UAE Section Newsletter

Transcription

1 UAE Section Newsletter December 2014 Message from the Section Chair As the new chair of the IEEE UAE section I would like to take this opportunity to thank the IEEE UAE community for placing their trust in me to lead the section in the coming period. I would like to thank those eligible voting members that participated in the election and particularly those that voted for me. I would also like to thank the election committee lead by Dr Abdullatif Glass for running a smooth and fair election process; and the previous chair Eng. Maryam Al Thani for leading the section in the past 2 years. During my tenure as IEEEUAE Section Chair I will concentrate on 4 main areas: 1. Increasing the visibility of the UAE Section nationally and internationally 2. Increasing the benefits of membership for the UAE Section members 3. Setting the strategic direction and improving the operations of the UAE Section 4. Increasing the number of UAE Section members As you will see from this Newsletter, the Year 2014 has been very eventful for the IEEE UAE Section. I am proud to see that volunteers of the IEEE UAE have won a number of prestigious awards. The IEEE student branch of the University of Sharjah was awarded the extraordinary student branch award in region 8. For the second year in a row, the IEEE Women in Engineering affinity group of Ajman University won the first place in the Global IEEE Day Photo Contest The Region 8 Certificate of Recognition was awarded to the UAE Membership Development Chair, Adeel Sultan for achieving the highest membership increase in the region. The Women in Engineering (WIE) affinity group continued to be one of our most active, with participation in the IEEE WIE International Leadership Conference 2014 in San Francisco, and in the Arab women in leadership conference in Dubai, being an association partner for the 16th global women in leadership economic forum in Dubai, and organizing sessions in the World Education and Engineering Forum 2014 in Dubai. Student members (including graduate students) represent our largest membership group (48%). I am therefore very glad to see them featured very strongly in this Newsletter. The 9th IEEE UAE Student Day 2014 was organized and hosted successfully by Ajman University of Science & Technology (AUST) with the participation of 13 student teams from 10 universities competing in 5 main categories. This has truly become one of the flagship events of the IEEE UAE Section. Student branches continue to be very active with particular mention in this Newsletter of the various activities of the branch in Manipal University. I am also encouraged to see more student branches being formed like the newly inaugurated branch in the Higher Colleges of Technology Dubai Women s College. Volunteers of the UAE section organized numerous activities and technical seminars. I was very happy to see DEWA signing an MoU with the IEEE. This is an excellent example of the role of industry within IEEE. The section participated in the IEEE Sections Congress 2014 in Amsterdam, and organized a volunteer training workshop. An International Workshop was organized in Al Ain University of Science and Technology (AAU) by the IEEE UAE Microwave Theory and Techniques Society (MTT S) Chapter and IEEE AAU Student Branch. Year 2015 promise to be even more eventful with a number of upcoming major events already scheduled. To all IEEE UAE members and volunteers; I would like to say thank you for your efforts and let s keep up the good work. Dr Mohammed Al Mualla IN THIS ISSUE Message from the Section Chair 1 IEEE UAE Executive Committee 2 IEEE UAE Membership at a Glance 2 Message from the Honorary Chair 3 Awards 3 WIE Activities 4 Student Activities 5 IEEE UAE Activities 7 Upcoming Activities 8

2 IEEE UAE Section Newsletter December IEEE UAE Executive Committee Dr. Mohammed Al Mualla, Section Chair ae IEEE UAE Membership at a Glance Dr. Eesa M. Bastaki, Honorary Chair and Chair, Nominations & Awards Committee e.bastaki@ieee.org Dr. Hussain Al Ahmad, Section Vice Engr. Essa I. Basaeed, Secretary uae.com Mr. Adeel Sultan, Treasurer and Chair alahmad@kustar.ac.ae Membership Development & Professional Activities Coordinator adeel_sultan@ieee.org Dr. Wathiq Mansour, Chair, Student Activities wmansoor@aud.eduu Engr. Mohammed Ayoub, Chair, Young Professionals and Chair, Member Activities m_ayoub@dubal.ae Dr. Nazih Khaddaj Mallat, Chair, Technical Activities and Chapters Coordinator nazih.mallat@aau.ac.ae Dr. Boutheina Tlili, Chair, Women in Engineering bktcad@rit.edu Prof. Mahmoud Al Qutayri, Educational Activities & Conferences Coordinator mqutayri@kustar.ac.ae Dr. Ahmed Al Dabbagh, Industrial Relations Officer ahmed.dabbagh@emiratesid.ae Engr. Eesa Al Suwaidi, Chair, Marketing & Events and Events Coordinator essaym@eim.ae Dr. Manar Abu Talib, Newsletter Editor Dr. Thomas Martin, Webmaster thomas.martin@kustar.ac.ae

