IEEE Maine Section

IEEE Maine Section's Young Professionals (YP) Affinity Group presents a talk by Dr. Lonnie Labonte:From Orono to Titan: The Journey of a UMaine Engineer at NASALonnie graduated from Mountain Valley High School in Western Maine in 2009 where he enjoyed skiing in the winter and hiking in the summer. Lonnie joined the EE program at UMaine the following fall. Lonnie immediately took an interest in hardware and electronics design. During a Signals and Systems class with Dr. Abedi, the professor said “If anybody would like an internship with NASA please come to my office after class”. This was a life changing moment for Lonnie as he was the only one to take him seriously. Dr. Abedi worked hard to get Lonnie funding through Maine Space Grant Consortium, and Lonnie found a position at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, AL where he worked on a concept design for a next gen Solar Sail. After returning to UMaine Lonnie was convinced by Dr. Abedi to pursue a PhD through the WiSe-Net Lab and 2 interesting projects. Lonnie’s research on wireless control systems as they apply to rockets was a collaboration with Cal State Long Beach and led to a rocket launch with WiSe-Net hardware as a payload. The other project was a Wireless Leak Detection device for space crafts was sent to the ISS to collect data.During graduate school Lonnie earned a pathways internship at NASA Goddard Space Flight center where he worked as an electronics design engineer on multiple projects, the first of which was a low-cost star tracker, and the other was a test engineer for Kodiak a LiDAR used for in orbit autonomous rendezvous and docking.After obtaining his doctorate from UMaine in 2017, Lonnie was transitioned to a full time employee by NASA GSFC and continued work on LiDARs. The Kodiak work continued and is currently going through flight hardware board builds and test unit integration. Lonnie has since been promoted to a Box lead of a smaller LiDAR: this LiDAR is called Ocellus and will be used on Dragonfly.The event is free and open to all interested. Refreshments (pizza and accoutrements) will be served.Room: Hill Auditorium, Bldg: Barrows Hall, University of Maine - Orono, 168 College Ave, Orono, Maine, United States, 04469

On Thursday, Aug 31st, 12-1 PM EST, IEEE Maine Joint Communications and Computer Societies Chapter is hosting a free live webinar "How to Harness Generative AI for Education", featuring a presentation by Jon Ippolito, Professor of New Media, Co-Director of Still Water Lab and Director of the Digital Curation graduate program at UMaine, followed by Q&A.Abstract: Can generative AI like ChatGPT be creative? Can it be trusted? The answers to these two questions may be surprisingly intertwined--and counterintuitive. Understanding why requires overturning some common misperceptions about probability, the fundamental driver of large language models. In this webinar, Jon Ippolito leads a conversation meant to clarify the confusing nature of generative AI and derive a framework for deciding the appropriate use of generative AI in the classroom and the workplace.Speaker Bio: Jon is a new media artist, writer, and curator, whose work has been recognized with awards from the Thoma, Tiffany, Lannan, and American Foundations. At the Guggenheim Museum in New York, he curated the first art museum exhibition of virtual reality and the 2000 Nam June Paik retrospective with John G. Hanhardt. At the University of Maine, he has founded a peer-to-peer digital badges initiative and a graduate Digital Curation program. At the Still Water lab co-founded with Joline Blais, he helped build social software such as the Variable Media Questionnaire, The Pool, ThoughtMesh, and the Cross-Cultural Partnership.In almost 200 presentations, Jon has spoken out on copyright maximalism, academic insularity, and technological obsolescence. He has published articles in periodicals ranging from the Art Journal to the Washington Post and chapters in over 20 books. Jon co-authored the book At the Edge of Art (Thames & Hudson 2006) with Blais and Re-collection: Art, New Media, and Social Memory (MIT 2014) with Richard Rinehart. You can learn more at his home page: https://jonippolito.netThe event will be moderated by Dr. Julia Upton, Associate Professor of Mathematics, Husson University; IEEE Maine Section Chair and IEEE Maine Communications/Computer Societies Joint Chapter Chair.There is no registration fee, but you must register here: (https://maine.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_9DLfUtCuSAS_Vo6rtFyiIw#/registration)Co-sponsored by: UMaine AIVirtual: https://events.vtools.ieee.org/m/371172

Maine Semiconductor Industry Day brings experts from academia and industry together with policymakers to plan for the future workforce and R&D needs in this important sector of our economy. Join us in Portland at UMaine’s Portland Gateway to learn and contribute. Featuring research and innovation, workforce development, networking, and more.Participation is limited! There is no registration fee, but please register (https://umaine.edu/portland/event/ieee-maine-semiconductor-industry-day/)Co-sponsored by: UMaineAgenda: 10:00 AM – Welcome & Opening RemarksPIPS VEAZEY* | Director, Portland GatewayALI ABEDI* | Associate Vice President for Research and Vice President, IEEE Council of RFIDKODY VARAHRAMYAN* | Vice President for Research and Dean of the Graduate School10:15 AM – Industry PanelSTEVEN LEIBERGER | Principal Technologist, DiodeMOISE SOLOMON | Technical Director, Electronic Systems & Technologies Innovation Center MITREYONG LIU | Principal Member of Technical Staff, OnsemiSTEPHEN SWAN | MFAB Site Quality Manager, TIModerator: JULIA UPTON Chair, IEEE Maine Section, and Associate Professor, Husson University11:15 AM – Academic PanelGIOVANNA GUIDOBONI* | Dean of Engineering and ComputingDAN KOLOSKI | Head of Learning Programs, Roux Institute at Northeastern UniversityJEREMY QUALLS | Vice President for Research and Dean, University of Southern MaineBRAD KINSEY | Associate Dean of Engineering, University of New HampshireModerator: PIPS VEAZEY* Director, Portland Gateway1:00 PM – Faculty PanelNURI EMANETOGLU* | Associate Professor of Electrical EngineeringMUSTAFA GUVENCH | Professor of Electrical Engineering, University of Southern MaineMAURICIO P. DA CUNHA* | Professor of Electrical EngineeringROSEMARY SMITH* | Professor of Electrical EngineeringModerator: VIJAY DEVABHAKTUNI* Department Chair, Electrical and Computer Engineering1:45 PM – Funding PanelBRIAN WHITNEY | President, Maine Technology InstituteNADIA EL-MASRY | Program Director, Future of Semiconductors, National Science FoundationModerator: JAKE WARD* Vice President, Strategic Partnerships and Innovation*Indicates University of Maine300 Fore Street, Portland, Maine, United States, 04101