Welcome to the  2021 Spring Edition,
Our purpose  is to provide educational articles and news that are of specific interest and value to members of the WNCIEE Section and residents of the community.  Members are encouraged to forward and share these with others, especially students, to show some of the  interesting innovations and developments in the fields of electrical energy, electronics, communications, and computer applications here in Western North Carolina. .
Perry Sprawls, Editor. sprawls@emory.edu                                        

Understanding Power Grids
Student Activities

From the Winter Edition
Officers for 2021
Understanding The Weather Models
Preserving Our History and Heritage
  Bora Karayaka, Member Professional Profile

SoutheastCon 2021 Student Hardware Competition Report

For over 40 years IEEE Region 3’s Southeastcon has hosted an annual student
 hardware completion  that has elements of design including computer control,
electronic sensors, software programming and mechanical challenges to overcome.
 Southeastcon, as we know it today, started in with a conference 1971 in
Charlottesville VA that was actually the 9^th Annual Region Conference from IEEE R3’s
founding back in 1963[Ref:]. During the 1980s these student conferences each year began  to be called the "best ever hardware contest" and became a highly
 acclaimed part of the student  activities of the annual conference.
 [Ref: https://ethw.org/IEEE_Region_3 _(Southeastern_U.S.)_History]

Photo 1. Detail of the layout of the PacMan Challenge for the 2021 Hardware Competition

This enthusiasm has continued into the 2020’s with this year’s event called “Game On!”
that resurrects that old favorite classic arcade game of “Pacman” for IEEE SoutheastCon
 2021! Teams this year earned points by navigating the traditional 4x8 plywood sheet-based maze, collecting pellets, and avoiding ghosts. Of course, this year the
 competition was a little different as it was conducted remotely with Zoom rooms,
 with each team being isolated to their own lab at the respective universities
 that made it to the competition online:

Photo 2. Final score sheet for the 9 teams that made it to the competition rooms on Zoom

But the spirit of competition was still there at this year’s virtual SoutheastCon 2021
 as was seen with the beginnings at the Team Captain meeting in the Zoom call
 that occurred on Friday night, just as it was in 1981 when  this reporter was
a student  participant from the University of Tennessee at that time:

Photo 3. The Friday night “Team Captains” meeting for final questions and changes.

Congratulations to this year’s winning team from Clemson University and we are
 looking forward to seeing all the teams back in Mobile Alabama for SoutheastCon 2022,
 but we hope to be back in-person for the Spring of next year!

    AJ Burke, IEEE WNC Secretary

Officers for 2021

Understanding The Weather Models

Most of us  begin and end our days with the TV or  phone apps "checking the weather."  Modern science and technology can now provide us with reports on current weather conditions and forecast for the future with accuracies of just a few degrees and minutes for any location in the country. The easy to  understand maps, graphics, and data presented to us  are based on a highly complex technological system that collects and feeds data into mathematical models that are used to forecast upcoming weather. 

Our interest here is specifically on the models that are used to produce forecasts.  WLOS News 13 Chief Meteorologist Jason Boyer is a major contributor to this article.  Jason was inspired by one of his middle school teachers to pursue the sciences, and one of his efforts now is to do the same by sharing his excitement for the science of weather with young students in local schools, as shown here.   The models are mathematical equations based on physics that characterize how the air moves and heat and moisture are exchanged in the atmosphere. Weather observations (pressure, wind, temperature and moisture) obtained from ground and upper atmospheric sensors are fed into these equations. The observations are brought into the models in a process known as data assimilation.  Several different models have been developed and are used.  Forecasters, such as TV meteorologists, can select which model they use for a specific forecast depending on the geographical area and the time scale.  For example, some models are more appropriate for forecasting the effects of tropical storms on a daily basis while other models provide more accurate forecasts of local weather within a few minutes.

Forecasters generally identify the models they are using.

The data which weather models use is nearly the same. Temperature, wind, pressure and humidity are the key components to initializing all weather models.  The results can be different because of the design characteristics of the different mathematical models.

There are two groups of models that weather forecasters and atmospheric scientists utilize. The American models (NAM, RAP, HRRR, GFS) and the European or EURO models (ECMWF & UKMET).

