IEEE’s SoutheastCon 2009 was held at the Crown Plaza Ravinia in Atlanta Georgia March 5-8, and was co-hosted by the IEEE Atlanta Section and the Georgia Tech IEEE Student Branch. The theme was “Engineers making the world a better place.” Band Limited, with engineers-only band members from ViaSat Inc., provided the entertainment for the welcome reception.

There were many interesting sessions, including a keynote speaker discussing corporate environmental stewardship, tutorials, technical papers, and Region 3 meetings. There were 130 technical paper presentations covering electromagnetics and antennas, image processing, education, control and automation, mathematical theory and algorithms, application areas, communication and information, power and energy, data analysis and processing, circuits and devices, communications systems, robotics, computer engineering, instrumentation measurement and testing, and signal processing. The Professional Development Seminar and Student Professional Awareness Conference facilitated continued growth and development of members.

Student groups entered into a robot competition, charged with the task of picking up as many recyclables as possible within a set time. Even if their robots didn’t win the hardware competition, each team had a shot at winning the t-shirt/lab coat competition. Student Awards were also given for the Software Competition, Technical Paper Competition, Ethics Competition, and the Branch Website Competition.

Many more awards were distributed, including IEEE USA Awards, Institute Level Awards. ENC’s very own Grayson Randall received an Outstanding Engineer Award for distinguished contributions to autonomous vehicle design. The 24 Region 3 members elevated to the rank of Fellow were also recognized.

Student rate for SoutheastCon 2010 only ~$30!! To be held at the Embassy Suites Charlotte-Concord Golf Resort, Spa, and Convention Center (www.EmbassySuitesConcord.com)

Editor's Note - I found the following on YouTube