May 2021 Issue

Announcements

• AI Against COVID-19: Screening X-ray Images for COVID-19 Infections

  The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus, has generated an unprecedented global health crisis, with more than 2.7 million deaths worldwide. Do you want to contribute to the fight against this pandemic?

  IEEE SIGHT (Special Interest Group on Humanitarian Technology) of Montreal Section, Vision and Image Processing Research Group of the University of Waterloo and DarwinAI Corp. invite data scientists, students and professionals working on Artificial Intelligence (AI) to participate in a virtual competition to help medical researchers diagnose COVID-19 with chest X-ray (CXR) images. The ultimate goal is to contribute to the development of highly accurate yet practical AI solutions for detecting COVID-19 cases and, hopefully, accelerating the treatment of those who need it the most. Moreover, this AI for Good initiative will also allow us to take action on at least one of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Good Health and Well-Being.

  This competition is organized in collaboration with the National Research Council Canada and is co-hosted by the IEEE Young Professionals Affinity Groups of Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver Sections, Vancouver Circuit and Systems (CAS) Technical Chapter, the Student Branches of INRS (Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique), University of Toronto and Vancouver Simon Fraser University, WIE (Women In Engineering) Ottawa. It is largely sponsored by Microsoft, and partially by the IEEE Canada Humanitarian Initiatives Committee and the IEEE Montreal Section.

  How to participate: All the instructions can be found on the official webpage of this challenge.

  Prizes: About 20,000 CAD on prizes and funding for follow-up projects! Check this out in the Prizes section on the official webpage.

  Registration Deadline: June 7th, 2021

  We look forward to meeting you there!

• Watch the 2021 IEEE VIC Summit and Honors Ceremony Presentations on IEEE.tv

  The 2021 IEEE Vision, Innovation, and Challenges Summit (IEEE VIC Summit) & Honors Ceremony was held virtually on 11–13 May 2021. This year’s event was “the experience of a lifetime,” with unique opportunities to connect with, learn from, and build partnerships with some of the most notable technologists in the world.

  Each day had a mix of talks on areas such as education, healthcare, diversity and inclusion, and cybersecurity, to name a few, as well as the recognition of some of the world’s greatest technologists, engineers, and leaders that have changed our landscape for the better—the 2021 IEEE Medal and Recognition recipients!

  You can view all of the virtual event videos from each day on the 2021 IEEE VIC Summit Website, including all the featured talks with Q&As, the 2021 award presentations—and exclusive interviews with recipients and speakers not previously seen.

  You can check out a list of all the speakers and award recipients in the 2021 IEEE Awards booklet.

• Call for Nominations for Friend of IEEE MGA Awards

  These awards are designed to specifically recognize support provided to IEEE and its members by firms, divisions of firms, or individuals. Nominators can submit individuals or organizations for a Friend Award at the supporting or sustaining level.
  More info: Learn more about the Friend of IEEE MGA Awards
  Link: Submit nomination for Friend of IEEE MGA Awards
  More Information: Please contact mga-awards@ieee.org
  Deadline: Nominations for this award may be submitted at any time during the year.

• Check out the IEEE Transportation Electrification Community Podcast

  The IEEE Transportation Electrification Community Podcast is a series of interviews with the people behind the magic of the development and innovation of the transportation electrification industry including automotive, aerospace, rail, marine, etc. This interview-style podcast series talks to the leaders, researchers, and practitioners.

  In the latest episode on Technology Transfer and Commercialization, Prof. Sheldon Williamson from University of Ontario Institute of Technology had the pleasure of speaking with Dr. Marc Perron, who happens to be a Senior Member of the IEEE. Marc speaks about how he ended up in the business of commercializing technologies and explains to us how it all works. He cites examples of his own success stories with coaching young companies from scratch. He explains the step-by-step procedures of how to market an idea from incubation and introduces some of the main hurdles that need to be overcome to be successful. Finally, Marc also discusses his vision for the future in the field of tech transfer, commercialization, and IP, and provides some valuable tips for our listeners.

  The link to the IEEE TEC Page is here:
  https://tec.ieee.org/education/podcasts

  Direct link on IEEE TV:
  https://ieeetv.ieee.org/channels/tec/ieee-tec-podcast-shifting-gears-from-the-lab-to-the-market

  Direct link on Spotify:
  https://open.spotify.com/episode/4AebPmf2GOxiNLUjHepq9g

IEEE Member Benefit for May 2021

Wolfram Products available to IEEE members

Wolfram offers an integrated suite of technologies for multidomain modeling, simulation, and computation across all areas of technical computing—neural networks, machine learning, image processing, data science, and more. IEEE members worldwide qualify for a 20% discount on Mathematica, System Modeler, and Wolfram|One.

For more information, please visit this link.

Articles and Resources

• IEEE educational activities continue to offer online instruction and IEEE's pre-university educational resources may be of assistance to families of students whose classroom activities have been disrupted. Home-schooling parents and students can explore the IEEE TryEngineering database to learn about a wide variety of concepts.

• Free Virtual Events to Help You Transition to eLearning

• Helping Students Learn via Online Delivery: Considerations for Pandemic Pedagogy

• Online Networking 101: Five Etiquette Tips for Successful Engagement

• The no-contact temperature screening systems can be off as much as four degrees, according to IEEE Senior Member Erik Beall. Continue Reading.