3 IEEE UAE Section Newsletter December Message from the Honorary Chair The inception of IEEE Section in UAE was the beginning of a technological footprint to be engraved on a solid ground in the land of opportunities, the UAE. IEEE UAE Section volunteers and members have worked together diligently to fulfill the vision of our leaders and to transform UAE into a knowledge based society. UAE leaders believe in the human capital and support them to become successful to serve the country by capitalizing on their creativity and innovations. The human factor is the priority to all levels of the leadership to ensure that they are pleased and live happily in this land of opportunities. Thus, all their endeavors, sayings and actions are for the betterment of the people. The following are some of the words of the leaders of UAE: Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan: This is what has convinced us to direct all our resources to building the individual and to using the wealth which God has provided us in the service of the nation Wealth is not money. Wealth lies in men Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan: The Federation of the United Arab Emirates has relied, and will continue to rely, on the rich and diverse contributions of its true wealth, its people, to guarantee its prosperity. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum: In his book, Flashes of Thought, he emphasizes on people s happiness throughout his book. He also understands the returns of hard work, perseverance and creativity: There is no other choice for us but being No.1. Impossible doesn t exist in my dictionary For UAE to transform into a smarter society and achieve knowledge based economy there are some requirements to make it sustainable. Since oil will not last for long there are some gaps in the knowledge eco system that need to be bridged in order to achieve the sustainability. The following are the elements of Knowledge Based Smart Societies: 1. Leadership & Innovation 2. Knowledge Society Eco System Education Research & Business Development (R&BD) Incubation & Entrepreneurship ICT Infrastructure: NREN (Ankabut): A Project for R&E 3. Future Trends Embedded Systems Improved Connectivity From P2P to M2M 4. Ubiquitous Internet of Things (U IoT) To complete the whole circle of the knowledge eco system we need to fill the gaps that are not strongly available in UAE: 1. Research and business development (R&BD): We need to embed business and commercial senses in the research in order to produce knowledge rather than importing it. 2. Incubation, innovation and entrepreneurship centers: We lack these kinds of centers so that to encourage entrepreneurship to lead to Made in UAE Sold Globally. 3. Venture Capital (VC) funds: the VC culture is not yet understood in the Arab World and the VC Funds are nearly close to zero. VC Funds actually help these SME businesses to be successful and without them it may take too long to achieve their goals. These are some of my thoughts to help the country to reach a sustainable smarter and knowledge based society. This is my strategic vision for our country UAE: To achieve a long term sustainable, prosperous & productive lifestyle after oil for UAE s next generations Dr Eesa Bastaki Awards IEEE student branch at the University of Sharjah was awarded the extraordinary student branch award in region 8 The branch deserved this award for organizing extraordinary student activities and human services, in addition to the active participation of its members in different IEEE programs and activities, locally, regionally and internationally. The award was received by the chancellor of University of Sharjah Professor Hamid Al Naimiy with the presence of Professor Hussain Al Ahmad (IEEE UAE section Vice Chair), Engineer Maryam Al Thani (IEEE UAE section previous chair), Dr. Ali El Moursy the Assistant Professor and Coordinator of student activities in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Dr. Manar Abu Talib, the Assistant Professor, the coordinator of student activities in the Department of Computer Science and IEEE UAE Newsletter Editor. Chancellor of the University of Sharjah Professor Hamid Al Naimiy expressed how proud and delighted he is with this

