The IEEE Region 10 SWG Congress - Lalintha Polpitiya
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The IEEE Region 10 Student/GOLD/WIE Congress 2011 The IEEE Region 10 Student/GOLD/WIE Congress, or R10SC for short, has concluded. It was an exclusive and vibrant event hosted in Auckland, New Zealand, from the 7th – 10th of July 2011. This exciting event was organised by the University of Auckland IEEE Student Branch, the University of Auckland WIE Group and the Auckland GOLD Affinity Group. The Congress provided great opportunities for networking amongst peers from a range of countries across the Asia Pacific Region, as well as presenting a number of distinguished speakers related to the theme of Emerging Technologies. The Region 10 Student Congress was first held in 2002 in Singapore, attracting 57 delegates. The event has since been held in Hong Kong (2004), Beijing (2005), Chennai (2007) and Singapore (2009). In 2011, this prestigious event was held at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. This year’s theme was “Emerging Technologies: Realizing innovative ideas that will define a better tomorrow for humanity”. Special events: Emerging Technologies Seminars, Senior Volunteers Discussion Forum, Employers forum, Leadership Workshops, Breakout/Training sessions, and exhibitions. The R10SC 2011 united students, young professionals and women in engineering and science fields, from asia pacific regions, and provided them with a common platform to explore new and existing ideas, networking opportunities and discuss issues in their professional life. The confluence of delegates with industry representatives and experienced IEEE leaders during this special event aimed to energise tomorrow’s leaders into taking the IEEE and their profession to even greater heights. The delegates who represented IEEE Sri Lanka Section were, Kasun Chamika Sirimanna, chair IEEE University of Moratuwa student branch, representing the student category. Lalintha Gayan Polpitiya, past chair of the IEEE University of Moratuwa student branch and member of the IEEEXtreme 3.0 winning team, representing the GOLD (Graduates of the Last Decade) category and Dr. Maheshi Dissanayake, Treasurer of the IEEE Central Region sub section, representing the Women in Engineering (WIE) category.
Transcript of The IEEE Region 10 SWG Congress - Lalintha Polpitiya
TheIEEERegion10Student/GOLD/WIECongress2011
The IEEE Region 10 Student/GOLD/WIE Congress, orR10SC for short, has concluded. Itwas an exclusive andvibranteventhostedinAuckland,NewZealand,fromthe7th–10thofJuly2011.Thisexcitingeventwasorganisedby the University of Auckland IEEE Student Branch, the
UniversityofAucklandWIEGroupandtheAucklandGOLDAffinityGroup.
TheCongressprovidedgreatopportunities fornetworkingamongstpeers fromarangeofcountries across the Asia Pacific Region, aswell as presenting a number of distinguishedspeakersrelatedtothethemeofEmergingTechnologies.
TheRegion10StudentCongresswasfirstheldin2002inSingapore,attracting57delegates.The event has since been held in Hong Kong (2004), Beijing (2005), Chennai (2007) andSingapore (2009). In 2011, this prestigious eventwas held at the University of Auckland,NewZealand.
Thisyear’sthemewas“EmergingTechnologies:Realizinginnovativeideasthatwilldefineabettertomorrowforhumanity”.
Special events: Emerging Technologies Seminars, Senior Volunteers Discussion Forum,Employersforum,LeadershipWorkshops,Breakout/Trainingsessions,andexhibitions.
The R10SC 2011 united students, young professionals and women in engineering andscience fields, from asia pacific regions, and provided themwith a common platform toexplore new and existing ideas, networking opportunities and discuss issues in theirprofessionallife.TheconfluenceofdelegateswithindustryrepresentativesandexperiencedIEEEleadersduringthisspecialeventaimedtoenergisetomorrow’sleadersintotakingtheIEEEandtheirprofessiontoevengreaterheights.
ThedelegateswhorepresentedIEEESriLankaSectionwere,KasunChamikaSirimanna,chairIEEEUniversityofMoratuwastudentbranch,representingthestudentcategory.
LalinthaGayanPolpitiya,pastchairoftheIEEEUniversityofMoratuwastudentbranchandmemberoftheIEEEXtreme3.0winningteam,representingtheGOLD(GraduatesoftheLastDecade)categoryand
Dr.MaheshiDissanayake,TreasureroftheIEEECentralRegionsubsection,representingtheWomeninEngineering(WIE)category.
