October 23, 2007 Responding to NERC's annual 2007 Long-Term Reliability Assessment, EPSA is concerned that NERC's analysis is skewed by the way it categorizes power generation resources as committed or uncommitted, which undercounts availability of electricity from competitive suppliers. EPSA welcomes NERC's pledge to work to improve next year's report so that resources are properly counted. It also welcomes report's description of forward capacity markets in New England.

October 23, 2007 John E. Shelk, President and CEO of EPSA, welcomed 3 reports issued by ISO/RTO Council, which represents 10 Independent System Operators and Regional Transmission Organizations in North America. Reports prove that organized markets are working efficiently while producing numerous benefits to consumers. From 2001-2006, over 110,000 MW of new generation was brought into commercial operation, and approximately 300,000 MW of new generation is currently proposed in ISO and RTO regions.

October 23, 2007 Scheduled for Nov 15-16 in New Orleans, LA, AWWA Seminar will bring together water managers, engineers, consultants, and others to discuss impacts of climate change on water supply and strategic planning. It will include case studies, tabletop exercises, and networking opportunities, allowing attendees to learn from colleagues and explore joint solutions. Seminar will also include bus tour of impacted areas and restoration efforts of New Orleans infrastructure.

October 22, 2007 Providing health and safety information to construction and general industries, alliance between OSHA and NSC will specifically focus on encouraging motor vehicle safety and drug-free workplaces. It will also address first aid training in workplace, including Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation, and use of Automated External Defibrillators. Over past year, Alliance has reached over 577,000 individuals on safety and health issues through events and interactive activities.

October 22, 2007 According to renewed alliance, OSHA and National Shipbuilding Research Program will continue to provide NSRP members and others in shipbuilding industry with important health and safety information to minimize or prevent employee exposure to shipyard hazards. Future project includes development of Marine Hanging Staging module, which will inform employers on how to design, assemble, use, and dismantle MHS in safe manner for employees.

October 22, 2007 With alliance, OSHA and Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) will provide rough terrain forklift or telehandler owners and operators with information, guidance, and access to training resources in multiple languages that will help them protect construction employees' health and safety. Alliance will develop information on recognition and prevention of workplace hazards, and provide expertise in developing ways of communicating such information to employers and employees.

October 22, 2007 In cooperation with Verband der Elektrotechnik and several international professional organizations, IEEE is looking for individuals to participate in conference that will bring together members of industry, academia, and government to discuss future of engineering education and the profession. Scheduled for Nov 9-11 in Munich, Germany, conference will feature 4 keynote addresses, 12 moderated paper discussion sessions, and 3 breakout sessions.

October 19, 2007 With proposed addendum to ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1-2004, estimated annual energy savings of 13% should result regarding air- and water-cooled chillers. Proposed addendum m, effective Jan. 1, 2010, establishes additional path of compliance for water-cooled chillers as well as consolidation and new requirements for some existing categories. It also combines water-cooled positive displacement chillers into one category and adds new size category for centrifugal chillers at or above 600 tons.

October 19, 2007 The Electron Devices Society (EDS) is sponsoring a career development strategy session Sunday, December 9, as part of the 2007 IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting being held December 10-12 in Washington, D.C. Designed for graduate students and young professionals who are Graduates of the Last Decade (GOLD), the program will include a seminar on career development strategies, panel discussion, and networking session with EDS Officers and Administrative Committee (AdCom) members.

October 19, 2007 Student branch leaders met at the IEEE Operations Center to share recent accomplishments, challenges, and plans for the coming year at the IEEE 2007 Leaders Summit. Part of the University Partnership Program, the summit allows representatives to build relationships with other student member leaders and brainstorm about membership growth and funding strategies.

October 18, 2007 NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate has amended its NASA Research Announcement to solicit research proposals that address the "Integration of Advanced Concepts and Vehicles into the Next Generation Air Transportation System," known as NextGen. The focus of the research effort is to conduct a study that addresses the issues associated with deploying new, advanced vehicles by exploring the tradeoffs among procedures, vehicle characteristics, and overall NextGen performance.

October 18, 2007 NASA's Johnson Space Center has awarded a 5-year, $120 million extension of its cooperative agreement with the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI). The agreement began April 1, 1997 and this second 5-year extension will last through September 30, 2012. Under the extension, the institute and NASA's Human Research Program will continue biomedical research in support of a long-term human presence in space.

October 18, 2007 NASA's Launch Services Program office has selected Lockheed Martin Commercial Launch Services of Littleton, CO, for launching of the Landsat Data Continuity Mission. Launch services for an Atlas V model 401 rocket, payload processing, launch vehicle integration, and the necessary tracking, data and telemetry support are included in the contract award. The spacecraft is scheduled to be placed into a 428-mile-high polar sun synchronous orbit in July, 2011.

October 18, 2007 NASA's Launch Services Program office has selected Lockheed Martin Commercial Launch Services of Littleton, CO, for the Juno mission to Jupiter. The $190 million contract award includes the launch service for an Atlas V model 551 rocket, payload processing, launch vehicle integration, and the necessary tracking, data, and telemetry support. Scheduled to lift off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in August 2011, the spacecraft will arrive at Jupiter in August 2016.

October 18, 2007 Companion guideline to ASHRAE Standard 62.2, proposed Guideline 24P Ventilation and Indoor Air Quality in Low-Rise Residential Buildings would provide information on envelope and system design, material selection, commissioning and installation, and operation and maintenance. Topics addressed in guideline but not covered in standard include carbon monoxide alarms, air distribution, better air filtration, and unvented combustion appliances.

October 18, 2007 Under jurisdiction of Subcommittee C09.67 on Resistance to Environment, C 1646/C 1646M Standard addresses practice for making and curing test specimens for evaluating frost resistance of coarse aggregate in air-entrained concrete by rapid freezing and thawing. Standard will promote consistency in specimen preparation, resulting in improved repeatability when ASTM C 666 testing is performed.

October 18, 2007 With A 1054 Standard, users of ceramic ferrite magnets will be able to identify widely recognized grades of permanent magnet material for use in device designs. By specifying grade of material that is listed in A 1054, manufacturer will know, by reference to standard, what properties of magnet must be in order to satisfy design requirement. Standard will be used by designers and manufacturers of loudspeakers, electric motors, magnetic sensors, and holding magnets.

October 18, 2007 In advance of World Radiocommunication Conference 2007 in Geneva, Switzerland, NASA officials will hold media teleconference on Oct 18 at 4 pm EDT. More than 2,000 people, representing almost 200 nations will gather at conference to negotiate radio frequency spectrum use. One key discussion topic of interest to NASA involves protection of radio spectrum, which is vital to studying Earth's environment, predicting weather, and monitoring natural disasters.

October 18, 2007 NASA has launched the Earth Science Expert Directory that contains profiles and contact information for nearly 100 NASA and NASA-funded experts in a searchable database. Reporters can search for sources by area of expertise, name, keywords, organization, or location. With research areas ranging from climate and weather to natural hazards and ecosystems, experts included in the directory work at NASA centers throughout the U.S.

October 18, 2007 NASA has selected proposals for negotiation of Phase 2 contract awards in the Small Business Innovation Research program (SBIR) and will award the contracts to 102 small high technology firms in 27 states. Research topics among selected group include development of design, analysis, and optimization tools for flight vehicles, data architecture to design software that quantifies spacecraft data, and radiation-hardened, stackable memory modules.