IEEE Berkshire Section History

Link to Section Homepage

Early Days

On March 25, 1904, Pittsfield became the 19th Branch of the AIEE, and the 4th in Region 1. Note that Pittsfield was the AIEE designation, which was changed to Berkshire when IEEE was formed. The AIEE designation was changed from Branch to Section in 1907. The first Chairman of Pittsfield was C.C. Chesney, and the first Secretary was H. H. Barnes. Pittsfield was very active in AIEE, assuming many Institute leadership positions. 

William Stanley joined the Section (AIEE) in 1887, making him one of the first members of AIEE. He started the Stanley Electrical Manufacturing Company in Pittsfield in 1890, which was annexed by General Electric as their Pittsfield works. Stanley was the developer of alternating current, with encouragement from George Westinghouse, which resulted in the electrification of America. 

Records show the 1920's and 1930's to be banner years with an attendance as high as 850 to a single meeting titled "In Unknown "Baffin Land" and over 15,000 to hear Amelia Earhart speak on air adventures.

The 1910s

November 1917
Professor W .L. Cathcart spoke on the subject of "The War by Land and Sea" to about 800 at the temple.

January 1918
"Illumination of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition" was the subject of W.D. Ryan at the Masonic Temple with about 550 present.

April 1918
Lieut. Colonel C.E. Brigham presented "The Role of the Coast Artillery in the Present War" to 100 at the Wendell.

February 1919
Consulting chemist Dr. Ellwood B. Spear from Cambridge, Mass. spoke on the "Problem of Gas Warfare" to 125 at the New American.

The 1920s

February 1920
Dr. H. T. Stetson spoke on "Solar Physics" to about 50 at the Park Club.

November 1920
"The Twentieth Century's Contribution to Our Knowledge o f the Atom" was presented by Dr. R.A. Flillikan to about 300 at the Park Club.

November 1921
Dr. C.P. Steinmetz expounded "Einstein's Theory of Relativity" to about 350 at the G.E. Auditorium.

March 1922
Mr. T. Nelson Dale presented "The Geologic History of Graylock to about 350 at the Y.H.C.A.

December 1922
"In Unknown Baffin Land" by Capt. J.B. MacMillan brought out 850 to the Masonic Temple.

January 1923
Professor V. Karapetoff presented a "Musical Lecture and Recital" at the High School to about 350 on the 3rd and "Resonance and Oscillation" at the G.E. Auditorium to about 150 on the 4th.

March 1923
"India" was the subject of Professor B.C. Gupta at the GE Auditorium to about 250 present.

November 1924
Mr. Guiseppe Faccioli presented "Transient Phenomena", the effects of sudden disturbances in an
electric power system.

March 1926
Pittsfield on the air for the first time in it's history when AIEE broadcasts the very first words, "We are broadcasting tonight from the Wendell Hotel, in Pittsfield Mass. at the AIEE's annual banquet".

November 1926
The National Institutes President, Mr. C.C. Chesney, entertained the local membership with his talk on "A 9500 Mile Trip Through Utah, Nevada, California, Oregon, Washington, and Western Canada," at the Masonic Temple. Cost to non-members was .50$. Membership card admitted a lady guest as well.

November 1926
Commander Ellsberg's talk on "Raising of the S-51 Submarine," illustrated by motion pictures and slides brought this response. "You have made Jules Verne look like a piker".

1926/1927
The Pittsfield Section was singularly honored this year in the election of Cumnings C. Chesney, one of
its members to the National Presidency of the institute.

May 1927
A regional Convention was hosted by the Berkshire section of AIEE at the Maplewood Hotel on May 25

November 1927
Floyd Bennett the famed aviator was the speaker at the Masonic Temple . His subject was "To The North
Pole and Back Again". About 1000 attended this presentation.

December 1927
Foreign Legion Major tells story of Legion "As Is" in an absorbing AIEE talk. Major Zinovi Pechoff
gives true story of Most Romantic Organization in the world.

March 1928
Dr. Tehyi Hseih, the "Teddy Roosevelt" of China talked about China at the Masonic Temple.

December 1929
Lt. Samuel P. Hills of the U. S. Army Air Corps spoke on "Some Interesting Recent Aeronautical Developments".

