Message from the Canada YP Chair
By Sean Garrity
As I write this message the rain pours down in Vancouver, BC but I have just received a boost, I am officially the Chair of the Region 7 Young Professionals Committee for 2018. It is an honor and a thrill to be able to continue the work we’ve started in 2017. The Region 7 team has some exciting projects under way and we’ve already had a number of successes in the past few months. We had the first ever connection of all Region 7 young professional chairs online, the creation of the Pacific-Northwest Leadership Conference in partnership with Region 6, the revitalization of the young professionals newsletter, and the development of a national young professionals leadership team.
Looking forward into 2018 we will be working to empower, engage and inspire our young professionals across the country through several key initiatives. These will include working towards more young professional events at large scale global events held in each of our sections, support to attend leadership training like the Future Leaders Forum and opportunities for secondary delegates from each section to attend the Region 7 Young Professionals Conference. I want to emphasize that our team is here to support your success. Contact us any time, as we are available and excited to help you and your team.
Finally, the greatest successes in the region to date have been thanks to the magnificent leaders of the local young professional affinity groups across the country. These leaders have done outstanding work throughout the year and I’d like to highlight and congratulate just a few here:
- Victoria, BC lead by Amanda Dash has officially formed their young professionals group
- London, ON lead by Fuad Shamieh and Abdallah Moubayed has hosted over 14 events with 300+ total attendees
- Northern Saskatchewan lead by Adam Detillieux held a Fireside Chat with Yves Tremblay, P.Eng., President & CEO of Pronghorn Controls
- Vancouver, BC lead by me and my team has continued to thrive and is now building a Woman in Engineering and Young Professional event on Clean Energy that is expected to draw over 100 attendees.This conference is being led by Ana Laura González Rios.
- Montreal, QC will be hosting a partner event with the International Conference on Wireless for Space and Extreme Environments
Rothney Astrophysical Observatory Visit
By Anis Ben Arfi and Chelsea Mills
The Southern Alberta Section Young Professionals members visited the Rothney Astrophysical Observatory south of Calgary for its Astrophysics on the cutting edge open house event. The event consisted of a history minute honoring 150 years of Astronomical research in Canada, a presentation by the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, talks from University of Calgary students, and access to the Observatory’s telescopes and findings. The Rothney Astrophysical Observatory houses three main telescopes, one of which being the A.R. Sandy Cross Telescope, tied for the largest telescope in Canada with a 1.8 m diameter. These telescopes are used by the University for research purposes, but the Observatory also encourages science education by providing school groups, students, and the general public with the opportunity to expand their knowledge of the Universe. University of Calgary students from the Department of Physics and Astronomy were present to speak about new research and findings in their field; Paresh Mungara and Bethlehem Abraham presented their research on “Mysterious Dwarf-Planets on the edge of the Solar System” to the full room of eager listeners.
The event had astronomers, staff, and volunteers on hand to answer any questions about topics such as astronomical research, telescope operation, and the history of the observatory. For instance, the smaller telescope called the Baker-Nunn was originally built by the American military in the 1950s as a Cold War spy telescope and was used to track artificial satellites from the late 1950s to mid-1970s. Staff demonstrated the operation of telescopes and presented some photos of the observatory’s findings, including different nebulas such the Pillars of Creation. All eighteen Young Professional enjoyed conversing with the enthusiastic staff and volunteers and stayed until the end of the open door event.
YP & WIE Conference on Clean Energy in Vancouver
For its second annual conference, IEEE Young Professionals Vancouver has partnered with IEEE Women in Engineering Vancouver to bring a “Conference on Clean Energy in Vancouver.”
The main objective of this conference is to provide a one-and-a-half day event to the engineering and clean energy communities to:
- Provide an overview of the clean energy industry in Vancouver, BC
- Create awareness and increase understanding among the community and companies of the importance and benefits of clean energy and how it can help in dealing with global warming
- Finally, to get novel green design ideas they can apply within their own company, as well as potential research lines they can venture in.
