Detailed Information

The Humanitarian Student Ambassadors Program is a new collaborative program between the IEEE Region 8 Humanitarian Technology Activities Committee and the IEEE Region 8 Student Activities Committee targeted at keeping an eye on each corner of Europe, Middle East, and Africa. The program aims to increase awareness and knowledge about humanitarian technologies, increase the humanitarian impact of student groups, and encourage the establishment of new SIGHT groups.

Deadline: 26 April 2024

Eligibility and Selection Criteria

The following criteria must be met for applying to be an ambassador:

• Be an active student in an active IEEE Student Branch;
• Be an active IEEE and SIGHT member;
• Dedicated to work for 2-4 hours a week.

Applications will be reviewed using the following criteria:

• Endorsement letter from the Student Branch Chair or Counselor (optional);
• Statement on what the IEEE humanitarian activities are for you;
• Statement on how you plan to help contribute to IEEE humanitarian efforts;
• Position statement on why you are applying.

Timeline and Process

• Submit your application here
• Application portal open until April 26th
• Applications reviewed until late April
• Selection notification will be sent on early May
• Training sessions via on-demand videos will take place on mid May
• Successful ambassadors list announced in late May
• Group meetings with all ambassadors to take place every 2 months
• Complete activities and receive badges for your work
• Ambassadors term end in late November 2024

Available Badges

• SIGHT 101
• SIGHT Activities
• Humanitarian Projects 101
• Implementing a Project
• Communication and Publicity
• Establishing Collaborations
• Special Badges

Professional SIGHT groups

Student SIGHT groups

The IEEE Region 8 Humanitarian Technologies Hackathon is meant to foster competition amongst different R8 members, through their solutions to specific humanitarian needs around SDGs in the Region. In groups of 2-4, participants are encouraged to solve a given real-world humanitarian challenge and develop technology-driven solutions, that will allow them to build their teamwork skills and network with like-minded students, young professionals, and mentors. Submissions will consist of a short proposal showing evidence of how each solution could be achieved, accompanied by a short video encapsulating the essence of the proposed solution.

Deadline: 7 May 2024

Challenges

The teams will be asked to propose solutions in the following areas (challenges):

• Quality Education (SDG 4)
• Clean Water & Sanitation (SDG 6)
• Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure (SDG 9) – focusing on ICT and Digital Connectivity

The proposed solutions will be judged based on the following criteria:

• Effectiveness & Collaboration
• Innovation & Originality
• Sustainability & Finance
• Presentation

Participation Eligibility

• Only requirement to have an amazing idea!
• Students, Graduate Students, and Young Professionals from Region 8 Only [Middle East, Africa and Europe] can participate.
• Participants should be in teams of 2-4 members.
• At least one of the team members to be a SIGHT member and one to be registered in the IEEE R8 SYP Congress.
• Each team must be linked to one OU (SIGHT Group / Section / Student Branch).
• Each team can submit solutions to all different challenges, but only the best one counts.
• One representative per team should register and fill in details of other team members.

Winning Rewards

The best five (5) solutions are expected to be presented during the Hackathon Day in-person during the IEEE R8 SYP Congress! Their teams will receive a certificate, while the affiliated OUs of the best three (3) teams will be granted with a seed funding in order to host humanitarian technologies and sustainable development activities. Special seed funding rewards may be granted to the best solutions of each challenge. More details about winning rewards will be provided closer to the Hackathon Day!

Important Dates

• Registration deadline: May 7th
• Notification of qualified teams: before May 14th
• Training of qualified teams: before May 21st
• Challenge selection: before May 21st
• Solutions submission: before May 28th
• Finalists announcement: before May 31st
• Hackathon Day: July 15th to 19th

The IEEE Region 8 Humanitarian Technology Activities Committee (R8 HTAC) provides seed funding to the Region 8 SIGHT groups to support their upcoming year’s activity through the SIGHT Groups Accelerator Program. The amount of the funding corresponds with their humanitarian efforts and the quality and amount of completed activities of the past year.

Deadline: 30 November 2023

Goals

The SIGHT Groups Accelerator Program aims to:

• provide funding to organize more SIGHT groups activities;
• help to evaluate the health of the SIGHT groups;
• promote good practices of active SIGHT groups.