1930 to 1960 - A Summary

Members of the Pittsfield transformer engineering organization have traditionally played an active role in technical affairs, particularly in the AIEE, the society which preceded the present IEEE. The Pittsfield Section AIEE had a large and active membership and supported an extensive program of technical meetings. An unusual outgrowth of this activity came in the form of a popular lecture series.
In the thirties, before television, lectures on science, travel, literature, etc., were quite in demand and the AIEE popular lecture series regularly filled the largest auditorium in the city. When demand still exceeded available seating capacity, arrangements were made to repeat the lectures the next day for the high school students. Chairmen of the Pittsfield Section during the development of the popular lecture series included Karl McEachron, Howard Kline, Locke Burnham, Vincent Hontsinger, William Cooney, and Aram Boyajian. One result of the popular series was that the Pittsfield Section AIEE prospered and accumulated a considerable financial reserve which was sufficient to cover the expense of the technical meetings for which there was no admission charge.

Many of the transformer engineers presented technical papers at national meetings of the AIEE. In the early thirties it was decided that something should be done about improving the quality of the papers; particularly of the oral presentations. After much discussion, arrangements were made to have a contest between the Pittsfield Section and the Schenectady Section. Two meetings were to be held, one in each city. Each Section was to field three contestants at each meeting. Entry was to be limited to AIEE members, not more than thirty years old, who had not previously presented a technical paper. Each contestant was permitted to select his own subject and was allowed ten minutes for the oral presentation. Both written papers and oral presentations were evaluated by a panel of judges representing the Schenectady and Pittsfield Sections. Individual prizes were offered but the greatest interest centered on the team performance.

Arrangements were made for Professor Garrison of Amherst College to come to Pittsfield one day each week during the two months preceding the contest. Professor Garrison coached the candidates and assisted in selecting the team of six to represent Pittsfield. Thus considerable benefit was realized by many more people than just the six candidates finally selected. Prize winners coming readily to memory include Wes Morrill, Dick Kaufman, and Wen Fieldlng. Whatever the reason may be, Pittsfield succeeded in winning most of the contests.

After the contest meetings became well established, some of the older AIEE members became concerned about their own performance as compared to that of veterans of the contest. Even the candidates who did not make the team were showing the benefit of coaching by Professor Garrison. When sufficient interest developed, Professor Garrison was persuaded to spend a full day in Pittsfield each week presenting a course in public speaking to interested members of the organization.

In later years, the Lynn Section of the AIEE sought to join in the contest. The format was then changed to include a meeting in each of the three cities with each of the three sections providing two contestants for each meeting. This arrangement continued until the whole program was discontinued with the advent of World War II.

The 1930s

May 1930
Associate of late Charles P. Steinmetz announces retirement at AIEE 25th Annual Banquet. Guiseppe Faccizii became a member of the staff consulting engineers for the company.

August 1930
C.C. Chesney made a presentation speech of a memorial of a William Stanley X-Ray Roan at the Great
Barrington Hospital. One of the trustees of the hospital was L.F. Blume a retired chairman of the Pittsfield Section of AIEE.

November 1931
E. L. Manning of the GE Research Lab spoke on "Electrical Research" to a crowd of 950.December 1931
Frank Buck talked on his favorite subject, which is "Capturing wild Animals". Over 1300 attended this lecture.

January 1932
William C. White captivated an audience of 1100 with his talk on "Russia".

March 1932
An attendance of 1450 was realized when Major Thomas Coulson expounded on "Famous Women Spies".

April 1932
Prof. S. R. Williams of Amherst presented the technical subject "Magnetism" to 110 attendees.

December 1932
Dr. Cecilia H. Payne of the Howard Observatory spoke on "High Voltage Stars" and the recent
developments in astrophysics on chemical Composition and physical behavior of the matter composing the stars.

March 1933
"Experiences of a Gang Buster" was presented by Capt. C. W. Willemie to 1100 in attendance.

December 1933
"N. I. R. A. - A New Deal in an Old Game" was presented by John T. Flynn to 1050 in attendance.

January 1934
Lowell Thomas presented his "Adventures on the Air and Around the World". Over 1600 attended.

