R10 Medium Section – IEEE Islamabad Section

Prepared by: Ms. Bakhtawar Nawal, Member of IEEE Islamabad Section SAC, and Mr. Ahsan Farooqui, Secretary for IEEE Islamabad Section

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IEEE Islamabad Section started as a Subsection in 1998 and became a Section in 2000. Since then, the Islamabad Section has grown to become the largest of the three Sections in Pakistan with respect to memberships. IEEE Islamabad Section aims to foster research and development activities along with technical activities. The Islamabad Section has been actively involved in providing a smooth process for universities and members to conduct technical conferences. In 2021, the Section approved technical sponsorship of 12 conferences in different technical fields. It also conducted a Panel of Conference Organizers workshop to educate conference organizers on how to follow best practices while organizing a conference. Through its society chapters, the Section conducted several technical workshops, seminars, and webinars for both IEEE members and non-members all around the world. In 2021, AP/MTT/EMC/CAS joint chapter and CIS Chapter won multiple grants to conduct several activities in the Section.

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Another focus area was to work with local schools to empower the local teachers and school students. To achieve that, IEEE Islamabad Section won 2 different grants from IEEE Region 10 Educational Activities and successfully conducted two activities: a TISP workshop, that involved in-person sessions with school faculty, focusing on the necessary skills and software beneficial for teachers to get acquainted with; and a STEM event titled “Fostering youth with STEM” that enabled students at high school to get flavor of different avenues of engineering they can take. Through these activities, the Section was also able to build stronger connections with schools for future activities.

Student activities in the Section have always been a source of inspiration for young leaders and engineers. This year was no different. The Student Activities Committee (SAC) held leadership summits, Islamabad Section students congress and other activities throughout the year to engage volunteers from all the 30+ student branches. Furthermore, the SAC team also assisted in delivering membership development seminars to different universities and have been extremely effective in achieving membership recruitment and retention goals as set by IEEE membership development committee.

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Peshawar Subsection, which is part of the Section, conducts its own activities in the different domains. Through bi-monthly Excom meetings and other communication channels, the Section stays connected with Peshawar Subsection officials and helps them in arranging events in their Subsection.

Each year, the Islamabad Section recognizes its most active volunteers, Student Branches and technical chapters and presents them with awards. These awards are managed by our awards committee and are presented to volunteers at the Annual General Meeting. This year, the Section presented 6 awards and 3 special mentions to different volunteers, Student Branches and chapters.

Lastly, for better communication with volunteers, the Section uses mailing lists, social media, and e-notices to reach out to volunteers. For higher grade members, the Section arranges an Annual General Meeting each year. Annual General Meeting 2021 was organized by IEEE Islamabad Section at Islamabad club that was attended by over 70 professional members. The AGM provides a good opportunity to interact with professional members, adding value to the IEEE membership.

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