Announcements

IEEE Canadian Foundation 30th Anniversary

The IEEE Canadian Foundation celebrates 30 years as a registered public foundation and charity in Canada. Established in 1994 as the philanthropic partner of IEEE in Canada, the Foundation with donor support provides national programs of Scholarships, McNaughton Learning Resource Centres, Grants and Awards all consistent with the educational and scientific aims of IEEE. Funding from the Foundation is the catalyst for many worthwhile endeavors and the spark of encouragement to young people entering and advancing in IEEE fields of interest.

Please consider making a gift in support of the IEEE Canada community. On line giving with instant tax receipt is available here: https://www.ieeecanadianfoundation.org/EN/donateonline.php

Join IEEE Canada Women in Engineering Committee

The IEEE Canada Women in Engineering Committee is currently seeking passionate individuals from all backgrounds to fill various roles within our committee. Whether you're an experienced professional, starting your career journey, or a student, we welcome your unique perspectives and talents.

Why join us?

• Contribute to a meaningful cause: Be part of shaping the future for the benefit of humanity by supporting women in STEM.
• Expand your network: Connect with like-minded professionals and industry leaders, as well as academia.
• Gain valuable experience: Enhance your skill set and enrich your resume by volunteering with a prestigious organization like IEEE.

Interested in joining our team?

• Click here for role descriptions and responsibilities.
• Application form can be accessed here.
• Application is open to all passionate individuals committed to our mission.
• Be sure to submit your application by June 15, 2024.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the IEEE Canada WIE committee chair!

IEEE Canada Spring Board of Directors (BoD) Meeting – Apr. 12th – 14th, Toronto, ON

This was the second Board of Directors meeting and the first in-person meeting of the year. Designed to be highly interactive, the meeting featured three sessions where Section Chairs and new Operational Committee Chairs engaged in open discussions and debates. For the first time, following the new Bylaws, the four newly appointed Operational Committee Chairs consolidated and presented reports from Function Leads and Coordinators (formerly Committee Chairs). A major topic successfully addressed was managing rising post-COVID expenses without compromising the experiential value crucial for officer leadership development and effective interactions. The meeting also highlighted the new IEEE Canada structure, which emphasizes greater officer accountability and a move away from the traditional top-down approach.

The agenda also featured insightful presentations by Dr. Maike Luiken on IEEE’s sustainability initiatives and Marc Perron on IEEE’s industry engagement activities, including guidance on navigating technology through the Technology Readiness Levels for aspiring entrepreneurs. David Whyte, President of the IEEE Canadian Foundation (ICF), highlighted the ICF scholarships and awards. Additionally, the two student winners of the IEEE Canada website competition were recognized for their achievements.

Special guests in attendance were IEEE President Thomas M. Coughlin, IEEE VP MGA Deepak Mathur, IEEE MGA Managing Director Cecelia Jankowski, Region 1 Director Bala S. Prasanna, and Region 4 Director-Elect Connie Kelly. These special guests shared updates on their activities, provided valuable insights, and addressed questions from Board members.

The Board of Directors meets four times a year, with two meetings held online and two in person. These meetings aim to provide oversight and guidance on strategic planning, governance, financial decisions, policy making, accountability, risk management, and advocacy for IEEE’s interests in serving the public and its membership.

Shazia Nawaz, IEEE Canada Administrator (short term independent contractor) welcomes attendees.

IEEE Canada President Dr. Tom Murad, IEEE Canada Membership Services Committee Chair Melissa Vosough Tehrani, McMaster University IEEE Student Branch members and Website Competition winners Vanessa Chalmoukos and Marcussel Landayan

Congratulations to the 2024 EIC Senior Awards Winners

Nine of the 23 individuals inducted as 2024 Fellows of the Engineering Institute of Canada (EIC) are IEEE Canada members, recognized for their exceptional contributions to engineering in Canada. Additionally, one member received the prestigious Julian C. Smith Medal for outstanding achievement in the development of Canada. Founded in 1887, the EIC's senior awards represent the highest honors bestowed by the Institute, celebrating the remarkable accomplishments of members from its 14 constituent societies. IEEE Canada is the largest of these constituent societies. IEEE Canada President Dr. Tom Murad, serving as a Council Member, is dedicated to ensuring robust IEEE Canada support for the EIC through its active volunteer representation on the various EIC committees.

The IEEE Canada members who were recognized are as follows (Left-to-Right):

• Medhat Moussa, Professor and Dept Head, Univ. of Guelph, Guelph, ON – Fellow - “for his exceptional contribution to robotics and automation in agriculture, and to grasping and manipulation within unstructured environments.”
• Elise Fear, Professor and Assoc. Dept Head, Univ. of Calgary, Calgary, AB – Fellow - “for her exceptional contributions to the health care industry through the development of low-power microwave applications and various related technologies.”
• Vincent Wong, Professor, Univ. of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, “for his innovative contributions to wireless communications networking, smart grid and sustainable energy systems.”
• Baochun Li, Professor, Univ. of Toronto, Toronto, ON – Fellow - “for his exceptional contributions to multimedia systems, networking, cloud computing, and distributed systems.”
• Thamir (Tom) Murad, Country Lead (VP), formerly Siemens Mobility, presently Adjunct Professor, University of Guelph, Oakville, ON – Fellow - “for his outstanding leadership and contributions to the transportation sector and technologies, and to the engineering profession.”
• Naser El-Sheimy, Professor, Univ. of Calgary, Calgary, AB – Fellow - “for his exceptional contributions to mobile mapping and integrated navigation system technology in Canada and abroad.”
• David Anthony Clausi, Professor, Univ. of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON– Fellow - “for his outstanding contributions to remote sensing, biomedical engineering, and sports analytics”.
• Zhenguo Lu, Team Lead, National Research Council of Canada, Ottawa, ON – Fellow - “for his outstanding contributions to quantum dot laser technologies for telecommunication, 5G and wireless network applications.”
• Samuel Pierre, Ph.D., FEIC, FCAE, O.C., O.Q., Professor, Polytechnique, Montreal, QC - Julian C. Smith Medal - “for his outstanding achievement in the development of Canada through advanced information and communication technologies.”
• (not present) Svetlana Yanushkevich, Assoc. Dean Research, Univ. of Calgary, Calgary, AB, “for her exceptional contributions to novel decision support and risk assessment strategies and their applications to biometric-enabled access control and healthcare monitoring systems.”

