The IEEE Asia Pacific Student/GOLD/WIE Congress was organized in Chennai, India on Jan 28th, 29th and 30th 2008, hosted by IEEE Region 10 and IEEE Madras Section. The congress was held jointly for Student/GOLD/WIE on 28th and GOLD & WIE Congresses were held at Hotel Green Park on 29th and 30th Jan.
Being the first Asia Pacific WIE congress, the organizers had carefully framed exciting events along with the GOLD congress. The congress acted as an excellent interface to create awareness about the role of women in Engineering. All the IEEE top volunteer executives from Head Quarters, USA and Region 10 came to grace the occasion. Dr. Lewis Terman, President was accompanied by his wife Mrs. Barbara Terman, Dr. John Vig, President Elect, Dr. Richard Gowen (IEEE Foundation), and Dr. Roberto De Marca, Dr. Jeffrey Rhynes, Dr. Matthew Loeb and a number of other volunteers along with Region 10 Director Dr.Janina Mazierska, inaugurated the event at 9.30 AM on 28th Jan. The session was followed by presentations by the Region 10 Student Activity Committee, GOLD Committee and WIE Committee about the present activities and future plans. All participants appreciated the leadership workshop and the interactive sessions with the IEEE VIPs.
The second day congress which was organized in Hotel Green Park was a golden day for GOLD/WIE participants. The joint congress commenced with a prayer song by the students from Easwari Engg colleges. The welcome address was given by Sampathkumar Veeraraghavan, Chair, organizing chair of the GOLD Congress. In his speech, he attributed his success to the IEEE membership and the contacts. Mrs.Ramalatha Marimuthu, organizing chair of the WIE Congress delivered the special address, in which she emphasized how educating a woman upgrades the quality of life for a society and wished the participants a fruitful congress.
Following the special address, Dr. Lewis Terman, President accompanied by his wife Mrs. Barbara Terman, Dr. John Vig, President Elect, Dr.Karen Panetta, Chair, WIE, Dr. Richard Gowen (IEEE Foundation), and Dr. Roberto De Marca, Dr. Jeffrey Rhynes, Dr. Matthew Loeb and a number of other volunteers along with Region 10 Director Dr.Janina Mazierska, started the events of the day with a discussion forum, in which the President and other IEEE Dignitaries answered various queries posted by the participants. Interesting questions pertaining to IEEE membership & Development, GOLD and WIE raised by the audience were promptly answered by the IEEE Leaders. The organizers thanked the dignitaries, and volunteers, especially Dr. Jamie Heller, and Ms. Keyana Tennant, WIE Program Administrator from Headquarters for making this congress a lively one by their august presence.
Later, Dr.Karen Panetta, Chair, WIE delivered an inspirational talk on Women In Engineering . She discussed about the “ Nerd Girl” project which aimed at breaking the Stigmas and Stereotypes of Women in Engineering . Ms.Helene fung, the Asia Pacific GOLD coordinator presented on talk on “ Asia pacific GOLD “ in which she explained about various projects proposed and implemented by R10 GOLD.
It was followed by presentations by Award Winners of GOLD and WIE. Mr. Sampath Kumar, Chair, Madras IEEE GOLD won the RAB GOLD Achievement Award and the R10 GOLD Award for the year 2007 through his innovative ideas and activities. Easwari IEEE Women In Engineering has won the Honorable Mention for Student Branch Affinity Group of the year Award for the year 2006, awarded in 2007 for its outreach programs.
The ceremony was followed by delicious lunch. During Lunch, the participants, students and the industrialists along with the professionals and the speakers took part enthusiastically in the informal discussions. The students asked the professionals to share their experiences with IEEE and their different experiences in the course of their career. There was a general request from the students to the professionals and industrialists to guide them in their research, projects and also their career. There was voluminous information sharing and exchange of personal information to enable continuation of the networking in future.
Following this there was a Yoga Demonstration and cultural program performed by the students of Madhuram Narayanaswamy Center for Differently abled children and their parents. . It was soul touching and their performance brought tears in the eyes of everyone. Dr. Karen, Dr.Cecilia, Dr.Loeb and Ms. Helene commended the children and presented certificates and gifts. Then the participants were invited for sharing their ideas and views. The various section delegates presented their past achievements and future plans.
After this there was a talk on “Professionals & their Social Responsibilities”, by Mr.A.K.George, Research Associate of Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam. The Speaker outlined in a simple and vivid language, the various aspects of brain and it’s functioning. The lecture explained the basics of Sensory and Motor Homunculus and the various core segments of research in these areas. An overview of the various procedures and core research experiments such as The Pavlov’s experiment, Enriched Cage Experiment & electro magnetic therapy areas were discussed. The majority of the tie was spent in discussing the various practical applications of technology in brain research. Later the speaker explained about the fascinating facts about the brain. The lecture ended with discussions on how technological aids developed by engineers can help the physically challenged people. The lecture was followed by a question and answer session between the attendees and the speaker. The guest speaker commended the GOLD Chair Mr. V. Sampathkumar for his innovative research on Autism. The session was obviously mind provoking.
Following this, a BBC Documentary release was played which explained about, “What Ancient Indians did for the World”. This one hour documentary helped the delegates from other countries to know more about India and inspired all the delegates. Next on agenda was a Miming Program by students of Easwari Engg College. This silent drama explained about the evils of technology growth and how professional bodies like IEEE play a major role in steering the path towards more constructive and society conscious goals.
This was followed by a power point presentation on the topic, “My India”, which was delivered by Mr.Sridhar, Founder,Yuva Shakthi, a youth welfare association. The Madras Women in Engineering Affinity Group is launching a Project “Sangamam” in association with Yuva Shakthi to inspire young minds, especially in the rural India. The day ended with this and there was informal interaction between the delegates and the participants.
The next day there was a tour around Chennai. Delegates were taken to Kabalishwarar Temple and Santhome Church, which were examples for the architectural glory of South India. They all enjoyed the visit. The Congress ended with farewells and wishes. On the whole it was an unforgettable experience for the participants and organizers and was a huge success in the aspect that the congress brought together people from different cultural backgrounds and created a lot of goodwill and friendships.