March 1934
"Russia As It Is" was presented by Julian Bryan to1450 attendees.

May 1934
A souvenir consisting of a metal ash tray with the AIEE emblem will be used at a banquet and priced at 18¢ each.

November 1934
L. H. H. Morrow presented "Tennessee Valley Authority Project" to 290 at a technical session.

November 1934
An executive committee meeting included discussion about action to take on AT&T stock due to governmental action against AT&T which would reduce the dividend from $9.00 to $7.00 a share.

March 1935
1300 attended "An Evening With The Stars “presented by B. R. Barimgardt.

November 1935
A National AIEE committee has been appointed to plan the celebration of the "Stanley" Golden Jubilee- the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Establishment of Alternating Current Systems in America.

January 1936
Count Byron De Prorok made a presentation on “Ethiopia". 1500 attended.

February 1936
K. B. McEachron. Chief of Lightning Research at G. E. in Pittsfield spoke on "Recent Lightning Research and Its Applications".

March 1936
The Pittsfield section held a ceremony to celebrate the Fiftieth Anniversary of the
Establishment of the Alternating Current System in America.

August 1936
The financial statement for the year ending August 1, 1936 showed the section's net worth at $10,814.06.

November 1936
Amelia Earhart talked on "Adventures in the Air”. More than 1500 attended at the High School Auditorium.

March 1937
Capt. John D. Craig captivated 1500 with his “Experiences While Producing Adventure - Thrill Movies".

August 1937
Mr. P. A. Tamburello indicated that he would be willing to serve as our committee of one on Public
Relations and Legal Affairs and is now investigating the possibility of the section obtaining exemption from Massachusetts Income Tax payments.

February 1938
A resume of "Vacuum Tube Theory" and a presentation of "Electronic Industrial Control Applications" was made by Mr. D. E. Chambers and E. D. McArthur of Schenectady.

February 1938
2000 people heard a presentation by Cmdr. W. E. Mullan, U. S. Navy on "Submarine Construction and
Operation". Mr. E. K. Kane was the presiding officer.

March 1938
The Schenectady and Pittsfield Sections of AIEE held a speakers competition for the E. S. Lee trophy. The competition was held in the Stanley Club auditorium. Three speakers from each section gave oral presentations and were judged for oral as well as written presentations.

November 1938
About 125 turned out to hear Prof. G. B. Snyder talk on "Hydroponics - Growing Plants Without Soil.

December 1938
The Berkshire Section agreed to pay $250.00 for the Chesney portrait to be done and loaned to and hung in The Stanley Club, but remain the property of the section.

January 1939
Julian Bryan gave a talk on "Inside Nazi Germany” to 1350 attendees at the high school auditorium.

February 1939
"Prospecting For Petroleum" was attended by 90 at a technical session presented by Dr. W. A. Gruse.

April 5, 1939
Letter from the Stanley Club to AIEE Chairman.
Subject - Hr. C. C. Chesney portrait.
First, the ownership of the portrait shall continue to rest with the Pittsfield Section of the AIEE.
Second, the portrait shall remain in the custody of the Stanley Club as long as the Stanley Club provides adequate housing and care, and a suitable place for hanging.

December 1939
Hr. C. A. Read. chairman. reported that Popular Lecture tickets no's 1687 and 1699 held at the
Berkshire Athenaeum for sale had been stolen.

The 1940s

In 1942-43, K. B. McEachron became Chairman of District 1 of AIEE. Note that the AIEE District was a geographical entity similar to our Regions, and District 1 covered an area similar to Region 1, without the NY metropolitan area. Note also that the District Chairman was also a Vice-President of AIEE. McEachron was followed by another Pittsfield member in 1952-53, W. Scott Hill.

April 1940
"Color Photography" was presented to about 200 by Dr. Arthur C. Hardy of MIT.

November 1940
Mr. DeBlieux reported that the Stanley Club will provide $1.00 dinners including gratis served at each
AIEE dinner. Main dishes include Roast Rib of Beef, Veal, Lamb, Baked Ham, Roast Loin of Pork, etc.

