handling communications during the Olympics
• Cell phone usage during the Olympics and how wireless companies prepare
• Prosthetics as they relate to the Paralympics
• Product developement and engineering for Olympians gear
• Development and coordination of simulation centers at the Olympics

Many people in the Vancouver Section have wondered why the SFU student branch (SB) became dormant in the last couple of years, to a point when the student branch website disappeared, and the student executives were nowhere to be found. Not too long ago, as our branch counselor Dr. Glenn Chapman recalled, SFU SB was one of the most active branches in western Canada, and it had collected many awards. Indeed it was true. In the mid-90s, SFU SB was awarded the best Student Branch Award.

One of IEEE Canada's most important roles is to recognize the achievements of its members through its extensive program of awards. Sections play an important role by ensuring that deserving and qualified members are nominated before IEEE Canada's 30 November deadline. A listing of the IEEE Canada Achievement Awards is given below. More information is available at http://www.ieee.ca/awards/nominate.htm

IEEE Vancouver Section is hosting an IEEE Mini-Symposium on Biomedical Engineering to be held one afternoon about mid-April 2010 (to be finalized) at McKesson Imaging Group in Richmond, BC. Attendance will be free-ofcharge and open to all. Space is limited, however, so pre-registration will be required. The event will be a joint effort of the Section, our Technical Society Chapters, our Academic Collaborators and our Industrial Sponsors.

The following changes to our Technical Chapter organization have been approved by IEEE Member and Geographic Activities:

Vancouver Section is moving quickly on several exciting initiatives:

IEEE Continuing Education

The IEEE Power & Energy Society Vancouver Chapter is proud to award Dr. Wenyuan Li with our 2009 Outstanding Engineer Award in recognition of his leadership and contributions to theoretical methods, implementation procedure, practical applications, computing tools and databases in probabilistic power system planning. Dr. Wenyuan Li is currently a Principal Engineer at British Columbia Transmission Corporation in Vancouver. He is an IEEE Fellow, and has authored more than 80 papers in power system planning, operation, maintenance, optimization and reliability.