Edited by: Redwan Ferdous, R10 Newsletter Editor
IEEE Region 10 continues to nurture and develop strong awards and recognitions program to promote outstanding volunteer services and contributions. This year, several special recognition awards were introduced for Student Branch and SAC volunteers. Please join us in congratulating all the award recipients for the recently announced 2021 IEEE Region 10 Awards.
2021 R10 Outstanding Volunteer Award – Karu P. Esselle (New South Wales Section)
Karu Esselle, FIEEE, FRSN, FIEAust is a Distinguished Professor in Electromagnetic and Antenna Engineering at the University of Technology Sydney, Past Chair of IEEE AP Society Distinguished Lecturer Program and NSW Section. Karu has published more than 650 papers and his h-index is 52. His recent accolades include a finalist for the forthcoming Australian national Eureka Prize for Outstanding Mentor of Young Researchers, 2020 Runner-up to the same prize, 2019 Motohisa Kanda Award for the most cited paper in IEEE Transactions on EMC in five years, 2019 Australian national Research Field Leader in Australia in both Microelectronics and Electromagnetisms, and 2020 IEEE New South Wales Outstanding Volunteer Award.
2021 R10 Outstanding Volunteer Award – Mohammad Faizal Ahmad Fauzi (Malaysia Section)
Mohammad Faizal Ahmad Fauzi is a Professor at the Faculty of Engineering, Multimedia University, Malaysia and the Head of the MMU-UKM-IMU Artificial Intelligence for Digital Pathology (AI4DP) Research Excellence Consortium. He has been an active IEEE volunteer and leader for almost 15 years, which has helped greatly in expanding his research and social network. He served as the Chair for the IEEE Signal Processing Society (SPS) Malaysia Chapter from 2008 to 2013, and the Chair for IEEE Malaysia Section from 2017 to 2018. He currently sits in the IEEE Region 10 (Asia Pacific) Executive Committee since 2019, chairing the R10 Newsletter Committee. He is involved in organizing many international and flagship conferences such as TENCON, R10 HTC and ICIP, and has also delivered keynote and invited speeches at many international conferences. Mohammad Faizal was honored to receive the IEEE SPS Meritorious Regional/Chapter Service Award in 2020 and the IEEE Region 10 Outstanding Volunteer Award in 2021.
2021 R10 Outstanding Volunteer Award – Isao Shirakawa (Kansai Section)
2021 R10 Education Activities Outstanding Volunteer Award & 2021 R10 SAC Outstanding Volunteer Award – Mallellu Sai Prashanth (Hyderabad Section)
Mallellu Sai Prashanth, is the BlockChain Developer at Tech Mahindra, Hyderabad and recent graduate from Vardhaman College of Engineering. He is presently contributing as a Webinar and Online Training Coordinator of IEEE R10 Student Activities Committee, Vice-Chair of IEEE India Council Student Coordination Team, Section Student Representative of IEEE Hyderabad Section and Chair for IEEE Vardhaman College of Engineering Student Branch, as well as social media and publicity coordinator for the IEEE Region10 Student Activities Committee. He also held the responsibility of Social Media Team Lead of IEEE India Council Student Coordination Team in 2020. He received the IEEE India Council Outstanding Student Volunteer award in 2019. He is also the recipient of IEEE CS Richard E. Merwin Scholarship, winner of IEEE Region 10 SAC Outstanding Volunteer Award, IEEE Region 10 Educational Activities Outstanding Volunteer Award and IEEE Region 10 Young Professional Revol 2021 Program.
2021 R10 Humanitarian Technology Activities Outstanding Volunteer Award – Lau Bee Theng (Sarawak Subsection)
Lau Bee Theng started her volunteer journey with IEEE in 2012, where she has developed her professional service with all the supports received from the strong IEEE’s international teams. She has been honored to receive various funding and technical support from the Sarawak Subsection, Malaysia Section, R10, HAC, EPICS, etc. Throughout these years, she has also been volunteering in IEEE Smart Village, IEEExtreme, IEEE STEM, IEEE R10 HTC, student branch/network, etc. The projects conducted have been welcomed by all layers of society from children of primary school, youth, professionals, underprivileged communities, even during this Covid19 pandemic. She volunteers diligently to ensure IEEE is essential to the global technical community and technical professionals everywhere, and be universally recognized for the contributions of technology and technical professionals in improving global conditions.
