Yearly Archives: 2014


How to get into Bioinformatics?

There are many times when I tell the people that I am doing a PhD in bioinformatics, they are looking at me a bit weird like they don’t even know what that means. The simplest reply that I usually give is the analysis of biological data using informatics.

Nowadays there is a vast majority of biological technologies and developments (Next Generation Sequencing technologies) to extract information (genetic data) from humans and other species. These technologies are improving and they are becoming cheaper, more and more every day. However, even if we have millions of data, if we are not able to analyze, handle and understand them, they are useless.

This is the exact point that bioinformatics, an interdisciplinary science that involves biology, informatics, genetics, mathematics and chemistry comes to solve this problem. Things in bioinformatics could be done fast compared to the wet lab experiments that could take ages to finish and even if they finish, sometimes you need to rerun them because something went wrong in the process. However, one may think that reformatting, analyzing the data and producing graphs could be a bit boring but the real fun comes when you do understand the graphs and you make the real connection with biology.

To give an example, one of the goals of population geneticists is to analyze the data (e.g. through statistics) that will provide information about specific regions in the DNA that have a story to tell us. Identifying regions and as a consequence genes and even further pathways (networks of genes) in controls (healthy people) and cases (diseased people) can help to the earlier diagnosis of a disease such as diabetes which is one of the leading diseases, the prevalence of which is increasing more and more.

From Biology -> Informatics or from Informatics -> Biology?

How to get there?

In my opinion pure bioinformaticians like me are the ones that have the real problem (gap). This is because they don’t have a deep knowledge neither in biology nor informatics. The work of a biologist can’t be completely done without the help of a (bio-) informatician or the other way around. The reason for this is the following: the biologist will produce the results in the lab, but once he has the data he is unable to analyze and interpret them. Computational modeling of a biological system or the statistical analyses of a large-scale datasets are of crucial importance to provide a more general biological overview rather than just an opinion on the specific experiment under the specific parameters, limitations and even environmental conditions of the lab.

The question or statement that is pointed out usually from students is “Bioinformatics seems really difficult! I really don’t know if I can manage”.

The main aspect that someone needs to think is what it is more on demand in the job market. Obviously the technical knowledge and expertise of a bioinformatician are the skills that are required the most, in positions both in academia and industry and most of the times with a very good salary. However, this is not a sufficient reason to follow bioinformatics. One should ask oneself what it is the reason that he would like to follow this field (a question that you will probably be asked in many interviews as well). As Galileo Gakilei said: “Passion is the genesis of genius”.

Now how you will realize that you like bioinformatics? Certainly, you can’t become passionate just from one course in the university. There are many things that you can do to help you understand this. The first and probably the easiest is to go to different conferences and seminars that will help you open your mind and see a different world. There you will have the opportunity to attend presentations from people with different backgrounds in the field of bioinformatics, each of who sees things from a little different perspective.

In the beginning of the conference you may feel that you don’t understand anything. However don’t get nervous or disappointed, this might be because the projects are too complicated with too much information. However, there is also the possibility that the speakers don’t explain their work well. Many researchers even though they are extremely intelligent, they find it amazingly difficult to describe their work to a third person. Have in mind that even if bioinformatics is an multidisciplinary field, in a presentation you need to keep as much as possible the parts of informatics, biology etc separately in order to give the opportunity to the others (informatician, biologists etc) to understand their part.

The most crucial point for you in such conferences is to meet these people, talk with them, get advice and feedback on the field: what you could follow exactly in bioinformatics (genomics, proteomics etc) according to your interests? information about well known universities and even possible scholarships for which could apply. Have in mind that fellowships and awards are things that will make your CV distinct among the million others that have applied for the same job.

There is also always google and books to get more informed about bioinformatics but it is less interesting rather than getting to know people or students that had these experiences themselves. You have fun, get informed and grow up your communicational circle, all at the same time.

What about Marie Curie?

Previously I talked about scholarships. Having the honor to be a Marie Curie ambassador, as a fellow of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions and more specifically of the Innovative Training Networks (ITN)http://intercrossing.wikispaces.com/, I will talk a bit more about this. Marie-Curie scholarships named after the Polish-French researcher Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions (MSCA), being the first woman that won a Nobel Prize is probably the best and the most well paid fellowship in Europe. Getting such a fellowship can be very difficult as it is a very competitive program

The goal of MSCA is to train researchers at all stages of their career, independent of nationality offering them experiences both in academy and private sectors not only on bioinformatics but training on organizational, communicational and diplomatic skills as well. The knowledge and the expertise that one will acquire from a MSCA fellowship will make him appealing and attractive in the long-term future.

