Tariq Soomro, Vice-Chair for IEEE Karachi Section & M Rafay Shaikh, Sectional Student Representative for IEEE Karachi Section
Webinar on Professional Development
IEEE Karachi Section has started a series of Webinars for the professional development of its members, faculty, industry professionals and students. The first lecture of this series, with the title “Capacity Building in Higher Education and Right Brain Power to Drive the Innovation in 21st Century” was delivered by Professor Dr. Bhawani Shankar Chowdhry, Chair IEEE Karachi Section and Distinguished National Professor, Faculty of Electrical, Electronics and Computer Engineering, Mehran University of Engineering & Technology, Jamshoro, Pakistan on 21st May 2020. His talk summary covered areas such as four dimensions of knowledge, capacity building in higher education, need of modern teaching methodologies, teachers’ role in learning and innovation, faculty development aspects, collaborative vertically integrated projects, international funding opportunities, scholarships and financial aid, and professional development. He emphasized on the need of student centred learning and becoming member of professional society such as IEEE for enhancing professionalism among engineering students through involvements in technical societies. This in addition to collaborative vertically integrated projects will help to carry out long term collaboration projects between several universities and industry. The Webinar attracted 32 participants (20 IEEE members and 12 non-IEEE members). Professionals and students from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Australia, Korea attended the Webinar.
Branch Chairs’ Meet-Up by IEEE Karachi Section Student Activities Committee
A virtual meet-up with all the Student Branch Chairs within IEEE Karachi Section was organized by Student Activities Committee on 14th May 2020 from 10:30 pm to 12:00 am (PKT, GMT +5:00). During the meeting, introduction session was carried out between the SAC team members and the Branch Chairs. Reports were also obtained from Branch Chairs on all events organized by Student Branches during the pandemic situation. Problems faced by Section due to lack of proper Vtools reporting were discussed. Branch Chairs were explained how this issue causes loss for the Section in terms of rebates. Every Student Branch was encouraged to appoint a Vtools Coordinator as part of their extended ExCom to be responsible for proper and timely Vtools reporting.
The SAC Chair inquired about any internal issues within Student Branches that hindered progress and activities within the branches that the chairs found difficult to resolve on their own. The SAC Team discussed several ideas regarding which type of events can be organized during the Pandemic Situation to promote knowledge. It was decided that all events organized by Student Branches which complied with the SOPs provided by SAC Team would be updated on the Quality Event Counter. An e-certificate will be awarded to the Student Branches for every three of such events as a token of appreciation. Chairs and Branch Counselors of these Student Branches will be greatly appreciated by the Section.
International Conference on Emerging Trends in Smart Technologies (ICETST) 2020
The National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences, Karachi campus in collaboration with IEEE Karachi Section intent to come up with an International Conference on Emerging Trends in Smart Technologies (ICETST) in 2020. It is an integrative platform for researchers, scientists, practitioners, Industrialists, academicians and students to extant their contributions related to the emerging applications, future trends, advancements, innovations and experiences in the areas of computing, mathematics and engineering technologies.
Webinar: Research Project and Grant Proposals by IEEE Karachi Section
IEEE Young Professional Karachi in Collaboration with IEEE Karachi Section organized a Webinar on “Research Project and Grant Proposals”. Research project and grant proposals have become expected deliverables from students, researchers and academics. While most applications may just simply follow the guidelines and instructions, there are subtle elements that may determine the success or failure of a proposal. In this talk, Emeritus Professor ChunChe Lance Fung who is the Chair for IEEE Region 10 Educational Activities Committee, shared his many years of experience from being a reviewer of national grant applications, research center director, and associate school dean of research, on the issues related to research proposals. As the Past Chair of the IEEE New Initiative Committee, he was involved in the decision on funding requests ranging from a few thousands to over a million dollars. He discussed about the expectation of the readers and decision makers in the proposals and the process involved. He also illustrated with examples from other countries in addition to Australia. 50 Participants joined this webinar in which 43 were IEEE Members & 8 were non-IEEE Members.