December 1940
Dr. D. P. Mitchell spoke on "The Cyclotron Kettler in Charge" at a technical session.

March 1941
Howard Higgins presented "Among The Spirits- An Expose of Spiritualism".

November 1941
Margaret Bourke-White the eminent photographer and author spoke on "Lenses Behind The News".

December 1941
London Air Raid films of 1940 were shown at the Stanley Club auditorium with 75 in attendance.

January 1942
1200 people attended a lecture - demonstration of mechanical - electronic artificial creation of speech.

February 1942
A two session presentation by Nicol Smith on the "Burma Road" was attended by 1350 at the main meeting and 1050 attending at the high school.

April 1942
"Adventures in Color with American Birds" was presented by Cleveland P. Grant.

November 1942
Stanley Johnson. the war reporter, presented "Battle of the Coral Sea" to 1450 present.

May 1943
Dr. K. Blodgett presented a technical paper on "Interference Colors Reflected by Thin Films".

December 1943
Robert St. John, war correspondent, spoke to 1300 attendees on "The World at War"

January 1944
Colonel Carlos Romulo presented "Philippines: war in the Pacific. II

March 1944
Fifteenth annual prize paper competition planned.

April 1944
Jule Mannix presented wild Life Movies plus Travel and Adventure.

November 1944
Paul Schubert, radio commentator and author, presented "war at Sea" to 1400 attendees.

March 1945
A movie-illustrated lecture on "Fun With Birds" was presented in the High School Auditorium by Laurel Reynolds.

November 1945
Atomic Power. Mr. R. P. Johnson of the G. E. Research Lab. gave an interesting survey of the
problems encountered in releasing atomic energy in modern warfare.

November 1945
Mr. Gregor Ziemer's lecture on "Re-Education of Germany" was well received. His statement of America's responsibility in post war Germany and his suggestion for meeting them stirred up considerable discussion.

December 1945
Commander Donald B. McMillan presented "Greenland - New Empire of the North" to 1400.

1945/1946
The Prize Paper Competition becomes a three section Schenectady, Lynn and Pittsfield participation.

February 1946
Charles Mountford presented colored movies in his talk on "Australia's Stone-Age Men".

June 1946
The executive committee voted to increase the price of tickets for the Popular lectures to $2.00 including tax.

November 1946
Brig. General Roger M. Ramey the Army Air Force Commander of the World's Only Atom Bombing Organization talked on "Air Power in the Atomic Age".

January 1947
Dr. Robert Cushman Murphy noted explorer for the American Museum of Natural History spoke on "Gates of the Antarctic" at the High School auditorium.

March 1947
There was a move afoot to have mandatory registration of engineers.

April 1947
Mr. William A. Lydgate, editor of the Gallup Poll, came to the Pittsfield High School to present a program on "What America Thinks - A Report on Domestic Problems".

December 1947
Dr. J. O. Perrine, Assistant VP of AT&T spoke to a crowd of 1210 (210 AIEE members) on "Radar and Micro-Waves" .

February 1948
Dr. H. M. Rozendaal, GE Research lab, made a presentation on "Atomic Power in Medical Research".

March 1949
Due to deficits in the past two years discussion was held on whether to discontinue the Popular Lectures.

September 1949
The series of five popular lectures during the 1948-49 season, although yielding a combined attendance of 4350 (Nov - 1000, Jan - 850, Feb - 900, Mar - 650, Apr - 950) showed a loss for the year of $1095.35.

The 1950s

March 1950
Prof. D. C. Grahame spoke on "The Hydrogen Bomb".

March 1950
A Testimonial Banquet was held in honor of Dr. K. B. McEachron, recipient of the Edison Medal and Manager of Engineering of the Pittsfield Works of the G. E. Co.

June 1950
Income from the 75 shares of AT&T stock was $161.15 per quarter.

November 1950
"Research of the Sun" by Prof. Giorgi Abetti of the University of Florence, Italy. Presiding officer of the meeting was Pier A. Abetti.

September 1951
Plans were made to continue section operations in case the GE Pittsfield Works is closed by labor troubles.