Rules

All active SIGHT groups with reported activities can apply for the IEEE R8 HTAC SIGHT Groups Accelerator Program funding. A SIGHT group must fulfill the following Membership and Reporting Requirements to receive the Base Funding ($100):

• vTools Events Reporting (at least 2 activities)
• vTools Officer Reporting (up-to-date roster following the HTB/SIGHT guidelines)
• R8 SIGHT Groups Self-assessment Reporting (successfully submitted before application submission deadline)

Judging & Submissions

Criterion 1. Improve visibility

• Shared SIGHT group story in local media.
  • Description: That could be in journals, on TV, on blogs, on radio stations, or somewhere else.
  • Submission: Link to the shared story or scan of journal news.
• Shared SIGHT group story on social media.
  • Description: That could be on Facebook, LinkedIn, X, Instagram, TikTok, or somewhere else.
  • Submission: Link to the shared story.
• Recorded promo video of a SIGHT group.
  • Description: The promo video should depict SIGHT group activities or encourage new members to join them.
  • Submission: Link to the published video.
• Promoted SIGHT group at the IEEE or local event.
  • Description: Promotion of its activities on IEEE day, SIGHT day, faculty day, etc.
  • Submission: Link with photos of the team at the event.
• Submitted article for the R8 News through Humanitarian Voices.
  • Description: Article(s) publication for activities in Region 8 News through R8 HTAC Humanitarian Voices.
  • Submission: Copy of Humanitarian Voices form submission.
• Submitted article for the SIGHT Newsletter.
  • Description: Article(s) publication for activities in the HTB/SIGHT Newsletter.
  • Submission: Copy of the newsletter with the published article highlighted.

Criterion 2. Participate in the activities of the IEEE R8 Humanitarian Technology Activities Committee

• Attended Connecting Humanitarian Experts Webinars.
  • Description: Member(s) attend one or more R8 HTAC webinars.
  • Submission: Copy of submitted feedback form.
• Submitted technology solutions to the R8 Humanitarian Technologies Hackathon challenges.
  • Description: Team(s) affiliated with the SIGHT group participate in the hackathon by submitting technology solutions.
  • Submission: Certificate of participation.
• Participated in the R8 Humanitarian Activities Congress.
  • Description: Member(s) participate in the congress.
  • Submission: Certificate of participation.
• Participated in SIGHT Groups Coordination Workshops.
  • Description: Member(s) participate in one or more R8 HTAC workshops.
  • Submission: Copy of submitted feedback form.

Criterion 3. Organize events and activities

• Applied for Project Funding in an IEEE HTB CFP.
  • Description: Submitted project proposal to the IEEE HTB/SIGHT Call for Proposals or to the R8/HTB Joint Call for the Community Support Program.
  • Submission: Proposal submission confirmation email.
• Successfully implemented Humanitarian Technology and Sustainable Development Projects.
  • Description: Carried out a humanitarian and sustainable project with an impact on the targeted community (funded or not funded).
  • Submission: PDF project report (template will be provided).
• Organized Training and Professional Development Activities.
  • Description: In accordance with the SIGHT Toolkit (e.g., sustainable development and humanitarian technologies seminars, human-centered and community-based solutions workshops, and social impact project management and assessment workshops).
  • Submission: vTools Events link AND link with photos PER activity.
• Organized activities that built the internal capacity of your SIGHT group.
  • Description: In accordance with the SIGHT Toolkit (e.g., recruiting new members, engaging current volunteers, and conducting team-building activities).
  • Submission: vTools Events link AND link with photos PER activity.
• Organized IEEE SIGHT Day event.
  • Description: A SIGHT Day event within its area of interest.
  • Submission: vTools Events link AND link with photos.
• Organized STEM Activities for pre-university students.
  • Description: A humanitarian-oriented activity targeting pre-university students in STEM.
  • Submission: vTools Events link AND link with photos PER activity.

Criterion 4. Collaborate with stakeholders

• Collaboration with local community/government, industry, and organization(s).
  • Description: It could be established through granted sponsorship, hosted events, invited speakers from a company, etc.
  • Submission: Evidence of collaboration (Letter, sponsorship granted, etc).
• Collaboration with NGOs and/or NPOs.
  • Description: It could be established through granted sponsorship, hosted events, invited speakers, etc. NGOs: Non-governmental organizations; NPOs: Nonprofit organizations.
  • Submission: Evidence of collaboration (Letter, sponsorship granted, etc).
• Collaboration with local IEEE organizational unit(s).
  • Description: Collaboration with local IEEE Section or Student Branches, Affinity groups, Chapters, SIGHT Groups, etc.
  • Submission: vTools Events link AND link with photos PER collaboration.
• Collaboration with other non-local IEEE organizational unit(s).
  • Description: Collaboration with IEEE Sections, Student Branches, Affinity groups, Chapters, or SIGHT Groups from outside the SIGHT group’s Section.
  • Submission: vTools Events link AND link with photos PER collaboration.

