Electrical Applications Technology Committee

MISSION: “To advance the design, application, maintenance, and safety of electrical systems, by providing opportunities for publication, training, technology exchange, and networking.”

Past AIST Committee Activities

Current Activities

The Sensors and Instrumentation Operating Committee (SIOC) met at AISTech 2008 on May 7. The committee chair, Dan Cunningham of Consero Inc., welcomed everyone and thanked them for attending. Steve Sontag of Reliacheck Manufacturing Inc. volunteered to take the meeting minutes. The committee discussed the AISI/AIST committee integration. The new name for the SIOC will be Sensor Systems, and it will be a subcommittee of the Electrical Applications Technology Committee. The election of officers took place, with Mr. Cunningham being elected as chair, Carvel Hoffman of ArcelorMittal as vice chair, and Jeff Webster of the Timken Co. as papers chair. The current mission statement was approved without change: “To foster the awareness of sensor needs for the improvement of metals manufacturing processes or product quality, and the availability of existing and emerging sensor technologies that may meet such needs. To this end, the committee provides the forums for the AIST constituency to discover, understand, and evaluate the various sensors, instrumentation, and measurement systems and their applications.” It was agreed that various Sensor Systems committee members would attend the other Technology Committee meetings, and begin interaction with them about common interests. The general consensus of the group was that this task was very important. Mr. Sontag and Florian Kongoli of FLOGEN Technologies Inc. presented Mr. Cunningham with a plaque for his service as the chair of the SIOC for 2007–2008. The next meeting is tentatively scheduled for October. Visit www.aist.org for current information.

The Electrical Engineering Operating Committee (EEOC) met during AISTech 2008 on May 6. The committee chair, Elizabeth Shaw of ArcelorMittal Dofasco, welcomed everyone to the meeting and thanked them for their time and participation. Cal Keeney of SeverStal Sparrows Point volunteered to take the meeting minutes. The committee discussed the AISI/AIST committee integration. The EEOC was renamed the Electrical Applications Technology Committee (EATC) and is included in Technology Division VII: Energy and Control. The roster for the EEOC included 28 members, but the addition of the Sensor Systems Subcommittee brought the total roster for the new EATC to 79. The 2008 Farrington Award, which is awarded by the EEOC for the best technical paper presented during an EEOC-sponsored event, was presented to Dharam Sharma of Nucor-Yamato Steel Co., Ljubomir Kojovic of Cooper Power Systems, Chris Birkbeck of Nucor Steel–Indiana and Martin Bishop of Cooper Power Systems for their paper entitled, “Innovative Solutions for Differential Protection of Electric Arc Furnace Transformers.” The 2009 Process Control Specialty Conference is scheduled for February 2009 in Jacksonville, Fla. Spearheading this effort is Ron Tessendorf of TM GE Automation Systems, and he presented an outline for a two-and-a-half-day conference. Later, at one of the AISTech 2008 sessions, Mr. Tessendorf reviewed the outline and received comments from the audience. He summarized the results and incorporated them into a revised conference outline. The election of officers took place, with Mr. Tessendorf being elected as chair, Kevin Bort of Steel Dynamics Inc. as vice chair, and David Woodward of Avtron Manufacturing Inc. as papers chair. The mission statement was reviewed and remains without changes: “To advance the design, application, maintenance, and safety of electrical systems, by providing opportunities for publication, training, technology exchange, and networking.” Mr. Tessendorf presented a plaque to Mrs. Shaw on behalf of the committee for her exceptional service and dedication as committee chair for 2007–2008. Visit www.aist.org for further details.