Day1:
The welcome address and ice breaking events werescheduled for the opening day of the congress. After thewarmwelcome address byMr. HengjieWang, Chairman ofTheUniversityofAuckland IEEEstudentbranch, IEEERegion10 director Professor Lawrence Wong, R10 studentrepresentative Mr. Om Perkash Batra and R10 GOLD chairMr.ThimothyWongelaboratedonthemissionandvisionoftheR10 SWG congress and the final objective of the event,which is to bring together the delegates of R10 in order toprovide an effective and efficient networking platform. Theorganizingcommitteeandthecongresssponsorsalsosharedtheir thoughts with the delegates. They explained the
importanceofgoodrelationshipbetweenindustryandtheIEEE.
Thewelcomeaddresswasfollowedbyprofessionalskillsworkshopsintheafternoon.Fromthe workshop options available, we three selected the visit to the “Vector house of thefuture”,whichwasaprototypeofapplicationofthesmartgridtechnology,oneofthelatesthot topic in Power and energy field. “Vector house of the future” was developed todemonstrateandunderstandemergingenergyandcommunicationstechnologiesandhowtheycanbeusedtoeconomicallytransformanordinaryhouseholdintoaverysophisticatedtechnologically advanced, easy-to-manage household. Vector is a leading electricityproviding company in New Zealand and GarethWilliams, Strategic SolutionsManager of“Vector”gaveusavaluabledemonstrationduringthevisit.
A demonstration was given onthe practical aspects andservicesthatmaybesupportedby deploying a fibre-opticnetwork over a powerdistribution system. Energyexhibits included a distributedgeneration system with solarPV, Micro wind turbine, solarhot water, combined heat andpower and also energystorage's and an EnergyManagement System. “Vectorhouseofthefuture”successfullydemonstratedhowthequalityoflifecouldbeimprovedbyemploying a sophisticated centralised network of all electrical household items whilereducingtheelectricitybillusinganembeddedsmartmetertechnology.“Vectorhouse” is
used to promote discussion on the impacts caused by these changes on New Zealanddomesticmarketfromtheconsumer,environment,andsupplierpointofview.
First night of the congresswas named “Ice-breaking night” andmany fun activitieswerearranged by the organisers with the intention of getting to know our fellow congressattendees.Therewasafunquiz,andofcourseadeliciousBBQ.Itwasanightfullofjoyandlaughter.Beforecallingitaday,wegatheredinourroomsandhadafriendlychatwithourmulticulturalroommates,fromcountrieslikeAustralia,NewZealand,IndiaandNigeria.
Day2:
IEEEGeographicandGOLD/WIEforumswerethemainmorningsessionsofday2.ThethreeofusattendedtherespectiveStudent,GOLDandWIEsessions.Andweprincipallydiscussedabout GOLD clustering, WIE activities of R10 and student branch activities in differentgeographical regions. We also shared our knowledge and experiences about committeestructure, finances and fundraising, events and activities, member recruitment andretention, and relationshipswithexternalparties.Wealsopointedout the importanceoforganizinga SouthAsianStudentCongress,because itwill provideagreatopportunity tonetworkwithmany active IEEE volunteers both in andout Sri Lanka.At the geographicalforumwelearnthowtoimprovetheIEEEactivitiesinSriLanka,speciallytheimportanceofmaintainingastrongconnectionbetween industryandthe IEEEactivitiesaswellasoftheimportanceofformingIEEEGOLDaffinitygroupandWIEaffinitygroupinSriLanka.
Next in the schedule were the emerging technology seminars. We learned about Cloudcomputing, high performance computing in health care and life sciences, Patenting andEvolution of engineering research and development,modernmonitoring technologies forelectrical integrity of generator plants, trends in energy technology such as EV’s, batterystorageandSmartappliancesandIEEEandthesmartgrid.
The evening provideduswith an opportunity to participate in the Employers’ forum.Wewere able tomeet employers fromworld leading technological companies includingABB,MightyRiverPower,Microsoft,Googleandinro.
Thefinaleventofthedaywastheglamorousofficialcongressdinner.Delegates,dignitariesand special guests had the opportunity to mingle with each other at a harbour-siderestaurant, The Floating Pavilion, situated in Auckland's prestigious and world famous
ViaductHarbour.DinnerwasfollowedbyRegion10awardceremonyfortheyear2010and2011.AwonderfulafternoonofreminiscingandcelebratingconcludedwiththecuttingoftheIEEER10SCcake!
Day3:
TheplenarysessioncommencedonIEEEtopics.WehadanoverviewoftheIEEEstructure,IEEEtechnicalactivities,IEEEinvolvementinHumanitarianTechnologyincludingimprovingthe life expectancy of the world population through creating improved access to healthcare, adequate clean water, improved agriculture, better communication, and reliableelectricity.
