Spring 2017

Young Professionals in Toronto

To be successful in the modern world it takes the combination of career-oriented skills, cutting edge know-how, and effective networking. At the IEEE Toronto Young Professionals we understand the challenges that face recent graduates in all of those three categories and we are excited to share some of our upcoming events. We are working with the IEEE IHTC 2017 organizing committee to help bring the best humanitarian technology conference to Toronto this July. In particular, we will be hosting a social mixer for attendees of the conference, as well as Toronto young professionals, to help foster connections that can form ideas into action. We are also working to organize a series of events focused on professional development, such as how to build a personal brand. Stay tuned for more at ieeeypto.com.


IEEE Kitchener-Waterloo Young Professionals Update

IEEE Young Professionals Affinity group in the Kitchener-Waterloo section has been involved in multiple local initiatives over the last couple of years. Among them is helping set up a local professional network community to bring together young and experienced talents. An example is the Internet-of-Things (IoT) Waterloo meetup group, which is a peer-to-peer network group for networking, sharing knowledge, and learning from the collective experience of over 1,900+ members. IoT Waterloo hosts quarterly events featuring presentations from leading IoT industry professionals. The community held its first Ambient Intelligence conference in 2015 attracting more than 500 professionals for a full day of six keynote speeches, extended panel discussions, along with multiple demos. The local community is preparing for its second conference to be held later in 2017. Contact Dr. George Shaker, IEEE KW YP chair, for further details or inquiries.


Young Professionals Lake Louise Retreat

By Eduard Tourani, Southern Alberta Section

Attending the Lake Louise retreat hosted by the Young Professionals was a great experience. We participated in multiple talks where we were taught new ways of creating a product through a process called ideation. We were then asked to apply what we learned on a small, fast paced scale to create a product solely out of cardboard. It was a very useful experience where we were made to quickly understand the skills of our newly created teams and use those skills for a product that was creative and feasible. We then attended a group activity where we were to use this new process of ideation to create a product for which a given piece of equipment with Bluetooth capabilities would be the foundation of the product. This allowed us to further our understanding of the creation process in a more realistic situation that also, as primarily electrical engineers and graduates, appealed and applied to us. The most important aspect of the trip was the time spent together with our peers. Through this trip many of us became acquainted and further, many became friends. Several people are now working together on other projects, where this would not have been the case, had it not been for the introductions and time spent together during this retreat.


Northern Saskatchewan Young Professionals Update

By Adam Detillieux, Northern Saskatchewan Section

The IEEE North Saskatchewan Section’s Young Professional’s group and IAS/PES co-hosted the second edition of the Fireside Chat Series on March 28th, 2017. The Fireside Chat Series is an opportunity to connect and learn from successful industry leaders. This Fireside Chat featured Yves Tremblay, CEO of Pronghorn Controls.

Yves Tremblay shared remarkable insight from a storied career where he learned to prioritize ethical integrity over short term profits. He shared his guiding principles and even showed the math behind how ethical business dealings make companies more profitable. Safety has been the focus throughout his career and he shared a heart-wrenching story of a fatality that occurred at a previous company he worked for. The stern wake-up call led to a complete revamping of safety protocols and a sharpening of focus on safety throughout Yves’s career.  He stressed the importance of documenting near misses regarding safety so that others can learn from the experience. The audience was riveted by his advice and storytelling for almost 90 minutes and then had numerous further questions.

After the event, there was food and socializing amongst the group. There were 30 people in attendance.

Welcome to Industry BBQ

We will be hosting a Welcome to Industry Mixer on May 28th at Schryer’s to welcome the recent Electrical and Computer Engineering Graduates. This is a casual mixer to promote networking.