Malaysia Section
Lee Yoot Khuan was a founding member of the IEEE EMBS Malaysia Chapter (2009), and went on to hold various leadership positions within EMBS, WIE and Malaysia Section, earning numerous awards during her tenure, which greatly enhanced the global visibility of IEEE Malaysia. She also co-founded the SIGHT group in Malaysia. As a result of her exemplary leadership, Yoot Khuan was re-elected as EA Chair of IEEE Malaysia four times, R10 EA Subcommittee thrice, R10 WIE Subcommittee, IEEE SIGHT Assessment Committee, IEEE EAB Pre-U Coordination Committee, Chair of Chapter Development of the IEEE EMBS Member & Student Activities Committee – firsts for IEEE Malaysia. Further testament to her ability, she received special assignments from the President of IEEE EMBS for 2014 IEEE EMBS Student Conference, 2016 R10 EMBS Chapter Chair Meeting and IEEE WIE (Exhibition at ICC’16). As the Conference Chair, she has successfully invited medical practitioners to identify practical research challenges needing solutions from biomedical engineers, and elevated the EMBS Malaysia flagship conference (IECBES) to technical-specific IEEE EMBS conference status (2016).
Besides her professional interests, Yoot Khuan is also active in several causes. A particular passion of hers is promoting inclusivity and diversity, in engineering and beyond. To this end, she has lent a hand in organizing various events promoting equality. Notable examples include: 1) High school essay competition (garnering 1500 entries) about exemplary women engineer/scientist to de-stigmatize the profession, 2) 2017 International Leadership Summit (ILS) in Malaysia, aimed at self and career development, 3) Seminar on Health and Stem Cells (endorsed by the Malaysian Ministry of Women, Family and Community) to improve public knowledge on the subject, as well as 4) Speaking on leadership at the IEEE R10 SYW Congress and ILS in Chennai (2015).
Being a first-generation academic, Yoot Khuan appreciates the importance of education and is committed to empowering the future generation by promoting STEM education at schools, polytechnics, half-way homes and orphanages. As EA Chair of IEEE Malaysia, Yoot Khuan was cognizant of the declining interest towards STEM education and careers in Malaysia and has invested much effort to address this issue. Her presentation at the inaugural meeting with the Ministry of Education (MOE), granted after lots of perseverance and effort, blazed the trail for Teaching in Service Program (TISP) presence and workshops at a series of MOE National STEM colloquiums and MOE-IEEE Malaysia TISP Week project (2018). IEEE EAB TISP eventually rose to fame, gaining the attention of over 4000 MOE personnel, principals, teachers, and parents through exhibitions and forums, as well as 500 teachers through TISP workshops. For lending their expertise to STEM education, IEEE Malaysia Section was commended as an example for other professional institutions to emulate; for her outstanding contribution to this effort, Yoot Khuan received the 2019 IEEE EAB Meritorious Achievement Award in Pre-U Education (pictured above).
Yoot Khuan is currently a professor at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi MARA. Her research experience and interests include biomedical signal processing, biomedical event detection and AI – in particular, their applications to improving quality of life. More photos of her activities can be found at https://www.facebook.com/leeyootkhuan.
Other Awards not pictured include: 2012 IEEE EMBS Outstanding Chapter Award, 2012 IEEE Malaysia Section Best IEEE Volunteer Award, 2013 IEEE R10 Educational Activities Award for Informal Education, 2015 IEEE Asia Pacific Region (R10) Outstanding Individual Award for Humanitarian Technology Activities, 2019 IEEE Asia Pacific Region (R10) Outstanding Group Educational Activities Award.