2021 R10 Life Member Outstanding Volunteer Award – Damodaran V. K. (Kerala Section)
Prof. V K Damodaran graduated in Electrical Engineering from Kerala University in 1962, mastered Electrical Machine Design from Madras University in 1964, taught at College of Engineering, Guindy from 1962 to 1965 and at the erstwhile Calicut Regional Engineering College (presently NIT Calicut) from 1965 to 1984, and also pursued part time research on Planning and Management of Energy Production and Delivery Systems from 1980 to 1984 under Calicut University. He is a recipient of many awards: Management Leadership Award and Gold Medal in 1999 (Trivandrum Management Association); Third Millennium Medal in 2000 from IEEE as Asia Pacific Historical Achievement Award for his contributions to the Lighting Up Kenya in 2012; Global Meritorious Achievement Award of IEEE Educational Activities Board in 2014; Outstanding Service Award of IEEE Power and Energy Society in 2016; Life Time Achievement Award for Contributions in Renewable Energy by Govt. of Kerala through ANERT Kerala; Life Time Achievement Award in Section Chair category by IEEE India Council in 2020; and R10 Outstanding Life Member Award in 2021. He is currently a member of Council and ExCom of Kerala State Council for S&T and Environment and a member of ExCom and Governing Board of Energy Management Centre (Kerala).
2021 R10 Women In Engineering Outstanding Professional Volunteer Award – Ray Hua Horng (Taipei Section)
Prof. Ray Hua Horng served as the Chair for IEEE Photonic Society at Taipei Section (2017-2018). She is currently the Vice-President of the Taiwan Photonic Society (2021). She was the recipient of the Fellows of IEEE, OSA, IoP, SPIE and IET. Since 2019, Prof. Horng has organized and held the meeting of WIO every year. The meeting has a parallel session for kids: “Photonic Children Care”. Prof. Horng’s activity has attracted more attention from the IEEE, OSA and SPIE, indicating that these activities have been recognized by the international societies. Furthermore, there are more female to become the member in WIO and WIE and supporting these activities. This year, Prof. Horng extends the experience in WIO and combines with WIE (Engineering), WIP (Physics) and STEM in Taiwan to have united women activities.
2021 R10 Women In Engineering Outstanding Student Volunteer Award – Virendra Pratap Singh (Delhi Section)
Virendra Pratap Singh studied Computer Science and Engineering at The NorthCap University, and founded the IEEE Women In Engineering Student Branch Chapter, The NorthCap University in 2018. He is an adjunct secretary at IEEE Computer Society Students and Young Professionals Global Committee and the recipient of the Outstanding Student Volunteer Award, IEEE India Council. In his tenure, he has conducted more than 300 events and has been one of the five representatives from IEEE Delhi Section to be invited at the IEEE Region 10 Students, Young Professionals, Women in Engineering, Life Members Congress (SYWLC). He is currently working as a Software Engineer at Optum, Inc. He has taken up roles and responsibilities wherever possible and has assisted with the initial formation of 6 technical chapters and affinity groups and reviving over 100 dormant student branches across India.
2021 R10 Young Professionals Outstanding Volunteer in Academic Award – Shankar J (Kerala Section)
Shankar J is working as Assistant Professor at the Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering (ECE) in UKFCET under APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University and a technology consultant. He completed his B.Tech in ECE from the University College of Engineering, Kariavattom (University of Kerala), in 2009. After his brief career as a telecom engineer, he completed his M.Tech in Communication Systems from SRM University, Chennai, in 2013. His research interest is in Brain Computer Interface and Robotics. He is an active IEEE Volunteer, serving as SAC, IEEE Kerala Section; Academic Working Group Co-ordinator; and MGA SAC SYP member. He is a recipient of IEEE India Council – Outstanding Young Professional Volunteer Award 2020 and IEEE Kerala Section – Outstanding Volunteer Award 2020. He is also volunteering as MoC, NITI Aayog, Govt of India, and as HAM Operator.
2021 R10 Young Professionals Outstanding Volunteer in Industry Award – Christian Enoval (Philippines Section)
Christian Enoval is a graduate of Bachelor of Science in Electronics and Communications Engineering and Master of Science in Industrial Engineering and Management from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines in 2011 and 2015 respectively, and is currently a candidate for Ph.D. in Technology Management at the Technological University of the Philippines. He is currently working as Service Manager at Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. (Singtel Philippines, Inc.). He is also an Associate Professorial Lecturer under the Electronics Engineering Department of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines. In addition, he is an IEEE Senior Member and holds several positions in different IEEE organizational units. He is the founding and current Chair of IEEE Young Professionals Philippines, the Public Relations Officer and Society Committee Chair of IEEE Republic of Philippines Section, and the Training and Webinar Coordinator of IEEE Region 10 Student Activities Committee (SAC). In 2018, he received the Outstanding Volunteer Award from IEEE Republic of Philippines for his valued service and outstanding contribution to IEEE Young Professionals and Section activities.