Scholarships and Prizes

IEEE Canadian Foundation Grants

• IEEE McNaughton Learning Resource Centre Grants
  • Eligibility: Canadian IEEE Student Branches.
  • Purpose: To enhance the learning experiences of IEEE student members at Canadian Universities and Colleges, as well as encouraging IEEE membership and activities, and interaction between the IEEE Student Branch and the local IEEE Section.
  • Deadline: November 15, 2021
  • Link: http://www.ieeecanadianfoundation.org/EN/cen_grnt.php
• IEEE Power & Energy Scholarship Plus Initiative
  • Eligibility: The IEEE Canadian Foundation in Canada supports the IEEE Power & Energy Scholarship Plus Initiative. University/college or community college undergraduate student in power engineering.
  • Purpose: The PES Scholarship Plus Initiative provides scholarships and real world experience to qualified undergraduates who are interested in power and energy engineering careers.
  • Deadline: June 30, 2021
  • Link: http://www.ee-scholarship.org/
• IEEE Canadian Foundation Special Grants
  • Eligibility: An IEEE Student Branch, an IEEE Section, an IEEE Canada Committee, a non-IEEE entity such as a high school, or in rare cases an individual, all in Canada.
  • Purpose: To partially fund one-time new and innovative projects that advance IEEE's core purpose to foster technological innovation and excellence to benefit humanity.
  • Deadlines: August 15, 2021 and November 15, 2021.
  • Link: http://www.ieeecanadianfoundation.org/EN/sp_grnts.php
• IEEE Canada Vehicular Technologies Travel Grants Two travel grants each year, each one not to exceed $1,200.
  • Eligibility: IEEE Student Members in good standing in a Canadian University or College (at a college, undergraduate or graduate level).
  • Purpose: To support IEEE student members to attend and present a paper at a Vehicular Technologies Conference or other IEEE Conference related to Vehicular Technologies.
  • Deadline: August 15, 2021 and November 15, 2021.
  • Link: http://www.ieeecanadianfoundation.org/EN/vt_award.php

IEEE Canadian Foundation

• Donate to IEEE Canadian Foundation

The IEEE Canadian Foundation, the philanthropic partner of IEEE Canada, is ready to accept your contributions. To make a contribution to one or more of our funds, please consider donating online or donating by mail. On-line gifts may be designated to any one of the following funds of the IEEE Canadian Foundation at https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/id/503/
• General Fund – supports IEEE McNaughton Learning Resource Centres across Canada, related Scholarships, and Special Grants.
• Canadian Life Members Fund – supports activities of interest to life members, potential engineers, and engineering students.
• Technology for Humanity Fund – supports new and innovative projects that seek to apply technology for the benefit of humanity.
• Vancouver Section Scholarship Fund – supports scholarships awarded by the IEEE Vancouver Section.
• The IEEE PES Canadian Scholarship Fund – supports scholarships in undergraduate electric power programs in Canada.
• The IEEE Canadian Foundation Nick Cercone Graduate Scholarship in Computer Science Fund – supports a scholarship in Computer Science, a field of studies of interest to IEEE.
• Kingston Section Scholarship Fund – supports scholarships awarded by the IEEE Kingston Section.
• Raymond D. Findlay Annual Undergraduate Scholarship – supports a national scholarship recognizing leadership and professionalism.
• If you are a Canadian IEEE Life Member and wish to participate in our Canadian Life Member Fund “Thank You” program, please view our webpage.

IEEE Canadian Foundation is a registered charity in Canada and a public foundation. All Canadian individual donors receive CRA (Canada Revenue Agency) approved tax receipts. The IEEE Canadian Foundation remains committed to supporting our programs, donors and grantees. Thank you for your ongoing support during these unusual and challenging times. Please visit ICF Facebook page

Conferences

• Call for papers: 2021 5G World Forum

  The 2021 IEEE 4th 5G World Forum (5GWF’21) seeks contributions on how to nurture and cultivate future network technologies and applications beyond 5G, and how they can benefit society. This will be a virtual event similar to 5GWF’20, but we are also planning an in- person event in Montreal, Canada (around 13 October) that will be an official part of 5GWF’21. Physical attendance is not expected or required for authors and presenters.

  • Website: https://ieee-wf-5g.org/call-for-papers/
  • Sign up for alerts about the event.

Events

• Upcoming Event: 5G Deployment Course Series (Part Two)

  Wireless technologies have become a fundamental part of daily life in the 21st century. In order to function, wireless devices need to connect to cellular sites that provide good coverage both outdoors and indoors. To do that increasingly requires placement of sites closer to populated areas–creating new challenges for both the wireless industry and local governments.

  Join IEEE as it hosts a two-part paid course series entitled “Bridging the 4G/5G Gap: Telecommunications Roadmap for Implementation” presented by David Witkowski as he provides historical and technical context, risk vs. reward tradeoffs and what is needed for 5G integration in today's world.

  • Date/Time: June 9, 2021 at 1:00 PM (ET)
  • Duration: 2 hours
  • Link: Click here for more information.

• Academic Research in International Standardization

  In many international standards, theoretical knowledge is needed to define requirements and give test procedures to prove that the requirements are fulfilled. Academia at universities, institutes, or test laboratories are contributing their research work to support standards development. This IEEE Tech Talks webinar provides an overview of the important role academic research plays in the standards, as well as examples from two IEEE Societies on how academia contributes to standardization for benefits on both sides.

  • Date/Time: June 14, 2021 at 9:00 AM (ET)
  • Duration: 1 hour
  • Speaker: Hermann Koch, Guest speaker: Prof Sakis Meliopoulos, Moderator: Edward Au
  • Registration: https://bit.ly/2QDz8tw