Sections in the Spotlight
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Instead of bringing individual members in the spotlight, the next five issues of the IEEE Canada Newsletter will showcase the notable achievements of the sections in R7 who have received the IEEE Canada Exemplary Section Award in 2018. The winners are: Vancouver (large section category), Kitchener/Waterloo and Southern Alberta (medium section category), Victoria and Windsor (small section category).
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This issue brings into the spotlight the
Vancouver section
The fundamental strength of the IEEE Vancouver Section is the very large and diverse group of enthusiastic volunteers, who drive many events and initiatives. A non-exhaustive summary of their recent accomplishments include:
- Extensive fundraising for their student scholarship programs. In 2017, the Vancouver section made a donation of $50,000 to the ICF which allowed them to increase their annual student scholarships from $3000 to $4000 per year. Three awards were given to three outstanding students in 2017.
- A very successful multi-section 2017 IEEE DAY celebration, in which they had a real-time video linkup with Seattle, Victoria, Vancouver and Kelowna. This virtual event helped foster ties across sections and international borders.
- A policy of holding executive meetings in various locales in order to maximize interaction of members with the community. They held executive meetings at Sierra Wireless, Alpha Technologies and 4 local universities (UBC, SFU, BCIT, KPU).
- Active YP and WIE affinity groups, who contributed to the very successful first 2017 PNW (Pacific Northwest conference) with neighbouring Sections from Canada and USA.
- Engaged membership. At their 2017 Annual General Meeting, they set a record for the greatest attendance, with 128 people showing up and engaging in very valuable networking activities.
- A solid social media presence. The IEEEVAN facebook site recently reached the 200 like mark, which allowed them to connect with more people and communicate the events and deeds of the members of the section.
- Engagement in educational activities. They re-launched our TISP program and attended the BC Teachers' conference to better organize and plan outreach sessions. Their "Think Engineering" event attracted hundreds of people in a business networking and dinner event that brought together business and academia at a very reasonable price. This was organized mainly by the UBC students and was a tremendous success that offered great value to IEEE Student Members.
- Active sub-sections. They are not limited just to Vancouver. As an example, their Kelowna sub-section participated in the IEEE Xtreme 11.0 Programming Competition and performed very well.
- Successful social events. Their 2017 IEEE Vancouver Summer BBQ was a great social event, involving over 30 people of all ages.
Contributed by Guillaume Boisset, Chair of the Vancouver Section
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