Activities Supported by IEEE R10 Young Professionals Student-YP Joint Activity Fund
Prepared by: Mohammed Hussein Saleh Mohamed Haram, Student-YP Transition Coordinator for IEEE R10 Young Professionals
IEEE R10 Young Professionals Student-YP Joint Activity Fund was initiated to improve Young Professionals (YP) and students’ collaboration at the Section level. It aims to improve student engagement with YPs and their activities, learn, get inspired, and get motivated to excel in their professional careers through career development events, coaching, and entrepreneurship workshops. Moreover, this initiative aims to provide a platform for students to network with Section-level IEEE Young Professionals volunteers and get motivated to contribute to their Section YP Affinity Group activities after graduation. In the first round of the fund for 2021, five activities were awarded grants. Below is the summary of these winning activities as reported by the projects’ leads based on the date of the activity.
IEEE YP SL StudPro 4.0 by IEEE Young Professionals Sri Lanka Section
The event was held virtually on several dates starting from 8th May, 14th May, 7th June to 15th June 2021, with a Career Fair scheduled on 9th October 2021. This event was organized in collaboration with 19 Student Branches in Sri Lanka Section. A total of 212 participants attended the program via several sessions. StudPro 4.0 also organized a workshop series to groom fresh graduates to prepare themselves to achieve their dream job. In the scheduled Career Fair, the objective is to bring together students and companies for hiring opportunities.
Figure 1: IEEE YP SL StudPro 4.0 by IEEE Young Professionals Sri Lanka Section
HighPreneur – An Entrepreneurship Kickstart Program 2021 by IEEE Young Professionals Madras Section
The activity was conducted virtually from 13th to 16th May 2021. This activity was organized in collaboration with IEEE Madras Student Activities Committee, IEEE Madras Women in Engineering, IEEE Madras Education Activity, IEEE Madras TEMS Chapter, and IEEE Madras SSIT Chapter. A total of 30 participants via several sessions attended the program. This event was designed to pave the path for young energetic minds to spark revolutionary thoughts and let our youth explore the vibrant path of entrepreneurship.
Figure 2:HighPreneur – An Entrepreneurship Kickstart Program 2021 by IEEE Young Professionals Madras Section
ARISE by IEEE Young Professionals Kerala Section
The event was conducted virtually from 22nd to 30th May 2021. The event was organized in collaboration with IEEE PIE Kerala Section, IEEE SB MCE, IEEE SB FISAT, IEEE SB RIT, IEEE SB LBSITW, and ZETGO. A total of 601 participants via several sessions attended the program. ARISE was an iridescent amalgam of events designed to bring out the entrepreneurial, career, and creative skills of its participants.
Figure 3: ARISE by IEEE Young Professionals Kerala Section
Young Professions – Student Vitality Enhancement and Engagement Summit 2021 by IEEE Young Professionals Bangladesh Section
The activity was held virtually from 29th to 30th May 2021. The activity was organized in collaboration with IEEE BUET Student Branch and IEEE Bangladesh Section. A total of over 184 participants via the two-day sessions attended the summit. The summit had multiple sessions on helping the student members in ascending to their young professional life and career path. These sessions will also inspire them to join IEEE Young Professionals and continue their IEEE membership.
Figure 4: Young Professions – Student Vitality Enhancement and Engagement Summit 2021 by IEEE Young Professionals Bangladesh Section
1st IEEE Young Professionals Future Leaders Summit 2021 by IEEE Young Professionals Malaysia Section
The summit was held virtually from 19th to 20th June 2021. This activity was organized in collaboration with IEEE Power and Energy Society (PES) Malaysia Chapter, The Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET) Malaysia Local Network, and IET Young Professional Section. A total of over 1900 participants via the four sessions attended the 2-day summit. The summit included talks, forums, and panel discussion sessions planned to address all the essential needs of future leaders to proceed in their professional career life.
Figure 5: 1st IEEE Young Professionals Future Leaders Summit 2021 by IEEE Young Professionals Malaysia Section
YP Sparkler Summit 2021
Prepared by: Dr. Aishwarya Bandla & Sewwandie Nanayakkara, IEEE Sparklers Summit Organizing Committee
A dazzling fest studded with 900 delegates, 42 distinguished speakers, and 18 collaborators – the very first Sparklers Summit organized by IEEE R10 Young Professionals was a grand success. The virtual gathering held over the Airmeet platform, that brought together young professionals and students across Asia Pacific and beyond, had a very different feel than the usual summit. With a refreshing start from the keynotes by IEEE President Susan K. Land & President-Elect Prof. Ray Liu, the event flowed in an eventful agenda aimed at improving the audience both professionally & personally.
The two-day summit spread across the 7th & 14th August 2021 featured talks, panel discussions and workshops under two broad themes catered to the present day young professionals. With a strong need to keep pace with the modern day’s technological developments, Day 1 was centered around technical and professional upskilling. Thought leaders from across the globe addressed the young minds on topics such as ‘Hard Skill Development & Continuous Learning’, ‘Emotional Intelligence and Influencing’, ‘Innovation, Entrepreneurship vs Intrapreneurship’ and some interesting R&D feature talks. With the majority of delegates being a pack of enthusiastic volunteers, Day 2 showcased topics on the spirit and power of volunteering. International practitioners from a variety of fields discussed diverse topics such as ‘Volunteering: Social & Personal Perspective’, ‘The Best YP Practices that You Need to Know’, and ‘Project Management for Volunteers’ to name a few. The summit brought together IEEE leaders to interact with young professionals and students in a panel discussion ‘Past, Present, and Future of IEEE’ which was a huge hit.
The cherry on the top was the awards ceremony of IEEE R10 SAC and Young Professionals. The 2020 and 2021 awards were announced with all celebratory pomp and splendor. And that was not all! Apart from the main stage sessions, the summit also had several fringe events and competitions which saw delegates participating with feverish excitement. These included a booth expo contest where eight YP affinity groups of the region competed to deliver the best content, and networking sessions that spread across a week.
A huge shout-out to Microsoft, IEEE Young Professionals & IEEE Region 10 for the generous sponsorship, and for the active support of IEEE R10 SAC, IEEE Xtreme, IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society (AP-S), IEEE Professional Communication Society, IEEE PES YP and IEEE Day. Behind the scenes, the event was creatively and carefully planned over 10 months and put together by a very enthusiastic organizing committee led by the Region 10 Young Professionals ExComm. At the end it was all worth the efforts as evidenced by the euphoric energy of the delegates, speakers, IEEE leaders and the Sparklers Summit team.
