Prof. Prashant R. Nair, Editor, IEEE R10 Newsletter
Prof. Navaneethakrishnan Ramanathan, Chair, IEEE SSIT Madras Section & YESIST12 Maker fair
IEEE SSIT Madras Section & IEEE YESIST12 has partnered with Science Policy Forum and STIP 2020 Secretariat under the Ministry of Science & Technology, Government of India for a consultation meeting towards formulating National Science, Technology & Innovation Policy (STIP) 2020 on the theme “Industry engagement to engineer the future: Role of professional associations” on 12th September 2020. This represents an engagement and participation of IEEE in the public policy formulation framework of the Indian government.
The keynote address was delivered by Prof. S. K. Ramesh, Ph.D., Fellow IEEE; ABET Board of Directors; 2016-2017 IEEE Vice-President Educational Activities and Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering & Director AIMS2 Program, California State University, Northridge, USA. Prof. S.K. Ramesh is also a 2021 IEEE President-elect candidate.
In terms of policy interventions, he sought linkage of Indian professional bodies to accreditation agencies in India. Having held several volunteering positions in both IEEE and ABET accreditation agency in USA, he said that such linkages have dramatically improved the quality of education and employability of graduates. This linkage through policy initiatives would benefit India based on his IEEE experiences as a volunteer and academic experience as a professor in a premier university in USA. He also shared best practices at his university to deepen industry-academia engagement such as techfest, project showcase, and Industry Liaison Committee (ILC).
Dr. Mohua Chakraborty Choudhry, DST STI Policy fellow from STIP 2020 secretariat of the Government of India, provided an overview of the Indian National STIP 2020 policy formulation process and highlighted various ways and means for professionals from universities, industry and civil society to contribute to this data-driven, participatory and inclusive policy formulation process for India. She highlighted various activities like policy compass, open letter and ideathon for Indian and Indian diaspora IEEE volunteers and OUs to contribute to.
Dr. Ramalatha Marimuthu, Chair for IEEE YESIST12 and member of the Board of Governors of IEEE Computer Society, warmly welcomed the consultation meeting and provided an overview of YESIST12 activities. Prominent IEEE volunteers who participated in the deliberations of the consultation included Mr. H.R. Mohan, former Vice-chair of IEEE Madras Section and Dr. T.V. Gopal, Professor of Computer Science & Engineering, Anna University, Chennai.
The event which saw pan-India participation of over 100 participants was moderated by Prof. Prashant R. Nair, Editor for IEEE R10 Newsletter & Associate Professor, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Coimbatore, India and Prof. Navaneethakrishnan Ramanathan, Chair for IEEE SSIT Madras Section & YESIST12 Maker Fair & Assistant Professor, Kumaraguru College of Technology, Coimbatore, India. Dr. J.N. Swaminathan, QISCET, Andhra Pradesh; Mr. Ramneek Kalra, IEEE Impact creator; Ms. Kamya Johar, student member and Ms. Bismannjit Kaur, mentor for WIE AG, all from IEEE Delhi Section coordinated the event.
