R10 Large Section of the Month – Kerala Section
Prepared by: Sabarinath Pillai, Vice-Chair for IEEE Kerala Section
IEEE Kerala Section was formed as a Subsection of the Bangalore Section in 1975 and later elevated into a Section in 1983. Since 1975, IEEE Kerala Section has been involved in the technical development of the southern Indian state of Kerala in terms of providing technological knowhow to policy/decision makers as well as the future generation of Engineers, all the while upholding the ethics of the IEEE towards contributing to its Vision.
Awards and Achievements
Over the years, Section volunteers, Affinity Groups and the Section as a whole has been appreciated both by the R10 and the MGA in terms of awards. Individual awards like the Larry K Wilson Transnational Award, the Young Professionals Achievement Award, Outstanding Student Branch Counselor Award or Affinity Group awards like the Women in Engineering Award, The Life Member AG Award and even society awards like those from PES definitely have contributed towards the Section receiving the Outstanding Large Section award in 2004, 2009 and 2014.
Pre-University
The e-Scientia project installed at the Centre of Science in Society, Cochin attracts close to 10,000 school-level students on a yearly basis; thus contributing towards enthusing students at the pre-university level to pursue STEM education. Kerala Section, in collaboration with an NGO, Chakshumathi works towards helping the visually challenged pursue science education.
Conferences
Kerala Section annually hosts a series of conferences. Apart from the TENSYMP 2017 and the TENCON 2019 conferences which are flagship events of Region 10, Kerala section has hosted the IEEE India Council conference, INDICON and also organizes RAICS & SPICES both bi-annually as Kerala Section flagship conferences. The recent TENCON needs special mention as it has been highly appreciated in terms of quality of technical content, quality of planning and execution and quality in terms of financial utilization.
Membership and Strength
As of 31st December 2019, Kerala Section stands strong with 10000+ members. The strength of Kerala Section lies in its student network backed by the energetic Young Professionals, who work under the advice and guidance of the veteran senior members of the section.
Contributions to the Society
IEEE Kerala Section and its volunteers believe in giving back to the society which creates and upholds humanity. Activities in giving back to the society are spread across various fronts.
Humanitarian Activities
Right from the devastating 2004 Tsunami which hit the coast of South India till the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the volunteers of Kerala Section have jumped right into the battle ground to provide technological solutions to ease the situation on the ground. Volunteers from Kerala Section travelled close to 500km to a coastal township, Nagapattinam, on a weekly basis and set up initial communications systems right after the Tsunami hit this coastal area. Later, volunteers from Kerala went on to set up coordination centers which was later accepted by the Government of Tamil Nadu state as the central coordination center for emergency relief activities. Volunteers from Kerala travelled to Nepal after the earthquake, and also engaged in relief activities in Haiti. The Student Initiative, Keralarescue.in, which was started by 7 student members in Kerala as a data collection portal immediately after the 2018 floods in Kerala went on to be accepted by the Government of Kerala state as the central relief measures coordination portal which later also saw contributions pouring in from 1519 professionals/technocrats from various parts of the globe. Currently, during the COVID-19 pandemic, our engineers and young professionals have stepped forward to design and implement low-cost ventilators, robotic sanitizers, all accepted by the Government of Kerala to be used in the field for immediate relief activities.
It was perhaps the activities of Kerala Section, especially the 2004 Tsunami related activities, that got recognized at the global scale which led to the formation of Humanitarian Technologies Adhoc Committee and later SIGHT, even including the adoption of the tagline Advancing Technology for Humanity.
Recognitions to Professionals
IEEE Kerala Section takes a forward outlook in appreciating the contributions of the general public who provide technology-related solutions for the benefit of mankind. Initiating a KPP Nambiar Memorial Award, in remembrance of the founder Chair of Kerala Section is one of many such activities. Mr. E.Sreedharan, the Metro Man of India, who designed and executed the world-class Delhi metro and Dr. K. Sivan, Director of Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) are distinguished persons, who have been bestowed with this award in past years. In addition, awards like Friend of IEEE, Best Teacher Award, Best Researcher Award are bestowed on eminent personalities, who have proved themselves in their respective domains.
