IEEE Day Movie Night
Come join us for a movie night to celebrate IEEE Day!
IEEE Day commemorates the date in 1884 when IEEE's predecessor, the American Institue of Electrical Engineers held its first technical meeting at the International Electrical Exhibition in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. You can think of it as being IEEE's birthday and we're having a (virtual) birthday party.
We're going to host a film on Frank Sprague and his development of the world's first successful electric streetcar system, which he introduced in Richmond in 1888. Yes, you heard that right. Richmond had the first successful electric streetcar system in the world. All of the other electric streetcar systems and electric light rail systems that followed made use of his innovations. Only seven years after the first system in Richmond, there were almost 900 electric streetcar systems in the United States.
Sprague's achievements were significant enough that he earned the Edison Medal, the IEEE's highest award "for a career of meritorious achievement in electrical science, electrical engineering or the electrical arts." To give you an idea of how significant his achievements were considered at the time, he earned the award four years before it was awarded to Alexander Graham Bell and six years before it was awarded to Nikola Tesla.
We will be joined by the movie's filmmaker, Patrick Gregory, and by Richard Lee Bland, historian, who will both be available for a Q&A session following the movie.
So invite your friends, grab your popcorn, and we'll see you at the (virtual) movies!
Date and Time
Location
Hosts
Registration
- Date: 06 Oct 2021
- Time: 07:00 PM to 08:15 PM
- All times are (GMT-05:00) US/Eastern
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- Starts 30 September 2021 07:28 AM
- Ends 06 October 2021 11:59 PM
- All times are (GMT-05:00) US/Eastern
- No Admission Charge
Speakers
Patrick Gregory of Flexible Cinema
Q&A Session
Biography:
Filmmaker Patrick Gregory has been storytelling in some form since he graduated from film school in 1993. Early in his career he worked on local, regional, and national commercials, as well as Hollywood film productions as a union lighting technician, all the while nurturing his storytelling expression by making experimental shorts and independent narrative films. In the late 1990’s, he made his first trip abroad to Romania, and since has traveled filming various parts of the world, camera in hand. In 2014, he established Flexible Cinema as a lens in which to tell thoughtful storytelling. Through the years, Patrick has collaborated on many productions and Flexible Cinema has produced numerous documentaries on both domestic and international topics.
In addition to documentary films, Patrick’s experimental work and installations have appeared in galleries by invitation, in collaborations with dance companies for live performances, and in commissions made for non-profits as well as Fortune 100 companies. Patrick has a passion for history, culture, and Unitive Justice including prison reform, and conflict resolution. He loves the outdoors… hiking, biking, and kayaking are always on his calendar.
Email:
Address:Richmond, Virginia, United States
Agenda
6:45 pm - Virtual mingling prior to the movie
7:00 pm - Welcome and start the movie
7:45 pm - Q&A with Patrick Gregory, the filmmaker of the movie, and with Richard Lee Bland, historian.
~8:15 pm - Meeting ends
This film on Frank Sprague was partially funded by the IEEE Foundation.