I received my degree from Greece in the field of Computational and Biomedical informatics in the University of Central Greece, I was then awarded with a BBSRC fellowship to attend the Master of Research in Computational Biology in the University of York, UK and immediately after that I was awarded with the Marie Curie scholarship which will allow me to complete my doctoral in almost one year and half gaining experience both in academia (University of Joseph Fourier, Grenoble and University of St.Andrews, UK) and industry (Era7, Granada Spain).

As an IEEE member and Marie-Curie fellow, I support and encourage the students to think about bioinformatics. I am more than happy to give further advice and information from my small experience in the field

([email protected]

http://intercrossing.wikispaces.com/Alexandra+Vatsiouhttps://sites.google.com/site/alexvatsiou/)

Alexandra Vatsiou


Dr Sven Olof Öhrvik (1928-2014)

Dr Sven Olof Öhrvik (1928-2014)IEEE Region 8 mourns the death of past Director Dr Sven-Olof Ohrvik. Dr Öhrvik, who was Professor Emeritus at Lund University, died at age 85 on April 15, 2014. With his quiet, unassuming manner, he led our Region from 1989 to 1990, at a time when the Iron Curtain was opened and the Cold War had come to an end. His leadership ensured that members from the former Eastern Bloc countries could obtain better service from IEEE with the development.of new Sections. He was the first regional officer to visit some of these Sections, such as Belarus, which was very much appreciated by the members. During his term as Director the Moscow Section (which is today the Russia Section) was formed. In 1990 due to his initiative the IEEE Board of Directors held its first meeting outside of North America in Brussels, Belgium. In the same year he organized the first IEEE Region 8 Meeting outside of Region 8, providing an opportunity for Section Chairs and volunteer delegates to attend the IEEE Section Congress in Toronto, Canada.

Before Sven-Olof Öhrvik was appointed as the professor in the Faculty of Engineering and the Department of Applied Electronics at Lund University he had an outstanding career as a Development Manager at Ericson Radio Systems in Kista, Sweden. He is regarded as one of the foremost pioneers and visionaries in mobile communication. In the 1980s he presented a paper in which he predicted an unbelievable reduction in the size of the mobile phone. His solid theoretical and practical knowledge was invaluable to him as an engineering educator and academic leader.

Dr Öhrvik started his career as an IEEE volunteer in 1983 when he was elected Chair of the IEEE Sweden Section. He held this office for four years until 1987, and in1985/6 he also was Chair of the joint VT/COM/IT Chapter. In 1988 he was elected as IEEE Region 8 Director for the term 1989 to 1990, and continued to serve as a volunteer on several IEEE committees and boards.

We mourn the loss of Sven-Olof, and share the grief of his wife Lotte and his daughters. He will be sadly missed.

Kurt R. Richter
1991-1992 IEEE Director Region 8

Charles W Turner
1993-1994 IEEE Director Region 8


R8 Outstanding Young Professional Affinity Group Award goes to NIGERIA!!!

The Region 8 Young Professionals Subcommittee is proud to announce the winner of the Region 8 Outstanding Young Professionals Affinity Group Award for its activities during 2013: this year, the Award goes to Nigeria!

The Nigeria Young Professionals Affinity Group has been working harder every year and now they have reached an outstanding level. Their high quality activities, together with their continued efforts to motivate volunteers and inspire IEEE YP members, make them deservedly win this Award. Congratulations Nigeria!

It is always a hard decision due to the great quality of the YP Affinity Groups in Region 8. We wish this encourages not only the Nigerian AG, but also all the other AGs to keep up pursuing the amazing work, the high motivation and the valuable contributions to IEEE, since those are always the key factors to win this Award.

From the R8 YP Subcommittee, we would like to congratulate the Nigeria YP Affinity Group and would also like to thank all Region 8 Affinity Groups for the great work they are doing.


