Announcements

Arduino Contest: Solutions to Climate Change

Attention high school and undergrad students! The SSCS Arduino Contest returns this year. This is an opportunity to demonstrate your creativity and technical skills in this competition for a chance to win cash prizes! This year’s theme is “Solutions to Climate Change.” The teams will be expected to build an Arduino project to overcome the effects of climate change.

Click here for more details: https://sscs-arduino-contest.com

Success Stories of Sections, Groups, and IEEE Volunteers

Empowering Futures: IEEE YP Montreal's Triumph at Canada's Premier Job Fair

In the bustling heart of Montreal, Canada's largest job fair unfolded, a culmination of meticulous planning and dedication by the IEEE Young Professional (YP) team. Over six months of coordination and preparation paved the way for this monumental event.

Housed within the prestigious Palais de Congres de Montreal, the event drew over 680 registrants through the official IEEE vTools page. However, the allure of opportunities brought forth an astounding turnout, with more than 2700 attendees from every corner of Canada converging upon the venue.

Central to the event's success was l'événement careers, renowned for orchestrating this annual job fair in Montreal, with a keen emphasis on engineering, computer science, and IT sectors. Among the myriad of participants, IEEE YP Montreal emerged as a pivotal force, bridging the gap between professionals, researchers, and students from diverse backgrounds and academic institutions.

IEEE YP Montreal's involvement is no surprise, considering their track record of excellence. With accolades such as Best IEEE Affinity Group within Montreal Boundaries in 2020, 2021, and 2023, and the esteemed title of Best IEEE YP Group across Canada in 2022, their commitment to fostering professional growth and networking opportunities is evident.

This year's job fair not only showcased the collective efforts of industry leaders and aspiring professionals but also served as a testament to the vibrant engineering community thriving within Montreal and beyond. As participants explored career avenues, engaged in insightful discussions, and forged meaningful connections, the event underscored the importance of collaboration and innovation in shaping the future of technology. In addition to IEEE YP Montreal's efforts, collaborations with all IEEE student branches in Montreal, IEEE Women in Engineering (WIE) Montreal, and IEEE YP Ottawa played a crucial role in advertising the event.

In the annals of IEEE YP Montreal's legacy, this event stands as a beacon of success, a testament to their unwavering dedication and commitment to empowering the next generation of engineers and technologists. As they continue to chart new territories and inspire excellence, their impact reverberates far beyond the confines of Montreal, resonating across the vast landscape of Canadian innovation.

Robowar and Warhacks: Exciting Robotics Bootcamps

IEEE Concordia Student Branch recently organized two different robotics bootcamps.

• Warhacks: It took place on 28 January 2024, where more than 80 CEGEP (high school) students took part.
• Robowar: It took place on 5 March 2024, where more than 60 people from different age groups participated.

Both these events consisted of day-long in-person training for all participants, followed by their evaluation through a live robotics contest. The trainings were run by some expert volunteers from IEEE Concordia. During the evaluation part, the participants demonstrated capabilities of their developed robots, which were highly exciting to watch.

Both these events caused huge buzz in the campus. The participants and audience were thrilled to have first-hand experience of the exciting application of robotics.

IEEE Member Benefit for April 2024

IEEE Society memberships:

IEEE Society members stay technically current, network with colleagues locally and abroad, and collaborate on research and projects with leading experts – all while taking advantage of specialized opportunities. Discover which Society, or Societies, best match your technical interests by joining today to take advantage of membership benefits ranging from access to cutting-edge technical periodicals and conference discounts to educational resources and worldwide networking opportunities. In addition, IEEE members enjoy deep discounts on Society memberships.

Join two or more participating IEEE Societies and receive a 5% discount.

For more information, please visit this link.

