IEEE Day 2020 Observations, Dreams, Dialogs, and Directions

Irtiza Haque, Treasurer, WIE AG Bangladesh Section

|| October 8, 2020 ||

Time: 5:00 P.M to 8:00 P.M BDT

Organizers: IEEE WIE Affinity Group, Bangladesh Section, IEEE Bangladesh Section

Participants : 70

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Bangladesh Section and IEEE Women in Engineering Affinity Group (WIE) Bangladesh Section has jointly celebrated IEEE Day 2020 through a virtual interactive dialogue session focusing on “Dreams, Dialogs, and Directions for a Better Tomorrow” on 8th Oct 5 pm-8pm. The theme of this year’s IEEE Day was: “Leveraging Technology for a Better Tomorrow”. Over 70 participants along with 23 speakers from Bangladesh, India, Poland, Malaysia, Singapore of both Industry and Academia attended the virtual celebration sharing their visions regarding a better future. Mala Paul, Industrial Activity Coordinator, IEEE WIE AG BD Section and Graduate Trainee, Robi Axiata Limited moderated the session.

The celebration started with a welcoming speech of Dr. Celia Shahnaz, Chair, IEEE Bangladesh Section and Professor, Dept. of EEE, BUET who expressed that IEEE Day is not only a day of festive celebration with a cake cutting ceremony but also it’s a moment of celebrating each and every members’ potentiality. She also encouraged all the participants to join various IEEE technical societies. She motivated on filing a nomination for the eligible senior member alivation. She felt overwhilmed welcoming the male speakers in the event since 40% WIE members are male.

The event proceeded with the first speaker Marta Zurek-Mortka from Kazimierz Pulaski University of Technology and Humanities in Radom who focused on industry academia collaboration. Her speech followed by Prof. Szymanski Jerzy, Faculty of Transport, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Department of Electrical Drives and Industrial Electronics from Kazimierz Pulaski University of Technology and Humanities. He emphasized about participation of Internationl students in future research projects.

Sangeeta Singh, Faculty Advisor, WIE, IEEE Vardhaman SB, Vardhaman College of Engineering shared the journey of IEEE WIE Hyderabad section. Dr. Shruti Jain from Jaypee University of Information Technology, Solan reflected her thoughts on the celebration theme specially on the dreams and related directions. Dr. Soumi Dutta from Institute of Engineering and Management discussed on the power of networking and communication giving an example of IEEE Collaborator platform.

TRIPTI SWARNKAR, Professor & HOD, Computer Application Faculty of Engineering (ITER) Siksha 'O' Anusandhan Deemed to be University talked about the collaborative approaches of men and women for a better future. Dr Nibedita Adhikari from CAPGS, BPUT, Rourkela focused on the quality of teaching with a short guideline for the facuty members and urges to turn challenges into opportunities. After that, Prof. Pratistha Mathur from Manipal University Jaipur, Dr Chandrani Singh, Director - MCA STES Sinhgad Institute of Management Pune India,Post Doctoral Researcher in IT Lincoln University College Malaysia talked about the contribution of IEEE on boosting critical thinking capability among women. Also, Dr. Renu Sharma, Prof. & Head, Dept of Electrical Engineering, Institute of Technical Education and Research, Bhubaneshwar, India discussed about facing the dilemma of moral disaggreement in the life.

The session ended with the retrospect of 2020 journey of IEEE WIE AG BDS and S.P.I.T. presented respectively by Anamika Bhakta, Chair, IEEE WIE AG Bangladesh Section and Vice President, Spectrum and Technical Regulation, Robi Axiata Limited and Aarti Karande from S.P.I.T. The participants also shared their respective thoughts and visions of the future ahead.