Our conference objectives are in line with the Greenest City Action Plan (GCAP) primary mission: “to ensure that Vancouver becomes the greenest city in the world by the year 2020.”
- The a one-and-a-half day include: A total of four talks and one panel discussion:
- The talks (45 min. each) will target topics such as: solar energy, microgrids, smart grid and renewable energy, and district energy.
- The panel discussion (30 min.) will provide a space to talk about trends and opportunities for clean/renewable energy development around Metro Vancouver area.
- Four tours (2 to 4 hrs.) which will provide attendees a close-up to current initiatives and tools implemented in Vancouver to enhance the development of clean and renewable energy.
Sustaining Authentic Growth for IEEE Young Professionals in the Pacific Northwest
IEEE Young professionals (YPs) now are unstoppable. And so is their growth. In fact, today’s young professionals do not envision their growth through the usual path anymore. They no longer believe in staying wholly dependent on their institutions or organizations to create career paths for them. No. Instead, YPs want to grow, lead, and give back to their community.
IEEE working professionals and visionaries Abdur Rehman from Seattle, Anna Revolinsky from Portland, and Sean Garrity from Vancouver knew this. It was through their chance encounter on a bus-ride to a local event in New Orleans, Louisiana (Future Leaders Forum 2016) that the IEEE Pacific Northwest (PNW) Young Professional Conference – first of its kind – was created.
On July 22nd, 2017, over 50 IEEE members who are students or young professionals came to Red Lion Hotel in Bellevue, Washington to meet and join the grandest convergence of fellow YPs. Attendees consisted of YPs across Canada, Washington, Oregon, and California who were from industries like software development and R/D, engineering and design, project and program management, technology businesses development, web development, and database engineering. This remarkable range gave YPs the best opportunity to engage with a lot of great people—- some of which are directly part of the same industry, and some who are not, yet still add rich, vital vibe omnipresent in the IEEE-sphere. Unsurprisingly, effective networking came top in what attendees liked best, as indicated in a post-event survey.
In keeping the vision of creating global leaders, YPs were taken to full course programs, starting with “Leveraging IEEE & Membership Training” by Joe Decuir, University of Washington professor and rock band bassist. This was followed by a lively Q/A session with Jay Dave and Vineet Kulkarni who are both managers at Amazon. It was a highly anticipated open Q/A session on fostering and growing both good and challenging employee-manager relationships. Subject on negotiation tactics was also presented by Sean Garrity, a marketer now a consulting power generation engineer who dreams to save the world through the power of communication and negotiation.
Project Managers Valerie Barber and Aaron Drake delivered an excellent presentation on contemporary project management focusing on its attributes and best practices of which was followed by a highly interactive open discussion. The respected mentor of technical staff and veteran multi-disciplinary engineer Evelyn Hirt concluded the sessions by presenting her take on “The Value of Mentorship: Giving and Receiving” which explored the long term viability of mentoring.
The IEEE Pacific Northwest Young Professional Conference is slated to rotate annually across Seattle, Vancouver BC, and Portland to continue the mission of organizing events that encourage active networking and engagement among its IEEE PNW YP members. The 2018 PNW YP conference is scheduled to take place in Vancouver, BC.
IEEE Young Professionals Montreal
IEEE Day 2017 Celebration
On the evening of 3 rd October 2017, the IEEE Montréal Section and IEEE Montréal Young Professionals Affinity Group celebrated the 8 th edition of IEEE Day in Concordia University. The event’s agenda consisted of four sessions. The first one consisted of invited talks by four distinguished members from academia and industry. In the second session, Montréal’s active IEEE student branches and WIE affinity group delivered presentations describing their activities, projects, and accomplishments. In third session, the panel members engaged in discussions with the audience stressing the importance of extracurricular activities for students. For the fourth and final session, all attendees, student branch executives and invited speakers participated in a networking session over pizza and soft drinks. The event was attended by 83 participants including 32 IEEE members.