Other Activities

• Any other activity done by the SIGHT group aligned with the vision and mission of the IEEE Region 8 Humanitarian Technology Activities Committee.

Notes

vTools Events report should include at least the following items:

• Title, date/time, venue, and hosts
• Event description, and agenda
• Attendance report submitted

Funding

Every SIGHT group that completes the application and complies with the Rules is eligible for funding of $100 up to $500. The final funding is calculated under three categories (Base, Criteria, and Ranking Funding) and depends on application count and budget availability. Following SIGHT guidelines, the funding will be transferred to the affiliated Section bank account for the use of the respective SIGHT group.

Criteria Funding (up to $200): A SIGHT group chooses the activities it wants to carry out. The possibilities are listed in the Judging section. The more criteria you meet, the more funding you can get.

Ranking Funding (up to $200): Want to compete with other SIGHT groups and be publicly exposed as one of the most active ones? The more activities you undertake, the more funding you can receive! It’s a unique opportunity to support your efforts with funding and propel your projects to new heights.

Important Dates

• Application submission portal open: 1 November 2023
• Deadline for application submission: 30 November 2023 – 23:59 (GMT)
• Results announcement: 10 December 2023

Theodoros Chatzinikolaou

Chair – Greece Section

Theodoros is, currently, PhD Candidate in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department of the Democritus University of Thrace, and has received his Engineering Diploma with Integrated Master from the aforementioned Department. As an active IEEE volunteer, he strongly believes he can create a valuable impact on humanity and society via engineering through volunteerism, and, thus, he is, currently, the Humanitarian Activities Chair in IEEE Region 8. He has served various IEEE OUs including MGA SAC, his Region as Student Representative, as well as his local Student Branch by chairing it once, mentoring it twice, and distinguishing it as Exemplary four times.

Abdullateef Aliyu

Past-Chair – Nigeria Section

Abdullateef is the General Manager of projects in Phase 3 Telecom, an aerial fiber-optic network infrastructure provider in West Africa, He is also a Senior Vice President of IEEE Smart Village and Currently chairs the IEEE Region 8 Students Activities Committee as Vice Chair of Student activities. He received his bachelor’s degree from Bayero University Kano (BUK), and master’s in ICT from the Northern University of Malaysia with Honors. He is an Alumnus of the United States telecommunication training institute (USTTI), Washington DC. He joined phase 3 Telecom in 2013 where he helped deployed numerous high-profile projects in Nigeria and across Sub-Sahara Africa for Mobile Network Operators (MNO) and led the implementation of the Phase 3 telecom 100G transmission network across Nigeria. He is a recipient of several awards and recognitions that include and not limited to the Leadership and Innovative Award by Phase 3 telecom in 2022, the Best Creativity Award by Phase 3 Telecom in 2022, the Excellence in leadership Award 2022 by IEEE Smart Village, the Award of Excellence by IEEE Nigeria Section 2022 for NIGERCON 2022, the Award of Excellence by the NSE Maitama branch 2021, MGA Board Young Professionals Achievement Award 2019, Recipient of Outstanding Volunteer of IEEE R8 ASYP Congress 2017 (EMEA), and IEEE Nigeria Section Merit Award 2017 (NG).

George Papadimitriou

Switzerland Section

Georgios (George) Papadimitriou studied at the Electrical and Computer Engineering department at the National Technical University of Athens. Currently, he is working for HILTI, Global IT in Switzerland as an Enterprise Network Engineer. Previously he worked for Nokia Research & Development at their Technology Center in Athens, Greece. Since 2012, he volunteered as the Chair of the National Technical University of Athens IEEE Student Branch, the IEEE Greece Section’s Student Representative and the Region 8 Projects and Initiatives Coordinator fostering student collaboration and leading fruitful projects across the Region. In 2018 he was appointed to his second role in the Student Activities Committee as the Regional Student Representative and as a member of the Region 8 Strategic Planning Committee.