2014-August Amsterdam

Click here for the photogallery

Region 08Click here for the Region 8 Committee Group PhotoSections Congress 2014 Information

OpCom Reports

Director  (Martin Bastiaans)

Past-Director  (Marko Delimar)

Secretary  (Ali El-Mousa)

Treasurer (Brian Harrington)

V/C Member Activities  (Aleksandar Szabo)

V/C Student Activities  (Pablo Herrero)

V/C Technical Activities  (Carl Debono)

Subcommittee Reports

Awards & Recognition Subcommittee (A&RSC)

V/C Technical Activities  (IRSC) Section Congress Coordinator

Chapter Coordination Subcommittee (ChCSC)

Life Member Coordinator  (LM)

Standards Coordinator  (StC)

Conference Coordination SubCommittee  (CoCSC)

Membership Development Subcommittee  (MDSC) Strategic Planning

Educational Activities SubCommittee   (EASC)

Nominations and Appointments Subcommittee
Candidates' biographies

Voluntary Contribution Fund Coordinator  (VCF)

Electronic Communications Coordinator  (ECC) Professional Activities Subcommittee  (PASC) Women in Engineering Coordinator (WIE)

History Activities Coordinator  (HA)

Region 8 News  (R8News) Young Professionals Subcommittee  (YP)

Section Reports

Austria Section Germany Section Lithuania Section Saudi Arabia (East) Section
Bahrain Section Ghana Section Malta Section Saudi Arabia (West) Section
Belarus Section Greece Section Morocco Section Serbia And Montenegro Section
Benelux Section Hungary Section Nigeria Section Slovenia Section
Bosnia and Herzegovina Section Iceland Section Norway Section South Africa Section
Bulgaria Section Iran Section Oman Section Spain Section
Croatia Section Iraq Section Poland Section Sweden Section
Cyprus Section Israel Section Portugal Section Switzerland Section
Czechoslovakia Section Italy Section Qatar Section Tunisia Section
Denmark Section Jordan Section Republic of Macedonia Section Turkey Section
Egypt Section Kenya Section Romania Section U.K.& Rep Of Ireland Section
Estonia Section Kuwait Section Russia Section Ukraine Section
Finland Section Latvia Section Russia (Northwest) Section United Arab Emirates Section
France Section Lebanon Section Russia (Siberia) Section Zambia Section

Sub-Section Reports

Mauritius Sub-Section Palestine Sub-Section Sfax Sub-Section Sudan Sub-Section Tanzania Sub-Section

Motions

Reimbursement


Meeting Schedule

Time Table

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Location

Time

Novotel Hotel

RAI

Room Elicium 1

RAI

Room Elicium 1

08:00-12:40

R8 Committee meeting

R8 Committee meeting

12:40-13:00

Lunch

(First floor restaurant)

13:00-13:30

Lunch

(First floor restaurant)

13:30-14:00

R8 Committee Meeting

14:00-16:30

 

16:30-17:00

17:00-17:30

Registration / Refreshments

17:30-18:00

Benelux Section presentation (Calla room)

18:00-19:00

Technical speech

“Electrical Engineering Challenges for Space Applications: An ESA Perspective”

By: Riccardo de Gaudenzi et al.

(Calla room)

19:00-20:00

Welcome reception (The hotel foyer)

20:00-22:00

Welcome dinner


Order of the Day

Thursday, 21 August 2014

 

Time # Type Item Presenter
8:00 101 Procedural Call to order Bastiaans
8:05 102 Procedural Roll call El-Mousa
8:10 103 Procedural Welcome Vandendorpe
8:15 104 Procedural Introduction of new officers El-Mousa
8:25 105 Procedural Introductory remarks / Sven-Olof Öhrvik Bastiaans/El-Mousa
8:30 106 Action Approval of the agenda Bastiaans
8:35 107 Action Approval of the consent agenda Bastiaans
8:40 108 Discussion Director's address Bastiaans
8:55 109 Discussion Secretary's report El-Mousa
9:10 110 Action Treasurer's report  – budget for 2015 Harrington
9:30 111 Discussion Strategic Planning Delimar
9:35 112 Discussion Sections Congress 2014 Salazar-Palma / Skodras
9:55 113 Discussion Awards & Recognitions Delimar/Turner
10:10 114 Procedural Break
10:40 115 Discussion Student Activities report Herrero c.s.
Student and Young Professional Congress outcome ( SYP Photos ) Herrero/Schmid
Student Branch revitalization Arvaniti
11:25 116 Discussion MGA Managing Director's address ( MGA Information Management ) Jankowski c.s.
12:25 117 Procedural Recess Bastiaans
12:30 Group photo
12:40 Lunch
13:30 201 Procedural Call to order Bastiaans
13:35 202 Discussion Presentation of OpCom candidates  ( Presentations ) Delimar
14:35 203 Discussion Presentation of N&A Subcommittee candidates Delimar
14:50 204 Procedural Break – after the break we go into Executive Session
15:20 205 Discussion Discussion about OpCom candidates Delimar
15:50 206 Action Election of OpCom members Delimar
16:10 207 Discussion Discussion about N&A Subcommittee candidates Delimar
16:20 208 Action Election of N&A Subcommittee members Delimar
16:30 209 Procedural Recess Bastiaans

