Webinar session on “Functional Safety in Advanced Driver Assistance System”

Farhan Tasnim, Publication Volunteer for IEEE AIUB Student Branch

On 22nd December 2020, the IEEE AIUB Student Branch in collaboration with the Faculty of Engineering, AIUB, successfully organized a webinar session titled “Functional Safety in Advanced Driver Assistance Systems” through the virtual platform of Google Meet. The illuminating session was conducted by Marzana Khatun, Engineering Researcher, Kempten University of Applied Science, one of the esteemed professionals in the sector of road vehicle functional safety. In her session, she presented a brief idea on her research works in the vehicles’ functional safety and encouraged the enthusiasts with an enthralling video clip on the Advanced Driver Assistance System. Along with the brief discussion on the concepts, she conveyed this technology’s primary significance for the digitalized renovation of the roadway scenario in Bangladesh. The session ended with an interactive Question-Answer session and consisted of a total of 88 participants, including the esteemed faculty members of AIUB.

Webinar Session on “Mastering Professional Etiquette: Strategies and Tips for the Workplace”

Fahmida Akter Nova, Publication Volunteer for IEEE AIUB Student Branch

On 5th December 2020, the IEEE AIUB Student Branch organized a webinar session titled “Mastering Professional Etiquette: Strategies and Tips for the Workplace” in the virtual platform of GOOGLE MEET. The session was conducted by Dr. Uzma Akhand Hossain, teacher, education consultant and Vice President of Human Resources and Training at C&T Home Care. In her session, she focused on the analysis of corporate life’s success and partnerships. She covered the anticipation for young graduates and professionals to serve in this field for their advancement. The session witnessed more than 94 participants, including respective remarks from Prof. Dr. ABM Siddique Hossain, Dean, Faculty of Engineering, AIUB; Advisor, IEEE AIUB SB, Md. Moinuddin, Clinical Services Team Manager at C&T Home Care; Former Chairperson, IEEE AIUB SB, and Dr. Mohammad Hasan Imam, Counselor, IEEE AIUB SB; Senior Assistant Professor, Faculty of Engineering, AIUB.

Distinguished Lecture Series titled “WONDERS OF ELECTROMAGNETICS”

Fardeen Mahbub, Publication Coordinator for IEEE AIUB Student Branch

The IEEE AIUB SB in collaboration with the IEEE AIUB MTTS Student Chapter, organized a Distinguished Lecture Series titled “WONDERS OF ELECTROMAGNETICS” via the virtual platform of ZOOM Meetings. The first session of the series was held on 4th December 2020, titled “ANALOG PHOTONIC SYSTEMS: FEATURES & TECHNIQUES TO OPTIMIZE PERFORMANCE”, conducted by Edward I. Ackerman, Vice President R&D for Photonic Systems, Inc. of Billerica, Massachusetts. The second session of the series was held on 11th December titled “BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO SIMULATION TOOLS FOR RESEARCH IN COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES” conducted by Dr. M Tanseer Ali, Senior Assistant Professor, FE, AIUB, and Advisor, IEEE AIUB MTTS Student Chapter. The final session was also held on the same day, titled “ENERGY-EFFICIENT SIMULTANEOUS WIRELESS BACKSCATTER & POWER COMMUNICATIONS,” conducted by Nuno Borges Carvalho, Professor and Senior Research Scientist, Institute of Telecommunications, University of Aveiro. All the sessions witnessed more than 80 participants.

2020 IEEE International Seminar on Women in Circuits & Systems (WiCAS)

Nosherwan Shoaib, Chair for IEEE Islamabad Section Jt. Chapter

The IEEE AP/MTT/EMC/CAS Joint Chapter at the Research Institute for Microwave and MillimeterWave Studies (RIMMS), National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Islamabad organized a one-day seminar titled “2020 IEEE International Seminar on Women in Circuits & Systems (WiCAS)” on 23rd December, 2020. The main objective was to encourage Pakistani females to join the circuits and system engineering research area. The event was conducted in hybrid mode and made LIVE via Microsoft Teams with a total of 50 participants. The event started with a welcome note from Dr. Nosherwan Shoaib. The event included both national and international female keynote speakers and panelists including Dr. Rabia Yazicigil from Boston University, USA, Dr. Wala Salem from LUMS, Pakistan, Dr. Seemab Latif, Dr. Sana Qadir and Dr. Mohaira Ahmad from School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences (SEECS), NUST, Pakistan, Ms. Maira Islam from RIMMS, NUST and Ms. Aqeela Saghir from Links Foundation, Italy.