2021 IEEE R10 Special Recognition to SAC Volunteers – Gaurav Shashikant Sonawane (Pune Section)
Gaurav Sonawane is currently a student at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Sirmaur. He is an Electronics and Telecommunication graduate from AISSMS IOIT, Pune. He currently serves as an R10 YP Committee Member. During his tenure as an SSR at IEEE Pune Section, he has taken many key initiatives and activities such as Pune Congress, Eureka, SIG AA, EKAM, YP Connect, etc. He is the recipient of the IEEE India Council Outstanding Volunteer Award in 2019. He has been a leader for humanitarian projects in his Section in collaboration with the government for 2020. Moreover, he is a good communicator, leader, passionate volunteer, and enjoys a strong network.
2021 IEEE R10 Special Recognition to SAC Volunteers – Peshan Sampath (Sri Lanka Section)
Peshan Sampath is a member of IEEE and currently the chair for IEEE Sri Lanka Section SIGHT. He is working as a Research Manager at the Centre for Advanced Mechatronic Systems, University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka. He completed his Bachelor of Science of Engineering Honours (B.Sc. (Hons)) degree and Master of Science (M.Sc.) in Mechanical Engineering from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Moratuwa. He is an active volunteer in IEEE since 2014 and hold several key positions in the Student Branch, Sectional and Regional level committees. He volunteered for IEEE Young Professional Sri Lanka from 2016 – 2019 and was an Executive Committee member of the IEEE Sri Lanka Section from 2016-2020. Peshan is a graduate of the IEEE Volunteer Leadership Training (VoLT) program.
2021 Region 10 Outstanding Large Section Award – Hong Kong Section
The Hong Kong Section was inaugurated in 1972. As of November 2020, the Section has 9,570 members, with 20 Chapters, 3 Affinity Groups, and 5 Student Branches. The Section has vibrant chapters, student branches, and affinity groups. The Section has also previously won the Region 10 Best Membership Growth (Large Section) and Best Membership Retention (Large Section) awards.
2021 Region 10 Outstanding Medium Section Award – Tainan Section
The IEEE Tainan Section was established in 2003 and has grown to a medium-sized Section with currently more than 700 members and 18 chapters along with two student branches. It has been given numerous awards including the outstanding achievement in member retention during the 2015 membership year and the Medium Section Membership Growth Award in 2020. Due to a strong tie with the industry, IEEE Tainan Section Delta Award, Macronix Award, and Himax Award are offered every year to recognize the technical achievements of members in industrial applications.
2021 Region 10 Outstanding Small Section Award – Northern Australia Section
IEEE Northern Australia Section was established in 1994 and covers distances of some 2200 km East-West and 2,800 km North-South encompassing the Northern Territory, Papua New Guinea and the Northern areas of Queensland. Despite being a small section, Northern Australia has strong membership retention rates and focuses on delivering relevant content. IEEE Northern Australia’s headquarters is at Townsville, Queensland with a secondary base in Cairns. It also has a Northern Territory Subsection based in Darwin.
2021 Region 10 Best Membership Growth Large Section Award – Kerala Section
Since its initiation in 1975, IEEE Kerala Section has been actively engaged in various activities, both technical and humanitarian, dedicated to promoting the IEEE vision of ‘Advancing Technology for Humanity’. With over 10,000 members to contribute their services and partake in the enhancement of the Section, it has been at the forefront amongst its peers in achieving multiple recognitions during its span, including the MGA Large Section Award and multiple Region 10 Outstanding Large Section Awards in the previous years. The active presence of different affinity groups and more than 10 technical societies, combined with the invigorating efforts of Student Branches and Chapters, make the Section proficient with a scholastic approach.
2021 Region 10 Best Membership Growth Medium Section Award – Western Australia Section
IEEE Western Australia Section was established on 24th May 1984. Since its establishment, the Section has been serving the needs of all IEEE members in Western Australia. The section has several sub-units formed under its umbrella, which includes 10 specialist section chapters, 2 affinity groups (Young Professionals and Women in Engineering) and 4 student branches (Curtin University, Edith Cowan University, Murdoch University, and University of Western Australia).
