News

Obituary of Roberto Sorrentino

 in News

Roberto Sorrentino
PAST CHAIR OF THE CENTRAL AND SOUTH ITALY SECTION
(1947 – 2020)

 

Professor Roberto Sorrentino passed away on Tuesday, 3 March 2020. He was an electronics engineer who had a distinguished career in the field of microwave and millimeter wave circuits and antennas.

 

He received his doctoral degree in electronic engineering from the University of Rome “La Sapienza”, Rome, Italy, in 1971 and he began his career as an Assistant Professor at “La Sapienza” University in 1974. From 1986 to 1990 he was a Professor at the University of Rome “Tor Vergata” and in November 1990 he became a Professor at the University of Perugia. Between 1983 and 1986 he was a Research Fellow at the University of Texas at Austin. In 2007 he founded a successful spin-off company from the University of Perugia. He was the author of more than 150 technical papers in international journals and 200 refereed conference papers.

 

Roberto Sorrentino was an active member of the IEEE, Chair of the Central and South Italy Section, and an active member of the IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques Society (MTT-S) throughout his career. In 1990 he was elevated to IEEE Fellow. He has received several MTT-S Awards and in 2000 the IEEE Third Millennium Medal.

 

In January 2020 Roberto Sorrentino was awarded the prestigious honor of the Grand Officer of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic for his commitment in the field of research.

 

Roberto Sorrentino was an outstanding member of IEEE because his achievements combined excellence in different fields. He was a gifted educator and many of his former PhD students are now well-respected members of the scientific community, in Italy and internationally.

 

Obituary of Elias Kyriakides

 in News

Elias Kyriakides
IEEE CYPRUS SECTION CHAIR
(August, 1975 – October, 2019)

 

IEEE Region 8 Committee lost on Monday October 28th, 2019, the Chair of the IEEE Cyprus Section, Elias Kyriakides, who passed away peacefully, after a long and courageous battle with cancer with his wife Stella by his side. Elias was an exceptional researcher, a great mentor, an example of a very active IEEE member, and above all a very humble and kind human being.

 

Elias was actively involved in IEEE, serving from January 2018 until its final days as Chair of the IEEE Cyprus Section. During May 2012-December 2017 he was chair of the IEEE Cyprus Section Power and Energy Society (PE-S) Chapter, where he received the IEEE PES High Performing Chapter Awards in 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2016, as well as the 2015 Region 8 Chapter of the Year Award. Elias had a significant contribution in Editorial Boards of various well established and known IEEE Journals. More specifically, he served as an Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Sustainable Energy, an Associate Editor of the IEEE PES Letters and IEEE Systems Journal and as Editorial Board member of the IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery. In addition to all these, he was also member of various IEEE Societies (e.g., IEEE Power and Energy Society, IEEE Industry Applications Society, IEEE Computational Intelligence Society (CIS), and so on). Elias served the scientific community and in particular the Cyprus Section with tremendous generosity and dedication.

 

Elias was a leading expert in the areas of electric power systems and critical infrastructure systems with an emphasis on wide area monitoring and control, power system operations, and the integration of renewable energy sources. His research contributions are immense and have been recognized and awarded multiple times at an international level.

 

He was a member of the faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) Department since 2004 and a co-founder of the KIOS Research and Innovation Center of Excellence. Elias was an extraordinary teacher and mentor. His students will remember forever his kindness, generosity and gentle spirit. He will be remembered with love and his legacy will carry on through the excellent work of his students and the support of his colleagues and collaborators.

 

IEEE Region 8 Operating Committee would like to express its deepest condolences to Elias’ family, students, colleagues and friends, and to the IEEE Cyprus Section. It has been a privilege to have him as member of the Region 8 Committee.

Africa Students and Young Professionals gather in Nairobi at IEEE ASYP 2019 Congress

 in News / YP News

The second edition of the IEEE Africa Students and Young Professionals (SYP) Congress 2019 was held in Nairobi, Kenya between 19th- 20th of December, 2019 at the Strathmore University. About 85 delegates that include students, young professionals, industry leaders and academia participated in two days of congress. The Congress witnessed plenary sessions, panel discussions, workshops and a gala dinner. Participants came from Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, Uganda, Nigeria, Poland, Turkey and Italy. IEEE Region 8 Young Professionals, Africa Council, Student Activities Committee and Women in Engineering all took part and presented, encouraged and motivated – together with IEEE Smart Village, Power and Energy Society, R8 SIGHT, IEEE MadC and many, many more.

 

“Imagine, fun, food, new friends and career as a combo! That was the ASYP 2019 for me. This Congress held in Nairobi-Kenya at Strathmore University was something beyond expected.

I really thank IEEE Kenya Section for making ASYP 2019 a wonderful experience, which equipped us students and young professionals with the latest technological improvements and opportunities that come with them.” – Edwin Atuhaire Banura

 

 

 

 

 

 

IEEE $1 Million Challenge

 in News

IEEE $1 Million Challenge call for proposals

Ideas are bigger today—and they should be. Technology is progressing faster than ever before. IEEE members have always created advancements that allow us to keep up with the changing world. The IEEE New Initiatives Committee (NIC) is looking for your help with the next big idea.