All JC LMAGs Jointly Meet Online

Naohisa Ohta, Vice Chair for IEEE LMAG Tokyo

The first joint meeting of all Japan Council LMAGs (Kansai, Nagoya, Sendai and Tokyo) was held online via Zoom at 19:00 – 22:00 on 18th December, 2020. There were 20 people, officers and relevant members participated from each LMAG. This meeting was proposed by Prof. Takano, LMAG-Tokyo Chair and organized by Prof. Nakamura, LMAG-Kansai Chair.

First, Prof. Aoyama, Japan Council LM Coordinator reported some discussions in the JC Board Meeting. He referred to a number of Life Members in JC (1,018), LMAG activities, and a potential new LMAG foundation. He also encouraged LMAG-Tokyo to apply for the Achievement Award and suggested the next JC LM Coordinator. Then, all participants introduced themselves and shared some ideas and proposals for new activities of LMAGs including music and culture. The meeting was also regarded as a get-together, and all attendants enjoyed talking about a variety of LMAG topics for 3 hours until the closing.

Sendai Section LMAG Special Lecture Meetings in 2020

Koji Mizuno, Chair for IEEE LMAG Sendai

IEEE LMAG Sendai held the following two Lecture Meetings (by Zoom) on big movement of information and communication technology to encourage researchers, especially young people.

1) Special Theme: Information and Communication Technology under the Corona Pandemic (Date: 5th September, 2020 / Attendance: 92)
The first lecture featuring “5G and its Future Systems to Accelerate Social Change” was presented by Dr. Fumiyuki Adachi, where ultra high reliable, low-latency communication and ultra-multiple device communication technology, developed for future systems called 6G was introduced. On the other hand, the second lecture, “Post Corona Health Sensing” was presented by Prof. Makoto Yoshizawa, where the possibility of contactless and remote physical condition monitoring system, which can measure and accumulate health information such as blood flow status, autonomic nervous system index, and relative blood pressure by sending a video of the face to the cloud without using a special sensor, was shown.

2) Special Theme: Toward Development of Information and Communication Industry (Date: 17th October, 2020 / Attendance: 42)
In the first lecture, “To Create a New Information and Communication Industry in Tohoku”, Dr. Shoichi Noguchi emphasized the importance of the new organic cooperation of industry, academia, government, and financial world, and the establishment as well as development of core technologies such as ICT based on 5G, big data processing, AI industrialization, quantum computation, and social security, was discussed. The second lecture on “Self-Existence and Communication Indispensable for a Human-Centered Information and Communication Society” was presented by Dr. Yasuji Sawada, where he demonstrated that Tohoku culture of selfexistence, indispensable for true communication, is important to develop the information and communication industry.

LMAG Kansai Supported 2020 SB English Presentation Competition

Masaaki Kobayashi, Chair for IEEE LMAG Kansai

On 9th January, 2021, later than usual, the 17th SB English Presentation Competition 2020 was held online unlike previous years due to the Covid-19 pandemic. We supported the competition by participating as audiences and asking questions so as to enhance the effectiveness of the presentation practice. Our other support for the competition is to give the IEEE LMAG Kansai award to outstanding speakers who are tackling attractive future themes. The award was established in 2018 and will be given to two IEEE Student Members. This time, unfortunately, all speakers were non-IEEE members, so there were no winners for the LMAG award. 14 participants attended the competition including 7 speakers, 6 audiences, and 1 moderator. 3 LMAG officers and 1 LMAG member are among the audiences.

IEEE Tokyo/Shin-etsu Joint Section WIE Kick-off Event

Mamiko Inamori, Chair for IEEE WIE Tokyo Shin-Etsu Joint AG

IEEE Tokyo/Shin-Etsu Joint Section WIE Kick-off event was held online on 5th December, 2020. The total number of participants was 34 including IEEE members. The keynote speaker was Dr. Haruko Kawahigashi from Mitsubishi Electric Corporation. In her talk titled “Communication Network Technology and Carriers,” she talked the audience through her work career and gave us tips on how to survive in the workplace. The audience was motivated and encouraged with her message of perseverance. “Do not think it’s your fault if something does not go well, sometimes you need to adjust your approach due to your environment!”

At the break-out room session, participants of various ages, from students to working professionals, exchanged their opinions about the image of engineers required now and the working style required in the future. In this event, high school and technical college students joined us and we were very happy to talk with young talents.

