R10 Council – IEEE Australia Council

Prepared by: Daniel Eghbal, Chair for IEEE Australia Council

The Australia Council was established on 30th May 1986 following the formation of state-based sections in New South Wales, Victoria, Western Australia, and Queensland. IEEE Australia Council celebrated its 30th anniversary on IEEE Day in 2021 with a great panel of keynote speakers followed by face-to-face networking events hosted by the Queensland and Western Australia Sections.

Australia Council conducts the following activities on behalf of its constituent Sections:

 Facilitate collaboration among Australian Sections,
 Promotes IEEE through national activities,
 Establish collaboration between IEEE and other national professional organizations,
 Establish member benefit programs focused on local products available to members in Australia,
 Supports Australian Section hosting major IEEE conferences,
 Acts or responds on behalf of the Australian Sections as required from time to time.

During the Region 10 annual meeting, Australia Council executive committee set up a plan for the coming year. This meeting was disrupted by COVID-19 travel restrictions and was held virtually. In 2022, the executive committee met face to face in Brisbane with some members joining online to discuss strategic activities that the council should take to maximize the benefits to members.

2022 IEEE Australia Council face-face meeting

Following the successful rollout of a member benefit program by the Western Australia Section, Australia Council established a member benefit program with two Australian partners; private health insurance (Medibank) and a technology provider (DELL). All Australian members can benefit from tailored corporate-style benefits from these two companies. The program was established in early 2022 and has been received positively.

The IEEE ANZSCON is the Australia New Zealand Student and Young Professionals Congress, held every two years. Being a unique event of its kind, it brings together the leadership from 10 IEEE Sections across Australia and New Zealand, as well as two Regional Councils. This event will help to reinvigorate the Young Professional sections in South Australia and across Australia and New Zealand. ANZSCON is an event wherein engineering students and young professionals can meet with each other and network with local industry and academic leaders. The event runs for two days and covers a wide range of activities, from technical talks, to workshops, and networking opportunities. This year, IEEE South Australia Section will host the 2022 ANZSCON at the University of Adelaide on 1st and 2nd October 2022 and look forward to welcoming students and young professionals to Adelaide – further details are on the website https://attend.ieee.org/anzscon-2022/ .

Facilitating collaboration among Australian Sections is one of the key objectives of the Australia Council. Australia Council established the Women In Engineering (WIE) forum as a platform for WIE volunteers to collaborate and coordinate events and major conferences. The forum contributed significantly to the successful delivery of the 2018 IEEE Women In Engineering International Leadership Summit (WIE ILS) in Brisbane. Victoria Section is hosting the 2022 WIE ILS on 4th and 5th August 2022 in Melbourne. This event is an opportunity for the professionals to tap into the world’s largest technical professional organization and network with influential speakers and leaders in their field from industry, government, NFP, and academia both at a local and global level. Please contact Sudha.Mokkapati@Monash.edu for more information.

IEEE NSW UNITE2022 is a unification event of all chapters, affinity groups, and members. New South Wales Section established UNITE in 2018 and was repeated in 2019. Unfortunately, due to COVID19, the event was canceled in 2020 and 2021. This event unites all NSW IEEE Members (students, Young Professionals, Women In Engineering, Life Members, Academia & Industry, etc.) in one place with free food, exhibits, technical talks, professional development workshops, and networking with a goal of making the most from IEEE. Discover the latest trends, discover opportunities provided by the various IEEE societies, discuss membership elevation options, engage with TISP, and much more! UNITE is FREE for IEEE Members and is a way for the NSW Section to provide its members a valuable service in recognition of the fees paid.

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IEEE UNITE 2022 Features Sessions 

With COVID-19 restrictions being lifted gradually across Australia, Sections have been organizing more face-to-face events that also support online participation. On 10th March 2022, IEEE Northern Australia Section hosted a face-to-face event in Townsville, QLD. The event was also made available online, for the talk entitled “Plasma applications old and new: Arc welding, wire-arc additive manufacturing, and ammonia production”, by De Tony Murphy, Chief Research Scientist, Leader, Materials and Process Modelling, at CSIRO.  This talk was well received and attended by 50 participants from IEEE and James Cook University and was the Northern Australia Section’s first face-to-face event in 2022.

On the evening of 5th May 2022, Western Australia Section held a networking event at the Pan Pacific Hotel, Perth.  The event introduced the incoming committee of the WA Section to IEEE members and non-members and provided a welcome opportunity for members and non-members to network and meet each other in person, which was welcomed by all in the current pandemic climate. The executive committee members are Mr. Harry McDonald (Chair), Ms. Jacqualine Thomas (Vice-Chair), Mr. Vijay Kumar (Treasurer), and Mr. Hossein Dehghanitafti (Secretary). The WA Section Chair gave a presentation detailing the current committee volunteers, where the WA Section is headed for 2022, and asked for additional volunteer support, which was well received.

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Socially distanced networking function hosted by WA Section

WA Section Chair addressing the attendees

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