2017 IEEE Section Congress – Report
| February 13, 2018 | Posted by Alberto Tam Yong under General, Region 6 |
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(Text-only version of report. Full report available in PDF: Trip-Report_IEEE-Congress-2017 )
Executive Summary
I had the honor of attending the IEEE Congress, which was hosted at the International Convention Centre (ICC) in Sydney Australia from August 11th-13th, 2017. I was sent as a co-representative of our IEEE Foothill section (Region 6) along with designated voting Representative Jeffrey McDaniel. I met, discussed, and advised, and helped select top three areas of concentration IEEE Congress would be voting on to pass. The voting results were announced at the closing ceremonies on August 13th, 2017.
The three main initiatives IEEE as a whole would concentrate on for the next three years will be:
- Develop an incentive program for corporations to join IEEE as ‘Corporate Member’
- Develop (or expand existing) training programs and/or create partnerships with external organizations to allow members to provide STEM activities to pre-college students
- Strengthen and recognize Industry/Academia/Government Collaboration/Partnership
The goals of my attendance of the IEEE Congress were to:
- Network with attendees to establish relevant points of contact (POC)
- Attend workshops, lectures, and meetings to gain knowledge and understanding of what other sections and regions around the world are doing with their members
- Learn what I can bring back to our Foothill section that would be of value to us
- Since it was my first Congress, I wanted to gain a better understanding of the impact IEEE Congress will have on IEEE as a whole and how it directly impacts our IEEE Foothill section.
My conclusions and take away from attending the IEEE Congress is that there is a lot of opportunities that we as a section are not fully taking advantage of to better serve our members. I felt proud in knowing that the areas of concern that the Foothill section has been working on aligns well with what IEEE Congress determined are important to IEEE global. We as a section need to work more with our fellow southern California sections and I believe participating in an IEEE SoCal Group would be of value to our section. There was so much good information and knowledge I gained attending this congress I can’t wait to help our section continue to move forward.
After a long plane ride from Los Angeles direct to Sydney I took. I arrived on a Wednesday August 9th, so I could take a couple of days to recuperate from the jet-lag. Turns out the plane ride was like a working meeting so to speak. There were other IEEE members from other parts of the U.S. that were also in route to Sydney with me. I met and spoke with some folks during the 15-hour non-stop trip. Some folks were from IEEE Headquarters in New Jersey and others from Seattle section. Before I even left US territory I was already starting to network with IEEE members from Region 6 and from Regions 1 and 2.
On my first day in Sydney I was invited to a day trip by IEEE members from headquarters that were involved with IEEE TV and IEEE PACE to go see the “Three Sisters”. We got to know each other and shared ideas and spoke how HQ and PACE could be of help to our section. Of the many ideas that were being bounced around, one started when I mentioned to them we as a section are starting to record our guest speakers and distinguished lecturer. It was suggested we should digitally record audio & visual (aka “videotape”) our lecturers and guest speakers and then submit them to IEEE TV for them to post on the IEEE corporate website. They could provide editing and finishing services to us.
On Thursday I continued to network with a group of section 6 members that were part of a WhatsApp group that was led by YP representative Walter Lu. We met as a section 6 group which included members from Seattle to San Diego. We met face-to-face on that Thursday (August 10th) and got to get to know each other better and socialize. We exchanged more information amongst ourselves and reached out to Kathleen Kramer, our Region 6 Director.
In the morning of Friday August 11th prior to the opening ceremony of the IEEE Congress, I attended a special IEEE Region 6 meeting in one of the conference rooms of the International Convention Centre (ICC). I met with old friends from the Orange County and San Diego sections, but I also made the acquaintance of Kathleen Kramer’s board members. We exchanged business cards and ideas and at the end of the hour meeting Kathleen handed out the big surprise to us attendees – Star Trek zip up windbreakers! We took a group photo proudly showing off our color – I of course was wearing my Science and Engineering Blue.
From Friday with the start of the opening ceremony to the end on Sunday and the closing ceremony there was a lot of fun, learning, sharing, socializing, networking, and bonding of new and old friendships.
There was many great topics that was presented during the congress and it was impossible to attend them all. It was decided before our arrival that Jeff would attend sessions that concentrated on students, Women in Engineering (WiE), and young professionals (YP) related presentations. I would attend presentations and lectures that geared towards professionals interests. Here is a listing of the presentations, workshops, and lectures I sign up to attend:
- vTools à Use of: eNotices, SAMIEEE, Web Hosting, WordPress, WebEx, Google Apps.
- 5G technology àOverview and future direction
- Collabratec à Introduction and use
- Professional development à Networking skills, Developing Marketing Plan, Leadership
I was able to continue my networking with attendees both informally during the above sessions and during the formal session: Opening Ceremony, Cocktail Hour, and dinners.
Jeffrey and I reviewed the recommendations from the Congress attendees before we agreed on the areas of interest that Jeff as our section’s representative would vote on behalf of the Foothill section. The following pictures shows the
The three main initiatives IEEE as a whole would concentrate on for the next three years will be:
- Develop an incentive program for corporations to join IEEE as ‘Corporate Member’
- Develop (or expand existing) training programs and/or create partnerships with external organizations to allow members to provide STEM activities to pre-college students
- Strengthen and recognize Industry/Academia/Government Collaboration/Partnership
Recommendations
What I find it reassuring that the results of the IEEE Congress aligns well with what our Foothill section has been striving towards. There are areas aside from the IEEE Congress recommendations that I believe our section should increase our focus upon:
- Increased use of vTools
- Increased involvement in PACE
- Explore use of IEEE.tv
- Increased involvement with other southern California sections in the creation of a “SoCal” collaborative group.
Report prepared by David Gonzalez