International Women’s Day Video Contest Event by IEEE WiE SG

Noori Kim, Shilpa Manadhar, Aishwarya Bandla, Members of IEEE WIE Singapore

Event Date: 8th March 2021, Event Platform: Online

International Women’s day is about making a positive difference for all! To celebrate International Women’s Day 2021, IEEE Women in Engineering Singapore (WiE SG) organized a video contest event. The objective of this event was to voice out women’s achievements and increase their visibility while calling for equitable opportunities, particularly in the fields of science and engineering. Participants were asked to submit their videos, and the submitted videos were consolidated and published via IEEE WiE’s social media such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram. We are thrilled to share that the event was a great success. We hope to bring more of such events in the future to promote women empowerment. The event can be recalled via WiE’s social media links LinkedIn and Facebook.

IEEE PES Women in Power Summit in R10 at 6th IEEE WIECON-ECE

Celia Shahnaz, R10 Representative for IEEE PES Women in Power Bangladesh
Nafisa Tasnim, Vice Chair for IEEE WIE Bangladesh

On 27th December, 2020, IEEE PES Women in Power (WiP) Region 10, in collaboration with IEEE WIE AG Bangladesh, IEEE Bangladesh Section, IEEE Bhubaneswar Subsection, and IEEE WIE AG Bhubaneswar, organized a virtual IEEE PES Women in Power Summit in R10. WePower, a world bank initiative, was the partner of the summit. The summit was collocated at 6th IEEE WIECON-ECE (https://wiecon-ece.org/) and attracted many authors of IEEE WIECON-ECE 2020 to know about IEEE PES Women in Power.

The summit was inaugurated by Dr. Celia Shanaz, PES WiP R10 Representative, Chair, IEEE Bangladesh Section and General Chair, 6th IEEE WIECON-ECE 2020. She motivated the audience to come forward in presenting PES related projects that they are conducting as part of their thesis. The summit was glorified by the presence of Dr. Ruomei Li, Chair, IEEE PES WIP. She talked about realization of Life value by female Professionals. The summit witnessed around 38 participants and mentors from India, Bangladesh, Australia, China and Indonesia in the ZOOM Meeting. Notable contributors were Dr. Renu Sharma, and Dr. Sujata Chakroborty, and some experienced industry experts who mentored the project presenters so that their work can be transformed into products and can be deployed to PES industries. The presenters also learned the industry needs and skills. The session was moderated by Nafisa Tasnim, WiP representative from Bangladesh.

Celebration of International Women’s Day 2021: “Women in Leadership: Achieving an Equal Future in a COVID-19 World”

Suhee Sanjana Mehjabin, Chair for IEEE BUET WIE AG
Anamika Bhakta, Chair for IEEE WIE Bangladesh

On 8th March, 2021, IEEE Bangladesh Section (BDS), WIE Affinity Group, IEEE BUET Student Branch WIE Affinity Group and IEEE BDS, jointly celebrated international women’s day in an online platform with a total of 87 participants from twenty universities and industries. Following the inauguration by Dr. Celia Shahnaz, Chair for IEEE BDS, Emi Yano, Chair for IEEE R10 WIE talked about the rising membership numbers in Region 10 during the pandemic. Ar. Selina Afroza, Chairman at Archetype Ltd. and President of WAEPA, Bangladesh, discussed how WEAPA talks about the issues women face in the workplace and society. Farah Tanjeem, Senior Expert, Planning Efficiency, Network Planning and Deployment, Technology, Grameenphone Ltd discussed her accomplishments as well as the story of her mother Khaleda Ahsan, Former Chief Engineer at the Department of Public Health Engineering (DPHE), breaking the social norms of that time by pursuing her Engineering degree. The moderator, Sanjana Mehjabin ended the event with a vote of thanks.

IEEE WA Section Report March 2021

Muhammad Hayat, Newsletter Editor for IEEE WA Section

1. Event: IEEE Western Australia Training Workshop
This training workshop was particularly essential to provide new committee members with the information they need to have more focused effort for the forthcoming year to achieve the Section’s mission and objectives. This virtual training was organised on Saturday morning 6th February, 2021 and was organised by IEEE WA Section with a total of 25 participants. This was the first time such much needed training was organised by IEEE WA Section. 2021 Chair of IEEE WA Section, Associate Professor Farhad Shahnia conducted the workshop. The event attracted a wide spectrum of audience from various industries, academic groups etc. The Chair provided training to the new committee members and general audience on the history of IEEE to attract more interests on the activities of IEEE. IEEE Strategic Plan for 2020-2025 was shared with the attendees so that the Section efforts align with the mission and vision of IEEE. To further intrigue the attendees, interesting details such as the history of the IEEE logo was shared. The structure of the Section and role and responsibilities of committee members and what is expected of them were also outlined. Attendees were briefed on the following areas:

