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IEEE Buenaventura
January 2022 Newsletter

In This Issue

IEEE Announcements

•  Jan 14, 7:30 PM PST: Psyche: Journey to a Metal Worldonline, Orange County Astronomers/IEEE Buenaventura MTTS chapter
•  Jan 17, 5:00 PM PST: Neural Interfaces for Controlling Finger Movementsonline, IEEE Southern Alberta EMBS chapter
•  Webinar Series from IEEE

Reports on Past Events

•  Local STEM Program Recognized by IEEE Foundation
•  Evolution of Scientific Image Sensor ICs - Past, Present and Future

Job Opportunities and Sponsors

•  Advanced Personnel ProfilesStaffing & Recruiting Since 1995
•  Syntesis GlobalManagement Consulting

IEEE Announcements

January 14, 2022
Psyche: Journey to a Metal World
7:30 PM PST
Online

Speaker: David A. Williams
Register at www.ieee-bv.org/meet/2022-01-mtt

Overview

NASA selected Psyche as the 14th Discovery mission on Jan. 4, 2017. Led by Arizona State University, Psyche will be the first orbiter of a M-class asteroid, (16) Psyche. The mission design is based on NASA’s Dawn mission at Vesta & Ceres, and uses instruments with a strong heritage from past missions. Our science objectives are to answer the following questions: 1) Is Psyche an exposed planetary core, or did it never undergo melting? 2) What are the relative ages of features on its surface? 3) Do small metal-rich bodies incorporate light elements expected to be inside Earth’s high-pressure core? 4) Did Psyche form under more oxidizing or more reducing conditions than Earth’s core? and 5) What is the topography of this metal world? Psyche will launch in Aug. 2022 and will enter orbit of (16) Psyche in Jan. 2026 for a 21-month nominal mission. Psyche will study the surface using a pair of multispectral imagers (clear filter & 7 color filters, for surface morphology, stereo topography, and detection of certain key mineral classes), a gamma-ray & neutron spectrometer (for elemental abundances), and dual fluxgate magnetometers (to search for a remanent magnetic field). A gravity investigation using tracking of the spacecraft’s radio signal is also planned. Psyche will characterize surficial geologic features, topography, and compositions through four consecutively lower orbital phases, each optimized to obtain data to accomplish our science objectives. Psyche will: 1) map ≥80% of the surface with long-l filters at ≤500m/pix (assess metal to silicate fraction), 2) map ≥80% of the surface with short-l filters at ≤200m/pix (spectral detection of oldhamite, (Ca,Mg)S), 3) map ≥50% of the surface with clear filter at ≤200m/pix (crater counting), 4) map ≥80% of the surface with clear filter at ≤20m/pix (geologic mapping), and 5) determine the shape of (16) Psyche by mapping with clear filter over ≥80% of its surface with ≤200m/pix using stereo imaging techniques. This presentation discusses details of our mission.

About the Speaker

Dr. David A. Williams is a Research Professor in the School of Earth and Space Exploration at Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona. Dr. Williams is the Director of the Ronald Greeley Center for Planetary Studies, a NASA-supported planetary data center at ASU. He is also the Director of the NASA Planetary Aeolian Laboratory, which administers wind tunnels the Ames Research Center in California. David is currently performing research in volcanology and planetary geology, with a focus on planetary mapping, geochemical, and remote sensing studies. His current research focusses on planetary geologic mapping of bodies across the Solar System, and computer modeling of the physical and geochemical evolution of lava flows in a variety of planetary environments. He was involved with NASA’s Magellan Mission to Venus, Galileo Mission to Jupiter, Dawn Mission to asteroid Vesta and dwarf planet Ceres, and ESA’s Mars Express orbiter mission. He is a member of the Janus camera team for the ESA JUICE mission, and he is currently Deputy Imager Lead and a Co-Investigator on NASA’s Psyche Mission, scheduled to launch in August 2022. In 2014 David was elected a Fellow of the Geological Society of America, and asteroid 10,461 DAWILLIAMS was named in his honor.

Presented by: Orange County Astronomers/IEEE Buenaventura Microwave Theory and Techniques chapter


January 17, 2022
Neural Interfaces for Controlling Finger Movements
5:00 PM PST
Online

