If you haven’t done so recently, please look at our web site: http://www.elmd.org/.    We’ve added new links which brings information to your fingertips.  There’s a new link to Michael Holt’s web site.  At our web site you can click on “Changes to the 2011 NEC.”  This link gives you the process for submitting a proposal to revise the National Electrical Code.  Another link “City/County Updates” provides city and county code updates and local amendments.

            Please join us at our IEEE/IAS – ELM Golf Outing which will take place on September 15, 2008 at  Compasse Point Golf Course.  There are several ways to register for this event.  From the League’s home page, click on “Events” and “IEEE/IAS – ELM Golf Outing” and print the form.  Mail the completed form and your check to IEEE/IAS.  To pay by credit card, click on “IEEE/IAS.”  Then, click on “Golf Outing Registration (Credit Card).  Or, use the registration form included with these News and Notes.                         

Mark your calendars! October 12 will be here soon!  The Electric League’s annual Bull and Oyster Roast will take place at Bowley’s Quarters Fire Hall.  Start whetting your appetites now!  To see the full menu, from our web site click on “Events” and “Bull & Oyster Roast.”   

     I’ve come across a word that was new to me, “Mechatronics”. I hadn’t heard it before so I looked up its meaning. I didn’t realize that it had been coined back in 1969. When I found it, I was really surprised at the concept.  Mechatronics is defined as the coming together of mechanical systems, electrical/electronic systems, and computer control systems to perform a function.  Mechatronics is an approach to designing electro-mechanical systems integrating the mechanical, electrical, electronic, computer control and software systems at the start of the project.  What is difficult to imagine are the things that are being done now using mechatronics.  The industry has created so many so called “smart products” presently used in robotics, prosthetics, medical instrumentation, defense, manufacturing, automotive, smart consumer products etc. It’s hard to find any industry that doesn’t use some example of mechatronics.  For example, we see it in automobile design from antilock braking systems, traction control systems, electronic stability systems and a host of engine controls.  To learn more, go to    www.mechatronicszone.com to see how the field impacts our lives. Some displays and videos seem very simplistic, but take a moment or two and think about what’s being done and how the idea can be applied in the future.

            Kudos to Jim Cornelius, Brown and Heim Inc!  Jim was recently selected as a Fellow of the Academy of Electrical Contracting. 

Al Michel