IEEE is looking for fresh ideas, innovations, and new concepts for: 

  • Broadening membership through engagement
  • Enhancing education in underserved communities
  • Experimenting with new style events

IEEE is not looking for just your ideas; turn your ideas into real solutions. That is what IEEE members do best and how you make a difference in the world. Creative and potentially disruptive approaches are encouraged—IEEE wants your outside-the-box, groundbreaking, and world-shattering ideas and solutions.

For more information please click here.

Obituary of David Okereafor

 in News

Dear Region 8 members,

It is with a heavy heart that I am announcing the passing away of David Okereafor, IEEE Nigeria Section member and dedicated young volunteer.

I would like to share with you his obituary prepared by Rapahel Onoshakpor, IEEE Nigeria Section Chair.

Please join me in conveying our condolences to his family and his Section.

Sincerely,
Magdalena Salazar Palma
IEEE Region 8 Delegate and Director

DAVID TOBECHUKWU OKEREAFOR
IEEE NIGERIA SECTION WEBMASTER
(December, 1990 – April, 2019)

IEEE Nigeria Section has lost a rare gem: David Tobechukwu Okereafor who was an exceptional IEEE volunteer and the youngest mentor. He was born on December 31, 1990 at Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria to late Mr Eugene Ozoemela Okereafor and Mrs Georginia Chijioke Okereafor. He was the youngest of five (5) siblings. He died on April 17, 2019, at the National Hospital, Abuja.

David graduated in 2014 from the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO) with B.Eng (Second Class (Hons), Upper Division) degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering (Communication Engineering Option). He was a skilled Engineer, Embedded-Systems developer, Internet of Things (IoT), robots and unmanned ground vehicles.

David was an IEEE volunteer starting from his first year at university. He was the Chair at FUTO Student Branch (SB) from 2011 to 2013. He nurtured the FUTO SB till his graduation in 2014. During his time at university, he organised student paper contests, programming tutorials and encouraged students to participate in Extreme Programming competitions and made many other notable contributions. David was the curator of the IEEE Nigeria Section students’ robotics competitions. Until his demise, David was the IEEE Nigeria Section Webmaster and the Secretary of the Robotics and Automation Society, Nigeria Chapter. He was also the webmaster for the IEEE/PES Power Africa 2019 website. He designed and maintained websites for numerous IEEE Conferences organised in Nigeria, in addition to building conference paper submission portals and more. His work and personality will be dearly missed.

He was laid to rest on Friday 26th of April 2019. May his soul rest in peace.

Call for Paper deadline extention: IEEE WIE International Leadership Summit’18

 in News

,The IEEE Women in Engineering International Leadership Summit’18 will be held alongside the 5th IEEE CiSt Congress http://www.ieee.ma/cist18/ on October 23 – 25 2018 in Marrakech, Morocco.

5th IEEE CiSt Congress

5th IEEE CiSt Congress

The main objective of the summit is to provide an exclusive platform for women researchers, professionals, innovators and entrepreneurs in ICT to learn from each other, share their knowledge and experience and create an inclusive community that commonly innovates to the benefit of the society, and equally promotes the sense of collaboration, leadership, innovation and entrepreneurial spirit among participants.

Topics and Submission

We solicit submission of original projects and ideas describing significant developments from women researchers and professionals in any ICT related fields, as well as showcases reporting ongoing research or projects achieving significant contributions like prototypes, products, services or applications.

Prospective authors should submit by using the online paper submission platform , a paper up to 6 pages using the IEEE Manuscript template.

NB: Submitted papers should have at least one female Author or Co-Author, and only female Authors are accepted to register and present the accepted papers.

Publication

Accepted and presented contributions will be published in the congress proceeding and submitted to IEEE Xplore Library, Scopus and DBLP. Furthermore, Authors of high quality papers will be invited to submit an extended version of their work for publication in a special issue/section of an international journal.

The 3 best papers will be awarded during the IEEE Women in Engineering International leadership summit.

Important Dates

Paper Submission Deadline Extention:       September 07, 2018

Acceptance Notification:                                 September 12, 2018

Author Registration:                                       September 15, 2018

WIE Summit Dates:                                         October 23-25, 2018

Contact information

Detailed and up-to-date information about IEEE WIE International Leadership Summit’18, Marrakech, Morocco can be accessed through the website:

http://www.ieee.ma/site/event/ieee-women-in-engineering-2018/

For any inquiry, contact us on:

[email protected]

The new initiative IEEE Region 8 Today calls for contributors

 in News

CALL FOR CONTRIBUTORS

It has been noticed that great work that is being done around IEEE Region 8 in all Sections, Societies and Affinity Groups, stays mostly local since there is a lack of sharing this information around the IEEE Region 8 Members. At the same time very interesting news Regarding IEEE, Global technological breakthroughs and initiatives are not shared widely to our members. Aiming in decreasing this, a new initiative called “IEEE Region 8 Today” has been created.  It is a portal focused on IEEE Region 8 achievements, science and innovation, coming directly by IEEE Region 8 members.