March 1953
Certificates were presented to Messrs. G. Camilli, G. S. Gorden and R. E. Plump for winning first place in the 1951-1952 New England District AIEE Prize Paper Contest. Second place certificates were awarded to Messrs. W. J. Degnan, A. H. Rohlfs and J. H. Hagenguth.

April 1953
Six technical papers were presented by the younger members.

September 1953
Discussion was held on rekindling the Popular Lecture series.

November 1953
Discussions were held on what to do for the 50th anniversary of the Pittsfield Section on March 25, 1954.

April 1954
John G. Anderson spoke on "Lightning Effects on Power Systems - Application of Lightning Arresters".

May 1954
Two shares of AT&T stock were donated to the Karl B. McEachron Memorial Foundation during this year.

June 1954
Robert C. Sprague addressed the section on "Turning More Engineers into Better Citizens".

December 1954
B. A. Cogbill was awarded the Fellow Grade.

February 1955
Dr. P. A. Abetti gave a talk on "Models, Analogs and Similitude’s in Electrical Engineering.

March 1955
George Bulgarelli presented "Instrumentation in Modern Weather Forecasting".

June 1955
The Vermont subsection was setup and operated as a going concern this year.

August 1955
It was decided to ask other local technical societies to a smoker meeting. The AIEE section would stand the entire cost. The cost was estimated at about 60¢ per person with maybe 200 attending.

January 1956
Institute members were enlightened about "The Mighty Midget" featuring the properties and
applications of the transistor, photo-transistor and the solar battery.

March 1956
An AIEE Tri-Sectional competition was held between the Lynn, Pittsfield and Schenectady sections with
R. F. Powers chairman of the oral and written competition.

August 1956
The Berkshire Section sent $150 to Vermont subsection for operating expenses.

September 1956
A joint Smoker type meeting of MSPE, PGEEA, ASME, ASCE, IRE and AIEE heard Chuck Savage of GE Corporate Headquarters speak on "The Challenge and Opportunities of Professional Societies".

November 1956
"Missile Guidance - Steel Nerves, Steel Muscle" was a topic of great interest.

April 1957
The April meeting was on "Conversion of Solar Energy Through Photosynthesis".

April 1957
A speaker competition was held where five talks were given by the Younger Members Competition Team.

May 1957
Vermont Subsection held a symposium on "Digital Computers and their Application to Power System Problems".

May 1957
The executive committee voted unanimously that when the Northeastern District is split into two
Districts, Pittsfield would prefer to be included with the New York Section.

November 1957
First prize in the District Paper Competition went to T. W. Liao. W. A. Keen and D. R. Powell for their paper "Relationships of Corona and Radio Influences on Transmission Lines, Part I".

May 1958
The Pittsfield Section had four Technical Groups: Power, Science and Electronics, Industry and Instrumentation.

June 1958
Eugene B. Canfield talked on "Inertial Guidance System for Ballistic Missiles".

September 1958
The meeting subject was "The Dawn of the Age of Space Flight".

January 1959
The meeting featured a demonstration of Direct Distance Telephone Dialing.

April 1959
Vermont subsection of AIEE sends recommendation to its members "that the Vermont Subsection of AIEE take immediate steps to become a Section.

June 1959
Mr. Green reported on the visit to the Vermont subsection meeting. He and Mr. VanLund reported the subsection was enthusiastically moving toward section status.
The financial statement showed the net worth of the Pittsfield Section at $22.452.14 including the 252 shares of AT&T stock.

November 1959
A field trip to the Rowe Atomic Energy Plant was arranged by B. V. Giegerich.

Recent History

The 1960s

February 1960
Dr. Willy Ley spoke to a group of 320 joint society members during Engineers Week on "The
Conquest of Space".

July 1960
Mr. Francis Lawrence Woods and Mr. Alanson V. Welch were transferred to the grade of fellow in AIEE.

October 1960
C. J. McMillen arranged for a presentation "Spy In The Sky" by Dr. J. A. Mauro.

March 1961
Twelve shares of AT&T stock were purchased for $1032.00.

September 1962
W. J. Degnan reported on the Denver, Colorado meeting which he attended.

November 1962
Mr. Dripps reported on local merger activities.

January 1963
A joint meeting with the IRE was held in Williamstown.