N.O.A.A. produces the NAM, RAP, HRRR & GFS models. Each model uses a different grid or resolution to sample for its eventual forecast output.

For instance, the NAM model is run at 3km & 12km grid resolutions--meaning a 3D sample of the atmospheric conditions over a 3km x 3km x 3km volume, or a 12km x 12km x 12km volume, spread out over the Continental U.S. is used, while the GFS & European models are global-scale. The GFS’s resolution is based on a 25km grid, while the European’s is 9km. The accuracy of forecasts for specific locations is affected by the size of the grid cells and the movement of weather factors among cells as illustrated here.

Within these grids, weather data is collected from 1000s of different locations, usually airports, where automated systems continuously measure atmospheric conditions near the ground. Other “missing” data is created to fill in the gaps.

Upper-level data is collected from high-altitude balloons launched twice per day at various National Weather Service offices, and also from airplanes.

Weather models are limited by computing power. As computational power increases, weather models will be able to initialize with more and more data over smaller and smaller spatial and temporal scales. This, (in theory) should lead to more accurate forecasts for more locations, more often.

If physics drives these models, how can these  models result in different weather predictions? Because of the complexity of the mathematical equations, each model has to make some approximations, and these approximations may differ. In addition, each model assimilates observations a bit differently.

Where models differ and why some are better at forecasting in certain situations than others can be found in how they take the initial data and process it to create a forecast.

The NAM, RAP & HRRR are better at shorter-range forecasts. The HRRR forecasts a maximum of 36 hours from initialization, while the NAM 3km puts out a forecast up to 60 hours from its initialization. The GFS forecasts up to 384 hours or 16 days!

We can think of the models used by meteorologists as being like equations used by engineers to solve complex problems.  They are the tools used by the highly educated and experienced meteorologists along with their creativity to provide us with "the weather" to guide our daily activities, and beyond.

For well over half of the 20^th Century, the vacuum tube was the major element in most electronic devices including radios, television, audio systems, and early computers. The first electronic tube developed in 1904 by English physicist John Ambrose Fleming consisted of two electrodes, a cathode (filament) and anode (plate).  The cathode was an electrically heated filament that could emit electrons by the process of thermionic emission. When a voltage was applied between the filament and plate current would flow through the vacuum. This was a diode and could be used as a rectifier. In 1907, American inventor Lee de Forest added a third electrode creating the first triode tube. This third electrode, called the control grid, enabled the vacuum tube to be used not just as a rectifier, but as an amplifier of electrical signals.

This led to the development of radios that consisted of several tubes performing functions including rectification, RF signal detection, and amplification of both RF and audio signals. These were the radios that were used for the half century up to developments using transistors.

It is generally our Senior Members who have the knowledge, experience, and memories of this major period of our history. Bill Barkley is using his to help preserve and share our heritage by collecting and restoring radios from that era.  He has just finished the restoration of the Atwater Kent receiver from 1924 shown here.

Bill would like to communicate with anyone interested in restoring old radios, and especially those who need parts and tubes that he might have. He can be contacted at:  Bill Barkley , bill.wncieee@bellsouth.net.

The Asheville Radio Museum with an extensive collection of radios and educational exhibits  can be visited (virtually) at: https://www.avlradiomuseum.org/

Bora Karayaka is an Engineering faculty at College of Engineering and Technology, Western Carolina University. He has worked as a Senior Engineer for smart grid and wireless communication industries for over ten years. Currently he is leading the efforts to establish electric power engineering as a discipline within the School of Engineering + Technology. This has involved outreach and recruiting activities as well as developing and delivering the curriculum.
Dr. Karayaka’s research interests include ocean wave energy, engineering education, identification, modeling and control for electrical machines and smart grid. He received his B.S. and M.S. degrees from Istanbul Technical University in Control and Computer Engineering and his PhD degree in Electrical Engineering from The Ohio State University.

Within the WNC IEEE he serves as Chair of WNC section Power & Energy Society.  Bora can be contacted at;   hbkarayaka@wcu.edu