• Details of members’ classification and membership numbers.
• Activities and structure of Technical Activities Board (TAB)
• Member and Geographic Activities (MGA) and where IEEE WA Section sits.
• Existing Technical Chapters, Affinity Groups, and Student Branches within IEEE WA Section
• Procedure around the formation of a new Chapter, Affinity Groups, and Student Branches.
• Reporting requirements and minimum activities requirement for the organizational units.
• The objective of the IEEE WA Section and how these objectives will be achieved through technical activities and social events.
• Membership development campaigns.
• Financial aspects of Chapter around rebates, expenses, Section finances, cash flow.
• IEEE’s online reporting Vtools, e-notices, and voting.
• Planning, execution, and decision-making aspects of Section meetings.

This training workshop was very comprehensive and beneficial for the new committee members and general audiences and attracted positive feedback from the attendees.

2. Event: IEEE Western Australia Planning Workshop
This Section meeting targeted on discussing the Section plans for the forthcoming year and sought approval from committee members on such plans. This event was held on Saturday 20th February, 2021 at Murdoch University and was attended by 14 committee members. The Chair highlighted the Section activities for the year 2020 and briefed on the 2021 committee and the role of its members. The Chair sought approval of activities for the year 2021. These activities include Section meetings, Mid-year networking dinner, Section conference, Student Educational Workshop, IEEE Day Networking event, Family Day BBQ, and Annual General Meeting. The timeline for the Student Competition, Section Volunteer Award, and other committee awards were also discussed and finalized. Finally, the amendments to the IEEE Western Australia Section Bylaws were explained and approved to start the amendment process.

IEEE Pune Section Events

Meghna Das, Newsletter Team Lead for IEEE Pune Section

Eu-Reka 2020 was organized by IEEE Pune Section for a duration of four months from September to December 2020. As the name ‘Eu-Reka’ signifies, the program Eureka 2020 aimed to raise the ‘National Education-Reka’, with the students in our colleges as ‘Ambassadors of Education’. Teams of college students visited urban and rural schools, talked to students at VIII / IX / X classes about latest advances in Science and Technology, and provided them a flavor of its benefits in their day-to-day lives. Dr Lance Fung who is Chair of R10 Educational Advisory Board on IEEE Educational Resources addressed the occasion. The objective of this event was to motivate the school children to take up higher studies in STEM, and also to boost their confidence, self-esteem and aspirational level, especially female students in rural areas to continue their studies beyond high school level.

IEEE Pune Section hosted its flagship conference PuneCon 2020 in partnership with Vishwakarma Institute of Technology, Pune from 16th to 18th December, 2020. The speakers were Dr. Takako Hoshimoto, IEEE Region 10 Secretary, Dr. Jayanta Mukhopadhyay, Professor, IIT Kharagpur, Dr. Sudip Misra, Professor, IIT Kharagpur, Dr. Subhasis Chaudhuri, Director and Mr Mahesh Kshirsagar, CTO, TCS. The theme of PuneCon 2020 was “Information Processing” which resonates well with IEEE’s mission of “Advancing Technology for Humanity” and was aimed at providing a technical platform for researchers across the globe to present their innovative ideas and share technical knowledge. IEEE PuneCon 2020 obtained some excellent responses from a few accomplished authors.

IEEE Student Branch of Hope Foundation’s International Institute of Information Technology in association with WIE Affinity Group of IEEE Pune Section and IEEE India Council organized an Online Panel Discussion on “Empowering Women and Inspiring Change” on 30th January, 2021. The panelists were Dr. Celia Shahnaz, Dr. Ramalatha Marimuthu, Dr. Mini Ulanat, and Ms. Madhura DasGupta Sinha. This panel discussion aimed to empower women and provided a platform for the panelists to share their experiences and inspire fellow attendees. Attendees bagged some insights related to confidence building, importance of mentorship etc.

IEEE Pune Section in association with the IEEE SIGHT group organized a webinar on “AI in Healthcare” on 27th February, 2021 via WebEx. The guest speaker for this webinar, Mr. Ankoor Kulkarni was warmly welcomed by the host and IEEE members. Mr. Kulkarni is currently the global head for life sciences and public services – M&A business analytics – analytics and insights. He started the session by firstly giving a brief introduction about Artificial Intelligence. Following that, he shared in greater depth and breadth, and facilitated the participants with valuable information on how AI can be used in the healthcare sector. The speaker also cleared the doubts of participants regarding AI, healthcare and many more. A vote of thanks was delivered at the end of the seminar.