FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Katie Post
Phone: +1-312-559-3658
E-Mail: kpost@iec.org

CHICAGO – 23 September 2009 – The International Engineering Consortium (IEC), which provides continuing education for the engineering and communications industry and manages the Electric and Computer Engineering Department Heads Association (ECEDHA), today announced that the inaugural Grid ComForum will be held February 2-3, 2010 at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, California. Under the theme of "Empowering Grid Communications," the conference will feature sessions focused on business case development, market drivers, operations, and policy concerns related to smart grid technology.

"We are pleased to introduce a program that targets the needs of electric power industry managers and executives responsible for the deployment of smart grid technology, calling on our relationships with key companies who are faced with addressing the addition of the communications layer," commented IEC President and ECEDHA Executive Director John R. Janowiak.

Companies that wish to host a session at the Grid ComForum are invited to submit a proposal for review in the following topic areas:

• Smart Grid Architecture & Technology
• Grid Communications Layer
• Microgrid Management & Distributed Generation
• Demand Response
• Smart Homes
• Smart Grid Deployment: Case Studies
• Marketing the Smart Grid
• Software Applications Layer
• Network Security
• Operations
• Standards
• Policy and Regulation

Session proposals are due to the IEC by Friday, October 30, 2009 and should be submitted here: www.iec.org/events/spt/sessionLogin.asp?CONF_ID=102. Proposals will be reviewed by the Grid ComForum Executive Committee.

For more information, visit www.GridComForum.com or contact Katie Post at kpost@iec.org or +1-312-559-3658.

About the IEC
A nonprofit organization, the IEC is dedicated to catalyzing technology and business progress worldwide in a range of high-technology industries and their university communities. Since 1944, the IEC has provided high-quality educational opportunities for industry professionals, academics, and students.

In conjunction with industry-leading companies, the IEC has developed an extensive, free, on-line educational program. The IEC conducts industry-university programs that have substantial impact on curricula. It also conducts research and develops publications, conferences, and technological exhibits that address major opportunities and challenges of the information age.

More than 70 leading high-technology universities are IEC affiliates, and the IEC handles the affairs of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department Heads Association and Eta Kappa Nu, the honor society for electrical and computer engineers. Please visit www.iec.org.

About ECEDHA
The Electrical and Computer Engineering Department Heads Association is composed of heads or chairs of departments offering accredited programs in electrical and/or computer engineering. The purposes of ECEDHA are threefold: (1) help advance the field; (2) help members exchange ideas; (3) improve communication with the profession, industry, government and others.

ECEDHA membership is open to the official leaders (whether called head, chair or some other title) of U.S. university departments offering ABET-accredited electrical and/or computer engineering (or similarly named) programs. Of about 300 departments offering such programs, almost 90 percent are currently represented in ECEDHA. Visit www.ecedha.org.