WiSEE Welcome Reception & Young Professionals Meetup
On Tuesday 10 th October 2017, the IEEE International Conference on Wireless for Space and Extreme Environments (WiSEE) 2017 and IEEE Montréal Young Professionals Affinity Group organized a conference reception and networking session in Concordia University. This event was co-sponsored by the IEEE Young Professionals Region 7 (Canada), IEEE Montréal Section and Graduate Student Association of Concordia University. During the evening, students and young professionals had the chance to meet with IEEE members and conference attendees from around the world who have traveled to Montreal. Keynote speakers and notable attendees briefly spoke about their professional life experiences. Common themes included working hard, dreaming big, team working, and staying perseverant, while speakers even discussed their remarkable stories from earlier years such as earning an accidental master’s degree in theoretical physics.
Upcoming: “You and Your Audience: Allies or Foes?” – John Bandler
Abstract: “In the first few blinks of an eye after you stumble onto the stage, or make the opening stab at your slides or poster, most of your audience has likely made up its mind. The rest of your performance serves as confirmation of your audience’s bias and impressions. Your slides and posters have their own agenda that reflects you, your expertise, your authenticity, and much more. As a writer and director of plays as well as professor and entrepreneur—with experience both in operating exhibition booths and mentoring candidates for Three Minute Thesis competitions—I elaborate on effective presentations: understanding and embracing your audience’s needs; gaining trust: the importance of clarity, citation and acknowledgement; those crucial first few seconds and your first few slides; your slides and you: an exercise in psychology, empathy and art; and how to identify and avoid potential traps and pitfalls” – John Bandler
October 16, 2017 @ 10am
Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal
Registration: https://meetings.vtools.ieee.org/m/47306
YP London Activities
By Fuad Shamieh
IEEE Young Professionals London Section aims to provide a wide range of outlets for its members to develop career-oriented skills, achieve professional growth, and build a professional network. The events held by IEEE YP LS includes STEP event which was made to help fresh graduates and its members enter the job market, Team Development Workshop parts I & II to help develop team cooperation skills, and The Art Of Start: Entrepreneurship And Marketing to guide prospective startup creators, among others. Furthermore, IEEE YP LS co-hosts activities with other professional groups including IEEE Women in Engineering and IEEE Computer Society thereby allowing the members of different groups experience more of what IEEE offers.
3D Printing with Winnipeg Young Professionals
By Troy Denton
On August 13, 2017, the IEEE Young Professionals from the Winnipeg Section teamed up with a SkullSpace, a local hackerspace, to provide a comprehensive introduction to the world of 3D printing technology. The event was attended by a diverse group of 23 individuals including hobbyists and engineers and lead by Mr. Troy Denton. The 6 hour workshop was divided into some background theory and then a hands-on component. The participants learned the basics of 3D printing workflows, parametric modelling, the physical properties of commonly used plastics, and some exposure to open source modelling tools like Fusion360 and FreeCAD. Then, each participant had a chance to design and print their own nametag. Following the event, participants were invited to stay and participate in SkullSpace’s efforts to reverse engineer the “Tiko” 3D printer to learn more about these technologies.
IEEE Rising Stars Conference
By Matthew Smith
What is IEEE Rising Stars?
The Rising Stars is a unique and exciting event that connects students and young professionals with the larger industrial community. The program includes a career expo, a variety of career-based and social media competitions, lots of technical-innovation, many professional-development presentations, a cyber security competition and so much more.
Why Attend IEEE Rising Stars?
In addition to the stellar speaker line-up, there is something for everyone who attends this conference: new relationships, new ideas, new friends, and new experiences – the list goes on and on. The one-of-a-kind corporate mixer is the event to attend – attendees can speak face-to-face with many of the speakers and get their résumés reviewed at the same time.