Meet IEEE Volunteers

Featured Volunteer of this Month: Winnie Ye

Meet Winnie Ye. She is a Fellow of Optica and a Fellow of the Engineers Institute of Canada (EIC), and a full Professor in the Department of Electronics at Carleton University. She is the current Chair-Elect of the IEEE Women-in-Engineering (WIE) and an official member of the Board of Governors of IEEE Photonics Society (PHO). She has also been an executive member of the IEEE PHO Ottawa Chapter since 2013 and has been serving as the chair since 2021. She served as the IEEE Region 7 Women-in-Engineering (WIE) Chair from 2020 to 2023, and was the Local Organizing Committee Chair of the IEEE Sections Congress 2020 and 2023. She led the organization of the 2022 IEEE WIE International Leadership Summit (ILS) as the Chair. Over the last ten years, she has been involved in the scientific committees in major international photonics conferences such as SPIE’s Photonics West (2014-present), IEEE’s Group IV/Silicon Photonics Conference (2013-2017, 2023), Photonics North (2019-2024, Chair), ICECS (2012). She is the Editorial Board Member of Scientific Reports and the guest Editor of Scientific Reports’ “Integrated Photonics”, as well as the Associate Editor of Optica’s PhotonicX. Dr. Ye was the elected Chair of Optica’s Photonics and Opto-electronics Technical Division from 2021 to 2023, where she was responsible in the planning and organizing of all Optica’s technical meetings and conferences including the flagship CLEO and FiO and APC.

Winnie Ye at the 2023 IEEE Sections Congress (SC2023).

Scholarships, Awards, and Prizes

• The IEEE Canadian Foundation is pleased to announce news from donor supported programs. Your gifts encourage energetic student leadership in the Student Branches, recognize explementary contributions to women in IEEE and community and support the extension of learning through hands on projects and sharing of knowledge.
  • IEEE Canadian Foundation Scholarship:
    • Brian Yang, Carleton University – nominated by Winnie Ye, Student Branch Counsellor
    • Juan Hiedra Primera, University of Ottawa – nominated by Sawsan Abdul-Majid , Student Branch Counsellor
  • IEEE Canadian Foundation Dr. Raymond D. Findlay Scholarship:
    • Bo Chen, University of British Columbia – nominated by Christine Chen, Associate Professor
  • IEEE Canadian Foundation Gargantini-Strybosch Scholarship:
    • Bohdan Savchuk, University of New Brunswick – nominated by Hung Cao, Assistant Professor
  • IEEE Canada Women in Engineering Prize:
    • Nasim Abdollahi, Toronto Section
  • IEEE Canadian Foundation Special Grants:
    • University of Waterloo: Waterloo Space Soldering Team (WSST): Development of a Centrifugal Soldering Module for a Microgravity Experiment
    • IEEE Volunteers: Building Radio Amateurs of Canada Headquarters Radio Station
    • UBC Sailbot - POLARIS Fully Autonomous Sailboat
    • Concordia University: “Waste Wizard” Machine Learning-based Waste Sorting Project
  • IEEE Canadian Foundation Vehicular Technology Travel Grant:
    • Manraj Singh Ladhar, University of Ontario Institute of Technology
    • Latha Anekal, University of Ontario Institute of Technology

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

• Making Change Summit

  We warmly welcome you to attend the Schulich School of Engineering Making Change Summit x IEEE WIE International Leadership Summit. Our combined committee has created a two-day conference focused on Empowering the Changemakers of Tomorrow.

  This event features multiple keynotes, workshops and seminars aimed at discussing the current problems that we face around the world, including issues around sustainability, education, and the future of technology. Conference participants will have opportunities to develop the skills required for building solutions to these challenging problems. By attending this summit, we hope that you leave inspired and empowered to create change in your community. Learn more.

  Event Details:
  Dates: May 2 – 3, 2024
  Location: Taylor Institute, University of Calgary
  

  Register to attend
  Reduced registration rates are available for all students, IEEE members, and UCalgary faculty/staff.
  Please contact schulichdiversity@ucalgary.ca with any questions.
  

• 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