Yearly Archives: 2013

With the passing of Rolf Remshardt, IEEE has lost one of its most highly valued volunteers. His sudden death, only weeks after he was a special guest at the 50^th Anniversary celebrations of Region 8 in Madrid, has come as a terrible shock to his many friends across IEEE. For almost 30 years he provided an outstanding example of selfless and ethical service to the Institute. He was a major influence in policy- making: eight regional Directors benefited from his wise and friendly advice. His stewardship, as Treasurer, of the Region’s finances for 15 years enabled a huge expansion of its activities, underpinned by the substantial reserves he built up by careful investment and budget controls.

Rolf Remshardt earned a Diplom-Ingenieur degree and a PhD in electrical engineering from the Technical University in Stuttgart, Germany. He began his career at IBM in 1967, working as a development engineer, designing integrated circuits and semiconductor chips, and spent 2 years with IBM in the USA. During his nearly 30 years with the company he held several development and management positions.

Rolf joined IEEE as a Senior Member in 1983, and was elected Region 8 Treasurer. His IBM boss at the time, Director Walter Proebster, had persuaded Rolf to take on the job without warning him about the time commitment involved. Nevertheless, Rolf quickly demonstrated his skill in managing the complexities of dealing with many different currencies and exchange controls, in an era before credit cards became universal.

He was elected as Region 8 Director (1999-2000) at a time when there was a rapid expansion in IEEE activity in Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Under his wise counsel the problems of IEEE membership in the ‘low-income’ countries were dealt with very effectively. This laid the foundations for the success of the enlarged Region 8 as it reached its 50^th year.

Rolf also served on many IEEE Boards and committees, including the IEEE Foundation as a Director and Vice-President Projects.

He was honoured by IEEE through the Larry K Wilson Transnational Award (2002) and the RAB Achievement Award (2006).

We mourn the loss of one of IEEE’s finest volunteers, and share the grief of his wife Renate and son Marc. We will all miss Rolf, as a friend and colleague, and as a happy companion.

Kurt R. Richter                                                                                                Charles W Turner
1991-1992 IEEE Director Region 8                                                                    1993-1994 IEEE Director Region 8

On January 2013 the first IEEE Entrepreneurs Network (EN) within R8 was established in Cyprus under the IEEE Cyprus Section. The idea of implementing such a Network in Cyprus initiated by the conclusion that current economic crisis is considered by many as a great barrier towards economic growth and employability, whereas entrepreneurship driven by innovation and networks of talented people can in fact mitigate the negative impacts of this crisis and lead to local prosperity. It was also based on the confidence that professionals who by education or experience give evidence of competence in an IEEE designated field (Engineering, Computer Sciences and Information Technology, Physical Sciences, Biological and Medical Sciences, Mathematics, Technical Communications, Education, Management, Law and Policy) should take a leading role in this effort.

The IEEE Cyprus EN’s main objectives are the following:

1. Networking between IEEE members and other professionals (non-members working in an IEEE designated field) in Cyprus who are interested in entrepreneurship, from which possible cooperation and start-ups may come up. Monthly meetings take place in the presence of the Entrepreneurs Network Executive Committee (Chair, Vice Chairperson, Secretary and Program Director) and any other IEEE members or non-members concerned in the Network’s goals and interests.
2.  Triggering of entrepreneurship in IEEE designated fields in Cyprus especially within the current financial crisis which increases unemployment. Professionals who by education or experience give evidence of competence in an IEEE designated field are encouraged to participate in the Entrepreneurs Network and join IEEE.
3. Arrangement of talks by entrepreneurship related experts, such as accountants, lawyers, angels, local SBA representatives, bankers, experts in Business Finance, marketing professionals, insurance experts, and industry leaders.
4. Organization of workshops or days of training in such topics as financing alternatives, protecting intellectual property, selling a business plan, project management and personal leadership style for success.
5. Support of entrepreneurs / future entrepreneurs and helping them both to meliorate their business plans and get in touch with angels and investors.
6. Holding face to face year round TechMatch event. TechMatch is a tool that helps member entrepreneurs conduct self-evaluations on their business plans, submit their business plans for review by other experienced entrepreneur members and to visibility by potential investors. The IEEE Cyprus EN supports entrepreneurs who have participated in the TechMatch event by assigning mentors, connecting the entrepreneur with local resources for further help, selecting the best plans in a competition and giving awards or advertising the plans in operating unit publications.
7. The goal of TechMatch is to support entrepreneur members in moving toward success and that is what the Entrepreneurs Network Executive Committee (EN’s EXCOM) undertakes. After the actual TechMatch event is over EN’s EXCOM provides ongoing support to entrepreneurs who have expressed interest. This can be in the form of assigned mentors for those entrepreneurs that express interest. The lead of the Review team together with EN’s EXCOM takes the responsibility for any handoff or continuity of support as expressed by the entrepreneur and assures there is direct communication with each entrepreneur according to their needs and expectations for their further development.

Apart from its official website within IEEE Cyprus Section’s website, IEEE Cyprus EN can be found in LinkedIn and Facebook.

Two webinars were organized in May 2013 by the IEEE R8 Educational Activities Sub-Committee (EASC) Continuing Education (CE), Niovi Pavlidou, Coordinator, and George Papadopoulos, Volunteer.

The first webinar entitled “Industrial automation” was organized on May 9, 2013. The webinar was intended to all members of the IEEE Components, Packaging, and Manufacturing Technology Society, Industrial Electronics Society (IES) and Industry Applications Society (IAS) members in Region 8. The webinar was quite well disseminated, resulting to 32 registrations. The event was organized on the WebEx facilities and the attendance was considered as satisfactory with about 35 participants taking place. Niovi Pavlidou welcomed the participants and introduced various subcommittees relating to technical activities, with emphasis on educational activities in R8. The central speaker of the webinar was Kevit Desai, Centurion Systems, Nairobi, Kenya. The webinar was technically hosted by George Papadopoulos.

The second webinar entitled “Computer in Parallel” was organized on May 16, 2013. The target audience was all members of the IEEE Computer Society members in Region 8. This webinar, which was generally considered as the most successful of the webinar series performed so far by the IEEE R8 CE, had 177 registrations, resulting to about 50 attendees. Niovi Pavlidou opened the session, with Nikos Pitsianis, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, following with his presentation. The webinar was technically hosted by George Papadopoulos.

The events were recorded on the WebEx platform and are available to everyone for free in the website of IEEE R8 EASC https://ieeer8.org/category/continuing-education-works/ce-webinars/. Stay tuned to our future events.

George Papadopoulos, IEEE R8 Volunteer for Educational Activities
Niovi Pavlidou, IEEE R8 Coordinator for Educational Activities