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.

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.

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.

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