4 IEEE UAE Section Newsletter December new achievement by the university students that adds to the series of achievements done by their colleagues in different fields, areas, and levels. This honor was also attended by the Chair of IEEE student branch Bara'a Hamdi Al Jilani, Vice Chair Mohammad Raed Omar Abu Odeh and Treasurer Abdulrahman Imad Hourani. Ajman University Women in Engineering group won the first place in the Global IEEE Day Photo Contest 2014 IEEE Day is a global event to be held on the first Tuesday of October, annually. It celebrates the anniversary of the first time IEEE members gathered to share their technical ideas in 1884 (for more information go to: The IEEE Day celebration didn t end on 7 October. A photo contest, an annual event, called for members to submit group photos showing them celebrating the day. Photos were submitted from 14 to 29 October and the winners were announced on 7 November. For the second year in a row, the IEEE Women in Engineering affinity group at Ajman University of Science and Technology, in the United Arab Emirates, submitted the first place photo. The group was awarded a cash prize of US $700. WIE Activities Women In Engineering (WIE), UAE section, was an association partner with the 16th global women in leadership economic forum held in Dubai on November 19 and 20 under the patronage of his excellency Sultan bin Saeed al Mansoori, Minister of Economy. Nita Pattel WIE chair global was one of the panelists in the STEM session. Some of the key speakers at the forum were Cherie Blair and Sheryl Sandberg COO Facebook. Region 8 Certificate of Recognition Awarded to UAE MD Chair, Adeel Sultan Acknowledging the efforts of UAE MD Chair in achieving the highest membership increase in the region, Region8 Director recently awarded the Certificate of Recognition to Adeel Sultan (UAE MD Chair). One Example of the hard work of Eng. Adeel is organizing a workshop in Dubai in March 2014, that is aimed to train new MD officers in the entire Region 8. Participants from all areas in the Region (Middle East, Africa and Europe) met to share experiences, and get to know the many tools available for the job. The workshop was extremely successful and feedback from all participants was very positive. Outcome of discussions and techniques acquired during the workshop are currently being employed by all regions to help in providing a better service to their respective members. UAE WIE Chair, Dr Bouheina Tlili participated in the Arab women in leadership conference under the patronage and presence of H. H. Sheikh Mohamed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

5 IEEE UAE Section Newsletter December UAE WIE is organizing two IEEE sessions during the World Education and Engineering Forum 2014 that will be held in Dubai on December 3 6. One session is about diversity in engineering education and practice and the second session is about STEM education. Student Activities 9th IEEE UAE Student Day 2014 The 2014 IEEE UAE Student Day was organized and hosted by Ajman University of Science & Technology (AUST). In its 9 th year, this has now become the main IEEE Students event in the UAE. The objectives of the event are to: Enhance the culture of competition among engineering students Recognize outstanding achievements of IEEE students Exchange knowledge and experience between UAE IEEE students Enhance leadership qualities of IEEE students Introduce IEEE to the public The event is centered around 5 competitions. This year s event was held on the 10 th of May 2014 at AUST and 13 teams from 10 universities participated in the competitions: Ajman University of Science &Technology (AUST) Al Ain University of Science and Technology (AAU) American University in Dubai (AUD) American University of Sharjah (AUS) HCT Abu Dhabi Women s College (ADWC) HCT Dubai Women s College (DWC) HCT Sharjah Women s College (SWC) Khalifa University, Abu Dhabi (KUSTAR AD) Khalifa University, Sharjah (KUSTAR SHJ) Manipal University (MU) Petroleum Institute (PI) University of Sharjah (UoS) United Arab Emirates University (UAEU) The event was opened by a speech from Dr Mohammed Al Mualla, UAE Section Chair who thanked AUST for organizing and hosting the event. He emphasized that while competitions are an important part of this event, a more important aspect is the opportunity for students to meet other students, make new friends, and exchange knowledge and experience with others. He reiterated the importance of competing fairly both for the students and the competition judges. He also thanked Prof. Mustahsan Mir (AUST) the Chair of the Steering Committee who lead the organization of the event. He also thanked all members of the Steering Committee and the judges. The competitions then started at around 11am and concluded at around 3pm for the awards and closing ceremony. The winners of the competitions were: Competition 1 st 2 nd 3 rd Community Service Project AUST AUST KU SHJ Common Design Project AUS KU SHJ KU SHJ Software Design Project AUST KU SHJ AUST Engineering Design Project AUST AUST UAEU Senior Design Project AUST (1 st in Computer) PI (1 st Electronics) AUS (1 st Power & Control)

