Malaysia Section
Saaveethya Sivakumar is an Engineer, Academician, Researcher and a proud and active volunteer at IEEE. Saaveethya received her PhD in Mechatronics Engineering at Monash University in 2020 and her B.Eng. Electronics and Communication Engineering (1st class Honours) at Curtin University in 2014. Currently, Saaveethya works as a lecturer at Curtin University Malaysia. She is the proud recipient of Keysight Best Electronic Communication Graduate Award presented by Curtin Malaysia in 2015 and the Monash Vice-Chancellor’s International Inter- Campus PhD Mobility Grant in 2018. According to Saaveethya, IEEE continues to play a major role in shaping her professional career. Saaveethya is a member and volunteer at IEEE for the past nine years. She has gradually move from Student Branch (SB) to Section to Region and Global volunteer leadership positions. In 2013, she stepped into volunteering with IEEE as the secretary of Curtin Sarawak SB.
She played a major role in organizing the 2013 IEEE Exhibition on Technology of New Era and led a team in publishing a technical proceeding booklet for Malaysia Section. In 2014, Saaveethya was elected as the SB Chair of IEEE Curtin Sarawak, wherein the SB organized more than 100 activities in a single year and was globally recognized with the IEEE Exemplary Student Branch Award in 2014. Saaveethya has a key interest in enhancing society standards through technology. She has initiated Educate Rural Malaysia Program in 2016 that aimed to create awareness among the rural communities in Malaysia on the importance and benefits of engineering and sciences. She has also volunteered as the advisor for Light of Borneo (organized by AIESEC Curtin Sarawak in collaboration with Curtin Sarawak SB) in 2015, which is an initiative that aimed to provide ecologically sustainable & cost-effective lighting for underprivileged and marginalized communities in Sarawak Malaysia.
Her contributions have also focused on empowering Women in Engineering (WIE). In 2016, she initiated the IEEE WIE Student Network, intending to create a fresh WIE student volunteer culture in Malaysia through facilitation and providing the necessary guidance for WIE student activities. Saaveethya and her team managed to form the first three WIE SB Affinity Groups (AGs) in Malaysia within the first 2 months from the launch of the initiative. This has been the first key milestone for WIE SB AGs of Malaysia Section. She has also contributed at the R10 level as part of the R10 WIE Supporting Volunteer Committee from 2016 to 2018. Moreover, she was also involved with the Women in leadership subcommittee as the secretary in handling the Collabratec group dedicated for leadership aspirations of women engineers and scientists. Saaveethya was the publicity chair of Malaysia’s first IEEE Women in Engineering International Leadership Summit held in 2018, where she led the publicity team in developing and implementing strategies for promoting the summit to an international audience. In recognition of her contribution towards women in engineering, she was awarded the IEEE Malaysia Section’s Women In Engineering Outstanding Volunteer Award in 2016 and Monash Engineering & IT Women’s Leadership Award in 2018.
Saaveethya’s service to the R10 Student Activities Committee (SAC) started in 2017, when she was appointed as the R10 SAC Zonal Student Coordinator for South-East Asia. She also worked as the point of contact between IEEE China student volunteers and R10 SAC in reviving student activities in China which resulted in a positive impact. Consequently, she was appointed as the R10 Student Representative 2019 -2020. She was also part of the MGA SAC 2019-2020 representing IEEE R10 Student members and providing regional support for the MGA SAC initiatives.
“I cherish every experience with IEEE R10 and MGA SAC. I am honored to be able to represent student members of the largest region of IEEE.” Said Saaveethya. In addition to representing more than 50000 student members of R10, Saaveethya has also initiated and coordinated many IEEE student-related projects at the regional level. In 2019, she and her team launched the first R10 SAC Chair and SSR manual, highlighting terms and guidelines to execute successful Section-level SAC programs. She led a team to establish a strong network between the SAC Chairs and SSRs in R10. Saaveethya and her team worked on providing funding opportunities for Sections and Student Branches (e.g. Membership Development and Leadership Training fund and Joint SB Fund) specifically aiming to enhance quality of IEEE student activities. She coordinated the Regional Student Branch Website Contest 2019-2020 and assisted the R10 SAC team in coordinating the R10 Postgraduate Paper Contest and Undergraduate Video Contest. Saaveethya also provided her assistance for the launch of IEEE R10 Special Call for Proposals Related to Covid-19, an initiative which focused on identifying innovative technical approaches of R10 students towards solving issues related to Covid-19. In addition to this, Saaveethya has delivered keynotes, guest lectures and talks promoting IEEE member benefits and services across R10 countries, namely Malaysia, Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Japan, Australia, Bangladesh and New Zealand.
In 2020, Saaveethya Co-Chaired the Student Track of IEEE R10 Students Young Professionals Women in Engineering and Life Members (SYWL) Virtual Congress. She contributed in designing and executing the student track program that consisted of seven sessions delivered by 37 globally recognized speakers. She took a lead role in initiating the external collaborations for R10 SYWLC 2020, namely IEEE Industry Engagement Society, IEEE Entrepreneurship, IEEE Etta Kappa Nu Society, IEEE Industry Relations Society, IEEE Volunteer Leadership Program and IEEE Centre for Leadership Excellence. She led a team in launching the R10 Student Branch Partnership program, which is a new initiative that provided opportunities for R10 SBs to partner with R10 SYWL Virtual Congress with the aim of maximizing students’ participation. She and her team initiated exclusive networking sessions and exciting contests for student delegates, which were the key highlights of the Congress. The SAC and WIE joint contest was sponsored by Life Member Funding for student activities, where Saaveethya took the lead in the coordination towards securing the funds for R10 SYWLC 2020. In recognition of her contributions to IEEE R10 and MGA SAC, Saaveethya has been appointed as the 2021-2022 Young Professionals Committee Chair of IEEE R10 and the 2021 Students to Young Professionals Transitions Committee Chair of IEEE MGA SAC. It is noteworthy to highlight the fact that Saaveethya is the first female Young Professionals Committee Chair of Region 10.
As her concluding remarks, Saaveethya shares her thoughts about being a volunteer leader at IEEE, “IEEE has played a major role in shaping my career, profession and my personality through leadership opportunities and providing the platform to network and collaboratively work with pioneers and leaders across the world. I consider being part of IEEE network is an honor and a privilege to cherish. On top of all, I consider the valuable global level friendships I have earned through IEEE, as one of the biggest fortunes in my life. I would like to use this opportunity to also thank all my advisors and mentors for their constant guidance and support. IEEE acts as a bridge that connects the ocean of opportunities for its volunteers and members. Here are my two cents for all young and enthusiastic students and young professionals; Make use of IEEE as the platform to Contribute, Learn and Grow. Dream Big. Work Hard. And Never Ever Give Up! YOLO ”