2021 Region 10 Best Membership Growth Small Section Award – Macau Section
With the support from IEEE, Macau Section gathers elites and specialists from academia and industry in Macau, covering the fields of power and energy, microelectronics, power electronics, electronic communication, and biomedical engineering. IEEE Macau Section always plays as an international association with local features. In recent years, Macau government proposes ‘Reinforcing urban planning, constructing smart city’, and to assort this administrative idea, IEEE Macau Section visits many government sectors and major industries to discuss the developments of smart city, energy, communications, and related aspects in Macau. Besides, most of the activities were applied CPD (Continuing Professional Development Program), in which participants can enhance their professional knowledge and skills continuously. Through organizing activities, IEEE Macau Section always strives to cohere members and enlarge its popularity in Macau.
2021 Region 10 Best Membership Retention Large Section Award – Kansai Section
Kansai Section was established in November 1998. The 2021/2022 Section Chair is Prof. Yutaka Hata from the University of Hyogo. As of December 2020, Kansai Section comprises 2,155 members, three Affinity Groups, thirteen Chapters, and seven Student Branches. Kansai Section endeavors to enhance activities focusing on young people through affinity groups and educational activities. This year, WIE Symposium was held onsite/on-line (in a hybrid manner) on 25th September, Talk Event on “Doctors’ Carrier” was held on-line on 11th September, and the First EA Event was held onsite/on-line on 21st August. English Presentation Tournament by Student Branch and Brainstorming Tournament by Life Members AG are also planned.
2021 Region 10 Best Membership Retention Medium Section Award – Fukuoka Section
The IEEE Fukuoka Section was founded in 1999. The Section has 8 chapters, 3 affinity groups, 2 student branches, and 866 members including 46 senior members. Every year, international sessions are organized in the annual academic convention and a couple of excellent presenters younger than 35 years old were selected for “Excellent Presentation Award”. Moreover, about 10 students were selected through evaluating their published papers for the “Excellent Student Award”. These awards encourage the student activity and the number of active student members in 2021 has doubled compared with last year.
2021 Region 10 Best Membership Retention Small Section Award – New Zealand Central Section
New Zealand Central Section has been serving IEEE members since 2005 and has shown significant growth over the years through the introduction of targeted new Chapters, Affinity Groups, Student Branches and specially supported events. The Section’s geographical coverage goes from New Plymouth to Gisborne and all the way down to the southernmost capital city of the world: Wellington.
2021 R10 SAC Outstanding Student Branch Award – IEEE Silver Oak University Student Branch (Gujarat Section)
IEEE Silver Oak University Student Branch has been striving to achieve its motto ever since its inception in 2017, starting with a few members to a strong team within five years. With the continuous guidance of the founding member, Dr. Satvik Khara, and consistent teamwork, it has been recognized with prestigious awards at the Section and Council levels for their ardent efforts along with getting honored by the Region 10 SAC Award 2021. The Student Branch always aims to enrich students’ experiences with the finest opportunities and foster a learning experience. With the incentive to attain their mission and vision, they have successfully undertaken numerous events and programs for technical as well as social uplift.
2021 R10 Young Professionals Outstanding Section Affinity Group Award – IEEE Sri Lanka Section Young Professionals Affinity Group
IEEE Young Professionals Sri Lanka (YPSL) was formed in October 2011 with the vision of being the leading professional organization for young professionals in Sri Lanka. Remarking their excellence, YPSL was awarded the R10 Young Professionals Outstanding Section Affinity Group Award in 2021. YPSL is a community, where members can elevate their professional image, expand their global network and give back to their community. Diverse projects organized by YPSL are well planned, executed and proven to be impactful and successful. The secrets behind YPSL’s outstanding performance are their quality of work, dedication and the well-maintained partnerships with the industry.
2021 R10 Women in Engineering Outstanding Section Affinity Group Award – IEEE Sendai Section WIE Affinity Group
IEEE Sendai Section WIE Affinity Group was established in 2017. It was the fourth WIE in Japan, after the establishment of Japan Council, Sapporo Section and Kansai Section WIE Affinity Groups. Every year, it has been organizing the anniversary event and tried to explore its network and encourage the attendee by cheerful heart. It is a great pleasure to receive the 2021 R10 Women in Engineering Outstanding Section Affinity Group Award. This great award will stimulate the affinity group’s activity much more. The group would like to further collaborate with female engineers and peers, and contributes to improve the diversity of our society.
2021 R10 Education Activities Outstanding Group Award – IEEE Pune Section Education Society Chapter
2021 R10 Humanitarian Technology Activities Outstanding Section Award – IEEE Bombay Section
2021 R10 Women In Engineering Outstanding Student Branch Affinity Group Award – VNR VJIET IEEE WIE Student Branch Affinity Group (Hyderabad Section)
2021 IEEE R10 Special Recognition of Student Branch Award – University of Melbourne IEEE Student Branch (Victorian Section)