Speaker: Cynthia A. Chestek
Register at events.vtools.ieee.org/m/294157

Overview

Brain machine interfaces or neural prosthetics have the potential to restore movement to people with paralysis or amputation, bridging gaps in the nervous system with an artificial device. Microelectrode arrays can record from hundreds of individual neurons in motor cortex, and machine learning can be used to generate useful control signals from this neural activity. Performance can already surpass the current state of the art in assistive technology in terms of controlling the endpoint of computer cursors or prosthetic hands. The natural next step in this progression is to control more complex movements at the level of individual fingers. Our lab has approached this problem in three different ways. For people with upper limb amputation, we acquire signals from individual peripheral nerve branches using small muscle grafts to amplify the signal. Human study participants have recently been able to control individual fingers online using indwelling EMG electrodes within these grafts. For spinal cord injury, where no peripheral signals are available, we implant Utah arrays into finger areas of motor cortex, and have successfully decoded flexion and extension in multiple fingers simultaneously. Decoding “spiking band” activity at much lower sampling rates, we recently showed that power consumption of an implantable device could be reduced by an order of magnitude compared to existing broadband approaches, and fit within the specification of existing systems for upper limb functional electrical stimulation. Finally, finger control is ultimately limited by the number of independent electrodes that can be placed within cortex or the nerves, and this is in turn limited by the extent of glial scarring surrounding an electrode. Therefore, we developed an electrode array based on 8 um carbon fibers, no bigger than the neurons themselves to enable chronic recording of single units with minimal scarring. The long-term goal of this work is to make neural interfaces for the restoration of hand movement a clinical reality for everyone who has lost the use of their hands.

About the Speaker

Dr. Cynthia A. Chestek received the B.S. and M.S. degrees in electrical engineering from Case Western Reserve University in 2005 and the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from Stanford University in 2010. She is now an associate professor of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, where she joined the faculty in 2012. She runs the Cortical Neural Prosthetics Lab, which focuses on brain and nerve control of finger movements as well as to high-density carbon fiber electrode arrays. She is the author of 53 full-length scientific articles. Her research interests include high-density interfaces to the nervous system for the control of multiple degree of freedom hand and finger movements.

Presented by: IEEE Southern Alberta Engineering in Medicine and Biology Chapter


Webinar Series from IEEE

•  IEEE CS Build Your Career Webinar SeriesIEEE Computer Society
IEEE Computer Society free interactive webinars on transferable business skills.
  –  January 25: Finding Mentors
  –  February 17: Thriving During Change

•  IEEE Innovations at WorkIEEE Educational Activities
Engage with industry experts and innovators on the latest advancements in technology and engineering, STEM education, and more.
  –  January 25: IEEE TryEngineering Tuesday: Featuring Autonomous Vehicles
  –  January 26: IEEE 802.1 Time Sensitive Networking Standards

Reports on Past Events

•  Local STEM Program Recognized by IEEE Foundation
Buenaventura Section’s Girls Make Tech with Heart was featured as the lead story in the IEEE Foundation December 2021 newsletter. The STEM event was attended by 114 middle school age girls and 50 parents. Girls Make Tech with Heart 2021 was made possible in large part by donors to the IEEE Foundation. (IEEE Foundation)

•  Evolution of Scientific Image Sensor ICs - Past, Present and Future
Dr. Atul Joshi discussed the Evolution of Scientific Image Sensor ICs at the IEEE Buenaventura Photonics chapter meeting. The presentation delved into the past innovations and what the future of image sensors entails. (recording)

Job Opportunities and Sponsors

Advanced Personnel Profiles
Staffing & Recruiting Since 1995

Senior Software Engineer, User Interface Development – San Jose, CA

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•  Proficiency in JavaScript and HTML
•  Experience developing browser-based software for instrument control
•  Experience using Electron, Angular or similar frameworks for building desktop applications

Contact Pat Jacobs — 805-579-0630  pat.jacobs@advancedpersonnelprofiles.com


Staff Software Engineer, Analytics – San Jose, CA

Company is commercializing one of the most powerfully advantageous approaches in spatial Biology.  As Staff Software Engineer, the candidate will be responsible for developing the next generation data analysis and visualization platform.  This role will develop a suite of tools to analyze and visualize spatial 3D genomic data.
•  Proficiency in Python and Java and statistical computing
•  Familiarity with data visualization libraries such as matplotlib, seaborn, pandas, etc.
•  Advanced degree in Bioinformatics, Mathematics, Statistics or Computer Science
•  Expertise in rigorous quantitative data analytics practices (advanced statistical modeling and analysis, machine learning algorithms, funnel analysis, etc.)

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Contact Pat Jacobs — 805-579-0630  pat.jacobs@advancedpersonnelprofiles.com


Senior Software Engineer – Valencia, CA

Apply your creativity and passion to develop innovative medical devices and digital health solutions that can greatly improve patients' lives.   Company is an innovative digital health and advanced neuromodulation company pioneering closed-loop, wearable neuromodulation therapies.  You will develop firmware coding, integration of hardware and software systems and software testing.
•  Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Electrical or Systems Engineering
•  5-7 years of experience, including at least 2 years working in medical devices
•  Solid C/C++ programming experience on 32-bit microprocessor embedded platforms

Contact Pat Jacobs — 805-579-0630  pat.jacobs@advancedpersonnelprofiles.com


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