This is a Call for Contributors, for the IEEE Region 8 Today  initiative which aims to be the voice of the IEEE R8 members.

A Contributor has the following very important role:

  • He or she is the one that creates the new content for the News Portal.
  • He or she is the contact person for all local members with the News Portal.
  • He or she is the one that collects the local news, translates them (if needed), and commits them to the platform.

The following skills are required and will be taken into account for the application evaluation:

  • Excellent use of English
  • Advanced writing skills (we need samples of your work and past experience)

The following skills are desired and will be taken into account for application evaluation:

  • Experience in wordpress article authoring
  • Support by local Section (Recommendation letter)
  • Enhanced communication skills

If you are interested in making your Section and Local Activities further known, then, you can apply to become an IEEE Region 8 Today Contributor, and have a chance to be the voice of your Section!

We need:

  • A brief CV
  • A letter describing why we should pick you as a contributor
  • Samples of your published  articles
  • Recommendation letters

The above data will only be used for application evaluation and will not be shared.

Please send us your application by email at [email protected]

 

 

 

IEEE Region 8 – call for nominations

 in Elections / News

The IEEE Region 8 Nominations and Appointments (N&A) Subcommittee is soliciting nominations for the following leadership positions:

  • IEEE Region 8 2019-2020 Secretary (two year commitment)
  • IEEE Region 8 2019-2020 Treasurer (two year commitment)
  • IEEE Region 8 2019 Vice Chair, Member Activities (one year commitment)
  • IEEE Region 8 2019 Vice Chair, Student Activities (one year commitment)
  • IEEE Region 8 2019 Vice Chair, Technical Activities (one year commitment)

The Region 8 N&A Subcommittee is also soliciting nominations for the members of the 2019-2020 IEEE Region 8 Nominations and Appointments Subcommittee. Candidates must fulfill one of the following criteria at the time of their election (see the Region 8 Operations Manual, section R8-6.1.2):

  • be a Section Chair in office
  • have been a Section Chair within the past 3 years
  • have been a Section Chair and currently holding an elected or appointed position of the R8 Committee.

Please submit your suggestions/nominations by filling the IEEE Region 8 Nomination form (available at the IEEE Region 8 website in the ‘Documents’ section) and sending it to Costas Stasopoulos, Chair of the IEEE Region 8 Nominations and Appointments Subcommittee, at [email protected] by 1 July 2018.

These IEEE Region 8 officers and the members of the IEEE Region 8 N&A Subcommittee will be elected at the Region 8 Committee meeting in Belgrade, Serbia, in October 2018. The Region 8 Committee members and all the nominees will be informed about the recommended slate of candidates for officers 5-6 weeks prior to the meeting.

For all further details, including petition processes, please refer to the IEEE Region 8 Bylaws and the IEEE Region 8 Operations Manual (available at the IEEE Region 8 website in the ‘Documents’ section), in particular the sections and R8-3.1.5-7 in the Bylaws, and the sections R8-4.4-6 ‘Secretary, Treasurer and Vice Chairs’ and R8-5 ‘Elections and appointments procedures’ in the Operations Manual.

Costas Stasopoulos,
Chair, IEEE Region 8 Nominations and Appointments Subcommittee

Changes for MGA Technically Co-Sponsored Conferences (TCS)

 in News

In 2015, the IEEE Board of Directors adopted a motion to recover some of the costs incurred in supporting technically co-sponsored conferences (TCS) and publication of their papers in the IEEE Xplore Digital Library.

In January 2016, recovery of these costs began for all Society/Technical Council technically co-sponsored conferences. The IEEE Meetings, Conferences and Events (MCE) team developed and deployed procedures to collect these expenses during the conference application process.

Until recently, IEEE Member and Geographic Activities (MGA) had been absorbing the TCS expenses for its geographic units. The MGA Board has now approved a final policy for handling fees for all MGA Geographic Unit technically co-sponsored conferences.

For all conference applications received 1 January 2018 or later, in which an MGA Geographic Unit is a technical co-sponsor and there is no IEEE financial sponsorship, the MGA TCS Fee policy shall apply.

  • This fee will be $1000 per TCS conference, and $15 per paper sent to IEEE Xplore
  • If multiple IEEE Organizational Units (OUs) technically co-sponsor the same conference, the fee will be divided equally between all IEEE sponsors (i.e.: Society, Council, MGA Geographic Units)
  • MGA Geographic Units will have the option to bill the TCS fees directly to the Conference
  • An exception to this general policy – MGA will continue to pay these fees if the external (non-IEEE) financial sponsor has a National Society Agreement with IEEE or has a Sister Society Agreement with one or more of the IEEE Societies
  • Starting 1 March 2018, IEEE MCE will retroactively deploy processes to collect the TCS fees for any conference application with technical co-sponsorship by an MGA Geographic Unit received on or after 1 January 2018

Understanding MGA Technical Co-Sponsorship (TCS) Costs presentation slides [PDF]