Student-Centric
Kerala Section is perhaps the first section in the world to pilot a unique hub and spoke model, the Local Integrated Network of IEEE SBs in Kerala (LINK), for sensitizing the 7500+ student members of the section. From 5 student branches across Kerala in 2003 to 91 Student Branches in 2019, the journey was a smooth sail with this unique approach. This model gained publicity and was adopted on a global scale as the Global Integrated Network of IEEE SBs (GINI) which has resulted in tremendous growth in the student activities across the globe.
Apart from these, IEEE Kerala Section hosts an annual IEEE Job Fair for the Graduate Student Members; connecting employers with employees.
IEEE Kerala Section team and Nissan Team with the honorable Governor of Kerala state, Mr. Arif Mohammad Khan at the TENCON 2019 Venue near the Nissan LEAF exhibit
R10 Medium Section of the Month – Nagoya Section
Prepared by: Jun Sato, Secretary for Nagoya Section
The IEEE Nagoya Section was established in 1999 under Japan Council, and currently has about 1,300 members including the President of IEEE, Prof. Toshio Fukuda. Since Nagoya and its surrounding area is the largest industrial center of Japan, the Section has long standing collaborations between academia and industry. These collaborations have resulted in several IEEE Milestones of history, including the Milestone of Bullet Train “Shinkansen”. Fundamental research is also strong in this area, and the Section has Nobel laureates as Nagoya Section members.
The Nagoya Section recently started WIE affinity group activities. For celebrating its establishment, Nagoya WIE Startup Event was held last December. IEEE R10 Director Prof. Nishihara and former chair of IEEE WIE Prof. Hashimoto delivered special lectures. This event helped strengthen collaboration across genders and generations. The Nagoya Section also has YP and LMAG affinity groups, and close cooperation amongst these three affinity groups is the plan for the future. Since the Nagoya Section exists in the industrial center of Japan with lots of support from these companies, the Section awarded two domestic companies with the IEEE Supporting Friend of MGA award.
Nagoya section is also awarding young researchers and students. Two local conferences are held every year, and excellent student presenters are awarded the Student Awards. The Young Researcher Awards and the International Conference Presentation Awards are also awarded to young people who published high quality work in journals and conferences. All of these activities encouraged young researchers and students, and contributed to enhancing the Section activities.
Nagoya Section was recently awarded the 2018 R10 Best Membership Retention Medium Section Award, the Gold Medal of 2018 Outstanding Section Membership Recruitment and Retention Performance, and the 2017 R10 1st Place in Retention Category.
R10 Small Section of the Month – Kharagpur Section
Prepared by: Debarati Sen, Chair for Kharagpur Section
The IEEE Kharagpur Section is a Section coming under India Council and IEEE Region 10. It is a unique Section in IEEE in the sense that the Section is rooted at the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, unlike other Sections where activities usually spread over a number of institutions and industries. The Section office is located in the campus of Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur.
The beginning of the unit were as a small chapter with 60 members under IEEE Kolkata Section (formerly IEEE Calcutta Section) in 1983. On 13th May 1985 it emerged as the IEEE Kharagpur Section. Since its inception, the Kharagpur Section has had a sustainable growth of its members, distinguished activities and targeted initiatives.
IEEE Day Celebration,1st October 2019
One of the Section’s key focus areas has been to improve the support networks and funding opportunities for its student members. There are two Student Branches and seven Chapters in Kharagpur Section. The Student Branches focus on conducting social and technical activities for students, and also encourage the students to take full advantage of the benefits of IEEE membership, including scholarships, competitions, and conference grants, thereby encouraging students to be a part of the global IEEE community. In 2010, the Student Branch of Kharagpur Section joined IEEE University Partnership Program (UPP), an elite group of 17 top engineering schools/universities worldwide.
Distinguished lecture on “Are we alone? NASA’s search to find life beyond earth” by Dr. Goutam Chattopadhyay, NASA, JPL, Caltech, USA, Feb. 06, 2019
A second focus area has been membership value. The IEEE Kharagpur Section has helped its members advancing their careers with a goal towards the development of mankind. The Section organizes workshops, conferences, symposia, colloquium, and lectures by renowned personalities frequently. Apart from this, IEEE Kharagpur Section also organizes industrial trip every year to enhance industry-academic relations.