6 IEEE UAE Section Newsletter December IEEE Student Chapter Inauguration and Microsoft Seminar at Dubai Women s College The Higher Colleges of Technology Dubai Women s College (HCT DWC), Computer and Information Science Department hosted an event to commemorate the formation of the HCT DWC IEEE Student Branch. The event was attended by students from HCT colleges from Ras Al Khaimah, Sharjah and Dubai and from other Universities such as Heriot Watt University, Manipal University and Amity University. The event hosted two keynote speakers. The first keynote speech was given by Mr. Eduardo Ortega, Technical Evangelist on Windows 8 at Microsoft Gulf. Eduardo demonstrated the use of Windows App Studio to swiftly build Windows and Windows Phone apps showing the students how to test, publish, and share with clients, co workers, friends, and family. He built a fashion retail m commerce mobile app from scratch in 10 minutes flat. Students were highly intrigued by this technical seminar and used the Q&A time to gain more tricks and techniques from Eduardo about mobile programming. The second keynote was delivered by former IEEE UAE Section Chair Eng. Maryam Thani. Maryam, She enlightened students about the IEEE UAE section events and activities and benefits of IEEE membership to students. Dr. Hamad Odhabi, Dean of CIS at HCT Colleges, articulated the plan of the DWC IEEE Student branch to host events, workshops and competitions among the students of different universities in the UAE. Dr. Nasser Nassiri, Chair of CIS at DWC said Learning in classroom should be augmented by learning by doing activities outside the classroom and this can be nurtured through activities of the IEEE student branch at DWC. Dr. Vish Akre, Counsellor at IEEE Student Branch at DWC has affirmed the role of the student branch to strive towards creating opportunities for CIS students to reinforce their technological and social skills. On 18th September 2014, the IEEE Student Branch, School of Engineering and IT at MUDC hosted its first event of the semester: an alumni visit from Mr Farzeen Hasharaf. Farzeen graduated from the Mechatronics Department earlier in the year and previously served as the Joint Secretary of the IEEE Student Chapter. Farzeen had the honor of being selected to represent MUDC and the UAE at the IEEE Region 8 Student and Young Professional (SYP) Congress 2014 which was held in Krakow, Poland. He gave the students of MUDC a glimpse of what his experience was like by sharing pictures and giving an elaborate presentation about the perks of being a member of the IEEE. He highlighted the networking opportunities that become available to students by actively participating and organizing IEEE events. He also urged the members of the IEEE Student Branch to strive to achieve more and connect with their counterparts in other universities so as to gain some perspective and improve their networking skills. IEEE Day Celebratory Event On October 7, 2014 the IEEE Student Branch at MUDC organized it s very first celebratory event for the IEEE day. The event was coordinated by Student Branch Vice Presidents Madhur Tipnis and Supratik Mukherjee and student member Shaelesh Raj under the guidance of Student Branch counsellor Prof. M I Jawid Nazir, and Faculty Coordinator Prof K P Abdullah. Participation in IEEE Xtreme 8.0 The IEEE Student Branch of MUDC took part in the Global 24 Hour Programming Contest: IEEE Xtreme 8.0. Around 10 teams from MUDC participated in the event, each team consisting of 2 3 students from the 2nd, 3rd and final year of Computer Science and Engineering and ISM batches. LET s GO DESIGN Solidworks The IEEE Student Branch at MUDC organized a technical workshop on October 2nd, The workshop titled Let s Go Design Solidworks was aimed not only for IEEE student members but also was kept open to non members. Over 18 students attended the workshop. Solidworks is a modelling CAD (computer aided design) software, one of the most user friendly and affordable in the market. It has a wide range of applications such as designing prototypes, finite element analysis, 3D printing and its also used for many school and university level competitions such as F1 in schools and SAE collegiate design series. Activities of the IEEE Student Branch of Manipal University The IEEE Student Branch of Manipal University Dubai Campus (MUDC) was very active and organized a number of events and activities. Sharing the Experience of Region 8 Student and Young Professional (SYP) Congress 2014