 

Friday, 22 August 2014

 

Time # Type Item Presenter
8:00 301 Procedural Call to order and roll call Bastiaans/El-Mousa
8:05 302 Discussion IEEE President's address de Marca
8:35 303 Discussion IEEE Executive Director's address Prendergast
9:05 304 Discussion Member Activities report Szabo c.s
9:50 305 Discussion TM Council change to Technology and Engineering Management Society Desmond
Communication Conference targeted towards industry Desmond
10:00 306 Discussion Section development and vitality: Metropolitan Area Workshop Stasopoulos
10:10 307 Discussion Section development and vitality: Entrepreneur activities Stasopoulos
10:20 308 Procedural Break
10:50 309 Discussion Technical Activities report Debono c.s.
Appropriately allocating expenses from technically cosponsored conferences Debono
Education challenges in the Global Village Pavlidou
The Distinguished Lecturer program Joffe
Webinars on conference organization Haase
Industry Relation activities – experiences and how to proceed Neumeier
11:35 310 Discussion Special Interest Group on Humanitarian Technology (SIGHT) Brown
11:45 311 Discussion National Society Agreements Lillie
12:00 312 Discussion IEEE Ad Hoc Committee on Activities in Europe ( Africa Ad Hoc Committee Update ) Delimar
12:15 313 Discussion Director-Elect's address Stasopoulos
12:30 314 Action Motions Bastiaans
315 Action Revision to IEEE Region 8 Operations Manual Delimar
12:45 316 Discussion New business Bastiaans
12:50 317 Info Next meeting El-Mousa/Antoniou
12:55 318 Action Adjournment Bastiaans
13:00 Lunch
14:00 Lunch ends
Durrani -Grand challenges talk for R8 and 9

 

Consent Agenda

401   Action   Approval of the minutes of the 102nd Region 8 Committee meeting

402   Action   Revision to collection of IEEE Region 8 donations

 