Industrial Field Trip organized for the members and their families and student body members at the Air Force Station, Salua on 2nd February 2020
Another targeted initiative is the IEEE Student-Teacher and Research Engineer/Scientist (STAR) Program, which was developed to address the growing concern that, at a young age, girls are discouraged from careers in mathematics, science, and engineering. The Section is looking forward to organizing the STAR program at schools near Kharagpur area and enlightening the young minds with various career opportunities which can be explored.
Below is a list of major activities of the IEEE Kharagpur Section in the last one year:
- 12 technical talks organized by Section
- 50 technical talks organized by Chapters
- 6 workshops on classical and emerging technologies
- 3 co-sponsored international conferences
The Section has won several awards and accolades, which include:
- 2020 IEEE Brand Ambassador, N. Aditya Kameswara Rao
- 2019 R10 Outstanding Small Section Award
- 2019 R10 SAC Leadership Training and Membership Development Fund
- 2019 Membership Growth Reward of US$ 300 to SPS chapter
- 2019 Richard E Merwin Scholarship (Spring, 2019) by IEEE CS, Devarpita Sinha
- 2019 Richard E Merwin Scholarship (Autumn, 2019) by IEEE CS, Sobhan Dhara
- 2019 IEEE Xtreme, IIT Kharagpur got Country Rank 1, Meet Joshi, Vivek Gupta, and Vishal Raj, Proctor was Prof. Debdoot Sheet
- 2019 Asian Test Symposium Doctoral Thesis Award 2019, Rajit Karmakar
- 2019 NOKIA-IEEE University Collaboration Programme, a group of IEEE student members from IIT Kharagpur got an opportunity to visit Nokia R&D, Bangalore
R10 Subsection of the Month – Vizag Bay Subsection
Prepared by: M Chisti, Secretary of Vizag Bay Subsection.
IEEE Vizag Bay Subsection has organized several events, conferences, and workshops for the benefit of professionals, student members & research scholars, as also given paramount importance towards technological development. These events have witnessed active participation and opportunities for volunteers to gain knowledge. 40 events were organized in 2019 and 42 events in 2018 that included conferences (ICISGT 2019, MiniPOCO 2018), technical events, professional talks, workshops, hands-on training programs for student members, and administrative activities. IEEE Vizag Bay Subsection includes more than 1,500 professional and student members, and 25 active Student Branches. IEEE services and benefits are provided to 15 universities with 200 + engineering institutions and 250+ IT and related companies. IEEE Vizag Bay Subsection volunteers also received funding of US$1000 for SIGHT program from IEEE.
Some of the major milestones include Subsection Student Congress 2020 with the theme, ‘Sustainable Employment with Industry 4.0’ on 25th January 2020. 154 students from 16 colleges across the state of Andhra Pradesh participated in the congress. Project expo, Student Branch exhibits, and entrepreneurship talks were organized. In the project presentation session, students presented their innovative models which included a gesture control laptop using an ultrasonic sensor & IoT based smart irrigation system for farmers. Branch counselors meet was organized to train the branch counselors in managing their Student Branches, improving membership retention and support provided by the Subsection to organize events at their institutions.
Teacher In-Service Program was organized on 30th November 2019 at Government High School, Payakaraopeta, Near Tuni, Andhra Pradesh, India. 39 science teachers from 19 Government High Schools of Visakhapatnam District participated in this event. Mr. M.G.P.L. Narayana, Past Chair of IEEE Hyderabad Section was the Chief Guest for the program. Mr. K. V. Sriram, Chair for IEEE Vizag Bay Subsection mentioned that school teachers need to develop a curiosity in learning science amongst children. Dr. Abraham spoke on recent scientific developments. Dr. Lakshminarayana Sadasivuni spoke on “Research in social networks and how traditional science helped the modern age”. Mrs. Ili Abraham, another resource person spoke on “Teaching science in modern age”.
A major milestone of the Subsection was the International Conference on Intelligent Systems and Green Technology held on 29th and 30th June 2019 at Y.V.S. Murty Auditorium in Visakhapatnam, India. The conference received 110 paper submissions of which 27 papers were accepted for presentation in compliance with IEEE standards. Activities planned in the future include INDISCON-2020, scheduled in July 2020 and the second edition of ICISGT in November 2021.