Lavender Ndunya

Kenya Section

Lavender Ndunya is a young Kenyan professional with 5 years industry experience. She is a Customer Service Officer for British American Tobacco, handling account management for 8 export markets in the region. In IEEE, with 6 years of membership, she has taken up various roles in the section (previously Industry Engagement Lead) and now she serves as Section Treasurer. She also volunteers in R8 as Humanitarian Activities Committee Member. The core scope of the role is to provide guidance on funding opportunities, push for SIGHT activities in Kenya, Uganda, Zambia & Ethiopia and ensure the SIGHT sections remain active over the years. She holds BSc. Electrical & Electronic Engineering from JKUAT.

Lucija Brezočnik

Slovenia Section

Lucija Brezočnik received her B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science of the University of Maribor, Slovenia. She is a teaching assistant and Ph.D. candidate. She works on several projects in the industry and is the author of a few journal papers, more than 20 conference papers, one book chapter, and is a reviewer for more than 40 recognized peer-review journals. Her research interests include machine learning, computational intelligence, data science, swarm intelligence, software engineering, and agile software development. For her work, she received several international and local awards and grants for her research activities. She is also the current IEEE Slovenia Vice-Chair and past IEEE WiE Slovenia chair.

Omar Salameh

Jordan Section

Omar is an IEEE Member since 2016, held several leading positions in the student branch, and was the professional activities officer in IEEE Jordan Section. Professionally, he is an Electrical Engineer with 4 years’ experience in power generation sector. Currently, he is doing my master’s degree in Electrical Engineering and Renewable Energy Systems at the University of Leeds, United Kingdom.

Miriam Cunningham

UK & Ireland Section

Miriam Cunningham (IEEE Senior Member, IEEE-HKN) is a technology and innovation expert with over 25 years experience working with education and research, industry and government organisations to support ICT4Development/ Digital Development in Africa and Europe. Miriam specialises in contributing to policy analysis, research capacity building, adaptation and implementation of appropriate technology addressing societal challenges in low resource environments. Miriam has extensive experience as Co-Principal Investigator of large-scale digital technology innovation oriented cross-border and regional projects in Europe and Africa. She has co-organised over 45 large international conferences around the world, including both IEEE and government hosted conferences. Miriam is also Head of Research of the not-for-profit IST-Africa Institute, working in strategic partnership with Ministries and National Councils responsible for Innovation, Science and Technology in 18 African Member States. Miriam has served in senior IEEE volunteer roles including Member, IEEE SSIT Board of Governors (2020 – 2025) and IEEE Humanitarian Technology Board (2023).

Neemat Abdelrahim

Sudan Sub-section

Neemat is a A final year software engineering student at Sudan university of science and technology (graduating by March 2023). She has 3 years of experience with IEEE as volunteer and almost 2 years as an IEEE member. Currently serving as the chairperson of her student branch and IEEE Sudan Subsection SAC representative. She has worked as an ambassador for several times in different events and activities such as IEEE Day 2021, PES Day 2021, IEEEXtreme 15.0 & 16.0, IEEE Entrepreneurship week 2022 and several volunteering experience.

Nour Sbaoulji

Tunisia Section

Nour Sbaoulji is 23, Tunisian and a Software Engineering Student.

Jan Verveckken

Benelux Section

Belgian, Raised in Germany and Belgium. Studied electrical-mechanical energy engineering, with a focus on electrical energy. PhD in control of power electronics at KU Leuven. A variety of employers, in the fields of strategy consulting, automotive production, innovation development, research engineering and finally, engineering education.

Ex-officio from IEEE Humanitarian Technologies Board

Lwanga Herbert (Uganda Section)	Magdalena Salazar-Palma (Spain Section)	Maxwell Addison (Ghana Section)	Mohamed Essaaidi (Morocco Section)	Simay Akar (Turkey Section)

Past Committee Members

2021-22 Committee Members

• Chair: Abdulateef Aliyu (Nigeria)
• Members:
  • John Funso Adebayo (Nigeria) (Past-Chair)
  • Lavender Ndunya (Kenya)
  • Fairouz Fattoum (Tunisia) (SAC Liaison)
• Corresponding members:
  • Manuel Ballesteros (Spain)
  • Heba Qadoomi (Jordan)
  • Miriam Cunningham (UK & Ireland)
  • Walid Bin Habib (Germany)
• Ex-officio from IEEE Humanitarian Activities Committee:
  • Simay Akar (Turkey)
  • Lwanga Herbert (Uganda)