November General Meeting

Experiences with 3D Printing and Practical Applications

Speaker: Christian Falkenberg-Andersen, Retired M.D. and tech enthusiast

In this talk, Christian will share his journey into the world of 3D printing, including how he started and why he chose the two printers he currently uses. He'll showcase some of his favorite designs, highlighting their unique and innovative features.

Additionally, Christian will discuss his application of 3D printing in a medical setting, specifically how he used it to create customized splints for his patients before retiring from his medical practice.

As part of the presentation, Christian will introduce OpenSCAD, his preferred design software, explaining why it stands out for creating precise and functional 3D models. To conclude, he will demonstrate the capabilities of his smaller 3D printer, which will complete a print during the course of the talk.

This session aims to inspire creativity and provide practical insights into the versatile world of 3D printing.

Christian Falkenberg-Andersen was born in Denmark and emigrated to Canada at age 14. His parents lived on a farm and solving problems on the farm is likely where an interest in tinkering started. He completed a bachelor of science, majoring in biochemistry (University of Calgary) and taking a course in instrumentation for scientists sparked a very strong interest in electronics. Subsequently he got a second bachelor of science degree (in electrical engineering) and postgraduate master of science degree in biomedical engineering (studying the nerve conduction of a compound action potential traveling down a nerve, and using FFT to calculate the distribution of nerve conduction speeds for the axon). During his work on his master's degree he entered medical school and received a doctor of medicine degree. Subsequently he qualified for practising medicine with specialty in family medicine. He retired 2 years ago from working as a solo family physician since 1999 in Market Mall. Currently, his activities include a lot of tinkering with the Raspberry Pi and Arduino single board computers, as well as 3D printing. Sewing, cycling (electric-assist bike) and kite skiing round out his activities.

Slides from this presentation are available in Keynote, PowerPoint and PDF format.

707 Fifth

707 - 5 St. S.W.
Third floor conference room C

There is $3 parking after 16:00 one block south of the meeting location, at the Centennial Parkade (Lot 54).

5:30 PM, Tuesday, November 26, 2024

Snacks at 17:30. Meeting begins at 18:00.

Attendance is free for CUUG members, or $10 (cash only) at the door for non-CUUG members.

RSVP to office at CUUG if you plan to attend.

Christopher Aziz: CUUG Life Member

Christopher Aziz 1999

Christopher Aziz 2024

In recognition of his 25 years of dedicated volunteer service to CUUG, the Calgary Unix Users' Group is pleased to announce that Christopher Aziz has been named a CUUG Life Member.

Chris first joined CUUG's Board of Directors in 1998, immediately taking on the role of President. He has served as President a total of 11 times, more than any other person. Even when he was not on the Board (CUUG bylaws mandate a break after five consecutive years of service), he remained actively involved in the running of the organization. Our continued success is due in no small part to Chris's contributions.

Thank you, Chris, for all that you've done for CUUG!

October General Meeting

What's With Calgary's Water System?

Speaker: Roy Brander, CUUG Life Member and retired Senior Infrastructure Engineer, Calgary Water Resources

Roy Brander served as "Senior Infrastructure Engineer" for Calgary Water Resources from 1995 through 2015, working mainly on smaller distribution pipes for most of that period. His presentation will be assisted by advice and material from Alan Beairsto, who managed the operations staff at Water Treatment Plants through an even longer period, and Hugh Costello, who sized and designed much of the larger system of feedermains (those over 400mm), pump stations, and reservoirs that move water across the city from the plants.

How that larger system works in Calgary, feeding water evenly to the reservoirs serving over 20 separate pressure zones, will provide context for the problems that arose in Calgary when a particularly critical feedermain had to be withdrawn from service in June 2024, an outage lasting months. We will then present the much-discussed issues in the media, involving the choice of pipe materials, the inspection of large pipes, and the problems of repair, explaining with material from their careers, and developed by Lily Dupuis of CBC following interviews with Roy.

Roy Brander is a CUUG Life Member. He has given a number of presentations on a wide variety of subjects, including the BSDWall project, the MEPIS Linux distribution, the Titanic, management of Calgary's water mains, and the ASUS Eee PC and Moore's Law. Roy has retired from his position as the Senior Infrastructure Engineer for Water Resources, The City of Calgary, and now lives in a Vancouver condo overlooking Stanley Park. He'll be coming to us virtually from there, via Zoom.

Slides from this presentation are available (Part 1 and Part 2).

707 Fifth

707 - 5 St. S.W.
Third floor conference room C

There is $3 parking after 16:00 one block south of the meeting location, at the Centennial Parkade (Lot 54).

5:30 PM, Tuesday, October 22, 2024

Snacks at 17:30. Meeting begins at 18:00.

Attendance is free for CUUG members, or $10 (cash only) at the door for non-CUUG members.

RSVP to office at CUUG if you plan to attend.

September General Meeting

Unix Tips, Tricks, and Quirks

Speaker: Alan Dewar, Software Engineering Senior Staff Engineer, Synopsys

If you've been using Unix for any reasonable length of time, you're familiar with the basics: file system structure, simple commands, etc. There are more advanced commands and utilities with which you might be less familiar, and which could help you be more productive. Then again, there are some things which are obtuse, quirky, or just plain weird.

Join us for a discussion of the joys, frustrations, and amusements to be had with Unix. We'll have time at the end for you to share your own experiences of the good, the bad, and the quirky!

Alan Dewar is a software engineering senior staff engineer at Synopsys, working as part of the Software Integrity Group. He has been using Unix since the early 1980s and its predecessor, Multics, before that. He is also a long-time CUUG member and director, as well as past President.

Slides from this presentation are available in PowerPoint and PDF format.

707 Fifth ← NEW LOCATION!

707 - 5 St. S.W.
Third floor conference room C

There is $3 parking after 16:00 one block south of the meeting location, at the Centennial Parkade (Lot 54).

5:30 PM, Tuesday, September 24, 2024

Snacks at 17:30. Meeting begins at 18:00.

Attendance is free for CUUG members, or $10 (cash only) at the door for non-CUUG members.

RSVP to office at CUUG if you plan to attend.

2024 Board of Directors

At the June 2024 Annual General Meeting, the following people were elected to the Board of Directors for 2024/2025:

• Rebecca Reid (President)
• Greg King (Secretary-Treasurer)
• Alex Chow
• Alan Dewar
• Dick Miller