Co-sponsored by: IEEE Montreal Section, IEEE Young Professionals Montreal, and Concordia University

IEEE Day 2017

The IEEE Montreal Section and IEEE Young Professionals Montreal hosted an event to celebrate the 8th edition of IEEE Day on Tuesday, October 3rd, 2017. The event took place in the Engineering and Visual Arts (EV) complex of Concordia University. The agenda of the event consisted of four sessions. The first session consisted of invited talks by four distinguished members from academia and industry. In the second session, Montreal’s active IEEE student branches and WIE affinity group gave 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 took part in a networking session over pizza and soft drinks. The event was attended by 83 people, out of which 32 were IEEE members.

Event’s Concept

In discussions with a number of IEEE student branches’ executives at McGill and Concordia, one topic that always came up was the missing collaboration between different student branches. The McNaughton center affiliated with each student branch has a different set of resources. Sharing resources and ideas among student branches would foster more opportunities for students to be active and get involved with IEEE, which aligns very well with IEEE Mission.

Therefore, two of Montreal’s IEEE day ambassadors, Elnasser Youssef Abdelhafez and Avishek Paul, under the guidance of the regional lead, Mohammed Taufiquzzaman, have thought of an”IEEE Day” event that would accomplish just that: bringing together Montreal’s active IEEE student branches in order to celebrate their achievements after a year of hard work and to open doors for future collaboration among them. In addition, by inviting students from all Montreal universities to attend, they would get exposure to ongoing activities in their–and other–universities, and thus become more encouraged to join IEEE and their university’s IEEE student branch, or start their own branch if there is not an active one in their university. Furthermore, having a panel of judges from academia and industry would provide feedback to the participating student branches, and possible directions they should explore, in line with the IEEE Day theme: “Leveraging Technology for a Better Tomorrow.”

Therefore, Elnasser and Avishek approached the IEEE Montreal section and YP Montreal with the event proposal and were able to get their approval on funding the event.

Session 1: Invited Speakers from Academia and Industry

During registration, volunteers from YP Montreal distributed IEEE day T-shirts to the attending IEEE members and asked them to put them on. Then, Elnasser Y. Abdelhafez, IEEE day ambassador and lead organizer, welcomed participants and outlined the theme of the event. Elnasser then introduced the first invited speaker, Dr. Amy Pinchuk, chair of IEEE Montreal section and the founder and president of Infield Scientific Inc. Dr. Pinchuk described the role IEEE played in her professional life. She emphasized the cruciality of the technical support she received from her IEEE network of experts.

Then, Elnasser introduced the second guest speaker, Prof. Federico Rosei, Professor and Director of the Energy, Materials and Telecommunications research center at INRS: National Institute of Scientific Research, University of Québec, and the vice chair of IEEE Montreal section. Dr. Rosei outlined the energy challenge facing humanity and urged participants to get involved and be proactive in facing this challenge. He also highlighted the role of IEEE as a leader in the challenge for clean energy and a source of information on the subject matter which members and volunteers can leverage in their fight for the future of our children and grandchildren on this planet.

The third speaker was Mr. Mohammad Hossain Mohammadi, PhD candidate at McGill University, vice chair of YP Montréal, and winner of best student branch awards at two different university. Mr. Mohammadi talk summarized his journey with IEEE, starting from a college freshman who did not understand much about university life and who felt the need to work on his soft skills, to someone who is giving a speech to an audience of 100 people. Mr. Mohammadi stressed the positive impact IEEE had on his professional and personal development.

The fourth and final speaker was Mr. Tristan Cool, co-foundeder and CTO of HUDlog, a start-up company specializing in Head-Up Display Logistics, past chair of Concordia IEEE student branch and winner of the 2017 Larry K Wilson award. Mr. Cool described how IEEE completely changed his life, from a CEGEP graduate who did not know what he wanted to do with his life, to a leader and entrepreneur. Mr. Cool stressed the professional prestige that IEEE brings to its members and volunteers.

Session 2: Student Branches and WIE Presentations

At the beginning of the second session, Dr. Saida Maaroufi, post-doctoral fellow at Ecole Polytechnique Montreal and vice chair of Women in Engineering Montreal, gave a presentation summarizing the activities of the affinity group. Then, Mr. Ryan Cooke and Mr. Mohammed Afshari, chair and vice chair of Concordia and McGill IEEE student branches, respectively, gave an overview of the activities at their branches and the support they offer to their respective community. They encouraged attendees to join them. There was supposed to be a presentation from the vice chair of the INRS branch, Christian Reimer, but due to a family emergency, he had to cancel and travel home to Germany the previous day.

Session 3: Panel Discussion

The third session was a panel discussion about the importance of extracurricular activities for students. So, one question from the audience was: “how such activities and volunteer work on a job applicant’s resume are seen by potential employers?” each panel member took turn to offer their unique perspective on the topic. They all encouraged students to get involved in extracurricular activities as they almost always has a positive impact in the eyes of employers. They also emphasized the importance of striking a balance between curricular and extracurricular activities.

Session 4: Networking and Group Picture

For the fourth and final session, the lead organizer, ElnasserY. Abdelhafez, prompted audience to take the Young Professionals event survey. Then, attendees gathered with volunteers, branches executives, and panel members for a group photo. Then, food was served and people started networking. During the networking session, the student branches discussed their work and networked with other branches, IEEE student members, and other attendees. All groups in the room were approached by members of the audience for a chance to volunteer with them. Also, a student from Ecole Polytechnique Montreal approached Dr. Amy Pinchuk, the chair of IEEE Montreal Section, for instructions to restart the student branch of her university.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the event was successful as evident from the excellent turn out of audience and their positive feedback. In addition, the event was able to achieve its goals which are cultivating collaboration between different student branches with similar interests, student branches getting a chance to promote themselves to potential interested volunteers and getting feedback on their work, and attendees getting exposure to ongoing activities in their universities and encouragement to join IEEE and get involved. Conversations between IEEE Montreal section chair, YP Montreal executives, and student branches officers confirmed the common desire to make this celebration a annual event.

Speaker(s): Invited Speakers:,

Location:
Montreal, Quebec