Congratulations on receiving the Ontario 20 Years Service Award!

IEEE Canada volunteers play crucial roles in supporting IEEE and various other organizations and committees that benefit society. On April 22, the Ontario Government honoured our IEEE Canada President (IEEE Region 7 Director), Dr. Tom Murad, Ph.D., P.Eng., F.E.C., F.EIC, SMIEEE, with the 2024 Volunteer Service Award in recognition of his 20 years of dedicated service on the Professional Engineers of Ontario’s (PEO) Experience Requirements Committee (ERC)

Dr. Murad, is presently also Adjunct Professor, University of Guelph. He was Country Lead of Engineering & Academics at Siemens Canada, a member of Engineering Order of Honour – PEO. He was also the founder and Dircector of the Siemens Canada Engineering and Technology Academic “SCETA” since October 2014. Prior to this role, since 2010, he was the head of the “Expert House” and Engineering Director for Siemens Canada’s Industry. Dr. Murad holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Electrical & Electronics), and a Doctorate (Ph.D.) in Power Electronics and Industrial Controls from Loughborough University of Technology in the UK.

IEEE Member Benefit for May 2024

IEEE Risk Management eLearning Tutorial available in IEEE Learning Network:

The IEEE Risk Management tutorial defines the fundamental concepts of risk and risk management. One will also learn how to use controls to mitigate the severity of losses if they do occur. IEEE Risk Management is suitable for students and engineering professionals in all disciplines.

Members get a discount on this course.

Upon successful completion of the IEEE Risk Management tutorial, one may earn 0.3 CEU/ 3 PDH and qualify for a discount on specific IEEE professional liability insurance plans.

For more information, please visit this link.

Meet IEEE Volunteers

Featured Volunteer of this Month: Windhya Rankothge

Windhya Rankothge is a Research Associate at the Canadian Institute for Cyber Security (CIC), University of New Brunswick, Canada. She received her PhD in Information Technology and Communication in year 2017 from University of Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona. Her research interests are Network Security, Cyber Security and Software Defined Networks. Windhya has published her research work in numerous journals and conferences, and she is an IEEE Senior member. Windhya has served for different international research communities as a reviewer, advisor and an executive committee member.

Windhya has a huge passion on “Giving back to the society”, especially in empowering women community, and believes that the IEEE is the best platform for her to reach out to the society. Currently Windhya serves as the Vice Chair of IEEE Women in Engineering Region 7, Chair of IEEE Women in Engineering New Brunswick Section and Secretary of IEEE WePower sub-committee. She has contributed to organizing many IEEE global events such as Sections Congress 2023, International Leadership Summit 2022, IEEE YESIST 2022, and etc. Windhya believes that by engaging in IEEE activities, she has been able to empower different communities in the society, and at the same time she has been able to empower herself in terms of leadership skills, communication skills and widen her community network.

IEEE Canadian Foundation

Workplace Giving Supports the IEEE Canadian Foundation

Your employer may facilitate workplace giving to socially beneficial causes including the IEEE Canadian Foundation. Matching of your gift may also be offered year round in support of corporate social responsibility or sometimes seasonally as a year end gesture of goodwill. Gifts may be processed though HR services such as Benevity or CAF America (yes, it also covers Canada). Details will be different at each employer so ask around – your gift to the IEEE Canadian Foundation may be magnified with your employer's support.

Events

• IEEE Standards Events for July, 2024

  Three weeks of technical standardization meetings will be held this July in Montreal focusing on communications technologies providing an unprecedented opportunity for Canadian participation in either the meetings, or in the concurrent tutorial and workshops.

  Why are these groups relevant?
  • 90% of Internet traffic is carried over ITU-T SG15 infrastructure – whether xDSL, PON, OTN, or xWDM
  • Most of Internet access is with IEEE 802 technologies – whether Ethernet of WiFi
  ITU-T Workshops – no fee or membership required:
  • Evolution of transport networks to support IMT-2030 for 6G – Sunday, 7 July 2024.
  • Ninth joint IEEE 802-ITU-T Study Group 15 workshop – Saturday, 13 July 2024.
  • Fibre to the Room – Friday, 12 July 2024.

  IEEE 802 LAN/MAN Standards Committee - Networking standards for local, metropolitan, and other area networks:

  • 15-19 July 2024 – Le Centre Sheraton Montreal – Register
  $600 early registration fee, and $100 Student registration

  IEEE 802 events:

  • Tutorial (topics TBA) – July 15, 2024 – No fee
  • University outreach program – July 16, 2024 – $25 Registration fee