The Subsection aims to spread knowledge on the latest technological trends by organizing various workshops. A 2-Day Workshop on Hyperspectral data analysis techniques was successfully conducted in training government faculty, researchers and students on the application potential of resources evaluation and management, climate change and environmental ramifications, water resources and their improvement, sea-level rise and coastal inundation. This workshop was organized by IEEE CIS/GRSS Hyderabad Joint Chapter, in collaboration with IEEE Vizag Bay Subsection and Department of Geo-Engineering, Andhra University. A one-day workshop on Digital Signal Processing using Python (via Raspberry Pi) was organized on 16th July 2019 by IEEE Communications and Signal Processing Societies Joint Chapter in collaboration with IEEE Vizag Bay Subsection & GITAM (Deemed to be University) with the objective of skilling professionals and students in DSP using open-source software (Python) and Raspberry Pi hardware. IEEE Computer Society Hyderabad Chapter in collaboration with IEEE Vizag Bay Subsection also organized a workshop on robotics and digital reality at PSCMR, Vijayawada on 20th July 2019. Along with IEEE ComSoc/SPS joint society, the Subsection organized a one-day workshop on Channel Coding in 5G at MVGR College of Engineering on 24th August 2019.
Apart from these, IEEE Vizag Bay Subsection also organized several IEEEXtreme promotional events in different colleges in the month of September 2019. IEEE Vizag Bay Subsection petition to become a full-fledged Section has been approval by IEEE R10 in February 2020. With this elevation, IEEE Vizag Bay Section looks forward to foster the advancement in technology for the benefit of humanity.
R10 Student Branch of the Month – IEEE American International University Bangladesh Student Branch
Prepared by: Alve Rahman, Publication Coordinator for IEEE AIUB Student Branch
IEEE American International University Bangladesh Student Branch (IEEE AIUB SB) was established under the Bangladesh Section in 2006. From 2009 onwards, the branch has been very actively pursuing various activities to “advance technology for the benefit of humanity”. IEEE AIUB SB has emerged as the largest Student Branch in Bangladesh Section for the past few years, comprising of over 350+ members with 4 successful Student Branch Chapters and one Affinity Group (WIE). Several years of hard work, passion and dedication of its volunteers have resulted in the success and glory of this Student Branch.
One key area of focus of this SB has been to organize and conduct technical seminars by both the academicians and Industry experts for the student members. In 2019, IEEE AIUB Student Branch organized over 20 seminars and workshops. These seminars covered various state-of-the-art topics and hands-on workshops that helped the participants in better understanding of the industry standards. IEEE AIUB SB regularly celebrates IEEE Day, Arduino Day and International Women’s Day every year. In the year 2019, IEEE AIUB SB organized the IEEE flagship event Student Professional Awareness Workshop 2.0 (SPAW) for the second time and Student Professional Awareness Venture 4.0 (SPAVe) for the fourth time in the history of IEEE Bangladesh Section. The SB also organized an IEEE Distinguished Lecture by Dr. V R Singh, a Life Fellow of IEEE, in collaboration with IEEE Bangladesh Section and in association with IEEE AIUB EMBS chapter, Faculty of Engineering AIUB and IEEE Bangladesh Section EMBS chapter.
The second area of focus of the Student Branch is to engage with the student members annually through general meetings and interactive sessions. The EEE AIUB Student Branch organizes Membership Drives annually to inform students about IEEE membership benefits. The branch also arranges industrial and recreational tours annually to keep the members thoroughly engaged into the organization.
The third area of focus has been to improve daily communication between the branch and the members. The branch regularly updates its activities through means of social media (Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.). All members receive regular emails prior to every seminar or event hosted by the student Branch.
The IEEE AIUB Student Branch has won several prestigious awards both locally and globally for last several years. Some of the recent achievements include:
- 2019 IEEE Regional Exemplary Student Branch Award in Region 10
- 2017 IEEE MGA Regional Exemplary Student Branch Award.
- 2014,2015 & 2016 Best Student Branch Award at IEEE Bangladesh Section.
- 2018 & 2019 Best Student Branch – Honourable Mention Award at IEEE Bangladesh Section.
- 1st Place Website Contest at IEEE Bangladesh Section SYW Congress 2017.
- 2nd Position in IEEE Region 10 Student Branch Website Contest 2019.