February 1963
The executive committee expressed appreciation of the joint merger committee; W. F. Dripps, W. B. Conover and E. N. Decker for their work and effort in writing the new bylaws.

April 1963
"Lunar Base Technology" was discussed by Dr. Rodney W. Johnson with 46 attendees. Problems and challenges associated with lunar landings were outlined.

June 1963
A joint meeting was held by the three chairmen involved in the turnover from two societies to one.
W. Conover, chairman of IRE; W. Degnan, chairman of AIEE; and the incoming chairman of IEEE, W. Dripps were representing their sections.

August 1963
A motion was made to transfer the ownership of the AT&T stock from the former AIEE to the IEEE Berkshire Section.

November 1963
An advisory committee was formed of past chainmen of AIEE and IRE sections per requirements of the current constitution.

December 1963
Ed Goodell closed out the IRE account at the Pittsfield National Bank and wrote a check for $349.70 payable to IEEE. Berkshire Section.

February 1964
Engineers week was celebrated with a talk by Lt. Col. J. A. Powers - NASA on Lunar Probes at the
Pittsfield High School. A dance was held at Green Acres. Paul Boswell and Bob Brennan chaired this
committee.

March 1964
The IRE records were sent to National IEEE.

September 1964
Forty members heard John J. HcLaugh1in ta1k on "Personal Financial Planning" at the Stanley Club.

April 1965
Dr. F. J. M. Sichel spoke on "Communications Within the Human Body".

May 1966
Resolved; That the Berkshire Section express disappointment with the conditions leading to a dues increase.

September 1966
Members in attendance at the September meeting were pleasantly surprised with the first color fi1m re1ease of the Gemini II rendezvous and space wa1k. Dr. Niemann of the NASA Research center presented an excellent summarry of past, present and future space efforts.

October 1966
A field trip to Corning Glass Center, Corning N.Y. was conducted on October 14 and 15. The Elmira - Corning Section of IEEE was on hand to greet the Berkshire Section.

October 1966
The Power Group's Chapter Charter was approved on October 6, 1966.

January 1967
Weston Morrill was elected to the grade of fellow for his Magnetic Core Materials development.

April 1967
A field trip to the Boston Science museum was attended by 54.

May 1967
Annual meeting on "Flying Saucers" brings criticism of speaker. Comments on "The Sexual Activity of Occupants of Flying Saucers" was objected to. "Propulsion Theory" suggested as a better topic on Flying Saucers.

September 1967
Dr. Robert Osthoff spoke on "Batteries and Electrical Vehicles" at a dinner meeting held at the Stanley Club.

October 1967
Lcdr. Michael D. Porter, CEC, USN gave a talk on "Navy Construction Battalion Activities in South Vietnam" to 40 attendees at the Stanley Club.

October 1967
Executive committee commits to support BCC Lecture Series with 40 season tickets at $5 each. Tickets resold to members at $3 each.

November 1967
Our investments are being challenged again. Chairman Reid advised we not sell the stock and take no action.

BERKSHIRE EAGLE, FEBRUARY 17. 1968
"ENGINEERS"

GE ORDNANCE HIRES FIRST LADY ENGINEER
The General Electric Co. Ordnance Department had found something new to celebrate for the observance of National Engineers week.

The department took the occasion to announce that it has hired its first woman engineer in the 26-year history of the local defense plant.

Miss Judy Baar will join the department Feb. 26 as an automatic test equipment engineer. A
native of Brooklyn N.Y., she graduated last month from the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn where she majored in system synthesis evaluation.

October 1968
The October 11-12 field trip to NAFEC, near Atlantic City, was attended by 29 members. The night
was spent at The Shelburn Hotel on the Boardwalk. Experimental aspects of Air Traffic Control were covered by the National Aviation Facilities Experimental Centers staff. A special hotel fee of $6 per person was arranged.

October 1969
Mr. E. Stumpek arranged for Charles Neigs of GE Philadelphia to speak on "Project Tactite, The Underwater Sea laboratory". This included both slides and film.

February 1969
The Engineers week dinner dance was held at Green Acres with 106 persons attending.

April 1969
Albert F. Rohlfs and Frederick J. Turner received awards for excellence in technical papers they had written.

