Dear Members of IEEE R10, how have your months of April and May been? Me and on behalf of R10? – Busy, Fruitful and Impactful!
April started with the signing MOU between IEEE Singapore Section and HTX (Home Team Science & Technology Agency) of Singapore.
HTX is a statutory board under the Ministry of Home Affairs of Singapore with the vision, “Exponentially impacting Singapore’s Safety and Security”. We ran a joint event on “HTX-IEEE Public Safety Technologies Workshop: From Research to Real-world Applications” and the pool of researchers in HTX will have great potential and opportunities to participate and contribute towards the vision and mission of IEEE as members. This was only made possible with the initiation by Dr. Jonathan Pan, Chief of Disruptive Technologies Office and Director of xCybersecurity of HTX.
The inaugural IEEE Life Member Conference was held at Austin, Texas from 14-16 April 2024. The theme being “Evolution: Technology, Applications and Contributions”, with a series of workshops, keynotes, and technical tours packed in the three days. Conference Chair, Mike Andrews and the team of volunteers have done a great job developing the program with appropriate topics, and expert speakers who are inspiring and informative. Total IEEE Life Members are around 38,000 with 162 Life Member Affinity Groups (LMAG). There are nearly 3,000 Life Members in R10 and the sector is growing. There is a clear need for events such as conferences to focus on technologies to maintain wellness and serve the aged population. A proposal is suggested for a new R10/R11 flagship conference on the theme of “Technologies for Wellness and Safety” starting in 2026.
After the LM Conference, the 2024 MGA Meeting series was held in San Antonio from 18- 21 April. The meeting series provided opportunities for members of all IEEE MGA committees to gather together for reports, discussion as well as networking. This provided all delegates with a good overview of MGA’s operations, priorities, and future plans.
The month of May started with the 2024 IEEE Vision, Innovation Challenges (VIC) Summit and Honors Ceremony in Boston, USA.
The 2024 IEEE Medal of Honor Recipient is Robert E. Kahn for his “pioneering technical and leadership contributions in packet communication technologies and foundations of the Internet.” The full list of award recipients is available at Corporate Awards. It is worth noting that 2025 will be held in Tokyo, Japan – in Region 10!
Following IEEE VIC Summit, IEEE President Tom Coughlin attended the IEEE R10 WIE-Industry Forum, hosted by TVRI (TV Republic of Indonesia). The three-hour broadcast featured leading representatives from industry around the region, R10 WIE Affinity Groups, and IEEE leaders.
The recording is available at YouTube. IEEE R10 WIE Chair, Dr Agnes Irwanti has put in great efforts and valuable resources to make the event a great success. Delegates are most appreciative of her contributions towards IEEE R10, WIE, and local industries.
R10 Operation Committee held the Strategic Planning and OpCom meetings in Hong Kong on 25 -26 May. This was followed by a meeting with volunteers and leaders of the Hong Kong (HK) Section on 26 May, and a meeting with leaders from China and Macau Sections at Macau on 27 May. The last day was dedicated to a visit to the Hong Kong Science and Technology Park (HKSTP).
We were given an overview of their programs https://www.hkstp.org/en/programmes on Ideation, Incubation, and Incu-Bio, Acceleration, and Elite. It is worth noting that they provide funding and support from HK$100,000 to HK$21.5 million! They present tremendous opportunities for entrepreneurs among IEEE members who have the right ideas, products, and plans! The visit concluded with a visit to the Robotics Catalysing Centre, with a presentation of the R10 Robotic Competition by R10 Vice Chair, Dr Zia Ahmed. The few days of visits and meetings have been productive and we acknowledge and thank the Officers in the HK Section (Ray Cheung, Chair; Kevin Hung, Vice Chair; Jeff Tang, Treasurer and Jean Lai Secretary) for their hospitality and excellent arrangements in Hong Kong; and to Prof Xiaodong Li, Chair and Calvin Ho, Vice Chair for hosting the event at Macau University of Science and Technology (MUST). Members of R10 OpCom are very satisfied with the visit and we look forward to holding further events in the next two years in Hong Kong and Macau, to network and collaborate with local volunteers for future projects and events.
“So, what’ll happen in the coming months?”, you may ask.
The answers are: Board of Directors meeting, R10 Nomination and Advisory Committee meeting, Visit to Sections in India, IEEE Convene, SYWL, TENSYMP, R10 HTC… I will keep you posted….
Happy August!!
Lance Fung
IEEE R10 Director 2023-2024