7 IEEE UAE Section Newsletter December IEEE UAE Events DEWA signs agreement with IEEE The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has signed an MoU with the IEEE to exchange knowledge and expertise, and promote collaboration in training programs and joint activities. The move supports the National Innovation Strategy, launched by H. H. Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to make the UAE one of the most innovative countries in the world within seven years. SAMIEEE. Finally, Dr. Eesa Bastaki concluded the training session by sharing words of wisdom and appreciating the contribution of IEEE members in UAE. The guests enjoyed networking with UAE Ex Com members during lunch and were awarded certificates of participation. International Workshops at Al Ain University of Science and Technology Al Ain University of Science and Technology (AAU), in collaboration with IEEE UAE Microwave Theory and Techniques Society (MTT S) Chapter and IEEE AAU Student Branch, hosted two day international workshops in its campus in Al Ain city in UAE. In the 1st day (Feb. 10th, 2014), Dr. Nazih Khaddaj Mallat (Head of the Networks & Communications Engineering and Computer Engineering Department at AAU, IEEE UAE MTT S Chapter Chair and IEEE AAU Student Branch Counselor) opened the workshops and welcomed all participants and distinguished guests for this 1st IEEE International event of its kind at AAU. Volunteer Training Workshop A Volunteer Training Workshop was organized as part of the continuous effort of UAE section officers to enlarge and empower its circle of active IEEE members. The event was held in Villa Rotana, Dubai on Nov. 16, 2013 and was attended by UAE Ex Com members, faculty and students. The opening note was delivered by Engr. Maryam Al Thani (then was the Section Chair) followed by Mr. Eesa Basaeed & Mr. Adeel Sultan who highlighted the procedure of contributing as an IEEE volunteer on section level and shared their valuable experiences. Later on, Mr. Adeel carried on the discussion on the main topic of membership development and highlighted the importance of getting everyone involved and how it helps in ensuring the success of the section, region & IEEE in general. He reiterated the fact that membership development is everyone s business and that all members should be an ambassador carrying the message of IEEE. After spending some time describing the general information about IEEE and its structure, Adeel went on to explain the numerous benefits of IEEE and how they can be useful for the growth of an individual and their respective organizations. The workshop progressed with detailed discussion about the various tools and resources available for volunteers and towards the end, Mr. Adeel took the participants through a demo/tour of the analytics tool, Then, Dr. Daniela Chrenko (Institut Supérieur d'automobile et Transport (ISAT), University of Burgundy, France) presented the workshop entitled Development of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles as Components of the Electric Grid in Europe through which she explained the importance which electric cars have started to gain in Europe as they are considered a promising solution for transportation. She also gave an overview of modern trends in electric car applications in France and Germany (Autolib car sharing project in France, for example). Dr. Daniela presented also Matlab simulation about electric vehicles to the students. The 2nd day workshop (Feb. 11th), entitled Wireless Technologies and Applications: Past, Present, and Future, was conducted by, IEEE fellow member, Professor Ke Wu (Ecole Polytechnique de Montréal, Canada) who highlighted the success wireless applications have witnessed commercially in the areas of wireless data, wireless sensing, and wireless power. He also presented the basic features of wireless technology and the correlation with electromagnetic waves and wireless frequencies. In addition, Prof. Wu traced the development of radio waves over time as well as discussing issues relating to the future trends, the 5th generation of communications, the challenges, and possible solutions.

8 IEEE UAE Section Newsletter December Several organizations sponsored the event including IEEE MTT Society, IEEE AAU Student Branch, IEEE UAE Power Engineering Society (PES) Chapter, Al Ain Distribution Company, TRANSCO, EMITAC, Micro Plus computers, and National Instruments. Further, students from various UAE universities attended the workshops (United Arab Emirates University, American University in Ras Al Khaimah, Masdar Institute, Higher Colleges of Technology, Ajman University of Science and Technology, Sharjah University, and Khalifah University). Participation in International IEEE Events Prof Hussain Al Ahmad, Vice Chair of IEEE UAE, represented the section in the IEEE Sections Congress 2014 that was held 22 4 August 2014 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Sections Congress is a triennial gathering of IEEE grassroots leadership to: network with other Section leaders; attend training programs; and develop recommendations to guide the future of IEEE. Upcoming Events 8th IEEE GCC Conference & Exhibition 1 4 February 2015 Muscat, Oman Abstract submission: 30 August 2014 Final submission: 10 Sep 2014 Notification of acceptance: 15 Nov International Conference on Communications, Signal Processing, and their Applications (ICCSPA) February 2015 American University of Sharjah Abstract submission: 15 Sep 2014 Final submission: 15 Dec 2014 Notification of acceptance: 15 Nov International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management (IEOM) 3 5 March 2015 Hyatt Regency Dubai Abstract submission: 30 Aug 2014 Final submission: 30 Sep 2014 Notification of acceptance: 30 Nov International Conference on Information and Communication Technology Research (ICTRC2015) in conjunction with the 2015 International Forum on Information and Communication Technology Research (ICTRF2015) May 2015 Khalifa University, Abu Dhabi Final submission: 4 January 2015 Notification of acceptance: 8 March 2015 Eng. Maryam Al Thani participated in the IEEE WIE International Leadership Conference 2014 that was held in San Francisco, 1 3 May, UAE Section Newsletter December UAE.COM For future correspondence, please contact: Dr. Manar Abu Talib Newsletter Editor mtalib@sharjah.ac.ae