The 1970s

March 1970
Mr. Plummer contacted Mr. Arnold Whitaker of Gruman on a future presentation lecture and film on the LEM - Lunar Excursion Module".

May 1970
A. B. Whitaker of Gruman Aerospace Corp., Long Island N.Y. presented "Lunar Module System – Impact on Apollo Mission".

August 1970
"Free loaders" - Mr. Renak was asked to work with Mr. Manimalethu to collect for unpaid dinners at the annual meeting.

October 1970
"Product Engineering" reported ASME as reviewing the need for existence of professional societies.

March 1971
The 1965 Massachusetts tax rebate was received but the 1969 rebate was not.

June 1971
Mr. Howard C. Barnes, vice president in charge of engineering, at American Electric Power Service Corp. spoke on "Research and Development in the Electric Power Industry".

September 1971
The presentation "Benefits of IEEE Membership" (or what do I get for my $25) was made by National Vice President of IEEE, Robert H. Tanner.

May 1972
Mr. James D. Parker, Staff Consultant Telecommunications - CBS Television Network talked on "How Satellites Provide Live Television Coverage of World-wide Sports and News Events".

December 1972
"The Concorde SST - What It Is". was presented by Mr. Brian L. Perry of the British Civil Aviation Authority at the 1896 House.

February 1973
Chairmen Les Jump reported. "Our lowest attendance was 40 at an evening meeting and the best attendance was 140 turning out to hear one of our senior members, Gene Peterson speak".

September 1973
Mr. Art Peltosalo, vice president and group executive from GE Power Delivery Group spoke on "A
Management View On Professional Engineering Societies".

March 1974
Honorable Silvio O. Conte spoke to the engineering society at the Lenox House on the Fuel Crisis.

May 1974
A field trip was arranged to the Hudson Valley Wine Company.

May 1975
W. Terrill from GE Valley Forge Works presented the current capabilities of "Solar Energy".

September 1975
The 1920's practice of having all section programs for the year listed on a program card and distributed at the start of the program year was rekindled.

January 1976
William J. McNutt was elected to the grade of Fellow for his contributions to the design and
standardization of test procedures of power transformers.

January 1976
Joseph D. MacDonald nominated Ed Stumpek for Region 1 Area C chainman.

January 1976
Dr. Paul G. Agarwal, from the Electrical Engineering Dept. of General Motors Corp. talked on "Vehicle of the Future, the Electric Car".

March 1976
Letter from Wayne Harju to M. D. Dillick:
"Engineers week 1976 was extremely successful ... best Engineers week ever in Berkshire County ... I wish to commend you "

October 1976
The very first Berkshire Section Newsletter (of the current series) was prepared by Leonard Wiggins and its form and content was discussed at the August 25 EXCOH meeting. Those present at this
meeting were Edd Ptak, Bill Kennedy, Bob Degeneff, Andy Lyke, Joe MacDona1d, Joe Slocik, George Sauer, Leonard Wiggins, Al Litster, Bill McNutt, Tom Brennan, Dave Dillick, and Royal Morse.

October 1976
A suggestion to create an IEEE Berkshire Section scholarship available only to Berkshire section
members and their immediate family was introduced by Joe Slocik. May 1971 saw three $100.00 scholarships being awarded. This is in addition to the $250.00 annual donation toward the Karl B. McEachron Memorial Foundation Scholarship.

January 1977
Bill Dudley, an investment executive of First Albany Co. talked on "The Unpredictable Stock Market".

Spring of 1977
The executive committee and the professional activities committee approved the purchase and
distribution of the booklet titled "The ABC's of HOW YOUR GOVERNMENT WORKS". Copies were sent to every member of the section.

May 1977
The Berkshire Section of IEEE awards a scholarship. The first recipient of this newly initiated $100 scholarship (chosen by the luck of the draw) was Robert F. Koch. The recipient must be a son or daughter of a current member of the section.

November 1977
Two additional scholarships were awarded. The two winners were Paula Komlosi and Wade Fiegel, each receiving a $100 check.

November 1977
Dr. Kenneth B. Goldblum spoke on "Plastics in Electrical and Electronic Engineering".