IEEE Section Naming

About IEEE Section Naming

Tony Davies, 9th June 2014

As a non-political organisation, there is some dislike in IEEE about using words like ‘kingdom’ and ‘republic’ in Section names.  Likewise, few would consider it appropriate to include such phrases as ‘people’s republic of …..’ in a Section name.
On this basis, the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland Section, despite being one of the oldest in R8, and having a large number of members, clearly scores badly!  Moreover the usual abbreviation of ‘UKRI’ has occasionally been the sources of congratulations for the good spoken English of a member, by someone who assumes that it is the Ukraine Section.
Long ago, when the formation of the Section was under discussion, it was proposed and expected that it would be called the ‘United Kingdom and Eire Section’.   However, at that time the Irish members indicated their preference for ‘Republic of Ireland’ instead of ‘Eire’.   While the reasons may not have been clear, hindsight shows it to have been correct.  We do not speak of the IEEE Deutschland Section or the IEEE Espana Section, etc.   We normally use the English-language equivalent (e.g. Germany, Spain, etc).   Likewise, ‘Éire’ is the translation into Irish of ‘Ireland’, and ‘Republic of Ireland’ would be ‘Poblacht na h-Éireann’.
The postage stamps of the Republic of Ireland normally have the word ‘Éire’ on them, often with an indication that the name applies to the whole island and not only to the Republic (see the example illustrated in Fig.1), although some do include ‘Republic’ and are bilingual (English/Irish) as illustrated by another example (Fig.2).
By contrast, the postage stamps of Northern Ireland follow the United Kingdom custom of not including any country-name at all (see Fig.3).
Recently it was decided to prefer the abbreviation ‘UK&RI’ to ‘UKRI’ (which at least, should eliminate the Ukraine connection), and a further step has now been taken.  Subject to MGA approval, the name will just become ‘United Kingdom and Ireland’.
Unfortunately this still has some potential for misunderstanding.  Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom and so appears to be ‘counted twice’ in the name.  This should present no difficulty to mathematicians and software engineers, who know that if A = {x,y,z} and B = {v,w,x} then A ∩ B = {v,w,x,y,z}.   E.g. in Boolean Algebra and in set theory, the logical AND (∩) allows x to be in both.
However, in everyday English, and especially among those with a political agenda, there will be a risk of an assumption that United Kingdom excludes Northern Ireland (and there are some who wish that was the case).   The alternative name of ‘Great Britain and Ireland’ overcomes this difficulty, but no doubt some would object to the adjective ‘Great’ in an IEEE Section name, especially for a geographically-small place.
There are some IEEE members whose geographical expertise is limited (including some in Regions 1 to 6) who may suppose that Scotland and Wales are parts of England;  they might become even more confused by the planned Section name change, especially if, at future time, Scotland were to leave the United Kingdom.   The Section might then be renamed the IEEE Wales, England and Ireland (WEI) Section, but could that lead to demands from the somewhat independent Isle of Man, and the Channel Islands Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney and Sark asking to be included in the name, perhaps as the ‘WEIIoMGJAS’ Section.
In Regions 1 to 7, it is common for Section names to be names of large towns or a city or perhaps a group of associated towns.   For a large city there could be several Sections.   This is very different from Region 8, where the norm is ‘one country = one Section’.  Rules made in Regions 1 to 7 are therefore not invariably directly applicable to Region 8, needing care to prevent possible misunderstandings.
Names are important in human societies, and are particularly linked to politics, in which IEEE should not become involved.   Thus, name changes (for example, from St. Petersburg to Leningrad and back to St. Petersburg) are very important, and may lead to difficulties and anomalies.  We have, in Region 8, the IEEE Czechoslovakia Section, even though there is no longer a country with that name. If split into two, one part would presumably have to be called the IEEE Czech Republic Section, so bringing in the unwelcome ‘republic’ word.
Remember the many cities which have ‘people’s palaces’ (sometimes buildings where the ‘people’ were forbidden to go) and ‘streets of unity’ (when sometimes there was little or no unity).
Those who attended the recent Region 8 Committee meeting may have walked along Andrássy Street, and perhaps few knew that it used to be called Népköztársaság street, which if nothing else, was a good test of the pronunciation skills of visiting foreigners.  This street has had other names, including Stalin street.  So these issues are often very important and emotive, but are ones which IEEE is wise to steer clear of, and IEEE should take care not to risk creating unintended animosities.

                                          Copy of DSCF5319

Fig 1: Republic of Ireland stamp showing the whole island, and name ‘éire’

                   Copy of DSCF5318

Fig.2:  Bilingual stamp, including the ‘Republic’ designation.

                               Northern Ireland

Fig. 3:  Northern Ireland stamp, with no country name.

 

 

 


IEEE Academic: Larry K. Wilson Award Recipient

Rui Miguel Costa received, this past April 5, in Budapest, IEEE’s Larry K. Wilson Regional Student Activities Award, “For an extraordinary accomplishment called: IEEE IST Academic”.

It was awarded in 2013 by IEEE’s region 8, which comprehends all countries in Europe, Africa, and Middle East.

IEEE-IST Academic was founded by Rui, at the Taguspark campus of Instituto Superior Técnico. The launch was on May 21, 2012.

In July 2012, at the region 8 student branch congress in Madrid, Rui proposed a global project, of which IEEE-IST Academic was a pilot. The project received a Seed Grant from IEEE Foundation’s New Initiatives Program and was officially launched in September 2013. IEEE Academic is an international project, with college students and professors creating free educational materials together.

It was created by students and it is mostly student-driven: students record and edit videos, take care of logistics, coordinate across local groups, maintain the website, and train new people. Working side-by-side with professors, they are creating new contents (that will be freely available to everyone, everywhere) and trying to create new tools to support teaching. Dozens of local groups from over 15 countries are involved, with more countries joining by the month.

In May 13 and 14, IEEE Academic will be at Collision Conf, in Downtown Las Vegas, as part of Collide, that selects 150 of the world’s most promising startups.

IEEE Academic