For Students & Young Professionals:
- Network with leading IEEE student and young professional volunteers
- Meet and interact with global company leaders
- Participate in pitch competition
- Learn how to market yourself
- Enhance your résumé
- For Professionals & Industry Leaders
Network with the engineers and leaders of tomorrow
- Meet and interact with other global company leaders, students, and young professionals
- Participate in pitch competition
- Share your experiences and help someone on their journey
- VIP-access to all attendees’ résumés
- Want to Attend Rising Stars?
Register for the 2018 Rising Stars conference now and receive the $50 early bird discount until 11/25/2017: http://site.ieee.org/risingstars/registration/
Young Professionals in Space – Exploring the Space Beyond
By Ankita K S, IEEE Bangalore Section
Each one of us can admit that while observing the sky at night time, reading about planets/solar systems or even while watching the movies such as Star Wars or Interstellar, our curiosity of the unknown has always been present. The curiosity about outer space, finding answers to the myriad of questions in mind and dreaming of exploring the universe has always been a dream. To prevent it from being only a dream, and to actually understand the depth of space and have a clearer vision, the IEEE Young Professionals (YP) Affinity Group have planned a dedicated session on “Young Professionals is Space” in conjunction with the the 2nd International Conference on Antenna Innovation and Modern Technologies for Ground, Aircraft and Satellite applications. IEEE iAIM 2017 will be held from 24th to 26th November at Sterlings Mac Hotel, Bangalore, India.
Young Professionals in Space (YPS) is an initiative designed to bring scientists, practitioners, engineers and agency leaders of the space industry to a single venue and encourage them to discuss recent research breakthroughs, technical advancements, existing opportunities and emerging space technologies.
This 3 day event will have over 20 sessions presided by prominent speakers from NASA, ISRO, Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems and other Space research organizations. A bootcamp has been designed specifically for this event that will enable students to learn and develop skills as the satellite engineers of tomorrow. It will be a practial workshop which will help students understand the intricacies and requirements of the modern space industry and also design and build a payload that can perform major satellite functionalities.
The high profiled speakers come from all over world and are exceptionally excited to impart their knowledge and experience to aspiring minds. Speakers include Dr. Paul A Rosen, from NASA, Mylswamy Annadurai, the director of ISRO and many other experts from leading aerospace industry.
For more details, please visit: https://www.ypinspace.com/
Opportunities within IEEE
Many young profesisonals are looking for opportunities to get involved with IEEE, expand their network, and develop their skills to advance their careers. There are many volunteer positions available with various levels of responsibilities depending on the amount of time you have available. Here is a summary of some places to look for information:
Local Sections and Chapters – Visit the IEEE Canada homepage (ieee.ca) and click on the link for your section. Reach out to the chair and get in touch with the Young Professionals members. There is always something to do at the local level participating in various events, taking leadership roles, and even representing your community at various national IEEE events. The local chapters within a section are a great way to connect with other individuals working in the same field and expand your technical knowledge.
IEEE Member and Geographic Activities (MGA) is focused on supporting and meeting the members’ needs and IEEE membership recruitment and retention strategies and implementation. IEEE local geographic organizational units (Sections, Chapters, Affinity Groups, and Student Branches) provide unique opportunities for members to attend technical presentations, create strong peer-to-peer connections, and participate in leadership opportunities that can make a positive distinction in IEEE members’ jobs and careers. To view the volunteer positions available, visit http://mga.ieee.org.
The IEEE Technical Activities Board (TAB) is the governing body of IEEE Technical Activities and is the largest of six major boards within IEEE. As delegated by the IEEE Board of Directors, TAB establishes operational procedures assisting the management and operation of the IEEE Societies and Technical Councils, while supporting these technical communities in developing and delivering timely intellectual property products and conferences on current or emerging technologies. To view the volunteer positions available, visit http://ta.ieee.org.
If you have more suggestions, feel free to email the newsletter team and we’ll expand our list for future issues.