March 1978
Jay M. Pasachoff, director of Hopkins Observatory, Williams College presented "The Sun and Solar Eclipses" .

May 1978
James Kent Kresge was the recipient of the $100 scholarship award this year.

May 1978
Robert H. Ries of the Academy of Applied Science, Franklin Pierce Law Center, presented "Tracking the Loch Ness Monster".

July 1978
W. R. G. Baker Prize Paper award and PES award was presented to Jim Krege. Gene Sakshaug and Stan Miske for a paper on "A New Concept in Station Arrester Design".

February 1979
Six Societies participate in Engineers week. Edd Ptak solicited involvement from ASME, ASQC, IEEE, MSPE, PGEEA and SPE.

April 1979
Hans Cherney, IEEE-USAB/PAC Coordinator presented "The Engineer in Mid Career"

May 1979
The 15th anniversary of the Berkshire Section was celebrated at the annual meeting with a presentation on "NASA's Technology Spinoffs".

May 1979
Katrin Rouse received the Berkshire Section $100 scholarship award.

The 1980s

May 1980
Dr. J. Lawrence Katz of RPI's Biomedical Engineering center presented "Six Million Dollar Man - TV Fiction or Engineering Reality".

October 1980
Region 1 director, Hans Cherney spoke to a member and spouse meeting.

November 1980
Duncan L. Honig received the 1980 IEEE Berkshire Section scholarship of $100.

January 1981
Luciano E. Zaffanella was elected to Fellow status by IEEE.

April 1981
Mr. Irwin Feerst talked about the working engineers representation within IEEE at a Professional Activities meeting of the Berkshire Section.

May 1981
Russell A. Larson. Program manager Space Shuttle Activities, Charles Stark Draper Lab, Cambridge, presented "NASA Space Shuttle – A New Era."

October 1981
Kathryn VanAlstyne and David A. Lloyd received the two $100 scholarships.

January 1982
"Investment Counseling" was the subject speakers from First Albany Corporation. Kidder Peabody Company Inc., Shearson - American Express, and Bache presented to inquisitive attendees.

March 1982
Lewis Cuyler, Director of the Hoosac Tunnel Museum Society, spoke on "The Second century of the Hoosac Tunnel".

May 1982
Dr. James D. Sullivan of the MIT center for Space Research spoke at the Holiday Inn in Lenox on the "Voyager Spacecraft – A Journey To The Outer Planets".

July 1982
Theodore Sakshaug and Patricia Brennan were awarded the $100 scholarships this year.

January 1983
During our membership drive, 15 new members were added. Each new member to receive a $5.00 rebate from the section. Joe Sloc1k brought in three new members, winning the competition.

April 1983
"Robotics in GE's Factories-with-a Future" was presented by Vernon E. Estes.

May 1983
Two $100 scholarship awards went to John Brennan and Paul Leibinger.

May 1983
John Easley cited by local section. Received two awards for his involvement in the Transformers subcommittee of IEEE.

June 1983
IEEE ,Headquarters complimented our past secretary - Keith French. We were the only section in the U.S. that reported the new officers on time.

June 1983
A petition was submitted to headquarters to form a Computers and Controls Group in our section.

August 1983
The Annual Executive Committee picnic was hosted by Bert Pritchard at the lodge in Pittsfield State
Forest.

September 1983
Alan Boschen reported on his trip to Phoenix Arizona to the annual PACE conference.
March 1984
Centennial medals and citations were presented to Gene Carlson -Bert Pritchard. Edd Ptak and Joe Slocik for continued service to the Berkshire Section.

April 1984
Incoming chairman Carroll Kane met Edd Ptak at the Boston Electro and asked Edd to chair a Berkshire Section centennial Historical Committee.

June 1984
Three scholarships were awarded this year.

October 1984
A joint Elfun/IEEE meeting sponsored James E. A. John. Dean of Engineering at UMass who spoke on "The Changing Face of Engineering Education" at the Stanley Club to a capacity crowd.

2000s

Berkshire Section Officers for 2008 are: Rob Reilly, Chairman; John DiNicola , Vice-Chairman; Bert Pritchard, Secretary; and Frank Fisher, Treasurer.