Archive for April 25th, 2008

Did H.G. Wells come to Chicago? I found this creature as I walked about the streets of Chicago. Anyone know what this is? Is it one of the Martians from War of the Worlds? I’ll tell in the last blog. Send me your guess.

I ran into a couple of old friends at the Areva Exhibit. Neil and Chris have worked with me for years on the HVDC and FACTS Subcommittee. They are experts in the Power Electronics field. We had been talking about the HVDC Cross Channel link when Gene made an inappropriate remark about the color of the shirts. Pam reacted just as I took the photo. It sure was fun visiting together.

Pam reported the companions had an enjoyable conference. PES had a companion room in McCormack Place for them to meet and eat. Breakfast was served every morning (not a heavy one thank you). There were tours and activities to keep everyone happy and busy.

I think I walked 5 or 6 miles a day during the Expo. The McCormick Place is one of the biggest conference centers I think I have ever been in. The exhibit floor was huge and there were 5 or 6 levels for all the papers, panels, and sessions. When my friend Mark Zeller at Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories offered me a chance to sit down and discuss the smart grid I took it. We talked about phasor monitors, sensors, real time monitoring of protection systems, micro-processors, and just watched the crowd walk by.

One more model and then I’ll move on. Toshiba had a series of underground substation models on display. They were both GIS and Oil filled. It is amazing the lengths utilities have to go to meet their customer’s needs. Everyone wants electricity, but they don’t want the infrastructure showing. Personally I think substations are works of art, but manufacturers such as Toshiba have met the challenge by developed some pretty amazing applications for the technology.

I never knew how many of my friends were photographers until I walked the Expo floor with my Nikon hung around my neck. It is eye catching with the flash unit, and 18mm to 200mm lens. I use it in my consulting work a lot, so it has to be versatile, but it attracts attention. John Estey had a lot of questions about the lens. He is considering purchasing one, so we had a great time comparing notes. That is another benefit of attending the PES Expo. Along with the education, I get to visit with lots of old friends. We catch up with what is going on in our lives and find out new things about each other, which brings us closer.

Did you see all the models on the floor? The Hyundai exhibit included some very cool models of equipment way to big to bring into the exhibit floor. I had tried to get photos of them, but the crowds were so thick taking photos didn’t work very well. Yesterday morning I was on the floor about 8AM taking photos of everything I could not during the show before the crowds. Yep folks, PES gave me the run of the place and I took advantage of it. Of course I met a lot of the security guards this way. I might add they were very nice folks too. After they checked my credentials, they told me to have a nice day and sent me on my way.

I was talking with John Estey (President S&C and Past PES President) about the new IEEE PES award honoring Doug Staszesky. S&C is sponsoring the award. John provided this poster for the blog. He was very close to Doug and told me they find out how much they miss him every day. He was such a driving force and touched so many lives.

I had to go back to the folks at Delta-Star to get the story about the Harley. Delta-Star is celebrating their 100 anniversary. They decided to give away this beautiful Harley at the PES Expo. It fits me perfectly hope I win. Pam rolled her eyes at me when I got on it, but agreed to take the photo. She has been a great help with all this blogging and going around to the exhibits with me.