IEEE GOLD Clustering was a good session targeting improving collaboration, knowledgesharinganddistributionofvolunteerworkandduties.Wegotagoodexperienceandgotagood knowledge about running an affinity group. Also we built strong connections withactiveIEEEvolunteersofneighbouringcountries.
PeterOver,IEEENewZealandNorthsectionchair,conductedtheworkshopbyemphasizingthevalueofengagingGOLDwiththeindustry.ThisworkshopaimedatsharingthoughtsonwhyitisimportantforGOLDandtheindustrytoengagewitheachother.Thediscussionwasintended to stimulate thoughts and discuss experiences on positive outcomes of GOLDeventswithindustryparticipation.Weexperiencedandlearnedaboutvariousstrategiestoengagemorewiththeindustrytoachievemaximumbenefitsforbothparties.
SpecialSessionforIEEEGINIwasheldonthisday.(GINI)TheGlobalIntegratednetworkofIEEE is a networking structure to create a link between the Student branches and theSection.
The WIE session of day 3 was facilitated by Dr. Mark Andrews and was on the topic,overcoming obstacles faced by Women in Engineering and Science disciplines in careerdevelopment. The panel discussion specifically focused on tackling gender imbalance inprofessionalenvironmentsandthe issues facedbywomenwhentheytry tobalancetheircareerandfamilylife.
IntheeveningweparticipatedintheDelegate’sforumconcurrentwiththeGOLDsessiononcareerdevelopment.
The night of the 3rd daywasashowcaseofdynamiccultures. There were stallssetupforeachcountry.Wedecoratedourstallwithourcultural monuments,photos, souvenirs and SriLankan traditional sweetsand flags. Sweets wereoffered to visitors comingto the stall and souvenirswere exchanged. Wepresentedaspecialpaintingdepicting the “KandyPerahera” which emphasizes an important aspect of Sri Lankan culture, to Mr. HengieWang,Chairman,IEEERegion10Student/GOLD/WIECongressAuckland2011.
Day4:
July 10th was the final day of the congress. Dr. Peter Staecker, candidate for 2012 IEEEpresident-elect, delivered a valuable, speech on the future directions in technology. Hetalked about emerging technologies and how theywill change theworld.We had groupdiscussionsandsharedour inputsonhowto improve thequalityof the IEEEservicesandIEEE regional activities. We pointed out the values of introducing new world widecompetitions like IEEEXtreme to increase the IEEE activities among undergraduates andgraduate members as well as the importance of providing opportunities to master theemployability of IEEEmembers not only in regional labour market but also in world jobmarket.
TheCongresstourwasanother unforgettableexperience during ourparticipation in theR10SC. We wentsightseeing in andaround Auckland. Thetour bus travelled upQueenStreet,throughAuckland’s centralbusiness district, pastThe University of
Auckland, in the heart of Auckland city and through the inner city park, known as TheDomain, and also Auckland Museum. We continued through the picturesque suburb ofPonsonby,knownfor itshistoricbuildings,beforeheadingover theHarbourBridgetotheNorthShore.Wehadawalkon theNarrowNeckBeachand inhistoricDevonportbeforecontinuinguptothesummitofMtVictoria,wheretherewasastunningpanoramicviewofAucklandCityandtheWaitemataHarbour.ThebusesthentravelledbackovertheHarbourBridgetoWesthavenMarina,oneofthe largestmarinas intheSouthernHemisphere.ThelaststopwasattheAucklandFishMarketandtheViaductHarbour.
The journey back home, waspleasant and uneventful. ThefeelingofcomingbackhometoSri Lanka after a week ofextravagant IEEE experiences,wasawarmone.
Our special thanks go to theIEEESriLankasectionforgivingthis valuable opportunity torepresentourmotherland.Alsowe would like to thank Dr. RohanMunasinghe, chair, IEEE Sri Lanka Section, Dr. RuwanRanaweera, chairman, IEEECentralRegion subsectionandProf. SisilKumarawadu,Branchcounsellor, IEEE University of Moratuwa student branch for their special guidance. Theorganising committee, whichmainly comprised of students and alumni of the Faculty ofEngineering, University of Auckland should be specially thanked for making this event asuccess.
We are looking forward to sharing our knowledge and experiences obtained through theR10SC,toaugmenttheIEEEStudentactivitiesinallstudentbranchesandtoestablishactiveIEEEGOLDandWIEAffinitygroupsinSriLanka.
Writtenby-LalinthaPolpitiya,MaheshiDissanayakeandKasunChamikaSirimanna
